AN: Ohhhhh do I have a treat for you readers today...

Naruto left that day like he said he would, Sakura with him, and Sasuke tried not to feel left out. He knew he would be joining them in a little over a week, but since Iruka was watching Nori until then it meant he wouldn't see Naruto or his son. The routine they'd created of sparring and coming over to Sasuke's house sometimes two or three times a week had become so warm and comforting that Sasuke knew he was going to miss it. It made him think about what Sakura had said about him, how he'd gotten softer.

He frowned, tapping his pen against Sakura's hospital desk. She'd asked him to help her finish up some of her reports since she was going on a mission so suddenly and he was getting a week off. He didn't mind. He didn't like having time off, anyway. It made him think too much.

It was close to evening. He'd finished the reports several minutes ago but gotten distracted staring out of the window and wondering where Naruto was and what he was doing. He was glad Naruto trusted him to look after Nori, but he still wished he could have gone to help with Uzushiogakure. He was curious to see the progress Naruto had made and he was feeling a little antsy. It had been a while since he'd been out of the village. He hadn't had any travelling missions since Dorogakure, and it had already been six months since then. It was certainly the longest he'd gone without leaving the village in a long time. If it weren't for sparring with Naruto he might have been a little rusty.

Recently they had started incorporating limited bits of ninjutsu into their fights. Naruto was allowed to use his clones and Sasuke could use some chidori if it didn't get too out of hand. The Sharingan and even Sage Mode were still banned. Apparently Tsunade had found out they were sparring again and threatened to wring Naruto's neck if they caused any property damage to the training grounds. Naruto had arugued that since he was Hokage it would be his problem anyway but she was unconvinced.

He thought about heading to the training grounds before he went home. He wasn't nervous about the journey to Uzushiogakure, but it couldn't hurt to make sure he was more practiced in case anyone did try and attack Nori.

He was a little anxious about travelling with Shikamaru and Temari. The trip was about a day and a half, maybe a little more considering how pregnant Temari was. Surely she wouldn't be able to walk that fast; if she weren't a shinobi she might not even be able to make the journey.

Sasuke had never been around the couple for that long before. He got along fairly well with both of them, more than he could say for some of his other former classmates. Shikamaru had even offered to play shogi with him a few times when he was in the hospital healing from his big fight with Naruto. Once he got married he travelled between Leaf and Sand a lot, and was busy tending to his children. After his falling out with Naruto, Sasuke saw even less of Shikamaru, as he became Naruto's head advisor when he was in the village. Sometimes Sasuke wondered if he and Nara could have been closer friends if he was a more sociable person, but he tried not to dwell on it.

The idea of travelling three days with two other children who weren't Nori was even more daunting. Despite what Sakura said about his abilities handling Naruto's son, Sasuke remained convinced it was a fluke and was sure he wouldn't fare as well with any other children. He had no experience with any others, and Nori was probably an exception. Even Sakura thought it was strange that Nori liked him so much, and half of the reason Nori liked him probably just had to do with his cat.

As he gathered Sakura's completed paperwork to drop off at the Hokage office he pondered what to do about feeding Muchi while he was away. He'd never concerned himself about it before—the cat was still just a random stray—but if Nori knew he was leaving the cat without any food and shelter for the three weeks they'd be gone he would be upset. Sasuke didn't understand why Nori being upset bothered him so much. It might have something to do with the way his chest hurt whenever Naruto cried. Maybe he was just weak to Uzumaki boys.

Thinking about that frustrated and soothed him at the same time, and he was so distracted that when he arrived at the Hokage office with Sakura's papers he forgot that Naruto was gone and walked right in excited to see him.

"Naru—" he started, but stopped with the door halfway open.

"Ah," Kakashi glanced away from the window to the half-open door. "Sasuke. You must have the medical sheets Sakura was working on."

His former sensei was alone in the Hokage office, which was rare. The Hokage is rarely alone, even an interim Hokage, always tending to some request or assigning a mission. Sasuke's mood shifted to dark in an instant.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to barge in. I just needed to drop these off with the Hokage," Sasuke said, holding out the files.

Kakashi was standing at the windows behind Naruto's desk but he turned to accept the files Sasuke handed to him and stack them neatly on the corner. It was the only neat stack on the otherwise cluttered desk. Sasuke was staring at it to avoid making eye contact with Kakashi. If he'd remembered that Kakashi was filling in for Naruto he probably would have let one of the assistants at the hospital deliver the files. In his eagerness to see Naruto he'd found himself dealing with his former teacher, something he actively tried to avoid.

"Yeah, I always have to work around Naruto's mess whenever I fill in for him. I don't understand how he keeps track of anything like this. But, Tsunade wasn't the tidiest Hokage either. Thanks for bringing these by."

Sasuke nodded politely and turned for the door.

"You and Sakura have been working together on some new sealing techniques, right? Have you two gotten very far on it?"

"Yes," he answered, and had to stop mid-turn. Kakashi had seated himself at the desk and was looking at Sasuke over his folded hands.

"We've had a lot of time to work on it lately," he added, thought it felt forced. He never liked the way Kakashi looked at him. It was almost suspicious, or calculating.

Sasuke tried to think of an excuse to leave. He had no desire to talk with his former teacher; it was clear that Kakashi didn't approve of him, and it wasn't as though Sasuke could blame him. He hadn't exactly made the best choices and he knew that better than anyone. Still, it was irritating to be reminded of it by Kakashi, especially.

Maybe it was just because Kakashi had trained him, had tried to protect him from Orochimaru. Maybe it was because he still used the techniques that Kakashi had chosen to pass down to him. Maybe it was just because Kakashi was the only adult figure from his youth who was still around to have an opinion about him at all.

Whatever the reason, being around Kakashi always put him on edge. When Kakashi looked at him he felt exposed, like he could see right through all of Sasuke's walls and defenses, right into the very core of him. Like he could see the truth.

It sort of reminded him of Naruto, but where Naruto looked into him and saw someone worth saving and believing in, Sasuke couldn't tell what Kakashi saw inside him. He didn't think he'd like to know.

He was doing it now, staring at Sasuke with that mild, curious expression. Then he rose suddenly from behind the desk and sighed.

"Sasuke, would you walk with me." It wasn't spoken like a question and Sasuke was at a loss for a means of escape, and so followed Kakashi from the office and up to the roof of the Hokage building.

The sun was just setting and the buildings all around were tinted pink and orange. Even Kakashi looked orange in the fading light.

"Is there something you need me to do?" Sasuke asked when they were alone. He still hoped that this would just be shinobi business, but at this point it seemed unlikely.

"No, no," Kakashi replied blithely. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to talk. We havent had a conversation in quite some time."

Sasuke ground his teeth. He was getting a bad feeling. He should have tried harder to leave when he had the chance. The last time Kakashi had wanted to talk to him he'd made the comment about putting himself back into Naruto's life. Sasuke hadn't forgotten.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Kakashi turned to him smiling.

"I wanted to apologize," he said, and that did surprise Sasuke.

"For what?"

"I think you may have misunderstood my question," Kakashi explained, "at Hinata's funeral."

"You aren't thinking of involving yourself in Naruto's life again, are you?"

"I think I understood it perfectly," Sasuke replied, his mood darkening. He didn't want to hear this. "Is that all? I've got somewhere to be."

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I haven't been a very good sensei to you."

"You haven't been my sensei for a long time, Kakashi," Sasuke accused. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but Sakura, Naruto, and I are adults. We are way past needing a jounin captain to oversee us anymore."

"Of course," Kakashi nodded. "You'll have to forgive me. I think in my old age I keep reliving my past. It's hard for me to think of any of you as more than my students, though I know every one of you has far eclipsed my skill by now."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kakashi was dramatic as always.

"You're not even fifty yet, Kakashi. What is this about? Nostalgia?"

Kakashi laughed lightly.

"Maybe it is nostalgia. I just don't want you to think… it seems silly to say it. I don't want any of you to think I'm not proud of the people you've become. Especially you, Sasuke. You might not expect me to say that—I haven't exactly been warm to you in recent years—but it is true. I'm proud of you. When I asked you if you were going to involve yourself in Naruto's life again, it was because I just didn't want to see you alone anymore. I won't ask why Naruto marrying Hinata caused such a rift between the two of you, but it hurt me to watch both of you suffering for those years."

Sasuke felt like he was in a dream. Some strange genjutsu. He was hearing the words Kakashi said, but they didn't make any sense. Kakashi was proud of him? Kakashi didn't want him to be alone? He didn't trust it. Couldn't believe it. His heart hammered in his chest.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Kakashi had turned away from him, looking out at the monument of his own face in stone as the setting sun cast shadows across both versions of his face.

"You know, I didn't want a genin team. I was a jounin, and they told me I'd have to train a genin team eventually, but I'd failed every other squad of kids they'd tried to pair me with on purpose. I didn't want more lives in my hands. I didn't want to grow attached to anyone again, and fail them the way I failed my team when I was young. I couldn't stand the idea of losing anyone else."

He paused.

"You're the reason I decided to train team seven, Sasuke."

Sasuke inhaled sharply, tried to calm his hammering heart.

"I thought we passed your test because of teamwork."

Kakashi was smiling again, his one visible eye curled up in that familiar way.

"That certainly helped me make up my mind, but I think I would have taken you three regardless. You reminded me so much of myself, you know? And I couldn't help but look at you and see your pain, how much you'd already lost, your Uchiha features, and not think of Obito."

Sasuke had never heard Kakashi speak so frankly with him. He thought Kakashi was going to try and lecture him into keeping his distance from Naruto, or cryptically try and tell him he was making the wrong choice. He never could have expected this. He didn't know what to say.

"I don't know if I ever told you this," he continued, "but when you left to go join Orochimaru I only blamed myself."

Sasuke's throat closed up. His head was swimming. It was like he was hearing all the words he'd always wanted to hear but never known. It felt like… absolution.

"That wasn't your fault," he choked out. "I left on my own. It was my choice."

My mistake he thought but didn't say aloud.

"I was supposed to protect you. All of you. And I failed, again. But despite that, all three of you overcame the odds against you. Especially you, Sasuke. I know your path wasn't as clear as Naruto's and Sakura's, but you can't blame yourself for your past mistakes. You're here, now, and I've watched you for all these years you've been back in the village, and you're trying so hard to take responsibility for your mistakes. I know it hasn't been easy for you, but I've thought about this for a long time, and I felt like I needed you to know that I was proud of you. I know you probably don't give a damn what I think, and you shouldn't, not after everything. But I thought you should know anyway. You and Sakura and Naruto have grown so much… You've really made this old sensei proud."

Sasuke was speechless. He could do nothing but stand there and stare and wonder why he felt like he wanted to cry. Kakashi didn't push him. He let Sasuke take his time and process what he'd said. That was always something that Sasuke had liked about Kakashi—he was patient. The sky was starting to darken as the sun disappeared behind the skyline. Finally Sasuke choked out,

"Are you—" he winced, "are you sure?"

Kakashi laughed. Just a gentle huff of humor, and shook his head.

"You're so much like me, Sasuke," he said. "I'm sorry about that. I'd hoped you would grow out of it. Maybe there's still a chance. What would I have needed to hear at your age?"

He paused, considering.

"Maybe this: you're allowed to forgive yourself."

It hit Sasuke like a physical blow. He took a half step back. Kakashi's gaze was level with his and he looked… sympathetic. And while Sasuke normally loathed sympathy directed at him, this one time it felt right. It felt like he deserved it.

"Don't hold on so much to your past, Sasuke. You're young. There's so much ahead of you. You can still make yourself into the person you want to be."

"How?" Sasuke breathed.

Kakashi smiled.

"You're already doing it. You're letting Naruto rely on you, I've seen it. Now all you have to do is let yourself rely on him, too. You two have always been closer than anyone I've ever known. You have something when you're together… it makes you better. Both of you. It's been missing from you these past few years. Don't let it slip away again, Sasuke. You don't need anymore regrets. You've already got more than your fair share."

Sasuke swallowed thickly. He tried not to overthink Kakashi's words about him and Naruto. Not to read into what it meant that even Kakashi could see what Naruto meant to him. Was it really so obvious? Had it always been?

He was overwhelmed. He needed to get away. He couldn't take any more bombshells, any more revelations from his old teacher. He turned around to leave, head spinning—but he stopped.

"Thank you," he managed to say, his voice thick.

He could tell Kakashi was smiling without having to look.

"Don't mention it," he said.

And then Sasuke was gone.

"Sasuke!" Nori called out in his bird-like little voice.

Sasuke was eager to get to Uzushiogakure. To see Naruto. After his conversation with Kakashi he realized that he was tired to feeling guilty, of lusting after Naruto in secret, of hiding how he really felt about that night. He decided that when he saw Naruto he was going to find a way to tell him the truth. Even if Naruto hated him… Sasuke couldn't stand not knowing how Naruto felt anymore.

Nori was running as fast as his little legs could take him to reach where Sasuke was standing and waiting at the entrance of Konoha. Shikamaru and Temari had picked Nori up from Iruka's earlier and were walking more slowly with their two daughters to the gate. When Nori reached him it was like the boy suddenly remembered he should be more shy, and he tugged on the edge of his jacket in the nervous way he always did. Sasuke smiled down at him fondly and some of Nori's nervous energy seemed to fade. The little blond was bouncing on his toes as the couple and their children reach them.

"Sasuke! This is Shishika and Asume!"

He pointed to each little girl when he said their names and Sasuke made a point to remember which was which. It wasn't very hard—they had distinct features. Shishika was clearly younger, probably Nori's age. She had black hair in two pigtails on the top of her head and she was staring at Sasuke with some curiosity. Asume was maybe two years older and though her hair was also as black as her father's her features were much sharper, more like her mother. Her hair was done up in four pigtails like her mother, too, and both girls had their mom's teal eyes. Asume was watching Sasuke like she was trying to figure him out.

Both girls had small packs on their backs. Shikamaru had a large pack and even with her swollen belly Temari had a small bag herself, though she'd left her fan at home.

"This is Sasuke!" Nori pointed up, introducing him.

"Say hello to Sasuke, girls. He's going to be travelling with us on the way to Whirlpool Village."

"Hello," the two girls chimed in together, bowing politely.

Shikamaru glanced towards the sky.

"Weather looks good for travelling," he said. "Should we get going?"

Sasuke nodded and they headed out of the gates, the three children running excitedly just a few feet ahead. Sasuke was worried they were going to get tired quickly. He knew he could carry Nori easily but wasn't sure if Shikamaru could carry both of his daughters.

"If we need to stop and take breaks every few hours that's alright. We'll still make good time," he offered.

"They'll be alright," Shikamaru asserted through a yawn. He looked like he hadn't gotten a very good nights rest. When Sasuke looked at the energy of the two girls he thought he could maybe imagine why.

"I was thinking about Temari, actually."

"Why?" She grinned. "I'm obviously healthy as a horse!"

She patted her stomach. She really looked ready to burst any day and she was waddling a little as she walked, but seemed mostly unbothered.

"Don't worry. I'll let you know when I need a break. If I thought I wasn't up to it I wouldn't have agreed to come."

They weren't far from the village yet when the three children came rushing back to the adults. They hadn't ever gone very far ahead; Sasuke wasn't letting Nori out of his sight. Naruto trusted him to keep his son safe and he took the job seriously.

Asume went to her mother's side and asked,

"Mom, why is Sasuke travelling with us?"

"He's here to help protect us, because Nori is with us."

"Oh," Asume said, and Sasuke glanced over to see her frowning like she was thinking hard about something, and then,

"If we need Sasuke to protect us, does that mean he's stronger than Dad?"

"Yes," Shikamaru said.

"No," Temari said.

They spoke at the same time and Temari shot a sharp look at her husband. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Sasuke felt like he was getting in the middle of some marital spat, but he wasn't sure what to do about it so he didn't say anything.

"Ignore my wife, Sasuke," Shikamaru told him, shrugging. He could probably tell that the question was a little awkward to answer. Even if the truth was that Sasuke was probably a lot stronger than Shikamaru, that wasn't something a kid really wanted to hear about their parent. Asume probably wanted to believe her dad was the strongest ninja of all time. Sasuke figured that was why Temari had quickly denied it. Sasuke wasn't sure how to explain that it wasn't really a fair comparison—he was stronger than most people. And Shikamaru was a very talented ninja, otherwise he wouldn't have been made chunin before any of the others in their class, and he wouldn't have become Naruto's head advisor.

"You've never fought, have you?" Temari countered her husband's quick dismissal. "So you don't know which of you is stronger."

Shikamaru gave another weary sigh and Sasuke had to smile. He hadn't spent much time around many couples, but it was clear just from a few minutes that Shikamaru and Temari were a good match. She inspired him to try harder and despite all his sighing and eye-rolling there was a certain affection that came across in Shikamaru's voice and expression when he spoke to his wife. They clearly cared about each other, and if their multiple children was any indication, they were still attracted to each other after so many years.

They'd been together a long time, longer than any of the other on again, off again couples in the village. If Naruto's friendship with Gaara hadn't cemented the alliance between Sand and Leaf, Shikamaru and Temari's marriage certainly had.

Sasuke had to admit he was a little jealous of the two of them. Their relationship was so uncomplicated. They probably knew they were attracted to each other even when they were young, and even though they were from different villages it wasn't nearly as much to overcome as what he and Naruto had already faced just as friends.

Even Nori wasn't as lucky as Asume and Shishika—they still had two loving parents, and each other, not to mention a third sibling on the way.

"Do you know if you're having another girl?" Sasuke asked during their first short break. They stopped in a small town and decided to get lunch there at a small yakitori shop. There weren't many other towns or villages the rest of the journey so they wanted to take advantage when they could.

"With my luck, yes," Shikamaru said, grimacing.

Temari laughed at her husband's melancholy reaction to the question.

"Shikamaru hates being outnumbered by women. He says we're 'troublesome,' but deep down he loves his girls. My feet have gotten pretty swollen this pregnancy, which is the same as my last two, so that probably means another girl, but who knows. I wouldn't mind a boy if he was as sweet as little Nori here."

She placed a hand on the top of Nori's head and he beamed.

Shikamaru was looking over the map, though the journey was mostly straight-forward through Land of Fire. He noticed Sasuke watching and explained,

"We're making good time. When we stop tonight we should be almost halfway. It doesn't get tricky until the last stretch."

He pointed to a spot on the map where the lines of the road grew more curved and changed to a different color, usually denoting a shift in road size or structure.

"When Uzushiogakure was destroyed, the roads were, too. Naruto's been working on repairing them but it's been a bit difficult because they were left half underwater for so long. Every time it rains all the repairs get washed away again. It's practically swampland half the year. The engineers are still trying to come up with a solution—Naruto thinks it might take a bridge to fix it permanently."

"How have they been getting supplies in to rebuild with the roads so unstable?"

"Most supplies come from ships. It's really easy to access the settlement from the sea—the rivers give you plenty of entry ports. And it's not hard for shinobi to cross the swampland, even if it's flooded, but for civilians fixing the roads is definitely a high priority. And we should be fine this late in the season. There aren't as many big rainfalls. They've been waiting for the rains to clear up before they got to work on fixing the roads."

"So why will that part be tricky for us?"

"Hopefully it wont," Shikamaru sighed, glancing at the sky. "As long as we don't get any rain. But the road changes elevation a few times and it can get a bit muddy."

Sasuke's stomach fell and he looked at Nori. The boy was distracted by Shishika and Asume, the three of them chasing each other in the sunlight. He hoped they didn't come across much mud. It was still traumatic for Nori, and he feared the trauma might not go away.

His never had.

The group continued travelling until sunset. Temari sent Asume to scout around a little ways ahead until she found a clearing they could spend the night in. Sasuke hadn't noticed until then that the eldest daughter already carried a small pouch of ninja tools and had enough chakra control to scale trees. She was very advanced for her age, and a small piece of her personality fit into place. She was capable and confident, enough that Shikamaru and Temari already trusted her to look after her younger sister, and would probably rely on her even more when the new baby arrived. Where Shishika was a little more reserved around Sasuke, Asume was already comfortable around him after just one day. Sasuke was impressed. Though he didn't have much to base it on, he felt like Shikamaru and Temari were good parents; his appreciation for both of them grew. Maybe he should have tried harder to befriend Shikamaru back then.

The kids all fell asleep almost as soon as they hit the sleep rolls Shikamaru laid out for them. It had been a long day of walking for little legs, Sasuke assumed. He still had plenty of energy since he wasn't used to moving at a pace for kids and pregnant women. They'd built a fire and Shikamaru had found a tall log to bring over for Temari to sit on. Sasuke boiled tea for the three of them to drink before they tried to get some sleep themselves.

Temari glanced towards the sleeping children and smiled warmly as she sipped. Sasuke followed her gaze and felt himself smile, too. The three children were snuggled together, the two girls on either side and Nori in the middle. It was alarmingly cute and Sasuke quickly changed the subject before he dwelled too long on Sakura's proposal again.

"Have you been to Uzushiogakure, Temari?" he asked. He knew Shikamaru had gone with Naruto on several trips to visit the site already.

She shook her head.

"Not since it's been rebuilt. I saw it once from the water, years ago. I was coming back from a mission in the Land of Water and I could see the ruins from miles out. I have no clue what it looks like now. My husband isn't very forthcoming with details."

"It's got buildings and a port and roads," Shikamaru bit back, sipping his tea casually. "What more do you want?"

Temari rolled her eyes, but she was grinning as she did.

"See? That's why I had to come along this time and see it myself. Besides, Naruto was really eager for the whole family to come on this trip for some reason. Maybe he just wanted the girls to be there for Nori's birthday."

Sasuke nodded. He thought the real reason was because of what Naruto told him, about asking if Shikamaru would be the leader of the rebuilt village. If Shikamaru accepted, the whole family would probably be living there permanently. It would be important for Temari and the kids to see their new home and decide if they liked it. Shikamaru was probably the kind of man who took his wife's opinion into account before he made big decisions.

Sasuke wondered who Naruto would chose if Shikamaru said no. Though something told him that Shikamaru wouldn't object, and even though it was far from Sand, Temari would understand the importance of the role. She would likely be his head advisor.

Sasuke briefly wondered if any other Konoha shinobi would join them. Maybe Neji, or Kiba or Shino. They might want some distance from the Leaf, a place still too full of memories of Hinata.

"Naruto's done a good job fixing up Uzushiogakure," Shikamaru said. "When he first described the project to me I was surprised. It felt so out of the blue. But he was really passionate about it. It wasn't until Hinata's funeral that he explained why."

Sasuke looked up sharply. Shikamaru was staring into the slowly dying fire, but he glanced quickly at Sasuke before continuing.

"Apparently rebuilding it had been her idea."

This was new information for Sasuke, but it made perfect sense. No wonder Naruto had started obsessing and working himself ragged trying to finish rebuilding the village.

Temari smiled sadly.

"Well," she said, "she probably gave him the idea because she thought it would be good for him to connect more to his family line. Naruto never really got a chance to know his lineage, did he?"

Sasuke blinked, and in the half second that his eyes were closed it was like that image of Naruto as a sad, lonely little kid—so much like Sasuke—was burned on the inside of his eyelids. He nodded.

"Hinata probably thought rebuilding the village where his mother was born would help him understand himself."

Temari shrugged and sighed.

"I didn't understand her sometimes," she admitted. "She was always thinking about Naruto, you know? He was the most important thing in the world to her."

Sasuke swallowed. An emotion filled him up inside, and he couldn't tell if it was jealousy or… recognition. Understanding.

Temari looked at Shikamaru.

"You're important to me," she clarified. "You know that. But with Hinata it was… different. I don't mean this to sound like I'm criticizing Naruto, but I just don't know if he loved her the same way she loved him. Don't get me wrong! I know he loved her. He would have done anything for her, and you can't say she wasn't happy. I mean, the last time she visited Sand, before the attack, she was glowing. But Naruto just—"

Sasuke just barely caught the quickest of glances between husband and wife, the smallest exchange of thought between a couple who were very practiced at silent communication. It was too fast for Sasuke to decipher what it could mean, and it didn't seem like his place to ask.

She cleared her throat.

"Anyway, Naruto always seemed like something was missing."

A silence fell between the three of them for a moment and Sasuke wrestled with the guilt he always felt whenever Hinata came up. How could he honestly expect Naruto to ever think about him the way he thought about her? Temari was right; Hinata loved Naruto more than anything, even Sasuke saw that. She never would have hurt him, no matter what. All Sasuke had ever done was hurt Naruto.

"You're allowed to forgive yourself," Kakashi had said. Ever since their conversation the idea of forgiveness had haunted Sasuke; he thought about it constantly. Why was it so hard?

"Naruto can be oblivious," Shikamaru said. "He probably thinks finishing Uzushiogakure is what she would have wanted him to do for her. I doubt he ever realized it was always for him."

He sighed.

"Oh, well. I just hope once it's complete he can let go of her a little more. But even if that doesn't happen, rebuilding Uzushiogakure will be a net positive for the whole world. Naruto isn't half-assing this project. He's thought about it a lot. It won't just be beneficial for the people who are going to live there, it'll increase commerce for the whole area and once it's had some time to grow will probably become an invaluable ally to Konoha—like the old Uzushiogakure was."

And it was Hinata's idea to begin with, Sasuke thought. He should have known. It was too good of an idea to have come from Naruto himself.

That thought almost made him smile.

They got an early start the next day, though Sasuke hadn't actually slept. He knew it was highly unlikely that they were going to be attacked or anything was going to happen, but he wouldn't risk it. It wasn't hard for him to forgo sleep for a few days, anyway. Even without shinobi training, he never could sleep very well.

The children slept through the night and were eager to keep going in the morning. It took Temari the longest to get up and moving; she clearly wasn't a morning person. But eventually they began the second leg of the journey.

The straightforward road they'd been walking changed very suddenly to a winding path when the mountains came into view. They would spend most of the day travelling through a valley between two of the largest mountains. It was a little bumpier and more overgrown, but at least they weren't going up and over the mountains. Still, despite her confidence of sure-footedness Temari spent a good part of the day walking much closer to Shikamaru's side, sometimes placing a hand on his arm to make sure she'd keep her balance if she were to stumble on a loose bit of gravel or a stray tree root. The children stayed closer, too, particularly Nori. Sasuke saw him looking nervously into the thick forest on either side of the path every few minutes. He didn't ever reach for Sasuke's hand but there were several times Sasuke thought he wanted to.

They made it past the mountains before they stopped for lunch and everyone seemed to relax. The road widened immediately as the terrain turned to the flat marshy land Shikamaru had described. The whole group seemed happy to be past the mountains. There was something uncomfortably claustrophobic about the valley, and Sasuke was just glad to have a broader view around them, just in case anyone did come to attack them. They ate some onigiri and washed it down with more tea and cheerfully continued on their way.

They'd been crossing through the flat lands for about an hour when Shishika walked up to her father with a slight pout.

"Daddy, I'm tired," she said. "Are we almost there?"

Shikamaru smiled fondly down at her. It was sort of rare for the man to smile so easily, and Sasuke wondered about Temari's claim that while Shikamaru complained that women were troublesome, he secretly loved doting on his daughters.

"Here," he said, and lifted his youngest daughter onto his shoulders. She mirrored her father's smile instantly.

Sasuke worried that Asume would get jealous of this special treatment, but the elder girl showed her mature personality again by taking it in stride and walking without complaint.

Sasuke eyed Nori.

Sure enough, the little blond was looking wistfully up at Shishika and his shoulders were slumped forward a little like he was starting to get tired, too, but he didn't want to complain. The endearment Sasuke already had for Nori tripled immediately and without a word he went and scooped the boy up and placed him on his shoulders as well.

Nori gave a surprised gasp, and then he giggled a little, that soft chiming bell of a laugh right in Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke tried to ignore the look Temari gave him as Sakura's assertion of his newfound softness flickered through his mind.

Oh well. Maybe she was right, anyway. He couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

They actually moved a little faster with the younger kids riding on their shoulders, and after a few hours Shikamaru informed them that as long as the riverlands just outside of the Uzushiogakure settlement weren't flooded they would certainly arrive on time.

Of course, it couldn't have been that simple.

Barely ten minutes after Shikamaru's statement, the skies darkened and clouds rolled in. It was so flat ahead of them that they could see the rain before it reached them. A weight settled in Sasuke's stomach, but it didn't seem that Nori had yet realized that the changing weather would mean mud.

Shikamaru stopped them before the rain came down because he spotted a rare patch of trees they could take shelter under. There wasn't a lot of cover in the wetlands stretching ahead of them, but he trees Shikamaru found worked well enough when the rains started coming down. Maybe because it didn't actually rain very hard, and not very long, either. Sasuke was hopeful that the mud levels would be kept to a minimum and they wouldn't lose much time, but Shikamaru scowled into the distance when they started back down the path once the clouds above moved on.

"At least the rain passed quickly," Sasuke said.

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied, but he still seemed troubled.

"We just have to hope it didn't rain too much up ahead. It's easy to flood these wetlands and even the path may have been washed away, or parts of it, at least."

It was easy to see what Shikamaru meant. The farther they walked (Nori was riding on his shoulders again) the more debris they saw embedded into the dirt and sand around them. Large rocks and parts of trees that had clearly been carried by a current that was no longer flowing. Temari remarked that some of the branches sticking at odd angles up from the ground were spooky, and she was right. There was so much open land and nothing else around; the only animals were the birds flying overhead, sometimes landing in the distance if they spotted something that had been washed up by the floods.

Just when Sasuke was beginning to get optimistic about still arriving to Uzushiogakure on time despite the short delay, they came upon it.

It, was a river, directly in their path, several hundred yards wide with brown water and rushing currents.

And mud. A lot of mud.

Sasuke felt Nori's little hands tighten where he was holding on to Sasuke's hair.

All around them the flat silt ground they'd been walking on had turned to unstable quicksand and smaller rivers all collecting into the hugest one—the one that was keeping them from their destination.

"Damn," Shikamaru cursed. "I was worried about this when we hit that rain. It collects quickly and turns into this. It could vanish just as quickly, but we have no way of knowing if the rain's stopped farther up the riverlands."

"What should we do?" Temari asked. She was looking a little more worn down than the first leg of the journey, one hand resting on the small of her back like it was bothering her.

Sasuke knew he and Shikamaru would have no trouble crossing the river, but Temari and the children were another matter. Shikamaru was looking in the direction the water was flowing, and then across.

"Let's wait here an hour or two and see if it gets any narrower. If it weren't so wide I think I could carry you across."

Temari seemed skeptical of this idea but she agreed, possibly because she just needed the break. They ate a minimal meal and the girls played on the edge of the water, watched closely by their father. Nori stayed by Sasuke and he was quiet, big eyes on the wet ground all around them.

"It will be okay," Sasuke murmured to him. He didn't like seeing Nori upset. He hoped the water would dry up soon and they could get to the village before it got too late. He didn't think anyone would want stay the night out in the open like this, and Nori surely missed his father.

When the river still hadn't changed in size after three hours of waiting, Temari and Shikamaru sat with their heads together trying to think of a way to get her and the children across. Sasuke was left to entertain the three youths, and he was floundering. The girls were asking him a lot of questions.

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Konoha."

"How old are you?"

"I'm almost twenty seven."

"That's Daddy's age!"

"Yes, your father and I were in academy together."

"Did you know Mom, too? How about Uncle Kankuro and Uncle Gaara?"

"I met them later, but I know them, too."

"Uncles Gaara and Kankuro are Mom's brothers. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Sasuke paused. Nori, who'd been unusually quiet, looked up at him.

"I had a brother," he said. "But he died."

Asume picked up on his tone but she was clearly still curious and was more delicate when she asked,

"How did he die?"

Sasuke's stomach turned. He couldn't exactly tell the truth.

"He was sick," he said.

The three children looked sad, Nori especially. But the younger Nara girl wasn't deterred.

"Do you have a special jutsu, like Dad and the shadows?"

"I have a few," Sasuke replied, thinking it over.

"Can you show us some?" The girls asked, their eyes wide. Asume especially seemed interested.

Sasuke thought about what to show them and settled on phoenix flower jutsu. He hadn't used it in a long time, but he remembered the hand signs well enough. He made sure the kids were a good distance away, and then he sent the fireballs into the sky.

The kids all cheered when the flames burned out in the sky, and then Nori pointed up past where the fire had been and smiled.

"Look, look! A bird!"

Sure enough there was a large bird flying high above their heads. Sasuke had seen several vultures and a few seagulls flying over since they entered the flat marshland, but this wasn't either of those.

"That's a hawk," he explained, much to Nori's delight. And then a thought struck him. He walked to Shikamaru and Temari. Temari must have been watching his show with the phoenix flower because she smirked at him and said,

"You showing off over there, Uchiha?"

"I had an idea," he replied. "We still don't know how to get across the river, right?"

Shikamaru shook his head.

"I've had a few ideas, but they're all too risky. What did you come up with?"

"I can summon Garuda," Sasuke explained. "He's my hawk summon. He could carry Temari and kids across the river and you and I can walk."

Shikamaru's eyebrows raised and he lifted a hand to his chin, staring at the rushing water again.

"That's not a bad plan. I don't want to delay much longer. It's already past time since we were supposed to arrive and I'm sure Naruto is getting worried. You're sure your hawk can carry all of them?"

"It shouldn't a problem."

Temari was happy with his plan and Sasuke summoned Garuda a few moments later. This impressed the three children even more than the phoenix flower jutsu had and they all crowded around the giant hawk, who sighed good-naturedly and tried not to scare them.

Shikamaru helped Temari climb up, and then his daughters, and Sasuke picked Nori up to place him on the hawk's back.

But when he tried to let go, Nori's fingers held tight to his sleeves. Sasuke looked at him curiously.

"Aren't you coming, too?" Nori asked, eyes wide with panic.

"I'll meet you on the other side of the river. It'll be okay—" Sasuke wasn't sure what came over him, but it was out of his mouth before he could stop it. The nickname Naruto sometimes used for his son. "—Aonori. Garuda is very safe."

But tears sprang into Nori's pale eyes and he pulled himself so he was back tucked against Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke was stunned for half a second and then his body felt warm all over. He looked at Temari and shrugged.

"Ill take Nori with me. We'll meet you guys on the other side of the river."

She nodded. Shikamaru leaned up to kiss his wife and then they stood back a bit so Garuda could take off with the three girls on his back and fly them over the water. It was foggier on the other bank of the river and the hawk got a little harder to see, but Sasuke was sure they made it safely.

He slung Nori onto his shoulders again and looked at Shikamaru, and the two of them stepped from the muddy shore onto the surface of the rushing water and started across.

They had to go much slower than a normal pace to keep from splashing too much. The water was choppy enough that it took some concentration to keep their chakra level in the bottom of their feet. It would have been really tricky when he was young, but now walking on water was as easy as anything. Sometimes he took for granted how far he'd come, but it was good to be reminded every now and then that some things still took some effort.

He must have been doing a pretty good job keeping a steady pace, though, because Nori didn't seem too nervous from his perch on Sasuke's shoulders. He even gasped once when they crossed over a racing current and Sasuke merely stepped carefully over without barely a splash. Shikamaru was keeping up easily, eyes on the far shore so he could see when his wife and children came into view.

Sasuke was actually glad Nori had insisted on staying with him. Since it was taking longer to cross than he expected, he knew he would have been anxious to have Nori out of his sight.

They were probably halfway across when the wave of chakra hit them.

Sasuke felt it first, but barely a half second before Shikamaru tensed at his side. In a flash Sasuke had grabbed Nori from his shoulders and had him pressed to his chest where he could protect him better. Shikamaru drew a kunai and moved to a defensive stance as the enormous wave of chakra pressed down on them.

The chakra was so powerful and dense that the air around them surged and the water below their feet swelled, despite that they couldn't even see the source of it. It raised the hair on the back of Sasuke's neck and his strongest instincts screamed in his head. Sasuke couldn't process how it had appeared so suddenly and with such force.

Whatever was making the chakra was coming at them, and fast, and Sasuke was trying to decide if it would be better to let Shikamaru hold Nori so Sasuke was free to fight whatever was coming uninhibited. And then Nori made a noise against his chest and something clicked into place in Sasuke's mind.

The chakra was Naruto's—undeniably. Sasuke didn't know why he didn't recognize it the second he felt it. It must have been the surprise.

But while knowing that it was Naruto's chakra solved one mystery, Sasuke didn't drop his defensive stance. There must be something very strong attacking Naruto for him to have unleashed that much chakra, and Sasuke was suddenly worried Naruto would need his help.

"It's Naruto," Sasuke said, because he didn't think Shikamaru could tell as easily as he could. Shikamaru nodded and frowned. Naruto's chakra was still heading towards them.

"If we can sense Naruto's chakra, shouldn't we also be able to sense whatever he's fighting?"

Sasuke nodded, pulling Nori closer to his chest. The boy was hiding his face against Sasuke's shirt, trembling slightly. He probably didn't know what was going on, but he knew that Sasuke had reacted quickly and he was probably scared. He and Shikamaru could do nothing but wait until Naruto reached them, but they didn't have to wait long.

Sasuke saw him first, of course, but he couldn't understand what he was seeing.

It was Naruto, and he was in his full Tailed Beast mode, fox-running across the stretch of land past the river towards them. Sasuke tried to squint and see someone or something else chasing Naruto, but there was nothing there, even as Naruto's enormous form leapt from the bank of the river and landed with a huge splash on the rushing water.

"NORI!" Naruto yelled, dropping his Tailed Beast form and rushing to where Sasuke and Shikamaru stood confused and uncertain.

"Naruto, what are you doing h—" Sasuke started to ask, but he was cut short by the look on Naruto's face.

"Why didn't you make it to Uzushiogakure when you said you would?" Naruto snarled, face screwed up in panicked anger.

Sasuke took a half step back, unsteady on his feet like he'd forgotten how to stand on the water. He was dumbstruck, and confused, and Nori made a scared noise against his chest. Naruto had never looked at him like that before.

Shikamaru tried to intervene when Sasuke faltered.

"Naruto, we were only a few hours late—"

"Nori!" Naruto said, without a glance at his advisor. "Is he okay?"

He came up to Sasuke in a flash and snapped his son from Sasuke's arms, hugging Nori close, his eyes shut tight. Sasuke thought he saw Naruto's hand shaking where it held the back of his son's head.

Sasuke's arms felt strangely empty. He still wasn't sure how to process Naruto's anger.

And then he glared at Sasuke again.

"You said you would protect him!"

Anger was such a familiar feeling that when it welled up in Sasuke it almost felt nostalgic, but he'd never felt this feeling before.

"He's fine, Naruto!" Sasuke choked out through gritted teeth. "Nothing happened. We were late!"

"You should have sent a hawk! You should have said you were going to be late! I was worried—I—something could have happened—!"

He cut himself off, glaring into the distance, face dark.

"Naruto," Shikamaru's voice was steady, cautious. Sasuke couldn't keep his voice steady if he tried. He was practically vibrating.

"Naruto, everything is okay. Nothing happened to Nori. You didn't need to worry. Sasuke wouldn't have let anything happen to him."

Naruto didn't look Shikamaru in the eye, gaze flickering over the surface of the water beneath his feet.

And then he spun around with a splash and said,

"I'm taking Nori to the village."

He coated himself in tailed beast chakra again and was gone.

Sasuke felt like he was stuck in some foggy, muddled genjutsu as he and Shikamaru finished walking across the river. They went much quicker without having to worry about splashing—they'd both gotten pretty damp when Naruto appeared. Shikamaru didn't say much until they reached the shore and found Temari waiting with one eyebrow raised in question.

Shikamaru shrugged.

"He was upset because we didn't arrive when we said we would," he explained, though it didn't really explain anything at all.

Temari gave a flicker of surprise and her eyes darted towards Sasuke, but then she shrugged as well and sighed.

"So impatient," she said, and she led her daughters down the path towards Uzushiogakure.

Sasuke gave Garuda an absentminded pat and then let him vanish. He was having a hard time concentrating. He felt like some tether that tied him to the earth had been cut. Naruto had been angry with him before but never… irrationally. Never over something like this. Had Naruto really believed that Sasuke would have let something happen to Nori? Did he really have such little trust in him? After everything?