Bad Memories and Exciting News

Sasuke perched in a tree at the edge of the Forest of Death. Through that labyrinth of green lay Konoha, his former home. They were close enough now that he felt Seito should begin cloaking their chakra signatures. Over the last several days he had had the younger ninja practice extending his chakra-muting jutsu to cover the both of them. Sasuke didn't trust it enough yet to completely mask his own identity, but in the current situation no one would actually be looking for him inside the village itself. All he needed Seito to do would be to muffle their signatures enough so that they wouldn't be immediately recognizable.

He paused on a tree branch looking down and considered his options. Should he capture Karin or go after Hinata herself?

Grimly he recognized that there was one important task that needed to be completed before dealing with either of those two kunoichi. Sasuke ordered Seito to accompany him, maintaining the cloak but also trying to detect Karin. Their first stop would be the medical center. Whether or not Karin's ludicrous allegations about Hinata were true, there was absolutely no doubt that the possibility existed after what Orochimaru had done to him. Whatever genetic material had fallen into Konoha's hands would have to be destroyed to prevent any possibility of such a thing in the future. Once he had dealt with that personally then he could decide what to do about the two women.

Slipping through the streets of Konoha memories came flooding back to him. His feet automatically remembered the path to the medical center. Konoha had been rebuilt after Pein's attack but the layout was still familiar. The Hokage tower loomed over the village center, attached to the library and medical center. Seito's cloak must have been working very well, no guards confronted them and passers-by paid little attention to them.

A late summer Friday night and people were out and about for the evening chatting happily. Wistful memories started to rise like the evening's mist in Sasuke's mind, memories of similar summer evenings when his parents would take him and his brother out for a treat. Sasuke quickly relegated those memories to the back of his mind.

Other memories, darker ones now started to surface as they approached the medical center. They darted around to the back and crept in stealthily through an alternate entrance. The place was dark, they were at the back of the building, the duty nurses at the front had no idea they had entered. Sasuke left Seito stationed at their illicit entrance while he silently crept through cold and sterile hallways. No need to enter the patient wings of the facility, what he was searching for would be in a lab area.

He finally came upon what he was looking for in a freezer. Retrieving the vials from their chilly storage compartment he thought back bitterly to the shame and the pain and the outrage he had endured under Orochimaru's tutelage. He had gone to him for knowledge and Orochimaru had delivered but the price had been high.

The black-haired young man smashed vial after vial on the ground grinding them under one foot. Violently he then upended the container of all the samples from Orochimaru's labs and destroyed the remainder, not just his own. No one who had been a victim of that monster should have those memories continue to haunt them in this way, a threat held over their heads for eternity. And if they were dead already at least they deserved the dignity of remaining dead, not having their bloodline resurrected in some program fit only for livestock.

"Let's go," he whispered tersely to Seito as he rejoined his companion.

Seito thought about asking his master about his completed task but one look at Sasuke's face caused him to think better of it. "Hai, to where my Lord?"

"Follow me," Sasuke replied heading back toward the edge of the village.

Shikamaru left Yakiniku Q after having been wheedled into coming by Ino. Actually 'wheedle' probably wasn't the right word, he admitted to himself. It more likely had something to do with her dismissive 'suit yourself' and the swish of her long ponytail as she turned to walk away. Recently he found her mesmerizing and the idea of her having dinner alone tonight with just Choiji, even though he was his best friend, even though they were all three best friends... it just hadn't sat well with him. So he had relented, caught up with her and enjoyed dinner with his old team.

Hinata was with Sakura, the two of them were still working on cleaning and that was certainly work he didn't mind avoiding just for one evening. They could get along fine for a couple of hours without assigning him a broom or a mop.

The young Nara man yawned and stretched and then started to walk toward the Uchiha compound, taking the circuitous back route where he would be less likely to be noticed by anyone in the streets. Mainly because there wouldn't be too many people in these streets.

So much of Konoha was new and shiny until one reached the Uchiha quarter. Even though the rest of the village had been renovated in a burst of enthusiastic building after the end of the last war, this area remained untouched, a ghost town. The crowds thinned out as did the occupied buildings. Shadows lengthened and then finally became simply the night itself. In this part of town, even the streetlights were frequently left unattended when they went out. Maintenance activities were few and far between here.

Shikamaru reviewed his reasoning behind even suggesting this location in the first place. Hinata's plan had been bold. Bold enough to require a bold statement. Living in a shared apartment with Kurenai, or in a borrowed cabin on Nara lands, while possibly safe in the short term failed to acknowledge the long term implications of what she was undertaking.

But reclaiming Uchiha lands and assets did.

Shikamaru smiled to himself. He had to give her credit - Hinata certainly did engage in long term strategic thinking. She had had the vision - his suggestion of this spot as a location for her new family was just an implementation detail.

Hinata.

Who would have thought her so bold?

And Ino.

When did she get to be so...fascinating?

Gah. Women were troublesome.

Movement flickered at the corner of his field of vision and he glanced over in the direction. A slim shape dipped into the edge of the forest. They had come from behind him but must have headed off at an angle upon catching sight of another person in the streets. He thought the figure seemed feminine but it could have just been a slender male. At first he considered following them but decided against it. The alleys here probably held several illicit gaming rooms and other questionable activities. Most likely he'd just happened to cross paths with someone who didn't want their business known.

Still, he remained on alert for any hint that the person or any persons might be following him.

Slipping into the his destination area he walked to the house under repair and saw with relief that Sakura was still with Hinata. Of course she would be - she was one of the most reliable shinobi he knew. Sakura would never be derelict in her duty. The two girls seemed to be happy as a pair of larks with broad smiles. He could hear an occasional chorus of giggles as he approached.

"Yo," he saluted the two of them.

If possible both their smiles became brighter as soon as they saw him.

"Shikamaru!" Hinata said with delight.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Sakura joined in equally giddy.

"Why so happy?" he asked and the two of them dissolved into laughter. Puzzled, because he himself had never been that thrilled about housework or any type of work for that matter. "Care to fill me in?"

"Please, Sakura,...can I tell him ...both?" Hinata looked at her friend with pleading eyes.

"Oh, all right," Sakura relented, still laughing and forgetting the earlier promise she had extracted from Hinata. "You can tell him...both."

"We're pregnant!" Hinata announced joyfully.

"Well, er, congratulations, " Shikamaru replied scratching the back of his head and not quite sure of protocol in these matters. Should he hug her? Then he stopped short and re-parsed what she had said.

"Wait a minute...we're pregnant?" he asked looking from one kunoichi to the next.

Hinata nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Sakura-chan, too."

Sakura just beamed. "Naruto's going to be angry. Tsunade and I have been threatening him to keep him from spilling the beans and now here I've gone and done it first. But you can't tell anybody, Shikamaru!" she added sternly. The look she gave him reminded him of his mom's "I-really-mean-it" look and so he quickly nodded his agreement.

In those few seconds Shikamaru's world changed forever. Hinata pregnant. Sakura pregnant. They were going to be mothers. Heck they already were mothers. And Naruto was a dad.

Until now Hinata's situation had been an interesting and complex problem to solve. But the baby part of it had been abstract not tangible. It was...a desired goal of Hinata's plan. But now...

Holy shit Hinata was pregnant.

And Sakura too.

Holy shit.

This meant only one thing.

His mom was going to start hounding him relentlessly about settling down now and providing her with grandchildren.

They chatted for a while longer, with the girls doing most of the chatting and Shikamaru smiling and nodding politely all the while refining his plans for keeping Hinata safe now that they had progressed into what he preferred to think of as "Phase Two" rather than the "Oh-My-God-Hinata-Really-Is-Pregnant" phase. The proverbial shit would now really hit the fan.

The Hyuuga clan leadership had been kept silent by large bribes from Uchiha funds and the sternest of admonitions, otherwise known as threats, directed toward Hiashi by Tsunade, Koharu and his own aunt Chizu. But now they were on a schedule determined by the baby. In about ninety days Hinata would start showing and there would no longer be anyway to keep this secret.

He watched the two happy young women and wondered if they would be able to keep it secret that long.

Eventually Sakura realized the lateness of the hour and excused herself to head home, leaving Hinata in Shikamaru's care. It was late and he really did want her to go back to Kurenai's for the evening.

"Just a few more things to tidy up, Shikamaru," she wheedled. Although when Hinata wheedled it was rather more pleasant than when Ino did, he had to admit to himself.

Picking up the cleaning implements and stowing them away he thought he heard movement from the woods at the back of the yard. He paused, alert like a stag in the forest straining to either see or hear anything but there was nothing.

He briefly thought back to the stranger who crossed his path earlier this evening but once again dismissed it as a gambler or a drunk on their way home.