Hey!

Back here with the next chapter. Continuing with the story in Uzu.

As usual, the disclaimer... I'm don't any of the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto; just this single plot going on is from my imagination.

Now, this chapter is a special chapter to all of my first 50 favs. Thank you all so much! Hope you like this...

Chapter 21: Konohamaru

Uzushiogakure no Sato, the present time

"Kaa-chan," a voice startled Naruto and made her lookup. "It's way past lunch. I think you should come and have something at least. I had made some Onigiri for all of us", said Konohamaru.

Naruto realised that she had already drowned herself with thoughts and work on the second day as Uzukage. She smiled widely and nodded. "Wait for a minute, Kono-kun. I'll join you. We can go back to the kitchen for my lunch together."

As she left the office with her officially new son, she recounted the day it had happened.

~~Flashback~~

Uzushiogakure, two weeks after their arrival

It had been a few days since the five had arrived in Uzushiogakure. Inari had returned to his village a few days back. The rest all were residing in the palace-turned-mansion.

The first day when they had arrived and seen the mansion, all were shocked. The place was huge with twenty bedrooms with private bathrooms, a huge kitchen, a huge living room and dining room, an office, a study room. Still, a lot of the remnants from the palace could be found all over but most looked to have a new touch to them. Even Naruto was surprised after having lived there during Kaede's birth. The villagers seemed to have taken upon themselves to rebuild it for her after she left. She felt extreme gratitude and tears collected in her eyes.

Karin had been staying with them but she had also requested to have her own place so that the Uzumaki-Namikaze family could have their privacy. Naruto and Karin now understood each other and had no barrier between them. In fact, Karin aspired to be like Naruto and become strong and confident and not depend on others. So she had approached the small academy and some older ninjas to help her grow. She had also moved in with one of the older apartment buildings closer to the academy just that morning.

Naruto, on the other hand, had been spending a lot of time with either Eiko in the office, learning about the developments in Uzu and the plans ahead or with her kids. She had gotten Kaede and Ume enrolled in the small Academy in Uzu. Konohamaru had requested to help with the development of the village and was going to different sectors every day. But this place and routine seemed to have brought the family more closer. Especially since they had been separate for about six months due to the war.

Now, as all of them had settled into the village, Naruto finally wanted to ask something that she had been wanting for years. Though she was really nervous to ask and be rejected, she still wanted an answer to calm her mind and heart. He would always be the same for her whether he accepted or rejected her offer. That was something she wanted him also to know before he felt like he was being pressurised.

So, Naruto took a slightly early departure from her work. She went home and prepared his favourite, Kare Raisu and had even bought dangos from the sweet shop. As it started to turn dark, her younger ones entered home first. But by the time Naruto had helped them change and refresh, he had arrived. Once everyone was in homeware clothing and at the dinner table, they helped in arranging the food.

They had their dinner as usual with conversations about their day. But one thing that Ume seemed to have spotted was Naruto's nervous glances at a certain person. Due to her Namikaze smartness in noticing the obvious, she was able to guess what was making her Kaa-chan nervous. So she tried to convey assurance with glances and discussion about happy old memories. Once when all were finished with their food and said person and praised Kaa-chan for the cooked meal, Kaa-chan decided it was time to speak.

"Kono-kun, Ume-chan, Kaede-kun, could you all wait a minute?", started Naruto.

"What is it, Kaa-chan?", questioned Kaede who wanted to know what was happening.

Even Konohamaru had observed Naruto's nervous and scared feelings from her demeanour. He had first assumed it must have been related to work and so hadn't opened up about it during dinner. But once she told them to wait, he realised that she wanted to speak about it and one thing he had learnt in his family's absence during the war was to have patience. So he waited patiently for her to speak up.

"Before I tell the main reason behind this discussion, I want to let you all know that I have and will always love all of you equally all my life. You all are my reason to live. So no matter what the decision is next, I just want you to remember this and also know that you don't have to feel pressurised in any way", said Naruto. She gave them a minute to absorb what she had said before finally looking at Konohamaru.

"Kono-kun", she started softly. "I have loved you from the first time you came over to stay and give me company in my hiding. Even as a chibi two-year-old, you always reminded me of the positivity around me when I was feeling low. After Ume-chan was born, you were even more important. You loved her, protected her, supported her like an older brother. You both were so close that even her first word was nī-chan. Then the incident with Sasuke-Nīsan happened. You became like a pillar for me to hold onto at every step. When Kaede-kun was born, I just knew from your look that you would put your life out for both of them. You have been there at every special moment of my life. You, yourself have created so many special moments for me. Even though I wasn't the one to give birth to you, in my eyes, you have been my eldest child. I have loved you as much as your siblings. I know that we don't have much age gap and also that you are considered an adult in terms of a Shinobi. But I still wanted to ask this from you", she tried to hold back the tears collecting in her eyes, "Remember that even if you say 'No', I will understand and love you the same". She took another deep breath and then said it. "If you would like and allow me, Konohamaru Sarutobi, I would like to adopt you as my son".

It was pin-drop silence around the mansion. Naruto and Ume held their breaths in anxiousness. But this was soon broken by Konohamaru who had hurled himself at Naruto. He wrapped his arms around her neck and started sobbing into her chest. Between his sobs, he kept mumbling "Yes". Naruto embraced him and had tears of joy flowing down her cheeks as well. Ume also had happy tears streaming down her cheeks. Kaede had a huge smile on his face. Naruto saw them and signalled them also to join the hug.

It took a while for the family to finally let go from the hug. All of them had shed happy tears and had huge smiles on their faces.

"Thank you. Thank you, Kaa-chan", spoke Konohamaru. "You have been the best mother and role model in my life. You have literally raised me from the time I was two. Even though I came to this world because of a different set of parents, you have and will always be my Kaa-chan. Thank you so much for this. I love you all so much".

Naruto was over cloud-nine. She felt whole with all three of her children. They were her life and she would be there for them at every step of their lives.

"So now, Kono-nī is fully our Nīsan?", asked chibi four-almost-five-year-old kid.

"Yup! Nīsan is officially our Nīsan now. He also is an Uzumaki-Namikaze. We will always be together and protect each other, Otōto", replied Ume.

~~Flashback End~~

Everyone was extremely happy in the mansion that night. The next morning, Naruto had filed the adoption papers and had also sent Asuma the no objection form to sign as a request.

Since that day, Konohamaru hadn't missed a chance in calling her 'Kaa-chan'. Both were happy with this new relationship status and never wanted it to change.

Soon, they had officially become a family and Konohamaru was now, 'Konohamaru Uzumaki-Namikaze-Sarutobi'.

They had reached the dining area and her oldest son now set her up some Onigiri that he had made. They both sat together and spoke about various topics, just enjoying the Mother-Son alone time.

Yup. I did it.

I had been plotting this for Konohamaru from the very start. Hope you like the way it cam out.

What did you all think, though? Did it meet even a slight bit of your expectations?

Also, a big shoutout to all my first 50 favs -

Aczuru205 , Akuma Yuki Kitsune , Alpenwolf , Amaterasu53 , Ami-uchiha , AshenPlight , BusGrunts , Dadan07 , DeLaLunaLove , Demory , Dramageekxanimegeek , Ex-StarBurn , Fabulizer1602 , Fatma Zehra , GreatOniiSama , HEART BEATZ 24'7 , ILove Puncakes , Infiniteslayer , IoItami , Kashou-sama , KathyxDan , Killthebeast , Krzycho Jezior , Ktap4321, LET'S D0 THIS , N.U. Sakura Yukihime , Natalia Miroczuk , Nothin2do , Phoenixx Rising , Scb1315 , The Crimsonwolf of the Leaf , Watching the rain fall , Wayang , Zarek09 , chibinaruto187 , crkane33 , darkvincent , elle117 , fallout4 , fco ala , lorbang , lulilafly , mabbdog , 2301 , murraye , omagadragon ,ranma-tomoe , samannamartina , senjuprincess182 , tgabbyd8

Thank you all so much!

Do review and let me know how you feel about the story!

'Til next time, "Ja ne!"