Disclaimer: I do not own the original Naruto characters used in this fiction, just the couples' kids.

Parents:

Sasuke & Sakura—Kiku and Daisuke; Neji & Tenten—Cho and Ryuu; Naruto & Hinata—Kitsune and Naien; Shikamaru & Temari—Shikarou, Tomoko, and Takara; Kiba & Ino—Misaki and Shiroko; Itachi & Hana—Katai and Chairomaru; Kakashi & Kurenai—Rei; Gaara & Matsuri—Yua; Asuma (deceased) & Kurenai—Raiden; Kakashi & Rin—Arata; Unknown—Osamu, Manako and Aoko, Soshina, Takeshi, Jun

Ages:

Raiden, Osamu, Arata—all 18; chuunin

Kiku, Cho, Katai, Manako, Rei, Jun, Takara, Tomoko, Takeshi—all 16; chuunin

Daisuke, Misaki, Kitsune, Shikarou, Ryuu, Yua, Naomi, Hayate—all 13; genin


Parenting 101

Chapter 51: War, part 1

Most of the time, war is about tactics. Sometimes, it's about luck.

"How can they expect us to just stay here while they're out there fighting?" Kitsune asked worriedly, anxiously running her fingers through one of her ponytails.

Yua came up behind her and placed her hands on her shoulders. "Master will be after us. As long as he's targeting us, the others will be safe," she reminded, though there was no hiding the uncertainty in her own tone even as she said the words.

'Waiting is not even the hard part,' Neian reminded in her head.

"Easy for you to say," Kitsune muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing, Jun-kun."

Jun sighed, kicking a stray rock. "You'll be put out of your misery shortly."

Yua arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Trust me, I know my father," he said. "He's very ambitious." Then he grinned wryly. "But he's also very predictable."

"So, basically," Yua began, "you're saying that if everything goes according to plan—"

"My father's done for."

"And this is okay with you?" Kitsune asked softly.

There was a pause, and Jun looked over at her. "No."

Kitsune and Yua looked at each other.

"But," Jun went on, "father or not, he's a criminal, and should be stopped."

Yua's expression softened. "Do you know why your father's like this?"

He picked up another stray rock and gave it a good toss, watching it bounce of the rocks and land right into the water.

"It's because of my mom."


This could drag on forever, but, as both Kiku and Cho knew, eventually they would burn out – and endless game of cat and mouse. It hadn't been very long into the battle, and already they could feel their energy wavering. It only reminded Kiku that you could train and train your entire lives, but when it came down to the battlefield, some things just couldn't be practiced.

Cho's byakugan couldn't keep tabs on her, and Kiku's sharingan was even more powerless against Tsuki's inhuman speed.

"What's the matter, kiddies?" Tsuki's voice taunted, seeming to come from all around them.

Manako's words rung in the back of Kiku's mind. 'Tsuki can mess with your senses from a limited distance.'

'Mess with your senses…'

Then something went off in her head.

"Cho, ready a scroll," Kiku said.

Cho looked at her strangely. "What are you planning?"

"Just follow my lead. I want to see something."

Cho threw another hesitant look before wielding out another one of her scrolls.

Kiku drew in a breath.

"Katon: Fumetsu no yuwaku (Fire Release: Immortal Temptress)!"

Cho whipped her head around. "Kiku, what're you—"

But she was cut off as she blew out a roaring flame, which quickly spread in a tall circle of fire around them.

Kiku caught a blur from the corner of her eye, and yelled to Cho, "Now!"

Cho reacted immediately, unraveling her scroll with a flick of her wrist.

"Tenryu no josho (Heavenly Dragon Rising)!"

Weapons shot rapidly from the kanji within her scroll, which was followed by a scream only seconds later.

Tsuki suddenly came into view at the far end, just near the flames but not near enough to be within harm's way. She was clutching at her forearm, and underneath her hand, Cho spotted blood.

"I got her?" Cho asked, bewildered. Her eyes cut to Kiku. "But how?"

Kiku watched as Tsuki glared at them, then blurred before disappearing from view once more.

"Manako said she simply messes with our senses," Kiku reminded. "So she just predicts our moves and alters our sense of reality, which makes it seem like she's everywhere at once." Then Kiku looked over at the flames she'd created, and Cho seemed to catch on.

"But she can't influence the elements," Cho guessed.

Kiku nodded. "So she couldn't mess with our heads and keep tabs on the flames at the same time."

"And I was able to get her," Cho finished. "So what do we do?"

"…I think I have an idea."


"You can't keep doing this, Manako," Hankon reminded as he watched her, Aoko, Katai, and Chairomaru rise to their feet again.

Manako didn't reply, but she knew he was right – even if Hankon was wearing down a little, they were in an even worse state than him. Aoko growled lowly beside her, but Manako placed her hand on Aoko's head, silently warning her not to make another move. Not just yet.

She locked eyes with Katai and Rei, who seemed to be reluctantly agreeing with Hankon as she was.

Then, somewhere behind them, there was an eruption.

They whipped their heads around, and saw large flames suddenly appear not too far away; exactly where Kiku, Cho, and Tsuki should've been.

'Katai and I are both close-ranged combat fighters,' Manako thought. 'It'd be easier if we had someone who fought indirectly, like Cho or Kiku.'

And then her eyes snapped to Rei, and a light seemed to go off.

'Of course! Why hadn't I thought of it earlier?'

"Katai," Manako murmured very softly, knowing he could hear her. "Keep Hankon distracted."

Katai seemed to throw her a questioning look before looking over to Chairomaru.

"Gatsuga (Dual Piercing Fang)!"

"Katai, what're you—" Rei had begun to say, only to be cut off as Manako grabbed her hand. "Manako?"

"You're a genjutsu user, right?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

"…Yes, but what does—"

Manako dropped her voice even lower. "Hankon can only fully redirect physical attacks. Mental attacks are more damaging to him than you. If you can tolerate what he throws back—"

"Then we can take him down," Rei finished. Manako nodded. "Okay. I'll give it a shot."

"Can you handle it?" Manako asked.

"One must be prepared to take whatever she can dish out, right?" Rei asked rhetorically.

Manako nodded anyway, but added, "Be careful."

Rei smiled. "I think I'll be fine. Just cover me, okay?"

"Okay."

Then Manako turned to look at Katai, whose attack was just repelled once more by Hankon, and Katai and Chairomaru came tumbling back towards them.

Katai looked up at them, and seemed to get that something was going on. He threw Manako another questioning look.

"Stay back," Rei answered.

"Rei, what are you doing?" Katai asked.

She didn't answer.

Instead, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Magen: Shinku no namida (Demonic Illusion: Crimson Tears)!"


"Kill Chikyu," Daisuke repeated. "That's out of the question – she's innocent! There has to be another way."

Tsubasa let out another shriek, but so did Chikyu. She screamed out as if she were in pain, throwing her hands over her head. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" she repeated over and over. Tsubasa cried out again, and again, Chikyu shrieked. "Stop it!"

There was a low rumble, and the vines tightened their grips.

"What's happening?" Daisuke asked worriedly as he watched Chikyu cry out in pain.

"Tsubasa can feel her resisting," Raiden answered. "When Tsubasa and these plans yank energy from her like this, she can feel it – like it's being ripped from her."

"So what do we do?" Ryuu asked.

"We have to take out Tsubasa," Raiden explained. "If there's any hopes of freeing her, Tsubasa has to be gone."

"Ryuu and I can take care of her," Naomi said, and Ryuu looked to her and nodded in agreement.

"Then Daisuke, you'll need to clear a path for me to get to her," Raiden said. "I'll knock her out and bring her to the rooftops. Once she's unconscious and away from the ground, the plants will be blinded trying to search for her for energy, and that's when we can finish them. But we'll be limited on time."

"It's worth a shot," Daisuke insisted.

"Can you cut us out?" Raiden asked.

"We'll see in a sec," he answered, before closing his eyes and taking in a breath.

"Katon: Fumetsu no fushicho no o (Fire Release: Immortal Phoenix Tail)!"

Flames quickly ignited, spiraling upward alone the vines that wrapped around them. When the vines quickly burnt and withered, they were able to break free.

However, just as quickly as the vines were gone, more appeared and shot out like whips, trying to enclose around them again.

"Katon: Fumetsu no fushicho no iki (Fire Release: Immortal Phoenix Breath)!"

More flames erupted, quickly spreading around them and burning the vines as they swooped in.

Somewhere behind the flames, Chikyu let out a scream.

"She can feel it?" Daisuke asked.

"Yes, but it's the only way to get to her," Raiden reminded. "Ryuu, Naomi; go now!"

"Daisuke, lower the flames," Naomi yelled.

"But the vines—"

"Just do it! Ryuu will cover me."

Suddenly, the flames nearest Naomi and Ryuu seemed to die down, allowing just a big enough gap for them to leap three unharmed. As soon as they touched the ground, there was another low rumble, and dozens of more vines, though thinner and smaller in comparison to the ones earlier, shot out at them.

"Hakke hyaku nijuhachi sho (Eight Trigrams One-Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms)!"

Naomi stepped back, allowing Ryuu the space as he quickly struck the vines that shot out towards them.

"Now, Naomi, go!"

"Hijutsu: Mugen no mure (Secret Technique: Endless Swarm)!"


"Your mother?"

Jun nodded. "She's the entire reason my father started all of this. The two of us were separated from her when I was younger, or at least that's what my dad says. I can't remember that far back. But that's why he's targeting Konoha. Or did you think he had no real motives?" When Kitsune and Yua remained silent, he sighed. "Come on, nobody's that heartless."

"No, it's not that," Yua corrected. "You said that they were from Konoha? Even your mom?"

He looked at her strangely before answering. "Yes…"

Kitsune looked to Yua. "You don't think he's…"

"I don't know."

Jun looked at them. "What is it?"

Yua hesitated. "It's just… you look an awful lot like Shizune-san, is all. We can't be positive, but perhaps…"

"Who is this 'Shizune-san'?"

"A close family friend," Kitsune answered. "She works for my dad, and is an apprentice to Tsunade-sama. According to my father, she did have a lover, but I assume he's dead by now. He disappeared from before we were born."

"And I've never seen her before?" Jun asked.

"Well, maybe you've seen her, but you weren't paying attention."

"Did she have kids?"

"I'm not sure," Yua answered. "They never spoke of it."

"We have to find her," he said abruptly.

"But, Jun-kun, we're supposed to wait here," Kitsune reminded.

"If there's a chance that she's my mother, then there will be a chance we can stop my father," he insisted. "Where are they?"

"The waterfall," Yua answered.

"But, Yua-chan, Master will be tracking us, remember?" Kitsune said.

"You said it yourself, Kitsune," Yua reminded. "How can they expect us to just stay here?"

'I'll protect you all,' Neian added.

"That's what I'm worried about," Kitsune murmured before following behind Jun and Yua.


A/n.

Quote from Chapter 50: "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."—from The Fox and the Hound

WOOT! 50 chapters! (Sorry, I forgot to put that at the end of Chapter 50)

Sadly, however, we only have about five chapters left. ):

Though, this story has been going on for almost a year now, so it's about time to finish it up and put it to rest. At least for now. I'm not sure if I'll ever take on such a large project after this! D: I just about killed myself!

Sorry this chapter is so short, too.

It's broken into two parts since it was really long, but part 2 of this chapter is still being worked on after I realized it needed some major editing.

Thank you for being such wonderful readers!

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Criticism? Flames? Don't hesitate to make your opinions known in a review or PM, whatever suits you.

Ciao! Au Reveoir! Zai Jian! Hasta Lavista! Ja Ne! Goodbye (till next time, at least!)