DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own. PLEASE REVIEW! BIG OLD THANKS to NameKeptSecret. Your advice inspired this chapter! Because of the limited formatting on this site, I've written flashbacks, as best I could, without using the word "Flashback" repeatedly throughout this chapter. Hope y'all enjoy.

Thinking

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

Emphasis

Naru woke up after having a nightmare about the Fourth Shinobi War. She once again curled further into Kakashi's embrace; at least she didn't wake him up this time. Nightmares - or maybe they should just be called her returning memories - had been haunting her for a while now. Ever since she'd found Kurama, things had changed. Memories struck her at any time, and any comfort she might get from her furry partner was denied.

She wasn't sure if the old fox who looked so adorable and small now was screwing with her as he loved to do, or if he was serious in what he told her. What was it that he has to be so careful about doing now? What could be so important that "The Great and Most Fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune" had to concentrate on it so much that he said he'd be completely ignoring her? And why had the damn fox been so much more annoyed with her than he usually was? Naru sighed and kissed Kakashi's neck. His arms tightened around her and he let out a bit of a whine.

So cute… Sometimes she couldn't believe it! Here she was naked in bed with her old sensei. Old for sure, she snickered internally. She was past blushing at the mere thought of them being intimate, finally. And Kakashi wasn't really THAT much older than her, and they were both adults, thank you very much. After retrieving so many memories - that has to be thanks to Ma and Kurama, not to mention Ino at first - it had taken a bit to get used to the idea that the man who had looked out for and supervised her so well during her teenage years and beyond was the same man she fell in love with.

Had she thought Kakashi was hot before they got together? Hell yes! There was his whole mysterious vibe, plus she'd seen enough of him in either the hospital or at his apartment without that Jonin uniform vest on to see that he had a sculpted, totally tight body. Not to mention, no one could deny that Grade-"A"-Choice-Select ass! Every woman and a whole lot of the men in the village wanted to at least sleep with him, or so she thought. Maybe not Kurenai… She and Asuma had been soulmates from an early age it seemed. Naru suddenly felt terrible for not checking on Shika's former sensei and her little girl yet. Gods, I'm such a jerk!

She hadn't even apologized to the woman yet! Being hounded by her community for "being alive again" so far meant trying to stay away from stalkers and potential kidnappers, forcing herself to smile for pictures, and giving away way too many autographs. Naru usually excused herself as quickly and politely as possible from these scenes: it was all too overwhelming, not to mention embarrassing.

Plus there was the fact that she didn't deserve their appreciation - let alone the gifts and praise she continued to draw. All Naru could do was apologize for her mistakes and for hurting those she loved and had sworn to protect. There was so much she was guilty of! Geez: if she had only "dealt with" Sasuke, as Sakura had been forced to do... The thought of what Sakura had been compelled to do made her sick!

I mean, for years when we were young, Sakura had been in love with the Bastard! How much did the two of us hurt her for leaving her all alone? Naru wiped at the tears forming in her eyes. At least she had sensei. Kakashi's support of Sakura while he had been in so much pain about her death, while also dealing with new leadership responsibilities... It all made Naru love him and be in a degree of awe of the man beside her, even more now that she knew or guessed some of what they went through without her.

None of her comrades or those she'd sworn to protect would have had to go through the pain they had if she'd stepped up and been truly reliable, though. Sasuke was supposed to be her responsibility. She fully and bitterly realized now that the Bastard had long been out of control and way past imbalanced. She had been so incredibly naive no matter how many times he'd betrayed them. Never again: never again!

She refused to let down the people she cared for so much again. They had already experienced so much pain and sorrow with the whole Fourth War and - what were they called? The red cloud's people? Not to mention her furry friend's attack on the village courtesy of what's his name - and then there was her supposed passing on top of it. Her failures often made her physically sick.

Kakashi's deep, sleepy voice broke Naru out of her depressing thoughts. "Maa, Naru: I think you're brooding again."

"Gomen, gomen. It's early koi, go back to sleep."

Naru looked up into Kakashi's stunning eyes, biting her lip a bit at now knowing that one of them was Sasuke's… No, it was originally Itachi-kun's. Kakashi had grudgingly agreed to have the eye from an emotional Sakura after almost dying on a mission. It was one that he could have rather quickly completed if he'd still had the Sharingan to effectively use his Chidori. The new eye Naruto had gifted him toward the end of the war had also been fogging up for some reason after Naruto's death. Sakura had convinced him that Naruto would've wanted him to be safe, and reminded him that it was the heroic Itachi's eye first. Sakura was right, and she was glad that he had it implanted.

"Maa, maa, Naru-chan," he said in a low sexy voice after clearing his throat a bit. "I know a way to make you feel better, ne?" He wiggled his eyebrows a bit at her and she could only smile back at the perv. The man had a one-track mind, not that it bothered her even one bit anymore. The one thing in the past month she enjoyed more than she ever thought possible was… She bit her lip after letting out a sigh of absolute pleasure. It had been wonderful!

"Hai, Hokage-sama," she said with a sly grin.

Kakashi rolled on top of her as he closed his eyes and sighed, "Don't call me that, woman: coming from you it drives me crazy."

"Hai, sensei!" Naru let out a giggle.

"Oh, you," Kakashi scolded. Taking a deep breath, he began to lay heavy wet kisses on her face, ear, working his way down her neck. "I think I might be developing a kink for you calling me…"

"Most Kind, Benevolent, and oh… so…. Powerful Leader-sama?" Naru interrupted in a silky voice.

"You're in trouble now, Hime."

Trouble had never been so satisfying.

Naru watched her fiance dress and felt herself blushing. Old or not, the man was fine as hell, and it was hard to keep her thoughts straight when he was half-naked, (not to mention when he had all his clothes off: she was totally at his mercy then.) She covered her face and considered what a giant pervert she had become. Naru could imagine Ero-Sennin being either horrified or thrilled - and spying on them either way, writing notes about their sometimes crazy-intense love-making.

Ero-sennin...

"What is it, Naru-koi?" Kakashi asked in a quiet voice. He wrapped his arms around the blonde he loved so much while she shivered in his arms. She should just let it out… He didn't think holding so much pain and quiet but massive guilt within her would help Naru at all. He knew now that it hadn't helped him earlier in his life one single bit.

"Ummm, I…" Naru wiped her eyes, but the tears started really coming fast. "I just… Ero-Senn- I mean, Jiraiya, ya know?" She looked up to see understanding in her lover's face before she buried herself in his warm scent and embrace. It helped a lot - he always helped her so much. "I - I start to remember him and - ya know? The stuff we did? It's just so painful."

"You don't remember certain things about him?" The look on Naru's face was filled not only with pain but also anxiety. Her disturbed but somehow still comforting chakra was rolling off of her in waves, and he could smell the fear she was attempting to withhold. "Do you think your mind is blocking it?" Kakashi asked gently.

"How would I even know?! It is so FRUSTRATING, ya know?" Naru complained. "I mean, some things, some memories - they just flow right in, and sometimes at the dumbest times! I just - I just, I only get glimpses of Ero-sennin or J-Jiraiya, ya know." She sniffed in a wholly gross way and hid her head from Kakashi, who gave her a handkerchief. Where did that come from? She swore the man knew magic tricks. "Do you know magic?"

Kakashi snorted. "You're so weird, Naru-chan." Oops: he said that out loud.

"You love me," Naru replied a bit cheekily.

"Indeed I do."

Naru woke up again: she really needed to shower. Kakashi had wanted to be his usual wild animal self, but she held him back more than she ever had before. The blonde had been growing more sure that something was wrong with her for a week or so now, but today she committed to doing something about it. Maybe Sakura would help? Going to Baa-chan would be way too embarrassing. She had a strong intuition that Tsunade would either freak out or tease her mercilessly - maybe both - if she went to her for a breast examination.

It wasn't fair! She hadn't had "the girls" long at all! And they were pretty damn fantastic, she'd admit to herself. But they fucking hurt!

Naru let out a deep groan as she forced herself to sit up in bed. Get your lazy ass up, Naruto, she whined, scolding herself internally.

She had plans to go see Iruka again today. They had scheduled a ramen date - well, not that kind of date: just lunch between siblings, er- friends? It was a bit weird between them right now.

Sakura's baby - ugh: babies are so gross - anyway, Sarada-chan's birth was the beginning of all the chaos in her life now. "Sarada:" I still can't believe she named her baby after vegetables - so gross! Although when considering the name more, Naru realized it really wasn't all that surprising. Considering Sakura's obsession with eating what was disgustingly healthy, added to Lee's love of the "youthful" color green: yeah, not surprising at all. Just weird.

When Tsunade punched Kakashi straight outside the hospital that day, Naru fiercely came out of her all too quickly mashed up and incoming memories-induced shock to aid him. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to do to help him and was horribly afraid that the old hag broke his neck or entire rib cage. She'd begun sobbing over Kakashi's unconscious body, making everyone freeze. "Please help him Baa-chan: don't hurt him anymore!" Naru covered Kakashi's body to shield him as much as possible from the person she considered the strongest, most scary, and violent woman in the world. "You can't: you just can't! I love him!" She yelled it out and cried even harder, while the Godaime had just stared at her for a really long minute or more, then came to her fiance's aid. Sorta.

As Naru washed her long hair, she scrunched up her face in a scowl, thinking about her Baa-chan. Tsunade only helped Kakashi a little before grabbing and nearly killing her with one of Granny's Hugs from Hell. For a moment, she supposed it was unfortunate that she was way too straight to enjoy Death-By-Enormous-Boobs. The old lady did finally let her go so she could breathe and then stabilized Kakashi somewhat. The Slug Sannin then began ordering everyone around as if she'd never left her old position as village leader.

Not only would she not fully heal Kakashi, but Tsunade also later refused to marry them. "I will never allow such a travesty!"

Old hag! Like she can stop us!

Naru didn't leave Kakashi's side for days while he laid in the hospital. It had been hard for her to see her closest friends in tears when each fully realized that she was somehow Naruto. It was really hard to properly care for everyone, especially as memories continued to flow into her mind of some of her and her friend's previous exploits and shared tears. Naru had bowed to the floor and begged forgiveness from each person that came into Kakashi's room to visit for leaving them the way she did. No one was mad, and for gods only knew what reason, no one asked her why she wasn't a man anymore. At the time she had been relieved, but now it seemed plain strange. I wonder if they were ordered not to ask?

Naruto hissed as shampoo got in her eyes and cursed quietly. She really needed to ask Sakura about her aching breasts before she saw Iruka today. Even the shower spray hurt! I hope it's not cancer or something. Gods, Kashi's gonna totally flip...

No, no: don't think negatively, Naruto! Rinsing her morbid thoughts down the drain with the rest of the shampoo from her hair, Naru focused her thoughts on what to do, aside from eating ramen, with Iruka later today.

When Naru was finally kicked out of Kakashi's hospital room - literally - by Tsunade, she first checked on Sakura, Lee, and the baby. Gai was there and everything was youthful but under control: really smelly, but they were alright. Knowing who she'd wanted to see the most for days, with her heart feeling as it was in her throat, Naru finally roof-hopped to the Academy.

Naru's eyes welled up in tears again as she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair, just remembering his somewhat cold reaction when she jumped to his classroom's windowsill. He looked at her almost in annoyance at first, then tried to be polite. Naru fell apart and began crying and fell, bowing before him, then grabbed the pantlegs above his bandages. She cried into his knees, not caring at all that his class of 30 children was staring at the two in shock.

"Iruka-sensei! Please! I'm so sorry! I didn't know! I didn't mean to like, sorta die like that, ya know?! Please forgive me, aniki! I - I don't know if you don't… Without, without - oh!" She moaned, shaking her head as her tears flew through the air and into her hair. "Please, Iruka-nii?!" Naru felt two hands lift her face and cried harder at seeing Iruka's questioning big brown eyes. Gaping holes in her memory or not, she'd never forget the eyes of the person who cared about her first.

But I did, Naruto realized, before breaking into even harder sobs so much that she could barely make out Iruka's face.

"N- Naruto? Is it - is it really… Oh gods, Naruto!" Naru didn't know what it was that convinced him and only relished in the feelings she had when Iruka grabbed her up from the floor and hugged her tightly. He swung her around, crying into her hair and saying something about miracles. Remembering where he was, he glanced at his students over Naru's head and told them to go home.

And that led to everyone in the village finding out she was back before the day was even over.

Eventually, Iruka sat his precious little brother, no, little sister now, on his desk. He leaned down to meet her eyes and said the only thing he could. "Tell me everything." So Naru did - at least everything she could remember or had found out from her Bijuu friends.

NOW, a month later, she was continuing to work on lightening up a pissed-off Iruka, something Naruto never liked dealing with. The man was all angsty now and had been mad at her for being reckless, and gods was he freaking out over her relationship with Kakashi! Even though he'd guessed it! He was also angry for her over everything she'd kept secret, not to mention being highly aggravated with her for keeping things from him. So troublesome.

She let out a snort and wondered if Temari was back from Suna and now in the Nara compound, and whether or not she was showing yet. Glad it's them and not me!

Skipping away from the Tower in her favorite henge, Naru had to stop. Gods, her stomach felt terrible! She wasn't sure if she was glad or not that she didn't eat breakfast. Fortunately, she had ramen to look forward to!

Gagging, Naru thought about how she'd never really been sick before, but that was partially due to Kurama. Since he was just a cute little thing now, Naru guessed that he couldn't keep up her immune system to the degree he had before. And it's not like she could ask him: sullen bastard. Steadying herself against a nearby column, she saw the woman she was first going to see.

"Sakura-chan! Oi, Sakura-chan! You're out and about without little Stinky-chan!" Naru waved wildly while shouting toward her teammate.

Sakura chanted calming phrases to both herself and Inner Sakura, reminding them that she really hated and was beyond miserable when Naruto was actually, eh, sorta dead. Woman or not: Naruto can be so annoying! I swear to Kami, if she goes off about my sweet little baby Sarada-chan again, I'll punch her: no holding back!

"Ohayo, Naru-chan!" Cha! Keep that fake smile on! Lately, Sakura was having a harder time reigning in her Inner. It wasn't like either of them was necessarily unhappy to see her teammate. Her dark thoughts were more due to the fact that she was exhausted, and maybe a little messed up by being homebound for so long. Especially with Lee, Gai, and Tsunade-shishou's antics, all at once." It was a bit hard to handle Every. Single. Day.

"Sakura-chan, I need to talk to you," Naru's voice was serious and quiet when the two closed in on each other. Naru looked around to make sure the ANBU that always trailed her were out of hearing range, even with chakra. Dragging her teammate down the road a bit, she whispered into her ear. "Sakura-chan, something - something's, ah, don't freak out, ne?" Sakura nodded her head, although she was frowning. "Maa, something's wrong with me." Naru scratched the back of her head in embarrassment before trying to let out an easy-going chuckle. She grimaced at how fake she sounded. "I've got - oh, it's embarrassing and private."

Now Sakura was alarmed. Naruto just didn't get sick at all, ever, and when it came to pain? She/he never ever complained or brought it up like this. She only knew when Naruto was really hurt when he'd finally in near-desperation let out a whimper or moan. It was infuriating, but what Naru was voicing now had to be important. Looking around the, for now, quiet street, she signaled the ANBU to stay back.

Naru noticed her signals and bent down to the ground. She swayed a bit, then flew through hand signs that Sakura had never seen. Placing her nicked palm to the ground, she felt a wave of chakra surround them. Naru-chan… To say Sakura was impressed was a huge understatement. Tsunade had told her of Naruto's secret ANBU status and so much more which made her feel more stupid than angry at the deception.

Naru was given ANBU status at age 15! It had been maddening to find out, but it really made a lot of sense. Naru became a sealing master while on "his" training trip with Jiraiya-sama. Naruto hadn't been allowed to use any fuuinjutsu techniques without being henged in an ANBU uniform, however, because it was feared that sealing would link him to his parents even more. He kept his henge and secret after the war in fear of his friends turning their backs on him since he'd been holding back on them. As if we would've done that!

Sakura remembered her shishou's comment about it: "Do you really think The Pervert only trained her to do an Odama Rasengan? I would've kicked his ass into the next week had he done that," Tsunade had said wistfully.

She shook off her amazement at her friend's abilities, which was easy considering that Naru looked really pale - almost like how she looked in the hospital. She had purple under her eyes again, and Not again!

"My boobs hurt," Naru said bluntly.

Sakura took a deep breath. Geez, I thought she was dying for a sec. She followed Naru down the street, noting that whatever kind of seal she made allowed them privacy even as they moved. Impressive. "It's good that you told me, and very important. We should get you checked out." She paused for a moment, taking another good look at her teammate. "Does it hurt in one place in particular?'

"Yeah, my boobs! Oh, gomen, gomen, Sakura-chan. I uh- never mind." Naru knew she'd already irritated Sakura by misunderstanding her at first, although she didn't mean to do it at all! She quickly continued. "It's nearly all over both of 'em, ya know? Kami-sama! What the hell is THAT?!" Naru ran to a nearby bush and hurled.

"Are you alright?!" Sakura graciously held Naru's crazy long blonde hair up for her as a good friend should.

Finally finished and trying not to dry-heave anymore, she looked up at her pink-haired teammate and scowled. "Hell no, I'm not alright! What the hell are Teuchi-ji and Ayame-nee doing in there?" Both women looked down the street at Ichiraku's. Sakura didn't know what Naru was talking about though. "What: did someone shit in the Shiho?" Naru covered her mouth and nose as she continued, her eyes watering in irritation from the repulsive smells emanating from Ichirakus. "...Urinate in the udon?" She gagged. "Puke in the Poke? Sweat-dumped in the seaweed? Assquaked bad eggs? What the FUCK!"

Sakura couldn't contain her laughter anymore, at not only Naru's absolutely horrible language but what she discerned her "problem" might be. "Ne, Naru-chan. Do you and Kakashi use protection?"

Naru looked at her like she was an idiot, while still limping away from and gasping at the stink coming from the ramen stand. "Of course! I mean, look at all these guys following me!" She pointed toward the ANBU who were hiding all around and following her.

Sakura facepalmed, just as Kakashi came flying out of the Tower's entrance. He saw Naru, ran over, and glomped her, nearly knocking both of them over. "Where were you?"

"Didn't I tell you I was meeting Iruka-sensei today? And I saw Sakura… Eh?! Sakura-chaaaaaan," Naru whined. The medic had grabbed both Naru and Kakashi and dragged them toward and into the hospital with her immense strength, ignoring the couple's whining along with Kakashi's unheeded orders to let him go.

Kicking Tsunade's new office door in, they found the woman drinking sake, kicked back in her chair. "To what do I owe the pleasure - or NOT?" The Slug Sannin directed the last two words to the Hokage.

"I just…" Sakura started laughing but covered her mouth. She whispered something to Tsunade, but Kakashi and Naru were too involved with each other to pay any attention. Tsunade's eyes widened in shock at Sakura's hypothesis, before getting herself together and continuing Sakura's earlier questions. She escorted Naru and Kakashi into her examination room.

At Tsunade's request, Naru repeated to Sakura what she'd been experiencing with embarrassment. She could tell from his eye that Kakashi didn't realize that she'd been in pain and that he was really concerned. Crap, I didn't want to worry him! He has so much else to deal with… Tsunade kept asking stupid questions in a falsely sweet voice, which Naru answered easily although she still felt sick to her stomach. Naru began to explain that of course she and Kakashi had protection since he's the Hokage when Kakashi interrupted.

"Maa, maa, Godaime-sama, why would we need protection when Naru was a male before?" He scratched his scalp. "Surely Kurama-sama didn't bother to make ovaries, and those cool-looking fallopian tubes," he rambled on, listing nearly all the female sexual organs and such just to further and further exasperate his predecessor, ignoring that Tsunade had grabbed her sake and polished off the alcohol straight from the bottle. He'd seen that many, many times before, after all.

Tsunade sighed and was already slouching. "Morons: the both of you. Seriously Naruto, you didn't tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"About your gender?!" Tsunade barked.

Naru grimaced. "But it's embarrassing!"

"Idiot! Tell him now!" She used her iryo-ninjutsu to diagnose what she hoped wasn't…

Kakashi's gut clenched as he studied the crazy women around him. Sakura looked like she knew something he didn't and was blushing for some reason. Smells anxious, yet… amused? Naru looked really pale and smelled guilty. Great, just great. Tsunade smelled mostly like sake and looked horrified at first before her eyes lit up with glee as she checked over Naru-chan. What the hell's going on here?

Tsunade shook her head as she continued examining Naruto. She mumbled about how the gaki had been so right when (s)he said that every genius had a secret dummy hiding up his ass, just waiting for an opportunity to pop or poop himself out. She felt that Hatake-brat was now proof of that!

Naru gave up and looked Kakashi straight in the eye, before looking down, then staring determinedly directly into his eye again. "Well ya see, I've pretty much always been a girl. As in, ever since birth, ya know?" Kakashi sucked in a deep breath as his eye went wide.

"Congratulations idiots! You're going to be parents," Tsunade sang out. "I'm going to be a grandma!"

As Kakashi slid to the floor, he heard Naru's tortured cry. Before everything went black, he also heard Tsunade and Sakura's laughter but had completely fainted before the old hag said that they'd be having twins.

Naru quickly followed him into oblivion.