ACADEMY DAYS XIX - FRUITS OF LABOUR

Over the course of the next year, the Uzumaki family live their lives in perfect harmony. In truth, not much truly changes for them, since they'd been together for a while before the marriage and shared a roof and bed as any married couple would. Still, having it made official gives off a different feeling.

With Naruto and Hinata's marriage, Hinata was also allowed to legally adopt Kotori. With a newfound drive and determination, the young girl picked up on her training and has been going at it harder than ever to get as strong as she can and live up to her parents' name.

Throughout the months following their wedding, other classmates had their own weddings, as well.

Ino and Kiba Yamanaka were the first to get married in a more modern wedding than the Uzumaki's. As is her nature, Ino went full throttle with the preparations, with poor Kiba having to follow through with everything to the point of exhaustion. The venue was filled with the freshest and most beautiful flowers from the Yamanaka Flower Shop, all personally chosen by the bride. At the wedding itself, Kiba wore a dark suit and Ino wore a gorgeous light purple dress, wisteria-coloured that completely stole the show, and Kiba's breath. Akamaru and Mirai both acted as ring bearers.

Shikamaru and Temari Nara were next, after a lot of prodding on Temari's part, getting more excited after seeing Hinata and Ino's wedding. In fact, she was so excited that she was the one to propose much to the slight embarrassment of the groom but he wasn't given the option to complain. Because of Temari's status, the Hidden Sand elders were adamant that the wedding be held there, rather than the Leaf. The ceremony followed their own customs and had them dressed in traditional Sand robes. Their immediate friends were given leave to travel to the foreign village for the ceremony so they all attended. The Fifth Kazekage officiated the wedding.

Shino and Shiho Aburame came fourth to be wed, much to the surprise of many. Their ceremony was to initially be smaller in scope, not having as many expectations to live up to despite Shino being heir of a very prominent clan. The Aburame in particular are more closed off and both Shino and Shiho preferred a more intimate wedding, so it worked out for them.

-x-

As time passed, they definitely all grew much closer together, spending more time and confiding in each other. The classmates were already pretty close but the addition of spouses from outside their circler only strengthened the bond.

Today is one such bonding session, a day all the ladies have managed to get off work and spend the day together.

Sakura uses this opportunity to tease. With her chin resting on her fingers and her elbows on the table, she looks to Yakumo. "So you're next, huh?" She says with a smile.

"Um, why?" Yakumo shifts back in her seat with a shy smile.

"You caught Shiho's bouquet!" Sakura explains. "It's how the tradition goes."

"Well, it's not that I'd mind but…" Yakumo feels her cheeks reddening.

"Isn't that just silly superstition?" Karin offers her thoughts. "It happens when you feel you're ready."

"Is that your attempt to save yourself from questions?" Tenten laughs.

"Just how I feel." Karin shrugs.

"At any rate, you of all people shouldn't be pushing others, Sakura." Ino chuckles. "You and Sasuke haven't even come out as an official couple; I'm insulted that you two are playing us like that."

"Eh? Sasuke and I… aren't really like that. I don't know." Sakura averts her eyes from everyone else, choosing to instead count the tiles.

Temari snorts, almost spilling her drink. "Really now? The only time anyone ever sees him in the village is when he's with you or Naruto. And Naruto's already taken."

Karui snickers under her cup. "Although apparently some people think they'd make a cute couple."

"They do?" Hinata looks between them with a hint of worry in her eyes. "I suppose Sasuke is traditionally handsome…"

"No one's taking Naruto from you, don't worry." Karui pats her on the shoulder with a laugh.

Shiho tries to drive the conversation in a different direction. "Come now, we don't need to pressure people, right?"

"I've actually been meaning to ask," Hinata turns to Tenten. "How are the kids faring at the Academy? We've been training them as a group but I wonder how they perform in class."

"Hmm." Tenten-sensei places her glass down. "Well, you know Kotori is the life of the party. She's pretty much the only one who can match Kashiwama's high energy. Shoto keeps the class' competitive spirit up since he arrived and matched Jiriki. Yokumaru mostly keeps to himself but he's actually pretty popular among the class!"

"He is?" Hinata cocks her head.

Tenten nods. "Yep. The rest are pretty intrigued by his Crystal Style. They actually hold him in high regard."

"I see. I'm glad they're doing well."

"And as shinobi?" Temari asks. "How strong do you see them getting?"

"Honestly? They might turn out better than us." Tenten states.

"Good." Sakura smiles. "That's how it should be."

"There's only a year left until they graduate!" Tenten raises her glass. "I'm looking forward to what the kids do."

"To the future, then." Ino raises her glass, followed by everyone.

Hinata, however, meekly raises a glass of water where everyone else has alcohol.

"Are you fine with just water?" Yakumo asks.

"Ah, yes. I think my tolerance for alcohol has decreased; it makes me feel nauseous."

"Aw, such a shame." Ino sighs. "So young and already can't drink."

Temari chuckles. "The quiet ones usually make for the loudest drunks, too."

"So does that mean you're a quiet drunk?" Karui chuckles..

Temari glares. "I expect that from Ino but not from you, Karui."

While the rest join in the laughter, Sakura focuses on Hinata's demeanor and her glass of water. 'Hmm…'

The condor spreads its mighty wings with a screech as Shoto backs away from it.

[Ninja Art Wind Style: Breakthrough]

Kotori channels her chakra through the large bird which flaps its wings in response, causing a great gust of wind to sweep the area. She uses a time when Shoto's feet have left the ground to not give him much of a chance to brace for impact.

Shoto is flung back but that doesn't stop him from thinking ahead. Forming the hand signs mid-air, he just barely manages to slam his hands on the ground while spinning through the air.

[Earth Style: Stone Bamboo Shoots]

Two stone spikes, slightly bigger than he is, jut out behind him, allowing to plant his feet by applying chakra to his soles and hold strong against Kotori's wind. As his feet slam into the stone, a painful tingling runs through his legs and his back.

'Ah, that hurt!' He hisses as he raises his arms to protect his eyes. 'Damn that hurt.'

When the Wind jutsu subsides, Shoto falls down to the ground.

"You've gotten really good, Shoto!" Kotori cheers.

"Oi, don't praise your opponent in the middle of a spar." He chuckles. "If that jutsu was stronger, I wouldn't have been able to get my balance back!"

"Don't be a critic…"

Kotori quickly goes through her signature jutsu's signs to conjure her tank. Time to go on the offensive.

[Aviary: Ostrich]

The large bird rushes forward at full speed.

Shoto clasps his hands together and intertwines his fingers to form the Snake sign. Slamming his hands on the ground, the stone spikes behind him shoot up in the air.

Kotori whistles as she watches them fly up but turns her focus back to Shoto. She runs after the ostrich to make this a 2-on-1.

Shoto engages the ostrich in combat, avoiding the heavy clawed feet as best as he can. He's made of sturdy stuff but a solid kick from this thing won't end well. He plays it safe but that also means he can't land a good enough hit to make it disappear. Even if he does make it disappear, he'll be pelted with feathers at point blank. Kotori's jutsu is scarier than it might first seem.

Speaking of Kotori, she jumps over the ostrich to get on Shoto's other side, forcing him to deal with two enemies at once. Shoto, however, was already preparing for her arrival.

[Earth Style: Moving Earth Core]

Suddenly, the ground directly under him begins shifting and going lower than the rest of the terrain. A perfect square begins descending into the ground, taking Shoto down with him away from his opponents.

"Now take this!" He yells out, his voice echoing in the chamber he'd made for himself. "I call it: Stone Rain!"

Just then, the two stone spikes he'd fired just moments ago come crashing down with great force. They hit the ground hard enough to cause a small localized tremor that forces Kotori to brace herself. However, they hit the ground very far from where she actually is.

"They missed." Kotori calls down into the hole. The ostrich bellows with its throat.

"I heard!" Shoto grumbles. "It's a work in progress, alright? I'm getting there."

"And now you're trapped in a pit. This isn't a very good strategy." She scratches her head.

"I'm not trapped. I can also do this." Shoto forms a single seal to continue manipulating his jutsu. A rectangular pillar of earth pushes him to the side, out of Kotori's view. After a couple of seconds, the ground behind her rumbles, a square shape crumbling away, allowing for Shoto to poke his head out. "I can move it horizontally but it's more difficult."

Kotori, unable to restrain herself, squats in front of him as he tries to pull himself up and bonks him on the head. "Bonk."

Shoto looks up to glare at her goofy, grinning face. "What're you doing..."

"Whack-a-Shoto!"

He sighs a defeated sigh and gets out of the hole.

"So we calling it a day?" She asks.

"May as well." He dusts himself off. "Would be better if we had Yokumaru, too. Or shisho."

"Yeah, we could've switched it up a bit, but Yokumaru's training his medical ninjutsu. Can't do anything about that."

"We can't let up in our training now." Shoto crosses his arms. "We only have a year until we graduate. If we're to be of any help to shisho…"

"We will." She clasps his shoulder, her expression in stark contrast to a few seconds ago. "There's no doubt about that. Okay, let's get home, you're being all sulky now."

"I don't sulk!" Shoto protests.

"Sure, sure." Kotori skips away. "See you tomorrow!"

-x-

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Kotori steps through the door to immediately be met by the delicious scent of something frying in the pan. "Smells yummy!"

"Hello, Kotori." Hinata calls out from the kitchen. "Your father's still out, but dinner's almost ready. Go wash up."

Before heading to the bathroom, Kotori pokes her head in the kitchen to take a long whiff of the long-awaited dish. "What's cooking?" She asks but spots the pork cutlets being friend, which means...

"Katsudon." Hinata says before turning to waggle a fork in her daughter's direction. "Now go take a bath."

"Yes, ma'am!"

When Kotori takes barely a few steps away, a clattering grabs her attention. The sound of something metallic falling, coming from the kitchen. Kotori immediately turns around and darts back inside. "Mom?"

Inside, she sees Hinata out of breath and propping herself against the kitchen counter, fork on the ground.

"Mom?" Kotori rushes over to her with worry.

"I'm fine, Kotori." Hinata brushes the girl's hair. "I just got dizzy for a moment."

The front door creaks open once more. "Honey, I'm home!" Naruto sings as he skips to the kitchen. "Smells yummy!" When he turns the corner, he stops in his tracks, seeing his lovely wife unwell with a worried Kotori helping her. "Hinata, what's wrong?" He runs over to her and leads her to the sofa.

"Like I told Kotori, it's only a dizzy spell. Must be from the heat." She reassures them.

"Should I get Sakura?" Naruto asks while already beginning to turn to go back out.

"There's no need. Really." Hinata places a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto crinkles his nose. "If you're sure…"

"I am." She nods.

"I can finish cooking, mom." Kotori offers. "You sit back and rest."

"You don't have to-"

"Hinata." Naruto interrupts her by placing a hand on her head and pulling her to his chest. "If you're not feeling well, you can rest. There's no need to strain yourself, alright?" He kisses her on the top of the head. "We're here."

"Yeah, we can handle it!"

"Very well…" Hinata finally relents and gets comfortable in Naruto embrace.

Kotori looks at the two of them and snickers. "You know, dad, you shouldn't take advantage of a sick woman."

He grows red in the face, as does Hinata. "Wha- I'm not!"

With a laugh, Kotori goes to finish the katsudon.

Yokumaru had gotten into the habit of taking his homework out. He'd used the excuse that he wanted to be closer to the river when practicing his medical ninjutsu, to feel closer to everything Ameno-sensei and Sakura-sensei taught him.

His surroundings tell a different tale.

Piled up next to him are the dozens of crystallized remains of fish, most often used when practicing the healing arts. All of them have been various degrees of shattered and outright useless for anything further. Even the faintest touch would be enough to break them into even smaller pieces.

However, Yokumaru is determined to succeed. Going behind Guren's back, he'd started his own attempts at healing through his Crystal Style. The success rate so far has been… non existent, but he's not about to give up.

He summons yet another fish from the scroll and places his hands on it, pink chakra surrounding them.

[Mystic Palm]

He's trained extensively over the past year. Everyone in his class can revive the fish. Some still take a bit long to do it and unfortunately Yokumaru is one of them. Maybe it's like Guren said; splitting your focus on too many things at once will only weaken them. Or maybe it's Yokumaru's own negativity that's preventing him from progressing any further.

'Please work.' He channels his chakra into the [Mystic Plam]. 'If I can just figure something out…' He surrounds the fish in his crystal and it immediately shatters.

With a dejected sigh, he sweeps it into the pile.

'Another dud… A jutsu only made for killing, huh? Guess there's no way around it. Everything it touches turns to gemstone. Everything…'

His eyes snap back to the scroll. "Wait… didn't Guren and Hinata-sensei say they fought? They were enemies. Guren used her Crystal Style and sensei survived! But how did she…" Yokumaru rubs his forehead, trying to squeeze out the faint memory he has of that conversation. After a minute of deducing and guessing, he remembers. "Chakra! She coated herself in chakra! So what if…"

He immediately unseals another fish and tries it once again.

When he activates his [Mystic Palm], he waits before activating his jutsu. This time, he instead refines his chakra to spread out throughout the entire fish. A very thin layer, just enough to coat it as a shield. Hopefully, it'll be enough. It's a slow process and takes a great deal of effort and focus, but he eventually manages it. Then, he applies his Crystal Style. … To the same effect as before.

Yokumaru clicks his tongue. "Was it too weak? Or is it just a terrible idea in the first place?"

He keeps trying until dinnertime and goes home with little success. He can feel his chakra control getting better as he does more with it, so it's not a complete loss.

-x-

For several more days, Yokumaru practices on his own with his new experimental technique. He doesn't get far where healing through Crystal Style is concerned but his medical ninjutsu in general has actually skyrocketed. So he got something out of it, at least.

Like the days before, he has a pile of crystallized fish next to him. Failed attempt after failed attempt, slowly beginning to discourage him.

He takes a deep breath and begins anew. Activate the [Mystic Palm], lay it over the 'patient' and spread it into a thin membrane surrounding the whole body. Then, apply Crystal Style to it. As before, the fish is encased in a crystalline structure. This time, however, it doesn't shatter. A single crack appears in the structure, splitting the cluster of crystals in two parts.

[Medical Crystal Style: Jade Chamber]

From within, the fish flops. Alive.

Yokumaru stares at it in disbelief. "I did it?" He stands up to his feet, taking in the sight of the living fish from a different angle. "I did it!" He laughs hysterically. "I DID IT!" He repeats yet again. "Finally… I got it down." As his fit of laughter calms down, he feels himself feel woozy. His feet, turning to noodles, betray him and he begins to sway back and forth until he finally falls backwards from chakra exhaustion.

Stepping from behind the trees, two figures walk over to the boy, taking in the mess he's left behind.

Guren places a hand on her hip as she watches the fish continue flopping. "Well, what do you know… The kid actually did it."

Gozu gently picks Yokumaru up. "Just as he said he would."

"It never would've occurred to me to use the same trick Hinata used against me."

"You said it yourself; you never had a reason to. We had to fend for ourselves from an early age and do whatever it took. But this boy… He doesn't have to live in that same world we did."

"Be that as it may, coating a small fish in a thin layer of chakra and doing that an entire person, it's vastly different." Guren sighs. "Despite all my warnings not to do anything unnecessary…"

Gozu chuckles lightly. "Would you have listened to such warnings?"

"Don't get smart with me, you big lug." She smiles. "But no, I wouldn't have. Guess it runs in our blood, eh, cousin?" She brushes the boy's hair out of his eyes.

"Stubbornness can be an admirable trait."

"Of course you'd say that." Guren lifts herself on her toes to kiss her husband on the cheek. "I'll clean up this mess, you take him home. I'll properly scold him about chakra exhaustion later."

She places all the crystallized chunks back in the scroll, while setting the living fish free in the stream next to them. She watches it swim out of view, staying by the river for a few serene moments longer.

"A healing Crystal Style jutsu, huh?" She looks down at her palm. "I wonder if I could…" She clenches her fist and shakes her head. "No. I've too much blood on my hand, but Yokumaru, Byakuren, Gyuji… You three are innocent and bound for greater things."

As clan head, Hiashi Hyuga has taken it upon himself to oversee the training of the clan's youth. Leading the occasional training exercises and even sparring with them. Something no one would've ever expected the Hiashi of old to even think of doing.

Right now, one young man in particular stands in front of the admittedly still terrifying presence, Jiriki.

"Now, why don't you show me?" Hiashi says in an even tone.

"Yes, sir." Jiriki bows his head.

The boy stands up to his feet and takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He brings his hands in front of himself to focus his chakra. After a moment of concentration, he opens his eyes.

[Byakugan]

The veins around his eyes bulge out and his pupils become more defined as he activates his clan's infamous kekkei genkai. He tries to keep up a strong front while in the presence of Hiashi, but the sudden assault to his senses causes him to wince and squint his eyes. He deactivates his Byakugan shortly after.

"That's alright." Hiashi reassures him. "It can take some getting used once you unlock your Byakugan but I know you'll grow accustomed to it soon enough."

"I'll not disappoint you, sir." Jiriki bows his head again.

"You don't need to stand with such formality, Jiriki. Simply lead a fulfilling life and be happy."

Jiriki cocks his head in confusion.

"Father!" A voice interrupts their conversation, soon followed by the one who it belongs to. Hanabi pokes her out from the corner. "The Lady of the Uzumaki clan requests a meeting."

"You don't need to do that." Hinata walks behind her, giggling. "Hello, Father. And Jiriki, as well! I hadn't expected to see you together."

Jiriki bows to them. "Lady Hanabi, Lady Hinata."

"Good afternoon, Hinata." Hiashi smiles. "What brings you here?"

"No reason." She answers. "I simply wished to come and spend time. However, if I'm interrupting…"

"You're not interrupting, at all. I was just explaining some things young Jiriki should know, now that he's unlocked the Byakugan." Hiashi turns to the young boy. "You've shown yourself as strong and capable, my boy. Some may expect you to live up to certain standards, but don't allow that to bog you down."

Jiriki nods in response.

"Oh? That's wonderful." Hinata smiles. "I'm certain that will be of great aid in your rivalry with Shoto." She chuckles.

"Um," Jiriki looks at the ground in his nervousness. "Lady Hinata, if I may ask a question?"

"Of course. Anything."

"They say that your Byakugan is… special in some way. More powerful. Is that… true?" He asks with slight hesitation, knowing he's probably overstepping his station.

"It is." Hinata answers with no hesitation, making Jiriki's worry decrease. "The Tenseigan is a special form that, as far as we're aware, is not normally attainable. We believe I attained it from a certain situation I found myself in, which should mean that Hanabi may as well be able to." She turns to her sister who just shrugs.

"Would it be... presumptuous to ask to see it?"

"You're very different from how Shoto describes you." Hinata giggles as Jiriki's face turns red from the comment. "You may see it, it's not a secret."

Hinata focuses her chakra into her as normal, mixing it with the natural energy unfamiliar to most people. Her veins bulge as normal but instead of the usual white, Jiriki watches in awe as her eyes turn a light purple with a very faint flower-like pattern for pupils. Lavender chakra emerges from her body like a purple flame but she's able to keep them in check, lowering its intensity.

"Wow." Jiriki stares in awe.

Hinata smiles despite her very sudden shortness of breath. "It allows for much finer control of chakra. I can…" She sways where she stands. "Even…" She collapses to the ground, her Tenseigan deactivating.

"HINATA?!" Hiashi runs to her, lifting her head up to examine her eyes. "Hinata, can you hear me?"

"Hinata!" Hanabi kneels by his side.

She wants to answer. She wants to get up and reassure them. Those are her last thoughts before she falls unconscious.

Over at Senju clan's private training grounds, Kashiwama is hard at work himself. His Earth and Water ninjutsu have grown a great but what he's most proud of is his medical ninjutsu.

His great-grandfather was hailed as one of the best healers in the world and his great-granduncle- as the best Water Style user. So now here he comes- with an attempt to combine both and reach the legacy they left behind.

The Senju clan has taken many hits over the years and are not at all what they used to be. He's determined to change that and bring them back to the top of the foodchain where they belong.

To accomplish that, he needs to train and that's why he's surrounded on all sides by five fish. It almost looks like he's in the middle of a summoning circle with how he's placed the scrolls used for medical practice.

He focuses his chakra and goes through the hand signs. Streams of water begin swirling around him in a spiral, expanding further and further away from him until they reach the fish. The water grows more prominent, covering the ground under his feet.

[Medical Water Style: Forest]

The water directly surrounding the fish slowly protrudes up to take the shape of small trees, while the rest of it grows to resemble grass and shrubbery; ever so small blades of liquid grass.

Two of the fish spring to life, flopping in the watery forest. Then, two more and then the last one is healed.

Kashiwama cancels his jutsu, allowing the water to be absorbed into the ground, and places the now living fish into a bucket he'd brought with him.

"Only two at a time." He crosses his arms. "That won't do! I have to train even more!"

"You sure are busy." Genzai's voice grabs his attention from somewhere up above.

"Genzai?" Kashiwama looks around.

The Sarutobi pokes his head from the up top one of the trees. "Here."

"What're you doing up there?" Kashiwama raises a brow. "You've never liked playing hide-and-seek."

"I'm not playing." Genzai sighs and hops down to the ground. "I'm hunting."

"Acorns? I can show you all the good spots, man." Kashiwama offers.

"Not acorns. Them." Genzai points to the bucket.

When Kashiwama turns around, he's met by two sneaky, or so they think, monkeys. Barely larger than the bucket themselves and wearing brown vests and Leaf forehead protectors, the two freeze in place when they see they've been made.

"RUN!" One of the monkeys screams and makes a run for it.

The other monkey quickly reaches into the bucket, "Not without a snack!" Grabs a fish and follows suit. They both quickly disappear into the treeline.

Kashiwama blinks. "Monkeys?"

"Monkeys. Enki and Enka." Genzai sighs. "Dad taught me to summon them but they won't listen to me. I've been chasing for them for half an hour now."

"So you're getting into the family jutsu, huh?" Kashiwama grins. "That's pretty cool."

"Try saying that after chasing them through half the village. And they just had to run into the Senju compound where someone just had to plant a whole bunch of trees!" Genzai rubs his forehead and curses his luck. "Feel like this is more trouble than it's worth."

"Well two on one is hardly fair!" Kashiwama cracks his neck. "How about we team up?"

Genzai scratches his chin. "I guess if I want to catch a monkey, I need someone with a monkey brain." He begins running to the tree he last saw Enki and Enka.

"Yeah!" Kashiwama smacks his fist into his palm. "Wait, what?"

There's not a whole lot that Hinata remembers. She has very vague recollections of Sakura looming over her head and trying to speak but it all comes out muffled. There's some other men and women, too, who were maybe around?

There's now another voice that fills the room, louder than the others. She can make out only the tailend of it as she regains her senses.

"-said, Naruto, she'll wake up soon." Sakura tries to reassure him.

"But what's wrong with her? Why aren't you telling us?" Naruto questions.

"Naruto?" Hinata manages to mumble out.

"Hinata!" Naruto kneels by her side, taking her hand in his. "How are you feeling?"

As she looks around to take in her hospital surroundings, she sees Kotori, Hiashi, and Hanabi also crowding around the bed with very worried expressions.

"Are you hurt?" Kotori leans on the bed.

"Please, everyone give her space." Sakura tries to bring order to the room. "She's still in shock from passing out, so give her room to breath." She walks over to her patient and places a hand on her forehead. "How do you feel?"

"Tired." Hinata answers. "What… happened to me?"

Sakura takes a careful look around the room from the corner of her eye. There's a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, but not one that comes from lack of knowledge. This is uncertainty as to how to handle the situation at hand. "We don't know yet. We're still running some tests."

"How long will it take?" Hiashi demands. "She's already been here for two hours."

"These things require time, Lord Hiashi." Sakura explains. "I want her to be well as much as you do. That's why I want to be thorough."

"Is it because of the Tenseigan?" Hanabi wonders. "It might be doing something bad, like poisoning your body."

"Can it do that?" Naruto whips his head.

"We don't know anything about it." Hinata says meekly. "It may very well be the case."

"Please, could everyone leave the room? She needs space and I need to run some tests."

"Very well." Hiashi nods. "Do everything you must."

Hiashi and Hanabi make their way for the door, followed very shortly by Kotori who gives Hinata's hand a light squeeze before leaving. Naruto kisses her on the forehead and gets up with some hesitation.

"You stay." Sakura grabs him by the arm.

When the other three leave the room, Kotori and Hanabi's mischievous sides kick in. They squish their faces against the door to listen in but Hiashi grabs them both by the ear and drags them away.

"What's up, Sakura?" Naruto asks.

"Sit down." She motions to the chair by Hinata's bed which he takes with some apprehension, not sure where she's going with this. Both Naruto and Hinata look at each in confusion before turning their attention back to their friend. "I didn't want anyone else to be here so you can decide for yourself how to handle it."

"Is it about my fainting?" Hinata asks. "Do you know something about it?"

"Is it serious?" Naruto barely stops himself from getting up from worry.

"I mean… it is, just not in the way you're probably thinking." She stands in front of the bed, looking them both in the eyes with a serious expression. "Hinata, you're pregnant."

"I'm…" Hinata blinks "I am?"

"Yes." Sakura nods.

"She's pregnant?" Naruto stands up, his head whipping between both of them. "You're pregnant?"

With the information finally settling in, tears roll down Hinata and a wide smile spreads across her face, unable to contain her excitement.

Naruto lunges on the bed and hugs her tightly. "That's awesome!" he delivers a flurry of kisses before pulling away to look her in the eyes, cupping her face in his hands.

"Yes." Hinata places her hand over his, still trying to catch her breath from the excitement. "Yes, it is."

"I'll leave you two be." Sakura leaves them alone to take in everything that this news entails and enjoy the moment together. Closing the door, the smiles longingly back to the room. "Parents, huh? Must be nice…"

Name meanings:

Enki (猿木, Enki) - 'en' = monkey' ; 'ki' = 'tree'

Enka (猿火, Enka) - 'en' = 'monkey' ; 'ka' = 'fire'