I suppressed a smile a smile as I gazed at the scene before me. Hundreds of small camps complete with tent and fire pit littered the floor of the Konoha Chuunin Exam Arena. What made me the happiest was that I could recognize every one of the scruffy campers who were walking around.

The Suna citizens were rough, beaten, and defeated, but they were alive. Women sat on the ground ringing out wet clothes as the watched their children play. The area had turned into more of a makeshift town. There was a community wash area and shower. Running water was provided through the many taps and hoses sticking out of the walls in the big circular enclosure.

The camp was dirty and foul smelling due to the many people sitting in their own filth while they awaited their own time to use the already crowded showering areas. But despite their less then appetizing living conditions, there was a sense of community in the air when one entered the Suna Refugee Camp. Everyday more civilians were escorted by Anbu back to Konoha to be debriefed by their Kazekage and then sent to the camp for some much needed rest.

However, for as many Suna citizens that were being found there were still twice as many still missing in action. It was a common sight to see blood red handkerchiefs draped over the entrances to most tents symbolizing that they too were waiting for the return of a missing family member. Small white candles had been placed around the walls, practically surrounding the arena. Some had names scrawled across the glass jars that held the white candles. Names like 'Mommy' or 'Brother' were the most heartbreaking while names of treasured spouses and lovers came in a close second.

I turned when I heard a ruckus coming from the entrance of the arena and smiled at a group of mothers patiently following their toddlers around the camp. Said toddlers were moving at an agonizingly slow pace, occasionally crouching down and grabbing a pebble which they offered to their mothers. The mother just smiled and accepted the pebble graciously while continuing to follow behind their children.

I was struck by a sudden need to join them and made a quick jog over to where I had left Keno in his red wagon, chained to a sturdy metal pole. As I approached I made sure to hit the off button on the wagons state of the art security lasers and unbuckled him from his safety harness. Quickly, I changed him from his blue snake skin sandals into yellow light up sneakers and set him free.

Naturally, he immediately broke into a full-fledged sprint towards the nearest exit. However, due to the fact that his legs are only about a foot long, his sprinting was actually only about 2 miles per hour. I irritatedly redirected his running so that we would intersect with the herd of mothers as they made their second lap around the area. We came into contact with an older silver haired woman dedicatedly following a stumbling brown haired girl.

Attempting to make first contact, I offered her a traditional greeting amongst us mothers.

"Yo! Wassup momma bear! I see you got yo shawtie wif you homes!"

I immediately noticed her confusion as she grabbed the little girl who was attempting to shove a pine cone in her diaper and moved to the back of the pack. I heard giggling from behind me and turned to see a girl with two small boys both clutching the sides of her dress. She didn't seem to be much older then twelve which was an odd age to have two children, but I wasn't exactly one to judge. I was 16 and a boy and I still decided that it would be a good idea to start popping out kids.

I smiled and approached her, raising my hand to give a small wave.

"Hi there. What's your name?" I asked, attempting to be social. She smiled and stuck out her hand to shake.

"Kiri. And yours?"

I frowned at this; it was very uncommon for a citizen to not recognize me. Not to sound conceited, but I was somewhat of a celebrity in Suna. From the day I had arrived in the sand village with Keno only a few weeks old, my previous Konoha life had been the topic of much gossip. Some of the more paranoid citizens had assumed I was a spy sent from Konoha to infiltrate. Others thought I was the long lost lover of Gaara who returned after my marriage had gone awry. There were even larger groups of citizens who were convinced that Keno was actually Gaaras child and that the story with Sasuke was simply an elaborate lie to keep enemy villages from exploiting the Kazekages offspring and using them as his weakness.

Needless to say, I was impressed by their creativity.

"My names Naruto, and this is Keno." I figured that she had probably just never seen us in person and didn't know what we looked like. Once I told her my name she would realize who I am.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto-san. Which tent do you and Keno-kun live in?"

Apparently not.

I narrowed my eyes at her and frowned. It was possible that she was in fact not a Suna citizen and actually a spy from sound village here to scope out the village. I had to tread carefully.

"Are you a spy!" I cringed as I realized that that was not at all what I had planned to say when I opened my mouth.

"What?" She asked, taking a step back at my loud interrogating. The children attached to her sides began whimpering and hiding their faces in her skirt.

"How could you possibly live in Suna and not know me? I'm Naruto, the Kazekages boyfriend."

Her face showed a look of shock and then terror as she grabbed the wrists of the boys next to her. "I-I can explain."

"Alright then," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "explain it to me."

She sighed and looked at the ground, clutching the boys close to her. "I didn't have anywhere to go. I lived outside of Suna with my father but after the boys were born he threw me out. I saw the groups of Suna citizens running and I figured if I pretended that I was one of them then I could get into a village somewhere."

I let my arms drop to the side and took a breath. Her story was believable but that didn't mean it was true. "Alright then. If that's the case then we should go talk to Gaara, I'm sure he can do something." She looked frightened at first but then nodded.

I hoped that she was legitimate.

Sakura Uchiha was a very respectable woman. She had retired as a shinobi and taken up life as a stay at home mother after she got married. And although she may not be a ninja anymore, she had no problem exercising her right as a civilian to protest anything she found protest-able.

The current topic of her rant was the large group of homeless people that 'crowded the streets of Konoha and disrupted everyday living' as she put it. As she listened to the ever growing list of complaints that the girl came up with, Tsunade quietly thought back to the time when the girl had actually possessed at least one working brain cell. It appears that after the girls marriage to the Uchiha brat, the poor little lone brain cell had shriveled up and died, leaving the girl completely delusional and ridiculous.

Just as Tsunade was about to chuck the girl out a five story window, a light knock sounded on the mahogany door. After calling for the new arrival to enter, Tsunade quickly silenced the protesting girl and greeted the sunny blonde who had entered, dragging what appeared to be a young girl and two small boys behind him.

" Hi baa-chan! Have you see Gaara around here?"

" I haven't you brat and stop calling me that! And besides, he's your boyfriend. Isn't it your job to keep track of him?"

Naruto smiled and rubbed his head sheepishly, but stopped when he appeared to notice Sakura who had placed her uninvited ass on the chair in the corner. His eyes darkened considerably as he gazed at her. Tsunade wanted to smack the pink haired girl when she had the audacity to glare back at him.

"Well hello Naruto-kun. And how have you been recently?" Narutos eyebrow twitched as he looked at the mocking smirk plastered all over the pinkettes face.

"I've been wonderful actually. And how have you been Sakura-chan? I noticed your bad dye job is still as vibrant as ever."

The temperature in the room dropped a few more degrees as Sakura stood.

"I think I will come back later Tsunade-sama." She said, her snobbish attitude not faltering at all. "After your… company has left."

With that she waddled out of the Hokage office, slamming the door behind her.

"You know, that wasn't very nice of you Naruto. Now I'm going to have to listen to her complain even more later." Tsunade said, allowing a small smile to grace her features as she looked at the grinning boy before her.

"Aww c'mon Baa-chan! You know she was asking for that one."

"It's true that she was. But it's still not nice of you to make fun of a pregnant woman"

Tsunade watched as Narutos eyes dimmed a little at the news of Sakuras pregnancy.

"Oh she's pregnant is she? I noticed that she was looking a little fat today." He joked, but there was sadness in his eyes that Tsunade recognized all too well.

"Well I'll see you later baa-chan. I have to go find Gaara now." He hollered over his shoulder as he dragged the still unknown girl back out of the office.

Tsunade sighed as the door closed and her office was once again empty. She hated seeing the boy hurt like this but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't force the Uchiha to get back with her blonde. It wasn't for her to decide. But that didn't mean she had to like the way life seemed to have worked out for Naruto, always the martyr.

Tsunade sighed again as she reached for the sake she kept hidden in her bottom drawer. What happened to when the good guy had a happy ending?

Another sigh escaped her.

She seemed to do that a lot when Naruto was around.

I AM SOO SORRY!

Please don't hate me for making you wait forty years for this update.

I realize that there really aren't any excuses good enough but I'm going to try anyway.

Larka came down with a bad case of the flu and she ended up staying in the hospital for a little over a week. Then I (finally) got a job and have been really busy at it so I dint have much time to sit and work out a new chapter.

Do you still hate me?

I'm incredibly sorry to keep all of you hanging and I hope this chapter will make up for it.

Remember, reviews make me write faster so click that little button at the bottom of the page and tell me what you think.

Lots of love

~DEATHinPINK and Larka