Wow I think its been longer than usual... SORRY! I know this excuse is used a lot but I am in school!

I have had little to no time to write anything but art papers and speeches T_T but didn't forget about this story (its my favorite)

I DO have a spin off surprise for you guys too, (its already 10,000 words) don't know how it got that high it was supposed to be a short story...

Anyway hope you like the new chapter for now :D

Chapter 9: Come Back

"No." Gaara stated bluntly again.

"Please." Naruto whined for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Naruto stood in the Kazekage's office talking with Gaara while Sasuke and Rai sat in one of the office chairs together. Sasuke looked completely bored out of his mind but Rai was past that he was now looking for something interesting to get into. They didn't really hear the grownups conversation and honestly weren't trying after they'd been basically smuggled into the village under cloaks.

"I just need you to take care of them for like a week. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." Naruto pleaded for the millionth time. Really, Gaara acted like he was asking him to give up his arm or something. Actually Naruto was pretty sure Gaara would have given him his arm by now.

"One week? You'll be back? And you will own me." Gaara finally relented a bit. Naruto perked up and instantly grabbed the opportunity.

"Great!" Naruto agreed before turning to the little blond and raven, kneeling in front of them just as Rai was about to slip out of the chair to 'look' at something that caught his eye. "You two be good for your Uncle Gaara and I'll be back in a week, okay?" Naruto hugged them both not waiting for an answer to his rhetorical question.

Quickly getting up and turning around Naruto was out the door before either boy could protest, shouting a "Thanks Gaara!" over his shoulder so Gaara didn't have the time to really take in what he'd just gotten himself into. Sasuke and Rai blinked at the door where their father had just left through then turned to each other and blinked again as they realized they'd just been left behind with 'Uncle Gaara'. Then all Hell broke loose.

"DADDY!" Rai and Sasuke both shouted simultaneously as they scrambled off their chair and towards the door to catch Naruto before he got too far. They didn't get passed the doorway before they were grabbed by sand, surprisingly or not the three year olds didn't question it. They struggled to get down screaming for their father for less than a minute before they broke down in tears… Gaara could have killed Naruto at that moment.

Naruto ran swiftly out of Suna, he really didn't want to hear his sons cry and he needed to hurry, before someone from Konoha could get here first. He knew for sure they were coming after he and Gaara talked to Temari. Thankfully Temari hadn't mentioned the boys in her letter to Shikamaru and the Hokage because she sent it so fast and wasn't sure if they were shadow clones or not.

However if his old comrades got there they'd see his sons for themselves and there would be no hiding them then. So he ran out to meet them first, hopefully they weren't too mad at him and he'd be able to get to Tsunade baa-chan without too much hassle. If not Gaara was going to kill him; after all the commute to Suna was normally three days so he was already pushing it.

Stopping for a second he switched into sage mode and took off much faster than before. He could already sense them when he realized who he was sensing though he flinched, sincerely wishing he could just hightail it back… it was going to be a long trip.

A few hours later Hinata stiffened and motioned for everyone to stop. "He's coming." She said just loud enough for everyone to hear, her Byakugan active. Realizing they may not have caught on she corrected herself. "Naruto is coming, quickly." Everyone tensed taking defensive stances just in case, while they all wonder why he was coming to them after hiding so long.

"Alright everyone stay on guard, but don't attack unless I give the signal!" Kakashi called getting a few nods and quiet 'Hai'. No sooner than he finished speaking Naruto stopped in the center of all of them kicking up a lot of dust as he stopped so swiftly. The dust cleared quickly though and everyone was able to finally see Naruto standing there.

Naruto looked older than when the rookies and their sensei had seen him last but not by much. He stood tall but not too tall maybe just under six feet with his blond spikes as untamed as ever. A little less orange on his jacket but still enough to stand out; black pants with an orange strip on each side and black ninja sandals made him seem more mature, but it was his red sage cloak that completed his look.

When nobody said anything Naruto of course took it upon himself to break the ice. "Hi guys." The blond said bluntly with a happy grin. Everybody there felt to some degree relieved that Naruto seemed to have at least not changed on the inside in the slightest. Since the ice had been so kindly broken by Naruto, and Kakashi was supposed to be in charge he decided it was time to get to the point… preferably before Sakura did something rash.

"Hello Naruto," Kakashi greeted. "So nice of you to meet us part way. I don't suppose you'd mind coming back with us to the village?" Kakashi asked giving his infamous eye smile. It was always best to ask nicely first after all. Naruto smiled at him widely, he really had missed everyone greatly, but his own self preservation kept him from looking in Sakura's direction. The blond titled his head like he was thinking about it.

"Okay!" Naruto chirped. All the rookies and even their sensei almost fell over sweat dropping. Sai just kept up his weird smile but even he could tell that had been an odd response. Sakura trembled in anger, How dare he just walk right up after three years like nothing's happened! She thought not daring to look at her once teammate in case she'd break rank and try to strangle him.

Hinata kept her eyes down, not saying anything as her team and sensei looked on either confused or in Shino's case impassive. Ino stood by Sakura in case her friend broke down or needed her for anything; she knew it couldn't be easy on the pink haired girl. Shikamaru stood slightly in front of a confused Chouji, watching Naruto with the same face he used when he couldn't quite figure something out. Shikamaru finally sighed, breaking eye contact and muttering what Chouji was pretty sure sounded like 'troublesome'.

"Great!" Kakashi replied happily. "And will you tell us why you left in the first place, Naruto?" Kakashi asked curiously. Naruto grinned widely showing his teeth and his eyes closing, in the way they all remembered.

"Nope!" Naruto chirped again before jumping on the trees passed them and toward Konoha. "Now come on! Or I'm gonna beat you back!" Naruto said trying to release the tension still in the air and get moving. That was too much for Sakura though.

The pink headed kunoichi's eyes shot open from where she'd clenched them shut and darted forward before anyone could stop her. Even Ino who was right next to Sakura for just that reason was taken by surprise and couldn't grab the other girl. Kakashi was going to stop her and probably could have but he had always let his students' sort things out for themselves, which made him hesitate. By time he could think maybe that hadn't worked very well so far it was too late to stop the kunoichi.

Naruto had turned around on instinct or reflex in time to see a sight he hadn't for years. Sakura's fist headed for his face. His body started to move to avoid the hit but on a split second decision he made himself stay where he was. 'I deserve this.' Naruto thought just before pain exploded in his head. He felt himself fly backward before his back collide with a tree. The blond was sure that the black spots and pretty colors meant he had a concussion. He was just grateful she hadn't seen fit to send him through the tree… yet.

"How could you do this you stupid bastard!" Sakura screamed after walking over to where she'd hit Naruto and holding him up by his collar, very close to strangling the nineteen year old sage. None of the other rookies dared to interfere. This was a teammate dispute, it wasn't their place. Kurenai however stepped forward intending to help because Hinata was looking more concerned by the second but Kakashi raised his hand signaling her to stop. She stayed where she was though reluctantly.

"How could you! WHY!" Sakura yelled again shaking her blond teammate for an answer as she came close to tears. Naruto felt part of his heart break, he never thought she or really anyone would really miss him, not enough to be angry anyway. No one had ever seemed to before. She was probably just mad he went after Sasuke without her. The worst part was he couldn't even say he was sorry though, because if he hadn't done what he did he wouldn't have two perfect sons'.

"I had to." Naruto spoke so quietly no one but Sakura heard him, though she barely did. Naruto kept his eyes down to the side guiltily with his golden spiky bangs covering his them. His answer didn't really help Sakura's emotions in the least but she had to know.

"Why? Why didn't you say something? Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura said now sounding more hurt than angry. She was now just holding Naruto lightly to the tree instead of almost strangling him but Naruto still made no move to get away. The blond was speechless at her hurt tone, he hadn't heard her like that since she asked him to bring Sasuke back and it just made him feel ten times scummier. He knew his next answer wouldn't go over well.

"You wouldn't have let me go without you." Naruto said softly. Sakura stilled, she wanted to lash out, she wanted to scream.

"You're damn right I wouldn't idiot. I would have gone with you to get Sasuke back, to make sure you came back." The pink haired medic said angrily but serious. Naruto finally looked at her surprised she'd come not just for Sasuke but for him too. He looked down again before replying.

"I knew you'd want to come… but I had a plan. And I couldn't- if I told you, you would have insisted on going and I didn't want you to have to give up everything. You had a family, friends, a life…" Naruto trailed off. Really he didn't think he had much when he left and what he did, he was putting at risk with Akatsuki. Sakura lowered her own head and pulled her hand back completely freeing Naruto from her but he still didn't move.

"So did you. And it wasn't your place to make that choice for me." Naruto didn't say anything. Yes, he'd had what he sort of considered a family in Team 7, and he had friends in his comrades from the other rookie teams but didn't she see he was putting them in danger? He decided it wasn't the moment to make that point and kept quiet. After a few uncomfortable moments passed with no one daring to speak Sakura broke the silence.

"What happened? You said you had a plan, for Sasuke, what happened?" Sakura asked curious but apprehensive. Naruto didn't look up but even from where Kakashi was the ninja could see the blond tense. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He could tell them the truth like he did with Gaara, but if they knew it wouldn't be a secret anymore and soon everyone would know; his sons' would be in danger.

If he couldn't tell them the truth though, what could he tell them? Naruto knew what he needed to do, what he needed to tell them… but part of him just felt like it was wrong somehow, probably because it was misleading. Anything more though and it would lead straight back to his son, thinking of the little raven haired boy looking up at him with big innocent onyx eyes, Naruto spoke the words he knew would hurt the girl in front of him more than anything he'd said before.

"Sasuke… Uchiha is dead." Naruto had hesitated but it only sounded like regret, thankfully. Silence, total silence was what ruled everyone after that admission. Sakura's eyes were wide, her face stricken. After all this time and everything Sasuke had done, part of her still couldn't help but love him. She knew it was stupid and wrong but it never changed the way she felt.

Kakashi bowed his head, he'd lost another comrade; he knew Sasuke had been 'lost' before now. It just seemed more official when he heard the words. Kurenai bowed her own head in respect while the old rookie 9 now official not nine anymore made various shocked or remorseful expressions. They hadn't known Sasuke as well as Naruto or Sakura but he has still been one of them, and the most skilled of them. To think of someone they had know as children was dead was just… disturbing.

Sakura turned slowly away from Naruto in shock but it didn't stop him from seeing the first tear slide silently down her cheek. Naruto didn't look at anyone but figured one of them would comfort Sakura; he knew she didn't want him to right now. So he took off at a light pace toward the Leaf Village, more morbid than before.

The others were right behind him. Naruto looked back briefly before speeding up a little to see Ino had been the one to stop and help Sakura along. Feeling a bit better that she was in good hands he picked up his pace. Kakashi of course was keeping a close eye on Naruto and felt a little more content knowing the boy still cared about his last teammate… and come to think of it Naruto didn't say he killed Sasuke, just that Sasuke was dead.

In Konoha Tsunade was trying to keeping focused on her paperwork, it had only been four days since she sent Kakashi and the teams out to look for the brat. They wouldn't be back for at least another three or four, possibly more if they ran into trouble. Tsunade sighed re-reading for the third time a document for some business that wanted to start selling alcohol.

She rolled her eyes annoyed as she stamped and signed it. Really she didn't know why they needed her approval for something like that. It should go to some desk lackey or something… maybe she'd look into that later. She berated herself as she looked at the clock again. They just weren't going to be back that-

"BAA-CHAN! I'M HERE!" Naruto yelled busting into her office like he always used to. Every ninja she sent after him on his heels. The blond didn't get far before he had to duck the book she'd thrown at his head. She'd told him a thousand times not to call her that.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT BRAT!" 'A thousand and one.' Tsunade thought as she yelled back, though she was a bit surprised her apprentice hadn't said something about it too. She knew why when she caught sight of said pink haired girl looking depressed in the back of the group by Ino.

"Mission accomplished. Uzumaki, Naruto found and return to Konoha." Kakashi stated stepping up. Tsunade nodded.

"Well done. Hand in a mission report tomorrow morning; dismissed." Tsunade said ordering the ninja from the room. Naruto didn't move he knew the order wasn't meant for him. Kakashi's one visible eye narrowed but he gave a slight nod and was gone in a poof of smoke as everyone else filed out in their own way, some grumbling, though Sakura was oddly quiet.

"Alright explain, now." Tsunade ordered not wasting a second. The only way everyone would have come back so fast without a scratch, so soon, and with Naruto not tied up was if Naruto didn't put up a fight and had actually been coming towards the village from the direction they were going, from Suna.

Naruto frowned in thought, he knew he had to tell her the truth, it was the only way she'd stop sending ninja after him, which was why he had come. But where did he start?

"I went after Sasuke." Naruto stated. Tsunade frowned at him

"I know that, we all do. You said so in your letter. What was your plan and why the Hell did you go off on your own?" Tsunade almost growled at him. Naruto's eyes went to the floor, it was now or never. While he preferred the last option, he knew what he had to do. He wouldn't be able to hide forever.

"I wanted to save Sasuke, and I wanted to keep the village safe… so I started making a plan after Pain attacked. To keep the village safe I knew I'd have to leave," Tsunade was tempted to stop him there but she had waited to hear this for a long time, she'd let him finish. "but that wouldn't do anything for Sasuke." Naruto paused briefly.

"I thought of why Sasuke had left, and how I could change that. I thought about every possible way from time travel to just plain beating the shit out of him." Naruto snorted but didn't look at her lost in his memories. "Finally I figured out what I wanted to do. I wanted to basically give him a second chance, a new life. Without the burdens of the past… I know now that was wrong…" Naruto trailed off. Tsunade couldn't help but feel some pity for the teen, how he said that… worried her.

"What did you do Naruto?" the blond Hokage asked kinder than she'd been talking to him before. Naruto looked up at her his blue eyes looking younger and yet older at the same time than she ever remembered as he was startled out of his thoughts.

"I… I made a jutsu; that took more chakra and control than anything I'd done before. I spammed my clones for months working on it. Made sure it would do what I wanted, but I still wouldn't have the control to pull it off anytime soon, so I created a blood seal to guide my chakra." Naruto took a breath turning away from her; he didn't want to see her disappointment or anger.

"After I finished the jutsu and after Sakura, Kakashi-sensei and I had met with Madara and Sasuke, I was ready. I knew where Sasuke would be that day, waiting for me at the valley to settle who was strongest once and for all. But to activate my jutsu on Sasuke he'd have to be restrained, in other words I'd have to beat him first." Naruto frowned in thought but looked back up at the older woman.

"I finally managed to beat him with… a little luck…" He already had enough to explain, anything to do with Itachi could wait. "Once the jutsu was prepared Sasuke woke up but he didn't have enough time to figure a way out before I started the Shin Seikatsu Jutsu (New Life Jutsu)." Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the name and got an uncomfortable sinking feeling.

"It was working fine but… something happened. I didn't know at the time but I had, kind of, made the jutsu unbalanced after putting so much into it without taking as much out… Before I could finish, it started sucking my chakra out fast. It stopped just as I was blacking out and when I woke up…"

Far away two three year old boys sneezed at the same time. As they sat on one bed despite the fact there was a bed for each of them, the little blond boy spoke. "Hey Sasuke do ya think someone's talkin' 'bout us?Like how daddy says when he sneeze?" Rai asked curiously. Sasuke shrugged lying back on the bed horizontally.

"I don'no, maybe." Sasuke answered not really thinking about it.

"Humm," Rai hummed. "I wonder who'd be thinking 'bout us." Rai laid back beside his raven haired brother staring at the ceiling. Sasuke didn't say anything, it wasn't really something he was asked and he wasn't really listening anyway.

Down the hall at his dining room table Gaara sighed, sipping a mug of hot chocolate. He had finally gotten those, those… kids to go to bed and stop screaming. Having no other choice they accepted their dad would be back soon. Gaara would find out in the mourning what a child's sense of time was. Till then he would obliviously finish his remaining paperwork for the night… and maybe think of how he'd make Naruto pay for this.

Elsewhere Zetsu's eyes snapped open. His open senses had finally picked up a trace of the last Jinchuuriki after three years. They had taken the eight tails almost a year ago in hopes it would lure the nine tails out, but all had been quiet… till now. Focusing to narrow down where the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki's energy was coming from Zetsu frowned; the boy was back in Konoha.

Sinking slowing into the ground Zetsu white and black together followed the signal before he would lose it. After three years he did not want to test his master's patience further by losing the only lead he had found since the boy had going missing.

In Suna two three year old boys had been asleep from hours but the young raven haired boy, Sasuke turned in his sleep and his little eyebrows furrowed slightly as he dreamed.

Sasuke was standing but he wasn't on land… beneath him was a lake of clean water. He didn't know how he was doing that but before he could question it he spotted another boy a few yards away from him also standing on the water like it was natural. The boy Sasuke saw looked like his brother but something just felt like it wasn't Rai.

What really was confusing the raven though was that Rai or the boy who looked liked him was older. The blond boy Sasuke could tell was still a kid but much older than him and Rai. That was when Sasuke realized he looked older too. The raven tried to gasp in surprise and realized he couldn't, and he couldn't talk or move at all. The only thing he could do was watch.

"It's not the future I dream of anymore… only the past… that's where my dream lies." Sasuke heard the words come out of his mouth but they weren't his. He hadn't tried to say anything and if he had it wouldn't have been that. As he watched the blond boy argue and even physically fight with the boy whose eyes he was seeing through the young raven became more afraid and confused. He couldn't even make out most of what they were saying… but the blond boy who looked so much like his brother looked angry and… hurt.

"I won't let Orochimaru have you! I will stop you even if I have to break every bone in your body!" Sasuke heard the blond boy say and his fear grew. He was only three, and he was so scared… but he wasn't even sure why. It just felt wrong. Suddenly the scene changed.

"Are you okay... scaredy-cat?" Sasuke heard the same blond boy at about the same age as he was in the last scene. Sasuke felt himself become a little annoyed at being a scaredy-cat but he nor his body made any move to defend himself. Because behind the blond boy was a huge snake head that he seemed to have stopped all by himself, the boy had saved him.

Sasuke stared wide eyed at the boy who looked so much like his sweet twin brother but the boy's eyes were red, which Sasuke was sure they hadn't been before, and the boy looked almost feral, like a wild animal. It was the blood dripping down the blond's face that was really making the little raven worry though. Put everything together and the three year old couldn't take it, he screamed as loud and as hard as he could.

No sound came out, but that didn't stop him Sasuke kept screaming and started crying, willing himself to wake up. Because this had to be just a horrible dream.

Meanwhile Rai was having a similar dream. The young blond boy made no outward movement but even in his dreams he could feel his fear rising.

Rai felt himself standing on water and thought it was really cool but eventually pulled his attention from the water to see a raven haired boy staring at him. Rai immediately recognized him as Sasuke but he, the boy in front of him just seemed different… The raven haired boy was older for sure but he just looked like his brother would in a few years. What made Rai feel, off, about him was the boy's eyes. Not only were they red but they felt cold.

Rai shivered, he hoped his brother never looked at him like that. The blond stopped thinking as he realized when he 'shivered' he hadn't move. Actually he couldn't move, Rai started to panic when he didn't start to move because he wasn't going the way he was trying to.

"It's not the future I dream of anymore… only the past… that's where my dream lies." Rai heard the boy across from him say. He had no idea what the other boy was saying, but he felt... bad. Before he realized it words were coming out of his own mouth.

"I won't let Orochimaru have you! I will stop you even if I have to break every bone in your body!" Rai heard himself say. While the three year old didn't know why he'd said that or what they were talking about he knew that, he had felt he meant what he'd said with everything he was. Rai watched through the twelve year old eyes of his father the fight that changed Naruto Uzumaki's life and would lead to Rai's own existence, without even realizing what he was seeing.

Before the fight could end though the scene changed and the first thing Rai heard was his own voice, sounding slightly older.

"Are you okay... scaredy-cat?" Rai heard himself tease the boy in front of him that again looked exactly like his brother but older with red eyes. Rai felt a small relief when he saw that though the other boy's eyes were still red they held some fear but no coldness to them. When he noticed why the raven hair boy look so scared though he tried to scream. Right behind him was a huge snake, somehow he was holding it back with two knife like things that he'd seen his father use before.

That didn't make it any less scary though and as Rai realized he couldn't even scream he tried harder, fighting to wake up. This just had to be a bad dream, he'd never had one before but this just couldn't be real! Rai's scream turned into cries as he finally pushed himself back to the waking world.

Sasuke finally felt himself come back awake and gasped as tears started making their way down his face. The little raven jumped as Rai sat straight next to him and started crying quietly hugging his knees to himself. The little raven wiped some of his own tears and scooted closer to his brother; Rai noticed and did the same until they were touching side by side.

After a few minutes their crying calmed and they laid back down. Their daddy wasn't there or they would have gone to sleep in his bed but since they couldn't they just snuggled close to each other and held hands. Both boys had their eyes half opened but were clearly tired.

"Sasuke, I'm scared…" Rai whispered very quietly. Sasuke of course heard and wondered if they'd had the same dream but was too tired to think about it.

"Me too." The little raven replied instead. They both closed their eyes giving in to the rest they needed so late at night after their emotional outburst but kept their hand clasped between them so they knew they weren't alone.

AND CUT!

"Kami defend me from my friends; from my enemies I can defend myself." Unknown (I really like quotes)

/

To my anonymous reviewers:

narutofan : Thanks for reminding me :P hope you like the new chapter ;)

suzanne : Thank you! I hope you liked the new chapter as much as the last :) And the is a reason for the 'Chan', 'no Chan, thing. Good eye, you will know later ;)

BTW: There is a poll for a new story on my profile, if you want to get a vote on what I do next check it out :P