Blue Plague's Nine-Tail Fox's Son: The Survival

by Yugioash

Civilization has fallen & most of the government nowhere to be seen. All is left for survivors is to survive, & Naruto is with the best survival group out there as he helps the Collins-Williams Family save as many as possible and turn their land to a place where thousands can survive, & surviving is what they plan to do. 2nd story of 'Blue Plague's Nine-Tail Fox's Son' Series

15. Things Will Get Worse So Might as Well…

A/N: I want to point out I started this, story earlier in the Fall than I did with my other crossover: Arashi Uzumaki of the Blue Plague, but still no where in the beginning, so if you want to know what happened in Blue Plague series before the point I used, you got to read the actual books. Just don't let kids read it.

I'm also censoring curse words as it's too many used in more than just saying usual ways that I can't ignore them all. At least with censoring I'm not going against my usual way of avoiding curse wordsof the Blue Plague series Tomas W. Watson, whose wife is Tina Watson. I should also tell you Watson always based a character after himself in his books, and in the Blue Plague series that's Bruce.

Finally, I don't own the Blue Plague series or the Naruto series or it's characters. But I do know the wife of the writer of the Blue Plague series Tomas W. Watson, whose wife is Tina Watson. I should also tell you Watson always based a character after himself in his books, and in the Blue Plague series that's Bruce.

if you see letters with '-' that's me sensoring curse words in case none of you realized that.

If you haven't read it yet, read this first:

Blue Plague's Nine-Tail Fox's Son: The Fall

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Things Will Get Worse So Might as Well Make the Best of Now

Sitting up in bed, Bruce glared at PJ. He would not quit hitting Bruce with his empty bottle when he tried to go back to sleep. Disgusted, Bruce looked at the clock. 0640. It is Sunday and I still did not get to sleep late, he thought grumpily, getting out of bed. He reached back and picked up PJ.

"You're supposed to wake Mama up, not Daddy, PJ," Bruce instructed him.

"I heard that," Debbie said, her face buried in a pillow.

"That was PJ talking, baby. We're going to take a shower," Bruce said, moving to the bathroom and fearing the wrath of Debbie.

After he and PJ showered, Bruce went to the closet and set PJ on the floor. Bruce put on clean ACUs, missing his tiger stripe BDUs. Everyone in the clan had this pattern so the family would wear this for now. Even the ninjas wear ACUs although they kept their ninja headbands and ninja pouches and coasters. Bruce did not complain. Ninjas have their needs, and everyone could carry anything extra they feel they need on them like trinkets or jewelry from home even if someone else does not if it poses no threat in the field. Grabbing another tactical vest, Bruce walked out of the closet leaving PJ behind. PJ yelled from the closet. It was something like, "You forgot me, butthead."

Bruce turned around and told PJ. "You can move on your own. H-, you crawl all over me every night." PJ let out another yell, thereby letting Bruce know he been serious.

"I'm not kidding, PJ. Come on out or I will close the door and leave you in there all day. I don't think anyone would even miss you," Bruce predicted, walking over to the dresser. Taking equipment from his old vest, Bruce loaded his new vest. The other one needed cleaning bad; he was certain the blues could smell it. PJ crawled out of the closet, stopping at the end of the bed, sat up on his knees and started blowing raspberries.

"I'm serious. I don't think anyone would even miss ya," Bruce said, looking at him. PJ squealed and clapped his hands.

"Well, maybe in a few hours someone would start to look for ya," Bruce told PJ. PJ laughed and then crawled to Bruce babbling. Reaching Bruce, PJ grabbed his pants leg and started pulling on it as he babbled.

"You know I wouldn't leave you in the closet. Even though sometimes I want to flush you down the toilet," Bruce said. PJ started laughing. "You're a mess," Bruce said, reaching down and picking him up. With PJ in his arms, Bruce started tickling him, making him laugh and squeal. Feeling someone looking at him, Bruce glanced at the bed. The twins and Debbie were watching him and smiling. "What? I'm torturing him into submission," Bruce told them with a serious face, but PJ was still laughing.

"OH, you scare me so much," Debbie said as she faked a frightened expression.

Bruce tucked PJ under his arm like a football. This only make PJ laugh more. "You will fear me, woman," Bruce told Debbie.

"Yeah, like that'll happen," Debbie replied sarcastically.

Putting PJ on the floor, Bruce dove on the bed and started tickling Debbie. The twins watched Bruce tickle Debbie and they laughed at Debbie's expense. Swiftly, Bruce reached out, grabbed both and started tickling them. The little girls were just squealing with laughter with arms and legs flailing about. Emily tried to escape but Bruce grabbed her by the ankle. Pulling her back, he made her pay for that. Then Bruce pinned all three down between his legs. Hearing yelling from the floor, Bruce reached over the side of bed and picked up PJ, who had been sitting on the floor yelling, "Ahh" over like "Hey, I want some too."

"Now I have you all and you will all suffer the tickle torture," Bruce stated as he slowly lowered his hands to them.

Trying to catch her breath, Debbie sputtered out, "Please—quit—I—have—to pee."

"Tickle torture does not care about pee," Bruce informed her as he started tickling all of them.

Debbie started kicking her legs, laughing, and screaming. She tried to grab Bruce's hand, but he kept moving all over to different spots on her body. She kept crying out, "You are going to make me pee," between giggles. The twins had tears running down their face, they were laughing so hard. After five minutes of pure laughter. Bruce stopped and got off the bed. PJ was at the head of the bed, bouncing up and down and sitting on his knees. He was yelling and clapping like he was saying, "That was great, do it again."

Bruce turned to the dresser to get his vest and head downstairs when he heard the twins say in unison, "More, Daddy." Bruce stopped in his tracks. They had never called him Daddy. Bruce slowly turned around.

"You want more tickle torture?" Bruce asked them.

"YES Daddy!" they squealed together.

"They do, Bruce, I don't. I must pee. Please Bruce, not again," Debbie pleaded, trying not to catch her breath. Squeezing her legs together, she scooted to the edge of the bed.

"Does Mommy want tickle torture too?" Bruce asked the girls.

"Get Mommy too!" they yelled together.

Bruce ran back to the bed just as Debbie had reached the edge. He grabbed her, pushing her back on the bed. Pinning them all between his legs again, Bruce started tickling all over again. There were actual screams this time with the laughter. Except for PJ, each of them begged Bruce to stop, with Debbie also screaming she had to pee. PJ was just laughing; to him this was the best thing ever. Bruce looked at Debbie and told her, "If you had to pee you wouldn't be laughing."

In between the tickles and trying to catch her breath, she gasped, "If—you—would—stop—I would stop laughing." Bruce told her he did not believe her and continued tickling all of them.

"Stop it Daddy!" Bruce heard behind him.

Bruce stopped and turned to the door. The twins and Debbie did not care why he stopped. They just tried to breathe during the reprieve. PJ sat up, looking for more. Standing in the door were Danny and Buffy, both wearing his t-shirts and boxers. Behind them were Mike and Nancy. "You two wear my clothes and try to stop me? I am the tickle torture king!" Bruce cried out with a mocking evil laugh. Then he started tickling Debbie, the twins, and PJ again.

Debbie screamed out, laughing, "Make him stop! I have to pee!"

Buffy yelled, "We'll save you Mama!" Running to the bed, Danny, and Buffy both jumped on Bruce, trying to pull him off.

Letting go the twins and Debbie, Bruce pinned Danny and Buffy and tickled them until they were having trouble breathing. The twins and Debbie just lay there trying to breathe, thankful for another reprieve. PJ crawled over to get more. When one of the three would try to move away, Bruce would reach over with one hand and tickle them until they lost their breath.

Standing in the door and laughing at the sight, Mike turned to Nancy, "Ten bucks Bruce doesn't stop until Debbie pees."

"If you ever do that to me again, I'll kick your a-," Nancy warned, watching Debbie begging Bruce to let her pee.

Suddenly, Mike grabbed Nancy dragging her to the foot of Bruce's bed and forcing her to the floor. Then Mike started tickling her until Nancy screamed out laughing, begging him to stop. The other kids came down the hall upon hearing the laughing and screaming. Seeing what was going on, they want to try to help their mothers. It was a valiant effort but doomed to failure. They only brought fresh bodies to be tickled.

Steve just stood in the door with Tonya. With disappointment on her face, Tonya looked at him and said, "Aren't you going to help your poor mama?"

Steve looked at her in shock. "Are you insane, girl? That is tickle torture. Dad doesn't stop until someone pees on themselves."

"That's your mama and she needs to pee. Help her," Tonya said, pushing Steve in the room.

Steve turned around, yelling, "You have never had tickle torture." Grabbing Tonya, Steve forced her to the floor tickling her until Tonya too, screamed along with Debbie that she had to pee.

A certain blonde ninja was the only one staying out of the room watching the tickle torture passed on to another couple and another generation. Naruto had come out with David, but unlike his roommate, Naruto stayed back.

After twenty solid minutes of laughter, everyone stopped at the same time, collapsing, and breathing hard. If anyone would have come in (except for Naruto) the room, they would have sworn that every person in there had run a marathon because of all the heavy breathing and sweat pouring off their bodies.

Bruce was lying beside Debbie. The twins dragged their numb bodies and bellies sore from laughing so hard across the bed. Each movement was a test of will, but they crawled inch by inch until they were both lying on Bruce's chest. Bruce looked down at Sherry with Emily beside her. Looking in his eyes, Sherry informed him as she gasped for air, "That was great." Then her head collapsed on his chest followed by Emily's.

After several minutes Debbie announced, with great urgency in her voice, "Bruce, carry me to the bathroom, now. I am not kidding. Please baby, now, hurry."

Bruce started to get up when he heard Nancy from the floor at the foot of his bed. "You owe me ten dollars, butthead."

"Check her panties," Mike said as Bruce picked up Debbie, who was squeezing her legs together tightly.

"Shut up Mike!" Debbie yelled at him, causing Bruce to laugh and then wince, his stomach muscles sore.

"Bruce, I'm serious. I do not want to give Nancy my last ten dollars. Help me out," Mike pleaded, trying to catch his breath.

Bruce carried Debbie to the bathroom and stood her in front of the toilet. He lifted the lid and before she sat down, Debbie started peeing. "Nancy, you owe Mike ten bucks," Bruce yelled out the door. It caused everyone to laugh, even though most did not want to. Debbie slapped Bruce's butt as he walked out of the bathroom.

Looking at the bed, Bruce noticed Jake gasping for air. He wondered when he had come in. Then he saw Mike and his whole family on the floor. Turning to the door, he saw Steve and Tonya. Only Naruto stood safely out in the hall with a smirk on his face. How and when did all these people get in here, Bruce wondered. Then Bruce shrugged, figuring it was one of those mysteries in life you never figure out.

Picking up his vest, Bruce weaved through the bodies to his closet where he grabbed his boots. He slid his feet in but did not tie them because it hurt too much to bend. Reaching over to the new gun rack he and Mike had put up last night, Bruce took out little SCAR.

Debbie and Nancy had demanded last night that all gun racks had to be moved four feet off the floor. Every room, including the bathrooms, had to have at least one. They said by the time the kids could reach four feet, they would know about gun rules. Bruce, Mike, and several others missed movie night and worked on gun racks for two hours. That was why Bruce did not feel bad about the tickle torture. He had missed Roger Rabbit.

Meanwhile, after the tickle torture was over and Bruce went to the closet, Naruto moved down to the kitchen. Millie handed Naruto a plate of food.

"You could have saved them ladies," Millie told Naruto.

"Maybe, but I got the feeling there would-be re-precautions later if I did, and I wasn't in the mood to find out what that was," Naruto said.

They heard screaming as Bruce came in with a very grumpy PJ. Millie handed Bruce a bottle, which Bruce took without looking and shoved it in PJ's mouth. PJ finally shut up.

"What did you do to make PJ mad?" Naruto asked.

"He fell asleep after the tickle torture, and I woke him back up," Bruce said. "Payback for waking me up."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Millie set Bruce's plate down.

"You should be ashamed of yo'self, tickling that poor woman likes that. I almost went to help her," Millie said over her shoulder.

"I would've thrown you down and started tickling ya," Bruce told her. Taking the bottle out of PJ's mouth, he started spooning in food.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd do. I'm a little too old in the tooth to be tickled like that," Millie told him, giggling.

"You got on my case for doing nothing," Naruto complained.

"You could have saved her though, fox boy," Millie responded.

In the short amount of time the new group been here, they already learned Naruto's secret true form. There were a few hesitant members who did not know what to think of this latest information, but Millie settled that out. All of those that were with Millie and Bill knew better not to say unkind things around Millie unless it is of someone, she agreed with them about or get the spoon.

Bruce kept feeding PJ as the victims came down the stairs with the other torturers to the kitchen. The twins walked in, holding their stomachs but smiling. They climbed into their chairs and stood up on them, wrapping their arms around Bruce's neck and hugging him. The twins leaned dangerously over the side of their chairs. Bruce almost dropped PJ as he threw his arms out to support them. He slid PJ between his legs and held him with his thighs as he held the twins so they would not fall.

"We love you Daddy," they said in unison. PJ did not care if they loved Bruce. He tried to reach up and hit them, yelling each time he swung at them. They were interrupting his food, and after he got woke up too.

Naruto could not help but smile at the site. He also noticed the twins have not called Bruce Daddy before today too.

"I love you too, girls. Is Mama okay?" Bruce asked as he squeezed his legs together to shut PJ up and quit swinging at the girls. That only turned PJ's wrath on him, and PJ started hitting his legs.

"Mama's okay. She's gettin' dressed," Sherry told him as Danny and Buffy walked in, moving very slowly.

"Danny, Buffy, help the girls sit down so they don't fall. I have a p- off baby between my legs," Bruce told them. Buffy ran to get Emily.

"Let 'em fall, they need to get tough," Danny said then saw the expression on Bruce's face. Danny grabbed Sherry, sitting her in her chair. Buffy did the same for Emily. Danny sat and laid her head down on the table as Debbie came down with the last of the others.

"Mom, I am never going to try to save you again," Danny told Debbie as she sat down.

"How many times have I thrown myself down trying to save you when Daddy tickled you?" Debbie asked her.

"I don't know, but I remember when I used to ask for more. Now I am willing to wear those stupid dresses Daddy buys me for Easter every year. Just to make him stop," Danny admitted.

"Really?" Bruce asked, looking up hopefully.

"I'm not talking to you right now, Daddy. Unlike Mom, I did not have someone help me to the bathroom. I did pee on myself," Danny told him then turned her head the other way.

"Was it really that bad?" Sakura asked Naruto as she was passing though.

Naruto shrugged. "Don't know. I never went in to find out."

Bruce looked at Buffy. "Did you like the tickle torture?"

"I didn't know you could laugh that long, but I will still try to save you, Mama," Buffy smiled, looking at Debbie then Bruce.

"Traitor," Danny said.

"Danny, after Daddy left you said that was fun," Buffy said. "Does your pussy hurt?" she asked with a serious face causing several people that heard that to almost choke on the food they were chewing. Jake just spat his on the table. Unfortunately for Mike, Nancy was drinking coffee and sprayed it on him as she started laughing.

Everyone that was part of the tickle torture was laughing on sore stomachs and the more they tried to stop, the more they laughed. Once they got control over their bodies, they started to breathe again.

Debbie looked at Buffy, struggling to look stern. "Buffy don't say that word. It's not nice," Debbie said, praying Buffy didn't make her laugh anymore.

"Why not? It's just another name for a vagina," Buffy said defiantly.

"It's not a nice word, especially out of a little girl's mouth," Debbie said, trying to hold back her laughter as was everyone else at the table."

Sakura turned to Naruto, wondering if he had something to do with this due to his time training with the Perverted Sage of the Sanin himself: Jiriaya.

"Don't look at me," Naruto said. "I had nothing to do with this conversation."

"Everyone else says it. I even heard you say it, Mama," Buffy responded getting sassy. Down at the other end of the table, Mike was holding it in and turning blue. Nancy grabbed his hand, trying to give him strength as she rocked back and forth, holding her laughter in.

"Buffy, that's different. I'm a grown up," Debbie replied in a high-pitched voice, trying not to laugh. This was important. Later, Debbie would even find herself glad Naruto had yet noticed the family's use of words involving penis and vagina.

"Yesterday when those blues came out of that building, you were hollering 'suck my dick' as you shot them. Then you would ask them if their pussy hurt. You do not even have a dick. Danny said girls can have balls, but she never said we have dicks," Buffy said, shaking her head, blonde curly hair bouncing everywhere. Jake fell out of his chair, trying not to laugh aloud, and curled up in a ball on the floor.

Naruto disappeared in a flash, unable to keep in his laughter. Grabbing PJ's bottle Bruce shoved it in his mouth and started sucking on the nipple to keep from laughing, and he hated goat's milk. Stephanie who was sitting beside Buffy, was just staring straight ahead with tears rolling down her face as she tried to hold in.

It was not until Naruto reappeared in a flash Debbie was able to answer Buffy. She never took her eyes off her, knowing if she looked at someone else, it was all over. Debbie took a deep breath before saying, "Buffy, that was in the heat of battle. I'm a little crazy then."

"You said dick, not penis. So, when I am shooting at people, I can't ask them if their pussy hurts?" Buffy asked, waving her hands in the air. Lynn and Millie hugged each other in the kitchen to keep from falling. Angela tried to stand up and leave but fell on the floor beside Jake. Bruce just kept drinking the bottle, PJ hitting him and telling Bruce that was his. Naruto disappeared in a flash again and this time stayed gone a little longer.

Debbie started again, "Buffy—" then stopped as she took a deep breath to keep from laughing. Then she continued, "Buffy, a firefight isn't the best time for you to be yelling out words."

"So, I can't yell at blues to see if their pussy hurts before I bust cap in their a-?" Buffy stood up indignantly. Danny hit the floor, rocking back and forth as she tried not to laugh aloud.

"Buffy—" was all Debbie could manage to get out as her body shook with laughter.

"It's just words, Mama. I should be able to tell those b- anything I want before I bust a cap in their a-," Buffy said, shaking her head and hips back and forth. Steve was holding Tonya up in her seat to keep her from falling, but Tonya still collapsed to the floor, trying desperately to hold the laughter in.

"Bu—" Debbie said several octaves too high and stopped. Bruce coughed, milk shooting out of his nose, but he kept the bottle in his mouth, sucking down the last of the milk. Unable to stay in his chair, Alex slid out, joining Angela on the floor.

"I can show you in those medical books of Daddy's and Daddy Mike's that dick and penis is the same thing, I read about it. Just like coke and soda are the same things," Buffy told Debbie, putting her hands on her hip, showing her sassy attitude. "So, I can't say soda either. But I can say vagina and coke, is that it? So, when we are attacked, I must yell out 'Hey blues, does your vagina hurt today?" Conner slid out of his chair under the table, guffawing fit to burst a gut. Now even Sakura joined the floor in holding her laughter.

Debbie was rocking back and forth in her chair, afraid to answer. Buffy mistook that for her shaking her head yes.

"So, while everyone else yells dick and pussy, I have to yell 'Hey blue, suck my penis! I have erectile dysfunction, get it.' Whatever that is," Buffy said, cocking her hip with her hand on it and flipping her hair. Mike's head hit the table and Nancy hit the floor. Muffled shrieks and snorts filled the air. Naruto reappeared in a flash but was still giggling.

Debbie managed, "Not—nice—words," through gritted teeth, tears of mirth rolling down her face.

"What, now I can't say vagina or penis? That is not fair. I know what they are, you told me about them. I have a vagina and I can't even yell it out?" Buffy cried out, waving her index finger in the air, now almost open rebellion. "I guess I can't tell you my pussy hurts now." Buffy said as she sat back down in her chair, folding her arms on the table, and laying her head down. Matt and David hit the floor and flopped bonelessly, holding each other and laughing hysterically. Even seasoned veteran ninjas Yamato Temari who was good at hiding emotions and Sai who rarely shows any genuine emotions were at the verge of breakdown of laughter.

At the other end of the table, Cassandra was sitting in Susan's lap while Susan was shaking with silent laughter. Cassandra looked at Mike and asked, "What's a pussy?"

The dam broke. Bruce spit out the bottle on the table laughing. Debbie hit the floor, laughing so hard she looked like she was having a seizure. Those listening in the other rooms fell about, laughing like crazy people. Bruce stood up, set PJ on the floor, and dropped down beside him laughing, his head turning purple.

Buffy just sat at the table sulking, thinking everyone was laughing at her because they could use those words and she could not. Bruce grabbed her leg, pulling her to him; she tried to fight him, but he pulled her down anyway. Wrapping his arms around her, Bruce hugged her tight as he continued to laugh. Still laughing, Debbie managed to crawl across the floor to Bruce and Buffy. Bruce opened his arms then he and Debbie hugged Buffy tight. Then she did not care if she could use those words. Mama and Daddy loved her.

Several hours later, everyone was gathered on the patio for the Sunday meeting. Bruce had to move it back because he was not in the mood to do anything after all the laughing, he had done that morning. Buffy was sitting in Debbie's lap with PJ.

"Buffy, look at me," Debbie told her. "Don't say anything right now. I cannot laugh anymore today. You can use those words but only outside the house and not in front of the little kids. They do not need to say them, and you do not either. But you are old enough to make your own choice on the use of your words. You go willingly to fight and are fighting for this family. In a fight, I do not care what you say if you stay safe. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mama," Buffy said, smiling at her. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings," Buffy added.

"Thank you, baby, but you didn't hurt my feelings. You are one of the princesses and I want the best for you. Now, before the meeting starts, go tell Cassandra not to say those words. Don't say them to me," Debbie warned her as Buffy was fixing to clarify which words. "I'm not kidding. If I laugh anymore today, I might die." Buffy looked at Debbie in shock. "Not really die, Buffy. But I cannot laugh," Debbie told her. Then Debbie leaned in close and whispered in Buffy's ear. "My balls hurt."

Buffy understood. Wrapping her arms around Debbie's neck, she hugged her tight, then jumped out of her lap and ran over to Cassandra, who was in Mike's lap. Debbie looked up in the sky. She would not be able to stand straight for days. Her abdomen hurt so much from the laughing, but she had needed that. Looking around at everyone with smiles on their faces, Debbie knew they had needed it too.

Bruce was at the table getting his notes together. Debbie was glad they had laughed this morning. Last night she had read Bruce's notes after he went to sleep. They were full of his predictions and assessments so far, and none of them were good. Bruce did not mind her reading his notes, but she wished she had not read them and had found out like everyone else at the meeting. She had not slept worth a s- last night after reading them.

Bruce called the meeting to order as Buffy ran back to Debbie, getting in her lap as PJ chewed on his fist. "I'm glad everyone is okay after this morning," Bruce told everyone.

"Baby don't make me laugh anymore. I am not kidding. If you make me laugh anymore today, we are getting a divorce, for at least a week," Debbie threatened.

"Okay, sugar mama," Bruce said.

Then Bruce started the meeting. "For those new to this, we start on projects we are working on now and those next in line. Then we get updates on blue activity and action reports of engagements fought during the week. Next, we go over supplies and duty assignments. At the end we ask for ideas, complaints, and anything we forgot. Now I am going to turn it over to the project man, Paul." Bruce sat down as Paul stood up.

"First, I want to say that yesterday everyone did an outstanding job. If the work continues at this pace, we will be done ahead of schedule. Now, the barracks we are building will hold 120 people with two people to a room. Each room will be ten feet by ten feet with a closet and drawers on each side. Each side will have one plug in, with four outlets. This is to limit power consumption. The solar panels can only produce so much, and the batteries can only hold so much. The barracks will have two floors with male and female bathrooms on each floor and a washer area. The first floor will be underground to save heating and cooling. Also, this is so the barracks will not throw a shadow across the solar panels. There will be a dryer, but we prefer if you hung your clothes in the hall to dry them. We do this now in the loft and in the house. The Community Center will be three thousand seven hundred square feet total. The communal area will be two thousand five hundred square feet where we will eat, have meetings and classes. The kitchen will be large at twelve hundred square feet; it will run off propane and we will be able to prepare meals for two thousand at a time. The storage area will be eighty thousand square feet with a fifteen-foot ceiling all underground. We are going to put the greenhouses on top of it. Sakura has asked me yesterday if we could reserve a section of the green house for medical herbal plants and fungi. I told her I would ask you, but I think we can spare a hundred square feet of it since it's for medical needs."

Bruce looked at Nancy, Mike, Debbie, Stephanie, Angela, and Alex as they all worked in the medical field. They all nodded in approval, and Bruce had to admit, he liked the idea himself. If they can grow their own medical herbs, they will not need to hit pharmacies every chance they get just for simple medication. In fact, that marked off his worries about medicine from his notes.

"That's fine with us. It might be easier to go back to old fashion medical herbs instead of modern medicine for once. Sakura, I'll leave the care of the herb garden and training those to know the difference to you since the rest of us be busy with other needs."

"Thank you, Bruce," Sakura responded.

"Paul, I only see a couple of hundred pallets of cement here. The areas you are talking about are going to take like a thousand pallets. Where are the rest going to come from?" Bruce asked.

"At the warehouse where we got the first ones from," Paul answered.

"You didn't get them all?"

"Bruce, there were over sixteen hundred pallets of concrete. We do not have the storage area here for that, and we need to keep them out of the weather. We are going to start pouring the community slab today. I was just going to have the supply teams bring them as we need them," Paul finished, looking at Bruce and wondering where he was getting.

"Go on, I'll cover that in my briefing," Bruce said.

Paul continued. "With the trucks of lumber that Bruce found yesterday, we have lumber for all the projects with a lot left over. We will start the framing up of the fence today. Two pieces of plywood will be screwed together then sat against the fence, with long side on the ground. Then we will brace it with two by fours and build an eight-foot earthen embankment behind it. Even a tank cannot knock it down. Now, with the razor wire all the way around, the fence is twelve foot tall. When we are done, I am going to take a dozer and dig a slopping ditch away from the fence to increase the height to fifteen feet. The only weak areas will be the gates. With current progress, I am giving completion time without ninja help: community building complete in two weeks, barracks complete three weeks, storage area four weeks and fence two weeks. With ninjas we have we could cut that down, but I cannot say until I see how they work. These times are concurrent though, meaning in four weeks all will be done if we keep working like this even without ninjutsu. Any questions?" None were asked, so Paul sat down. Next Matt and Jake got up and gave their report on blue activity.

All during this time Naruto noticed Bruce looking down at his notes and knew Bruce had unwelcome news that will ruin everything, and he did not want to give it. Naruto did not say it, but he got the feeling it had to do with the Blues getting smarter. Naruto been hearing the blues communicate with each other in the morning when he is training before most of the clans and he noticed they were showing more intelligence than what Stephanie reported. Naruto even asked the wild animals around the land and they confirmed it. They were done finding their place in the food chain, now they were moving up to finding their place in the wild above all threats, including humans.

Bruce threw his notebook down on the table. He did not want to give the clan the information he had.

"It's okay baby, tell them," Debbie said gently. Everyone looked at her then back at Bruce.

Taking a deep breath, Bruce started. "It's worse than I thought. The blues are getting smarter. Yesterday at the truck stop they hit us in all coordinated attack. They had watched us, then spread out, covering all sides of the kill area. Then they attacked simultaneously on all fronts, using cover to advance on our position. Stephanie, before you say other predators do the same thing, I know, but there are over two hundred million blues out there. Before yesterday, we were averaging three rounds per kill. By military standards that is unbelievable. Yesterday, before Temari step up with that wind jutsu of hers, we went to over twenty rounds per kill, which by military standards is still outstanding. But even after Temari took down all those blues, we still had decapitated heads that were still alive. Fortunately, we know from Stephanie's report about blues surviving weeks after decapitation, otherwise things could have gone severely wrong if we left those heads alone as we walk right by them carelessly. True most everyone out there at the truck stop was in my family, which does include Mike and his family because we are the same. We practice a lot before the s- hit the fan. Long range shooting, speed shooting, CQB or close quarter battle, ambush and the list goes on. The adults and our kids have been doing this for years. What I am getting at is that the rest of you will not be able to shoot that good in a brief period. We will train you, but this type of precision takes years of practice."

"It's the same with us ninjas," Yamato spoke up. "Sure, we have training and jutsus, but even if we could teach you half of what we can do, it takes years of training and discipline to reach the level we're at. Even back home we instruct kids who dream of becoming ninjas at special academies before they become Genin. And even after reaching Genin, they are assigned with a Jonin in squads to further their training with field experience of D-Rank missions around their home village before they are deemed ready to take on the real threat of higher-ranking missions outside their village." Yamato said. "Even then the chakra we used for the jutsus we use isn't unlimited and we face using up all our strength and energy in dangerous missions, and Sakura can tell you herself as a medical ninja that when a ninja uses up too much chakra in combat they can die either from what we call chakra exhaustion—when we completely drain of ourselves of so much energy that our own life force is drained with it or from another attack because we don't have the strength or energy to defend ourselves."

Bruce nodded, glad Yamato spoke up, because it sounds more convincing from a ninja than from him. Even more convincing than it might have been coming from Naruto.

Bruce continued: "For arguments sake, let us say we can teach all of y'all to shoot like us in ten days. It still does not matter. In the Shreveport-Bossier metro area, with a seventy percent infection rate, there are over four hundred thousand, just eighty miles away from us. With our current ammo expenditure, it will take over nine million rounds to take that one city. On the radio, they have reported mobs of hundreds of thousands to millions moving in amass, which they are calling hordes. We aren't even going to talk about Dallas, just a hundred and eighty miles away or Houston, Baton Rouge or the other big metro areas."

"Paul, that's why I wanted everything here. We cleared the area close to us, reducing our risk for a little while. I did not believe they would get that smart, and it is the numbers they are in. Even if we had the ammo, we do not have the weapons. M-4s must replace barrels at fifteen thousand rounds. After we took supplies from the checkpoint at the dam, we had almost a million rounds—not including the antiques Naruto found dating back to the Civil War."

"I was wondering why there were guns in far back of the storage when Angela assigned me to storage supply," Sakura responded.

"I was told to gather anything that has a smell of gunpowder and looks like it can shoot," Naruto argued. "That's partly why the family wants you guys familiar with weapons of this world, so if you are forced to use whatever gun you can find, you don't end up finding an antique that can't even shoot properly."

"We already used a quarter of the ammo we got since then. We used over eighty thousand rounds killing blues sitting on roof tops. With our current usage, if everyone shot as well as we do, we can barely take forty-two thousand now in a mass attack." Bruce continued.

"What about hunting them like we did before?" Maria asked hopefully.

"I'm going to try, but I don't think it'll work again. If it does, I do not think it will work as well as the first time," Bruce answered.

"Let's finish the fences first then!" someone yelled.

"Has everyone here from this world seen a football game on TV? Imagine if those fans charged the field, how hard it would be to stop them. They would just pile up at the fence until they built a ramp with bodies and come over the top. Remember that a stadium usually holds about fifty thousand. The reason I want the fence is that it will give us time and breathing room. Until we get more ammo and weapons, if we get hit by a large mob our best chance is to run. That is not really an option for us. If we must, then this family has a farm in North Dakota. It does not have a fence and is nowhere near ready, but if we leave, that is where we go. Until then we have to kill 'em away from here. That means actively hunting them."

"Isn't there military bases around here?" Naruto asked. "If there are a few abandon bases still locked up we can find that still have guns and ammo?"

"I have considered that Naruto, and yes there are more military bases, but they are too far away and too many blues between the bases and here to risk a trip. If some of you remember from Stephanie's report: blues do hibernate in the cold. When we have frost two days in a row, we are going to load up several semis and bring s- in here until we have no room for a frog to take a dump. Until then, supply runs will be rare and only in areas where a hunting patrol was the day before. Patrols of search and destroy will be every day. The blues have already started moving back into the area we just cleared.'

"We took out the predators, then deer and other animals moved in. Guess what is following them back in?"

"The predators that were hunting them," Naruto said knowing how predators work.

Bruce nodded. "Nancy, Debbie, Angela, and Stephanie, I want a two-man patrol inside the fence around the clock starting tonight. Danny, today I want you to check off the new soldiers, Bill, and anyone else with police or military training, except for the ninjas. I want the ninjas off all basic training except for anything involving guns and military weapons. I want Konohamaru Udon and Moegi to continue whatever stage of ninja training they are on as Genin right now. Work will not interfere with training."

"Next, after what that judge and congressman told me yesterday, if the government shows up, we'll fight them to the death, theirs or ours. They informed me, with a little persuasion, that as the plague was hitting, they sent out officers to bring in those that had weapons and large stockpiles of food. Before anyone asks, yes, one did come here before the world went to h-. But he was shot by my son Steve at Debbie's command." Nancy gasped at Bruce's words. "Yes Nancy, he came here to take this family in. If Steve had not killed the officer, he would have told Homeland you were here, and they would have sent a tactical team here. That was from both the judge and congressman. They were told to execute anyone not following instructions, anyone who did not kiss their a-. They want sheep to lead, not wild horses. Now if you want to leave after I have told you we will fight the government, that is fine. We will give you a truck, some food, and a weapon, and we will hold no hard feelings. If you stay and they come, I expect you to kill anyone who threatens this clan. Does anyone want to leave?" Bruce asked, looking around.

Millie stood up and walked toward Bruce. He had expected a few to leave but not Millie. His heart sank but he remained expressionless.

When Millie got to the table, she handed Bruce a piece of paper. "That's the execution order for my son. They told me that they made him leave buts in my heart I know'd better. The officer you burnt is the one who did it. I broke your order; he was still alive when him spread out. I took a knife from the kitchen. I puts a rag in his mouth and just started cuttin 'im until he died. You said not to touch 'em and I broke your rule. Whatever punishment you decide, I will do. If ya wants me to leave, I'll leave." Millie stood up straight, waiting on Bruce's decision. Everyone held their breath, waiting.

"Bruce, I think this qualifies as 'those that abandon a person in need being worse than trash' exemption rule," Naruto said. "Helping spirits of love one's rest in peace is just as important as helping one of the living."

"Since Naruto was the one who brought up the rule, who am I to argue," Bruce said. "Millie, you're excused from punishment due to the 'disobey orders/breaking rules to help a person in need' exemption law."

Millie looked at the two in shock and disbelief. Then she hugged Bruce and went to hug Naruto before going back to her seat. Several people clapped for her.

"Millie," Bruce called, and she glanced up. "When it slows down a bit, ask my beautiful wife what she did to him. I have to admit, at times I was aroused." Millie looked at Debbie, blew her a kiss and Debbie returned it.

"It was good, Millie," Debbie said, and the memory of the wave hit her, making her breathe faster. Not the memory of the actions on the targets, just the wave. Bruce smiled at Debbie as she closed her eyes. He knew what she was thinking.

Danny jumped up. "That's my mama!"

", I would ask other to try and hold off any more actions against the three that are left unless they're deemed unsavable and can't be brought back to humanity. The trooper Millie killed was deemed as such was why he was left to die in the first place. If you do anything to those three, take Millie's example and come to us truthful about it and we'll decide from your behavior if punishment is necessary and what kind."

"Now to continue from before about the government, if you stay and the government comes, you'll fight. If you do not fight, I will kill you myself. That means you have just been going through the motions. Eating the clan's food and using the clan for protection. This is your last chance. If you stay, you are in for a pound. We live or die together," Bruce said, expecting someone to leave. Then Bill stood up.

"Bruce, I speak for everyone here when I say your family is the only sign of hope we've seen. You have taken us in, treated us as equals, given us food, offered us protection, and let us not forget rescued our a-. The only thing this family has asked is for us to pull our own weight. That was rare before the world changed. I am sure it is almost extinct now. What you had set up before the world took a dive is amazing, and you are willing to share it with total strangers. I cannot say if the shoe had been on the other foot if I could have left my family to rescue others. You not only leave, but you also take your whole family into battle. I'm proud to be part of this clan," Bill finished, sitting back down as everyone agreed with him.

"Thank you, Bill. This family needed to hear that. Paul, is there any way we can work at night without drawing a lot of attention? Maybe we can use some huge work lights?" Bruce asked him.

"Yeah, the fence for sure. We could put the two pieces of plywood together in the bottom of the barn. Then we could bring 'em to the fence using one of the electric buggies with a trailer. I could rig up something to cut down on the noise of the industrial mixer. Yes, we could run a night crew and I could keep the projects going, but it will not be as fast as the day work. You just need too much light and power. The array you have here must have cost a fortune. It puts out more power than the batteries can store. Right now, your batteries are the weak link. Each of your arrays put out at least five kilowatts an hour, but on a good day it averages eight kilowatts an hour and you have ten arrays. Your windmill was just turning because you did not need the power. I stopped it to save wear and tear," Paul told him.

"Nancy, Debbie, Angela, Stephanie, I want a ten-man night crew worked in also. Four for the fence, six for construction, doing what Paul has laid out," Bruce told them, each of them nodding. "I am going to make fire team assignments. This will be who you patrol with and fight with. If you have a problem with that team, let me know, I will move you. They will be five and six-man teams. I know I said man, but women will be on them also. My team will only be on standby today in case blues hear the construction, but we will be out tomorrow. Next, I have noticed several kids running around here. All of you adults, I want someone to adopt each kid. If it goes bad here, I want someone responsible for each one. Bill, I have a favor to ask and it is a big one. I want you to adopt someone," Bruce said to him.

"I would be honored. My wife and I never had kids," Bill said gravely. Bruce did not ask what had happened to his wife.

"Frank, come up here, please," Bruce called up the little boy who led the kids on the island before Konohamaru Moegi and Udon arrived. Frank ran up to Bruce, smiling. "Frank, Bill is the person Paul was looking for, just for you," Bruce said as Frank's smile broadened to a grin.

"Bill, this is Frank. Konohamaru can give you the details, but basically before he Moegi and Udon showed up. Frank guarded seven kids on an island, and he was the oldest at nine," Bruce told Bill. Frank took off at a dead run, locking Bill's leg in a hug. Bill reached down and picked up Frank and hugged him, then headed back to his seat.

Bruce looked over where Frank had run from and saw Nathan, the six-year-old boy from the island. The last of that group that nobody had adopted yet, as Paul's family had taken Alice and Robert. Nathan was just sitting there looking at Frank in Bill's arms, tears running down his face. Moegi quickly headed over to Nathan and comforted the boy. Bruce would be glad to adopt Nathan off to Moegi, but Moegi was only thirteen and although she make a great big sister, it be unfair to give the responsibility of raising a child to a thirteen-year-old. Bruce knew just the perfect couple to take up the job, but somethings need to settle out first.

Bruce looked in his notebook and asked, "Where is Thomas Caldwell and could he come here, please?"

A stocky man in his early fifties with gray hair stood up and walked to Bruce, stopping in front of him. "Yes sir."

"You are an ordain minister, correct?" Bruce asked Thomas.

"Yes sir, of the Catholic faith," Thomas said.

"You will fight to protect this clan?" Bruce asked him.

"Yes sir. Sometimes a shepherd must protect his flock. I have seen with my own eyes what Satan has unleashed on this world. I am not just talking about the infected. Satan's minions can come in the forms of lawless bandits and government officials," Thomas replied.

"You know of Naruto's story?" Bruce asked.

"I heard things, but I don't think demon is the right word for him." Thomas said. "No demon could have done as much good as Naruto has done for this clan let alone whatever he done back at his world."

"With that I agree. I just had to ask for the sake of not just Naruto but the rest of the family. You probably noticed but we grow pretty attached to him."

"I understand. One question, does he really walk on water?" Thomas asked.

Bruce could not blame Thomas of asking. "Yes, and as far as I'm told so does the rest of his ninja friends. But when we asked him about as of blood into wine and flesh into bread, Naruto told me not only he cannot do that, but he did not even know that was possible. So, it's a safe bet his friends can't do that either."

"Fair enough," Thomas responded.

"I have a favor to ask you also," Bruce told him and leaned over, whispering in his ear. Father Thomas said, "I would be honored."

"Steve and Tonya, come here please," Bruce said as they walked up to him, wondering what they had done.

"I want you two married today. This world has gone insane and I want Tonya to carry the Williams name. If something happens to either of you, I want you to have no regrets. We can have a formal wedding if we ever get a chance to breathe," Bruce told both. Tonya hugged Bruce then Steve hugged his dad.

"Dad, we need rings," Steve said. Bruce reached in his pocket and pulled out two rings.

"These are the rings your mother and I used, passed to me by my father. They were used by all his brothers and sisters going back eight generations. These rings have seen hundreds of Williams married. All I ask, since you are the first, is that you let your brothers and sisters use them. They are now yours." Bruce told him.

"I will guard them with my life," Steve promised.

"I know you will, son and they'll fit. I snuck out to the machine shop last night," Bruce said.

"Dad, if it's okay with you, I want to ask Naruto to be best man," Steve said. "He done enough for our family I think it's the least Tonya and I can do as thanks. Jake Matt and David will understand."

"I think that's a wonderful idea and I agree about your brothers understanding," Bruce agreed.

"Everyone, I want you all to be witnesses to the marriage of my son to Tonya Stone," Bruce said loudly.

Debbie, Nancy, and Pam ran up to Tonya and started fixing her hair after Debbie handed PJ to Bruce.

Steve rushed over to Naruto. "Naruto, I know we haven't known each other long, but would you be my best man?" Steve asked.

"Me!" Naruto responded.

Steve nodded. "You have done so much for our family since you got here, Tonya and I agreed this is the least we can do."

"I-I be honored," Naruto responded still shock. "But what do I have to do?"

"Since this is short notice, just stand by my side in front of Jake," Steve said.

As Steve was explaining to Naruto about what Best man normally does, Danny and Mary headed to one of the flower gardens and brought back a bouquet of flowers. Jake and Matt ran into the house, coming back cameras. Bruce told Buffy she was the ring bearer, and the twins will be following her as flower girls. He knew the job normally goes to males, but PJ did not know how to walk yet.

Tonya came up to Bruce. "Will you give me away, Mr. Williams?" she asked shyly.

"I would be honored to but call me Mr. Williams again and you get a spanking. On your wedding day your husbands supposed to do that," Bruce told her.

"Oh! I know!" Naruto suddenly shouted. "Sai! Get over here!"

"Excuse me as I find out what Naruto is up to," Bruce requested.

Tonya nodded as Bruce headed over just as Naruto talk to Sai.

"Sai is more of an abstract painter, and there's of course a jutsu of his that involves drawing beast, but he can also draw people. His art even been praised by a friend of mine that is a professional artist," Naruto said—not mentioning the fact Sai had a picture book he made for his late brother of the two of them. "If you guys want Sai could paint a portrait of the wedding for you guys."

"That's a great idea, Naruto," Bruce said.

"We'd be honored if you think you can do it Sai," Steve responded.

"The honor is mine. I'm always up to the challenge of trying new styles of art," Sai explained.

After the wedding ceremony, everyone posed for pictures. Naruto did an excellent job for best man and Jake, Matt and David did not complain. Debbie walked over to Bruce. He was looking at Danny holding PJ around her. "Never heard of a wedding with everyone in full combat gear and assault rifles," Debbie said.

"Yeah, it's a first but I have a feeling it won't be the last. Not for a long time," Bruce said as Debbie slapped the back of his head.

"How could you do this without telling me? It was the right thing to do but you should have told me," Debbie snapped at him, then hugged him.

"After that slap, I better get some tonight," Bruce said, hugging her.

"Maybe," Debbie replied in a not so convincing tone.

"I thought you slapped me for what I said," Bruce whined.

"About them staying in combat gear. Please. If they would have come to me right now wanting everyone to dress up, I would have beat both of 'em," Debbie told him. "Oh! She's going to throw the flowers," Debbie said, running to the group. Danny and Mary bolted away from the group.

Bruce chuckled at the sight. Then he looked closely at the group; several dozen women were standing ready to catch the flowers, many of them carrying assault weapons. This cannot be good, Bruce thought. Tonya threw the flowers over her shoulder and Bruce watched them go through the air and land in Buffy's hands. Buffy started jumping up and down with the flowers. With a scowl on his face, Bruce yelled, "Buffy, you're grounded until you're twenty-one."

The excitement washed off Buffy's face when she heard Bruce. She just stared at Bruce like he had lost his mind. She had won, wasn't that what Daddy always told her to do? Then Debbie leaned down and whispered in Buffy's ear and a look of horror crossed Buffy's face. With a look of disgust, Buffy handed Debbie the flowers, whipping her hands off on her chest. Debbie walked over to Bruce carrying the flowers. Steve and Tonya came over and Debbie gave Tonya the flowers back.

"I really didn't mean to throw them to her," Tonya said to Bruce.

"I know."

"I'm done," Sai said producing his sketch pad.

"Already?" Steve asked.

"Well, I could have been done sooner, but I didn't think you would like me rushing it." Sai handed them the pad. On it was the wedding in process with Steven and Tonya standing face to face with Thomas behind them.

"It's beautiful," Tonya gasped.

"Why thank you," Sai said. "I'm used to painting and drawing quickly but I did pace myself on this one."

"Sai if you can paint like this, we might have to hire you full time as family painter," Bruce said then turning to Tonya and Steve. "Can I ask you two something?"

"Sure," they said.

"You two are married now and I want y'all to have a kid," Bruce said. Debbie looked at Bruce with a shocked expression, not believing her ears.

"We had planned on it, Dad," Steve said blushing, looking down at his feet.

"No, I mean right here, right now," Bruce said, looking at the couple.

"Dad, there are people everywhere out here, they'll see us. And babies take nine months to get here," Steve said, not wanting to explain the facts to his father.

"Well, I'm glad you paid attention when I gave you your talk. That is not what I meant. Look at that kid sitting down by the back door with Moegi," Bruce told them.

"Who, Nathan?" Steve asked, looking where Bruce had said.

"He's crying," Tonya said, bringing her hand to her mouth.

"Yes, Nathan. He is the last kid Konohamaru Moegi and Udon were looking after on the island that has not been adopted. He is crying because he and Frank were always together since they have been here. Moegi Konohamaru and Udon been great to him, but they are not much older than Buffy, so it does not seem right to ask them to raise Nathan. I want you two to adopt him," Bruce told them. Debbie had never shaken off the shocked look, so her expression never changed.

Tonya and Steve looked at each other then back to Nathan. Looking at each other one last time, they turned to Bruce. Tonya said, "It's a wonderful idea. Will you introduce us, Bruce?"

"We'll watch him tonight so you two can have a honeymoon night," Bruce offered. After Pam had fully recovered, she moved out to give Tonya and Steve Steve's old room to themselves and moved into the loft.

"That's okay, we already had our honeymoon night," Tonya said, blushing prettily.

Bruce smiled then turned to Debbie. "If you don't close your mouth and change your expression, the kid is goin' to think you farted."

Debbie started stuttering and shaking her head, "Wh—how—no—."

"English, baby, you speak it," Bruce said and called Nathan over. The boy came over slowly with Moegi, never once looking up. He still had tears in his eyes, and they had lots of friends running down his face, hitting the ground.

Bruce kneeled, looking down at Nathan who was staring at his shoes with tears still hitting the ground. "I found the people Paul was looking for to take care of you and love you," Bruce told him.

"Nobody wants me," Nathan told him.

"You are wrong, buddy. They could not adopt you until they got married. They couldn't have kids out of wedlock," Bruce told him with a serious face. Nathan understood married. He looked up at Bruce with his jaw hanging open in shock.

"Do I stink? Or maybe I'm not speaking English?" Bruce asked, looking up at Tonya and Steve. Debbie slapped him across the back of his head. Bruce looked back at Nathan. "It's my son and his new wife. They want you to join their family. Are you ready for it?"

Nathan turned his head, looking up at Tonya and Steve. Before they could kneel, Nathan threw himself at Tonya's leg, holding on for dear life and crying his eyes out. Steve picked him up and hugged him and Tonya joined in. Nathan gave kisses all over their faces, telling them he loved them as all three cried.

"Thank you, Bruce. You made Nathan's and Frank's day by giving them a family," Moegi said.

"No problem, Moegi. If you three want, I could still find you Konohamaru and Udon a foster family to look after you three while you are here," Bruce said as tears rolled down his cheeks watching his son's new family. "That way you at least have parental guardians looking after you until you go home, or you become an adult."

"Thank you." Moegi responded.

"Hey Bruce, you realized you not only made yourself a grandpa now, but you also have a grandson older than three of your kids," Naruto stated.

"I'm aware of it, Naruto, and I'm okay with it. Nathan is a good kid, and I'm glad he is now a Williams without me having to adopt another child," Bruce said.

"Here you go," Sai said handing Bruce a paper. "I didn't have time to set out my art supply again, so tell them if they wanted it painted ask me any time. I once read portraits of weddings normally to include one of the wives and groom with any kids if they had any."

Bruce looked to see it was a drawing of Steve and Tonya hugging Nathan in a family shot. There was no paint, but it still amaze Bruce Sai pulled it off.

Steve walked over with Nathan in his arms, still hugging him. Tonya took Nathan from him so she could get some baby boy love. Steve watched Tonya take Nathan over to everyone so she could tell them she was his mama. "She could've let me hold him a little longer," Steve said with envy in his voice.

"Get used to it. I did not get to hold you until you were one. Your mama just about went into conniption fits 'cause PJ wouldn't let her hold him. She broke out the Ouija board and put voodoo on my a-," Bruce told Steve as Debbie slapped the back of his head again.

"I know d- well I'm getting some tonight. That is the third slap today," Bruce told Debbie, dropping the smile.

"Too much info," Naruto said shock.

"Dad, please don't, that's gross," Steve said, shaking his head to get those words out of his head.

"You do know that's how you got here, right? Even though I did not get to hold you until you could walk. You just ran away from her and I just picked you up, not knowin' you were my kid," Bruce told him, wincing at another slap on the back of his head.

"Please Dad, don't say it," Steve said, knowing what was coming next.

Bruce looked at Steve as he remembered all his first times to do everything. Pride filled him from head to toe. Bruce could remember taking him on base, showing him off to everyone. Then taking him down to the airfield. Steve had loved watching helicopters. "I'm proud of you, son. A father could not ask for a better son; one who has turned into a good man. Every father wants to see their child to grow up better than them. You have succeeded tenfold. I am sorry you did not get the normal childhood. I just wanted you prepared for life, I hope one day you forgive me," Bruce told Steve, tears rolling down his face.

Steve wrapped his arms around Bruce, giving him a bear hug. Steve started to cry. "If I would have had a normal childhood, we would all be dead, Dad. Who would want it anyway? How many kids can say they shot a fully automatic weapon at the age of seven, learned how to blow stuff up, sky dive before they were teenager, ride rapids, fix anything, shopping on ebay while yelling at the computer when someone outbids you, and all the hunting trips. Every friend I ever had in life wanted to be part of our family," Steve said, letting Bruce go and looking at him. "I just hope I'm half the dad you are."

"Half, my a-. You have my and your mama's blood. You'll be ten times better," Bruce told him.

"I doubt that," Steve said.

"Here, Sai made this for you," Bruce said handing Steve the drawing. "He said he'll paint it later if you want."

"I had my art set put up during the time," Sai explained.

Steve looked and smiled at it. "Thanks Sai. I will talk to Tonya, but we might keep this one as it is. You really are talented."

"Get over there with your wife and son. They get p- if you're not up their a- for the first five years," Bruce told his son, dodging the slap to the back of the head that Debbie threw at him. Steve laughed and ran over to Tonya. Reaching them, he tried to take Nathan, but she would not let him.

Sensing Debbie wants to talk to Bruce in private, Naruto asked. "Hey Bruce, are we still allowed to tease and annoy the Judge Congressman and remaining Trooper?"

"Yes, Naruto. If you do not cause them harm, you can," Bruce said.

"Good. Come on Sai. I got an idea on how we can get those three begging without hurting them, and your super beast scroll jutsu should help."

Before Sai could respond, Naruto grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away. Moegi left to hang out with Udon and Konohamaru.

Bruce had a feeling they were all going to hear about whatever Naruto had planned by the end of the day. Ever since he joined the Rangers, Bruce had dealt with pranksters in a whole new level and he had to become a master very quickly. It got to the point he can even make officers beg for mercy. Few pranksters made Bruce worried—two of which he met since the plague hit. One was at another farm and their best allies, and the other was Naruto. Bruce never seen any of Naruto's pranks in action, but he could tell from the moment he met Naruto, the kid had a talent for pranks. When Naruto came to them at the car at the hospital and told them he trapped the officers and troopers and freed as many hospital staffs as possible, it just confirmed what Bruce believed.

"All right, are you taking drugs? Who are you and where is my husband?" Debbie asked, spinning Bruce to face her.

"What the h- are you talking about, woman? Have you taken your Depo shot? I did rob a pharmacy for you," Bruce said, trying to steer her away from the topic.

"I have known you since we were in diapers and this is weird even for you. I thought taking everyone to Panama so everyone could learn jungle training was weird. There are not any jungles in the States, but I did not say anything. I am not talking about the scuba diving, kayaking, mountain climbing and other stuff. Then two years ago you take us to Arizona for two weeks so we can learn defensive driving and learn how to drive formula one race cars. Now that was weird. Two of the kids didn't even have permits but you wanted them to do spin outs," Debbie stated, waving her arms at him.

"You liked Arizona, Debbie," Bruce said, looking at the kids. The twins were playing with PJ in Danny's lap.

"Bruce, you come out here today talking about how short ammo is; then you build fire teams and increase training. Then you stop supply runs and increase patrols. You marry off our son without talking to me. Keep wanting, no, let me rephrase that—demanding sex, not caring who is around. Finally, you make sure all the kids—" Debbie stopped in mid-sentence, looking up at Bruce following his gaze.

Debbie grabbed his arm, pulling him along, and Bruce followed her. Debbie led him to the shop, opened the door, pushed him in and then closed the door behind her. "What is it Bruce?" she asked.

"Just a bad gut feeling, Debbie, that's all," Bruce said.

"Bruce, the last time you had a bad gut feeling, the f- world ended!" Debbie yelled.

"I don't know, baby. Everything is going well but it feels bad. There's something wrong here," Bruce told her.

"A plague is loose on the planet turning people into evil overgrown super-powered smurfs. We are technically prisoners on the farm, but you know all of this so tell me what's wrong," Debbie pleaded.

Bruce looked at her somberly. "I don't know, but it feels bad, like we are fixing to walk into an ambush. I have done everything I know to do, and I still feel off. Nothing I do will make the gnawing sensation in my gut go away.

"Are we going to be attacked?" Debbie asked.

"That is a definite, Debbie, by blues and gangs. Several times by every year," Bruce told her.

That scared Debbie, the way Bruce said it with certainty. She had convinced herself they could stay hidden. "You're certain we will be attacked?" Debbie asked him, praying for at least an 'I don't know.'

"Debbie, we are going to be found. It is only a matter of time. Gangs are running out of drugs and victims. The blues will chase food and eventually a large group will find us. Do not build yourself into a false hope. If you do when it happens you will be shocked and will let your guard down. Debbie, you are a warrior now, start thinking like one. If you get a funny nagging feeling, listen to it. You have ridden the wave, baby. You are different now," Bruce said, looking down into her eyes.

"What can we do?" Debbie asked, wanting to tell Bruce she had more than a nagging feeling.

"I have done everything I know to do, and the feeling doesn't go away. So, it is something we cannot prepare for," Bruce admitted to her.

"We can prepare for anything. We can get some more supplies. The fence can be higher—" Debbie stopped as Bruce spoke.

"I think we're going to lose a lot of people, soon," Bruce told her.

"Wha—Why do you say that?" Debbie asked, her body going numb.

"When you get the gut feeling, you make minor changes. If that does not make it go away, make bigger changes until it goes away. If it does not, then it means it is inevitable and the only thing that makes the gut feel like that is the loss of a teammate," Bruce told her, saying the last sentence slowly.

"How could you know that and just what is the wave?" Debbie asked fearfully, hoping Bruce did not feel what she knew.

"I have been in combat, baby, and I have lost teammates," Bruce said. Then he grabbed both of her hands. "Okay baby let me explain something to you. Turn the female side of your brain off. The wave is called a lot of different things. Each Native American tribe has a name for it, along with every warrior culture. In the service it is called the wave, the thousand-yard stare, in the zone, and the list goes on and on. I do not go for the supernatural answer because I cannot touch it or feel it. The wave is your body dropping tons of hormones into your system and awakening the primitive and higher thought areas in your brain. You can see better, hear better, move faster, and the gut feeling is your brain playing out scenarios' days in advance with how your life is sees something coming that will hurt you or a teammate. You don't control that part of your brain, but it lets you know with the gut feeling."

"Like the plague: at the table that first morning after I woke all of you up. I had the gut feeling. I started making plans. When I got to go out and buy as much s- as possible or do a massive stockpile, the feeling went away. I made the decision that it was going to be bad because going out and buying a lot of s- made it go away," Bruce finished, hoping she understood.

"Let's go make some more lists until it goes away," Debbie asked hopefully.

"It won't; that's why I even mentioned the other farm. It didn't make my gut feeling go away, nor yours," Bruce told her.

Debbie leaned her head back. "What the h- are you talking about? I don't have a gut feeling."

Bruce looked up and let out a sigh, then looked back to Debbie. "Okay, turn off that female side again. That side tries to think rationally, and the wave is nowhere near rational. Only the best warriors can get the wave, and you are now a true warrior. When you get this gut feeling it is d- near impossible to get made at a teammate. I have been trying to p- you off all morning. The best you could do was pop me on the back of the head. You know something is wrong; that is why we are having this conversation. Besides me, there are four—eight—on this farm who have ridden the wave. You, obviously; of course, Conner. He does not know how he did it, but he really wants to ride it again. I saw it in his eyes the first day I met him. He was mad at the world because he could not call the wave when he was held prisoner. Naruto has too, but it triggers a deep power inside him that can be dangerous for the rest of us, but I can tell he rode it before. That is why he decided at the truck stop to try Temari's wind jutsu on the blues. He had a gut feeling her jutsu had what we needed to turn things around. It's possible Yamato, Sai, Sakura, and Temari had ridden the wave too but something about how they trained made it where their experience might be different from the rest of us."

Debbie did not want to tell Bruce this now, but he was right about Naruto as she remember Yamato and Naruto mentioning it the night Conner explained the wave. He was also right about Yamato Sakura and Sai from what she been told about the Will of Fire. But she also know she need to understand the wave more.

"Now I want you to tell me who the last person is," Bruce challenged her. "You know them very well."

"Bruce, I can't do that," Debbie told him.

"Turn that s- off in your head. Close your eyes and just run through people in your mind, but don't think," Bruce said.

Debbie closed her eyes and tried to do as he said just to amuse him. Debbie took a deep breath then opened her eyes. "Buffy," she said immediately. Debbie looked at Bruce, who was just smiling at her. "That's not possible—" Debbie said, taking a step back and not believing what she had done. Then it struck Debbie who she had named. "No, Bruce, she's just a little girl. Buffy can't feel that and be a warrior," Debbie replied.

"She can ride the wave like a pro," Bruce said with admiration.

"She can't," Debbie stuttered.

"Why do ya think she tried to pick a fight with you this morning? She knows something is not right and she cannot get mad at you even though she tried. You could not get mad at her. If anyone outside the family would have tried that you would have ripped them apart. She is your teammate. Like me, Mike, Nancy, and the kids, Bruce told her.

"Why?"

"I don't know. The wave does not come with an instruction manual, baby, turn that side off again. It just does. Here is what I think: you know something is going to happen to someone you care about. But you cannot get mad at them in case they get killed so your last days together were good. Then you must look at it like this: you try to p- those around you off and if you can get mad at them you know it is not them. It's never worked for me, but I still try," Bruce told her.

"Can anyone be taught to ride?"

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Like anyone can be an athlete but only a few can be Olympic athletes and fewer still gold medal athletes. Most warriors get combat shakes or adrenalin rushes; they are the Olympic athletes. Few rides the wave, and these are the gold medal warriors. You gain a lot with the wave, but it does come at a price," Bruce said.

"Can you tell if someone can?" she asked.

"Yeah, but just because they can doesn't mean they will," Bruce replied.

"There are a few on the farm now, aren't there?"

"Quite a few. We have a lot of survivors here and yes, some are our kids. Before you ask, I cannot read your mind. This is not Jedi s-. Quite simple deduction," Bruce said.

"Which of our kids?" Debbie asked, not really wanting the answer.

"Tell me the one that won't and not because they can't," Bruce said.

Debbie did not even have to close her eyes. "Steve." Then she looked at the floor. "Have Danny and Jake ridden yet?"

"No, not yet, but they've come really close. Danny felt the edges the night she beat the g-, and several other times in firefights. She felt the edge and knew there was more and wanted it. Jake will ride the wave better than all of us. He can snap up his rifle and by the time his eye is on the scope he is at the edge," Bruce informed her.

"Steve shot that cop," Debbie pointed out.

"Soldiers kill, baby. It is what they are trained for. Do not think Steve is not a b- and not a good warrior. But to ride the wave you must give up part of yourself and most do not want to. Then you must see your enemy as targets and not people. Steve sees that as being too inhumane. Debbie you know as well as I that Steve likes to feel control, and the wave is not control. You act on instinct, not by thought. Most feel if they keep that part of themselves, then life is good." Bruce then asked, "Which of Mike's kids will ride?"

"Mary and Matt," she replied without thinking. "Bruce, stop that, it freaks me out."

"Baby, if you think in a fight, you'll die because you are reacting, not anticipating. Trust your gut even if you don't know what it's saying," Bruce said. "It's 1245. I know it is Sunday, but we got work to do. We need to get back." Then he looked at her. "Debbie, if the world hadn't changed, I would do everything I could to try to make my kids not ride the wave, but in this new world it is a h- of an advantage." Bruce moved to the door.

"Why did you let me?" Debbie asked.

Bruce looked at her in shock. "Let you my a-. From the day I came back from the hospital you have wanted it bad. In every battle we have been in you were there. You could feel it in me, and you wanted it. I would have had to shoot you the morning you followed me out to the prisoners. When you stopped at the edge of the barn, you were going to watch me to see how I did it. Debbie, the thing that worries me is that you like the anger. That is a double-edged sword; the rage does last longer, and the wave will go higher, but guilt will follow unless you kill your heart. That kind of guilt does not go away, trust me, if you have compassion or love in you. I am not going to say why either, so do not ask. When you are on the wave still trust your gut; if it feels wrong, do not do it even if you know the wave will go higher. You liked it, didn't you?"

Debbie closed her eyes. "Holy s-!" she said as the memory flooded over her. She leaned against the table, smiling.

"Feels good, just the memory, doesn't it?" Bruce asked.

"H- yeah," Debbie said, still smiling.

Bruce leaned toward her. "Remember that feeling. When you do something in anger and hate causing unnecessary pain, taking joy in it, that is how the guilt hits you. You saw them as a person and enjoyed it," Bruce told her.

Debbie stood up fast. "You couldn't live with yourself if guilt hit you like that."

"Yes, you can, baby. It just takes practice. You can either stay on the wave or you learn to live with it. You can't push it out of your mind no matter how hard you try." Bruce looked away before he spoke. "I always wondered why you chose a piece of s- like me, Debbie. You deserve to live in a palace. I want to give you everything and all I have ever given is a crazy lifestyle." Bruce reached out, running his fingers through her hair.

"I love this crazy lifestyle, Bruce, and I can't imagine life without you," Debbie told him.

"I didn't want you to ride the wave. I always knew you could but figured the need would never present itself. I was scared you would love the anger, not the wave, and if you ever had to deal with that pain I'd die," Bruce told her. Then he looked at her with fear in his eyes. "Debbie, the wave can be a two-edged sword. If you chase the wave you just become a killer, not a warrior. You have not thought, but you get joy out of the act. You start to see your enemies as people, not targets. If you are chasing the wave, you will start to deliver pain just for fun. When that happens, you live with it or lose the ability to love and care for others. That is not living because you no longer have a soul. Always be wary of those on the wave that refer to the enemy as human and not targets."

"You're right, it and I wanted it. If you had not been there, I would have gotten medieval. I know what you mean by the guilt. I wanted to hurt them just for the fun of it, Bruce, I felt invincible. Just the thought of what I wanted to do makes me sick. If those thoughts came at me like the wave, I do not know what I would do, but as always, I have my stud muffin to save me," Debbie told Bruce, hugging him.

"Let us go, baby. I know Sundays supposed to be our day off, but we have a lot of work to and I want to find out what Naruto has planned for the prisoners," Bruce said, turning toward the door.

"Where the h- do you think you're going?" Debbie barked behind him.

"Baby, we will talk more tonight," Bruce turned, seeing Debbie laying her weapon on the table and unbuckling her vest. "What the h- are you doing?" Bruce asked her.

"You told me not once but like four times that I had to give you some. So, do you want some lovin' or what?" Debbie asked him.

Debbie watched Bruce turned around and locked the door before laying his weapon on the table. She started undoing her ACU top and pulled it off, dropping it to the floor. She turned back to Bruce and he was standing in front of her butt naked with his pants pulled down to his ankles.

"How in the h- did you get undressed that fast?" Debbie asked, looking at his equipment laid neatly on the table.

"It has nothing to do with the wave, baby. I'm just a horny man who wants some," Bruce told her as she got undressed.

"Well, come here, horny man, let's get those evil spirits out," Debbie said as Bruce rushed her.

Twenty minutes later they snuck out the door like teenagers, trying not to get caught. They ran to the patio and stopped there, trying to act normal, but doing a lousy job of it. They watched the crew working on the community building as they started pouring the slab. Bruce pulled Debbie to the kitchen door as he headed inside.

Naruto and Sai were returning from torturing the prisoners, involving toads, Shippo, and Sai's super beast scroll snakes along with harmless jutsus on the s- they were scooping to make their jobs harder. that scared the lives out of the Congressman and Judge. It took a bit more work with the Trooper, but Naruto was not shock since the guy was trained for combat. Still, while Bruce and Debbie were having their privacy, the rest of the land been hearing the prisoners scream in fright and without having been harmed in anyway, so Naruto and Sai did not break Bruce's order of not harming them. Naruto did tell G- about it after he and Sai were done with the prisoners so G- did not have to worry about getting in trouble.

"Should we tell Bruce and Debbie what we did?" Sai asked.

"Yeah, but another time. Looks to me like they had their own fun," Naruto said.

At the house Danny and Buffy were sitting in the game room playing with the twins and PJ. Sakura was at a table working on list of medical herbs needed for the herbal garden she had permission for to start. Although no one told her what is expected from her, Sakura got the feeling she needed to start on one. When Bruce and Debbie came in, Danny looked up and saw them. "Where have y'all been? PJ was being a total b- outside. I have stuff that you told me to do, Daddy. I have fourteen people that are or have been in the military or police. I think they will pass with ease. Then we have reports of the three prisoners screaming in fright since the wedding."

"Why didn't you get Susan to watch the kids?" Debbie said, hugging the twins.

"I don't know," Danny said, shrugging her shoulders.

"The screaming probably Naruto's doing," Bruce said. "He asked if he could prank the prisoners and dragged Sai with him when I granted it."

"That's what I figured after I didn't see them when the screaming started," Sakura said. "I don't know why Sai was involved though?"

Bruce and Debbie had an idea, but they kept their mouths shut about it.

"Why are Emily's fingernails red and Sherry's pink?" Bruce asked, looking at the twins.

Danny grabbed both twins' hands to confirm what Bruce had said. "How'd you know which twin was which?" Danny asked, looking at the twins again and trying to find something different between them.

"Daddy could tell them apart since the night we brought them back," Debbie told her, admiring Danny's work.

"I painted Emily's nails red and Sherry's pink so I could tell 'em apart," Danny replied, still looking at the twins.

"Oh, that's good, Danny," Debbie smiled with admiration.

"Thank you, Mama," Danny smiled at the compliment.

Debbie smiled back at her. Then she noticed something. "Danny, where is your tactical vest?"

"By the back door with my rifle, Mom," Danny said with that teenaged girl tone. Debbie fought off the urge to slap her.

"Danny, from now on I want you to wear it at all times until I tell you different, okay," Debbie said, always wanting Danny ready.

"Mom, we're not at that threat level, plus the vest makes me look fat and it's uncomfortable," Danny whined.

Sakura hid back a chuckle. It was not toward Danny, but the fact Danny reminded Sakura of herself when she was fangirling over Sasuke and rivaling against Ino. Sakura still had her feelings and do care about her looks, but now she is more focus on being the best medical ninja she can be for her team/clan than trying to impress someone, but that does not mean she will not dress up to look nice if she get the opportunity. Sakura got the feeling that is the same with Danny.

"Matt doesn't think so," replied Bruce.

Danny whipped her head toward Bruce so fast her hair wrapped around her face. "What's that got to do with anything?" Danny asked in a frightened tone.

"Nothing sweetie, I was just saying when you wear all your tactical gear around that boy, at times he makes me uncomfortable. Last week when we went on patrol and you had on your boonie hat, sunglasses, and your hair up in a ponytail with that P90 strapped to your hip, I almost slapped his eyes out of his head," Bruce told her.

"Really?" Danny asked with amazement in her voice.

"Danny, I know y'all aren't real brother and sister, but sometimes when that boy looks at you in full tactical gear… I mean with knee and elbow pads, fully loaded vest, gloves, boonie hat, glasses, and weapon across your chest… I want to get a water hose and hose him down then slap him around some. I love that kid, otherwise I had beat the s- out of him. Matt has a thing for b- women. I still want to take a water hose to him when he looks at you like that and probably will the next time he does."

That time Sakura did giggle earning her some looks. "Sorry. I was just remembering when I use to compete with an old rival of mine to try to get someone to look at us like that," Sakura said. "Back then we didn't care about being the best ninja and I ended up finding myself more of a hinderance to my teammates than reliable. So, when an opportunity came to learn how to be a medical ninja came up, with a little encouragement from my teammates, I straighten out my priorities and took the lessons. But there are times I still wish I can get a guy to notice me like that."

Danny nodded as she understood. She was never the type too focus on just looking good for a certain someone, but there were times where she wished she could get Matt to notice her. She was there when Bruce gave his speech about the male half of humanity and had figured out that Matt was noticing her when she was not looking, but still being a teenage girl, Danny could not help but have her doubts. Especially after watching her oldest brother Steve married his fiancé—her new sister-in-law Tonya, Danny could not help but feel like she was not getting Matt's attention, which made her wonder if her tactical gear was making her look fat.

"Well, Matt sure the h- does, and I don't even know why. He's not Danny's type," Bruce said, picking PJ up and playing with him.

"Daddy, you better not take a water hose to Matt. That would embarrass him and how do you know what my type is?" Danny spoke up for Matt's dignity.

"When you sit down by him in full gear, he turns beet red. Of all the boys that have ever liked you, Matt is the only one I ever liked and approved of. That is strike one there. Danny, all the boys you have liked are whiny, long haired, wanting someone to take care of them. That is strike two. Matt wants a girl that will stand by him and not try to take care of him. That is why he has a thing for tough women. The only upside about you wearing fatigues is when you wear the same camouflage pattern for a week, he gets used to it. He still looks at you, but I do not want to get a water hose. Then you change ACU or BDU patterns and it starts all over again. Since the plague started, with you being in fatigues all the time, I want to pop his eyes out of his head and eat 'em. I don't want to talk about it anymore because I want to break his legs now," Bruce said as he tried to get PJ's belly button, making him laugh.

"Daddy don't hurt Matt, please," Danny begged, holding her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

"Baby, I loved that boy and can't hurt him like that, even though I want to. I just don't like him checking out my daughter," Bruce said with a grumpy look on his face. Then Bruce turned back to PJ, trying to get the belly button.

Danny chewed her lower lip, looking at Bruce as he played with PJ. Then she jumped up. "I have to get ready to teach class." Danny said, then took off at a full sprint and headed upstairs. A few minutes later she came down wearing her knee and elbow pads, her hair in a ponytail, her Oakley sunglasses perched on her nose and her boonie hat cocked to the side. Danny grabbed her vest and weapon before running out the door.

Sakura shook her head as she chuckled. If only she was that easy to convince when she first crushed on Sasuke, then maybe she could of took her training more seriously and less of a hinderance when she was assigned to team seven instead of realizing it during their first time taking the Chuunin exams.

Bruce looked up from playing with PJ at Debbie, who was looking at him with squinted eyes, studying him. "What was that all about?" Debbie asked Bruce.

"Nothing, sugar mama," Bruce said with an air of injured innocence.

"Bruce, the nonchalant verbalizations works on the younger form of girls, not the older," Debbie said. Bruce just looked at her, smiling. Debbie took a step back. "No!" she gasped.

"I'm surprised you and Nancy haven't seen it," Bruce told her.

"How long?" Debbie asked, feeling bad. Mamas should see stuff like this.

"You remember the last time we played paintball?" Bruce asked as he sat on a barstool beside the pool table.

"Yeah, we invited the boys you tried to kill at the paintball field out here to make it up to the girls because you embarrassed them," Debbie told him.

"Must be a dad thing," Sakura said. "My dad embarrass me many times."

"Whatever," Bruce replied, waving his hand through the air. The attitude sounded so much like Danny, Debbie almost slapped him.

"So, what about the boys at the paintball field?" Debbie asked him, still fighting the urge to slap him.

"The girls were using those punks to make the boys jealous," Bruce told her.

"Girls? Boys?" Debbie said aloud, looking at Bruce, who was just smiling.

"Jake and Mary?" Debbie asked in a shock tone. Bruce just continued to smile.

Debbie just collapsed down on the floor. "I'm a horrible mother. My baby boy and my baby girl, falling in love right under my nose. I suck," Debbie said more to herself than Bruce.

Sakura wanted to argue that in most kids' cases, it is best when both parents not find this out right away so neither parent can embarrass their kids, but she was not with this family long enough to judge Debbie and Bruce based off her own parents' actions.

"You're the best person I've ever met and as far as being a mother goes, none even come close to you. You never had much of a chance to catch them because the boys are covering the escapade. Secret looks, where to meet and stuff like that. Do you remember when you got to my first assignment, you and I were lying in bed. You asked what the secret to boys was. What did I tell you?" Bruce asked Debbie and she closed her eyes, trying to remember.

Sakura was slightly interested as—unlike Danny—she was not there for Bruce's speech about the male half of humanity.

"You said boys are simple, but that's b-. How do we handle the kids?" Debbie asked.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked with a puzzled look.

"Bruce, they are boyfriend and girlfriend with someone in the house," Debbie said.

"Yeah," Bruce said, wanting her to understand.

"We have to do something," Debbie said.

"See, there you go thinking complicated again, just like Danny and Mary. They devised this whole big plan to make the boys jealous. The plan was complicated, involving numerous people, leaving a lot to chance. All they had to do was talk to the boys and it would have been problem solved. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if they had done that, but the problem they had would've been solved," Bruce said then continued. "If you remember, when we all moved in here, I told you Danny was going to marry Matt. I do admit, I never saw Jake and Mary. With Danny, I could see it in her eyes even as they played in the dirt together. I saw those same eyes followed me from Sunday school to sitting in front of me right now," Bruce told Debbie.

"Bruce, if I ask you a question will you give me a true, honest answer?" Debbie asked. Thinking about it for a second, Bruce smiled and nodded his head. "All the times you've gotten in trouble with me, how many were on purpose, just so I could catch you?" Debbie asked.

"Most, at least ninety-eight percent, but you know that," Bruce told her.

"I know, I know that, but that takes all the fun out of it, baby. If you know that I know, then why do it?" Debbie asked smiling.

"It makes you happy to scold me. You solved a riddle. That is good enough for me," Bruce told her.

"That's all, so I can scold you, that makes me even more dreadful," Debbie protested.

"No, you just like solving a riddle and giving me a scolding. Then you must remember the making up part is good. Girls have a guilty conscience. I always know two to three days afterward it is happy time," Bruce told her, walking over, and handing PJ to her and kissing her on the head.

"I'm going to check the last UAV flight to make sure our friends stay away. Then I am going to walk the property and just look around. Nancy, Angela, and Stephanie will be here soon so you can make the list. Remember, I am going out tomorrow to see if we can thin the blues. We will be on horseback, I want Danny, Jake, Conner, and Naruto, you can come if you want. I want seven on patrol so two can stay with the horses if we dismount," Bruce told her and did not need to name Buffy. His shadow always followed him. "What are you working on Sakura?"

"List of medical herbs and plants we'll need for the herb garden," Sakura said. "Since you put me over it, I thought I worked out the list of what I know could be useful and find out what we can get later."

Bruce nodded as he liked the idea. "When you are done with the list and have it checked over, give it to Paul so he can help you section off the garden for it. He oversees our garden. If it was not for him, what we had before the fall might not last as long as we hoped."

"Sounds good," Sakura agreed.

At 1500, Debbie, Nancy, Stephanie, Angela, and Sakura were in Nancy's room around a card table working on schedules for projects, guard duty, night duty, and patrols. Debbie invited Sakura so they can get her list check over by Stephanie and see what herbs they might find. If Stephanie was not sure if they could get what Sakura listed, then Debbie quite sure it is not found in the US or in their world. None of the other women argued since Sakura can be just one of the girls. It helped that Sakura was a trained medical ninja since the older women were former nurses or doctors, so it was not like Sakura stood out too much talking about medical herbs she is listing.

Plus, it turns out Sakura was organized and smart for her age and was able to help them with their work. She never worked on a laptop before, but she already proven to be a quick learner. Fortunately, due to Jake and Matt being the computer tech of the family and always need a new computer for something, the family had plenty of laptops to spare.

The group had been working for an hour not saying much to each other as the concentrated on their given task. Nancy set down her pen and closed her laptop.

"Debbie, you have to tell me, how was it?" Nancy requested.

"Bruce and I just walked around the farm after the wedding, that's all," Debbie replied, looking around nervously.

"What are you talking about?" Nancy asked. "What's it like, the wave?" she clarified as Angela and Stephanie stopped working and looked up at her. Sakura kept working, but she was listening. It was a trick she noticed learning from her medical training as Tsunade liked teaching hands on while explaining things.

"I can't even describe it, Nancy," Debbie told her.

"When you came in, you looked like you were on the best drug ever made," Nancy said, probing for more information.

"It is like a drug, but this is the most dangerous drug," Debbie said, wanting Nancy to stopped asking questions.

"Debbie come on, you're killing me," Nancy begged.

Debbie looked at the closest friend she had ever known. The want on Nancy's face made her give in. She could see what Bruce was talking about now. It was in Nancy's eyes, but there was something that would not let the wave out. That could not be said about the other three—if Sakura had not already experienced the wave.

"Okay Nancy, I'll tell you about it. The reason I do not like talking about it is some parts of the wave are very scary. You can do things you cannot believe. You feel like you are moving in slow motion, but you are really moving fast. You can see better, feel things around you and detect smells that you never knew existed. I could smell fear, not that I could not see that they were afraid but could smell fear and it is intoxicating. This is where the bad part comes in. If you do not keep the anger in check you will do things just to hurt for your pleasure. That will haunt you and eat away at you. That has not happened to me; it did but Bruce stopped me each time," Debbie told Nancy and made sure she understood.

Debbie continued, closing her eyes, leaning her head back and reliving it. "Nancy, just remembering the wave is vivid; it's nothing like riding the wave, but s- it's good. You cannot dwell on it long because you want to find the wave. That is the bad part."

"Bad part, how can that be bad? Debbie, you looked like you were heading to ecstasy just then," Nancy said with envy.

"I was," Debbie said. "Imagine if you did a horrible act and that act came back to haunt you like an LSD trip every time it crossed your mind."

"That would be bad," Nancy admitted.

"You have no idea. It'll drive you insane or you learn to live with it, which is just as bad," Debbie said.

"You said it has never happened to you, so how do you know?" Nancy asked.

"What is said here stays here." Debbie looked at each woman as they nodded, their heads in agreement. She looked at Sakura most concernly.

"I'm listening and I can keep a secret," Sakura added. "My teacher who taught me medical ninjutsu was the type who like to teach hands-on while giving lectures if needed. So, I learned quickly to work and listen at the same time."

Debbie nodded in understanding. Bruce can be the same way, if you can keep his attention long enough while he is doing something.

"It has happened to Bruce. I don't know what or how and I'll never ask him," Debbie told them.

"How and why did he learn to live with it?" Stephanie asked.

"The how: I have no idea and don't want to know. The why: I asked him to leave the military," Debbie said. "I see it clearly now. Bruce volunteering for everything to find the wave to block the pain for something he did out of pleasure to chase the wave."

Debbie answered questions for twenty minutes then she told them she did not want to talk about it anymore; she was getting a headache. Nancy told her it was because she had missed lunch. Nancy got up and told Debbie she would bring her a snack something to drink. Sakura volunteered to go with her as she had something in her bag that works wonders on headaches. Before they left, Angela said she would help her bring the stuff Nancy was preparing back and they left.

As they walked out, Stephanie just stared at Debbie in wonder. She admired this woman so much. Debbie was everything she wanted to be brave, pretty, smart, mother, and a total b-. Yet she was in love with Debbie's husband. The guilt was killing her and had been since she met Debbie. When Debbie spoke, it scared her.

"What is it, Stephanie?" Debbie asked, rubbing her temples, and feeling Stephanie look at her.

"I have something I want to tell you. If you want me to leave after I tell you, I understand and I will leave," Stephanie told her. Stephanie started taking deep breaths, working herself up to tell Debbie her harbored secret.

"You're in love with Bruce," Debbie replied, looking at Stephanie who was still taking in deep breaths. Stephanie was taking a breath in when Debbie spoke and she held it, forgetting to let it out.

Shock spread across Stephanie's face. Debbie knew, but, how could she?

"Let the breath out, Stephanie before you pass out, baby," Debbie told her, patting her hand, and Stephanie let it out, seeing stars dance in front of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why or how but I do. I will load up and leave tonight. Debbie? Please do not think too badly of me," Stephanie told her, fighting back tears. She had brought this on herself and she would reap the consequences. She would be dead tomorrow but at least Debbie knew.

"If you try to leave over something that stupid, I'll beat the s- out of you. Stephanie, you are more than a sister to me, just like Nancy. I love you more than I love members of my own family. You are caring, loving, and kind; those are your strong points but also your weak points. That and you are smarter than any ten people I know," Debbie told Stephanie, holding her hand.

"I'm in love with your husband. How can you love someone like that?" Stephanie asked.

"When I met you that first day and I saw you look at Bruce, I knew. I am not goin' to lie, when I first saw you, I did feel threatened, for about an hour. Here is this younger, gorgeous auburn-haired woman, with a perfect body. She is smart, successful and a joy to be around. I am not going to lie to you, I did think about shooting you and saying it was an accident in that first hour. Then I got to know you and saw who you really are. Stephanie, you have a stripe of honor that is a mile wide. I've never seen that in a woman before or since," Debbie told her.

"You are much prettier than I am, Debbie," Stephanie stated, and Debbie started laughing.

"Please, Stephanie, don't make me laugh. My stomach hurts too much," Debbie told her.

"I wasn't trying to make you laugh. Why won't you make me leave?" Stephanie asked.

"I tell you what, Stephanie, tonight come to my bedroom. I will get out of bed and you can get in. Wake Bruce up and have sex with him. You have my permission, and he will be half asleep. It will not be bad, I promise. Don't worry about Bruce; he won't realize it's not me for a while," Debbie told Stephanie, watching shock spread over her face.

"Debbie I—I couldn't do that to you. Even if you said to, it would hurt you, then when Bruce found out it would kill him," Stephanie told her.

"I rest my case," Debbie said. "Stephanie, you're probably the only woman on the face of the earth I would trust to sleep naked with my husband. You will not do anything if it hurts someone you care about. You'll suffer so others won't."

Stephanie looked at Debbie, not understanding her. "Thank you, Debbie, for not letting me leave and for letting me come and stay here," Stephanie said, smiling.

"Stephanie, if Bruce would've been here, we would have come for you. Stephanie, you mean a lot to this family because you're a part of it," Debbie told her.

"Thank you, Debbie, I love you," Stephanie said, looking down at the table.

"I love you too, Stephanie, and don't feel bad about loving Bruce. He's the best of the best," Debbie told her.

Stephanie looked up at Debbie. "When I was in Bruce's group on the blue hunt, he talked about the male psyche for three days. He said you knew more about boys than he does. I made notes if you want to see them."

Debbie started chuckling. "Well, you've learned the first rule on boys. When you want to know something, get their mind on a task and their mouth will ramble on. How did it start?" She asked, holding her sore stomach and giggling.

"Mindy, the teenage girl from the gas station, she asked Bruce if guys thought she was ugly because of what happened to her. Bruce told her boys really do not care about the act. They care about her being hurt but they don't think less of her for being raped," Stephanie said.

Debbie sat up. "Bruce has never gone over this with me. Keep going."

"I wrote it all down so you—" Stephanie started as Debbie held up her hand.

"How much did you write down?" Debbie asked her.

"All three days. Debbie, I will never make a mistake again of saying about a boy's toy—" Stephanie stopped again as Debbie held up her hand.

"You mean to tell me you wrote down, from memory, the conversation that your group had over three days? How many pages?" Debbie asked with a look of amazement on her face.

"My handwritten notes are four hundred and seventeen pages, but the typed version is three hundred and seventy-four pages."

Debbie looked at Stephanie and a thought crossed her mind. "Stephanie, recite Bruce's speech last Sunday afternoon." Stephanie closed her eyes and recited Bruce's speech from last week. Debbie knew it was word for word because it held Bruce's attitude. Stephanie stopped speaking and opened her eyes as Debbie spoke. "Stephanie, you hold a true power. No man would argue with you with that memory. I want to read the notes, but I would ask that no others do," Debbie said, still not believing what she had just heard.

"Don't worry, that's essential information and it just can't be out in the open," Stephanie informed Debbie.

"You're able to do that with anyone? Just remember what they said and recite them?" Debbie asked her.

"Yeah, and I can remember where they were standing, who was sitting where and what they had on. Now once it gets a few weeks out, it does start to get fuzzy. That is why I have a journal so I can write down daily what happens," Stephanie replied in an offhand way.

"Stephanie, I have kept a journal since I was ten years old but it's only the highlights of the day's events, not a complete hour by hour dissertation of the day's events with accurate dialog," Debbie told her. Hearing Nancy, Angela, and Sakura coming down the hall, she said, "We'll talk later." The other three walked back into the room carrying drinks and food. Sakura handed Debbie a small black small ball.

"These are medical pills for headaches and minor ailments. I had them on me when I came to this world, but I had to hide them when we were under the Judge's and Congressman's watch." Sakura explained. "Angela told me the chakra pills Naruto gave her and everyone else that came here with her and Bruce from the hospital work like caffeine for them, so I figured this should be safe for you but to start off with one for now."

"Thank you, Sakura," Debbie said as she swallowed the pill and took a drink. Being a birthing nurse, Debbie was aware of risk of starting new medication and the precautions needed, but it made Debbie was glad Sakura was aware of it too.

"So, what have we figured out?" Nancy asked.

Debbie looked at Nancy and said, "Stephanie finally admitted she loves Bruce." Stephanie looked at Debbie in shock, not believing she had let out her secret.

"Thank God, I thought she was going to hold it in forever," Nancy said, sitting down. Stephanie jerked her head, looking at Nancy with a shocked expression. Nancy smiled at her and said, "Stephanie, everyone in this house, except for Bruce, knows. If they do not, they would come to find out eventually." Nancy added the last part for Sakura's sake in case she have not figured it out yet. "It has been the topic of conversation in this family many times here. I thought it was cute because the boys felt bad that they could not compete with daddy with this hot, young woman."

Stephanie just looked at Nancy then to Debbie. Even the kids knew, and they still loved her. She loved their daddy in a way more than a friend. Stephanie wanted to crawl under the bed and die.

Nancy could see that Stephanie was not dealing very well with it and spoke up. "Stephanie, let me tell you something. More than once Debbie has told me she trusts you implicitly. At first, I was a little nervous with you here, when you first came to the farm, but after getting to know you, I realized you were too good of a person to hurt someone like Debbie. Debbie has told me before, she trust you more than me around a naked Bruce. Not that the desire has ever crossed my mind, but I have seen him naked a few times." Stephanie just stared at Nancy with her mouth open. Debbie had just told her the same thing.

Nancy mistook the look of shock. "We've been camping several times and the boys don't feel the need to cover up, baby," she clarified.

"No s-," Angela said, then looked at Debbie. "I want to ask you a question please."

Debbie looked skeptically at the small woman; she really did not want to answer any more questions about the wave or fighting. Debbie had to admit she really liked Angela a lot and even loved her. This small woman had fought to defend her family and friends then proven herself an asset to the family. Debbie finally nodded her head for the question.

Angela asked, "Did you take off running and screaming the first time you saw Bruce naked?"

The question caught Debbie off guard and she just started laughing, grabbing at her sore stomach muscles as Nancy joined in. Stephanie just stared at Angela.

"When did you see Bruce naked?" Stephanie asked with attitude.

"At the hospital and on the trip here. So has Naruto, and he took it less good than me," Angela admitted.

"Naruto?" Sakura responded.

Angela nodded then looked at Debbie. "Well, did you?" she asked.

Debbie stopped laughing and replied, "No."

"Debbie, you're not much bigger than me. I can tell you, if I wouldn't have taken off running, I would have s- twice and died," Angela informed her.

"Bruce was the first boy I ever saw naked, Angela. He was the one I played doctor and house with."

"That's what you had to compare the rest of the male population with?" Angela asked in disbelief.

"Bruce is the only man I have ever been with," Debbie replied.

"You have my utmost respect, Debbie. I would've chickened out," Angela replied, and Nancy agreed with her.

Stephanie looked at the women, except for Sakura who was as confuse as she was. They should not be talking about Bruce like that, and what was the big deal anyway? He was a boy; so, what. Debbie saw the look on Stephanie's face. "Bruce is well-endowed, Stephanie," Debbie told her.

"That's no reason to run away," Stephanie replied, defending Bruce.

"The h- it isn't. Physics still plays a part in making love, girl," Angela told her smartly.

"I got to side with Angela. If Bruce can shock Naruto by being naked, I do not want to see for myself," Sakura said.

"That might not be possible. Bruce has no shy bone in his body," Nancy responded. "There will come a time when you would see Bruce naked whether you know it or not."

Debbie called the group back to order. "Ladies, we have a lot of work to do with lot of people counting on us, and Sakura needs to finish her list, so let's get this done."

The little group finished the lists out for the next three weeks in 1900 and with Stephanie's help Sakura even was able to remake her list of medical herbs based on what can be found in this world and can be grown in Louisiana. Then they headed downstairs to eat. The laughter had done their souls good; it helped hold back the grief and terror they all felt. Laughter was going to be scarce in the coming months and the memories would get them through some tough times ahead.

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A/N: Sorry to anyone who might have felt offended to the jokes in this chapter.