A/N-Wow. I didn't expect that much of a response for killing Mika. And I want to GLOMP all of my readers and reviewers. This story now has over 10000 hits as well as over 150 reviews! WOOT you guys rule! Thanks to Elemental Dragon2.0, kagime and the owl, Supershark1, Dog of the Dead, Loku, Yargy the Pirate Queen and Kyiri Makrono for reviewing the last chapter…the call is still out for those of you who haven't…to go see Howl's Moving Castle, it's an awesome movie! READ AND REVIEW!

Disclaimer-I don't own Naruto

Chapter 36

Gaara's hands were balled into fists, so tightly that his nails cut little half-moons into his palm. Dimly he was aware of his daughter screaming, but his eyes were trained on the body of his fallen wife. Itachi was standing over Mika's body, eyes narrowed, gaze on the body and an emotion that almost looked like…suspicion and annoyance in his gaze. Letting out a feral growl to get the murderer's attention, he began to speak.

"When I get through with you Itachi, you will regret three things in life." His voice took on a feral quality as his teeth lengthened into fangs as Shukaku began to come out. "You will regret the day you were born. The day you heard my name. And the day you killed my wife." His eyes began to turn yellow as the demon fought it's way to the surface.

Giving the enraged demon vessel a lazy, slightly disgusted glance, the former Akatsuki leader spoke up. "Hold it power boy. First of all, your efforts to attempt to kill me are pathetic. Second of all…"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence, instead looking to his feet…as Mika's body dissolved into a pile of dried leaves which made a crunching sound as the heavy kunai fell to the bottom of the pile.

Suddenly, from behind him, she appeared, her own kunai out of it's holster…and pointed at his throat. "You tried to kill me, didn't you." She said, somewhat amused voice. Itachi smirked and said "Clever, only doing the substitution at the last minute. Otherwise my Sharingan would've seen right through it. Too bad though…" Suddenly Itachi turned into a log. "Doppleganger…" breathed Mika as she heard Itachi's voice from behind her. "You don't have the Sharingan." He said from his place over by the kids. Whirling around to face him, Mika hurled the kunai in his direction, barely missing him. "I told you to stay away from my daughter." Hissed the protective mother.

The other parents as well as the childless newlyweds were all armed now; ready to defend the children against whatever Itachi was willing to throw at them. "Well this is no fun." Putting his hands together he drew out a length of his own chakra, formed into a rope.

Which he bound tightly around the children.

Sienna screamed in pain while Keiko merely stared at the place where her mother's body had been and where now was a pile of leaves. "Mommy…is safe." She said, oblivious to the chakra ropes that were cutting her arms. That is, until the ropes cut so deep they made her bleed, causing the girl to mewl in pain.

The cries of pain of their children got to the parents in such a way that nothing else could. At this, they pulled out all the stops and fired up every single weapon they had in their arsenal. Gaara had Shukaku partially out while Mika held a Shuriken in one hand and raised two fingers in front of her face with the other one. Both Hyuuga's had the Byakkugan on and both Uchiha's had the Sharingan on. Seyann had partially released Celina; Naruto had Kyuubi's chakra out and Sakura's fist glowed with unreleased chakra.

Itachi took one look at the infuriated parents before deciding to make his escape while he still could. Dangling the bundle of children by the ropes, he took a step back, away from the crowd of angered parents. Making a single hand sign, he summoned his chakra and prepared to use a transport back to his hiding spot. Before he left, however, he spoke to the parents.

"I'm not done here. This is hardly even the beginning. I have these children…" Mika couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out "Why though? Why?" Itachi rolled his eyes and said "Patience. This is in revenge for all you people did to keep Celina away from the Akatsuki. Let that be a lesson to you. However…I don't get even…I get even and then some."

With a smirk on his visage, he unfurled one hand that he had been holding in loose fist. "I'll be back…in a month for yours…" he said this while pointing at Mika who gasped and stepped back into Gaara's protective embrace, "In about 7 months for yours…" he said pointing at Seyann who simply glared at him, fire in her eyes. He turned his finger on Michelle next.

"And in 8 months for yours."

It felt as though someone had stolen the very breath out of her. Collapsing onto the ground, her eyes opened wide as Neji wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "How did he know…" she said in a soft shocked voice.

Before anyone could answer her question, however, Itachi was gone in a swirl of black smoke…with the children.

Mika sagged into Gaara's arms, sobbing. "My baby…Keiko…" she sobbed into his shirtfront as he wrapped an arm tightly around her, waiting for Shukaku's arm to retract before doing the same with the other one. Kakashi was holding Seyann, Naruto was comforting Hinata, Sasuke was holding Sakura while he stared icily at the place where his brother had been and Neji bent over to examine Michelle.

"Mika…love, you shouldn't have spent that much chakra." Said Gaara, anxiously. Truthfully, however, he was purposefully provoking his wife. When Mika was this badly anguished…which didn't happen often, but when it did the best way for her to vent…was by screaming her head off.

"Do you not care?" she said, incredulously. "OUR DAUGHTER!" she exploded. "OUT DAUGHTER….OUR BABY,…THAT FREAK! THAT FREAK HAS OUR DAUGHTER!" She pounded on his chest, taking her frustration out in one of the only ways she knew how.

While he waited out the barrage of verbal and physical missiles that his wife threw at him, he rubbed her back in an effort to calm her down. When she seemed to be finished, he said in a calming voice "You know I will never stop caring about Keiko. And I swear, I will hunt to the ends of the earth until the day I die, if I have to, to get her back." He lowered his voice as he said this, knowing how it calmed her. "But you have to think about our new little one as well…if anything happens to him or her…Itachi wins. Do you want that?" Mika shook her head as tears started to fall down her cheaks.

"Are you okay 'Chelle?" asked Neji softly as he knelt by his wife, concern written very clearly in his voice. "Yeah…" said a shaky Michelle. "But how did he know? How…Neji you're the only one I told."

"Michelle…" he said to her gently, brushing renegade black hair out of her face. "You…never told me you were pregnant. It's a complete surprise to me." Her eyes opened wide. "But…I…yesterday. In the glade. I told you, I know I did." She concentrated before Sasuke interrupted her train of thought in an angry voice. "Itachi is excellent at doing transformations. He probably did that so he could get some information in order to get into your head later."

"Well he certainly succeeded." Heaving a sigh she allowed herself to be helped to her feet by her husband. "So…now what." The rest of the parents looked towards the pregnant woman as she posed that question. "How are we going to keep the new babies safe…"

"And how are we going to get our children back from Itachi." Said Mika in a firm but somewhat shaken voice, face contorted with rage.

Kakashi thought about this for a moment. "Well I'm not sure about the second half yet-we need to find out where his hiding spot is before we can pursue him…"

"But I'm pretty sure I have a solution to the first half of your problem."

A/N-I think this chapter is a little shorter and I apologize. I'm kind of tired tonight and I was fully intending not to type and post until tomorrow morning…and I would've done such had the friend who is Seyann in the story not been sitting right next to me…

She's my ball and chain. Without her…the story would've ended a LONG time ago…But she's one heckofa slave driver.

And I'm sorry that there's no one-shot tonight...there will be one tomorrow night. The only reason that there isn't one tonight (it's not for lack of ideas...thanks to Elemental Dragon2.0 and Kyiri as well as my friend who is Seyann in this story for all the ideas) I'm just too tired tonight.

Anyways…REVIEW!