Wearily Shizune entered the meeting room with her arms full of paperwork and manages to stumble passed the gathering Jounin, "Eh, excuse me." As she apologized, she unintentionally bumped into Rock Lee from behind, nearly sending him flying into TenTen's bosom, "Sorry!" Off to the side, Kiba whispered to Shikamaru, Shino, and Chouji betting that Shizune would lose her footing and fall flat on her face before she made it to her seat. Next to them, Neji scoffed as he knew the wager was obvious.

Shizune managed to find a clear path around the table and when the Jounin thought they were about to lose their bets, the heal of her shoe caught a snag in the carpet and papers go flying into the air. Iruka arrived just in time and saved the clumsy Kunoichi from a nasty fall, "Close one!" He straightens her up and she thanked him wholeheartedly. Together they picked up the scattered papers. Since Naruto took charge of Konoha as Rokudaime Hokage, both Shizune and Iruka took on the role as the Advisors and supported Naruto with the daily operations of the village. Shizune mainly handles the diplomatic and economic aspects of the village, while Iruka kept an eye on the newer generation of Leaf Shinobi.

While Kiba happily collected his earnings from the bet, Sasuke entered the room with a displeased look on his face. They all knew something was bothering him, for the Uchiha rarely shown any kind of emotion. Then Naruto entered the room with a look of seriousness upon his face and everyone gotten more concerned that things were worse than they thought, "Has everyone been briefed with the recent news?"

"Yeah, they have," Shikamaru responded. He looked Naruto squarely in the eye, "But I don't think you will like what we learned."

Naruto's eyebrow crooked, "What is it?"

Shikamaru was not thrilled that he was the one to reveal the bad news, "It's Kabuto Yakushi. He is with that thing."

The room fell silent when the spy's name was mentioned. Naruto stood up in irritation, "Kabuto?"

"Yeah, and that's not all," Shikamaru continued. We got reports that he's leading a large army of mercenaries, who happen to have a grudge against us." He sighed as he paused, "They should be here…tomorrow morning." Gasps abruptly filled the room.

Naruto slammed his fist hard into the desk to the point it was obviously dented, "Great!" He growled.

While Naruto was rambling, something walking by the door caught the attention of Iruka and Shizune. At first, they suspected a spy eavesdropping on their meeting, but then they realized it wasn't, for one of them was holding…. a baby? Iruka held his forehead in embarrassment, "Ah, Naruto." Sasuke obviously knew what was going outside and sighed heavily when everyone's attention started shifting outside.

Shikamaru became bothered, "Naruto, I know Sakura just had a baby and you're practicing, but mind getting rid of the clones? They're distracting." Aside from Neji and Sasuke, everyone looked outside to see a couple of Naruto's shadow clones outside, carrying a baby. They started chuckling, which the clones were obviously not happy with, and within an instant the angry clones disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

With a succinct cough to regain everyone's attention, Shikamaru Nara continued, "With Kabuto and the remnants of the Akatsuki army now in play, things are going to get complicated." He walked up to a map of the area around the village and started examining it, "The first thing we need to do is set up defense perimeters," he pointed at different spots on the map, "Neji's team will act as the main force with my team providing overwatch," Shikamaru moves to off the side, "Kiba's team will cover the flank and take out anyone who managed to get passed us."

He continued, "In case our defenses should break, the traps we set in these locations should buy us enough time to regroup and counterattack." The young Nara sighed, "If that doesn't work, then the Gates is our last line of defense. Hopefully we can stop them before it gets to that point."

Naruto liked the plan, "Okay, best we get moving then." He stood up and raised his arm, "Everyone! Go!" All the shinobi but Iruka, Shizune, Sasuke and Shikamaru instantly disappeared. The young Hokage walked up, "Think this will work?"

"It better be," Shikamaru responded.

The blond leader began walking out the door, "Where you going?" Asked Iruka.

"I got something I must take care of, first," Naruto responded.

A few hours had passed since the meeting and the young Rokudaime Hokage gradually made his way down the Konoha Hospital hallway with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Thoughts raced within his mind of the upcoming battle and debating if he should let Sakura know or not. Outside the Hospital's window, children playfully ran by, oblivious of the battle to come. Naruto knew that he had to protect this village, no matter the cost.

He found Sakura's room and knocked on the door. On the other side, a young cheerful voice beckoned him inside, "Come in!"

Naruto nervously opened the door and quietly steps inside, "Hi, Sakura-chan." Seems he wasn't the first to bring her flowers, all around the room was flowers from all her friends and admirers. So much, he was starting to think he was in the Yamanaka Flower Shop than the Konoha Hospital.

Sakura noticed Naruto being awestruck at the sheer number of flowers in the room and lightheartedly said, "Oh, everybody dropped by." Then she saw the bouquet in his hand and smiled, "Those for me?"

The young Hokage snickered, "Yeah." Smiling, he added, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," the young mother responded as she gently stroked the infant's head.

As he got closer to hand Sakura the bouquet, Naruto became embarrassed when he saw Sakura in the middle of nursing the newborn. He averted his eyes, "Ah, I can come back when you're done."

Sakura stopped him, "That's okay." She looked down at her infant with a maternal smile, "Don't be shy. Come closer and say hello."

Naruto inched closer and saw the infant suckling away, "Hi there." He was fascinated of the miracle of life, "Wow. He's almost as big as your boobs, Sakura-chan."

She twitched at his comment and was clearly annoyed at what was just said and scowled, "What, what did you just say?"

Realizing he unknowingly angered Sakura, he quickly apologized, "Sorry, Sorry! I didn't mean it that way."

The new mother quickly calmed down, she knew Naruto didn't mean it as an insult. But she didn't want him to forget it either, "Well, don't let it happen again." She winked at him.

Naruto replied innocently, "Of course, Sakura-chan."

After that close call, he decided to give Sakura a little bit of privacy and walked over to the hospital window. Down below, the children were still playing with one another in the street and Naruto's expression turned melancholy. The pink-haired Kunoichi knew him long enough to know something amiss, "It's about the Kabuto and the Demon, isn't it?"

Surprise filled his eyes, "How did you…."

"Sasuke-kun dropped by a while ago and told me everything," answered the young Kunoichi.

Naruto chortled quietly, "Should've known you've found out." His gaze shifted to the young mother, "I didn't want to trouble you."

She was grateful that he didn't want to upset her, "Its okay. It's just that I worry about you sometimes. You're under a lot of stress lately and right now, you're bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders." With her free hand, she placed it on Naruto's shoulder and brought the blonde closer, "You know I'm here if you ever need me."

Naruto was very appreciative and put his hand on hers, "Thank you, Sakura-chan." With renewed vigor and one less concern off his mind, he got up off the edge of the bed, "I got to go."

"Naruto, be careful out there. Okay?" She implored him.

He brightened up for a moment and gave his trademark grin, "Of course!" The door opened and the air currents from the hallway grabbed a hold of the Hokage's robe and caused it fluttered vigorously as destiny asserted itself. Naruto waved goodbye and disappeared out of sight.