The time was now 11 o' clock, as Sasuke Uchiha walked aimlessly around the deserted streets of Konoha. After the meeting with the Hokage, Sasuke couldn't help but think about what the Akatsuki had done, and where they might be. Half his mind kept telling him to leave the village again and go look for his weasel of a brother. But he knew that he couldn't leave, no matter how much he wanted to finally annihilate Itachi.

Not only did the thought of letting his brother slip away bother him, but not knowing who the other person Mitzuki and Ronin were with made him want to leave all the more. When he had finally come home, about a year and a half ago, Sasuke was put on probation, which meant he would be under current watch by ANBU.

He had learned much from them, including a few rumors about some of the members. He remembered hearing that Mitzuki and Ronin were to be assigned the S-Rank mission, but had also learned that there was a little relationship going on between them, and that Mitzuki's stomach was getting larger for a reason.

'Could that extra person have a baby? Or more importantly, Mitzuki's baby?!' the raven-haired boy wondered. 'If it was, then I can see why Mitzuki and Ronin died; it was stupid to go on any mission pregnant, let alone an S-Rank involving the Akatsuki.'

"Oi, Sasuke! Is that you down there?" his sensei, Kakashi, called from atop a small building.

"What do you want? And isn't it a little late to be out?"

"I should ask you the same thing, but I won't. Tsunade-sama needs us in her office. We have new information about Mitzuki and Ronin."

"Hn." Jumping up onto the roof to join his sensei, Sasuke silently wondered if the rumors he had heard were actually true.

Sakura had never really been all that great with little kids, particularly because she had never had any younger siblings. But here she was, sitting outside her sensei's office, cradling a baby boy in her arms as he peacefully slept and drooled all over her. He had just fallen asleep not too long ago, after having a fit about not being able to take his new toy with them.

Ugh, if I have to listen to that baby cry again, I am going to be pulling my hair out from frustration! We really need to get rid of this, thing! 'I can't just abandon Kiyoshi like that, and besides, we don't know what Tsunade-sama will say about him. And I really hope that he doesn't wake up, I don't want to hear him cry again either.'

Aside from the kunoichi classes she had to take at the academy, Sakura didn't really know much about how to take care of a baby, besides basic stuff like diaper changing and feeding. She was only 17, for Kami's sake! But, she would have to learn sometime, if she ever wanted to have children of her own.

"Sakura, you can come in now," Shizune's voice called from inside the office. Carefully, Sakura lifted Kiyoshi and carried him into the room where Tsunade and Shizune sat. As they waited for the rest of Team 7 to arrive, Tsunade asked Sakura how she had come across the baby boy.

"Well, Tsunade-sama, I was eating in my kitchen when I heard someone outside my house. I went to go investigate, and when I opened the door, there he was, in a basket. Oh, and this note also came with it," Sakura handed her teacher the note and Tsunade silently read it. Closing her eyes, the Godaime Hokage sighed and tried to think of potential ideas for what to do with the baby.

Well, she tried as much as she could before the obnoxiously loud blonde ninja, also known as Naruto Uzumaki decided to kick down her door. The slam of the door against the floor had immediately woken up the sleeping infant, thus, causing him to cry.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing with that screaming baby in your lap? Get it to shut up already!" the enraged fox-boy said, which earned him a prompt sucker punch from the Hokage.

"Shhhh, Kiyoshi-kun, it's ok. There's no need to cry, shhhh," the pink-haired teen said while gently rocking the baby back and forth. After a minute, his crying subsided and a smile could be seen on his features. Finally! He stopped crying.

"Sakura, since when have you been this good with kids?" Tsunade asked with a slight smirk on her face.

"Oh, I'm not sure. I guess it's just…maternal instinct?" Sakura giggled a little.

"Well, I think I've made my decision. Sakura, I want you to take care of Kiyoshi until we can find a foster home for him. I will also count this as a sort of training mission, for the future." Mouths agape, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi blinked in confusion. 'WHAT IS GOING ON?!' they all simultaneously thought.

"So, Sakura-chan is going to be playing mommy for that little brat?!" Naruto questioned. And all he received was a nod from the Hokage, and a smile from his female teammate.

"You are all dismissed for now. Except you, Kakashi, I need to speak to you privately." Tsunade made a movement with her hand, signaling the others to be on their way. Once everyone else had left the room, she spoke again.

"This letter was found with Kiyoshi. I can't tell if it is from Mitzuki, but I'm going to try and do a handwriting analysis. Kiyoshi is Mitzuki's son, there's no doubt about it. She was 5 months pregnant at the time she and Ronin left. But I would have thought that Akatsuki might have taken him, or worse. Kakashi, keep an eye on Sakura's house tonight. I don't want any surprise attacks on my pupil."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," he replied, and with a bow, walked out of the office to watch over Sakura and Kiyoshi.

Back at the Haruno household, Sakura was giving Kiyoshi a quick bath before she had to put him back to sleep. But it didn't look like he would be sleeping. He splashed around as Sakura desperately tried to wash the dirt out of his hair, laughing occasionally when she would be hit by some soapy water. When he was finally clean, she drained the tub and wrapped him up in a big, beige towel. In it, you could barely see his tiny head peeping out from top.

The kunoichi dressed him in a fresh diaper and a pair of footie pajamas that she had picked up from her grandmother's on the way home. By the time she was done cleaning up the mess in the bathroom, Kiyoshi was fast asleep on her bed, snuggling with his toy.

'He is sort of cute, ya know.' Yeah, but he still is loud and whiney. Tip-toeing into the room, she shut off the lights and kissed his forehead softly, silently wishing him sweet dreams.