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I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER OR THEIR SUCCESSORS IN ANY SHAPE OR CAPACITY. I ONLY OWN MY FICTITIOUS OC'S.

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Upload Schedule:

Flaming Saga: Sundays

Silence Left Behind: Wednesdays

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Glossary: Scene breaks will be denoted by a line of X's

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Demonic or summons speech"

'Demonic or summons thoughts'

Jutsus shall be rendered in Japanese or English depending on which they are. For example, I will not be saying Almighty Push, I will be saying Shinra Tensei, or Rasengan instead of Spiraling Sphere. However instead of Raiton: Gian I will be saying Lightning Style: False Darkness, I am now starting to consider going only Japanese or English with the jutsu. Please let me know which you would rather.

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"Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death." - Omar N. Bradley

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This chapter is going to focus on three characters, it is more of a filler/view into what will be come of them. This chapter follows Ame, Hanataro, and Hiruzen and leads into the next arc. I am going ahead and telling you this arc is going to be short, Max 3 chapters, Min 2. I look forward to what you all feel or say about this chapter and remember to Review!

I apologise for the delay, this is the last week before my semester starts and I have paperwork for my scholarships to fill out.

Till the epilogue,

~Ardent Chronicler

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"God damnit."

Ame sighed hearing the snapping sound from behind her, another hair brush. She pulled the head from her hair and tossed the handle with it into the trash can. Ame stood from the bed and stretched her arms above her head and let out a yawn. She let her arms fall and placed a hand on her bulging stomach, she smiled softly and then scowled.

"I'm getting weak, soft, and it's all your fault, and I love you for it."

Ame huffed and padded her way to the bookshelf in the room and started looking through the books.

"No, no, definitely not, read that twelve times. Hey, Hawk? What do you think?"

Ame looked to the corner of the ceiling and the corner began to expand as if melting. A tall for fell from the ceiling and stood. A head of blonde hair pulled back and into a braid, the standard sleeveless black shirt with matching pants and boots, torso covered in a bright grey combat vest.

"You know that is not my job."

"Well, if you really want to follow your rules, I am really hungry."

"Very well, what do you want?"

"Miso soup and horseradish."

"That sounds disgusting."

"Well it's what little Toshiro wants."

"Nah, that one doesn't fit either."

"Damn, I thought that one over."

"It will come to you."

Ame huffed and narrowed her eyes at Hawk, and she walked up to the masked figure and got so close her nose nearly touched Hawks mask.

"Ame?"

"Danger noodles."

Ame watched Hawks shoulders twitch but alas, no laughter.

"I thought for sure that one would work, you've changed so much since I left."

"Well, that happens when your best friend fakes her death."

"Lia, I."

"No, I told you, that chapter is over. My sister is home, and I'll be damned if I'm not here to see my niece or nephew born."

"I know it won't mean much, but I really am sorry, I just. I just, I don't know, I didn't think it through and I am sorry."

Ame felt Hawk place her hand on her head and before Ame could move Hawk put both hands on top of her head and vigorously ruffled her hair. Ame swatted at her hands and huffed blowing some of the hair from her face. In the months since she had been under lock and key her hair had grown ridiculously long. Ame patted down her hair and pulled it behind her shoulders, she glared at Hawk and belly bumped Hawk knocking her over.

"Hah, I got you!"

Ame heard the giggling and Hawk stood back up, and her cackling never stopped. Ame hugge her old best friend and stepped back.

"Now, mush my slave, Miso with horseradish!"

Ame smiled and watched Hawk vanish without a trace. Placing a hand on the bottom of her stomach and one on the top she looked at the painting on the wall and smiled.

"I'm thinking, hmm, Dan for a boy, maybe Matsuko for a girl? What do you think sunshine?"

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Hanataro - treated for her remaining injuries and is taken to a holding room in the hospital - speaks to Minato, Inoichi, and Inora

Minato sat beside the hospital bed with his arms and legs crossed. His mind was filled with the should haves and could haves. He leaned forward and brushed the hair from the sleeping girls forehead, she was fifteen, and the medical report made next to no sense, but there is was in black and white. This girl was no clone, no lab bred hybrid, her DNA was not genetically altered, Minato had no idea how but this girl, this Hanataro, she was his and Kushina's daughter. Minato still couldn't just take it at face value, he couldn't tell if she was brainwashed or what had happened but from what Kakashi had said seals were involved. He was so conflicted that is physically made him ill, he had not slept since he had seen the papers, Inora had tried to get his attention and it hadn't worked. He just didn't know how to process this, somehow, somewhere Kushina and he had made a child and somehow he did not know about it.

"How are you here? How are you possible?"

Minato was drawn from his thoughts when there was a knock on the door and Tsunade walked in with Inora, Mikoto, and Inoichi. Minato stood and looked to the four of them.

"Minato, I am going to finish healing her, Inora and Inoichi are both here to help her through the trauma and to make sure her memories are her own. Mikoto needs to talk to you, so please, may I have the room?"

Minato nodded and he followed Mikoto out he sighed deeply and he could feel the exhaustion catching up as he took a seat. Mikoto turned her wheelchair and she met his eye and she slapped him.

"Wake up Minato."

"What?"

"You are consumed by doubt and confusion and your family is suffering. Get. Over. It."

"It's not that simple Mikoto."

"You want to know how this happened."

"Yes."

"The second to last year of the Third War Kushina came to me crying. She was pregnant and she didn't know how to tell you or what Hiruzen would do. I took her to Nekobaa and with the Neko clan we helped her remove the fetus, alive, and using their medical jutsu the child would be incubated till the tenth month of development. One week from the date she was going to tell you and bring her home Nekobaas home was assaulted by an unknown assailant and she was taken. Kushina named her Hanataro after her great grandmother. Minato, when she vanished for a few weeks near the beginning of the last year she wasn't taken like we covered it up, she was grieving. Minato, I won't lie and tell you she was ok, she really wasn't, she never was. When she learned of Naruto after you became Hokage was the best thing to ever happen to her. Minato, THAT is your daughter in there, I don't know who or how, but she is here. She may be compromised but Minato, you need to make the push, you need to tell Naruto his sister is here, and you need to help that girl in there. Who knows what she has gone through Minato, you know this world is more rough on women than men. So, not for me or her, but for Kushina and the love she had for that girl in there, try and make a connection, accept her, I'm not saying do not be cautious, but make an attempt. Ok?"

Minato put his head in his hands. Mikoto dropped this bombshell, she knew he had a daughter, Kushina knew, the Neko clan did, who stole her, and was she ok now? Those lines had not faded from her skin and he had his research department pouring over the Uzushio scrolls to try and understand what is going on. The only thing they could tell was that it altered the nervous systems signals along the spine to force movement. There was also a loyalty seal on her neck, a suicide seal in her mouth, and a death switch that could be activated to murder her should she fight back. He knew that there was a strong chance she was forced to participate in the attack, but as Hokage he had to run all the options.

"I'll try Mikoto, I'll try my damndest, but Mikoto I just learned that she is my daughter, not a clone, not a copy, my damn daughter. If I had know, if I could have, I don't know."

"Minato, this is the Neko clan, an ancient ninja clan. Not even the five ninja nations together could take down an alliance clan whoever did this is powerful with connections. Minato, she is going to need you more than ever. So please, let the past lie and live in the now."

"Ok. Ok, I'll try, but Mikoto, you need to be here with us when she wakes up. She knew Kakashi, so she will know you and her mother were friends, so the more familiar faces may be better."

"You know I will be, I'm her godmother after all."

Minato turned as the door was opened, Tsunade walked through with a smile and nodded.

"She is awake, though just barely, you can go in."

"Thank you Lady Tsunade."

Minato followed after Mikoto into the room, Inora was sitting in a chair writing into a notepad with Inoichi's hands on Hanataro and Inora's foreheads. Minato pulled up a chair next to Inora and sat down.

"Minato, she was forced. There is a lot of bad things, I'm probably going to have nightmares for months, but it is clear she was forced."

Minato leaned his head on Inora's shoulder and sighed deeply.

"What can you tell me of the people who took her?"

"We only have a name, Amachi, he is a known war criminal and psychopath who works out of the Land of Sea. Minato, you should also know, she is a pseudo-jinchuriki. There is so much of the Nine-tails chakra in her system that she could manifest a cloak, it is why her eyes are red."

"So what's your prognosis doctor?"

"Hah, well, mentally she is stable she has had time to work through the enormous list of misdeeds done to her physically and mentally. Mentally she has reverted, whatever that seal was supposed to do fizzled out after it was broken. She is going to have to relearn some of her education, math, history, semantics and linguistics. Besides that her memory is unaffected and there are no more seals within or without her body."

"What about bringing her home?"

"What do you mean Minato?"

"Inora, she is my daughter, she is alone, has been hurt and now she is alone again. I know she is nearly an adult but, damn it, I can't just leave her be."

"I wasn't saying that Minato, what I meant is, we do not have the room."

"What about Naruto's house?"

"Right now I think she needs her parent more than a sibling Minato. She needs a rock not a friend. HEr mental foundation is gone, she never had hope or love or happiness just torture and fear. She needs a protector, she needs her father."

"What about my old house? It still is being taken care of and it has more than enough room."

"Minato, are you ready to go back there?"

"I don't have a choice, my daughter needs me."

"Then I'll get someone to move our things and collect Kai, just stay here with her Minao."

"I wasn't planning on leaving."

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Ame - gets to go outside for some sunlight and runs into Ty - asks Ty about Naruto

"Hey, you're finally caught up!"

Ame's eyebrow was twitching, Hawk had her hands around Ame's back grabbing her breasts and fondling them.

"If you don't stop touching them, I'm going to bite yours off."

"What, I can't be proud my sister is finally a C-cup? Maybe you can find a sugar daddy to look after you when you get out."

"If I get out."

"Nah, it's when, Lord Fourth gave the orders that after the birth you are gonna have a guard placed around you to protect you and the child. He's also trying to find people to stay with you in an apartment and guess who gets the privilege to do that?"

"Thanks, that actually helps a lot."

A knock on the door had Hawk vanishing back into the corner and Ame sitting on the bed.

"Ame?"

"Oh, Lady Tsunade what brings you here today?"

Tsunade smiled and wheeled in a strange machine with a screen on it.

"Ultrasound, don't you want to see your baby?"

"Oh, well what are we waiting for, get that thing over here!"

Ame laid down on the bed, she smiled impatiently and saw Tsunade plugging in the machine opening a box of some sort of tube.

"Alright, well, firstly I'm going to tell you that this is going to be cold."

"I can handle a little chill."

Ame gasped when she felt the freezing gel on her stomach, she glared at Tsunade who pushed her back down by her forehead.

"Relax, now I'm going to use the ultrasound now, watch the screen."

Ame sighed and turned to look at the screen, it was all fuzzy and black and white and it made no sense to her. Then she saw it, well, them.

"Congrats, you are having twins."

"Twins?"

"Twins."

"Twins, oh my god, I'm going to have twins."

"Yes, twins, do you see the two? There is no penis so I guess it is safe to assume you are having two girls. Do you want me to take the recording and have some pictures taken of it after this?"

"Yeah, I'm getting to go out and get some sun today so I might be a few hours."

"No problem, it might take a few hours to get to them and digitally print them."

Ame sighed as she felt a smile nearly tearing her face in two, this was one of the best days of her life. She loved this baby, these babies, with all her heart and soul. She was excited, according to Tsunade the jutsu had pushed the cell growth and development that now she was technically seven months nearly eight months pregnant.

"Can you get me some wipes to help clean the gel, these paper towels aren't doing anything."

"Hawk will get them, I have to get to a surgery after this."

"Ah, ok."

"Well, I will be seeing you later for another check up."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Ame watched Tsunade leave and she let out an exhausted sigh, her hands covering her face as she groaned into them.

"Well that was cool. I mean, twins Ame! Twins!"

"I know, it is going to suck having to take care of two babies, one was going to be hard but two is going to suck."

Ame stood off of the bed and waddled to the bathroom, she began using a washcloth and some hot water to clean off the gel from her skin.

"So Minato gave you two hours today to go outside, anywhere specific you want to go?"

"Is home an option?"

"No, unfortunately it is not."

"Well, someplace with some shade, is that acceptable?"

"Absolutely."

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Hanataro - wakes up to Minato and starts bawling - Minato and Inora explain everything they know - Hanataro just wants her daddy

HEr head hurts so bad, she might have given him permission to look through her memories, but it felt like he charged through like a bull in a china shop. She remembered everything, like she lived it all over again and she began to cry. She promised herself she would be strong, never be that weak little girl that the man had tortured but the strong woman like her mother had been. She felt a hand gently take her own and she felt the strong calloused themb gently rubbing the back of her hand gently.

"Hanataro, are you alright?"

Minato watched the girl sob and he just didn't know what to do. Her grip on his hand tightened and she cried harder, he just didn't know what to do.

"You're safe Hanataro, I'm here, your brother will be here in a few days, and my student Kakashi is making sure nothing will ever happen to you again."

Hanataro rolled onto her side and her red eyes seemed all that redder, she sniffed and rubbed her face on her pillow to wipe away the tears and she just looked Minato in the eye.

"Did you know?"

"Know what sweetie?"

"That I was alive."

"No, your mother kept you a secret with the help of her friends. If I knew I never would have stopped, I would have torn this world asunder to get to you."

Ame felt the tears welling up, her negative emotions sensing was telling her he wasn't being a liar or using half truths that could harm her. Ame lifted her free hand up and held her arms out to her father and she nearly bawled when Minato stood and laid down in the bed with her. She curled up to his side and he sat up pulling her into his lap. He rocked her softly and rubbed her back.

"Daddy, don't ever go."

"I won't. I will never let you go."

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Once again I apologize for the delay, well this begins the duo arc, or as I like to call it, the Namikaze family fuck up reunion. Remember to review, Till next time.

~ Ardent Chronicler