"Ensign Haruno's log. Star date 42671.4.
After Naruto's daring rescue of the ship from the An - something field. And my confirmed pregnancy. We have been given a couple of days off to sort through our matters. During this time, we were invited by Mr. Johnson, who runs the pre-school aboard the Enterprise, to come and introduce ourselves to his students. Who would no doubt be fascinated by our Shinobi backgrounds. This promises to be an interesting day."
"Sakura-chan! Breakfast is ready!" Naruto called out from their living room.
"Be right here babe!" Sakura called back
Sakura saved her audio file in the log and finished putting on her Star fleet uniform. She looked herself once over in the mirror.
'Uniform?' Inner Sakura asked.
'Spic and span.' Sakura replied.
'Hair bangs?'
'Managed.'
'Lip gloss?'
'Lightly applied.'
'A body unworthy of our favorite idiot?'
'Oh you know it, bitch.' Sakura smirked.
"Come on Sakura-chan! Or it'll get cold!" Naruto called again.
"Just hold on Baka, I'm getting ready!" Sakura shouted back.
'And last but not least...' Inner listed off. 'How's our little jumped-the-gun-bread-bun?'
Sakura's hand glowed as she delicately traced it over her abdomen. As she had done so many other times with so many other mothers to be.
'Baking real nicely.'
Perfect.
Finally, Sakura stepped out of her bedroom and into the living room. Where she was greeted by Naruto: with his hands on his hips, a spatula in his hand, and wearing a frilly pink apron that read, "FOXY CHEF".
Sakura couldn't help but laugh. "What the hell are you wearing?! Hahahaha!"
"My favorite apron. I left it back home and the replicator was able to make me a new one." Naruto explained nonchalantly. "But the better question is what took you so long? Breakfast is getting cold. And I slaved over a hot replicator all morning to make us this spread." He stepped aside so that Sakura could see the absolute feast that beheld her.
Plates absolutely filled with a farmer's breakfast skillet. Hash browns, bacon bits, cut up sausage, red and green peppers, onions, mouthwatering piles of melted-gooey cheese, all atop scrambled eggs for Sakura and Sunnyside up eggs for Naruto. With bowls of fresh fruit on the side and glasses of orange juice for each of them.
"Oh wow! You went all out this time, huh? And here I was half expecting to see Ramen, Hasperat and Pistachio Cannoli's." Sakura said with a smile, still reeling from the shock of the spread before her.
"Well I was going to do that. But then Kurama said that females with kits needed variety for the baby. So I covered all the bases." Naruto proudly declared.
"More like I swatted you with my tails until you agreed to it." Kurama said as he walked out of his room
"It did eventually come to that, yes." Naruto nodded.
"Not surprising, but it looks good regardless." Sakura said as she kissed Naruto on his cheek and sat down to dive into her breakfast.
"Now hold on a minute there! You still haven't told me what took you so long." Naruto said after snapping out of his daze after being kissed.
"I was doing my personal log and getting ready." Sakura said simply.
"Oh..." Naruto said, feeling really stupid for overreacting like that.
"Can we eat now? I'm starving!" Sakura said as her mouth watered.
"Oh, oh yeah, sure!" Naruto said cheerfully as he removed his pink apron and sat down to chow down.
"What about me?" Kurama asked as his stomach growled.
Naruto had a fork full of eggs and hash browns right in his mouth when Kurama asked that.
Sighing, Naruto put his fork down and stood up to go make Kurama his own plate.
Sakura meanwhile was chowing down with gusto.
"I was teasing, Kit. I can make my own meal." Kurama laughed as he got up to the replicator.
"What was it that Data said... Oh. Computer. Canine Supplement 49." Kurama ordered.
"You're eating dog food?" Naruto snickered.
"Eh... I figured I'd give it a shot. Foxes are distant cousins of dogs after all." Kurama countered. His time being on the ship and around Sakura has mellowed him out greatly and warmed his once cold heart.
Sakura snickered at the two boys' antics. Or boy and fox, she should say. Then a thought occurred to her.
"Kurama wait!"
"What?"
"The replicator, what if the ship's computer keeps a log of what food we create? In fact, I'm almost certain it does. It'll look extremely suspicious that we replicated dog food when we aren't supposed to have pets. Or Demon foxes that normally are sealed inside one of us." Sakura stated.
"Why would that matter?" Naruto inquired.
"Well we still don't know how the crew would react to you being a jinchuriki, Naruto. And after learning about your childhood, I'm not about to take that risk. Not yet anyway." Sakura insisted.
"Actually, Counselor Troi already knows and she seems fine with it." Naruto countered.
"How do you know?"
"She told me herself. If he poses no threat to the ship, then he's fine. I had planned on taking him to the captain soon." Naruto grinned.
"First time I heard about that." Kurama stated. "Just when were you going to tell me about that?"
"And what about the rest of the crew? The thousands of other people that will band together when faced with something they don't understand? What then?" Sakura cut off Kurama.
"I think you're overreacting a little bit, Sakura-chan. The people here are surprisingly open-minded about pretty much anything. I'm sure you've seen that."
Sakura looked Naruto dead in the eye. "You know what else I've seen? I've seen good people get ostracized by rumors and misconceptions. Spread by scared little men who didn't know any better. And I don't want it to happen to you. Not again." She said in a stern voice.
"Ok Sakura-chan... If that's how you feel, we'll keep it a secret for now." Naruto smiled. Instantly Sakura was relieved.
"Good, now let's finish eating. We've got a long day ahead of us. Kurama, eat some human food."
"Of the many alien races these Humans have encountered and how many are supposedly on this ship, would a large fox with nine tails that can speak their language be really that farfetched to them?" Kurama said logically.
"Kurama, just drop it." Naruto stated, wanting to stay on Sakura's good side for this.
"Pfft... Whatever. Computer, disregard previous order. Instead, give me roast duck." Kurama said in annoyance.
"Ooh, that sounds good." Naruto commented, even with half his skillet already eaten.
"Oh it does, doesn't it? Sakura, would you like some?" Kurama smiled.
"Hey!" Naruto cried back.
"Nah... I'm not a duck fan. Too greasy." Sakura said.
"Suit yourself." Kurama shrugged as he waited patiently by the replicator. The replicator hummed and on a large platter, a plump, juicy roasted duck appeared.
Kurama picked up the plate by his tails and set it on the floor. "Damn, don't that smell good..."
"You know, you can sit at the table if you want, Kurama." Sakura spoke up.
"Nah I'm fine." Kurama said with a mouthful of duck.
Once they were finished eating, Sakura cleaned up the plates while Naruto took a shower. Sakura made her way over to the desk to check up on Starfleet news. As she was reading this, she was scratching Kurama behind his ears. He loved that.
"Mmmmmm..." Kurama moaned, almost like purring which made Sakura giggle.
"Hard to believe you are the most fearsome demon of the Leaf village." Sakura said.
"Excuse me... I'm the most fearsome demon of the world...ooohh, that's the spot."
"Yea it shows." Sakura giggled.
The two of them just sat in peaceful silence for a few moments, until Sakura worked up the courage to ask the question that had been on her mind for quite some time.
"Um..." Sakura started hesitantly. "Do you think I'll... be a good mother?"
"Why wouldn't you be? I mean besides your random bouts of rage. And when you answer your problems with solely with violence."
"You're not helping..." Sakura said sadly. "I'm serious... I don't interact with children very often."
"What are you talking about? Kit's always ranting about how great you are with the sick kids in the hospital. Plus, the way you handled that kid the first day we came aboard this ship. Don't tell me you wouldn't be a good mother."
"Maybe you're right... I'm just worried that I won't be a good parent, ya know?" Sakura stated.
"Please, I haven't a single worry about you and parenting. If anything, I'm more worried about Kit over there." Kurama said, pointing his tail towards the shower where Naruto could be heard singing Single Ladies.
"I'm not really worried about him. He practically raised Konohamaru if you remember."
"What do you remember? He didn't raise jack. He was an older brother if anything."
"B-but I thought-"
"What? That because his parents were killed and that he was really raised by his uncle and grandfather who have both been killed that Naruto, the witless wonder who has strength far beyond any ninja in history actually had the skills needed to raise a child a few years younger than himself?"
Sakura was taken aback by Kurama's statement. He was right, right about everything.
"Oh God..." Sakura breathed out in shock.
'He's gonna need to learn and quick.' Inner thought.
Kurama sighed. "He may not have much in the line of experience, but I know by his thoughts that he wants to be a father and his heart is in the right place. I think what he needs is a crash course on parenting, but other than that, I think he would make a good father."
"You really think so?"
"Sakura. I share a permanent mental link with him and I have been inside him for 20 years. I know him better than he knows himself." Kurama said with a toothy grin.
Sakura smiled as she renewed scratching between Kurama's ears.
"Hey Sakura-chan! When did we have to be at that preschool again?!" Naruto called from the shower.
"As soon as you're out we can leave!" Sakura called back.
That being said, Naruto made hast to finish getting ready, but waiting for his longer hair to dry was a pain in the ass.
"Hey Sakura-chan!"
"Yea?!"
"Do you think I should cut my hair?!"
"Fuck no! I love it that way!" Sakura said seriously.
"You sure? It's such a hassle sometimes."
"Welcome to my world." Sakura stated.
"Oh the curse of being beautiful." Naruto swooned and Sakura just rolled her eyes.
"Just be grateful neither one of us has Ino's hair."
"Oh yeah. That definitely wouldn't be worth it." Naruto said as he finished trying to comb his hair.
"Why do you think I kept my hair this short? I remember the hell I had to go through with it when we were kids. Never again."
"I don't know. I used to like your long hair. But your cute Bob cut has definitely grown on me."
"It was down past my ass. There were times I was sitting on my hair because me and Ino were competing on who's hair would get Sasuke's attention more. The whole rumor about him liking girls with long hair was greatly over exaggerated."
"It was also completely false. Sasuke told me one time that he preferred short hair on girls." Naruto said.
"That's what he told me as well. Another reason I kept it short. But, now I do it because it's easier to maintain."
"That and Starfleet only allows a certain length, or so I've read" Kurama added.
"You read?" Naruto asked, surprised.
Kurama deadpanned. "I'm not an idiot like you. Remember, I can see through my hosts eyes. Remember, your mother and the Old Bag's grandmother were also my hosts."
"Oh right..." Naruto said.
"Ok you two, enough horsing around, we're gonna be late. So Kurama, get inside Naruto. And Naruto, get outside the room." Sakura ordered.
Both Naruto and Kurama nodded and Kurama disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto patted his belly.
"Good to go."
Sakura patted her belly.
"Ditto."
Naruto rubbed Sakura's belly lovingly as he felt the weak chakra of his unborn child. "I'm going to make you a promise, kid. You are gonna be welcomed into the universe with two strong and loving parents who will take care of you no matter what. A promise of a lifetime. Believe it." Naruto said happily, yet softly. To which Sakura felt like crying tears of joy. She couldn't help but smile proudly as she made a similar promise in her head.
"Alright, come on. Before your beautiful loving devotion to our unborn child makes me ruin my make-up." Sakura said as she tapped Naruto on the butt to get him to move forward.
"Wait, you're wearing make up? That's rare." Naruto said in surprise.
"I wanted to look nice in front of the kids... I guess... is that weird?"
"No, not really. It's just that... I rarely have ever seen you wear it so it surprised me is all."
"Do you like it?" She asked tentatively.
Naruto looked Sakura over with a keen eye. Eye liner, lipstick, eyelashes, mascara, Sakura did it all.
"Maybe a little bit easier on the eye liner, but otherwise, beautiful." Naruto said honestly.
Sakura blushed and planted a soft kiss on Naruto's lips. "I'll remember that for the next time. Thank you."
Naruto smiled and the two of them made their way down to the Preschool.
"What deck is this on anyway?" Naruto asked as they stepped into the Turbo lift.
"Deck 4." Sakura ordered and the doors closed. "That answer your question?" Sakura said.
"Pretty much...do you think the kids will like me?"
"Oh I'm sure they will, if the children from the Leaf are anything to go by."
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, a little eager.
"I'm positive." Sakura smiled back.
"Only fools are positive..."
"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, hoping Naruto would fall for it.
"I'm positive... wait..."
Sakura laughed.
"Oh my god! I have tried that on a lot of people, but you were the only one to fall for it! Hahaha!"
"Yea... Laugh it up..." Naruto grumbled.
'Ha!' Kurama thought.
They were brought out of their moment when the doors opened up. the two walked out and made their way to an area with a large glass window. Inside were many young children on the other side that were playing with various toys and games.
"Oh my gosh, Naruto, they look so adorable." Sakura squealed.
"Yea they do. And to think, we're gonna have one of our own!" Naruto said excitedly.
Sakura looked around at all of the children. most of them were human, but there were a few that weren't. There was a Klingon child and a child with a bowl cut hair style and pointy ears. There was another one that had no hair, blue skin, and what liked like a seam that went down the center of his head.
Naruto saw the child with the pointy ears and was instantly reminded of the Romulan ship he ravaged.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, is that kid a..."
Sakura looked at the child with pointed ears. "What?"
"Is that kid a Romulan?"
"Um... No, I don't think so. Romulans have more pronounced eyebrows." Sakura deduced. the door near them opened up and it was the teacher for the class.
"Greetings! You're Naruto and Sakura Uzumaki, right?" He asked.
Sakura and Naruto both blushed. "W-we're not married." Naruto said.
'Yet.' Inner Sakura and Kurama thought.
"Oh. My mistake. So, did you have any questions before you come in?"
"Yea I do. That boy with the pointy ears. Is he a Romulan?" Naruto asked.
"T'Pel? No, He's a Vulcan." The Teacher explained.
"A Vulcan? Oh! Like from that soup we ate! Do you remember Sakura?" Naruto asked, excited that he had made the connection.
"Soup? Oh the Plomeek soup. Yea I remember." Sakura agreed.
Sakura then noticed a small girl in the corner of the room by herself. She, too, was an alien girl to them. She looked like a regular human, but with thin ribs on the bridge of her nose.
"Who is the little girl over there?" Sakura pointed out.
"That's Sio. She is sadly an orphan. Her parents were killed by Cardassians a few years ago." The teacher said sadly.
"Aw... The poor thing..." Sakura said sadly, not noticing the equally sad look on Naruto's face.
"Yes, but thankfully the Enterprise has an excellent adolescent care facility. Parents take great comfort knowing that should anything happen to them; their children will be well taken care of." The teacher explained.
"... Is there an adoption program on board?" Naruto asked softly.
"Naruto?" Sakura said in confusion.
"I'm just curious, is all." Naruto said.
"We do have one if there are no other family members to take in an orphaned child. However, she has no family that we are aware of." The teacher responded. "Not too many people want to adopt a Bajoran being that a great many of them are part of the Maquis Rebel Alliance, who oppose Federation ideals and have been known to steal Federation ships and medical supplies."
"... I know how she feels. My parents were killed the day I was born." Naruto said sadly.
"I'm sorry for your loss, sir." The teacher said softly.
'Again, I'm sorry, Kit.'
'Don't worry about it. I'm not sad for myself, I'm sad for her.' Naruto replied back.
'Well you're not actually thinking of adopting her, right?'
'Not going to lie, the thought has crossed my mind and it would give Sakura-chan and I better parenting skills for when we have our child. But, I'm not sure we're ready to make that kind of commitment yet.' Naruto mused.
'Ok good. Let's focus on this one kit before we start deciding to raise every orphan from here to the restaurant at the end of the universe.'
Naruto silently agreed as he looked around the room at all of the other children playing happily.
"Are you two ready to come in?" The Teacher asked. Naruto and Sakura both nodded. "Alright then. Follow me."
The teacher led them up to the front of the class. Along the way they saw dozens of kids playing together. Some with blocks, cars, spaceships, and dolls. Others were playing with arts and crafts. There was one group in particular that was playing a game of space heroes and pirates on the classroom's mini indoor playground.
"So how many kids are there, Mister...?" Naruto asked.
"Johnson, and we have over 30 children in this class. A decent size considering the number of crew members aboard this vessel." Mr. Johnson explained.
"Take that, Romulan Scum!" A young boy shouted out. Naruto and Sakura turned their attention back towards the boys who were playing on the mini playground. Instead of it being a regular game of space cowboys and Indians, it appeared to be a reenactment of Naruto's daring invasion of the Romulan battleship. Judging by the way the boy playing Naruto was running all throughout the play structure knocking over all the other boys playing the evil Romulans and then declaring the entire plastic tower for Star Fleet.
Both the shinobi found it adorable and somewhat funny how quickly rumors spread amongst a ship. Considering that they grew up in the Leaf, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise, but it was still flattering how fast the children put together this play.
Naruto and Sakura followed the teacher to the front of the chalkboard and the class immediately stopped what they were doing to see the two new faces walk in.
"Class, allow me to introduce to you Ensigns Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno. Sakura works closely with Dr. Crusher and Naruto works closely with Lieutenant Worf on the bridge." The teacher said happily.
"You work with my father?" The Klingon child said, earning a surprised look from both ninjas.
"Worf is your father?" Sakura asked. "I didn't know he had children. What's your name?"
"Alexander." the Klingon boy replied.
"Alexander huh? That's a strong name." Naruto commented.
"Do you have a last name?" Sakura asked with a smile.
"Roshenko after my grandparents. MY father was adopted by humans and my mother was half human." Alexander said.
"Huh, I fought your father. He damn near beat me too." Naruto said, thinking he could inspire some awe for the boy's father.
Sakura smacked him in the chest.
"Don't swear in front of the kids..." She hissed so that no one else could hear her.
"Sorry." Naruto said sheepishly.
"You're a fighter?" one of the kids said, then the two got bombarded with questions about what they could do, where they were from and if they could show off a bit.
"Of course he's a fighter, what are you, stupid?" One of the oldest boys replied to the other. "He's Naruto. The hero who saved the ship and killed all those Romulans single handedly!"
Naruto froze and gawked at the children. He had no idea his deeds had gone around the ship this quickly.
"Yea, you're right! He saved us from those things that wouldn't let the ship move!" A little girl added.
"Isn't he dead? My daddy said he sacrificed himself to save us all." Another girl chimed in.
"It is obvious that claim was exaggerated." The Vulcan boy chimed in. "To put your life at risk in a plan that could have easily failed to save the ship is illogical."
"I believe it was Spock who said, 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,' T'Pel." The teacher said.
T'Pel raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating."
At that moment Naruto felt the need to step in. "Ah, if I may just chime in here. I didn't intend to have to sacrifice myself to save the ship. But when I was nearly completed with my master plan, some complications arose and I couldn't make it back to the ship without my spacesuit tearing. So I figured instead of pointlessly running back to the ship I would spend my remaining time completing the mission."
The children "Ooo-ed " and "Awed" at Naruto's selfless act of courage.
"Then how did you survive if you spent your remaining time completing your original objective?" T'Pel inquired.
"That would be a Jutsu he learned from his father called the Flying Thunder God technique." Sakura gloated proudly.
"Jutsu? I am unfamiliar with that term." T'Pel inquired further.
Both Sakura and Naruto sweat dropped, this boy was starting to remind them of Shino for some reason.
"Are you familiar with ninja's?" Sakura asked.
"Sorry, but I'm not." T'Pel said.
"Ho boy... Well, a jutsu is a technique that ninja's, like Naruto and myself, that use an energy called Chakra that either enhances our abilities or grants us new abilities like walking on water or walking up a tree. Chakra is the combination of both physical and mental energies that-" Sakura droned on and on without realizing that she had begun to lecture and had long since lost all the children, even the normally frightfully intelligent T'Pel.
"Its magic." Naruto said, interrupting Sakura.
"Ooooohhh!" The children all awed.
"With it, we can do cool things like this!" Naruto said as he did a standing front flip high up and stuck his feet on the tile ceiling. He smiled down at the children as he ran around the ceiling like he was on the gymnasium track.
"That shouldn't be possible. It defies the laws of physics." T'Pel said, trying hard to keep his emotions in check.
"You're pretty smart for someone so young." Sakura pointed out.
"Like I said Tee! It's magic!" Naruto said as he started to run on the side of the walls. "We send chakra to our feet and use it like suction cups. Magic!"
'Why does he keep calling it magic? It's not!' Sakura thought to herself.
'We know that, but the kids don't understand that. Save for maybe that Vulcan kid.' Inner clarified, to which Sakura made an 'oh' expression like she just realized what Naruto was doing.
The children cheered as Naruto jumped around the classroom like he was using his own personal zero gravity. Finally, he landed in front of the entire class and held out his hand with dramatic showmanship.
"Or this..." He said. The children's gaze was laser focused on his palm, waiting for the next amazing trick he could pull off.
The air around his palm began to swirl and emit a faint glow. Naruto made sure to stretch this out as long as possible. Until finally he could hold it back any more and a ball of rotating light appeared in his hand. "Rasengan!" Naruto shouted. The children all awed at the glowing blue ball.
One child reached out to touch it, when Sakura held her back. "Woah! Don't touch it! That will hurt you." Sakura said.
The child looked like she wanted to protest, but Naruto quickly came to Sakura's defense. "Good catch Sakura-chan. Yeah, you don't want to be caught by this attack, kiddies."
"Can you do that too?" The girl asked Sakura, who looked startled after being put on the spot so quickly.
"Not that one, but I can do this." Sakura said as she held out her palm and it began to glow green with her healing jutsu. "This one won't hurt you." Sakura smiled.
"In fact, I'll make you feel really good. Does anyone here have a boo-boo?" Naruto asked, seeking a volunteer.
"I fell and hurt my knee." A little boy whimpered.
"Alright then, let me take a look." Sakura said in her kindest doctor tone.
The children then gathered round the boy and Sakura to get a look at her magic glowing hands in action.
Sakura moved her hand over the boy's knee. it was only a minor scrape, but it was enough to cause the boy discomfort. She surged her chakra and the wound healed instantly.
"It felt warm! Like my mom was hugging me!" The boy exclaimed happily as the pain went away.
The thought of being compared to a mother warmed Sakura's heart and made her smile shine all the brighter.
"It was just a minor scrape. But you be careful next time. I don't want to have to always be healing you." She playfully scolded as she booped the boy on his nose. The four-year-old giggled in response.
"I will Mrs. Naruto." The boy sweetly stated.
"Oh, I'm not married to Naruto..." Sakura politely corrected.
"Yeah dummy, Naruto is gonna be married to me!" One girl in the background spoke up.
"No! ME!" Another girl shouted. Soon many of the girls were fighting over Naruto over who would marry him.
Naruto chuckled. "Sorry kids. But if anyone is going to marry me, Sakura-chan would. Maybe not now, but someday." Naruto said with a grin.
"So does that mean she's single now?" One of the older boys spoke up.
"No. I'm his girlfriend." Sakura corrected with a smile on her face. Although she was still reeling over Naruto's statement earlier.
"I could be your husband though!" One of the other boys shyly interjected, he traced lines in the imaginary dirt with his feet.
Sakura looked at him like he was the cutest thing. "Well if you want to marry me, you're gonna have to work hard on it. Just like Naruto here is doing. I only expect the best from my potential husband. Girls, some marriage tips for you." Sakura said, prompting an outburst of giggles from the girls in the room.
"Nice save, Sakura-chan." Naruto whispered into her ear.
"Yea, well you best live up to your statement earlier. I want to have a ring on my finger before our child is born." Sakura whispered back, half teasing, half seriously.
Naruto sweat dropped, knowing that if he misinterpreted this, she would most likely take his balls as compensation. She did so with a client who had once tried to stiff them on payment after a mission. That client wasn't "stiffing" anybody ever again, that was for sure.
"I'll get right on that." He whispered back.
Sakura stopped right as she was and stared at Naruto with a look of shock and happiness. "S-seriously...?" Sakura breathed out. "I-I was joking really, but-"
"I don't want our child to be born without their parents being married and I don't think you do either. It won't happen right away, but soon." Naruto said softly as he planted a soft kiss on Sakura's forehead.
Sakura smiled, she absolutely loved it when he did that. A warm kiss felt so much better than a poke.
"Seriously Naruto, we don't have to rush into anything. I mean it was my stup-
She was silenced when Naruto placed his fingers over her lips.
"Don't finish that thought. We've been over this. I'm all in with you. We were partners and teammates before and we'll be partners and teammates after. And how would marriage change all that anyway? If anything, I always imagined marriage being exactly like the friendship I shared with you. Ok?"
Sakura's eyes got misty as she smiled and nodded.
"Ahem..." The teacher coughed.
Naruto and Sakura turned around to see that they had in fact had a moment right in front of the entire preschool. All those shit eating grins from those children. It was the Ninja Academy all over again.
"Hey! Teacher, so does this ship have a gymnasium or some big room with high ceilings? Cause I, that is me and Sakura-chan, have one more cool magic trick we could show them."
"There is a small Holodeck we use for the kids in the back." the teacher said.
"A holodeck will work. Come on kids! Mini field trip!" Naruto called out.
All this kids cheered and many of them followed Naruto. But there were two girls that didn't and Sakura noticed that one of them was the orphan Bajoran, but the other one was a little girl who nervously looked on at the group.
Sakura ignored them for now and continued following the entire class. Which Naruto had turned into a kind of parade, led by him and two of his shadow clones.
Once inside the holodeck, the teacher created an open field covered in grass big enough for all the children to roam freely.
"You call this small?" Sakura asked, having already been in one of the others.
"It's smaller than the others. about half the size. We use this for field trips and outside activities mostly." The teacher said.
"This should be perfect. Everyone back up!" Naruto shouted, making sure every kid was at least 30 yards away from him.
Naruto bit his thumb enough to draw blood, then flashed through the appropriate hand signs before slamming his palm down on the grassy surface.
"Summoning jutsu!" He cried and was immediately surrounded by an impenetrable cloud of smoke. When it finally cleared, there was a 50-foot-tall Toad in a Yakuza vest, carrying a sword and smoking a cigarette the size of a log in his mouth.
"Yo, Naruto, long time no see!" The Toad said in a booming New York accent.
"Hey, Gamakichi!" Naruto saluted back.
"Woah! You got big, Gamakichi." Sakura said.
"Heeey, that's your girl, isn't it Naruto?" Gamakichi leered. "I always knew you were gonna hit that. I mean look at all the kids you two had." He said gesturing to all the preschoolers staring up at the giant toad in complete awe.
Naruto jumped up and whacked Gamakichi on the head before Sakura did. "NO YOU IDIOT!" Naruto bellowed. "We only started dating a week and a half ago!"
'And we got knocked up a week into that.' Inner commented.
'And he doesn't need to know that.' Sakura countered.
"Naruto is right, Gamakichi. None of these children are ours." Sakura clarified.
"GIANT TALKING FROGGY!" The children all shrieked in delight.
The mob that had once circled Gamakichi at a respectful distance now rushed him like a pack of excited Chihuahuas.
"Naruto! What is this?" Gamakichi protested
"Preschool class we were asked to visit." Naruto smirked.
"Holy cow... Mr. Uzumaki, what is that?" The teacher asked, still in a state of shock.
"This is Gamakichi, my familiar. I'm the one and only Toad summoner back in the Leaf. Which makes me the Toad Sage." Naruto explained as the children started climbing atop Gamakichi.
"Amazing..." The teacher said in awe.
That was when Gamakichi saw the choice of attire both Naruto and Sakura were wearing.
"What's up with the get-up, Naruto? You lose a bet or something?" Gamakichi asked smugly.
Sakura giggled. "No, Gamakichi. Naruto and I had a recent change of employment." Sakura vaguely stated.
"We're on a super top secret mission." Naruto explained, knowing that the kids were still listening. Some of them were now trying to climb to the top of Gamakichi in a kind of game of King of the Hill. T'Pel was the first one to realize the best course of action was to climb directly up Gamakichi's backside.
"Oh yea? Cool. Old man Fukasaku said you were in space. Is that true?"
"HE DID?!" Sakura and Naruto both shouted.
"Calm down. He only shared it amongst Ma and the rest of your summons in case you need us."
"Phew... Sweet Sage, Don't scare me like that." Naruto said as he let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, buddy. But, I thought you were on a ship? This don't look like no ship to me." Gamakichi said.
"It's called a holodeck. It can simulate any area, fictitious or real." T'Pel said behind the toad's ear.
"Oh, so it's like a room that can use the transformation jutsu." Gamakichi thought out loud.
"Kinda." Sakura said.
"Would you believe that there are human's out there that have technology like this? Its flipping amazing!" Naruto exclaimed.
"You humans were always tenacious like that. Always have to make the next big thing. You could just sit back and enjoy nature. But you humans invented BBQ chips, so my brother would call that even."
"Yes, but here's the thing. Apparently these Humans have been around for millions of years. But, our history doesn't go back that far. Why is that?" Sakura thought out loud.
"I seem to remember the elder saying something about Humans coming to Element suddenly. One moment there were none and then the next, there you are. That was about 4000 years ago I think he said."
'So, Crusher and Picard could be on to something after all.' Sakura thought.
"AAH! LEGGO!" Gamakichi cried as one of the kids latched on to his lower lip.
The teacher then clapped his hands. "Okay, Class! Let's leave Gamakichi alone."
'Hey Kit...' Kurama whispered to Naruto in his head. Naruto got excited and jumped off of Gamakichi.
"Hey kids, I've got one more summoning to show you." Naruto smirked as he raised up his shirt to show the tattoo on his belly.
"Naruto...what are you doing?" Sakura asked.
"Summoning Kurama." Naruto replied simply.
Naruto then twisted his seal before slamming down his palm and another explosion of smoke burst out forth.
When the dust cleared, Naruto stood atop a 50 foot tall chibi Kurama. Which was exactly how Kurama had remembered looking back when he was initially created by the Sage of Six Paths 3000 years ago. He looked like a pup or a giant plushy.
"Hey kids! Get a load of this!" Naruto said to get everyone's attention.
The kids all turned their attention away from the giant toad and turned their attention to the giant fluffy fox with nine fluffy tails and huge cute red eyes.
"PUPPY!" They all screamed in joy as they rushed over to glomp Kurama.
'Oh shit...'
'I Tried to warn ya.'
'You didn't warn me! You said-' Kurama was interrupted by a swarm of children all dog piling him. Like the Sakura clones from a week ago, but instead of beautiful 20 something women it was a bunch of snot nosed kids all furiously petting him.
'Might as well roll with it now.' Naruto snickered.
'Oh Sage! They're on my tails!'
'Do to them what you did with the Sakura clones.'
'I REALLY don't think that's appropriate.'
'I meant give them a ride...' Naruto deadpanned.
'Oh that... yeah I can do that.' Kurama thought as he rolled back onto his four legs. The kids awed in disappointment until Kurama offered them his tails. Overjoyed, the kids and grabbed on to his tail tips one by one as he hoisted them aboard his back.
The kids cheered as Kurama gave over half the class a piggy back ride (or foxy back ride) while Gamakichi gave the rest a froggy back ride.
Sakura could on look on with a smirk on her face. And yet she felt a sense of disappointment for some odd reason. Was it fair to say that she was jealous of all the attention Naruto was getting?
'No getting around it. He just has cooler moves than we do. And I doubt the kids will ride on the back of a giant slug.' Inner said sadly.
Sakura thought back not so fondly to the times she had tried to bring in her slug summons to the sick children back in the Leaf Hospital. The worst thing they called her was, "gross."
'Yeah, probably not the best idea in the world.'
'I...do have one thing we can do... But I'm not sure if one, the kids will react to it well and two, whether you can handle it in your current state.'
'You mean the Hundred Hand seal? Nah, let's hold off on that. Just enjoy the view. It's not often we get to see Kurama act like a horsey.' Sakura smirked.
'Not that. Something else...' Inner started. 'Have you ever felt a surge or power anytime you get mad?'
'Yea... What about it?'
'There is a whole lot more you can tap into that brings out a transformation similar to Naruto's Kurama mode.' Inner explained.
'How much power?' Sakura asked.
'All together? Enough to match Naruto.'
'My god... Will it hurt the baby?'
'That I don't know.' Inner stated. 'Speaking of...actually nobody brought it up, but did you notice that one little girl?' Inner thought.
'The Bajoran girl?'
'No not her, the other one.' Inner stated.
Sakura looked around but couldn't see what girl her Inner self was referring to, until she noticed a tiny little blond girl off in the distance. Sitting farther away from anyone else, essentially with her back against the holodeck walls.
'She looks so lonely.' Sakura commented to herself.
'She looks like you.' Inner commented back.
'How does she look... like...' Sakura stopped when she recalled her childhood memories. Mostly the time spent as a lonely little girl hugging her knees until the bullies went away.
'You're right... When I see her... I see myself at that age before I met Ino.'
'What say we do some gardening then?' Inner commented.
Sakura nodded as she made her way over to the lonely little girl who still hadn't noticed the pink haired doctor coming towards her
As she got closer, Sakura began to hear something, a sound all too familiar. The sound of post crying sniffles.
'Wait, is she...?' Sakura thought, but upon closer inspection, her suspicions were confirmed.
"Sniff..." The little girl rubbed her nose, not wanting to further stain her purple flowery dress. The girl had long blond hair that was a mess, but not from crying. Sakura could tell just by looking at the girl that her hair was intentionally being used to cover the girls face. From what, Sakura wasn't sure, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it. The first step however, was always the biggest.
"Hello..." Sakura said I'm her sweetest voice.
The little girl looked up and saw Sakura kneeling down in front of her, but turned her head away.
"I'm Sakura, what's your name?"
"(sniff) S-Sally..." The girl sobbed.
"Sally, that's a pretty name. What are you doing over here all by yourself? Don't you want to go and ride Kurama and Gamakichi or play with the other kids?"
"N-no... They all make... f-fun of me..." Sally sobbed.
Sakura's heart broke, it was exactly as she feared.
"Is that right? And why would they make fun of a sweet girl like you?"
"Sniff...I don't wanna say. You'll just make fun of me too." The girl replied glumly.
"No I won't. Trust me. I know what it's like to be made fun of and would never do it to anyone." Sakura said softly.
Sally pulled back her hair and looked up at Sakura. She had one green eye and one blue eye and Sakura thought it was very cool.
"You have two different colored eyes? I think it makes you look beautiful." Sakura said.
The girl quickly returned her hair to its original position.
"That's what mommy and daddy always says, but the other kids still laugh at me. Call me a freak..."
"And what do they know? They probably wouldn't know beauty if it bit them on the butt. I was made fun of having a large forehead." Sakura said as she lifted up her bangs to reveal her abnormally large forehead.
"What? But you're so pretty. And kind... And talented... And smart... How can I compete with you?" Sally said sadly.
This got Sakura's attention. "Why would you need to compete with me?" She wondered aloud as she traced Sally's eyes over to where she was staring at and found herself looking directly at Naruto.
'She's got a crush on Naruto.' Sakura realized.
'Little girl had better step off our man!' Inner Sakura raved, but Sakura ignored her inner self. Instead she knelt closer to Sally to speak to her face to face.
"You know, when I was your age, I was exactly like you. I wasn't always like I am now. I would be bullied for my large forehead for quite a while, until I met my friend Ino. She is like a sister to me." Sakura began.
"And do you know what she told me about dealing with bullies who teased me about my forehead?" Sakura said as she pulled out a ribbon she had carried around with her. She took Sally's long hair and tied it back into a beautiful pony tail, fully revealing Sally's face.
"She told me to own it. And show off the cute face to the rest of the world."
"R-really...?" Sally asked as she lightened up.
"Would you believe it was thanks to my forehead that got me the love of my life?" Sakura looked over at Naruto. "I learned a few years ago that he had always loved my forehead. He called it charming and cute. My most hated feature, and it acted as my red string of fate." Sakura reminisced fondly.
"What does that mean?"
"Oh, it's an old legend back on my home planet. It states that between every two fated lovers. There is a single invisible red thread of destiny connecting the two. It can stretch and stretch but it can never break, no matter how far away you are from your true love. So if you follow your red string to its end, it will lead you to your true love."
"Wow! Really?" Sally said, now sporting a gleaming smile.
"Yes, so if in your case your two eye colors are your red string, then the only way you'll be able to find your true love would be to show them off for your true love to see." Sakura explained as the girl's face became brighter and brighter.
Sally was so happy that she glomped Sakura in a tight hug. "Thank you!"
Sakura returned the hug with gusto. "You're welcome, Sally. If you ever need anything, or just need to talk. Come find me at the medical station. Ok?"
"Um, which one? There are many here."
"The main sick bay on deck 12." Sakura said with a smile.
"That's the main one, with Dr. Crusher..." Sally said in awe.
"That's right. I'm her number 2." Sakura smiled.
"Wow! That's really cool!" Sally said in amazement.
'I wonder if she likes slugs...' Inner wondered.
'No harm in trying really.'
"Hey Sally. You know, I can summon animals too." Sakura said with a warm smile.
Sally actually took a step back. "You don't summon more frogs do you? I don't actually like frogs."
"No I don't. And they're actually toads. Similar, but not the same. I can summon healing slugs."
"What are slugs?" Sally inquired, having never heard of such a creature before.
"Maybe it would be better if I showed you." Sakura suggested.
Sakura bit her thumb and went through a set of hand signs. She slammed her hand down and a cloud of smoke appeared. Once it cleared, a small slug about the size of Sakura's fist appeared.
"Hello, Lady Sakura." The slug greeted.
"Eeehhhh..." Sally says, unsure of what to make of the little slug. It looked cute and Sakura says she was friends with it. But it also looked slimy like a frog.
The slug turned and saw Sally retracting like the slug was going to hurt her. "Hello there. What's your name? I won't hurt you."
"Um...um..." Sally stuttered, she fidgeted in place.
"Oh come now. I'm sorry Katugi, this is Sally. She's shy. Sally, this is Katugi, my familiar. I promise she won't bite."
"I can't anyway. I have no teeth." Katugi joked. If she did had teeth, she would have been smiling.
Sakura held out her hand and placed Katugi on Sally's arm. The girl cringed at the cool slimy feeling shiver up her arm, but for the sake of her newest friend, she kept her silence. Katugi then began crawling up Sally's arm, and she giggled.
"It tickles..." She laughed.
"I had the same reaction when my master introduced me to slugs." Sakura smiled.
Sally laughed as Katugi crawled over her shoulder and behind her neck. "Really?"
"Well..."
"More like you were grossed out by us at first." Katugi corrected.
"Thanks for selling me out..." Sakura grumbled.
Katugi laughed, but stopped when she found something on Sally that alarmed her. "Sally. What is this on your shoulder?" Katugi asked, which caused Sakura to be alarmed.
"...One of the other kids hit me there with a toy car... It still hurts..." Sally mumbled.
"What? Let me see." Sakura said, immediately switching over to medic mode.
"Please don't touch it. It hurts..." Sally said with fear.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you." Sakura said softly. Sally nodded and let Sakura work.
Sakura exposed her left shoulder to see a pretty nasty gash that she had covered up with a napkin.
Sakura activated her mystic palm technique. Instantly she traced the wound with her green chakra, healing it just as quickly.
Sally relaxed at the warm feeling of Sakura's chakra healing her. "The pain is gone. What are you doing?"
"Just healing it with my jutsu. You saw what I did with one of your classmates right?"
"Oh. Yea I did. That is what you're doing?"
"Yup. My jutsu increases the rate of cell divisions, thereby reducing the recovery time for wounds." Sakura explained, not realizing that she was explaining advanced medicine to a preschooler.
"But wouldn't the cell regrowth remain in effect for a while?" Sally asked, which stunned both Sakura ant Katugi. "What? My grandfather is a Commander in the Starfleet Medical Corps."
'It's a shame me and Naruto will be gone before she turns 13. I could use an apprentice.'
'If you two decide to remain in Starfleet, you still could.' Inner commented.
'I don't think so. I still miss our old home.'
'You say that now, but later on you may change your mind. Besides, don't you have a Starfleet doctor to train as well?'
'We'll see. It's a long five years.'
"It's all better! Thank you, Mrs. Naruto!" Sally exclaimed as she glomped Sakura into another hug.
"I'm not..." Sakura tried to explain but fell short at seeing that adorable little girl hug her waist.
'You will be sooner or later. might as well roll with it.' Inner commented.
"It's Mrs. Uzumaki actually. But it's Sakura to my friends." Sakura politely explained.
"Am I your friend?" Sally asked with the strongest puppy dog eyes Sakura had ever seen.
Sakura smiled. "Of course you are. So long as I am your friend."
Sally gave an ear to ear grin that would rival Naruto's. "Yay! I have a friend!"
Sakura smiled and hugged Sally some more.
"Now wouldn't you like to go play with the other kids and make some more friends?"
Sally pulled away and started shifting around nervously. "I... Um..."
Sakura frowned while keeping Sally at arm's length. Of course fixing her self-confidence couldn't be done in a half hour, but Sakura just felt so obligated, there had to be something more she could do...
And then it hit her.
"Sally, do you remember Naruto running up and along those walls in your classroom?"
"Oh yeah That was cool." Sally smiled.
Sakura's pleasant smile turned a bit devious. "Well how would you like to do just that?"
"Me?! Do that?! No way!"
"Yes way. And normally it would take years of training in order to perform the tree climbing technique, but with a little help from your newest friend, it'll be a snap." Sakura smirked.
"Computer, construct an acre of forest. Make the trees tall." The pinkette commanded.
Just then, several tall Oak and Maple trees appeared to which Naruto and the class teacher noticed from where they were.
'Have you ever even done anything like this before? Done answer that, cause I already know that the answer is no.' Inner said.
'Would you relax? Theoretically it should work perfectly.'
'Theoretically? Perfect last words. Who are you? Naruto?'
'Oh zip it.'
When Sally saw all the trees that seemed to touch the sky, she began to have second thoughts. Not that she had a fear of heights, it was just...
Her thoughts were cut off when Sakura came up behind her and took her hands into hers. Sally looked up to see Sakura's confident face egging her on.
"W-what are you doing?"
"I'm transferring my chakra to you. Just trust me and put on foot on the tree trunk." Sakura explained.
"O-okay..." Sally said nervously. She put one of her feet on the tree trunk and then magic started to happen.
"Ok, now try to lift yourself up by that one leg." Sakura instructed, her own palms being sweaty in anticipation.
Sally nervously started pulling herself up by that leg, only to discover a new sensation from her feet. It felt like a pulling sensation and wasn't slipping.
She had complete traction against the tree.
Sakura smiled. "Now take another step..."
Feeling more confident, Sally lifted her other foot up and she was surprised to see that she didn't fall. Instead, both her feet were firmly planted on the trunk of the tree.
"I'm doing it! Look! I'm doing it!" Sally exclaimed excitedly.
Sally looked straight up, which to Sakura was Sally looking upside down at her.
"Yes you are!" Sakura replied as she too took a few steps onto the tree trunk so that the both of them were standing on the side of the tree.
"How far can we go up?"
"How far can you run?" Sakura teased.
"Mommy says I can run good enough to be on a track team." Sally beamed.
"Well let's see it." Sakura beamed back.
Sally and Sakura both took off running up the tree like they were running on the ground. "This is amazing!" Sally cheered.
Sakura couldn't help but laugh for joy at Sally's enthusiasm.
"You think that's cool? Are you ready?"
"Ready for what?"
"Ready to jump!" Without warning, Sakura leapt from one tree trunk to the next, carrying Sally along by her hands.
"Whooooohoooo!" Sakura cried.
"Weeeeeeeee!" Sally called.
The two girls quickly landed on the adjacent tree. Sakura landed first and helped to ease Sally's landing, before the two of them resumed their running along the tree trunk and along the tree branches.
Meanwhile, back on the ground...
"You kids having fun?" Naruto asked with a grin on his face.
The kids had since begun jumping on top of Gamakichi's belly like a bouncy castle and riding on top of Kurama's tails like he was an amusement park ride.
"I take that as a yes." Naruto said.
"I have to admit; I'm having fun as well." Kurama said.
"Yeah, who knew you were such a big softy?" Naruto said. 'Mr. All Powerful Demon and Embodiment of Human Rage.' He continued in his thoughts.
'Kit... IT has something to do with being on this ship and you with Sakura. I hate to admit it, but I think any hatred I had for humans is gone now... Like someone flipped a switch and made me into something I'm not... I don't know how to explain it...'
'So I had no say in removing your hatred?' Naruto thought.
'Like I said, Kit. I don't know... But it feels... Nice...'
'Well having a friendly enormous demon fox sealed inside me can only be a benefit to everyone.' Naruto thought.
Kurama didn't say another word as he continued to enjoy playing with the children.
One little boy had curled up into his furry belly and gone to sleep.
Kurama noticed the boy sleeping and smiled softly. 'I really am a big softy, aren't I?'
'Yup! But that's a good thing. I'll know that any child of mine will be safe with you.' Naruto thought back.
Kurama was grateful that his fur kept anyone from seeing him blush.
'Ah shut up. What are you even saying? It's embarrassing...' Kurama thought.
'You? Embarrassed? That's new.' Naruto smirked.
'Shaddup!'
'Relax... I'm saying that because I want someone to watch our child while Sakura and I are on duty. If something happens to either one of us or, sage forbid, both of us, I want our child in safe hands.'
'You do realize that I'm a part of you, right? If anything happens to you, then something happens to me.'
Naruto's skin suddenly turned pale. 'Shit...'
'Relax. I still reform after 3 years. So I'll watch out for the kit then.'
'So, what happens during those 3 years, pray tell?'
'Probably your friends take care of your spawn. Did you ever think of that? I don't know if you've noticed, but you've gotten quite popular over the years.'
'Yea, that's true...'
'Kit, no child of yours will have your childhood. I won't let it happen, you won't let it happen, Sakura won't let it happen, and anyone who knows you won't let it happen.'Kurama reassured.
"Hey what's that!" One of the children shouted, his finger pointing to the tallest branches of the newly created forest. Everyone present looked to where the child was pointing to and they could see two figures running across the treetops.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto thought out loud as he saw a pink haired figure with a smaller blonde haired figure hopping through the trees.
The bouncing pair leapt over to a lower hanging branch and swung around it by the soles of their feet. Finally resting as they were hung upside down on the branch. They looked down with huge grins on each of their faces. Naruto had a quick flashback to when he made that exact face at Sakura back when he had first mastered the tree climbing technique.
"It's Mrs. Naruto! But why is she with that freak?" One of the boys asked.
"That's mean, Charlie. You shouldn't talk that way." Alexander scolded.
"That's Second Eye Sally though."
"She's climbing up the trees with her feet."
"That's so cool!"
Almost in an instant, the children's jeers turned into ones of amazement.
Naruto felt the need to get to the bottom of this. He sent chakra into his legs and leapt 3 stories into the thicket of the trees and then began leaping up from tree trunk to tree trunk until he reached his favorite pinkette.
"Sup, Sakura-chan?"
"WOAH!" Sakura jumped. "Sweet sage you scared me... I thought you were down there."
"I thought the same of you. What are you doing up here? And who's this little cutie?" Naruto teased. Sally looked away as best she could with a deep blush on her face.
"This is my new friend Sally! Come on, Say hi. He won't bite." Sakura urged.
'Not her anyway.' Inner Sakura thought.
"H-hi..." Sally squeaked out as she looked at Naruto and his dazzling smile. He was so bright he was like the sun.
"Hi there, I'm Naruto." He said holding out his hand for her to shake while they were both still upside down.
"Oh! So you're the one Sakura said she's married to!" Sally gushed as she shook Naruto's hand. Naruto was about to say something, but got a look from Sakura saying "Roll with it."
"Ah...yes, that's me." Naruto said nervously. He then made a closer inspection of Sally, when he noticed something peculiar.
"Wow you have two different colored eyes..." He said aloud.
Sally pulled away and started to hide her eyes. "Please don't laugh..."
"That's so cool." Naruto gawked. "Ah man, I wish I had two different colored eyes."
"Y-you... like it...?" Sally asked nervously.
"I love it. It makes you look unique." He replied. "Especially the electric blue one, that one is seriously intense."
Sally turned away. In truth, she was always the most embarrassed about her blue eye. It was why she had covered it instead of the green one. But if Naruto liked it...
"Hey Sakura-chan, doesn't she remind you of someone from back home?" Naruto thought aloud.
"Um... No one that comes to mind off hand."
"Really? Cause she kind of reminds me of Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura just stood there dumbfounded. How could she not realize it sooner?
"Who is Kakashi-sensei?" Sally asked, her blood was starting to rush to her head.
"He is our mentor, well was. We have long since surpassed him." Sakura explained.
"He taught me and Sakura-chan how to do the tree climbing technique. As a matter-of-fact." Naruto added.
"He was also considered to be the most attractive man in our village." Sakura also added.
"Keyword, was." Naruto snickered.
"Oh stop you." Sakura said, lightly slapping Naruto in the chest with the back of her hand. Naruto playfully backed up as Sakura took Sally so that the both of them were right side up.
"Anyway, he also had two different eye colors." Sakura explained.
"Well he did, but that's another story." Naruto whispered to himself.
"Okay?" Sally said in confusion, trying to see where these two were going with this.
"The point is, that you shouldn't be ashamed of your differences. You should own them." Sakura summarized.
"She tried to hide her eyes? But they're so pretty." Naruto exclaimed in disbelief.
Sally looked away starting to get upset. Sakura leaned into Naruto's ear to whisper to him. "The other kids bully her about her eyes." Sakura whispered.
"What?" Naruto said, his anger starting to show. Sakura knew that he hated bullies, especially when they bullied kids who didn't deserve it. But before either of them could act on it, the three of them heard cheering coming from the ground below.
"Sally's running up trees!" Some of the children cheered.
"That's so cool!"
"I wanna run up trees too!"
"Me too!"
"Looks like that won't be a problem anymore." Naruto whispered to Sakura.
"Agreed." Sakura whispered back with a smile.
Sally just looked down at all her classmates in awe. Before they had been quick to dismiss her, but now...
Now they were cheering for her.
"Awesome, Sally!" Alexander called out.
"Looks like somebody likes you." Sakura teased.
"What? Who?" Sally stuttered.
"Alexander. See him waving at you?" Sakura pointed out. "He's a good kid."
"Eew, he's gross!" Sally stated. "He teased me the most about my eyes."
"What?" Naruto and Sakura asked in shock.
"Seriously? He's the last one I'd expect that from." Sakura stated.
"Well, his father is Worf." Naruto said.
"And that's supposed to mean what exactly? That he's as much of a brute as he is? I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing that." Sakura interjected.
"No, no, Sakura-chan I didn't mean it like that." Naruto defended.
"Oh really... Enlighten me."
'Brace yourself, Kit. It's mood swing time.' Kurama said into Naruto's mind.
Naruto gulped as he chose his words carefully.
"Oh you know... He's a Klingon, right? A guy I mean. And he has heightened...testosterone so that means he acts even more like a guy..."
"The hel- Um... Heck is that supposed to mean? It almost sounds like you are against Klingons!" Sakura spat, her anger rising.
'Dammit!' Naruto cursed to himself.
'Just say what I say' Kurama said and Naruto nodded.
"Well, Klingon's are warriors right?" Naruto asked, to which Sakura nodded, not letting up on her glare. "W-well, He's Klingon, so maybe it's in his nature and it doesn't show as much when they are kids." Naruto assumed.
"Hmmm... I suppose that makes sense." Sakura said as her tension relaxed.
'Good call, Fuzz ball.' Naruto said in relief.
'It's what I do.'
"Naruto! Sakura!" The teacher called out to grab their attention.
"This has been amazing, but I'm afraid it's time to return to class!" The teacher shouted to a chorus of boos and "awwww" from the students.
"Alright!" Sakura called. "Let's go, Sally."
"Aww, do I have to? I reeeally wanted to keep hanging out with you." She begged with puppy dog eyes.
"I know, so do I. But you gotta expand that mind of yours. One day, you could become big and strong like Naruto and me." Sakura said softly.
Sally looked down at the ground in disappointment.
"Can I at least see you again?"
Sakura laughed. "Of course! Naruto and I will be on the Enterprise for 5 years so you'll have plenty of time to see me whenever you want."
Sally's eyes lit up. "Can I come see you at work?!"
"I don't see why not! Dr. Crusher would love to see a new face that she doesn't have to heal."
Sally inhaled a great deal of breath. "YAAY!" She screamed as she wrapped her hands around Sakura's neck.
"Ack! Sally! Air!" Sakura gasped.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh, Sakura finally being given a taste of her own medicine.
"Sally! Seriously! Too Tight!" Sakura gasped out and Sally pulled away in embarrassment.
Naruto patted Sally on the head. "Look at that Sakura-chan, she's already mastered one of your techniques." He teased.
Sakura was too busy trying to catch her breath to respond.
Naruto took that as a sign that he was going to get off Scott free for once and scooped up the two girls in his arms.
'Oh, just you wait until we get back to our quarters.' Sakura seethed in her head.
Not hearing any complaints, Naruto leapt down to the ground, using his chakra to soften their landing. He then let Sakura down, who let Sally down, who was quickly surrounded by her new fans.
"That was awesome Sally!"
"So cool!"
"I love your hair!"
"Can I go next!?"
While the children gathered around Sally, Sakura was having an important discussion with her inner self.
'Fun and wild evening?' Inner asked.
'More like a perfect time to try some of my new bondage toys I got...' Sakura chuckled evilly.
'Woah girl. I was just going to say we should collect on that threesome he promised us.'
Sakura stopped to think about that. 'Hmm... After his punishment. What do you think? Whip first, or go straight to the ropes and sexual torture?'
'...You'll want to get him into one of those cock cages Ino showed us first. Let him know our intentions for the evening.' Inner said with an evil grin.
'Perfect... Oh, and I think you should take over a shadow clone. Just to make it even harder for him...' Sakura replied with an equally evil grin.
'Oh we are going to break his dick.' Inner thought.
'Not before we have our fun.'
'No no, see here is the brilliance of it. We'll leave him blue balled tonight after we get off and then tomorrow he'll have to double team us if he wants to get off. And it'll be that much more satisfying.'
'Oh, you evil BITCH! I love it! We're gonna have him kissing our feet by the end of the night.' Sakura cackled.
'We'll have him kiss much funner places than our feet...' Inner replied with a sultry grin.
'That we certainly will. But enough of that. I don't want to leave a wet spot in my pants. Already getting moist.'
"Hey Sakura, what're you thinking about?" Naruto said trying to get his girlfriend's attention. All the children were in the process of leaving the holodeck and Sakura was just standing still with a grin on her face. Naruto hoped this wasn't a pregnancy brain thing.
"Oh, you'll find out later." Sakura simply said.
Naruto shrugged and the two walked back with the preschoolers towards their class.
On the way there, they were intercepted by the teacher.
"Hey Teach, what's up?" Naruto asked.
"Oh nothing, I just wanted to thank you two for showing up today. The children all loved you."
"Oh, no trouble at all. We'd love to come by again." Sakura said.
"I'm also very thankful that you were able to breathe new life into little miss Adams. She has been miserable because of the kids picking on her about her eyes."
"Oh don't thank us for that. We were happy to help her. The two of us know a thing or two about being bullied." Sakura stated.
"Most people do during their childhood years. Soon, these kids will learn that being different isn't a sin."
"Glad we could help speed things along." Naruto said.
Just then, the red alert klaxon sounded. "I think you two need to return to your quarters. I heard about your recent, 'free time.'" The teacher suggested.
Naruto and Sakura looked at the teacher in horror as he walked to join his class.
"Oh God, we've turned into Kakashi and Shizune." Naruto realized in horror.
'In more ways than one.' Inner commented.
"Do you think we'll be needed on the bridge?" Sakura asked, referring to the klaxon alarm.
"We were taken off duty as punishment, so unless they say otherwise, we best head back to our room." Naruto said glumly.
Sakura nodded and the two made their way towards their quarters.
Halfway there, Sakura noticed the sad look on Naruto.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"I don't know Sakura, it's this whole off duty punishment thing I guess. It bugs me."
Sakura nodded. "Yea... Nothing to do always bugged me too."
"It's not just that. It's the reason why I was punished. Sure I disobeyed the Captain's orders in the heat of the moment, but it was for the good of the ship. And in the end I saved the ship and got back alive, yet I was still punished for it."
"Well, look at it this way, Hun. We could have been sent back to Element right on the spot, but we were just taken off duty for a few days." Sakura soothed as she rubbed Naruto's shoulders. "We still have 5 more years left. Let's make them count."
Naruto leaned into Sakura who had begun rubbing his arm in an attempt to relax him.
"Yeah I know, it just feels like we aren't doing as much body guarding as we should be, ya know?"
"Oh, that will change, I'm sure. Who knows? We could get called out for an away mission anytime." Sakura assured.
"Yeah..." Naruto said as Sakura continued to massage him as they walked. Then Sakura had an idea.
"Hey, tell you what? How about tomorrow we spend the day doing some training. A few spars against one another might be just what you need." Sakura suggested.
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want you to overwork yourself."
"Naruto, I'm not even a full week pregnant yet. I'll be fine." Sakura assured.
'What is the actual plan here? As if I didn't already know.' Inner thought.
'Oh, I'm just going to follow up Naruto's blue balled evening with a day of him getting all sweaty and frustrated.' Sakura replied simply.
"Besides, I got a really fun night planned tonight." Sakura said in a sultry tone.
'Oh you sneaky vixen...' Inner thought.
"I love you so much right now." Naruto huskily growled.
Sakura tapped him on the lips. "I know..."
She then walked ahead of him. Letting him get a good view of the prize swishing side to side.
'I will never get tired of that view.' Naruto thought.
The two made their way back to their quarters to enjoy a quick meal at Sakura's insistence. Afterwards they spent an hour on the couch listening to an album by some guy named Stevie Wonder.
Until finally Sakura figured now was as good a time as any.
"Naruto?" She asked in a sultry voice.
"Yea?"
"I have a favor to ask you. It's about the night of fun I have planned for tonight." She asked while being sure to scooch her butt back into his crotch.
Naruto gulped hard as he tried to restrain himself. "Yea...?" He growled.
"Could you go into the other room and don't come out until I tell you too?" She asked in a disarmingly perky tone.
"Um... S-sure..." Naruto said in confusion.
'I sense deception, Kit.' Kurama warned.
"Great, thanks!" Sakura said as she pushed Naruto quickly into his old bedroom, now Kurama's den. She shut the door and quickly began work on preparations.
As Sakura started getting ready, her combadge beeped.
"Bridge to Ensign Haruno." Picard called, eliciting a groan from Sakura.
"Go ahead..." Sakura called back.
"I need you and Naruto on the bridge. You two are needed to accompany me on an away team." Picard stated.
'MOTHERFUCKER!' Inner screamed.
"Right away, Sir." Sakura stated in a completely professional tone.
"See you in a bit. Picard out." Picard then closed the channel.
"Dammit!" Sakura cursed loudly.
She marched up to Naruto's door and pounded on it. "Orders just came in from Picard, we're needed on the bridge." Sakura said with disappointment seeped into her voice.
The door slide open so that Sakura could see Naruto stripped down to his boxers, trying out some kind of sex pose that just looked awkward.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Get dressed. We've been called for an away mission... Looks like our fun will have to wait." Sakura said sadly.
"Dammit!" Naruto cursed loudly. He then got up and began throwing his uniform back on as Sakura left to change out of her casual wear and into her uniform as well.
'God dammit! Of all times we could get an away mission, it's now...' Sakura cursed mentally.
'And here I was thinking it would only happen tomorrow before Naruto would get a chance to get his rocks off after all the torture we were gonna put him through.' Inner commented.
'Well, let's just hope this is a short mission.'
'It had better be...' Inner thought.
In less than a minute, Naruto and Sakura were dressed and out the door and headed into the elevator.
"Bridge!" Sakura called as they entered the turbo lift and the doors closed. "Naruto, I'm so sorry about this."
"It's fine Sakura-chan, it's not your fault. Besides, we've got a mission." Naruto perked up. Sakura couldn't help but smile, leave it to Naruto to look on the bright side.
"True. Glad I took a hormone suppressant before we left." Sakura said offhandedly.
Naruto nodded, not sure what she meant by that and looked forward, trying to appear professional.
The doors slide open and the Tenchi duo had arrived at the bridge.
"Ensigns Haruno and Uzumaki, reporting for duty. What is the situation." Sakura answered for the both of them as they saluted as one.
Picard and Riker were already standing up to great the ensigns. "Glad you two could make it. We have a bit of a crisis on our hands." Picard said as Naruto and Sakura stood in front of their commanding officers.
"Right now we are in orbit of Andoria. They have requested our assistance with a terrorist organization that has set off bombs near one of the capital cities. There are several injured and almost as many dead. I'm leading an away team of security officers and medics to the surface to render aid. You two will need to be by my side the entire time." Picard summarized.
"Understood, we're ready." Naruto answered this time.
"Good. Now, I expect you two to follow my orders well. Especially you, Mr. Uzumaki." Picard said sternly.
Naruto knew Picard was probing him for any kind of defiance. Well he wasn't going to find any. Naruto was determined to make a good impression and he would do it by playing by their rules.
"Sir yes sir." He replied sternly.
"Good. Riker, Data, Worf, with me. Naruto, Sakura, let's go." Picard ordered as they all made their way to the turbo lift. "Deck six." Picard ordered as they all piled into the turbo lift.
Nobody said a word as the lift took them to the transporter room, where the resident engineers had already warmed up the machine and imputed the intended coordinates.
"Coordinates set, Captain." Chief O'Brien said.
"Good." Picard responded as everyone got onto the transporter pad. "Everyone, set your phasers on stun. Try to avoid a violent conflict if possible." Picard ordered and everyone re-tuned their phasers to the proper setting. "Energize."
Miles input the commands into the console and the 6 figures turned into columns of lighted particles as they disappeared into nothingness.