A/N: Don't own it.

Chap. 35

"No, Naruto... I don't need to explain myself to you."

"But Granny Tsunade," he repeated, growing frustrated now with her flat-out refusal to give him an answer- any answer.

The old woman, however, was growing tired of the conversation as well, though for different reasons. "You know what? Fine. I will tell you. Graphically. And using every medical terminology I can think of. Maybe then you'll get why I want you do drop it and leave it alone!"

The young ninja blushed furiously, but didn't back down. "So, it's just about... s... s... sex, then? He's an attractive younger man, and he likes your... umm..."

Such an idiot... always jumping to the worst conclusions. But that's Naruto.

"No, it's not just about sex," she answered, now not caring who heard- even him. "I love him. Don't you get it?"

The blond man took a half step backward in shock, then the Hokage, rolling her eyes at his behavior, sat back down slowly behind her desk.

"But... Obaa-chan... I thought you... you know, loved... umm... the p... I mean, Master Jaraiya?"

The snorted and looked away, "That old lecher? As if."

He didn't say anything, but when her brown eyes met his piercing blue ones, they were shocked at the insight he possessed- again. But what else can I expect when he acts like an idiot all the time? He's a hell of a lot smarter than he lets on, and I, for one, should know better than to underestimate him.

"Tch. Fine, I used to have a bit of a thing for him. Happy?"

He scowled, and muttered, "Didn't do either of you any good though, did it?"

She rolled her eyes again and reached for the sake bottle. "Naruto... either way, he died years ago. It's all in the past. And it wouldn't have been any of your business, anyway. Why do you think I haven't come home in a week? It's to give you three some privacy- because as much as I love the three of you, it's not my business, so I wanted to give you some space. Just like, as much as you care about me, it's not your business what goes on in my love life."

For a while, he seemed torn- on the one hand, it was obvious to the older woman that he did not, in fact, want to hear any details of her 'love life'. On the other, he really did care about her a lot, and he wanted her happy. And that was what she needed to end the conversation once and for all.

"Look, Naruto... I understand. Really, I do. I'm glad you care so much, and that you want my last few years to be happy. But you need to trust me. Trust that I know what will make me happy better than you do. Okay?"

He didn't respond for a long time. "So... I'm just supposed to let it slide that you're... involved... with a guy half your age?"

An eyebrow twitched, but he ignored it, one hand clenched, and the other vibrating with tension. She sighed and nodded, "Yes. That's exactly what you're supposed to do. And who're you to talk, anyway? I let you get married to two women, Naruto. Valuable, powerful shinobi of Konoha. So what right do you have to question my decisions about love?"

He pinked a little, but she saw the one hand stop shaking, and the other relax until it hung limply at his side.

"I'm glad you understand, now. But we have another matter to discuss. I'm sure you remember this, but it bears repeating. In four days I'm stepping down, and later today we're holding Temari and Shikamaru's wedding. A week after that, will be Neji and Tenten's. You know all that, right?"

He nodded, a little sullenly, she thought, but he would get over it as soon as they started to work.

"Right, then. There's a lot of paperwork involved in the weddings, and I need your help. The Hokage stuff is surprisingly easy, just a couple of papers- and I need to show you how to get into the restricted files. That's it."

He nodded again, more normally, and took the last few steps forward to sit at his usual chair before her desk. "It's kind of hard to believe... that after working for it so long, I'm going to be Hokage in a few more days."

She rolled her eyes again, grinning, "I know. I can't believe I'm so cruel- that I'd inflict you on Konoha that way. But I'm a bitch, I guess. What else can I say?"

He laughed with her, and they began the work.

"So... why are two weddings so much work?"

"Naruto... you haven't been paying much attention, have you? Shika's wedding is also being used to cement ties between Suna and Konoha. That's a big deal. As for Neji, his is more minor, but the Hyuga have a lot of requests involving making sure Tenten is a suitable bride- not that they'd refuse, now that she's obviously pregnant- but it still takes work. So let's get to it."

* * *

"That's right," Hinata said, smiling at the young, black-haired girl, "according to my family's records, the Sharingan evolved from the Byakugan a generation before the founding of Konoha. It first came into it's final form in a man named Uchiha Madara. And as far as anyone in Konoha knows, you are the last living descendant of that line."

The girl nodded solemnly, and asked, "Ano... Hina... I mean, Namikaze-sensei, is-"

But she was interrupted by a kind, warm smile, "Inoko-chan, please, just call me Hinata. You are my husband's student, not mine, and I know he prefers a more relaxed approach as well."

Inoko beamed up at the woman sitting next to her at her mother's kitchen table. Ino was puttering away in the nearby kitchen, listening to every word, Inoko was sure, but not making a peep about it.

"So, since you are the holder of the last Sharingan, it will be difficult for you to learn to use it. There are records, we believe, in the Uchiha family complex, but... they are probably guarded heavily, and well hidden. So... until you achieve some level of proficiency with it," Hinata started at the look of sudden annoyance that flew over the younger girl's face, then said quickly, "No, I'm sorry... I didn't mean it like that. I meant a level of mastery. It will probably take a fair amount of power with it to be able to access the records- I didn't mean to disrespect your skill."

Ino laughed then from across the room, and said quietly, "Hinata, she knows you didn't. Relax, it's all right."

"Sorry," the indigo-haired woman blushed, "I just... I haven't ever taught anyone before, and I'm a little... umm... nervous."
"It's fine, Hinata-sensei," the younger girl said, still smiling, "you're doing great. I already feel like I understand my eyes a bit better."

* * *

Sakura laughed hard as she watched Tenten pull out a scroll. "You're decorating for a wedding, not throwing kunai everywhere- what do you need that for?"

The tall woman, her hair in her traditional buns even after all these years, smiled wickedly at the other, and replied, "Watch and learn, Sakura. They don't call me Konoha's Deadly Blossom for nothing- I can pull more than weapons out of these!"

Tenten whirled around once, twice, five times, gaining speed with each rotation. It almost looks like she's performing Kaiten... but she can't use Juken. Can she?

But no- after she'd reached a high speed, the scroll was flung out, and in a great billow of smoke, the objects sealed within it were loosed to fly about the room.

When the room cleared enough for Sakura to see again, she looked around in amazement. On every wall, there were decorative fans, dried flowers, a few traditional paintings, and even a large banner reading "Congratulations, Neji and Tenten!", all hung up high on the walls- with a mixture of kunai, shuriken, and siangham.

"W... wow, Tenten," Sakura gasped, her mouth gaping.

The taller woman smirked as she sauntered away to help unload a table into the Hyuga compound's meeting hall.

"Wait... how did you learn that spin? It's so much different than what I saw during the Chunin exams... and I haven't seen you fight since then."

Tenten paused and turned, a finger on her lips as the thought back. "That's weird... but no, I guess you're right. Eight years or more, and we've never had a combat mission together. But oh well... can you keep a secret?"

When Sakura nodded, the other woman walked back toward her and whispered in her ear, "I learned it from watching Neji. It took me a long time to get it right, and without the Byakugan there's no way I could duplicate the technique, but... it's very relaxing just to practice. Even more so than Tai Chi."

* * *

"Never thought I'd see you so nervous, Temari."

"Shut up, Kankuro," the blond woman growled, shooting her brother a death glare through the full-length mirror, "This is a big deal for our village. Can't you just be serious for once?"

His unpainted face grinned evilly, and he muttered, "Not a big day for you personally, too? You must get married every few weeks then, right?"

Temari suddenly flung out an arm, and her younger brother was thrown across the room into the now-closed door he'd just entered from. He shook his head to clear it, then grumbled, "Figures you'd stash an fan somewhere on you- even at your own wedding. Is that in case Shika misbehaves?"

"You really don't know when to shut up, do you?"

He was still grinning, but said nothing, so Temari resumed the final touches of putting on her wedding dress.

The puppet master watched in glee as her frustration mounted with the zipper on the back of her dress until she cried, "To hell with it! Hair's long enough to cover it anyway."

She watched without a word, her eyes narrowed in distrust, as the man stood up straight from his position against the wall and walked toward her. Once he reached her, Kankuro lifted up the back of her now-long hair, "Your hair's stuck, no wonder you couldn't get it. One second..."

She was about to jerk away from him, but the sudden shift in her brother's tone kept her from doing so as he gently pulled the lock of sandy blond hair from the zipper and pulled it up for her. "You look beautiful, Temari," he said quietly.

Her eyes searched his through the mirror for any signs of humor or deceit, and she was actually surprised- and a little disappointed- to not find any. Now, knowing he was sincere, she blushed a little and muttered a very soft 'thanks'.

"Don't mention it- that's what family's for," he said quietly, and bowed himself out of her changing room.

* * *

Much to the lazy ambassador's relief, the wedding itself was short, sweet, and most importantly, short. He only had to stand in front of the crowd, who was watching his (and his new wife's) every move for a few minutes before the priest announced them as married, and he was told to kiss his bride.

Temari looked worried for a second when he opened his mouth without leaning in, but much to her relief, Shikamaru only said said, "Now that's not too troublesome."

When the happy new couple broke apart, the silent crowd gave a collective aww, and stood almost as one to queue up to greet the pair.

Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura was among the first in line, only Tsunade, Kurenai, Kankuro, and Gaara had beaten them- the three were even ahead of Shikamaru's mother.

"It's about time," Naruto said, giving his dark-haired friend a punch on the shoulder, "haven't you been talking about your 'average wife' for fifteen years now?"

The fiery blond shot her new husband a glare and growled, "Average? You think I, Temari no Subaku, am average?!"
It was Kankuro's laughter that cut his sister's rage short, "Temari, you know you aren't average, and you know nobody thinks you are, so shut up already. Be happy!"

The situation had mostly defused a minute later, when the trio, still congratulating the two on their marriage, cleared the way for Nara Yoshino.

"Shika-kun... I'm so happy for you. I'm so very, very proud! And your father, he... he would have been..."

The genius had just started to raise his arms to embrace his still mourning mother when the explosion rocked the Tower.

From most of the wedding's guests, there wasn't a hint of panic, only surprise. But from the few civilians, and the general populace of the city outside, there was a great deal more turmoil. Screaming began after a few seconds, as the enormity of the situation seemed to begin sinking in.

But for the shinobi, the catastrophic event was already clear- the mountain bearing the faces of the five Hokage was tumbling down onto the city, accompanied by a roar of sound so loud it was deafening, lending a surreal quality to the sight, even from miles away at Shikamaru and Temari's chosen wedding sight- like Sakura's had been, Team Asuma's favorite training ground.

"Shika! You take charge of the civilian evacuation! Ibiki, Genma, Kotetsu, Sarenji- you four, gather your investigative teams, quickly!"

The Hokage had no hesitation in her voice, for which Uzumaki Naruto was incredibly grateful. Seeing the sight of his heroes- five of them, at least- tumbling down from where their effigies had been carved for eternity had shaken him in a way he never thought would be possible. But the reassuring strength behind those orders returned his own to him, almost as much as did the two hands, one soft and one hard, but both firm, sliding into his own.

"Naruto, Sakura, Hinata- Kiba, Shino, you too. Get up there and find out who the hell did this to Konoha!"

Tsunade continued to give orders as the friends and their teams began to rush as only a ninja could out from the training ground and across the city toward the remains of the monument, which still had massive piles of rock tumbling down upon the hospital and Hokage Tower.

* * *

The horrible, grinding sound of stone on stone was now gone, replaced by the whistling of the wind through new, sharp crevices, and the distant screaming in the city far below them. Sakura could barely hear the breathing of her two spouses over the din, which was quiet, but pervasive. But there was something... familiar lurking nearby, and it was bothering her that she couldn't remember what it was. Bothering her more than the lives that had been snuffed out in an instant, and almost as much as those that would die slowly under the weight of stone that had fallen upon them, trapping them alive, but hurt and unable to escape underneath what seemed to be half of a mountain.

Beside her, she could also sense Naruto's tension, and understood that he had sensed... whatever it was, as well. Hinata, for her part, seemed a little more relaxed, but still on edge about something, her eyes wide open and Byakugan activated, though her eyes didn't twitch at all as she scanned around them, up, down, and to every side almost all at once.
"N... Naruto. Is it...?"

In response, he closed his eyes and turned away from the new end of the trail leading to the monument's top and closed his eyes. She could see grief in their startling blue before the lids closed, but most of what she saw was rage. He sniffed a few times, then growled out with his eyes still tightly closed, "I smell a snake. It almost smells like Manda, but it's different. It's gotta be..."

One of his teammate's eyes widened, but no one aside from Hinata and Sakura reacted to that at all.

Kamisori asked, firmly but quietly, "You don't think it's me, or my mom, do you, Naruto-sensei?"

The blue eyes opened into a glare as he looked at the young man, but it was obvious he wasn't glaring at the teen. "No. But aside from Anko and maybe you, no one else I know of could summon a snake that strong except Orochimaru... or Uchiha Sasuke."

Everyone's eyes widened at that, because his name was now synonymous with the the definition for 'Konoha's greatest traitor' among both the civilian and shinobi populace of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. All except one girl, the youngest present.

Sakura's eyes turned to look at her black ones for a moment, and was reminded vividly of how her old crush's used to look before he changed. They were hard, full of resolve, but unlike his, there was no hate, no burning desire for revenge.

"I have to stop him," Inoko said, but Naruto interrupted before she could say anything else.

"No, you don't. You can't- you aren't strong enough, yet. I'm sorry Inoko, I know you want to put this behind you... but if he's still alive, I'm probably the only one in the village that stands a chance against him right now. And he's still beaten me almost every time we ever fought."

She looked like she was about to argue, but the chilling voice from behind her sensei put a stop to it at once. "Almost, dobe, almost. You did beat me once, and I'll give you credit for that. The Rasengan is much more powerful than the Chidori at it's base level. But that doesn't matter, any more, does it? We've both moved beyond such weak techniques- Rokudaime."

Hinata and Sakura both whirled as soon as he'd begun speaking, entering their respective stances, while the others in the group looked on, stunned that he could still be alive, still standing there, after so many of them had seen him dead, had watched his body burn in a traitor's death.

Only Naruto didn't move. His eyes were closed when Tenchi yelled out, "I won't let you! You can't take Inoko-chan away!"

The laughter in the shadow's voice was obvious and sincere, but it wasn't because of mirth- it was callous amusement. "You really think you can stop me, creepy little girl? I bet your boyfriend wouldn't even care if you got taken out- your probably bug him every time you touch him."

Naruto let out a vicious, barking laugh and opened his eyes, but still didn't turn around. "Is that the best you've got, Sasuke? You have to try and pick on a little girl, now?"
"Shows what you know, doesn't it, baka? I don't 'have' to. I enjoy seeing others being crushed. You've always thought I would come back some day, that you'd be able to 'reach me deep down', like you seem to do with everyone else you meet. That's bullshit- and I'm not telling you again. Today, you're going to die."

The orange-clad ninja still didn't turn, but the shinobi in front of him- of all ages- were more than a little surprised to see his eyes undergo a startling change. Kiba, in fact, even blurted out in a whisper, "Naruto has an eye-based kekkei genkai?"

Kamisori relaxed then, the Inuzuka's words reminding him of a mostly-embarrassing conversation he'd had with his sensei what seemed like years ago, where the blond man had imparted more information than either had been willing to- but that both had needed to. Sage... Naruto-sensei's activating his Sage Chakra. This Uchiha bastard doesn't stand a chance!

"Sakura, Hinata- does he still expect you to fight his battles?"

Naruto was about to laugh again, when Sakura did it for him. "Expect? No, he expects us to stand back while he fights ours. But neither of us is going to let that happen- you make one move, Sasuke, your damned eyes even so much as blink, and both of us are gonna tear you to shreds!"

Before the last echo of the final word faded from the watching crowd's ears, the shadow before them blinked out, and Sakura collapsed without a sound onto the ground.

Now, finally, Naruto spun around, only to see that Sasuke wasn't there any longer. His roar of anger and frustration shook the gates- closed because of the emergency- on the other side of the village.