Hello everyone here I am with another update, and hey I haven't disappeared for nearly a year this time. Still a lot of angst I'm hoping chapter might be a little lighter then the previous ones, so yes this should many of you grumpy people very happy. A bit of a surprise in this one which people may also enjoy.

Betaed by Kuro Mitsu

Chapter 34: To Kumogakure

The group was tense as they packed away enough supplies and clothes for the journey. Mikoto had tearfully handed over a package to Sasuke filled with special tea leaves and salves that were meant to be for Naruto's recovery, which Sasuke placed gently in top of his pack so that he could easily find it. Their group consisted of himself, Itachi, Kakashi, Gaara, and Neji. The Tanuki youkai did not fare well in the cold and wore many furry layers, covering his body and only revealing his eyes. Temari and Kankuro would stay behind to keep an eye on the Mayaku girl, and further their investigation.

Mikoto watched them with her arms crossed, Fugaku stood beside her, a reassuring hand on her shoulders. Tsunade was still with Suigetsu who had passed out once again after he had revealed his story.

"We will go now, as soon as we find Naruto we'll come back home," Itachi said.

His father was silent, but his mother gave a tearful nod, biting her bottom lip so that she wouldn't just start wailing.

"Be safe," Fugaku said as they left the threshold of the Uchiha grounds.

Instead of taking the labyrinth-like forest past, they took the more travelled trade route towards the Lightning country. The weather had not let up however, the snow was at nearly 3 feet deep, with strong icy winds wiping against their exposed faces. Sasuke was at the front of the pack, eager and ready; Itachi and Kakashi were just a step behind, with a bundled-up Gaara and Neji bringing up the rear. They were travelling northwest, fighting through the snow drift and icy winds. The one thing Sasuke noticed was the distance Gaara kept from him; at first he thought it was because the other demon was having more difficulty than the others, not being used to the harsh northern weather. But the glares he was throwing Sasuke's way told another story, they were filled with nothing by hate.

Not that Sasuke blamed him, he could only imagine the anger and regret that flowed through the demon. As soon as he'd became lucid he'd felt nothing but absolute disgust at his actions, Naruto was such a fragile creature who was just coming into his own self; he was starting to become confident, and strong, they were building a family, and Sasuke had ripped that all away. Whenever he closed his eyes he would see flashes of his mate's scared face, the betrayal in sky blue eyes. It stabbed at his heart; he was meant to protect and it ended with him hurting Naruto the most.

He would make it up to Naruto, he would apologise for as long as it took, but first he had to find his mate. So he would endure the glares aimed at him by Gaara, as long as Naruto was okay and his kits have been born safely, that was all that mattered to him.

The first night they travelled without a break, their progress was slow but they knew that they were finally out of the Konoha border and onto the neutral farm land, wide open fields covered in white snow. There were less people here; in passing Sasuke only saw a few small huts and soon there was no sign of civilisation at all.

As they went along the terrain became more hilly, with steep slopes that were harsher to walk across. The winds here were worse, with no cover from the trees the wind felt like icy knives against their skin. But the young wolf didn't want to take a break no matter how weary his body was getting, Tsunade had warned him that his body was still recovering from the toxins, but he wasn't going to stay home and rest like a coward.

He was getting tired though, something that Itachi noticed; he had been keeping an eye on Sasuke. The only reason he hadn't insisted that they set up camp so far was because he knew that no one in the group would be willing to rest. They were well into their second day, the sun already starting to dip down on the horizon; from his travel experience he knew they were near the country of Rice, another night of travel they would probably reach the border of Kumogakure. They were however going in there unprepared.

Itachi had only scattered information about their border controls, no reports that were recent. They may have to use the same routes as the poachers, which could also double their chances of being discovered. They would need to stop somewhere to formulate a plan at least, even if his brother was being a stubborn fool pushing his limit. He would be no good to them if they got ambushed because he was too tired from the journey.

Suddenly Kakashi stopped, Itachi stopped next to him watching as the older youkai started sniffing the air. The raven copied him, his dark eyes widening when he sniffed a particular wetness in the air, the harsh wind was starting to pick up, and the temperature suddenly dropped.

A storm was coming.

"We need to find shelter now, the blizzard is getting worse," Kakashi shouted over the wind.

Itachi nodded, Gaara and Neji came to a stop beside them. "I agree, if we keep going we'll either freeze to death or get lost in all this snow," Gaara agreed.

"You might also want to stop your brother, Uchiha," Neji chimed in.

Itachi turned and saw that Sasuke was still walking ahead of them. With an irritated growl he fought through the snow drift towards his brother, he shouted his name several times but either the howling winds were drowning him out or Sasuke was ignoring him. With a growl he charged chakra to his legs and jumped, making sure to leap over his brother to land in front of him in the snow.

"Stop Sasuke!" he shouted, startling his brother out of whatever his mind was focused on.

"What is it Itachi, we haven't reached the Lightning country yet."

"Use your nose foolish Otouto, we're running straight into a blizzard, we can't keep going."

"No!" Sasuke shouted, shaking his head in anger. "We can't stop now, Naruto needs me!"

He tried to nudge past him but Itachi grabbed his shoulders to stop him. Sasuke fought against his hold, but Itachi simple brought him into a tight hug. " Calm yourself, if you keep going like this you're no use to your mate."

"LET ME GO, ITACHI!"

Seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to calm down any time soon, Itachi brought the side of his hand down in a sharp jab against the younger wolf's neck, hitting a pressure point and effectively knocking his brother out. He grunted at the extra added weight against his body; gritting his teeth, he took his brother's pack off and then threw Sasuke over his shoulder and lumbered back towards the rest of the team. He threw Sasuke's pack over to Kakashi who caught it easily.

"We need to find shelter, I know somewhere close by where we can stay; but we need to go now," Itachi said to them.

"Then lead the way, Uchiha," Gaara replied.

The trudged further northwest, towards the edge of a small cliff face, not large in size but it still looked precariously steep. The Rice country was surrounded by many small hilly regions, so this didn't stand out of place. Following the older wolf, he led them along the wall which led upwards towards a path. The path seemed to slant slowly up and round along the cliff until it led to a crevice that was sheltered from the strong winds and Ice. Beyond that was what looked like the entrance to a cave.

Itachi paused and rearranged the burden on his shoulder. Itachi scanned the area, his sharingan eyes noticing the many explosive tags and trip wires hidden along the area.

"You have to be careful here now, this place is booby-trapped, so follow in my footsteps."

Carefully, making sure that he kept his brother's limp body close, he walked along the narrow path. Stepping over the almost invisible trip wires to the entrance of the cave, it was dark and looked abandoned, but he reached for the wall where a tag was hidden behind a small nook. Suddenly the entrance seemed to shimmer and what looked like an empty cave entrance turned into a solid wooden door.

"An Illusion spell, what is this place Itachi?" Kakashi asked, but the wolf didn't reply; instead he simply raised his hand and knocked on the door.

There was a shuffling noise, and then the sound of scraping as if something was being unbolted. Slowly the door creaked open to reveal a slight human with long blonde hair, a part of which covered the left side of his face, with part of it put up in a ponytail. His skin was pale, with a slightly upturned nose and eyes that were a greyish-blue. At the sight of Itachi a wide grin bloomed on his face and he jumped forward, enveloping the demon in a crushing hug.

"Itachi-un," he shouted, not letting go of the wolf. "I thought you were gonna visit me sooner un!" then he seemed to notice the wolf's companions. "Who are your buddies, un?"

The raven sighed heavily, "Give me a moment Deidara, I'll tell you everything, but first can we all come in?"

"Sure, sure, come in out of the cold, I'll make some tea, un."

The group followed the blonde inside his home, it was actually much larger inside. There was a fireplace on the far end of the wall, with a Kotatsu table in the middle of the room. One wall was a shelf covered in numerous scrolls, part of the room was transformed into a cooking area with all the basic appliances that a person could need. The floor was lined with comfortable tatami mats, and near the corner was a folded up futon, which Deidara unrolled so that Itachi could place his brother down on it. Then he turned to face the blonde human; the wolf was tense because of the stares he was getting from the rest of the group. The rest of the group put down their own packs near the entrance, waiting for an answer.

Itachi sighed heavily and turned to face the other youkai, he really wished that he didn't have to go through this now. So he pulled Daidara close to him in a one-armed hug and took a deep breath. "Everyone… this is Deidara, my mate."

The silence that followed was even more uncomfortable.

Kakashi coughed into his hand and then turned to them with a small awkward smile. "Shall we talk about this over tea?"

oOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto slept for the first time in days, the howling winds did nothing to undo his rest. Maybe it was finally just his body giving in, he had been pushing himself to stay awake ever since he got kidnapped by those poachers. Even when he was passed out, the blonde was still acutely aware that he was not in a safe place. Now however as they moved onto his sixth day around humans Naruto finally got some proper rest. His pups were healthy, their downy ears fluttering ever so slightly, little sleepy yawns, and murmurs. He could tell from their scents that they were two dominants and one submissive. Naruto could wake up to this sight forever. It made him unimaginably happy.

They still needed names, but he had never been good with something like that. They needed names that would suit them, or should it be an aspiration? Something that they could aim for like the greatness like their grandfather. Should they be linked to their father? Did Sasuke even want to know them? If his mate had hurt him in his madness would he do the same to his own children? He could still remember those whispered words in the darkened halls where members of the branch family would speak about him with snide remarks.

"Only a breeding bitch."

"Never part of the family."

"As soon as those pups are born, he'll be thrown out."

"That abomination has no right to walk these sacred halls."

He would be upset of course, but he had believed in Sasuke's love for him more than that of those wrinkly old youkai. He had trusted Sasuke… maybe he shouldn't have. Did he get used again, like so many times before, had he been so starved for attention that he had let himself fall so deep? Although unlike Iruka and Kakashi, he had always known that they weren't family, and he should have known that things between them wouldn't turn out the best. Look at how they had met, during the height of mating season, during a death match between Kakashi and Sasuke.

He had been won, he had been a prize.

If it hadn't been for the season they would never have met, it wasn't as if Sasuke and him travelled in the same social circle. Maybe this was just fate, he may have lost a mate but he had his little pups safe and sound, and now he had finally met his real father. It wasn't the worst, it wasn't the best either. Because he still missed the bastard, missed him dearly…

"Naruto…"

Slowly the blonde turned around to see his father standing in the doorway with another tray of food. The man had a slight smile on his face as he walked in slowly, seemingly sensing the gloomy atmosphere surrounding his son. He put the tray down on the bedside table and carefully sat down beside Naruto on the bed.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"I'm just thinking…"

Minato nodded; he didn't say anything, instead reached for a cup and took a sip. "Bad thoughts?"

Naruto didn't reply.

"I know that I don't have the right to ask, but I am here if you want to talk."

Naruto simply huddled closer to his children. The older blonde saw this action and put his cup back down on the tray, thinking it may be best to change the topic.

"Have you chosen names yet?"

The half-demon shook his head. "I don't know what would suit them."

Minato hummed thoughtfully; slowly he reached towards the bundle but not touching them. "May I?" he asked carefully, not wanting to startle the kitsune.

Naruto didn't want to hand over the bundle; he was still very protective, and he hadn't even had time to build a proper nest to keep them safe. This was his father, he wanted to build a stronger relationship with this man, but after everything that had already happened he didn't know who to trust. There was too much hurt. When Naruto didn't reply Minato seemed to understand.

"If you want I can bring you more cushions and bedding? I remember how antsy Kurama got because we didn't have enough materials to make a proper nest."

"I would like that…" he whispered back.

"Good," he quickly hurried to the door and ordered a maid to bring the softest bedding in the house. He then hurried back and sat back down. "They'll be here soon, you can pick out what you like from it, but first lets have some breakfast okay?"

Naruto nodded and with some effort he sat up, and allowed his father to feed him. As soon as he was done he realised that Juugo wasn't in the room. The large demon hadn't left his sight since they had been here. "Were did Juugo go?" he asked, his body going tense

"He wanted to take a bath after breakfast and get some new clothes, he will be back soon," he quickly reassured so as not to panic the young fox.

The blonde tried to calm himself down; he hugged his kits closer to himself, he was fine, he was fine. Nothing was going to happen to him. No one was going to hurt him.

"Who hurt you?" Minato asked, distraught.

"Huh?!"

"You were whispering to yourself, it wasn't just the poachers was it, who else hurt you?!" his father asked, grasping his shoulders. Naruto flinched at the sudden contact and whimpered. Quickly Minato let him go and scooted away to give his son some space.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push, but Naruto seeing you so distraught… I know that I wasn't there for you before but I am with you now. Please talk to me Naruto, please."

Naruto looked up from his children into his father's teary eyes, this man had been hurting also, losing a mate and child in one night and only just meeting his son again. He had endured the same pain that Naruto had. Maybe even more. He knew he had to actually talk to the man but about his mate might be too personal, but if not now when would he. With a deep breath he cuddled his sleeping kits closer to his body, taking a deep reassuring whiff of their scent. It helped to calm him a little.

"I thought we were happy, me and my mate. I trusted him, he said that he loved me." Naruto took a deep breath of air. "He took me away from a life of poverty, he gave me things that I could only dream of. I did actually think I was dreaming for a while, maybe this is me waking up then…" he trailed off, using a finger to trail down the fur of one of his kits. It yawned and then suckled on his index finger.

"I don't really know what happened, he caught a fever. He was so ill he couldn't even get out of bed, and I wasn't allowed to see him as much in case I got ill too, but sometimes I could bring his medicine. One evening I brought him his herbal tea, and soon as I entered his room I knew something was wrong. Sasuke actually growled at me…" he said with a self-deprecating laugh. "He never did that to me before…"

"I still don't know if he did that because he was delirious with fever or angry, or… I just don't know, but that night he wanted to hurt me… he wanted me dead…"

Warm enveloped him, and Naruto was pulled into a tight hug, he felt wetness against his cheek and he realised that he was crying. He screwed his eyes shut to stop the tears but couldn't seem to, all the emotion that he had been trying to hold in just came pouring out and he couldn't stop crying. Minato rubbed circles on his back and started to slowly rock back and forth in a soothing manner. But Naruto's crying woke up the sleeping pups who whined and whimpered hearing their sire's cries. Instinct taking over the momentary grief, he slowly pushed his father back and started attending to his kits. They were upset because he was, and hungry; quickly he hurried to feed them and just for a moment forgot that his father was there.

Minato didn't look, giving his son some privacy, but also giving himself a moment to think. There was too much that his son had endured, and he would make sure that it never happened again. There was a chance that his mate might come to find him, demons had strong instincts, one of which was to never hurt their pregnant mate. He might have been severely ill when he did what he did to Naruto, that was no reason to forgive him. Minato had been there when they brought in his son, he had seen the bandages and bruises and when he had asked the medic Haku and Juugo they both said that he had those injuries before he was caught by the poachers. If his mate gave those injuries to his son, his punishment would not be swift.

There was a knock on the door, Minato went to answer it; behind it were several maids carrying large stacks of bedding. Not wanting them to invade on Naruto's private moment with his children he took the stacks off them and thanked the maids, telling them that they weren't needed for the moment. He turned and looked at the six stacks of nearly a meter tall pile of bedding and pillows, they took up nearly the whole room. He sat down on a chair beside the bed, and picked his cup back up. He waited for Naruto to be done with his feeding; they had some work to do, and hopefully that would take his mind off his mate.

Naruto himself was embarrassed, he wasn't one to cry, and that he had simply let go so quickly to somebody who was still a stranger to him was mortifying. He didn't even know how to refer to this man, calling him father seemed much to intimate but calling him by his given name didn't seem right either. He didn't know this man, but maybe this was finally his chance to learn about his father and maybe even hear more stories about his sire.

After feeding each pup he tied the swaddle around his body, keeping his kits close to his body. Then turned to his father and the pile of bedding waiting for him. Minato smiled as he saw the eagerness build in his son's eyes, for now he would do his best to distract his son from his pain, and helping him make a proper nest was a start. He couldn't get out of bed yet, he was still recovering, so instead he stood up and picked up a few of the pillows and handed them to his son. Naruto inspected them carefully, feeling the different materials under his fingers; he picked the ones he liked, arranging them behind him more comfortably.

The rest of the bedding came next, most were silk with embroidery and almost cold to the touch, he discarded them, but then there were soft ones, almost woolly, and others lined with fur. More like futons from home. With the help of his father he placed one of them behind him, this stopped the cushions from sliding away. Minato helped him up, so that he could sit on the chair; this allowed Naruto to direct the older man how to place the many blankets over the upholstery for more padding. It took a while to get them right to Naruto's expectations, but once it seemed right he helped the blonde up and put him back on the bed.

The pups yipped unhappily being jostled around so much, Naruto simply giggled and stroked his pups' heads to calm them. With some effort he pulled the blanket he had been using before over his body and then picked up the softest blanket; he spread it out between his legs, creating a small hollow. Once he was satisfied he undid the straps holding his precious bundle and placed it in the dip, slowly undoing the tight swaddle so that he could let his pups out. He still remember the scrolls Tsunade had given him, they told him that he would have to encourage them to move a lot to train their motor skills.

They were still small and it would another 2 months before they would shift out of their demon form. With a few shaky movements the two blonde-furred ones tried to stand but were still not strong enough, the dark-furred one simply yawned and tried to crawl closer to the body heat of his mother. Naruto chuckled, once more running his fingers through their downy soft fur, encouraging the dark-haired pup to move a little.

"Can't be lazy, little one," he murmured softly; the pup gave a disgruntled growl, tried to stand up only to lazily thump down again. His attitude sort of reminded him of Sasuke, he could already tell this one would be a wolf. The other two might be fox youkai.

"They're gorgeous son, you did an amazing job," Minato said.

Naruto looked up with a smile, his fingers being mouthed by his pups playfully. "You can… you can touch them if you want, they are your grandsons after all," he said with some hesitance.

Minato nodded and slowly reached out, letting the pups first sniff him so that they knew who he was. Then he slowly reached to the one closest to him, gently running his fingers behind the pup's furred ears and softly stroked him. The pup almost purred leaning into the touch, his twin did not like that he wasn't getting enough attention from this person and nudged his head closer so that Minato would also give him some attention to. The older man couldn't help but laugh, they were so small, just barely fitting into his hand.

Naruto watched their interactions with delight, maybe things would turn out better this time.

So what do you think, review and join the dark side we have cookies.