THE DICHOTOMY OF FAMILY AND GENETICS

Naruto never though much about her own family; then she got one whether it was wanted or not. All of a sudden, she finds herself missing what she had never had, and what she had never missed, before. SasuNaru (FemNaru), slight GaaSaku, ShikaIno, KakaRin, JiraTsu, MinaKushi, & YahiKonan.

CHAPTER X
~ TSUNADE & SASUKE ~

I've still got sand in my shoes,
and I can't shake the thought of you.
I should move on, forget you,
but why would I would want to?
I know we said goodbye;
anything else would have been confused,
but I want to see you again.

Despite plans, Naruto was forced to wait another week before she could meet up with her father – a huge crash on the ferry over from the other side of Lake Konoha (the morning they had arranged to meet) meant both hospitals were both struggling to cope with the number of patients.

Her father, being the head of Konoha General Paediatrics, was one of those people who were swamped. Naruto would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed, but if there were injured kids that needed help, then what could she do about it? Minato had already called and asked to rearrange for a time when he wasn't so busy, and she didn't object.

It meant more time with Sasuke and Tamamo, something that had been hard to get recently. They had both taken the week off so she'd have time to go to talk with Minato if things had turned out well (or not), and for Sasuke to look after Tamamo. Now though, it just meant they could have some time to themselves.

And a lie in – Tamamo wasn't an early riser unless she was woken, a trait she had inherited from both her parents, so it mean an extra couple of hours of glorious sleep. Sasuke didn't seem to need it so much though, and took over morning cereal duties while she slept.

Three days into the week, she woke up to one of the worst stenches ever know to her nose; darting into the kitchen, Naruto cast her eyes around the room, searching for whatever horror Sasuke had created in the microwave. All she could see was Sasuke slumped on the sofa shovelling chocolaty rice-puff cereal into his mouth, Tamamo on his lap with a miniature plastic green-flower shaped bowl of her own.

A morning children's program with terrifying alien-like beings eating weird toast (and a giant baby's head for a sun) was blaring on the TV screen. Tamamo didn't look sure about being terrified or fascinated. Naruto, personally, found the so called 'child-friendly' programme unnerving.

"What did you burn?" she asked, heading over to the cooker and searching for the poor food he had obviously desecrated; Nothing. She moved to the microwave, and yet again found nothing.

"I didn't burn anything... I heated up the last of the soup earlier for Tamamo, but that's it..." Sasuke replied, shovelling some more of his cereal into his mouth, grimacing as a mad hoover-type-thing appeared on the TV screen.

Frowning in surprise, Naruto glanced into the sink and found the used bowl and spoon, along with the empty soup container. She had made that soup over a thousand times already, long before Tamamo had been born, so she knew what is smelled like. The smell that invaded her nostrils was not the smell of tomato soup.

It was, quite bluntly, exactly like the smell of sulphur, or rotten eggs. Naruto quickly backed away from the sink, her hand over her mouth as she willed the nauseous feeling away. It didn't work, and not wanting to face the horrid stench, she darted into the bathroom for the sink there to throw up instead.

After a few moments, she felt Sasuke entering through the doorway; her stomach didn't have enough interest in nausea for it to last for long, but it didn't change the implications. The only time she had ever thrown up was when she first got pregnant. As far as she was concerned... that hadn't changed.

Sasuke plopped her down on the toilet seat, and filled the toothbrush glass with some water and handed it to her, leaning against the door frame as she swallowed. Seriously, this vomiting thing was god-awful.

"You're still on the pill right?" Sasuke asked – he knew exactly what the throwing up meant. Maybe it was jumping the gun when she didn't have the boob-pain or the dizzy spells like she had with Tamamo but... when did she ever get sick?

She'd caught a bad fever as a baby from being left on the doorstep of the orphanage all night (no thanks to someone) and it must have bolstered her immune system or something, because the doctors had always mentioned she had a good one as a kid. A very good one. Colds and bugs simply didn't affect her at all.

She didn't want to jump to conclusions, but unless she had caught something a bit more worrisome than a cold... she didn't know what else it could be.

"Yes..." Naruto replied tentatively; she didn't say she hadn't checked the use-by date on them though.

Concentrating, Naruto first entertained the notion of catching some rare illness or something, and then shook the idea off. Other than the vomiting she felt fine. Instead she considered the list of symptoms that had first clued her in to Tamamo's existence. She had been tired, sick, tired, her boobs had hurt, they had been bigger, and everything stunk like a skunk.

If she thought about it, she had been getting more sleep in the past few days – she had put it down to the whole Minato-and-Tsunade thing, but maybe not. She had just thrown up, and tomato soup was not supposed to smell like that. That left her boobs. She gave them a tentative poke, but she didn't feel anything...

"Sasuke are my boobs bigger?" she asked, feeling it best for an outside opinion; Sasuke had already been giving them a contemplative look so she guessed he was trying to follow the process of rational thought too. It was certainly better than immediate panic...

"A bit... Not much, but now that I take a good look, it is noticeable..." he replied, sinking to the floor, running his hands through his hair.

Damn, that was four out of five. Gong back to the rational-thought thing, she tried to put a date on just when she could have got pregnant. Sasuke had learned his lesson condom wise, but just because he always remembered to use them now didn't mean they were perfect; they'd ripped a couple of times in the past. Even before Tamamo.

"What about your period – you'd have noticed if you missed it right?" Sasuke asked.
"It's kind of sporadic, so I can't be certain with just that..." Naruto replied after a moment's thought.

Tamamo appeared at the doorway then, peeking around Sasuke's leg in curiosity before tapping across the floor in her bare feet and clambering onto Naruto's lap. She opened her mouth, pointing at her teeth and making an 'Aaaaaaah' noise. Naruto realised it was past the usual time she started getting her dressed, and picked up Tamamo's toothbrush.

After covering it in baby-tooth toothpaste and running a little water over it, she handed it to the girl. Tamamo took it and began scrubbing at her tiny teeth with it, occasionally kneeling up to spit the froth into the sink next to them.

"Ok, let's say I am pregnant, when did that happen? Think Sasuke, did you rip the condom or something?" Naruto asked, taking the brush once the two-year-old had had enough and taking over the scrubbing.

She wasn't speaking as if to put the blame on Sasuke; she was just trying to find an answer that would indicate there was no tiny human inside her again. Sasuke however shook his head, running his hand through his fringe again before standing up, and taking hold of Tamamo so she could spit out the last of the toothpaste-foam.

"I don't know, but guessing like this is no good – there is a chance this is just us being paranoid, but... We'd better buy a test just to be certain before doing anything."

He was right – it really should have been her first thought, but she really didn't think it was necessary. Now that the thought was in her mind, she was certain it was unnecessary. He had a point though – they might as well go through the motions properly this time.

Then again, the fact they were both talking about the possibility (certainty), instead of her trying to hide it, was a definite improvement on Tamamo's announcement to the world.

Seated in their living room, Tamamo seated on the floor quite contentedly with some paper and green crayons, Sasuke was beginning to wonder how Naruto had managed the waiting when she first took the test in the bathroom of his old home.

"Sasuke, trust me when I say staring at it doesn't make it work any faster. Believe me, I've tried."

Sasuke scowled at his girlfriend, his eyes flickered back to the white stick in her palm. He'd gone down with her to pick the thing out and while he'd let her pick it out, he had read the back of a few others. He'd never realised how many different ways it was possible to pee on a stick before. In fact, it was somewhat scary.

Alright, he was trying to distract himself from the impending bombshell he knew was coming, so what? He was human wasn't he? Just because he already had one daughter didn't make the possibility (certainty) they were going to have another kid any less daunting.

Naruto glanced down at the white stick in her hand then, and his attention was brought from attempts at distraction to watch her face for her reaction. The falter before she threw it at his forehead was enough of an indicator, but he was more interested in dodging the thing.

"Naruto, that disgusting! You just peed on that!" he complained, picking the plastic stick up rather gingerly from the floor before Tamamo could get her hands on it – she was watching in curiosity now.

"Shut up! I should punch you for knocking me up again!" Naruto retorted, crossing her arms rather huffily from her seat beside him, he language degenerating into low swears that were inaudible to their now oldest child.

Her words took a moment to fall into place, and when they did, he glared at the pregnancy test in his hand; he particularly glared at the little pink plus sign that had showed up only moments ago instead of the nice blue minus he had been hoping for (even if neither of them had been expecting it).

All of a sudden Naruto began making strangled noises and tugging on her hair in frustration, before flopping face down onto his chest and letting her swear words be muffled by the contact.

"...stupid stupid test! What the hell are we gonna do? Killer Bee's been really good with Tamamo, but I dunno how he'll take it a second time, and you aren't completely full time yet until your finish training! There isn't enough space here for two kids either! Oh god, what are your parents going to say?" she groaned, voicing some rather well founded concerns.

If this had been the way things had proceeded the first time around, he would have just asked why she would even consider keeping it – even if there wasn't abortion there were other options -but now? The main thoughts in his mind were the same. He didn't even question that there would be another small sproglet in their lives.

He just wondered how they were going to adjust to it.
In answer to Naruto's questions though...

Sasuke hadn't met Killer Bee more than a handful of times, but the man was one of the most flexible employers he had ever met. He wasn't making assumptions, but he had the distinct feeling the man would just take it in his stride. The man took everything in his stride. Naruto was more or less in charge of the Konoha shop, and she had proven herself capable of doing that even with a two-year old.

Sure, they had a lot of help from his parents then, but the sales there hadn't exactly slipped when they moved in here, and that had been nearly a year ago now. He might yell at her like an over-protective brother of some kind, but Sasuke wasn't certain it wouldn't be as big a problem as she thought.

As for his electricians training, after he finished his current year of it, he'd have the minimum level of certification necessary to work as a proper electrician. He would still be in training, and he'd still be working under Yahiko for the next couple of years, but once this year was over he'd be a fully licensed practitioner.

He already had one license, but it was a sort of rookie rank – once he'd finished this year, he'd have an actual job there. It would be bottom of the pile, but the pay would go up. Yahiko had explained it all to him when he was accepted for the apprenticeship. It would be difficult, especially since Naruto was right about the space, but it wouldn't be impossible. They both had savings if they needed them too.

As for his parents... well his mother would panic worse than Naruto, even if it would be less exuberantly, but once she'd calmed down she would be ecstatic. She glowed with sheer joy every time Tamamo called her 'Grams'. Obito would just make fun of him; Itachi would probably lecture him then, roll his eyes and poke his forehead. As for his father... he was as bad as his mother.

Fugaku was just terrifyingly good at hiding it; if there was any family Naruto should be worrying about, it should be her own. She had only just introduced herself to Minato as his daughter, and Tsunade was a whole different kettle of fish altogether. One she hadn't even begun to consider yet. His family was not the one to be worrying about.

"...I think we'll manage. I mean, at least I didn't find out from your answering machine this time. That's definitely a step in the right direction isn't it?" he replied, running his hand down the hollow of her back in an attempt to calm the muffled swears and inaudible ranting.

"Sasuke, be serious will you?" Naruto demanded, thumping him on the shoulder as she looked up to face him.

"Remember how long it took to get out of your parents house? We've already got Tamamo to worry about Sasuke! Another kid is-"

Sasuke planted his lips on her own – it was the only way to shut her up when she started ranting sometimes. Pulling away, he raised an eyebrow, sarcastically asking for permission to speak again. Naruto glared at him, but she didn't start yakking again either.

"Naruto, if you'll remember, we were 17 then. That was nearly three years ago now, I think we've both matured enough to avoid what happened with Tamamo happening again, and as far as jobs go... I think it'll take some stretching in places, but I really don't think it'll be as bad as you think..." he told her pointedly.

Naruto's grim worry relaxed a little, but her face remained somewhat stony. Apparently he'd have to do better than that if he was going to convince her that while her worry was not completely unfounded, it really wasn't as bad as she was thinking. Things hadn't started well with Tamamo in the first place, and that was hindering her here.

"...I mean, just take a look at Tamamo. She's a happy, healthy kid. Sure, my parents helped out at the start, but... we're good parents. You won't let us be anything less...Except for when she got sick. And when you freaked out about Tsunade, but we haven't made a wrong step with her since. This isn't exactly in the plan, but we'll be fine this time... Sort of."

Naruto remained stony faced for a few moments, before she finally relented, and flopped her head back onto his chest again. He tightened his arms around her, stealing the opportunity to burrow his nose into her hair. It wasn't something he got much opportunity for now. Apart from when they were sleeping or after the activities that had led to Hellspawn II, and it had always been one of his favourite things about her.

Her hair was thick, and always smelled of something other than the flowery or sweet smells Sakura or the other girls he knew used. It was one of the things that attracted him to her in the first place. It was something he couldn't see himself tiring of.

"...it was going to happen sat one point anyway right? It's better now in a way – it means you get to be the mum the others are all jealous of at parents' evenings. Especially with your metabolism; you can brag about how quick you got rid of the pregnancy weight" he joked.

Naruto stiffened for a moment, but instead of moving she wormed her arms around his back.
"I don't suppose you were going to consult me on this, were you?" she asked – he could hear her internal roll of her eyes in the words and tone.

"I didn't really think I had to... was I wrong?" he asked, turning his eyes towards Tamamo.

She was scribbling away with her box of green crayons; it had been a huge Christmas present from 'Aunty Sak-wa' – a whole box of her favourite drawing material in her favourite colour. He knew that Lee had influenced her somewhere – it was the only explanation for her obsession with the colour...

"Not really I guess... I suppose that makes you the sexy, scary daddy who glares at all the boys who start talking to her?" Naruto mumbled, turning her own eyes in the direction of his.

Sasuke's froze; he hadn't once given that matter much thought. Now that Naruto turned his own joke on him though... he decided that Tamamo was never ever going to talk to boys. Ever. Not until she was at least twenty... No. They were nearly twenty, and now Naruto was pregnant again. Twenty was way too young. Thirty. Twenty-five at the earliest.

He caught sight of Naruto incredulous look, and realised he'd been thinking out loud when she whacked him on the head. Painfully so. Tamamo blinked when he yelped once, turned her head towards her parents in confusion, before going back to the important matter of green scribbling when she found nothing amiss.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke glanced back at Naruto as he felt her move; she had moved onto his lap, her fingers pulling with the shorter, more 'fluffy' spikes of hair at the nape of his neck, a funny little smile on her face.

"...you get this right? I'm pregnant. The means that there's gonna be another little hellion who calls you 'Papa' running around... we're gonna have Hell Spawn II..." she stated,.

The smile on her lips was twitching as she spoke, eventually breaking into a full, almost excited one. Then she started laughing with almost crazy-sounding laughter and hugged him again. H e couldn't help it when he let out a soft smirk of his own and tightened his arms around her waist.

The new feeling of this being a happy event... it was contagious. They hadn't really been able to enjoy the news about Tamamo, even if Naruto had made the right choice in the end (with mere weeks to spare). They had still been apprehensive in spite of it all, but now... it was completely different now. Flipping her over onto the sofa, her rolled up her shirt and leant in closer to her flat stomach.

"You'd better be a boy this time – there are enough crazy women around here already... I'm not saying girls aren't good but... Gods, please try to be a boy okay?" he muttered, only half jokingly, before pressing his lips against the warm skin.

Naruto stared at him in stunned amazement, before collapsing into a fit of laughter again; sitting back up, he wrapped his arms around her neck and joined in. Tamamo stared at her parents in confusion, watching them degenerate into laughter and kisses for a few moments, before going back to her scribbles.

She didn't really get it, but they looked they were having fun or were in a good mood, and so her scribbles were of a much higher priority.

They were green scribbles after all.

"You're pregnant again? I thought you'd learnt your lesson already! What happened to Sasuke using condoms now? Jeez, now I've got to change the date of the wedding again! You can't be maid of honour when you're all fat and stuff!"

Naruto rolled her eyes at Sakura's tone as she held the tone up to her ear with her shoulder and chopped up peppers with the other – another two weeks had passed since the shocking revelation, and Naruto had already found out what her cravings were – Kitsune Udon as before, and red pepper and chilli soup.

Just the merest hint of tomato in anything made her want to vomit; Sasuke was rather heartbroken at first, but she'd allowed him use of the kitchen and taught him how to make the usual soup for himself and Tamamo. She'd done it at a distance though, and miraculously he hadn't destroyed the cooker in the process.

"I thought you weren't going to get married until after you finished Uni?" Naruto asked, taking some chillies out of their supermarket packet and starting to chop those up too (seeds and all), though not without some less-than-helpful suggestions from the two-year-old on her shoulders.

"Yeah, but I figured why wait? The only reason I was planning to wait was if dad didn't get out of jail – I really want the aisle thing, so I figured if I couldn't get him out... We'll I'd have been pretty bummed for a while right? But it doesn't matter now, cuz he's out of jail... It's not going to be a big thing but I still don't want a fat maid of honour! I was planning on having it in august, but if you're gonna be all fat then hell no... When are you gonna start getting fat?"

Naruto rolled her eyes at Sakura's perfectionist nature, but she didn't dare interrupt it either. It just wasn't worth the headache. Tamamo – who had been eyeing the chopped vegetables with a curious eye, stretched one hand out towards the pile of red pepper; Naruto chopped a slice of it in half and held it up for her.

They didn't have peppers often, since other veggies were preferred all around, so she was rather curious. After one bite it was gone, and Tamamo's hand stretched out towards the small pile again. Naruto handed her a couple more slices, and mentally added peppers to the permanent veggie list.

"Probably around late April, early March... I've still got to set up a thing for a check up, so I can't be completely certain though... I'm still technically on Tsunade's roster, and I haven't changed it yet" Naruto replied, holding up a larger slice of pepper for her passenger.

"Urgh! That woman! She wants to be glad I'm not in Konoha right now or I'd do a hell of a lot worse than punch her! I refuse to see why she didn't ignore that... other woman! There are laws that can overrule oaths for stuff like that! Hippocratic oath my ass...! That's no excuse for not getting checked up yet though! Get that Yugito woman to do it, or go to St Tobirama's instead... Better yet, get your Dad to change your doc-"

"Sakura! I can't get him to do that! I haven't told him yet! The hospitals are still busy from the ferry crash, so I haven't had chance! And don't call him my Dad... It still weirds me out a little..." Naruto interrupted, startling the two-year-old on her shoulders for a moment with the sudden exclamation.

She hadn't seen her... seen Minato since he had visited, but they had spoken on the phone a few times, and he had told her the details of just why she had spent her life in foster care (most awkward phone call ever). She at least understood some of the finer details now, but she still wanted nothing to do with her grandmother.

How the hell was she supposed to talk to the woman when she had barley started getting to know Minato as her father?

"Oh jeez... Naruto, for god's sake be a man and tell him already! He's going to start asking questions if you don't tell him before you get fat! He's a kiddie doctor! He's probably gonna notice before that!"

"Sakura, for one thing I'm not a man, and for another, I haven't seen him for three weeks since I went all flunky! He's busy with the-"

"That's just an excuse and you know it! Your being wimpy again Naruto, and I think the crash victims would have been handled for the majority by now! Your Dad is being a wimpy wuss too!"

"Sakura! Stop calling him-"
"No! He's your Dad – stop being so flunky about it all! I don't care if you a man or a hermaphrodite! Grow a pair of balls or boobs or whatever and go talk to him! Drag him by the ear if you have to!"

Naruto, who had been frozen in fear despite the fact that Sakura, was at least a thousand miles away on the other side of the country, mumbled as very small reluctant agreement. Really, this wasn't funny – Sakura was going to pommel her if she chickened out. Or sent her annoying texts for weeks on end (the pass on to everyone kind).

"So, how'd Sasuke's parents take it?" Sakura asked.

Naruto relaxed, and eagerly launched into the tale; Fugaku had needed to sit down for air, Itachi had been like a block of stone, Obito had simply fallen into gales of laughter. Especially when Sasuke had turned his mother's scolding around, reminding her that she was the one who came up with the idea to kidnap Tamamo and give them some alone time.

Naruto had never seen Mikoto Uchiha stopped for words before, but it was definitely an amusing moment.

"I'm sorry I'm late – there's a boy with bad burns from the ferry who crashed last night... He only just came around this afternoon, so things were a bit mad with all the tests..."

Naruto stopped trying to persuade Tamamo to eat her peas, and looked from the kitchen table towards the door Sasuke had just opened on hearing her fathers knock. Immediately, she felt like running out of the room, but Sakura had made her point about growing a pair.

"It's fine – about all you've missed is the tomato explosion Sasuke made trying to cook. I hope you like mixed instant meals, because other than soup that's all we've got, and I'm not faffing with heating it up until that smell is gone..." Naruto grinned, before turning back to Tamamo and indicating the peas once again.

To be frank, the stuffed tomato Sasuke had made wasn't all that bad – the other three had just exploded all over the oven. She had tested it, and it was even safe enough for Tamamo to eat. She had rapidly consumed it, but the peas... despite being green she didn't want anything to do with them today. Naruto knew she was still teething, but she didn't think that was it.

Maybe she was just getting to the terrible two stage. In any case, it was a good distraction when her father joined her at the table, seating himself opposite her, beside Sasuke's seat (he was starting to warm up the micro-meals in the microwave – Naruto cursed him for giving them a little privacy).

"I think I'm familiar with them – I'm not such a good cook myself..." he replied, looking somewhat rueful.

After the call from Sakura, Naruto had gone to the hospital herself, despite the risk of seeing Tsunade, and managed to catch him on a lunch break in the cafeteria. Once past the shell-shock of seeing her in the cafeteria, and some prodding from his work-mates, they'd gone into the hall and she brought up the possibility of coming round for dinner instead of a restaurant or café.

It had been a rather stumbled reply, but he was here now all the same, and seemed much more relaxed than he had the last time he had been here.

He started talking about everything from work (pointedly avoiding Tsunade) to one of the science-fiction comedies on TV. Naruto listed, replied as best she could, and when Sasuke re-joined them with the food she felt much more at ease with him. It helped that he'd already got to know her when she was recovering in the hospital.

It meant he wasn't a total stranger.
At least she had that from Tsunade, if nothing else.

"...Oh, that reminds me, I have something for you. I don't know if you want it or not but..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he reached down to the bag he had left resting against the table leg, opened it, and started riffling through the papers inside for something. Finding it, he pulled it out and handed her a faded piece of paper. On close inspection, her breath hitched in her throat.

It was her birth certificate. Her real one. Not her dumped-on-the-doorstep one, but her real birth certificate. It had her mother's name on it, Minato's, and what appeared to be her full name. Naruto Mito Uzumaki. She didn't know she had a middle name, but apparently she did.

"..Oh! I'm not saying I don't want it! I just thought it'd mean more to you... if you don't want it then that's fine too... uh..."

Her father stopped rambling, and turned back to his micro lasagne, even handing a small portion of it out for Sasuke to give to Tamamo in an attempt to distract himself. Naruto continued to stare at the piece of paper before standing up and going to the dresser on which the phone lived.

Pulling open the drawer she kept Tamamo's govermenty documents in, and a few other important things like phone numbers, she pulled out her own. She had moved it I there when Kakashi had found a possibility that her parents had cared about her at least a little bit.

Pointedly she ripped up the piece of paper with the blank boxes and replaced it with the real one. Then she went back to the table and back to her own micro pizza; she swore she hear Sasuke sniggering at her when she felt her cheeks flushing. Or was it at the matched expression on Minato's face? She wasn't sure. It was probably both.

Once done, Tamamo had an hour to entertain herself in whichever way she chose (providing there was not too much chaos), and she picked a TV programme on weasels for once instead of scribbling. Naruto ended up beside Sasuke (she still wasn't quite up to sitting directly next to her father without freezing up), but she couldn't help laughing when Tamamo jumped up onto his lap to watch the programme.

She had taken a liking to him, likely finding him familiar from her trips to the hospital, but probably because he had been willing to share his food with her. He had been rather shocked, but Naruto soon discovered just why he had chosen paediatrics. Tamamo was a good kid, but she did have her stroppy moments, especially recently.

Her father had tamed her little hell spawn in three minuets flat.

Eventually the hour ended when Tamamo fell asleep on Minato's lap, and Naruto took over. Heading for Tamamo's room with the snoring girl, she was surprised when he knocked on the open door behind her. She looked up from trying to open Tamamo's pyjama drawer (it was stiff) to look at him in surprise.

"I was just... I wondered if you wanted any help since Sasuke was going to follow you..." he started, his eye's straying to the chest of drawers.

Naruto flushed a little and nodded – normally that drawer was easy to open, but not when her arms were full of hell-spawn. One of them was always required to open it at bed time. Naruto was about to reply when Minato crossed the room and yanked on the handle. The drawer opened, and he handed her as set of the many green pyjamas contained within.

Naruto was nervous as she re-dressed her daughter in the green night clothing – she was distinctly aware of the fact that she had yet to tell him that Tamamo wasn't an only child anymore. She had to tell him, but she didn't know how to say it. Not once all night had she found an opportunity to bring it up.

"Are you alright?" he asked as she started laying Tamamo down in her bed.

Tucking the sheets around the red-haired girl, Naruto realised if she was going to tell her father tonight, now was going to be her only chance to do so. Gathering her courage, she replied.

"That depends on your point of view... in all honesty, there was another thing I wanted to tell you tonight... aside from, well..."

Naruto gestured between the gab between them with one hand pointedly, not really having the words to refer to their slowly growing relationship directly. He seemed to forgive her for her unusual speechlessness.

"What was it?"

Naruto gulped, and tried to get the words out. They didn't come. God, this was terrifying. It was one thing telling Iruka about Tamamo, was this overwhelming fear what Sasuke had felt when he told his parents about Tamamo? No, his family was rather logical – apparently it had been a rather civil affair.

Even so, it was terrifying; she couldn't hide it forever though, so she swallows again, took a deep breath, and looked him in the eye for the first real time since he had entered the flat.

"I'm... I'm pregnant again... I didn't want to tell you, but Sakura said I couldn't exactly hide it, and that I was being a wimp, but it's like... I only found out you're... that we're related... a month ago, so it's kind of... huge right? Ah! That's not a pun! I just meant that it was sort of overwhelming to you since-"

He stooped her panicked rambling by covering her mouth with a hand, laughter sneaking from the corner of his grin. After a pause to make sure she wasn't going to ramble some more he pulled his hand away and gave her a firm smile instead of a grin.

"Is it a good thing? You didn't have a panic attack this time?" he asked.

Naruto wondered how he knew about her panic attack when she tried to get an abortion, but decided not to ask. Instead she shook her head and grinned, identically to the ones she had seen him use throughout the evening. Satisfied, he ruffled her hair for a moment before giving her a short quick hug.

"I can't say it isn't... a surprise, because it definitely is, but if you're happy then who am I to say anything? Congratulations!" he mumbled, tightening his arms around her, before letting go.

Naruto started at him for a moment, before gluing her own arms back around his back. She barley reached the top of it, but just like with Sasuke it was... it felt so reassuring and... safe, but it was different at the same time. She felt his fingers running through her hair before reciprocating the action again.

"...just let me come along to one of your sonograms or something? I know Sasuke gets first priority, but I'd..."

He left it hanging but Naruto nodded all the same into his chest. She stood there for a few more moments, enjoying the feeling of being hugged by her father, before embarrassment came flooding back, and she calmly pulled herself away, turning to fiddle with the baby monitor.

"Out of curiosity, are you still going to be going to General for your scans?" Minato asked, a note of serious in his voice; she knew exactly what he meant.

"...I'm not sure. Tsunade is still my doctor so... I was going to get it changed but I don't know if it would be better to go to 's instead. It isn't as good there but... Well, awkward isn't close to the word I'd use..." Naruto replied honestly.

She couldn't exactly hide her extreme dislike of his mother; she didn't quite hate her for the simple reason she had at least taken the time to find a place for her. That was the only saving grace for the woman though, and Naruto was certain she wouldn't be able to stand in the same room as the woman right now, even if she had the self control not to punch her again.

Glancing towards her father apprehensively, she didn't seem to find any sort of insult on his face; understanding mostly. After tucking the sides of Tamamo's covers down, Naruto plugged in her night light (it was a glow-in-the-dark fox she'd found by sheer luck in a sales bin), and headed through the door back to the living room.

Sasuke was suspiciously glued to the programme that followed on from the weasel documentary – some sort of gossip programme regarding two celebrities. Sasuke hated those programmes. She just knew he had been eavesdropping just to the side of the door-frame. She forgave him for it though – she'd probably have done the same.

He feigned surprise when the came back in, and stood up to join her at the door when Minato announced he would best be leaving if he wanted to get a good timed train back to the flat.

Naruto's face was beet red when he ruffled her hair with a grin, telling her to take care of herself until he saw her again. He was about to leave when he turned back to Naruto.

"...I can't blame you for considering St Tobirama's but the gynaecology section there is... Well, I worked there when I was an intern for a while and it wasn't very good. My room-mate works in General's section, so if you can stand that... Well, would you consider staying in General? I'd feel better about keeping an eye out that way... or something... He's a guy so it might be weird, but he's good. Really good... He owes me more than enough favours so-"

"I'd like that... I didn't really want to go to Tobirama's, but... well... uh..."
"I understand – I'm having a hard time looking her in the eye myself..." Minato replied, almost laughing as Naruto's flushed bright red again.

"This was... good. You should come over to mine next time, or my father's... He keeps bugging me about you, so if anything you'd be helping me shut him up... Just him and my brother, I promise!" he grinned, awkwardly but it was still cheerful.

Naruto looked like she was about to burst from all the red on her face, or cry. Either was as possible as the other. Instead of saying anything she nodded like a toy dog in the back of a car.

After some more awkward, but still good drawn-out goodbyes, the door finally closed; once she had snapped all the burglar locks shut, Naruto stood staring at them for a moment, before flopping down onto the floor, landing on her but with a clop.

"Are you okay? He asked.
"Th... That was so weird and scary but... I feel all mushy..." Naruto replied somewhat dazedly.

Sasuke contemplated that for a few moments before laughing at her. He regretted it when Naruto's hormones got the best of her mixed emotions and she started crying. He really wasn't good with crying.

Minato's room-mate turned out to be a man of the same age with red hair named Nagato. He was rather quiet, almost shy at times, but seemed interested to meet them when Sasuke and Naruto turned up for her first ultrasound.

"I couldn't believe it when he told me you know – I honestly thought it was some sort of prank. He was quite fond of them when we were interns... Our supervisor absolutely hated that of course, but they could never catch him at it..." the man conversed, spreading some of the cold gel on Naruto's still flat stomach.

She had just passed the two month stage, so she wasn't showing yet. In fact, it was the exact same time that she had experienced her first ultrasound with Tamamo, eight weeks; in spite of that she had already dug out the jeans with stretchy fabric on the front for future use from his mother's cupboard where they had been in storage. Last time it was five months, and she had been near forced into them.

Future reservations aside, this really was a good thing this time around; Sasuke didn't care that they were still pretty young. It felt good, the way it should have when Tamamo had been in the same stage.

"So that's where you get it from..." he muttered, giving his girlfriend a pointed look, shifting Tamamo on his lap as she chewed on a teething toy. She didn't have many teeth left to grow, about a third, but the irritation was still there.

Naruto ignored him, a sheepish look on her face as Nagato began running the scanning part of the ultrasound machine over the gel, watching the screen carefully. Naruto gripped his hand, biting her lip in anticipation as the black and white images appeared on the screen.

"Well, they're not very big yet, but that's definitely two heartbeats I'm picking up; twins" Nagato informed them, earning two dropped jaws for his words.

"Again? Tamamo was a twin originally too... Is that odd?" Sasuke asked, recovering form the shock first.

Twins. Not one hell spawn. Two hell spawns. He hadn't been expecting that a second time, but maybe it was a good thing? Naruto looked somewhat petrified, but at the same time curious and rather smug.

"Well, a lot of pregnancies start out as twins, but twice in a row isn't common either... It can run in families though; are there any twins in yours? I know Minato isn't a twin..." Nagato asked, digging through Naruto's hospital record to the relevant pages.

"Yeah... my mother's got an identical twin sister in Earth Country, and my brothers are fraternal... I think I was supposed to be a twin, but she had a miscarriage a few month in or something too..." Sasuke replied after a brief moment of thought.

Naruto nodded, already aware of this information herself, but still more interested in the two tiny beings on the screen. He didn't know if it was more out of shock than wonderment, but she looked happy all the same.

"That may be it then – a strong genetic link can be an influence. It says here that you had a miscarriage fairly early on, and you had a few problems during labour with your first pregnancy, so I'm going to prescribe you a couple of extra prenatal vitamins..." Nagato advised, flicking through Naruto's old file before picking up his clipboard and scribbling something down on a slip of paper.

"...They should help you keep your strength up and reduce the risk of another one. They're common at this stage, so take extra care to eat right and avoid stressing yourself out too much. Plenty of rest, that sort of thing. Do you want a photo?" he asked, going to Naruto's new file and writing again before tuning to the screen.

"Please" Naruto replied, still staring at the screen.

She glanced back at the two year old on his lap, and grinned. Naruto held her arms out towards the girl, and of course Tamamo was eager to join her mother on the small bed. Naruto started whispering to the girl, pointing at the screen, then placing Tamamo's small hand on her flat belly once Nagato had wiped the goop off.

He couldn't help but smile at the sight; there was a knock at the door, and Sasuke turned to see a familiar blonde in the doorway. Just not the one he wasn't to see. Thankfully Nagato noted the sudden chilly tension in the room, and hurried outside to speak with Tsunade about whatever she had come for.

"Are you okay by yourself for a moment?" Sasuke asked, once Naruto had recovered from the instant of unwanted surprise of seeing her grandmother.

Naruto stared at him in surprise, almost shock for a moment; something about the expression on his face must have made her relax though, because she nodded, and struck up explaining to Tamamo what being a big sister meant again. Taking that at his cue, he got up from his seat and followed Nagato out of the door.

They weren't far away, and he soon caught up with them. He hung back until Nagato had finished speaking, before heading towards the woman by himself. He could have sworn he hear Nagato mumble 'don't be too mean' as they passed, but he didn't pay much heed. He wasn't going to punch her, though he very much felt like it.

Her face looked weary on close inspection, but not like she was surprised that he had followed her.
"Hello Sasuke" she greeted calmly in spite of the obvious tension.

"Cut the pleasantries Tsunade; I wouldn't be talking to you if I didn't have some things to say that you need to listen to..." he replied, not loudly, or in a sudden burst of anger, but in an icy tone accompanied by an equally icy glare.

"In case you hadn't heard, Naruto's pregnant again, so were going to be here quite a bit in the future. The medical care is better, and her Dad wants to get to know her. The last time she was pregnant, she had a miscarriage. It wasn't because she didn't look after herself, it was stress of actually having a blood relative. Family freaks her out, but she's got one now..." he started, not once dropping his glare.

Tsunade remained somewhat grim faced, but she seemed to be listening sincerely.

"... I can't say she's completely at ease around Minato yet, but... she's actually looking forward to this, she's not freaking out now... so in the interests of making sure she doesn't have another one, could you please not do anything to put her on edge? Don't go near her unless either she or Nagato tell you to. You've done enough damage without stressing her out any more..."

Tsunade did look guilty with that last comment, very guilty; the weariness struck him again, and he realised that while she had done a heck of a lot of wrong, it hadn't been for being completely inhumane (in his opinion). She was just been being a parent in way, and he at least understood that.

"...I get it. I understand why did what you did, but it doesn't make it any less wrong, or any less problematic for her. You're her grandmother, and you have been looking out for her in your own screwed up way, but if you want any chance of getting back in her good books, then stay away until she comes to you..." he added.

She perked up a smidgen at that, not much, but it was enough to erase his irrational moment of having guilty conscience – really, why the hell should he be worried about offending her after all she had done? It was the other way around! He'd seen her looking at Naruto, at the ultrasound screen when she came in! She had no right, not when Naruto was right there in front of her!

"...You can go through her files to keep an eye on her, ask Nagato, I don't care what as long as you stay away from her right now. If she gets some sort of pregnancy disease that Nagato needs your help to deal with, then fine, but if not... if you go near her, I really will punch you like I want to, and it'll be a lot harder than Naruto did" he finished, still staring at her unrelentingly.

Tsunade said nothing, apparently taking his 'advice' rather seriously. After a few moments she opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she caught sight of someone behind him. He heard Tamamo's excited demands for food as Nagato explained the pre-natal vitamins he had prescribed to her mother.

She closed her mouth, glanced once at him, before turning around and walking away, flipping through the pages on the file in her hand. Moments later, Naruto appeared next to him, and he let out a slow breath of pent up anger. He gave her a sloppy one armed hug and kissed her on the forehead.

"What did you say to her?" Naruto asked, almost warily before shushing Tamamo when she made a loud request for food, promising to get something on the way home.

"I gave her some advice. She listened" he replied, hoisting his fussing daughter up onto his shoulders – piggybacks always distracted her. Tamamo fisted her hands on his hair, securing her legs against his chest with an excited giggle. He grasped one with his hand to keep her from falling off.

"Sasuke..."
"What?" he asked, turning to face his girlfriend.

"Thanks... she really scared me for a second..." Naruto mumbled, staring at her feet as she forced the admission out; she would rather have crawled into a pot of boiling oil than do that a few years ago.

He said nothing, instead linking his fingers with Naruto's, and ushering them in the direction of the pharmacy on the ground floor to pick up the prescriptions. Naruto tightened her fingers once, and then started showing him the pictures of the ultrasound, the brief mar on an otherwise happy event completely forgotten.

Updated :D

Kudos to anyone who can spot the TV reference in this; I'm afraid Americans will be at a disadvantage, I don't know if it showed in America, but Brits feel free to guess which tv-programme showed up in this. If your a 90's kid like me, you'll probably recognise it ^^ Because you liked it, or because it scarred you for life however... -_-;

And yes, I planned on Naruto getting preggo again early on. This isn't just for the sake of it - the idiots didn't get a chance to appreciate her first pregnancy, and Tsunade will play her role in a good way with it. She won't be compleetly forgiven but it'll be a start. And yes, twin genetics run in families. Not usually as well as Sasuke's but it isn't unheard of, and alot of pregnancies do start out as twins. But one just disappears at one point - it imaginatively called a 'disappearing twin'.

On a note of shameless story-advertising, got a new comedy-ish fic started called Konoha Boarding School. There's also a series of cosplay videos on YouTube with the same storyline. Ish. Go have a peek at my terrible attempt at humour if you dare.

Till the next update!
Nat.
xxx