Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

by Kingkakashi

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke nearly kills Naruto and it affects everyone in many ways. See a vastly different direction after this battle to the Naruto story, than what the Canon did. There will be action, surprises, & romance NarxHin KakxKur JirxTsu & many more. Warning be prepared for the most Evil Sadistic Sasuke ever, and Sakura takes a beating in the early chapters. Enjoy!

42. The Snake Whore and Goody Two Shoes

Chapter 42 Summary: Life for two shinobi has changed drastically since Naruto's departure from the village. Some of the changes positive while others not so much. In the end, what helps them persevere is the love they have with one another.

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Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

Chapter 42: "The Trials of the Snake-Whore & Goody-Two Shoes"

As Tsunade gazed out the hospital window at the young couple walking away carrying their children bundled in their arms, she couldn't help but smile at how loving a family two of the most unlikely of her shinobi had become with one another. It seemed like only yesterday they were banging on her door at midnight and crying out that they wanted to get married. Now five months later this most unusual couple were now the proud parents of two adorable twin girls and judging by the smiles that adorned the faces of the parents they couldn't be happier about it. It had been a difficult road for the pair shinobi and they had overcome many obstacles and prejudices leading up to the birth of their children. Tsunade chuckled as she remembered a different look on the mothers face when she had first informed the blonde Hokage of her pregnancy.

(Flashback 5 Months)

Tsunade was quite bored sitting in her office doing the never-ending bane of all Kage's paperwork. Pausing for a moment to take a break, the blonde Hokage looked over at a picture on her desk of Naruto, Shizune, Jiraiya, and herself they had taken before the Senju princess returned to the village to accept the position of the Godaime Hokage. A lone tear welled in her eye, as she looked to the calendar and saw that Naruto had only been gone little over three months. Tsunade missed her grandson terribly and never realized until now that Naruto's numerous daily interruptions when he was in the village actually broke up the monotony of her dreary days. The buxom blonde Hokage would happily welcome one of Naruto's impromptu visits and heaved a remorseful sigh because she knew such a visit would not be coming anytime soon.

So, it surprised Tsunade when Anko Mitarashi walked into her office instead of coming in via the rooftops through her window. Even more curious to the blonde Hokage was the pensive almost fearful expression the Tokubetsu (Special) Jounin bore upon her face. Tsunade also noticed that the tan colored long coat that Anko always wore open to show off her fishnet blouse and what it contained, as well as her golden brown colored short skirt was now closed and tied securely by a belt around her waist. As Anko timidly and silently approached the desk Tsunade was sitting behind, and stood before her who broke the silence and asked.

"Anko, I didn't send for you, to what do I owe the reason for you being here?"

"I, I, needed a medical diagnosis Lady Tsunade." Anko stammered nervously.

"Alright, but why didn't you go to the hospital for this diagnosis? The Hokage's office isn't exactly conducive for me giving you a medical exam."

"I, I, don't need a full medical exam. I know what's wrong with me; I just need more of a confirmation of it."

"Well, what is it you think you have Anko?" Tsunade questioned with curiosity.

At this point the purpled-haired kunoichi exhales a heavy sigh and begins untying the knot of the belt keeping her long coat closed. As soon as it is loosened, Anko hesitantly gripped the coat before opening it causing Tsunade to jump up from her chair and her eyes to nearly bulge out of its sockets with shock. There before the blonde Hokage's eyes was a very discernable belly-bump giving strong indication that a certain Snake Mistress of Konoha was indeed pregnant. After a moment the shock wore off and Tsunade flopped back down in a heap and grumbled to herself.

"Kami, not another one of my best kunoichi's put out of action because she can't keep her panties on."

"What was that Lady Tsunade?"

"Oh nothing, just me talking to myself, well I suspect you do know what is wrong with you. But let's take a look and confirm everything as you suggested." Tsunade stated before rising to perform a scan on nervous Jounin Kunoichi.

Tsunade's hand glowed and ethereal green, as she moved it around Anko's abdomen before canceling the medical jutsu and commenting.

"Well my dear, it's confirmed, you are indeed pregnant. What's more you're going to have…"

"Oh Kami!" Anko exclaimed interrupting the blonde Hokage, as she buried her face in the palms of her hands before continuing on in a panic-stricken voice.

"What am I going to do Lady Tsunade? I'm not ready to be the mother to a little gaki yet!"

"Well, whether you're ready or not, you'd better be in about four to five months, because you aren't going to be the mother of a gaki, but of a pair of gaki's."

"Wha, what!"

"That's right Anko, you're having twins."

Anko suddenly grew light-headed and began to sway a bit upon hearing this news before Tsunade caught her from collapsing onto the floor and ushered the distraught woman onto a nearby chair. Tsunade called out to her apprentice Shizune who quickly came into the office and ordered her to get some water. The Slug Sannin then turned her attention back to her distraught Jounin kunoichi who appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The frightened visage Anko bore on her face was most troubling to Tsunade.

Anko Mitarashi was one of the bravest shinobi Tsunade had ever known. This was a woman who once squared off against her treacherous fellow Sannin Orochimaru and didn't bat an eyelash in doing so. To now see her in such an agitated and distressed state of being had caught the blonde Hokage completely off guard. When Shizune returned carrying a tray with a pitcher of water and glasses on it, Tsunade poured a glass of water and helped the young kunoichi drink it, while simultaneously ordering Shizune to leave the office and bar any visitors until she says otherwise.

As Tsunade watched the door close behind Shizune, she pulled up a chair beside Anko and rubbed the young kunoichi's back while saying in a soothing and reassuring voice.

"Calm down, it will be alright. No woman is ever ready to become a mother, but when it happens we persevere and do the best we can. I know the prospect of motherhood seems scary right now, but you're one of the strongest women I've ever met both in attitude and spirit and I've no doubt you will make a fine mother when the time comes."

"You, you really think so?"

"I know so Anko Mitarashi….." Tsunade replied with a smile before adding while mimicking the purple-haired Jounin favorite phrase when introducing herself.

"…..the most beautiful, deadliest, and sexiest kunoichi in all the Fire country if not the world!"

"Hah, I won't be so beautiful, deadly, and sexy anymore when I balloon out to the size of an Akimichi in a few more weeks." Anko replied with a mirthless chuckle.

"Well, I'm sure the father of your children will still consider you beautiful, deadly, and sexy."

A stoic and contemplative look spread over the Jounin kunoichi's face at the mention of the father, as Anko began to nervously chew on her bottom lip, which prompted Tsunade to ask.

"If I may ask, who is the father?"

"I'd rather not say, the father is one of the most well-liked and respected men in the village and I don't want his reputation ruined by being associated with the snake-whore of Konoha."

Tsunade winced upon hearing Anko refer to herself as that. The blonde Hokage wondered who the man might be that Anko in her warped sense was trying to protect when a memory flashed in her mind of something Shikamaru Nara had said to her when she asked what's going on with Asuma Sarutobi.

'We really don't know what happened to Asuma-Sensei Hokage-sama. I can only tell you that his decline started about a year ago and I think it involves both Kurenai-san and Anko-san in some way, but I have no idea in what way?'

"Anko, is the father Asuma Sarutobi?"

The purple-haired kunoichi looked up with a visage of abject horror plastered upon her face and immediately shouted out with indignation.

"Kami no, I'd sooner sire kids with Orochimaru if that sick pedophile freak actually liked girls then to have the kids of that loathsome bastard Asuma! Why in the world would you think the father was Asuma Sarutobi?"

"I'm sorry; I had just heard a rumor about something involving you, Asuma, and Kurenai. So I thought maybe it was the Sarutobi name you were trying to protect given how close you and Sensei were." Tsunade apologetically replied.

"Oh, I see, no that involves another matter not my unwanted pregnancy." Anko quietly answered, as a look of sadness spread across her face.

"So then you and this mystery man of yours hadn't planned on this pregnancy. If that's the case, then why didn't the two of you take the necessary precautions to prevent it?" Tsunade sternly stated admonishing the young kunoichi before her.

"We did take precautions Lady Tsunade; we've been very careful and responsible. The only time we didn't was on the Wave mission with Naruto and…." Anko defensively replied, before slapping her hand over her mouth when she realized what she had just revealed.

The gears in Tsunade's mind began spinning at a rapid pace, as she delved into her memory of that mission before her eyes grew wide in astonishment and she exclaimed.

"The goody two-shoes school teacher!"

Anko dropped her head in absolute resignation and defeat, while once again burying her face in the palms of her hands, as she heard Tsunade comment.

"Anko Mitarashi with Iruka Umino, I never would have imagined that in a million years. Talk about irony, I remember telling Naruto that he couldn't take Hinata along on that mission because I didn't need one of my best kunoichi's coming back to me with a little shinobi in the oven and I still lose from that mission one of my best kunoichi's with not one but two little shinobi in the oven."

"Please, you can't tell anyone about Iruka-kun and I." Anko pleaded with desperation.

The genuine fright echoing in Anko's voice gave pause to the blonde Hokage and she quickly placed her hand upon the young kunoichi's shoulder to calm her down and said in a reassuring voice.

"I promise I won't say a word to anyone, but people are going to speculate as to who he father might be."

"No they won't Lady Tsunade, because I formally request you assign me long term mission away from the village. I don't care what rank it is just so long as it takes me away from the village until I give birth."

"Are you insane? I'm not going to assign a mission to you or any other kunoichi in your condition. Plus, thanks to the medical procedures I've implemented the Village Hidden in the Leaves has the highest percentage of successful childbirths of all the elemental nations. I'm surprised you would even request such a thing and even more shocked that Iruka would allow you to go on a mission in your condition."

Anko winced slightly at the mention of Iruka's name, which Tsunade noticed and suddenly realized why Iruka wasn't there.

"He doesn't know you're pregnant does he Anko?"

The purple-haired Jounin could only look to the floor in shame and shook her head. It was confusing to Tsunade why Anko would not let Iruka know about her condition and was going to get to the bottom of this situation right now.

"I don't understand any of this? I think your reasoning for keeping your relationship a secret is foolish and I'm surprised Iruka has even allowed it."

"It's the one thing we fight about, he's not happy about keeping our relationship a secret, but he's begrudgingly respecting my wishes on the matter."

"Be that as it may, he has a right to know about your pregnancy. I mean how does he not know about it? You're clearly showing the physical signs of your condition."

"I, I haven' seen Iruka-kun in over six weeks. I told him you had assigned me a long term mission outside the village and would be gone for several months and I've been hiding out from him ever since."

"Well, you might as well tell him unless you plan on avoiding him for the next four to five months. Because that long term mission you were hoping for isn't going to happen."

"I'll buy you a years worth of sake for that mission."

"Sorry, as tempting as that offer is I must decline for the sake of your kids. What are you worried about anyway? Are you concerned that Iruka won't step-up and take responsibility? Because I can assure you he's one of the good one's when it comes to men and it wouldn't surprise me if he wanted to get married."

"You think I don't know that Lady Tsunade! I know he's one of the good one's, the best as far as I'm concerned. I love Iruka-kun and I know he would step-up and accept responsibility, but I don't want him to marry me out of sense of obligation because of my pregnancy."

Tsunade felt for the young kunoichi, as her situation reminded the blonde Hokage of her own checkered past when she found out, she was pregnant with Minato, but chose not to find and inform Jiraiya of it and because of that decision lost her chance to live a happy life with the man she loves and their child. Tsunade knew right then and there she would not allow Anko to make the same foolish and cruel mistake she did and ordered in a stern voice.

"Well Anko in my capacity as Hokage, I've changed my mind and I will give you a mission which you must complete successfully or face severe penalty for failure which will be revocation of your shinobi status and possible prison time."

"Anko's face scrunched up in bewilderment at this sudden change in attitude from the buxom blonde Hokage in assigning a mission to her and of hearing the stiff penalties to be invoked should she fail it and hesitantly asked.

"What is this mission Lady Tsunade?"

"Your mission, which is to commence immediately is to track down and find within the village one Iruka Umino. Upon finding said Chunin shinobi you are then to reveal your current medical condition and discuss with the man your plans not only for the two of you, but also the futures of your unborn children. Are we clear on the parameters of mission Anko?"

The aforementioned kunoichi leapt up from her chair and shouted out in anger.

"You can't do that, you have no right! You can't assign such a mission as that!"

"I have every right! You forget yourself Tokubetsu (Special) Jounin Anko Mitarashi! I'm the Godaime Hokage and I can give out any damn mission I want to with my shinobi! Now get out of my office and complete the mission to which you were assigned! I expect to hear word of its successful completion within the next 24 hours from you!"

Upon hearing that, Anko began to think how far she could get away from the village in 24 hours when she heard Tsunade add with a deadly tone to her voice.

"If you're thinking about running, don't! Because if you do, I will have my hunter-nin squads track you down and bring you back to the village. I will then display you and your current medical condition right down Main Street for everyone to see."

Anko knew she was beaten and dropped her head in defeat before tying her long coat back together and slowly trudging out of Tsunade's office like an inmate marching towards the gallows.

---

As Iruka sat in his living room absently twirling a small velvet box between his thumb and finger he glanced at the clock and saw the hour was growing close to midnight and heaved a frustrated sigh. The Leaf village academy instructor knew he had a heavy workload the next day and should have already been asleep. Unfortunately the young Chunin had grown accustomed to falling asleep with the girl he was love with by his side. Since she had left on her long-term secret mission six weeks ago, he had been getting very little sleep.

It also didn't help ease Iruka's troubled mind that the last time he had seen Anko she had left angry and insulted. He hadn't meant it as an insult when he asked if she had put on some weight, but looking back on it Iruka was still kicking himself for not keeping his big-mouth shut. Sighing once more in frustration, the young Chunin shinobi rose and opened his desk drawer placing the small velvet box in it, before turning to head towards his bedroom in another fruitless attempt to get some sleep when the sound of someone knocking on his door interrupted his silent solitude.

Iruka swung the door open to his apartment wondering who could be visiting him at such a late hour. Needless to say he was stunned beyond words to see the subject of his recent thoughts standing before him. Breaking out of his initial shock, Iruka quickly wrapped Anko up in a loving hug, while saying in a voice filled with glee.

"Anko-chan, I'm so happy to see you! But what are you doing here? I thought you were on a long-term mission away from the village. Is the mission over already?"

"Umm yeah about that, you see I uhh, what I mean to say umm...Iruka-kun can we talk?" Anko stammered nervously, trying to find the words to answer her boyfriend's questions.

"Yes, yes come in."

The purple-haired kunoichi quickly entered he apartment and sat on Iruka's couch while he closed the door behind her. Iruka knew immediately by the sound of his girlfriend's voice and her demeanor that something was wrong. Taking a seat next to her, he took Anko's trembling hand into his and looked at the troubled visage she bore upon her face and asked with concern.

"What's wrong, you're shaking?"

"I, I need to talk to you Iruka-kun. I, I lied to you about the long term mission."

A look of hurt flashed for a moment across Iruka's face before quickly disappearing as he stammered out.

"But, but why Anko-chan, why would you lie to me about that?"

Anko exhaled a mournful sigh, as she heard the slightly pained tone of Iruka's question. She knew she had hurt him, which is the last thing Anko had ever wanted to do. Gathering up all of her courage the young kunoichi answered with trepidation.

"I'm, I'm sorry I lied to you, I, I just didn't know what else to do at that time. Do, do you remember when you asked me if I had put on some weight."

"I already said I was sorry about that, I didn't mean it the way it sounded! I know you were angry about it and I'm sorry that what I said hurt you so badly that you felt you had to lie just to get away from me. If you don't want to see me anymore, just tell me."

"No Iruka-kun, that's not why I lied to you, I swear!" Anko exclaimed, fearful that Iruka believed she was dumping him.

"Then why would you make up such a lie just to get away from me for so many months?"

"I lied because of this!"

At which the purple-haired kunoichi jumped up while simultaneously throwing open her coat to her startled Chunin boyfriend. Iruka's eyes grew wide as saucers at the sight before him and he tried to speak, but suddenly found that his throat had gone dry. Anko looked at the dazed and bewildered look plastered on Iruka's face and heaved a heavy sigh before saying with remorse.

"I'm sorry I lied to you Iruka-kun, I really am. I was scared and I panicked. When you made that comment, I already suspected about my...condition. I know that's not much of a reason for lying to you, but it's the truth."

A shocked Iruka could only sit in silence, still unable to formulate a response to his Jounin girlfriend who continued on.

"This is a lot to spring upon you all at once I know that. But I want you to know, I don't expect anything from you. We've never really talked about our future and I don't want you to think you're obligated to assume any responsibility with me. We didn't plan any of this and if you want to end our relationship because of it I understand."

Upon hearing Anko's last statement was like a slap to the face, which immediately brought Iruka out of his stupor. Rising from his seat without saying a word, he walked over to his desk and opened a drawer to retrieve the small velvet box he had put away mere minutes earlier. Turning around he calmly walked over to where Anko was standing and kneeling down on one knee opened the box to show a beautiful diamond engagement ring to the now stunned kunoichi and asked with all he love he held for the woman in his heart.

Anko-chan, will you do me the honor and marry me?"

Anko's reply was not one that the young Chunin was expecting, as she flopped back down onto the couch and began to cry. Iruka had not been expecting this reaction from his normally tough as nails girlfriend and asked with concern.

"Anko-chan what's wrong? I know this is sudden, but..."

"But nothing, you want to know what's wrong, I'll tell you! I knew this would happen; you only want to marry me because I'm pregnant! I told you I don't want you to feel obligated to do anything for me!" Anko angrily shouted through her tears in frustration interrupting her Chunin boyfriend.

For the second time that night, Anko's words had felt like a slap to Iruka's face. However, while the first slap had knocked him out of his initial shock of the situation, this second slap made the young man angry at her foolishness. Rising from his kneeling position on the floor he sat down beside his weeping girlfriend and exhaling a frustrated sigh said with authority.

"Kami, you're an idiot!"

Now it was Anko's turn to feel as though she had been slapped in the face by Iruka's words. Ceasing her crying, she looked over incredulously towards her boyfriend and stammered.

"What, what did you say?"

"You heard me, I said you're an idiot for thinking the only reason I want to marry you is because you're pregnant."

"What other reason could you have for wanting to marry me?" Anko angrily replied.

"I don't know maybe because I love you."

The hard-bitten image that Anko bore upon her face softened when she heard the love and sincerity of Iruka's declaration. Looking down to her lap, she softly said with remorse.

"You shouldn't love me, I'm no good for you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it's true, you're a good man, too good for me I know that. You're one of the most well-liked and respected men in the entire village Iruka-kun. I don't want your good name ruined by being associated with the snake-whore of Konoha."

"Damn it, don't you ever refer to yourself like that in my presence again!" Iruka angrily shouted, while gripping Anko's shoulders and giving her a shake for added effect.

"Why shouldn't I refer to myself like that, everyone else does, even my closest friends." Anko bitterly replied knocking Iruka's hands off her shoulders.

"If you're referring to Kurenai, you know as well as I do that she's still angry and hurt over the...incident. Give her some time and I'm positive you two will be the best of friend's again. But, we're getting off track here, I don't want to talk about Kurenai, I want to talk about us."

"There can't be an us, there just can't. I won't ruin your reputation by being associated with me."

"My reputation be damned if it costs me the woman I love!" Iruka spat with disgust.

"Your reputation and your life would be damned with the villagers if you married me."

"You think I care what those bastards think about me after watching how they treated Naruto during his life. So, if I don't care what they think, then you shouldn't care either."

"I don't know Iruka-kun?"

"Anko-chan, do you love me?"

"Hai, I do love you and I believe that you love me. But I still think your proposal of marriage stems more from my present medical condition then from that love. Tell me the truth Iruka-kun, had you even thought marrying me before tonight?"

"I would think the fact that I already had an engagement ring answers that question for you."

It was then that Anko suddenly realized that indeed he had thought about marrying her before tonight. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she enveloped Iruka in a hug and whispered in his ear.

"You're right, I am an idiot."

"But you're my idiot and I love you. Now, I ask you again will you do me the honor and marry me."

"The honor would be mine, yes I will marry you. But I have one small favor to ask before I do."

"What is it?"

"I don't want our marriage revealed until after the kids are born."

"But, but why?"

"Because I know some of the parents of the little gaki's at the academy would raise a stink about you teaching their children while being married to me.

"I already told you I don't care what other people think and that includes the parents of my students."

"Please Iruka-kun; promise me you will do this. I don't want our marriage to cause problems for you during the school year."

"Alright, it seems silly to me, but it's a small price to pay to have you as my wife."

"Good, now get up we have to go see Lady Tsunade and get married right now." Anko stated while giving Iruka a quick kiss.

"But it's almost midnight; I really don't think we should disturb Hokage-sama this late."

"Ha, after what that old crone did to me today, the fact that it's so late makes it all the better. Besides, I don't want to wait a minute longer to become Mrs. Anko Mitarashi Umino."

"Well, alright then let's go get married."

As Iruka closed the door to his apartment behind him, he suddenly he froze and his face grew pale as the recent memory of something his soon to be wife said to him finally registered in his brain and he stammered.

"An, Anko-chan, you, you said you didn't want our marriage revealed until after the kids were born. You meant to say kid didn't you?"

Iruka's heart fell to his stomach when he saw Anko grin mischievously and shake her head and the young man began to wonder how he was going to afford to take care of a wife and two children on an academy instructor's salary.

(End of Flashback)

---

As Tsunade turned away from the window and the loving couple walking away, the memory of the impromptu Umino wedding brought a smile to her face. They had managed to rouse Shizune awake to act as a Maid of Honor for Anko. However, finding a best man for Iruka would have proven most difficult at such a late hour had they not run into Might Gai doing one of his insane training regiments such as walking around the village on his hands like he was that night. It had been a happy occasion and a good time for Iruka and Anko, but it wouldn't last. A scowl now spread across Tsunade's once smiling face, as she remembered what had happened to Iruka a few months ago.

(Flashback 3 Months)

The Sharpened Shuriken is a tavern the civilians in Konoha avoided at all cost if possible. Not from its reputation, but from the fact that it catered to the shinobi of the Leaf village. So, most villagers stayed away simply for the fact that alcohol mixed with someone who could kill you in a heartbeat was not advisable for their health. The shinobi didn't mind this, as it gave them a place they could call their own where they could unwind and relax after a stressful day. It was here where Iruka was quietly drinking and trying to muster up the courage to go home to his very pregnant and very emotional wife.

Iruka loved Anko dearly, but because of the pregnancy her hormonal driven mood swings were so wild he never knew who was going to greet him when he got home. The sweet and loving woman she could be behind closed doors away from the public eye or the maniacal former apprentice of Orochimaru who could send a dozen snakes to attack you because you brought home the wrong flavored dango. Iruka winced as he remembered that little episode and diving through a window just to avoid being skewered by several sets fangs. Heaving a heavy sigh, the Chunin Academy instructor finished off his sake and rose from his chair to begin the trek back home. Iruka could only silently pray to Kami that the woman waiting for him was in a good mood. Just as he was about to leave, he overheard a comment from a young shinobi sitting with Asuma Sarutobi that made him stop in his tracks.

"Hey Asuma, who do you suppose it was that knocked up Anko?"

"Man, all I can say is whoever it was kudos to him, because Anko Mitarashi is a stone cold hottie." Another shinobi commented appreciatively who was also sitting with Asuma.

"Bah, who cares who knocked the snake-slut up? It could be anyone with a dick in the village, because that whore would give it up for a shot of sake or a stick of dango anytime, anywhere. Believe me I should know with that bitch ha, ha, ha!" Asuma snidely stated, while standing up and laughing derisively.

It was then that Asuma felt someone tap his shoulder before turning around to see a fist impact his nose and knock the eldest son of the third Hokage onto his ass. Clutching his bloody and now broken nose in pain and rage, Asuma looked up to see Iruka Umino looming over him with a murderous look in his eyes and a large amount of killing intent rolling off his body. The young Chuni then fixed a hard glare and scanned the entire room of the bar before unleashing his famous head expansion jutsu and announcing with malice.

"Listen up and listen well because I'm not going to repeat myself! Anko Mitarashi is not a bitch, slut, or a whore! What I can tell you is she is my wife and those kids she's carrying are mine! If I ever hear one derogatory or insulting statement about her from any of you ever again, you'll have me to deal with! And being married to Konoha's top female interrogation and torture specialist, believe me when I say I've learned a few things from her about inflicting severe pain onto others if necessary!"

Nearly everyone in the tavern nervously gulped in fear upon hearing Iruka's final declaration, as next to Ibiki Morino, no one was more feared in the Anbu Interrogation and Torture Department than Anko Mitarashi. As Iruka gazed around the room and everyone nodded their head in understanding, he turned his attention back the Jounin with the broken nose on the floor in front of him who said with contrition while offering his hand to the enraged Chunin in apology.

"I apologize to you Iruka-san. I had no idea Anko had gotten married, so please forgive me for my earlier remarks regarding your wife."

Iruka gripped Asuma's hand and pulled the Jounin to his feet and was about to accept his apology. When suddenly he felt a searing pain in his chest before being kicked in the stomach and sent tumbling back to crash in the far wall behind him. Looking down, the young Chunin could see a bleeding horizontal slash across his chest before looking up to see Asuma stalking towards him wielding his trademark trench knives in each of his hands, as he snarled with malevolence.

"You are one stupid mother-fucker Iruka! To attack and threaten me Asuma Sarutobi, I'm one of the top Jounin in the Leaf village. Just who the fuck do you think you are you lowly Chunin baka of a school teacher! I'll say whatever the fuck I want to about that back-alley whore you married and you're not going to do a damn thing about it! Because right now I'm going to carve you into sushi you fucking asshole piece of shit loser!"

However, before the drunk and infuriated Jounin could advance any further towards his downed fellow shinobi, a cry rang out for everyone to hear.

"Dynamic Fist!"

Turning his head towards the source of that sound, Asuma's face was suddenly impacted with tremendous force by a mighty punch and he was sent flying across the room before smashing into a wall which halted his flight. Spitting some teeth out onto the floor the bearded Jounin was even more enraged than before, as he glared across the room to see the self-proclaimed sexy green beast of Konoha Might Gai standing where he had been. Struggling to get to his feet, Asuma shouted out with fury.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing Gai? This doesn't concern you, so mind your own fucking business and butt out you spandex wearing freak!"

"You should feel grateful that Gai butted in before we did Sarutobi, as we would not have been as kind in stopping you." Inoichi Yamanaka declared with spite, as the eldest son of the third Hokage turned his head to see sitting at a table the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio with their hands in position to release their jutsu's at moment's notice.

Asuma subconsciously took a step back, as the memory of the beating he had received months earlier flashed across his mind. The furious ex-leader of Genin squad 10 knew he couldn't fight four elite Jounin at the same time and was trying to think of what to do when Gai's voice rang out and asked.

"I thank you for your offer assistance honored members of the Ino-Shika-Cho team, but if you would allow me to handle this, I can assure you I have the matter well under control"

A nod from all three Clan leaders signified they granted the green-clad Jounin's request and they lowered their arms and watched to see what would happen next. It was then that Asuma erupted in wicked laughter before snidely saying.

"Ha, ha, ha! You're as much of a baka as that pathetic school teacher bleeding over there. You might have had a chance in defeating me with their help you bushy-browed asshole. But without their help, as soon as I'm done carving you up, I'll finish the job I started on that worthless Chunin who was actually stupid enough to marry the snake-slut of Konoha."

Iruka in a rage attempted to get off the floor and attack Asuma once more, but was held back by a couple of medic shinobi who were trying to tend to his wound. The eyes of the sexy green beast of Konoha narrowed, as he gazed across the room at his laughing Jounin comrade before he commented with pity.

"I don't know what happened to the man I was once proud to call a comrade and a friend, but your behavior of late is disgusting Asuma Sarutobi. You say your attack on Iruka-san doesn't concern me, but I beg to differ. You see I was granted the honor of serving as best man at the Umino wedding and in such capacity I will not allow you to insult their most treasured nuptials. Furthermore, as a fellow shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I am disgusted by your un-youthful, devious, and dishonorable tactic of offering up your hand in the guise of an apology to a fellow comrade merely to give you an opening to cowardly attack him. If your honored father could see how much your flames of youth have dimmed he would be rolling over in his grave."

"Like I give a shit what you or anyone else has to think about me and that includes my father. All he ever did was put the welfare of the village over everything else including me. And in the end what did it get him? Killed by his own star pupil, the same student he so vigorously trained for so many years while I was growing up, all the while ignoring his family, ignoring me! So as far as I'm concerned fuck him, fuck you, and fuck your idiotic flames of youth!" Asuma spat with derision, before gripping both of his trench knives tightly in his hands and lining up his body into an attack position.

The eyes of the green-clad Jounin narrowed even further and a wave of killing intent erupted from his body and washed through the entire tavern like a wave felt by everyone present. It was then Gai spoke once more in an icy and deadly tone of voice no one had ever him use before as he declared with venom.

"You've just crossed the line Sarutobi."

Asuma momentarily gave pause, as he felt the killing intent rolling off of Gai's body and heard the cryptic tone of the Jounin's words. Mustering up all the courage he could he sprinted towards his spandex wearing foe and shouted out with fury.

"Bah, I'm going skin you alive!"

Just as the bearded Jounin reached his target he thrust his trench knife forward only for it to be knocked out of his hand in the blink of an eye by something very hard. Before Asuma could even deduce what had happened something uppercut him and struck him underneath his chin sending the man flying backwards before landing on his back in a heap. Grasping both his hand and chin in obvious pain, Asuma gazed upwards and his eyes grew wide with dread, as he saw the infamous personal weapon of choice Gai uses for battle twirling in his hands, a pair of nunchaku.

Rising from the ground with trepidation, Asuma lunged forward with his lone remaining trench knife only for it to be painfully knocked out of his hand by one of the nunchaku with a quick flick of the wrist from Gai. It was then the green-clad Jounin began to press forward while whirling both nunchaku all around his body and astonishing speed. Before Asuma could say anything, Gai unleashed a volley of painful strikes all over the bearded Jounin's face and upper body. Asuma could do nothing to protect himself, as he was driven backwards in agony other than to cross his arms over his head and face in a vain attempt to block the blunt and vicious strikes he was receiving.

"Man, he never should have insulted the flames of youth, Gai is really going to town on Sarutobi, that's gotta hurt."

"You won't see me shedding any tears over it Chouza-san, that drunken bastard deserves it. I only wish I could go and help with the beating, but you two made me promise not to touch him after what happened to my daughter."

"Troublesome, it was for your own good Inoichi-san. Besides, it's not like Sarutobi got away with what he tried to do."

"That's just it Shikaku-san, you and Chouza-san got to have your fun with that inebriated asshole, but I never did."

"That's because we couldn't trust you not to kill the fool at that time. That's why we had you make that promise to us. Because although you can be troublesome my friend, Chouza-san and I would much rather be able to have a drink with you in a bar, then have to visit you in prison."

"Hey guy's, it looks like the green beast of Konoha is about to end this little show." Chouza Akimichi stated to his two comrades and friends, as all three members of the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio turned their attention back to the one-sided fight before them.

Asuma was barely conscious as he leaned against the back wall of the tavern his legs barely holding him upright. His face, arms, and virtually his entire upper torso were colored back and blue. The bearded Jounin was also bleeding profusely from his nose, mouth, ears, and even from his now swelling eyes. Just as he was about to succumb to the torturous pain he was suffering from and slide down the wall into unconsciousness, a cup of water was splashed upon his face shocking the injured man awake. Looking up shakily and peering out through his swollen eyes, Asuma saw Gai set a cup down and tuck his nunchaku away and the bearded Jounin breathed a sigh of relief, as he thought the beating was finally over. Unfortunately, his reverie was short-lived, as Gai's left hand shot out and tightly gripped Asuma's throat before he heard him say with malice.

"The reason I threw that water onto you Asuma is because I want you fully awake to feel the final retributions you've so richly earned tonight."

Gai then reared his right arm back and launched a vicious right-cross across the bearded Jounin's face while shouting.

"Punch!" "That is for insulting the memory of your honored father the Sandaime!"

Gai then reared back and let loose a brutal backhand across the other side of Asuma's battered face.

"Smack!" "That is for besmirching the virtues of Anko-san!"

Gai then kept repeating the process of ferocious right-crosses followed by equally fierce backhands, all the while stating why Asuma was receiving this nasty beating.

"Punch!" "That is for demeaning the dignity of the marriage of Anko and Iruka Umino!"

"Smack!" "That is for the dishonor you show to all other proud shinobi of the Leaf village with your atrocious behavior!"

"Punch!" "That is for your cowardly attack on a fellow shinobi comrade of the Leaf village!"

Gai then stopped for a moment and re-clenched his right fist tightening it even further before saying with malevolence.

"And this is for daring to insult the flames of youth!"

The sexy green beast of Konoha then drove his fist with such force into the gut of his bloodied and battered opponent that the wall behind Asuma cracked and splintered behind him from the impact of the punch. For his part, eldest son of the third Hokage could only hack up a good deal of blood before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slid down the wall unconscious, as Gai released his hold on him. It was then a contingent of four Anbu arrived at the tavern and surveyed the scene before the captain of the squad asked.

"What is going on here?"

At this point, the status of the original Ino-Shika-Cho squad came to bear for all to see. For not only were they veteran and well-honored Jounin shinobi, but they were also the leaders of three of Konoha's most prominent and powerful clans, as Shikaku Nara rose and stated with authority.

"A shinobi fight captain, but the situation is over and under control. It's most troublesome, but we will file a report of this incident with Lady Tsunade in the morning."

"Is there anything we can do to be of assistance to you?"

"Yes, please escort Asuma Sarutobi to the hospital to get treated for his injuries and place a guard at his door until such time as Lady Tsunade orders otherwise."

"As you wish Nara-sama." The Anbu captain replied, while giving a slight bow the Nara clan head before signaling his men to retrieve Asuma.

As the Anbu left with the unconscious body of Asuma, one of the Medic Chunin who had been attempting to heal Iruka's knife wound commented.

"Iruka, we need to get you to the hospital as well. We've packed the wound and slowed down the bleeding, but it's a deep cut and we don't have the necessary suture's here to properly close up the gash."

"I the sexy green beast of Konoha with my legendary speed will accompany Iruka-san to the hospital and I'll have him there in the blink of an eye." Gai loudly boasted, before flashing his trademark smile and striking a nice guy pose.

"Well, before you go I'd like to propose a toast for Iruka and Anko Umino." Inoichi announced while holding his cup of sake up in the air alongside his two teammates and fellow clan leaders.

"A fine idea Inoichi-san, barkeep my usual if you would be so kind!" Gai exclaimed in agreement.

"Yeah, yeah, one milk coming up." The bartender mockingly replied while rolling his eyes.

"A toast and congratulations to Iruka Umino on his marriage to, and I think we all would agree, one of the most beautiful women in the entire Leaf village one Anko Mitarashi." Inoichi proclaimed in celebration.

"Here, here!" The patrons of the bar all shouted out in unison and clink their cups together before many of them began to make their way over and personally congratulate the Chunin Academy instructor. It was then that Inoichi spoke up once more and stated with mirth.

I would also like to propose a toast to the bravery of one Iruka Umino, because I've worked with his lovely wife on more than one occasion in the Anbu Interrogation and Torture Department. Let me say all those rumors you've heard about what Anko can do to a man if she is sufficiently pissed off enough, well they're all true. So you are indeed a brave, brave man Iruka Umino to try and tame her and I wish you good luck and good health in the future."

"Here, here!" The patrons of the bar all shouted out once more in merriment to Inoichi's humorous toast.

Iruka could only smile while accepting congratulatory praise from everyone for his marriage to his lovely wife Anko. It's too bad it wasn't going to last Iruka silently thought to himself, as his lovely wife was probably going to kill him for breaking his promise and revealing their marriage to the village before she was ready.

---

When Shizune arrived at the hospital with a seething Anko in tow, she took the purpled-haired kunoichi to the waiting room outside of the general trauma center of the hospital where Iruka was being tended. Being one of the few people who knew about the marriage of Iruka and Anko, she was just as stunned as the pregnant woman beside her when a Medic Chunin came by and congratulated Anko on her marriage. It was then that Gai arrived at the waiting room and upon learning he was the one to bring Iruka to the hospital, Anko vehemently demanded to know what had happened.

"Spill it you walking talking green bean, what happened to my Iruka-kun?"

"Yes Gai, I too am interested to hear about what happened as well." Tsunade said from the doorway before entering the waiting room and taking a seat.

"Very well Anko-san and Hokage-sama. It is a most un-youthful tale, but I shall endeavor by the fires of youth to convey it fully to you all."

"Yes, yes, get on with it." Tsunade groused with slight irritation.

As Gai began to recount exactly what had been said and what had happened at the Sharpened Shuriken earlier that evening, Shizune and Tsunade would periodically look over to Anko. Both of them were surprised and a little shocked at how calm the snake mistress of Konoha was taking the news about her injured husband and how he came to be that way. Upon Gai finishing his description of the night's events, a pall of silence fell over the room like a shroud before Anko quietly asked.

"Iruka-kun said and did that for me?"

A nod from the green-clad Jounin answered her question, as Anko then stated.

"The lovable baka, I should wring his neck, he broke his promise to me."

"Uggh, that stupid promise, Anko after what I just heard you should appreciate on how truly lucky you are to have such a man as Iruka Umino. Then to focus on the fact that he broke that foolish promise of which I'm glad he did." Tsunade fired off with irritation at the purpled-haired Jounin.

"I have to agree with Lady Tsunade about that Anko-san. I know your reasons why you wanted it kept a secret, but Iruka doesn't care about that and to me seems very honored and proud to be your husband and wants the world to know it." Shizune commented in agreement with her mentor.

"What about you Gai, you want to throw your two ryo in and state what a baka I'm being about this?" Anko defensively asked.

"As a gentleman, I would never lower myself and call you or any other person of the fairer sex a baka Anko-san. However, I do have to agree in principle with what our esteemed Hokage and her lovely apprentice have already stated. In my opinion, attempting to subdue the flames of youth of your marriage to Iruka-san instead of letting them burn brightly as they should for all the world to see does seem quite foolish to me."

Taking a minute to think about what Tsunade and Shizune said, as well as trying to decipher Gai's statement, Anko exhaled a heavy sigh before standing and said.

"Alright, you all win; I won't wring Iruka-kun's neck for breaking his promise. But there is someone's neck I need to wring among other painful tortures that need to be inflicted upon him. What room is that bastard Asuma in Lady Tsunade?"

"Sit down Anko, I'm not about to let you go in your condition and try to exact some sort of revenge for what happened this evening. I can assure you that the pain and injuries inflicted to Asuma at the hands of Gai are more than sufficient retribution for what happened to your husband."

"I doubt that Lady Tsunade, because you have no idea of the pain and injuries I'm capable of inflicting onto that bastard. I'm sure Gai did a credible job in beating him, but I'm also sure it can't compare to what I would do to that drunken baka."

"Oh really, why don't you take a look at this medical report on Asuma Sarutobi's injuries I picked up before coming to see you before you make that declaration." Tsunade replied with a smirk before handing a folder over to the purple-haired Jounin.

Initially scoffing at the buxom blonde Hokage's statement, Anko took the report and began reading its contents. After a couple of minutes, Anko looked up and commented with praise to Gai and also did something else she rarely does, apologize.

"This is some good work; I apologize for doubting you Gai."

Gai merely nodded his head in acceptance before Anko rose from her chair once more and added with venom.

"The only mistake I can find that you did was you left the asshole alive. Well, that situation can easily be remedied very quickly by me."

"Sit down, you're not murdering any of my shinobi this or any other night…..unless I order you to, which I'm not no matter how much he may deserve it." Tsunade commanded to the pregnant kunoichi.

Anko flopped back down into her seat in a huff and pouted like a little child before Gai commented with seriousness.

"You shouldn't pout Anko-san; it's not very lady-like. Besides, if you were to extinguish the flames of youth from Asuma Sarutobi, you would forever emasculate Iruka-san and humble the deeds he did for you on this night."

"What the Hell are you talking about green bean?" Anko asked with irritation and confusion.

"What I'm talking about is a man this evening that attempted to defend the honor of his wife and was defeated albeit by deceitful means. Meanwhile, later on that night, the same said wife went out and murdered his foe. That action would give off the impression in the village that the man cannot fight his own battles and needs his wife to do it for him. Tell me Anko-san, is that really the image you want to project for yourself and more importantly for Iruka-san?"

"No, I don't want that, especially for Iruka-kun. I understand what you're saying now." Anko softly answered.

It was then that Iruka entered the waiting room and sheepishly gazed at his wife while nervously rubbing the back of his head and said.

"Hi Anko-koi (love), I know you're probably pretty angry and upset with me for what happened and that I broke my promise. But if you give me a chance to explain I'm sure I can mmphh….."

Iruka didn't get a chance to finish his statement before Anko's lip's crashed down upon his own in a smoldering and passionate kiss, which the Chunin Academy instructor quickly returned. After a minute, the young married couple broke apart and Iruka tentatively asked.

"You're not mad my kouhi (queen) that I broke the promise?"

"I was at first my kokuou (king), but not anymore, thank you for defending me, let's just go home now."

A smile adorned the faces of the other three people in the waiting room, as they watched the loving couple walk away with their arms around one another and Anko resting her head upon Iruka's shoulder.

(End of Flashback)

---

As Tsunade reached into her desk drawer to procure a bottle of sake, her mind drifted to the reasons why Anko didn't want to reveal her marriage to Iruka until after their kids were born. The blonde Hokage shook her head in frustration, as she poured herself a drink and quickly downed it in one gulp. Because as foolish as Anko's reasons had sounded for wanting to keep the marriage a secret. It didn't make the purpled-haired kunoichi's way of thinking on the matter wrong either, as another memory brought a new scowl to Tsunade's face.

(Flashback 2 Months & 28 Days)

News of what had happened at the Sharpened Shuriken and Anko and Iruka's marriage spread throughout the village like a wildfire with some unexpected reactions from the villagers for the young couple. In the span of a couple of days most of the men in Konoha both shinobi and civilian alike, saw their level of admiration sky-rocket for the Chunin Academy instructor at bagging one of the most beautiful women in the entire village.

In Anko's case, she too felt a surge of appreciation from most of the women at landing one of the most sought after bachelors in the village. A few of the more jealous women would snidely comment in whispers that Anko must have seduced the young handsome school teacher and gotten pregnant on purpose to land him. However, this rumor quickly died upon hearing how vehemently Iruka had defended his wife and their marriage at the Sharpened Shuriken.

So while most of the populace of the village was supportive of the young couple and their upcoming family, there was a tiny segment that wasn't. And much to the annoyed chagrin of both Iruka and Tsunade, the purple-haired Jounin kunoichi had been right. This small faction that opposed the marriage was none other than a group of parents of Iruka's students at the academy.

"Lady Tsunade, there are a group of parents of some of our academy students who urgently wish to speak to you." Shizune announced to her longtime mentor.

"About what Shizune?"

"They wouldn't say, only that it is a matter of great importance."

"Uggh, alright fine, send them in. At least it gives me a momentary break from this damnable paperwork to see what they want."

A moment later, Shizune ushered into the Hokage's office a dozen-plus group of mothers and fathers of some students currently attending the Konoha Shinobi Academy. As they stood before the buxom blonde Hokage, Tsunade leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms before asking with slight annoyance.

"What is it you wish to speak to me about?"

A particularly fat and sweaty woman wearing a sweat stained floral patterned muumuu stepped up to the front and by all indications from the other people around her seemed to be the leader of this posse. Presenting herself before the Hokage, the obese woman introduced herself as Akujo Futoccho, the wife of a local butcher and also a mother to one of Iruka's students. Tsunade looked over to see a small portly man she could only assume was the husband standing behind Akujo

"Well, what is it you wish to speak to me about Akujo-san?" Tsunade asked again, her visible irritation growing in her voice.

"Hokage-sama, we demand that you remove Iruka Umino as an academy instructor at once!"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed upon hearing the indignant tone addressed to her and of the demand itself and instantly knew that this meeting was not going to go well for these people. Doing her level best not to immediately throw all of these villagers out of her office, the blonde Hokage asked through gritted teeth in an icy tone of voice.

"And why in Kami's name would I remove the finest academy instructor the Leaf village has at its disposal?"

"Finest academy instructor, I highly doubt that Tsunade." Akujo snorted with derision.

"You will address me as Hokage-sama and nothing else! Tsunade snapped, while releasing some killing intent at the behemoth of a woman standing before her before adding.

"You doubt that Iruka Umino is one of the finest academy instructors we've ever had, well I have testimony that says otherwise."

Tsunade then hit a button on her intercom and announced.

"Sakura Haruno, come to my office at once!"

About 30 seconds later, the blonde Hokage's newest apprentice entered the office panting and addressed her mentor.

"How may I be of service to you milady?"

"Thank you for coming so quickly Sakura. I just have a few questions for you to answer and then you may resume your duties."

"Hai Lady Tsunade!" Sakura replied while snapping to attention.

"Sakura, while you attended the Shinobi Academy, who in your opinion was the best and most qualified instructor there?"

"Iruka Umino ma'am!"

"You answered that question awfully quickly Sakura, are you sure?"

"Hai milady, it was an easy question. I'm sure of my answer, Iruka-Sensei is the best and most qualified instructor there without a doubt."

"If I was to ask that same question to the rest of your classmates within the Rookie-Nine graduating class, would they give the same answer?"

"Hai Lady Tsunade they would, but not only the Rookie-Nine graduating class, but also the lone graduating class from the previous year that comprises the Konoha 12, as our two classes have been nicknamed. I mean the Konoha 11, now that the traitor Uchiha scum has deserted the village."

"How dare you refer to Sasuke Uchiha like that girl! Everyone knows it was that demon brat Naruto Uzumaki that drove our beloved Uchiha prodigy away. That's another reason why Iruka Umino should be removed as an instructor, his well known ties to the demon as well Hokage-sama!"

"Naruto-kun is not a demon and he did nothing to drive away that sick bastard of an Uchiha you so dearly love you bloated pig!" Sakura shouted with righteous fury while releasing a massive amount of killing intent that brought everyone save for Tsunade to their knees, as she advanced upon the obese woman ready to test what she had learned of the Hokage's super-strength techniques.

"Stand down Sakura, that's an order!"

Sakura stopped mid-step and looked to her teacher and silently pleaded with her eyes to allow her to knock this woman out the building. Unfortunately, much to the pink-haired kunoichi's dismay and disappointment, Tsunade shook her head no before saying.

"Thank you Sakura, you've answered all of the questions I had, you may go resume your duties."

"Hai milady." Sakura somberly answered before exiting the office.

It was then the blonde Hokage caught a whiff of a very unpleasant odor coming from Akujo and several others of the men and women in her office and thought to herself.

'Thanks a lot Sakura, you're little killing intent display has caused half these idiots to soil themselves. Still, it was nice to see the girl denounce the Uchiha brat and jump to Naruto's defense so quickly.'

"Hokage-sama, I demand you punish that child for her words and actions just now!" Akujo screeched with anger, while being helped back to her feet by several of the other parents.

"I'm the Hokage and you are in no position to demand anything from me! I will not punish anyone who stands up in defense of a friend who is unjustly insulted and attacked!" Tsunade shouted with authority, while directing her killing intent solely at Akujo causing the people helping the obese woman to her feet to let go and watch as the enormous woman fell to the floor once again.

"Now, as all of you have just heard from one of the students who comprise the Konoha 11, the finest grouping of graduating Genin in over a generation and my very own apprentice give testimony of Iruka Umino's qualifications as an instructor. I've no doubt if I were to call the others in they would give the exact same testimony. So I ask you, what reason do all of you have as to why I should remove the finest academy instructor the Leaf village has?"

As several people helped Akujo back to her feet once again the massive woman declared in a huff.

"Hokage-sama, we are not comfortable with Iruka Umino being in a position to teach our children while he is under the influence of that…woman he's married to."

Inwardly, Tsunade was seething upon hearing this was the reason why they wanted Iruka removed as a teacher. The blonde Hokage had hoped that Anko would be wrong about the reaction of some of the parents of Iruka's students. Unfortunately, the purpled-haired Jounin had been correct in her assessment, as Tsunade declared with zeal.

"I see no logical reason why Iruka's marriage should have any impact on your children other than as a positive one. He is quite happy and content with his wife and Anko Mitarashi is one of my most dedicated and loyal shinobi this village has. If nothing else, she is a shining example to all young kunoichi's of what they can achieve through hard work and effort."

"Shining example to all young kunoichi's, you must be joking Hokage-sama. That, that woman was the apprentice of Orochimaru and is more than likely nothing more than an agent of the Snake Sannin ready to betray the village any day now. As for Iruka being happy and content, I find that hard to believe. Everyone knows that poor innocent man was probably seduced by that vixen and she probably got pregnant on purpose to rope him into marriage. I'm saddened that such a good man, one I was going to introduce my eldest daughter to, should fall from grace because of the wiles of that snake whore."

Akujo was then blasted by another wave of killing intent and soiled herself once again, as Tsunade leapt up from her chair and slammed the palms of her hands onto the desk which caused the entire to room to shake before saying with malice.

"If I hear you Akujo or any of these other fools refer to Iruka's wife by such a name again, I promise you as Hokage you will live to regret it!"

A fearful nod from Akujo and the others indicated they understood and Tsunade sat back down in her chair and stated.

"First off, let's get a few things clear. One, Anko's unwavering loyalty and dedication to Konoha as a Leaf village shinobi has never been in doubt by either the Sandaime, Yondaime, or myself in our capacity as Hokage."

"Secondly, you say Iruka was seduced; well I'm here to tell you, you can't seduce the willing. And since Anko Mitarashi is one of the most beautiful women in this village, there isn't a man in Konoha who wouldn't share a bed with her, if she was so inclined as to let them."

A perverse smile spread across several of the men's faces in the room, as they imagined themselves in Iruka's position. This did not go unnoticed by their wives and said husbands quickly received a physical response from them such as an elbow to the ribs or a stomping of their foot. Tsunade hardly felt any sympathy for those spineless fools before she continued on.

"Third, you doubt that Iruka is a happy and content man, well I can assure you he is. And if you don't believe me, then his actions and declarations he made at the Sharpened Shuriken about his wife, kids, and marriage should be proof enough for you."

"Finally, I've already shown that Iruka Umino is the most well-skilled, well-qualified, and well-liked academy instructor we have. Just because you're pissed off that he married another woman and not your daughter, is not a valid reason for his dismissal. So your demand that I remove Iruka Umino from his teaching position at the academy is denied!"

After a moment, Tsunade took a deep breath to calm herself, while nearly giving all the men in the room a nosebleed and causing them to pass out. It was then Akujo spoke up once more and said with a sneer.

"Well if you won't remove him from teaching our children and unduly influencing them, then we deman…I mean ask that you transfer our children to another instructor Hokage-sama."

"You don't get it do you Akujo? Only the best students are sent to Iruka's class as seniors before they graduate. So, if all of your kids are in Iruka's class it means they are the very best of students the academy has. Personally, I find this astonishing considering the motley gene pool I see standing before me in all of you, but there it is. In short, there are no other instructors for your children to complete their academy training."

"Well you must do something Hokage-sama. We will not allow our children to be taught by this man while he is married to that woman!" Akujo spat with defiance.

"Fine, you want your kids out of Iruka's class; I do have an option for you that will accomplish just that." Tsunade fired back with disgust before yelling out with a little sarcasm in her voice.

"Shizune, bring in a couple dozen of the form T-25C for the Shinobi Academy and pass them out to all of these concerned citizens!"

A minute later, the Hokage's first apprentice entered the office with the documents Tsunade had requested and began distributing them to the people in the room. Taking a moment to review the form, several of the parents grew wide-eyed with shock and looked up fearfully at Tsunade who announced with no remorse in her voice.

"That's right you baka's, you want your children to no longer be taught by Iruka Umino that is your only option. Even though I've shown that your demand for his removal is completely baseless and insulting. If you still wish for your kids to be instructed by someone else, sign those documents in your hands and your kids will immediately be transferred to the Civilian Educational facility where they can finish out the year and graduate from there. Because they won't be graduating from the Shinobi Academy nor will they be allowed to re-enroll in the future. What you decide here and now will determine if your kids are to become honored shinobi of Konoha or mere civilians. Now, all of you have exactly one minute to make up your minds on the matter. Because when I open my eyes again, if I see any of you still standing in my office, then I'm going to assume that the transfer of your kid or kids is what you want!"

Tsunade then leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. The blonde Hokage could hear several shuffling of feet and knew that several people had exited the office. After a minute had passed, Tsunade opened her eyes and was disappointed to see that half-a-dozen parents still remained including Akujo and her husband. Tsunade openly glared at all of the remaining people with disgust before ordering with authority.

"Sign the documents and leave them with Shizune. Now all of you get the Hell out of my office as the very sight of you bigoted, short-minded fools sickens me!"

As the final set of parents signed off on the transfer documents and began leaving the office, Tsunade hit a button on her desk and two Anbu appeared seemingly out of thin air and asked.

"How may we serve you Hokage-sama?"

"Anbu, take that overfed sow in the sweat-stained and soiled muumuu over there to Ibiki-san for re-education, as she broke the Sandaime's decree earlier. Also be sure to let Ibiki-san know that your gift to him today referred to his surrogate sister as a snake-whore."

"You can't do this to me!" Akujo shouted out in a panic, before the two Anbu shinobi gripped both her arms and all of them disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Tsunade looked over to see what kind of reaction her husband might have to this action and wasn't surprised at all to see a slight smile spread across his face before he left the office.

---

When a very exhausted Iruka Umino opened the door to his small two-bedroom apartment the first sounds and sight to greet him was his wife cussing up a storm and smoke billowing out from the kitchen. The young academy instructor could only shake his head and laugh quietly at the situation. There were many qualities that Iruka loved about his wife. However, cooking was not one of them, as Anko had to be the most inept cook in all the Elemental nations in his estimation. Her cooking was so bad that Iruka jokingly thought she could burn water. If it wasn't for restaurants and food delivery he swore she would have died from starvation years ago. Exhaling a weary sigh, Iruka called out to his wife.

"Anko-koi (love), I'm home."

"I'm in the kitchen Iruka-kun."

"I know that, but I don't think it was necessary for you to send up a smoke signal for me to find you." Iruka replied with amusement.

Suddenly Anko's disheveled head appeared out of the doorway with a smudge of soot on her face and glared menacingly at her husband who merely grinned at her while throwing his arms up in the air in mock surrender. Anko's head disappeared back into the kitchen and a few minutes later after the smoke had dissipated she exited and took a seat next Iruka on the couch. The Chunin academy instructor wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek before asking.

"So, how was your day my kouhi (queen)?"

"Miserable my kokuou (king). I can't sleep, my shoulders are sore, my feet are swollen like watermelons, my back feels like it's got a kunai shoved into it, and to top it all off these little gaki's inside of me have been kicking all day long. I swear once their born I'm going to kick them in the stomach for six months straight and see how they like it."

"Well, you've just got to endure their assault for a couple more months."

"I may not make it that long."

"I'm confident you can. Now, let's see what I can do about those shoulders." Iruka commented before gently massaging his wife's sore appendages.

"That feels soooooooo good." Anko cooed lovingly before asking.

"So, how was your day?"

Iruka paused a moment before answering, as truth be told it had been a difficult day for him to get through after Shizune showed up to escort six of his students to the Civilian Educational facility and the reasons why. Iruka didn't want to upset his wife because of this and chose to omit what he was truly feeling and answered.

"Oh, it went fine, just another boring old day at the academy that's all."

Anko could tell by the tone of her husband's voice and the way he answered her that something was amiss and said.

"We promised to always be honest with each other, so why are you lying to me now? Tell me the truth, what happened at the academy today?"

Iruka knew that one way or another Anko would learn about what had happened and figured it was better for him to let her know then to find out from someone else.

"It's nothing really; I just had six students transfer out of my class and the Shinobi Academy to the Civilian Educational facility that's all."

"Why did they transfer?"

Iruka sighed mournfully, as he knew Anko was going to be hurt by this.

"They transferred because their parents didn't want me to teach them anymore."

"But you're a wonderful instructor, why would they not want you to teach their kids anymore?"

"It doesn't matter; say you haven't told me what were having for dinner?" Iruka quickly replied, trying desperately to change the subject.

"It's because of me isn't it Iruka-kun. Those parents transferred their kids because you're married to me. It's my fault, it's all my fault." Anko stated, before she began to softly weep.

"Hey, hey, you listen to me, don't you go blaming yourself, it's not your fault. The only fault lies at the feet of those fearful, narrow-minded, and pompous jerks of parents. They marched into Lady Tsunade's office demanding that I be removed as their teacher. When she refused, she told them it was their choice as to whether or not they wanted their kids to become shinobi or civilians. They made the choice and no one else, I just feel sorry for the kids. But, I don't want you to be sad and shed tears over this."

"I'm not crying because I'm sad, I'm crying because I'm mad as Hell. But these stupid hormones won't let me react the way I want to. If I were my old self and not the size of a damn house, I would track all them down and show them the true meaning of fear for daring to try and do that to you. I would show them so much fear that it would haunt them in nightmares for years to come!"

"I know you would, but I'm glad you aren't yourself right now, because I didn't want to have to visit you in prison because you terrorized a dozen civilians." Iruka stated, before leaning down and kissing his wife on the cheek and adding.

"Now, there's nothing we can do about what happened today. So why don't you lie down and rest a bit while I clean up the kitchen and order us some take out."

Anko sniffled once and nodded her head in affirmation, as Iruka headed towards the kitchen but stopped at the doorway when his wife asked.

"What makes you thin the kitchen needs cleaning?"

"Because Anko-koi (love), the kitchen always needs cleaning after one of your attempts at fine cooking and dining."

Iruka barely got the kitchen door closed behind him before a kunai impacted it, as he leaned back onto the door while breathing a sigh of relief and he thought to himself.

'Where in Kami's name does she hide those things?'

(End of Flashback)

---

Tsunade chuckled once again as she did the first time she heard Iruka recount the tale of how Anko took the news of the students transferring. Little did those pathetic, simple-minded fools of parents realize that it took a seven month pregnancy to anchor Anko down enough to keep the purple-haired kunoichi from tracking all of them down and punishing them in her own unique way for what they tried to do to her husband. Pouring herself another drink of sake and downing it, Tsunade was about to head back to Hokage Tower to do battle with her nemesis paperwork when the intercom in her hospital office blared to life with Shizune calling out.

"Lady Tsunade, you're needed in the Trauma Center at once!"

When Tsunade arrived at the Trauma Center she found Shizune and several medic nin's working frantically on a very battered and bloodied Anbu shinobi. The blonde Hokage saw the bird mask and knew this particular Anbu served as a long-range security nin that patrolled the borders of the Fire Country. Rushing over to see if she could be of assistance, the Anbu grabbed her arm and in a choked voice said.

"Ho, Hokage-sama, they're coming! We, we don't have very much time; they'll be here within a few hours! We need to alert our forces to get ready!"

"Alert our forces, why? Who is coming Hawk, answer me?"

"O, Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha are coming Hokage-sama. They ride upon the head of the great summons snake Manda and they lead an army of Otogakure shinobi at least two-to-three thousand strong."

Shizune and several people gasped upon hearing the names of Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha uttered by the wounded Anbu operative. Whereas Tsunade could only grit her teeth, as her hands balled into fists after hearing those names before shouting out.

"Shizune, sound the invasion alarm and recall all shinobi commanders to Hokage Tower at once. Also begin proceedings for civilian evacuations into the safety tunnels of Hokage Mountain and send word via messenger falcon right now to the Kazekage of Sunagakure that the Leaf village is under attack and we require their assistance per our treaty agreement!"

"Hai Lady Tsunade." Shizune replied, before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves, while the medic nin's continued to work on the Anbu nin's injuries. Tsunade then ordered with authority to the medic nin's and the Anbu shinobi.

"Patch him up as best you can, because in 10 minutes I need every bit of information you can provide me Hawk about this upcoming attack."

"Hai Hokage-sama." Everyone replied in unison, as Tsunade thought.

'Damn it to Hell, this wasn't supposed to happen! I can't beat Orochimaru and Manda on my own with just Katsuyu, our last battle proved that. And now that slithering asshole has that bastard Uchiha along with him and probably Kabuto as well.

A shiver went down the blonde Hokage's spine, as she silently questioned to herself.

'I don't know if this is a fight we can win without Jiraiya-kun, Naruto-kun, and Kakashi?'

---

Author Notes: Well, there you go, two mysteries in the story now revealed. First, who is the mysterious love of Anko's life? Second, who were the two shinobi shouting to get married from the cliffhanger in chapter 40? To those of you who had already deduced from the smattering of clues I left throughout the story that it was Iruka who Anko was in love with give yourself a Gold Star and a cookie.

Now, about the long delay in updating the story, I would like to apologize to all of you most profusely for it. I know several of you have pm'd me with concern in regards to the update. However, in my defense all I can say is the last couple of months have been very… difficult. It seems like every day I would wake up and life would give me a ferocious right-cross or an equally fierce backhand, as Gai did to Asuma this chapter. It all started after I updated my last chapter, as right after that I stopped receiving any types of story alerts, reviews, or any notifications through ffnet. And no matter how many emails I sent to ffnet, nothing was getting done to address the problem. I very nearly quit ffnet all together because of it, but finally after three weeks I started receiving everything again.

However, an even more arduous example of some of the trials and tribulations of my life the past few weeks can be shown in this example. Right before the holiday, in the span of 5 days, my computer picked up a nasty Trojan virus and was out of commission for nearly a month. I wrecked my car and was without it for 10 days. And I lost out on yet another job I thought I had in the bag. Oh, did I mention my other vehicle blew its oil pump and my entire family was trapped together over the holiday with no visible means of escape for any of us. People, that's the type of situation where murder/suicides are born, I just didn't know which part of that equation I would be?

So, for those of you out there with stories that I read and review, but you didn't receive a review from me on your last update, my computer being down for so long is the reason why. I only recently got my computer back up and running and I'm attempting to catch up on all of my alerts and pm's as quickly as I can.

Now I wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter, it's much appreciated by me. You all had a lot to say about the last chapter and most of you felt I was successful in writing essentially a training chapter enjoyable to read. As you can see from this chapter, the next several will involve many time skips, both forward and backward. So, when I leave a cliffhanger, you may not see it instantly resolved in the very next chapter but later on in the story because of the time jumps. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, a bit fluffy I'm sure for some of you, but I'm anxious to see what your responses will be via review for it.

So please leave lots of reviews, as they do help a writer get the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?

* On a side-note I wish to thank all those people who read and reviewed "Bring Me To Life." My feeble attempt at writing a song-fic. It's much appreciated by me and I actually reached double figures in reviews for it.(lol)

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Breaking News!

Before we get into my views of the latest manga chapters, I have some exciting news to tell you all about, I've adopted a story. I know, I know, what am I insane? I already have too damn much on my plate when it comes to writing projects. Well, it was a story I very much enjoyed and rather than see it die via deletion as the original author was going to do. I wanted to save it and have the tale continue on. The story is called "Coming Home" and was originally written by the author Wootabulous. It's a creative and original tale involving Naruto, heart-broken and betrayed who chooses to leave the village to escape his pain and ends up joining the Akatsuki. Now I know what you're thinking most Naruto joins the Akatsuki stories suck, but trust me when I say this is one of the exceptions.

The story itself had a little over 140 reviews, but I think that is more from the sporadic and lengthy update times rather than its content, as the story only had six chapters produced over a three and a half year time span. I doubt I will be making any wholesale changes to the story, but merely adding in some of my touches here and there. Because the majority of what is already written I like already. I will rerelease the first chapter of "Coming Home" within a few days of this chapter update. So checkout my bio page in a few days, or just author alert me from this chapter. I will warn the Naruto/Hinata fans that the first chapter might be disturbing to some of you, but I can assure you it is a Naruto/Hinata pairing.

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Hottest Anime Girls Poll:

The poll is still going on and quite strongly I might add. In a short amount of time it's already garnered over 640+ people who have voted on it. So if anyone of you hasn't checked it out yet, please do. Also to any authors of stories out there who read my tale, if you are willing please copy and paste the following to add into any chapter updates you might post in the future.

Have you ever wondered "Who is the hottest, sexiest, most beautiful girl ever created in the world of anime?" Well now's your chance to vote for your own Top 10. Kingkakashi besides having a great story has set-up a poll about this very question on his profile page. Help answer and settle this issue once and for all.

I'm trying to get as many people as I possibly can to vote on the poll because I've never seen one done to the scale I have on this particular question. So any help you all can provide is much appreciated by me. Thanks to everyone and I hope you have fun with the voting. And believe me when I tell you, picking 10 choices isn't as easy as you would think it be on this poll. (Lol)

Comments with regards about the poll results so far:

Really, not much to say as the poll is slowly solidifying the placements of all the girls. The only thing still up in the air is we've got our two favorite young blonde kunoichi's from Naruto Temari and Ino battling it out for the last spot in the Top 10.

End of Poll Comments:

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Now, onto everyone's favorite section Kingkakashi's rants on the manga yaaaaaayyyyyy!

Once again back to I have very little positive things to say about the last few issues of the Naruto manga!

*Warning I do give away some spoilers in my rants, so read at your own risk.

#493 – Not a whole lot to this chapter. Kishimoto broke out the ever so popular good persona vs evil persona doing battle for which one would ultimately control Naruto. It's an age-old vehicle probably most popularized in "The Empire Strikes Back" movie when Luke battled his darkside in the cave of doom or whatever it was called. The most interesting part of the chapter is we learned a little bit of Killer Bee's life growing up and when he became a Jinchuuriki. Overall, not a bad chapter, but not overly exciting by any means either.

#494 – Well, this chapter is basically a continuation of learning more about Killer Bee's life as a Jinchuuriki and of his relationship with his friend Motoi. Who once tried to kill Bee because the Hachibi he hosts killed his father. It was all interesting until Kishimoto ruined the flow by trying to infuse some humor of Naruto once again mistaking the giant squid with Killer Bee after it attacks Motoi and Yamato. Like I said, Kishimoto is trying to go for some humor, but it just didn't fit with the serious tone of the rest of the chapter and only served to portray Naruto as an idiot like Kishimoto has always done with his character. In the end, Killer Bee arrives and saves Motoi.

#495 – This chapter starts off with Killer Bee finally agreeing to help Naruto and they go back to the Waterfall of Truth. Naruto faces off against his darkside and defeats it because he "believes in himself" Kind of a let down of how the darkside was defeated in my opinion, especially as it all ended in Naruto giving his darkside a hug. I will say this chapter had a nice cliffhanger of Bee taking Naruto inside a huge cave hidden behind the waterfall filled with holy temples and Bee announcing that this is where Naruto will fight the Kyuubi.

#496 – I've ripped on Kishimoto's sad attempts at humor in the past. So it's only fair that I give him props when he gets it right. The practical joke Naruto played on Yamato was funny at the beginning of this chapter. Anyway, this chapter kicks off the start of Naruto vs Kyuubi for control of the fox demons power. Not a lot to the chapter, but it provides a nice start to the climatic battle in the following chapters.

#497 – This was a good and interesting chapter mainly because of the fight. Kyuubi unleashes the first attack, but Killer Bee and the Hachibi protect Naruto. However, that uses up all of their strength. Why you may ask, I don't know? Kishimoto never bothered to explain it. Anyway, Naruto unleashes a giant Rasengan, which was cool even if Kishimoto did rip it off from Dragonball Z and Goku's Life Energy bomb. Kyuubi is able to block the attack using his tails, but it allows Naruto an opening to grab one of the tails and body-slam the fox demon onto its back. Naruto then unleashes a wicked Rasen Shuriken onto the Kyuubi and then grabs onto the demons chakra and begins to pull it out. Unfortunately, the evil influence of the Kyuubi's chakra begins to overwhelm Naruto. Killer Bee and Yamato are starting to freakout in the real world as Naruto's body begins to transform into the Kyuubi. However, everything stops with the appearance of Naruto's…..mother. From here on in things start to get a little weird.

#498 – I had a problem with this reunion of Naruto and Kushina, mainly because it follows too closely to Naruto's reunion with his father during the Pein battle. Kishimoto came up with a semi-plausible explanation for that. He essentially gave the same semi-plausible explanation for this reunion. This chapter went for the humor angle at the start with Naruto thinking his mother was the Kyuubi's true form, before she bonked him on the head and screamed ttebane. I have no idea what that phrase means by the way, but apparently Kushina says it when she gets worked up or excited. Kushina then subdued the Kyuubi for the time being so she and Naruto could sit and talk. Naruto wants to know how his mom and dad met and Kushina tells the story. Including how she was picked on because of her red hair when she was a kid until she beat up her tormentors. She then gained without a doubt the stupidest nickname Kishimoto could come up with for her the "Bloody Red Habenero" I mean seriously what a crap name. What's was he thinking if he even was at all? Is it some sort of messed up homage to chef Bobby Flay or what? I mean answer me this. How the hell does a medieval eastern cultural society even know about a Mexican pepper? Anyway, the rest of the chapter is Kushina telling how she fell in love with Minato after he rescued her from being kidnapped by Kumogakure. An interesting chapter, but the nickname kept it from being a great chapter.

#499 – The battle of Naruto vs Kyuubi resumes, as the chakra chains Kushina used to bind the fox demon begin to snap. Naruto resumes the fight with vigor and his mother cheering him on. He calls up hundreds of clones and goes Sage-mode and hits Kyuubi with the technique of Sage powered Super-sized Rapid-fire Rasengans. This knocks Kyuubi on his ass and the Naruto clones then resume pulling the fox demons chakra out of him. Naruto then unleashes another wicked Rasen Shuriken onto the Kyuubi and it appears the clones were able to successfully pull the Kyuubi chakra out, as Naruto's whole body is now covered with these strange markings or seals. Kyuubi is pissed beyond belief and still has some power left and is about to attack again when Naruto cages the fox demon using a technique created by the Rikudo Sage, the first host of all the Bijuu when they comprised one being the Jubii or 10-tailed demon. Anyway, a pretty good chapter, Naruto wins and controls the Kyuubi's chakra now. But Kishimoto couldn't leave a good thing alone and gives us a pathetic cliffhanger for nothing more than shock-value I believe. I won't reveal the cliffy, but to me it seemed really unnecessary.

Yes, I'm still thoroughly disgusted that Kishimoto hasn't done anything yet with the Hinata confession to Naruto now reaching 63 freaking issues!

As always, if anyone wants to discuss my story in greater detail, just shoot me a PM. I enjoy talking about the story with any readers who really have an interest in it. I'll try to respond back to you as quickly as I can. Now I'd like to give a shout out to a couple of stories that I recommend and hope you all will checkout when you have the time.

"New Chance" by Hektols: A really creative and interesting story in which a 10 year old Naruto meets a man who will change his life and the Ninja Nations, but will it be for good? The Yondaime has returned and it affects Naruto's life in many ways. Also the main pairing later on in the story is Naruto/Hinata, which is always a good thing to see.

"Marriage is easy right?" by Kyuubi123: Probably one of the funniest stories you will ever read. It essentially revolves around all our favorite Naruto characters trying to adjust to marriage with one another. It's a short two-shot tale, but a lot of fun to read.

Now please be kind and leave precious valuable reviews on these stories.

Take it easy and be good!

Kingkakashi

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School Time:

Muumuu

Definition: A long loose-hanging dress having bright colors and patterns.

Etymology: Hawaiian 1923

Part of Speech: Noun