I'm soooo sorry for taking so much time, but I've been kinda busy and also so very much engrossed in reading a book from my favourite author ever, Murakami Haruki, he's writing style is just really good and I just love his novels!!

But anyway, I know this chapter is short, but I've posted shorter chapters, so... yeah...

I hope you enjoy anyway, I'll try to update soon, considering I'll work on the next chapter of Tlye first and then on chapter 20 of Tsb...

Also, this chapter is dedicated to Black Shadow Fox Shaman because he/she (still don't know) was the only one to review, which i think is sad, but anyway...

As always, please, pleeeeeaaaaassssseeeee REVIEW, because reviews make me happy and make me want to update sooner!!

Enjoy!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the privilege goes to the great Masashi Kishimoto, I merely own the plot of this story and a few drawings that took me forever to finish (considering I don't have a natural gift to draw)!

Chapter 19

He was about to leave the kitchen, after telling Tobi to wash the dishes (how he loved to piss off the guy by making him do petty stuff), when he felt a tug at his pants, actually, 2 tugs, one in each side.

He looked down to see the small twins and raised a brow.

"What?" Kyuuki kept holding his pants with her fingers, looking down and moving her feet slowly on the floor. Ryuuki, on the other hand, was looking up at him.

"Ne, ne, can I go play with Kai-nii-chan and Ryo-nii-chan?" he looked back over his shoulder at the males Ryuuki had mentioned, to see them talking to each other.

"Sure." The small boy hugged his leg (they really were small) and after cheering a loud 'thank you' ran off towards the other 2 adults. He then turned his attention to the small girl to his left, she was still looking down, and it reminded him of how Sakura, sometimes, acted when they were genin.

"Kyuuki?" he questioned, and she glanced up at him for a second, to then look back down and hug her new plushie tighter against her chest. He rolled his eyes and bent down lightly, to then pick her up in his arms and start walking, she was obviously not gonna say anything, and he had things to take care off, like decide who would go meet Naruto and his group to the border.

The small girl, after being lifted in his arms, hugged his neck with one arm, the other still holding the plushie.

"Did you want something?" she squeaked and looked at his face.

"A-anou… etou… I… well… can I stay and play with you?" he raised a brow in amusement and then shook his head.

"I have things to do, I can't play with you." She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"But I want to stay with you." She whined, a pout joining the puppy dog eyes.

He sighed, why couldn't he bring himself to just ignore these kids?

"I still have work to do." He warned and she nodded, a grin on her face and hugged him, which turned out to be quite… weird, since her plushie got pressed against his throat in the process.

He sighed again and kept walking towards his office wondering when he had become so… he didn't even knew what to call it.

He knocked on the door twice before opening the door and poking his head inside, he wasn't about to piss her off again to get punched again and end up with a broken jaw and a concussion.

"Ne, Sakura-chan?" he called out, he had made sure to wait until 1 p.m. to go talk to her, 8 hours of sleep should be enough to at least wake her up without getting punched, besides, his jaw was hurting like hell, he had a really painful headache, it really hurt when he talked or moved his jaw in general and he was starting to see little creatures running around he knew couldn't be real.

"Sakura-chan?" he heard her groan as she turned on the bed to face the other way. After that she yawned and sat up on the bed, her eyes were unfocussed but this time he sensed no danger.

"What is it Dei?" he entered the room and, closing the door behind himself, walked closer to her. Wait, and since when did she call him Dei?... he hadn't been called that by a girl since his sister—

"I think something's wrong." She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and with a yawn she made sign for him to sit down next to her, which he did without complaints.

"Elaborate." Her tone as she spoke seemed different, as if she wasn't the same.

"Well, my head really hurts." She nodded and, sitting on her knees, got closer to him.

"Only that?" he shook his head slowly, every time he moved his head faster he got really dizzy and nauseous.

"My jaw hurts when I talk or just move it." She nodded and her hands reached for his face, pulling his bangs away for better examination. So that's what it was, her 'medic-mode'.

"Anything else?" he paused as she moved her fingers over his forehead before speaking again.

"Every time I move my head faster I get dizzy and nauseous." He ended his sentence while avoiding her gaze, and she looked at him skeptically.

"What else?" he glanced at her and then looked away from her and to the floor.

"Is it normal to see little creatures running around?" he mumbled under his breath and glanced at her, to see her looking worried and guilty.

"Nope." She spoke. "Close your eyes." She paused as he closed his eyes. "It might hurt a little." He nodded slowly and let her do her work. Even if it hurt, it sure was better than to stay like he was now.

"Suigetsu left after he ate by the way." Her fingers settled on each side of his face. "He didn't wash the dishes." He felt her stop and opened one of his eyes. She was twitching.

"You're gonna brutalize him the next time you see him aren't you?" she nodded. "But can you please heal me first?" she giggled quietly.

"Hai, hai, but close your eyes." He smiled and closed his eyes, he trusted her enough to be sure he would be fine.

As for Suigetsu, he felt sorry for the guy, because when Sakura got angry, it was as if hell came to earth, or something like that.

He sighed for the umpteenth time and looked up at the ceiling, since when was he a babysitter? Or something like that.

The small girl giggled again and he closed his eyes, trying to block everything around him so he could actually focus on what he had to do. Sure, he had taken care of half of the (huge) pile of papers and scrolls that had been lying on his desk, but he found himself unable to concentrate properly with the small girl on his lap, she just wouldn't let go or let him put her down for even a second.

"Ne, ne, look!!" the small girl exclaimed and held the white sheet of paper with black and grey doodles in front of his face.

He sighed again and looked down, examining the drawing, or doodle or whatever Kyuuki had done. He raised a brow when he saw doodles he supposed were meant to be people.

"This is Ryo-nii-chan." She pointed at a doodle in the white sheet. "And this is Kai-nii-chan, and then here is Kao-nee-chan and Hana-nee-chan, here is Kisa-nii-chan, and Dei-nii-chan and then here it's you." As she spoke who it was she pointed at doodles in the sheet of paper, he noticed that she had oh-so-casually left Jin and Ruki out of it.

But as adorable he thought it was, he really had to work, he still had half of that huge pile of paper work to take care of (damn it, why didn't he have an assistant?) and he also had to hand a few missions, oh, also, the cherry on top, he had to chose 4 people to go get the Dobe and his group to the border in 2 days. The irony of the cherry on top.

"Ne, ne, do you like it?" and again with the puppy dog eyes that incapacitated him of (even if he wanted to) be mad at the twins.

"It's very nice." His words were forced, because even if he couldn't, even if he wanted, be mad, he was still irritated, and frustrated, because he had paper work to do and decisions to make. But she didn't seem to notice as a grin broke into her face and she squealed, not a high pitched squeal like that of fangirls, just a happy squeal.

He sighed again and looked gruffly at the pile of papers and scrolls he had yet to look at, no matter how good he was at what he did, he left his desk clear every night, but it was always filled with frustrating huge piles of papers, files, dossiers and scrolls in the morning, it was infuriating.

A knock was heard from outside his door and he grumpily muttered a 'come in' while taking a dossier from the pile of paper work.

"Leader-sama." The group of 4 shinobi greeted and bowed politely, he sighed again and opened the dossier.

"What is it?" his patience was running low today, but no one seemed to mind his dark moods.

"We came for the new missions." The one at the front spoke, and he pretended he wasn't aware of the looks the group was sending his way, their eyes examining Kyuuki, who was casually sitting on his lap while doodling some more, and was also grinning happily.

With an irritated sigh he dug into a drawer to his right, still looking over the dossier in front of him, and took out a few scrolls. He lay them in front of himself, between the 'done' pile of paper work and the 'yet to be done' pile of paper work.

"Scroll retrieval scroll, B-rank." He pointed at the first scroll. "Information gathering, C-rank. Assassination, B-rank. Capture and scroll retrieving, A-rank." He pointed at each of the 4 scrolls individually as he spoke, his eyes still focused on the oh-so-boring document in front of himself.

Once again, he pretended he didn't hear the small talk the 2 shinobi in the back were having about the small little girl, although, he had to give the quiet one some credit for his guts.

"Leader-sama, may I ask something?" he glanced at the man, he seemed the youngest of the group, probably a recent jounin, 16, 17 tops.

"Hn?" the boy looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck and took a few steps closer. His companions were suddenly very quiet, observing him as if he was crazy.

"Well, please don't be offended, but, I'm curious." He looked at the small girl, his eyes holding curiosity and dread. "Is that— I mean the little girl —" He gulped nervously. "— Is she your, hmm." He averted his gaze from Kyuuki and himself and then asked the question he hadn't suspected would come. "Is she your daughter Leader-sama?" his question came out with incredible bravery as he faced him head on, the boys' light brown eyes fearful, but mainly curious. He really had to give him credit for his guts.

"I mean— well, it's just that she has some, hm, features that, well, you have, and… hm… I'm sorry if I offended you or spoke of something I shouldn't have." The boy bowed, an embarrassed blush on his face as he kept quiet, waiting for him to speak.

But in all honesty, he didn't really know what to say, so he avoided the answer completely and changed the subject.

"It is none of your business." He stated and the boy straightened, though he kept his eyes down, the embarrassed blush becoming darker.

"I apologize." The boy mumbled regretfully.

"Although I admire your courage to ask the question, when others simply speculate behind my back." The boy lifted his gaze, clearly surprised by his words. He kept his eyes on the boring dossier on the desk and took one of the 4 scrolls he had laid out between the 2 piles of papers, the B-ranked scroll retrieval one, and put it back in the drawer, the scroll could wait, its contents were codified and would take more than 3 months to decode by the best decoders when they didn't have the key to it.

He glanced up at the boy, meeting his still surprised (for the previous words) gaze with a carefully blank one.

Without a word he reached for the 3 scrolls on the desk and threw one at each of the 3 shinobi behind the teen.

"You're dismissed." He told them, his eyes having gone back to the dossier in his hands.

"W-what about me Leader-sama?" the boy asked quietly, starting to sulk.

He looked up at the boy and then at the 3 other shinobi that were still there.

"I didn't dismiss you." He stated offhandedly, and the 3 others took the hint and walked out of the office. The boy tilted his head and gulped, fearing something bad would happen to him for his previous outburst (that wasn't quite and outburst, just plain curiosity poured out).

"How old are you?" of course that he wouldn't do what he had in mind so easily.

"17." The boy answered quietly, still nervous.

"Were you born in this village?" the boy shook his head, his nervousness lowering.

"I was born in a small village in the border of the Waterfall country with the Rain country." He nodded once, gaining interest.

"What about your family?" the boy smiled sadly, looking down.

"My mother died when I was still a baby, I don't know my grandparents, or if I still have them." He took a deep breath and looked up. "My father brought me here, but when I was 9 he was killed on a mission by rogue nins." The boy smiled sadly again. "I'm all alone." He whispered and then grinned. "But I don't mind, I can take care of myself well enough." He knew how painful it was to be all alone in such an unfair world.

"Where do you live?" the boy tilted his head again, the nervousness seemingly gone as the casual talk kept going.

"Downtown, the cheapest apartments are there." He muttered the last part while averting his eyes.

"What's your rank?" the boy grinned.

"I've been a jounin since lat year." He sounded proud of himself, and he let a small, tiny smile for the boy's achievement, he knew how hard it was to be successful when you had no one.

"What's your name?" the boy seemed lightly taken aback but then grinned and bowed.

"Tsukiakari Yukizora." Yukizora meant snow-laden sky while tsukiakari meant moonlight, not a bad name.

"May I ask why you're questioning me Leader-sama?" the boy was defensive again. He smirked and looked back at the dossier (goddamit it was so boring).

"Go pack your things and get out of your apartment." He glanced at the boy to see him with the fear and dread in his eyes again. "I'm not throwing you out." He sighed and then his smirk returned. "You're just getting an, let's say it that way, improvement in lifestyle." He looked at the boy pointedly. "Now get going and come back in 2 hours." The boy now seemed delighted, a wide smile planted on his face.

"Thank you Leader-sama!!" the boy exclaimed, and he rolled his eyes.

"It's Sasuke." He muttered and waved a hand dismissively to the boy, who bowed politely.

"Then I'll be going Le— I mean Sasuke-sama!!" he let another small, tiny smile out at the boy's happiness as he left.

"Ne, ne, I like him, he seems nice." He looked down at the girl who had been quiet the whole time and raised a brow at her innocent eyes. She then got up on his knees, her plushie held tightly against her side.

"Ne, am I annoying you?" she asked quietly, her eyes wondering and afraid. He sighed and shook his head, he was more annoyed at himself, really.

"Then, hm…" she fidgeted with the hem of her baby-blue T-shirt (that Hana had so kindly bought as well as a full wardrobe with the money he gave them for organization purposes). "Do you like me?" he tilted his head at her quietly mumbled words and, after a few seconds nodded.

She looked at him with truly happy eyes and then hugged him so tightly he though he would have to hold his breath so he wouldn't force his throat to work.

"Daisuki wa!!" she cheered, and with a low sigh and rolling his eyes he wrapped a loose arm around her, a gratified and content smile plastered on his face to his growing annoyance and frustration at himself. But he still felt lighter, no matter what.

(A/N: Daisuki wa means I like you very much. I think I built the sentence right.)

"Let me get this straight." The blond woman narrowed her eyes at the blond Hokage. "Now we have to wait 2 days while doing nothing?" Naruto shrugged.

"Yeah, we kinda got here early so… yeah, we have to wait." Ino sulked.

"You gotta be kidding me, and we don't even know where the closest village is." She slumped down in the log she was sitting and sighed. "Just great."

"There's a natural hot spring a mile east." Neji spoke casually, clearly tired of all her bitching about having to wait almost 2 full days to move further.

Ino had been bitching about waiting 2 days in the forest for the last 5 hours, so everyone was getting saturated of her whines, even the oh-so calm Kazekage.

"Right. Why don't we go Ino? That way you can relax while the guys prepare the camp, a fire and get some food for tonight." Tenten spoke, also tired of hearing Ino complain.

"Well…" Ino trailed off and then grinned. "Let's go!!" she cheered and grabbed Tenten, then dragging her away towards the hot spring Neji had mentioned.

Tenten rolled her eyes and gathered her patience, telling herself that it was for the sake of everyone, so nothing bad would start happening.

I hope you all enjoyed, I'll try to make the next chapter longer, I promise!! I hate it when i do short chapters, but it's better to post something short than to make you guys wait lkonger for just a bit more text!!

Please let me know what you think, constructive criticism is always apreciated, it's thanks to that criticism that I've been improving my writing and gotten better!! I hope that, someday, I'll be able to reach the level of some of my favourite authors like, for example, CrAzY-SiLLy-Me, Lady Hanaka, Tasha Ashes, AGENT SYDNEY and LadyofTheDarkSky. they're awesome authors, and i love their work!! if you don't know them, you should go and take a look!!

I had something to say, but since i totally forgot, I'll end my final author's note now...

Oh, I'm still considering getting a Beta, anyone who would like to be, just let me know!!

I also apologize if there are any gramatical errors that i missed.

Well, you should know I love you all by now, very much at that!!

Kimi-chan!!