Come What May

[Life in Color]

Well this is life in motion, and just when I couldn't run this race, no

The sun burst, clouds break

This is life in color

~Life in Color by OneRepublic

Warning/Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I promise.

Naruto stared down adoringly at his child. She was such a quiet baby that he almost forgot there was an infant in the house. Kiyoko Uzumaki, almost a month old and growing big every day. He was grateful that he was able to leave Soldier House a few days after her birth and spend all his free time cuddling with her and his wife. He would return to work on Monday and just like that his life would be back to normal.

"Hey," He heard his wife whisper from the doorway of their bedroom. "Dinner is done."

Naruto stroked his daughter's soft pink hair before smiling at his wife. "Okay, I'll be right there."

Sakura's had to fight tears from filling her eyes. She loved watching Naruto interact with their daughter. She adored how he stared at their child with pure love and wanted nothing more than to stay and cuddle with them both. Soon, they both finally made their way to the kitchen to eat the ramen Sakura had prepared. She wanted to order something that would be delivered, but Naruto bribed her to continue doing Saturday night ramen.

"Excited to go back to work?" Sakura questioned.

"Yeah, I miss my brats," He chuckled. "It'll be nice being back in the classroom; especially since I can spend a few more weeks with the seniors that are graduating this year." He took a bite of his ramen before an idea hit him: "Hey! You and Kiyoko should come by on Monday."

Sakura hummed in thought. "How about Tuesday? I need to go by the hospital so Kiyoko can have her check-up and I need to figure out when I'm going back to the work."

"Sakura," He began, his serious tone startling her. "If you don't want to go back to work so you can spend time with Kiyoko you can do that." Sakura looked at him in shock. Sure, he got money from FCR and his teaching career, but was it enough to quit her jobs? When she voiced this he insisted that he made enough. "If you love working I'm not going to stop you. I just wanted you to know that it's an option."

"Well I have been thinking of quitting at the hospital," She replied. "I still want to work at the school though because I adore the kids there."

"And I think Akane would be very upset if you did."

"I have a feeling she would be furious." She loved the other children dearly, but Akane Uchiha would always have a special place in her heart. It almost saddened her to think about quitting her job at the school and leaving Akane there confused and wondering why her mother-figure was gone.

I missed this so much, Sakura thought as they moved into an easy silence. The only sound was the slurping of ramen and chopsticks tapping against their bowls. I missed just having a conversation with him over dinner no matter how simple it is. She found herself whispering: "I missed you so much."

Naruto paused, his chopsticks inches from his mouth. A loving smile tugged at his lips as he leaned over their small table to kiss her. "I missed you too, but I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere."

After taking the rest of the weekend to ponder on whether she should quit her job or not, she decided to quit her job at the hospital. For the time being she felt she could handle a part-time job at the elementary school and take care of Kiyoko. She decided to take Kiyoko to work with her on Monday so her co-workers could see her and then place her in the daycare for a few hours. It broke Sakura's heart to leave her, but she knew Kiyoko was in good hands.

"Hi pretty girl!" Hinata cooed, scooping the baby out her stroller. She had seen the baby a few times since her birth, but couldn't help but want to cuddle Kiyoko every time she saw her.

Sakura watched her friend play with the baby fondly, before looking at her desk that was covered in presents and balloons. She began to place each the presents in a neat pile, but stopped when she heard the office door open.

"Ms. Hinata I-" Akane paused when she saw her favorite pink haired nurse in the office. "Ms. Sakura you're back!" Sakura opened her arms to hug the young girl who rushed to her with arms stretched wide. Akane hugged her around the waist tightly, a smile adorning her innocent features. "I'm so glad you're back." Akane pulled away from her so Sakura could get her medicine.

"Do you want to say 'hi' to Kiyoko, Akane?" Hinata asked, sitting down on one of the cots so Akane could get a closer look at the baby.

Akane looked at the sleeping child cautiously, before stroking the pink waves on top of Kiyoko's head. "She's so cute, can I hold her?"

"Sure, as long as Hinata helps you," Sakura replied.

Hinata coached Akane through the steps of how to properly hold a child before slowly placing Kiyoko in her arms. "Do you have her?" Hinata asked, her hands still under the infant.

"I have her," Akane replied. She looked at the baby in her arms in fascination- wondering how she even created. "How are babies made?"

Sakura laughed while Hinata turned red and stuttered: "A-Ask your father."

Akane gave Kiyoko back to Hinata a few minutes later to take her medicine. She was about to head back to her classroom, but stopped and looked at Sakura cautious curiosity: "Can I ask you a question?"

Sakura smiled. "Of course."

"Can I be Kiyoko's big sister? I've always wanted to have sibling, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon."

Sakura couldn't help but chuckle. Akane was right; she most likely would not be having siblings for a while, if ever. Akane was young and would probably forget about the request in the coming years, so she decided to play along. "Sure you can."

"Yay!" Akane shouted, rushing back over to the baby. "Kiyoko, I'm your big sister okay? When you get older we're going to have so much fun!" Kiyoko simply looked at her with bright blue eyes, unaware of the pact the young girl made with her. "I'll be back later to see her, okay?"

"I might not be her, but you can still come back by before you go to daycare," Sakura replied. With a nod, Akane skipped back to class happily; leaving the two adults to smile at her innocents. "She's too cute."

Hinata moved to place Kiyoko back in her stroller. "I think she was serious though, Sakura. I think she really does want to be Kiyoko's big sister."

"We'll see how it plays out. Who knows, maybe she wasn't serious."

For the first time in his teaching career, Naruto was grateful to be sitting behind his desk grading papers. When he arrived at work his desk at been filled with cards and small presents from his students and fellow teachers. He still had anxiety attacks from time to time, but he was getting better at managing them. To take the edge of being alone he played music from his laptop while he waited for his students to get back from lunch.

"Good to see you back Naruto!" His co-worker, Rock Lee, greeted loudly as he came into Naruto's classroom.

"Good to be back Lee," Naruto grinned. "I never thought I'd be so happy to grade papers."

He talked to Lee for a few minutes more until the bell called the students back to the classroom- his fifth hour class strolling in. When he looked at the students in his charge he couldn't help but look at them fondly. Most of them liked him whether it was because they truly like his teaching or because they thought he was funny. Either way he made an impact on their life and that was his favorite part of the job.

The school day ended as quickly as it began, and Naruto soon found himself heading back home to his family. When he arrived at their apartment he scooped his daughter into his arms, holding her gently to his chest.

"How was your day?" Sakura asked, exiting their bathroom after ditching her work clothes for a plain t-shirt and jeans.

Naruto leaned down a bit to kiss her forehead. "It was great! I almost forgot how much I loved being in my classroom."

Sakura grinned. "I'm glad that everything went well…no attacks right?"

Though Naruto didn't like being asked about his anxiety attacks, he understood he needed to be open with his wife about the matter. "No attacks, I promise."

"Great," She said softly, before tilting her head to kiss him. "I love you."

Naruto grinned, leaning his head against her forehead. In his arms was his daughter, and by his side was his wife. He had to be the luckiest man in the world to escape Hell and be able to return to a wife and child. "I love you too."

[Epilogue] [Ten Years Later]

Akane played with the ends of her shoulder length hair as she was given the same instructions she had been getting for the past two years. She seriously wondered how long she would be getting the instructions, but never questioned the process. All she cared about was that she got to spend time with two of her favorite children: Kiyoko and Leo. Akane loved children, especially the two Uzumaki children she had grown fond of. Though her father wasn't exactly happy about the arrangements, ever since she was young she loved the Uzumaki family- calling the couple her Uncle and Aunt when she was ten. She didn't know why she was so drawn to them, but she couldn't stay away. Over the years, she realized what struck her the most about Naruto and Sakura Uzumaki was that even though she was the daughter of Sakura's ex-boyfriend, they accepted her with open arms. She didn't exactly know why they had done so- she was afraid to ask- but she was grateful.

"Aunt Sakura, I think I can handle it," Akane said, keeping her tone respectful. "I've been doing this for a while. I have both you and Uncle Naruto's number memorized, and I know where everything is in the house." Once Kiyoko had begun to walk the Uzumaki's knew they would need a bigger home. They decided to move out of the city and into the suburbs into a three bedroom, two and a half bath ranch home. "I promise Kiyoko and Leo will be in bed by eleven." With a smile, Akane wrapped her arms around the woman who meant the world to her. "You go and have a good time, okay?"

Sakura hugged the fifteen year old, shocked to find that they were the same height. When had she grown so big? She knew Akane was a teenager, but she wasn't completely ready for her to fully grow up. "I know Akane; you know I just like to make sure I cover the basics."

"I left money on the counter for food," Naruto said, moving into the living room with six-year-old Leo clinging to his leg. "Just call if there's a problem."

Akane smiled at the blonde. "Don't worry I have it covered." She ushered the parents out, telling them to stay out as long as they wanted. The two only could have date nights once a month and Akane wanted them to make the most out of it. Once they were gone Akane turned her attention to the youngest Uzumaki. Leo was a green-eyed sweet heart, who enjoyed sitting quietly and drawing; unlike his sister who was loud and always needed to be up and moving.

"Where's your sister, Leo?" She asked, glancing around the living room and kitchen area to see if she saw any sign of the pink haired ten-year-old.

"Here I am!" Kiyoko shouted, bursting into the living room from her bedroom before Leo could answer. "Mom said I had to finish my homework before I came out of my room, so I did it and now I can play!"

Akane had to keep herself from laughing when she saw Leo visibly wince from his sister's loud voice. "Alright, well what do you two want to do?"

"Draw…"

"Go bike riding!"

Akane rolled her eyes at the siblings who of course wanted to the opposite of each other. "How about we bake something?" Akane was glad that they agreed on baking a cake, because she would have been at a loss of what to do with them. It was getting too late to go to the park and she knew they weren't going to bed anytime soon.

She led them through the steps of making the chocolate cake, relieved that they were very interested in the process and that she had their full attention. These two were like the siblings she knew she would most likely never have and loved spending time with them, and showing them new things. What motivated her much of the time was the promise she made to Kiyoko ten years ago when Kiyoko was just an infant: "Kiyoko, I'm your big sister okay? When you get older we're going to have so much fun!" However, now the promise was more along the lines of: "Kiyoko and Leo are two children I have promised myself to look after and treat as my siblings. I'll always be there to encourage them, because that's what older sibling do."

"Akane, you'll always be around…right?" Leo asked suddenly, his green eyes boring into her dark ones.

Akane smiled, reaching to ruffling his blonde hair. "Of course I will."

"Duh," Kiyoko laughed. "She's our big sister! She'll always be around."

That's right, Akane thought, looking at the two children fondly. I will always look out for these two because, though not by blood, they are my brother and sister.

[Author's Corner]

~Come What May has come to an end. I hope all you has read enjoyed and I'm sorry if you didn't. I knew the story wouldn't exceed 15-17 chapter, though I didn't think I would end on 14 when I got back into the swing of writing this story. College and everything else in my life has just distracted from this story, but I feel I have ended in non-crappy way.

~I am thinking about doing a spin off series of one-shots with Sasuke going through life as as single father, though I'm not sure when I'll get around to it.

~Once again though I know it has been almost over three months since the last update, I thank everyone who has reviewed and read the story. Honestly, what really fueled my want to write this again was looking back at the reviews.

~I hope everyone has a great day!