*I DON'T OWN NARUTO*


Bright rays of light, courtesy of the sun, burned Naruto's eyes. He moaned as he desperately tried to go back to sleep, but as much as he tried he couldn't. He forced himself to open his eyes, and soon Sakura's room slowly came into focus. He looked to his right to see Sakura wasn't in bed with him. He sat up and the next thing he knew his head was throbbing and his entire body ached.

"I didn't drink that much last night. So why the hell does my head hurt so much?"

Naruto's mind was clouded, he rubbed his temples and it was then that he noticed he was still wearing his forehead protector.

"That's weird I usually take this off when I go to bed. Hmph, maybe I did have a little too much to drink last night."

The sound of his own voice made his head pulsate with pain. He groaned at the thought of doing anything today, he felt like shit. He was about to get out of bed when he noticed how the bed sheets felt against his bare skin. He lifted the covers to discover he was naked. He covered himself back up utterly confused; did he have sex last night?

He ran his fingers through his messy hair trying to remember what had happened the night before, despite his best efforts everything was a blur. One question was answered though, and that was where Sakura was, now that his head was a little clearer he could hear the shower water running.

Naruto began to make his way out of bed when out of nowhere his right arm throbbed immensely. This wasn't just any pain, he'd felt this before. It was then that last night's memories rapidly flooded his mind, he suddenly remembered everything.

Sakura's mother had walked in on them having sex, and he had almost lost control. Naruto looked down at his arm. The last thing he remembered, was using the key on his arm to summon his torri seal to restrict the Kyuubi. He placed his good hand over his face trying to get a hold of himself.

He had no idea was he was going to face Sakura, especially after what had happened. What was worse was that he had blacked out soon afterwards, which meant that things could have gotten worse. Then again he was still alive as was Sakura, so that was good. Naruto quickly weighed his options and through every scenario his best approach was to leave. It sounded horrible but he really needed to meditate and if he stayed with Sakura that would be more postponing, and he could afford that, not anymore.

He got out of bed and got dressed as quickly as possible, which was difficult, what with one arm shot, but he managed somehow. He walked over to Sakura's window and opened it. There was no way he was going to use the front door. Last time he got a little carried away with his noise level he got all kinds of looks from the tenants and he wasn't in the mood to have people looking at him. As he made his way out he heard the shower water turn off.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan."

He charged some chakra onto his feet and ran up on the wall of the building. He made it to the very top and decided to use the rooftops as his route to his destination. The sun was brilliantly bright and high up in the morning sky. Naruto had no idea what time it was, but judging by the position of the sun he decided it was somewhere around the 8 o'clock looked around the village, everyone was hustling about. He liked seeing Konoha start to come to life. Shops were opening, and people were starting off their days. He took in a deep breath and returned his focus on his trip. He made sure to quicken his pace, he didn't want any of his friends spotting him. He soon left the tall buildings and noise behind him, and the sight of his old training grounds.

Upon arriving he looked around from side to side taking in his nostalgic surroundings. He was standing in a lush green field with three tree stumps embedded in the slowly walked over to the middle stump and placed his good hand on it. He looked down remembering how he had gotten himself tied up with no lunch on their first task as a team. He smirked remembering how Kakashi had told Sakura and Sasuke not to feed him, yet they did. Sasuke realized that they needed to work as a team in order to get the bells, and that meant that Naruto needed his strength. Kakashi had appeared right in front of them after Naruto took his first bite. He looked like he was hell bent on scolding them, but his attitude completely changed at the last minute, and he announced that they had passed their exam. The act of disobeying their sensei's orders was the entire point of their test.

"Shinobi need to learn how to look pass deception. In our world those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Isn't that right Kakashi sensei?" Asked Naruto aloud.

He turned around and leaned back against the wooden stump. He slowly let himself slide down till he was sitting with his legs crossed. He took a deep breath, slowed his breathing, and started to relax his entire body. The pain from his right arm was intense, it hurt like shit, and he had no idea if it was broken, or if he had torn something. He decided to worry about it later, besides he'd start to heal in the next few hours anyway. Naruto let out a long deep breath and fully let himself go.

Silenced engulfed him as he remained perfectly still. He continued to focus on his breathing when he noticed that it was rather quite. The Kyuubi would usually butt in when he was trying to meditate, but this time the demon fox was nowhere to be seen or heard. It was probably was mad at him. It hadn't been the first time, nor would it be the last, but regardless it was better this anyway, since Naruto now had peace to regain his thoughts, and put his inner turmoil at ease.


Sakura paced around her apartment finding it hard to stay still. It was passed noon and she hadn't heard from Naruto at all. She walked into her bedroom and threw herself into the comfort of her bed. She was so worried about Naruto, she had no idea what kind of condition he had left in, and he hadn't left her a note explaining his actions.

She sighed as she reached for her phone that was next to her in bed. She flipped it open to see she had no messages or missed calls. No one had bothered calling her about last night, not even Ino, which was beyond odd.

"Is it really possible to have so much go wrong in a single night?" Groaned Sakura as she rolled over and buried her face into her bed sheets.

Before she could further dwell on the current mess she was in a soft knock on her front door made her lift her face from her covers.

"Naruto?"

Sakura waited for an answer, but none came. She slid off her bed and made her way to her front door to see who it was. She opened it to find her former sensei standing in front of her. A small smile could be seen through the fabric that hid his mysterious face.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Good morning Sakura, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No I was just resting in my room. Would you like to come inside?"

"I can't stay long, but yes I'll come inside. What I have to say should be discussed behind closed doors anyways," said Kakashi as he made his way inside his former student's apartment. He closed the door behind him and leaned his slender body against it.

"Is everything alright?" Asked Sakura.

"Everything's fine, I'm not here bringing bad news or anything."

"I see, so what's this all about?"

"Team 7 has a new mission, we need to report to Tsunade-sama in about an hour. I tried looking for Naruto first but he wasn't home so I figured he'd be here with you."

"Oh, we'll he was here earlier, but he left when I was in the shower."

"Do you know where he went?"

"No, I have no idea."

"Really, we'll that's odd."

"That's one way of of putting it," sighed Sakura.

"I'm guessing there's much more behind Naruto's absence then I originally thought."

"Oh God, I've made a mess of things Kakashi-sensei."

"So something did happen, we'll whatever it is I'm sure it's not that bad Sakura..."

"Oh no it most certainly is thanks to my stellar powers of persuasion," groaned Sakura. "The disaster at the party was caused by me, just by being present, then I insisted that Naruto stay the night with me after he refused countless times, but did I listen, no of course not!" Sakura said feverishly. "Even though Naruto told me he needed to meditate so he could balance himself out, he stayed, because I was being selfish, and thanks to me he almost loses control of the Kyuubi when my mother barged in on is having sex!"

Kakashi was speechless, and he remained silent while Sakura focused on controlling her breathing. Once she was done the reality of her little confession hit her hard. She couldn't believe what she had just told Kakashi. Her face felt as if it was engulfed in flames, she was beyond embarrassed.

"Kakashi sensei….I don't know... what came over me, I..."

Kakashi cleared his throat before she could finish.

"It's... alright... clearly you needed to get that off your chest."

Sakura ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"I'm so sorry….I'm an emotional mess."

"Please don't apologize."

"Thank you sensei, if anyone had to hear that I'm glad it was with you."

"Thank you..."

"I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I know you won't judge me like others have."

"Judge you?"

"It's a long story."

"I'm sure it is, but don't bother explaining, stress isn't good for a pregnant women afterall."

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, but before she could say anything he held up a gloved hand gesturing her to remain silent.

"Tsunade-sama told me while I was getting briefed on our mission. You know I'm not one to butt into your personal life, but this information had to be shared since we're all on the same team."

"Oh, I see..."

"You don't have to worry though, you won't be going, we'll be searching for a replacement for you since you'll be sitting out on missions for some time now."

"I'm so sorry, it looks like a lot of things are changing because of me," said Sakura as he looked down at her stomach.

"You shouldn't apologize for change Sakura, it's inevitable really, I mean do you honestly think that things are meant to always stay the same?"

"No, but my actions have derailed other people's lives."

"You say derailed like it's a bad thing."

"It is sensei, I mean me being pregnant is…"

"A mistake?"

"No...I mean...god I don't know. Everyone has wasted no time in lecturing me."

"You mustn't listen to what others say Sakura. Their opinions on your current condition matter not."

"..."

"What does matter is how you feel."

"How I feel?"

"Of course, so tell me, how do you feel?"

"I feel happy, terrified, and lost, is that normal?"

"I would think so. Bringing a new life into this world is a very complex life altering event. Having mixed emotions should be expected, so don't worry, it doesn't help you to worry, not one bit. Besides this child isn't a mistake, no new life is. What's happened here is just another unexpected curveball courtesy of life. At first these events seem like setbacks, or disasters even, but overtime we see that they are just what we needed, they simply come in disguise if you will. So don't you worry, situations such as this are just hiccups we encounter in our paths, and small detours from those paths are never a bad thing, now are they?"

"No, I guess not, I mean like you said life wasn't meant to stay the same. We might be taken off our path but we'll still arrive to our destination, just not the way we thought we would. Those little detours could actually take us down a much more beautiful scenic route."

"Exactly Sakura."

"You've always had a way with putting me at ease Kakashi-sensei."

"Well old habits die hard."

Sakura smiled.

"Oh and Sakura, congratulations," said Kakashi politely.

Sakura froze for a moment. The smile on her face remained, but it was joined by tears of joy that slid down her face. She had put her former sensei through a lot so far, but she couldn't help but push him out of his comfort zone one last time. She quickly threw herself into his chest and hugged him tightly. Kakashi was caught off guard as the young kunoichi knocked the wind out of him.

He looked down nervously as Sakura held him close. Small whimpers escaped her mouth as she held onto him. Kakashi wasn't one for showing any form of affection in public, or in general for that matter, so this was new to him. He held his arms up not sure whether to hug her back or not.

"Thank you so much Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi relaxed when he heard her speak, he couldn't help but smile as he lowered his arms and brought her closer to him. He remembered holding her in his arms when she was younger. She was always so scared to fight, and she had always relied on her teammates to save her, but things were different now, much different.

The dynamics of their team had forever changed the night Sasuke, and both Naruto and Sakura had received one of life's hardest lessons. His permanent departure had torn the team apart, and yet that tragedy had also brought what was left of the team closer, it had made them all stronger. After the two shared a warm embrace Kakashi slowly pulled Sakura from his body.

"Rest assured Sakura I'll find Naruto, and when I do I'll send Pakkun over here to let you know. If everything goes according to plan I'll meet you at Tsunade-sama's office in 30 minutes."

"And if it doesn't?"

"We'll have a bit of a detour now won't we."

"Of course," giggled Sakura. "Detours aren't so bad."

"Precisely."

With that said Kakashi turned around and made his way towards the front door. Before he stepped out he slowly turned around and smiled at Sakura.

"I'll find him, I promise."


Naruto hadn't moved at all since he'd arrived at his old training grounds early that morning. He had remained in the exact same spot mediating. However the heat of the day was at its peak now, and it was starting to get to him. The hotter Naruto got the harder it was to keep his concentration.

He finally opened his eyes and got up from the ground. His body was a bit stiff and his arm wasn't any better, but he felt great mentally. A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders and things seemed so much clearer to him now. He made his way out of the sun and towards the shade of a large tree. The sanctuary it provided was just what he needed. He removed his forehead protector and wiped the sweat that had collected under it.

He then unzipped his jacket and placed it on the floor next to him. A gust of summer wind swept across his face and it felt amazing. He made himself comfortable under the cool shade of the tree, but before he could fully relax a familiar chakra signature, and scent, made themselves present.

"Hey Kakashi sensei."

He slowly raised his head and look up into the intertwining tree branches. Sitting high up on one of the branches, with a book in hand, was Kakashi.

"Sharp as always Naruto," said Kakashi as he closed his book.

He jumped down from the tree branch and landed next to his former pupil. He put his book away in his knapsack, leaned against the tree, and joined Naruto on the lush grass. Together they sat side by side admiring the forest in front of them.

"So then, do you feel more like yourself?"

"You talked to Sakura-chan I see."

"What makes you think I went to see her?"

"You smell like her, which is a for sure sign that you were at her apartment."

Kakashi sighed in defeat.

"You aren't fun anymore Naruto, nothing gets by you."

"..."

"So then we have a new mission, we need to..."

"You were holding her weren't you?"

"..."

"I never thought I'd see the day when someone would steal a hug from you. It's a shame I wasn't there to see it. Is...she alright?"

"She's worried about you, which is understandable, but aside from that she's fine."

"Sometimes I feel that I cause her more sorrow and pain than happiness and love sensei. It's hard to know if what I'm doing is right or wrong. You'd think that would be easy, but I've been messing up lately. All I wanted to do was make her happy, but giving her what she wanted blew up in both our faces last night."

"So I heard."

"You know, Sakura-chan actually told you what happened last night?"

"I'm not sure if she intended too, but yes, she did."

"I don't know if I can ever face her mother again sensei. She's never been fond of me, and I just gave her another reason not to like me. I still can't believe she walked in on us," groaned Naruto.

"You've really got yourself in one interesting situation now haven't you Naruto."

"That's not even the half of it."

"I'm guessing you're referring to Sakura's pregnancy."

"She told you that too?"

"No, Tsunade-sama's the one that told me. She found it necessary seeing that Sakura can't go on mission as a member of team 7 anymore. We're going to have to borrow another member from an existing team to help us fill in the gap."

"Baa-chan huh? Well I was going to tell you if you didn't already know," said Naruto.

"Well I'm rather honored you'd inform me of something so personal Naruto. I'm very happy for both you and Sakura, you'll make great parents."

Naruto looked down at the grass he was sitting on and laughed nervously.

"You really think so Kakashi-sensei?"

"Of course."

"I'm flattered that you think that, but I'm not sure if I agree with you."

"Why is that?"

"Well for starters I didn't have parents, I have nothing to draw any experience form. Then we had the fact that I've never held a baby, let alone taken care of one, and now I have one on the way, what the hell am I going to do?" sighed Naruto.

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle.

"You sound just like your father did when he told me Kushina was pregnant."

"My dad was nervous?"

"Nervous is an understatement Naruto. He may have been the 4th Hokage, but he was also human."

"What do you mean?"

"The most powerful man in the world can be brought to his knees when he learns he's going to be a father. All that strength and power mean very little when it comes to raising another human being, so being afraid is completely natural. Just take your life one day at a time, and things will fall into place," said Kakashi as he rose up from the floor and stretched."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei, you really brought things into perspective for me."

"It's my pleasure Naruto. Now we have a mission briefing to get to in the next 15 minutes, so we need to be heading out," said Kakashi.

Naruto rose from the floor and dusted his knees.

"Oh crap what about Sakura-chan? Will she be at the briefing?"

"Yes, she'll be waiting at Hokage Tower so let's get moving."

"Lead the way Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto as he grabbed his jacket from the floor. He flung it over his shoulder and followed the silver haired jounin.


Sakura stood in front of Hokage tower while holding Pakkun tightly in her arms. The heat of the day had made her find refuge under a tall tree. The summers in Konoha were terribly hot. She felt Pakkun wiggle while in her grasp. He inhaled deeply as he sniffed the hot summer air. Suddenly he caught a whiff of his master and Naruto.

"Here they come," said Pakkun as his pointed his paw towards the scent.

Sakura looked in the direction the ninken's paw was pointing towards. She held her breath as she tried to see the two individuals he smelled. She soon saw Kakashi and Naruto come into view causing her to tighten her grip on Pakkun out of excitement. The tiny dog clenched its teeth as the air in his lungs was squeezed out.

"Please...Sakura watch your...strength," pleaded Pakkun.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Pakkun," said Sakura as she loosened her grip on the tiny canines body.

She crouched down and placed him on the floor so he could meet his master. The little ninken wasted no time in running towards Kakashi. Sakura looked on as the two of them shared a few words, and then from behind Kakashi appeared Naruto. His grace locked into hers and the both of them froze, neither one of them knew how to react, but Naruto took the plunge by running towards Sakura.

"Look Sakura-chan, about last night and this this morning, I'm sorry. I just couldn't face you after what happened and I..."

Sakura placed the tips of her fingers over his mouth silencing him.

"Shhh please don't explain, I don't blame you for leaving."

"But I.."

Sakura quickly replaced her fingers with her lips. It was a simple kiss, but Naruto knew the meaning behind it was big. She pulled away slightly and whispered.

"We have to go to this briefing, and then my doctor's appointment is after that. I personally want to be in a much more private setting to discuss everything, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yeah, of course, is that what you want?"

"Yes, we can talk once we're alone. Just know that I have things under control, okay?"

"Sure thing," replied Naruto, though he wasn't fond of being left in the dark.

Kakashi walked up to them and cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but we don't want to be late for our briefing."

"Kakashi-sensei is right, we better get going," said Sakura.

"Yeah talk about not being late from the world's worst offender," said Naruto.

Kakashi sighed at Naruto's comment.

"Is it so wrong that I want to practice being punctual?"

"No, it's just way out of character," replied Naruto as both he and Sakura passed Kakashi.

"The kid does have a point Kakashi, you'd be late to you own funeral," said Pakkun.

Kakashi paused to address his furry companion that was resting on his shoulder.

"Just whose side are you on Pakkun?"

"Hey the kid does make a valid point Kakashi."

"Perhaps, but you're supposed to have my back."

"Awe, did I hurt someone's feelings?"

"Don't start, we need to get moving."

"WelI we may be late, but those two love birds just might make it on time."

Kakashi turned to look at his former students. They were almost out of sight.

"What happened to the days where they were stuck to me like glue?" Asked Kakashi. "They use to listen to my every word, they looked up to me."

"They still do, they just aren't kids anymore. Besides I went through the same thing with you," said Pakkun.

Kakashi looked surprised at his canine companions remark, and after a few seconds he smiled.

"Fair enough Pakkun, you got me there."

With that said Kakashi slowly made his way towards Hokage Tower. Try as he might, he couldn't help but be fashionably late.


Naruto, along with Kakashi and Sakura stood next to Sai and Ino. They all faced Tsunade's desk waiting for her to speak. She folded her hands and rested her chin on them.

"We have a rather peculiar problem on our hands that needs to be addressed. Many civilians from almost every major country have con astray. Most of the disappearances are in Kumogakure while Suna and Konoha haven't been affected as of yet."

"The Raikage just finished losing some high ranking shinobi that he sent to search for his missing villagers. Now he's starting to think that Konoha and Suna are somehow responsible. So in order to show our innocence, and genuine concern, both myself, and the Kazekage, have sent teams to the other countries to help search for these missing individuals."

"..."

"I've sent Team Guy to Iwagakure, and Team Kurenai to Kumogakure. Kiba's nose should greatly help the Raikage's shinobi find the whereabouts of the team he recently lost, which should put him at ease."

Naruto scowled at the sound of Kiba's name. His actions from last night were still fresh and vivid in his mind. Just because he had made peace with himself didn't mean he'd forgiven Kiba. Naruto clenched his teeth in frustration, but he was snapped out of his thoughts when Sai walked toward Tsunade's desk and spoke.

"Excuse me Tsunade-sama, but couldn't these missing civilians be the victims of the growing number of rogue shinobi?"

"We do believe that rogue shinobi may be linked to these abductions, especially with the recent disappearance of the Raikage's search party, but it wouldn't make much sense for them to be kidnapping civilians."

"Well are these people important figures in society? If so they could be held for ransom," said Ino.

"No, the victim's families never received any ransom notes, so money isn't a factor. The people that have been reported missing are just regular civilians. None of them come from high ranking families either."

"So what do you want us to do Baa-chan?"

"I'm appointing Team Kakashi to border patrol."

Naruto's heart sank.

"Border patrol?"

"Yes, border patrol Naruto. We need to make sure that our villagers remain safe from this unknown threat. I'll be enforcing a mandatory curfew for the entire village, with the exception of active shinobi."

"But border patrol is so boring, why couldn't you have just sent us out to help the other villages like Guy and Kurenai's team?"

"I need you here."

"This is bullshit though, our team is well above such mediocre work, we should be out there where the action is…"

Tsunade didn't give Naruto a chance to continue his ranting. She slammed her hand on her desk and leaned forward.

"Enough Naruto!"

"We have no idea what we are dealing with. I can't afford to have you out there when we're totally blind at what the enemy wants. You need to settle down and accept what I've assigned your team do to. Just because it isn't what you want doesn't mean you have the authority to just slack off and do a shitty job."

"Alright jeez," muttered Naruto in defeat.

Tsunade sighed heavily as she looked at the rest of Team 7.

"I'm appointing Ino as Sakura's replacement. She's a perfect match, not only is she also a medic, but her mind transfer techniques are wonderful for interrogating any trespassers you may come across. Hopefully that doesn't happen during your patrolling. Now you'll be taking the graveyard shift which starts at midnight. You'll report back here at 7:00am when the next team relieves you, is that clear?

"Yes ma'am," said everyone in unison.

"Good, you'll be appointed to border patrol until I tell you otherwise, you're all dismissed," said Tsunade as she waved her hand motioning Team Kakashi to leave. Everyone turned around and made their way out of the office.

"Sakura, Naruto, you two stay," ordered Tsunade.

Sakura and Naruto obeyed and the both of them drew closer towards her desk.

"Look Baa-chan I'm sorry..."

"No need for apologies Naruto, your heart was in the right place, you just need to practice on your conversations skills."

"Right," replied Naruto sheepishly.

"I really do need you here though, something tells me there's something far worse at play here."

"I'll keep my eyes open Baa-chan."

"Good, now Sakura, Shizune is finally back on her feet from that awful head cold she had. She's waiting for you at the maternity clinic, she'll be filling in for me. All this nonsense going on has the council concerned, so I have to meet with them."

"It's alright, I understand."

"Alright then, you're dismissed, and Naruto I'll be seeing you in the morning," said Tsunade.

"Yeah Baa-chan, see you at 7:00am."

Sakura grabbed Naruto's right arm and led him out of her master's office. He held in a scream of pain as Sakura pulled his mangled arm.

"Come on Naruto let's get moving."

"Alright, but what's the rush?" Asked Naruto as he did his best to keep up with her.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle.

"I want to see our baby, don't you?"