If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be living off of cafeteria food at my college, now would I? >. All other characters are original, and mine. But you can borrow them if you e-mail me and ask politely. .

This story is the sequel to my other Naruto fanfiction Changing Times. I suggest reading that one first, to save your mind from overwhelming confusion. .

This fic takes place twelve years after Changing Times, when Setsuko is seventeen and Akira is twenty.

Return of the Lost

Chapter Four: Secrets

Sasuke glared across the desk at Naruto, his sharingan spinning angrily for being summoned so late in the evening. All week he had been hearing rumors about the return of Akira and Setsuko, but had been unable to get anywhere near either the hospital or the Uchiha manor.

The former because of ANBU security, the latter because of Hinata's temper. Though he doubted his sons would let him get away with anything either.

"They're back, you know," Naruto whispered, pouring two shots of hot sake.

"Can I see my son, or am I still banned from contact with my family?" Sasuke rasped, swigging down the alcohol without a thought.

"It was Hinata who requested that order," Naruto reminded him, "And quite frankly, you deserved it. Half of your kids thought you were going to try and kill them next, the others were too busy trying to hold back Hinata from killing you."

"I didn't try to kill Akira," Sasuke snapped, "It was an accident! Why won't you ever believe me when I tell you?"

"Because," Naruto hiccuped, pouring another shot, "You always were a bastard. If it helps, neither Akira nor Setsuko will tell what happened that night."

"It's not out of fear of me, I can assure you."

"I doubt it is either. But, until I get their side of the story, you are banned from contact with the Uchiha clan, and they are banned from leaving the Uchiha manor," Naruto whispered, his voice beginning to slur as he took a large swig from the sake bottle.

"I see," Sasuke whispered, showing himself out of the office as Naruto collapsed on the desk.

The blonde had never been able to hold his liquor.

Kakashi glared down the hallway as he skidded to a stop in front of Akira's door, his sharingan spinning wildly in anger. Musashi groaned, coming to a stop behind him, pulling the silver haired jounin away from the door when he began pounding, opting to use the door knob instead.

"I'm going to kill you Akira!" Kakashi roared, struggling against Musashi's grip.

"Please say you two weren't doing what Motoko said you were," Musashi groaned, peeking through the open doorway.

There was Akira, lying on the bed, Setsuko curled up in a ball next to him. Both fully clothed, and both sleeping peacefully. Kakashi groaned, slapping Musashi's hand away, and shook his head.

"I think I have a little sister to skin," Musashi sighed, heading back toward the dining room, "If you'll excuse me."

"Sure. Slap her around for me," Kakashi whispered, closing the shades, blocking the light from strolling over the eyes of his resting daughter, "I'm glad you're back home."

Setsuko mummered in her sleep, clutching at Akira's shirt as Kakashi kissed her forehead, brushing hair our of her face. He had missed her so much during her absence, when he had been sober enough to remember who he was, and who the little girl in the pictures covering his wall was.

"Sleep tight, my little princess," Kakashi whispered, closing the door softly behind him.

"I thought he'd never leave," Akira groaned, playing with Setsuko's loose hair. She had so rarely let it down while they had been away.

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep," Setsuko moaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Why did we come back here, Setsuko?" Akira asked, turning her face to his eyes gently, "The real reason, not that nonsense about facing our past."

Setsuko sighed, trailing her hands through his dark locks, sliding a finger down his jaw line. He had grown up handsome while they had been on the road, nearly the spitting image of his father, with his mothers kind eyes.

"I'll tell you when the time comes," she explained, meeting his lips in a kiss.

"I hope the time comes soon," Akira sighed, cradling his lover in his arms, "Because being this safe is too creepy for me."

Hinata smiled, and bowed politely as she opened the front door for Kenichi, a very drunk Kakashi, and a giggling Kyoko. It had been nice to have most of the family together under roof for once, though she wished Kaneda and Honda had been alive to see the happy homecoming.

"I'll be a little late back, Mama, I'm going to make sure Kakashi-san gets back home first," Kenichi smiled, Kyoko smothering another round of giggles.

She found the idea of the jounin drunk out of his mind to be hilarious, for some odd reason.

"Make sure he at least gets to bed first, will you? I'd hate to have to explain to Setsuko why he has a cold later," Hinata smiled, patting her son on the head, "And make sure to walk Kyoko all the way home, and then come back immediately! There are bad people wandering the streets this time of night!"

"Yes Mama!" Kenichi called back, chuckling as Hinata closed the front door.

"You'd think she'd forgotten that we're both ANBU," Kyoko laughed, pinching at Kenichi's cheek, "Though I can't blame her for wondering about you. You'd probably get lost running from the boogie man!"

"Hey, I am not afraid of the boogie man! It's not my fault he lives under your porch," Kenichi grinned, stealing a kiss from his fiancé.

"That's not the boogie man, baka, that's my father," Kyoko grinned, remembering how much fun Shikamaru had had torturing Kenichi with shadows when they had first started dating.

"Yeah, well, your Dad's scary sometimes," Kenichi sighed, continuing down the road with an unconscious Kakashi slung over his back.

Zatoichi closed the door on the sleeping lovers with a sigh. He may have been blind, but his ability to sense chakra was amazing, and he could easily tell what Akira and Setsuko had been up to before they had fallen asleep. It wouldn't take a brain surgeon to figure out with their clothing littering the floor around the bed.

"Turning into a peeping Tom in your old age, nii-san?" Tetsuo grinned, looking over his older brother's shoulder.

Zatoichi hid a smirk, closing the door silently before slapping his younger brother upside the head.

"Not that you and Hikari are completely without fault in the matter," Zatoichi reminded him, remembering the time the two had fallen out of one of the attic entrances when they were newlyweds.

Tetsuo merely blanched.

"Mom's going to kill them for this, you know," Tetsuo reminded him as he noticed that Zatoichi was, indeed, walking toward Hinata's quarters.

"She deserves to know, so she doesn't send Motoko or Tenchi to fetch them for breakfast," Zatoichi explained, remembering the incident at dinner.

"Bullshit," Tetsuo hissed, "Motoko and Tenchi are old enough to walk in on someone without being scarred for life. Hell, Tenchi was asking to borrow my copy of Icha Icha the other day."

Zatoichi raised an eyebrow, having difficulty imagining his youngest brother approaching the twenty-three year old and asking permission to borrow the lewd book. It would be much easier for him to get it from the lecherous Kakashi while he was drunk, and no one would be the wiser for the request.

"That may be, but I do have things to discuss with Mother," Zatoichi whispered, knocking lightly on Hinata's door, "And I am quite sure that Hikari needs your help with the baby by now. He never did like sleeping at night."

Tetsuo groaned, knowing that what Zatoichi said was true. His infant son seemed to take great joy in torturing both him and his wife all night with his constant screaming. It was the one reason he had stayed on the ANBU squad, despite Hikari's pleading, was because of the long, away from home missions.

Of course he always had to deal with full time baby-sitting duty when he got back home.

"Say hey to Mama for me," the ANBU sighed, disappearing silently down the hallway toward his own quarters.

Hinata opened the door with a smile, her long gray locks pulled back in a simple braid for the night. She ushered her son into the room without question, knowing that it must be important if he chose to come tapping at her room so late.

"Is this about Akira and Setsuko?" Hinata whispered, Zatoichi smiling and nodding in reply.

"I don't doubt that Setsuko knows already, but I sense that she wanted to keep it a secret, so I thought it better if I didn't announce it," Zatoichi replied, fidgeting with the hems of his sleeves.

"Is she all right? It would break Kakashi completely to lose her again so soon after getting her back," Hinata sighed, trying to put the images of Setsuko dying of some sort of deadly disease out of her mind.

"Oh, she's fine, beyond the wound in her chest," Zatoichi quickly piped up, "You really should thank Tetsuo for that, he managed to miss nearly all of her vital organs."

"Oh?" Hinata raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to talk to her other son about it later.

"Setsuko's pregnant Mama," Zatoichi whispered, Hinata's face paling, "About two months along, from what I can tell."

"Kakashi's going to kill that boy," Hinata whistled, looking up at her son, "But not before I get done with him! To think, they have us all worried for years, and he drags her home after knocking her up!"

"I think there was a fair share of knocking up on both sides," Zatoichi smiled, "But please, until Setsuko announces it, I trust you to keep it a secret."

"Of course, of course," Hinata smiled, Zatoichi shuddering in fear, knowing that he had probably sentenced his younger brother to a fate worse than death, "Thank you for telling me. Now, you had better get to bed, you have rounds to make at the hospital tomorrow."

"Good night Mama," Zatoichi whispered, leaving the room as silently as he had come, wondering if he could find a way to smuggle Akira out of the household without anyone noticing.

Tsuzuku (To be continued.)

Author's Note: See, I told you guys I was going to put a shocker into this story! So knocking Setsuko up, to put it crudely, was all a part of the angst to come. .

Hmmm.... what else to say. Nothing much, really. This story, unlike it's predecessor, will probably NOT be updated every day. I'm putting a lot of time into writing these chapters, and making them longer than the ones in Changing Times, as I'm sure most of you appreciate.

Besides, I'm also letting you guys have more time to REVIEW the story. .

One review a chapter sucks on the ego. >.