"Actually, I think Aiko-chan should rest for a bit." Sakura said. "I don't know much about the strain of using the Sharingan during pregnancy, but even if I did, she went so far as to use her Mangekyō Sharingan. Eternal or not, there's literally no data on how that might affect her in her current state. She and the baby seemed fine when I examined her at Naruto's house earlier, but I would still recommend that she get some rest and wait until tomorrow to do much else."
Naruto nodded, "In that case, let's pick up Nozomi and Sarada and head to where you're staying."
"Ah, about that..." Shikamaru said, "I assigned Teams 5, 10, 15, 25, and 40 to fulfill the housing requests that you two put in. They're over in the new Uchiha District, near Sakura and Sasuke's house."
"Sarada took Nozomi and Himawari to have sweets at the tea house, so let's head over there to find them." The Orange Hokage stated, and everyone else agreed.
一族
The group of adults found the three girls in the New City. Sarada was carrying a sleeping Nozomi on her back, and Himawari had a shopping bag. Her face lit up upon seeing her father and she ran over to Naruto. "Papa!"
"Hey, Himawari!" Naruto said with a smile, catching his daughter in his arms and lifting her up, much to Himawari's delight.
"She fell back asleep almost as soon as we finished eating." Sarada told Aiko as she brought Nozomi over to her.
Aiko smiled sadly as she took her daughter from Sarada. "She must be exhausted. Thanks for looking after her."
"Sure!" Sarada said with a smile.
"What's in the bag, Hima?" Naruto asked.
"This?" Himawari replied as she held up the bag, "We bought a present for Nozomi to cheer her up."
Naruto smiled softly at his kindhearted daughter. "I see. That was thoughtful of you."
"So where are we going now?" Sarada asked.
"We're heading to the Uchiha Neighborhood." Sakura told her.
"We have a neighborhood?" Sarada asked dubiously.
"Well we do if you count three houses in relative proximity to each other a neighborhood." Sakura replied with a sweat-drop.
"Hey, that reminds me, I've been meaning to ask, can we get a cat?!" Her daughter asked eagerly.
"Please, get her one." Boruto said as he walked up with Mitsuki and Kawaki, "Otherwise, she's gonna keep dragging me to Mitsuki's place just so she can play with Mikadzuki."
At that, Aiko burst out laughing, catching nearly everyone by surprise. "Oh, no doubt about this one!" The brunette laughed, "She is definitely an Uchiha!"
Sakura and Amai both laughed as well.
"Somehow, I don't think that there was ever any doubt!" Amai chuckled, leaving the kids feeling very confused.
一族
The little group arrived at the place where Amai and Aiko's new houses had been built. Contrary to Sasuke and Sakura's house, Amai and Aiko's homes were built in the more traditional style, due to both of them having lived in such dwellings for basically their entire lives.
Covered in dirt, paint, and various other construction materials were fifteen genin and their various instructors, although Sai and Hanabi had to make their way over to their own teams.
"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted the five teams, "Thanks for coming out and working so hard today! Let me introduce you to the other two families who will be living in this area from now on. This is Uchiha Aiko, and her daughter Nozomi, and this is Uchiha Amai and her kids, Dango and Tamana."
"Huh?" Inojin said in surprise, "But I thought that Sarada and Sasuke-san were the only Uchiha left?"
"It's been a closely guarded secret for many years that there were other survivors." Shikamaru explained. "Aiko is Sasuke's cousin, who moved away from Konoha before the tragedy, and Amai-san is the widow of Sasuke's older brother, Itachi."
At that, Morino Ibiki's eyes widened, "Itachi was married? And had kids?!"
Amai laughed awkwardly, "Unfortunately, the twins weren't born until after the war, so Itachi-kun never got the chance to meet them, and we were married for less than five years, but..." She looked down with a sentimental smile, "I don't regret those years in the slightest."
"I've always been curious, considering the bounty on his head, how did you two manage to keep your marriage a secret?" Sai asked.
"You're just now asking that?" Sakura asked with a sweat-drop.
This time, Amai looked both amused and nostalgic, "Well it helped that my village liked to remain ignorant of the outside world. Beyond that, we were always very careful. Itachi-kun's mission required that he always portray himself as indifferent and uncaring about basically everything. To that end, it was easy for him to act detached toward me in public, and I accepted that. It was only when we were certain we were alone that he would show his true self to me, and even then, only because, in his own words, I had an ability to see through him. The Akatsuki thought that his interest in me was purely biological, and I was fine with that. It wasn't the most flattering picture to paint of our relationship, but then, every aspect of my husband's life was a carefully painted picture if you will. I knew it was for my sake as well as his, so I didn't raise a fuss about it. I suspect that the only person who knew the truth was Obito, but he had a strange talent for finding out the things that Itachi-kun tried to keep hidden. Thus, anyone who might've thought of targeting me thought it a pointless endeavor. Either that, or they were afraid."
"Afraid?" Hanabi asked, and Amai laughed nervously.
"Well, there is a chance it reached the underworld that the one person who operated on the assumption that Itachi-kun only cared for my body and attempted to act on that information to take advantage of me... mysteriously disappeared without a trace."
Sakura sweat-dropped, "What do you mean he 'disappeared'?"
"I mean they never found the body because there wasn't one to find."
Only Hanabi, Moegi, and Udon, along with the various genin, were surprised by this statement, and the bluntness with which Amai had said it, but the ebony haired woman either didn't notice or didn't care.
"One kind of Shinobi was this guy?" Kawaki asked, not having any real knowledge of Itachi.
"One of the strongest of his time." Naruto answered, "A great hero of the Hidden Leaf."
Kawaki seemed intrigued by Naruto's high regard for the man in question, but Aiko placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's kind of a difficult subject to discuss in detail." She told him. The boy raised a brow at that, and a slightly awkward silence reigned over the group.
"Uh... right then!" Moegi said, trying to change the subject, "No sense in lazing about! Let's help these guys move their stuff into their new homes!"
"Huh?" Shikadai said in annoyance, "But we've been working all day."
Moegi responded by tugging on his ear, "And you'll keep working until everything is properly arranged. No complaints! You're not the one who literally built these houses from the ground up! Plus, Inojin and Sai-san did all the work in painting the doors, so now it's time you and Chouchou did some actual work!"
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow Inojin again." Sai told her, "We need to paint the crests on their houses."
"Go ahead." Moegi nodded.
As the other genin moved to get to work, Tsubaki, who was a samurai from the Land of Iron partaking in an exchange program, couldn't help but notice Amai's tanto, which she had moved to her hip, using a loop on her hakama to hold it in place. "Hm? Obasan, do you practice kenjutsu?" She asked in surprise. Amai smiled at her.
"That's right." She said, "I first learned kenjutsu from my father when I was child, and then my husband helped me to refine my skills after we met. I'm also capable of making a sword out of my own chakra, but this tanto was a gift from my husband. He was worried about my safety if I ever became pregnant, which I eventually did." She chuckled slightly, "Well, obviously, since the twins are here."
"I didn't even know Itachi-san knew kenjutsu." Sakura remarked.
"It was a requirement for the ANBU, but it wasn't his specialty." Amai explained, "He was still better than I was though." She giggled as she remembered something.
"What is it?" Sarada asked in curiosity.
"Oh nothing." Amai said with amused smile, "It's better if I don't say." Sarada scrunched up her nose at the contradictory statements.
"Hey, what is this?" Wasabi asked in curiosity as she picked up a wooden box with some dried flowers stored inside of it.
Amai smiled fondly as she walked over. "Ah. That is one of my greatest treasures." She told Wasabi. "Itachi-kun sent me these forget-me-nots during the war."
"But... how was he even in the war?" Boruto asked.
"Ah. It's a long story, but... he was under Edotensei at the time." She answered.
"Edotensei?" Boruto asked in confusion.
"We learned about it in the Academy." Sarada reminded him, "It's a kinjutsu used to revive people who are dead."
"Yes." Her aunt said with a nod, "A lot of sad things happened during the war, but some good things happened too. Because of that jutsu, Itachi-kun wound up contributing greatly to the efforts of the Alliance, and he was able to save a comrade who had lost his way. That comrade still continues to do important work for the village, even today." Amai smiled down at the box of flowers, "I was staying with a civilian family in the Land of Honey during the war, but the afternoon before things came to a head, one of Itachi-kun's crows brought these flowers to me. To me, his message was clear: 'I love you. Please don't ever forget me.' I understood that he couldn't come to me in person at that time, but to know that he was thinking about me, even then, filled me with joy. By that time, I was five months pregnant with the twins, so I sent him a sprig of baby's breath in reply. I don't know if he understood my meaning... but I hope he did." She smiled nostalgically to herself and looked up at the sky, singing in a beautiful, clear voice, "All of the kind words you gave to me are still here in my heart... Ev'ry time that I was lonely you would come wrap me in your arms..." Everyone stopped to listen to the song of sweet memories. "Even though we had sad experiences, the two of us also shared the enjoyment of the early spring together... Before our time came to an end, I searched for the words that—I wanted to give to just you, and you alone... 'Thank you for everything'. I simply repeated that. It's fine if that's the only thing that reaches your heart, my dear..." A gentle breeze blew past, causing Amai's hakama to flutter and lifting loose strands of her hair as she stared at the sky, creating a beautiful picture of the woman who was still in love with her late husband—and yet, was at peace with his death—as she stared serenely at the blue sky above her. "Somehow, more than my heart draws on the sky in the distance—And passes along my smile to you, my dear. Similar to traces of the spring starting to vanish—if I can manage to softly leave only warmth... inside of... that heart, then I'll..." The breeze settled to only a breath as Amai clasped her hand to her heart. "Smile... for... you..." She finished softly. Suddenly Amai's reverie was interrupted by a sniffle, and she turned and looked to find that ChouChou had a river of tears flowing down her cheeks. "What's the matter, Chouchou-chan?"
"Nothing ma'am." Chouchou answered, "I just hope that someday, I'll find a love as beautiful as the one you had with Sarada's uncle."
Amai smiled warmly. "Just remember that every love story has its share of hardship. It's the ability to withstand those storms that proves the love to be true. It's different from a silly crush. Without a doubt, Itachi-kun was a handsome man, but I was never the type to be enticed by such superficial things as one's appearance."
"It's the quality of the person on the inside that matters, right?" Mitsuki asked.
Amai nodded to him in approval. "Exactly." She placed a hand on Chouchou's head, "You don't need to worry about finding love just yet. You're still young. Itachi-kun and I didn't meet until we were fifteen. For some, love is right by their side their entire lives, and for others, it comes when one least expects. The important thing is to treasure those who are by your side and there to support you."
一族
It was nearing sunset when all of the Uchiha's belongings had been moved into their new houses. Aiko had ended up taking a nap in Sasuke and Sakura's house just so she wouldn't be bothered by all the noise. Now that she was up and everything was settled, there was one more thing she wanted to do.
"I realize it's getting late, but could you guys show me where the training ground is?" She asked Sasuke and Sarada, "Ninjutsu will become harder to use as my pregnancy goes on, but allowing my shuriken jutsu to get rusty is not an option."
"Sure!" Sarada exclaimed happily, "I'll show you to my favorite training spot for shuriken."
"If we're doing shuriken training, then I'm coming too. I haven't gotten to practice all day." Tamana said.
"Aiko-basan did most of the fighting earlier, so I wouldn't mind moving around a little either." Dango agreed, holding his katana in his hand.
Sarada beamed. "Come on! I'll show you the way!" She led the group to a training ground that was along the Nakano River. Aiko looked around with interest.
"So much of the village's geography has changed since I was little. Of course, that's partly because the village was made into a crater when I was sixteen and I'm sure it took a crazy amount of Doton to try and restore things." She remarked.
"I read about that." Sarada said.
"So this is the target range you usually use?" Tamana asked, more interested in training for the moment.
"Yeah." Sarada said as she pushed her glasses up before pointing to a target on a log that was floating in the river, tied to a post. "That target is the hardest. I haven't mastered it yet."
"Oh..." Tamana said with interest. In the next instant, she whipped out a shuriken and threw it, striking the target dead center. Sarada gaped at her cousin's skill.
"Neesan, that's amazing!" She exclaimed. "How did you do that?"
Tamana smiled at the younger girl, "You'll start throwing like that very soon, Sarada."
Sasuke was taken aback. In that moment, the two girls instantly reminded him of himself and Itachi. Itachi had said the exact same thing to him once. He couldn't help but notice that Tamana had her father's smile.
Aiko smiled as she stood by his side. "That's a nostalgic sight, isn't it?" She said, "Sarada-chan's face looks just the way yours would whenever Itachi-niichan showed you something new."
"Yeah."
"Oh, and let me show you a trick, Sarada." Tamana said. She suddenly yanked upward on a wire that Sarada hadn't noticed and her shuriken came flying back into her hand. She winked at the younger girl, "Hit or miss, it makes for easier retrieval when aiming at a target like that one."
"Oh! That's a great idea, Neesan! I'll have to remember that." Sarada said happily.
Boruto grinned awkwardly with his hands behind his head, "I feel like the girls are showing us up." He looked at Dango, "Niichan, are you good at shuriken too?"
"Yeah, but not as good as Tamana." Dango replied, "She's put way more practice into it than me, because she loves it so much. My specialty is kenjutsu, which I learned from Kaasan. That reminds me..." He looked up at Sasuke. "I was hoping you might spar with me, Sasuke-jisan. Kaasan thinks that I might be better off to start training with you, although I'm not convinced that she has nothing left to teach me. She always sells herself short when it comes to how good she actually is."
"Sure." Sasuke replied, walking with Dango to where there was enough space.
Meanwhile, Aiko walked over and began her shuriken training while Boruto watched Sasuke and his nephew with interest, hoping that Sasuke might start teaching him to use a sword someday. She couldn't help smiling to herself.
They were finally home.
Although I never intended on making the story this long, it's still not done. I've got a few more things to cover. :)