KNOCK... KNOCK...

A few seconds without an answer.

KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK...

No noise came from the house.

"We're busting in! Go!"

Shikamaru and his Anbu team bursted through the Yamanaka household's door, shattering their door and rushed in. "Scout the perimeter, make sure we do not have one room left unchecked!" Footsteps stomped across the home, with men rushing around to find Ino and Inojin. Within seconds, all the rooms were fully surveillanced. "Sir, there appears to be no sign of life present." Shikamaru gulped, shocked at his failure to prevent another tragedy. All the shinobi walked back to the main hallway, having trashed the home for nothing.

"T-This can't... My wife... My WIFE!"

Taking off his Anbu, Sai fell to his knees, tears already covering this face. He had been informed of what Shikamaru had heard from Momoshiki, and knew what his family's disappearance meant. The men lowered their heads, in solidarity. Suddenly, usually low emotion adult sobbed hard, and began to bang his fist onto the floor, causing cracks and fragments to come off. "I'll kill them, I'll kill all those bastards for what they did!"

"Kill who?" Sai began to sniffle, with the rest of the men looking over to the missing door. "Hey buddy, what happened to my god damn door?" Inojin walked over with a present, then bolted when he spotted his dad was home early from the academy.

15 minutes later...

Sai hugged his wife, with their son being put in a separate room to not have to hear if any further details became to graphic. "So, Temari too, huh?" Ino said, trying to speak to Naruto, who himself was staring out over the village. "Wow that came off rude of me. I'm... I'm sorry, Shikamaru..." Neither man spoke, leaving an awkward silence to fill the room. "It's okay honey, not much can make them better right now." Ino looked back, with sorrow in her eyes and with wavering lips. She knew she was not going to be the most useful in taking down the Otsutsuki, but she certainly felt the guilt.

"We're all glad you and your son are safe, Ino" Although not turning back to respond, Naruto gestured a response nonetheless. "Shikamaru, you can leave the room if you wish. Thank you for your help this past week." With a nod, the exhausted assistant turned towards the door, and walked out, closing the door behind him.

"As we speak, elite agents from the Sand and Leaf are conducting a joint investigation on the Otsutsuki, with the Sand greatly involved due to the trauma caused to one of their own. Regarding Temari, she will be transferred to a hospital in the Sand following her abortion, and will be given amnesiac treatments there to forget what had gone on."

Ino covered her mouth with her hands, shocked at how severe this had gone since her short debriefing after Hinata's "disappearance"

"We were told you were next, Ino. I sent a task force straight to your home once we got the news from Shikamaru, and we're glad to see you only went missing to buy surprise birthday gifts for Sai."

Naruto turned to face his Anbu director and co-leader of the village's defense system.

"After this meeting ends, we will take you somewhere safe until we deal with the rogue shinobis. We are unsure if they are now working together, but both have become a larger threat than we should have ever deserved to face in this time of peace. Meanwhile, we have been, and will also be holding Inojin until we can decide whether he has been infected by Momoshiki or another of those monsters like him. If he is, we are unsure if he would be curable, and will have to decide on-"

"No, Naruto you can't! Not my baby! You cannot decide on what I think you're deciding on!" Ino looked back at her husband with shock, seeing his face stern and resolute.

"I did not say we would necessarily kill him. There have been enough families destroyed by this whole thing. It just won't be safe for you if the infected is found to be positive."

"So what, you'd... You'd lock him up? Keep a teenager like him trapped because of something he couldn't control. We were child soldiers, Naruto! You were outcasted for something that wasn't your fault, you can't do the same... You're better than that!"

Naruto's chakra bubbled out of frustration.

"You weren't there, Ino. You didn't see what happens when someone cursed by Momoshiki succeeds. Hinata... My wife and the way she was just lying there, covered in filth... Internally damaged and broken...I was gone and couldn't save her!

Naruto walks over towards Ino and Sai, his feet heavy from the power of the jinchuriki

Boruto had my genes, the chakra to hold it off for months. But look at Shikadai, he was overcome in days. We don't know if Inojin has it, but this can't spread any further. We are heightening security, asking support from all the other villages to stop this, and you will be glad to not be at best carrying inside your womb your own fucking son's bastard child!"

The Hokage office's phone began to ring. The tension in the room became confusion.

The phones ringing persisted.

Depowering, Naruto walked over, and picked up the phone.

"Sasuke, what's the status? Wait, what? Check their pulse. That's good... You sure it's not a trap? Okay, I trust you, warp here as soon as you can." With that, Naruto put the communication device down. "We're either at the final stretch of this ordeal, or it has only just begun."

Meanwhile...

"Lady Fifth, a-are you sure she's ready for the operation?" Shikamaru sat by his wife, clutching her hand as she did not respond. "Her body is weak, but I assure you, she will make it through this. It was thankfully... Well, if we can call it that, thankfully only a single day. That being said, we have been unable to reach her by communicating." Shikamaru looked concerned. "Wh-what do you mean?" Tsunade looked at Shikamaru, then rested her left hand on Temari's bruised forehead, caressing it tenderly.

"It seems her bind was placed under some kind of genjutsu. It appears powerful, and it's possible that Shikadai now possesses a kama inherited by the Otsutsuki. She's partially aware of the outside world, but also has been tormented for hours now with constant nightmares.

Tsunade passes chakra onto Temari, keeping her body afloat

The burden from potentially giving birth will be too much, so we have to risk her life now to guarantee she won't be dead in 9 months time. Something that might be important to tell Naruto is the type of stuff Temari has been muttering during her nightmares."

Shikamaru looked to Tsunade, then back at his wife. "And what might they be?"