Wow, I'm updating. I know it took a while...but I've been really busy. Well, I'm updating now because I have exams in a couple of days so I really need to study for them, that is why I just typed up a really short chapter. Anyways, enjoy!

It was early morning, Sakura lying awake on her bed, propped up against the stack of pillows behind her. A soft smile rested upon her face, a pale hand resting on her rounded stomach. The thought of having twins was overwhelming but at the same time she was overjoyed. She had always wanted to be a mother.

The feeling of her stomach being so round and fat was foreign to her. It seemed to her like she had gained at least an inch to her waistline overnight even though she knew she hadn't. This made her recall a certain conversation she had with Sasuke after the discovery of her pregnancy...

"Sasuke?" she asked timidly one night before they went to sleep. The sound of him rolling over to face her in the dark met her ears. "I was just wondering...it seems like you are, but I have to ask...are you happy?"

There was a long pause, one that made her heart race. "Why are you asking such a question?"

"Can't you just answer my question?"

"No. Tell me why. What made you ask such a thing?"

A heavy sigh left her mouth. "I don't know," she whispered. "I just wanted to make sure you were happy with this life...your life with me...with our child on the way." There was only silence that met her. Biting her bottom lip, her mind started to go over the possibility of his responses. She was hoping he really was content with his life with her.

"Sakura." He inched over to her and pulled her head over to rest against his bare chest. She closed her eyes and let the sound of his heart beating rush through her. "I love you," he murmured, a warm hand coming to rest on her slightly rounded stomach, "and I love our child. This is the life I want to live." Sharingan activated, Sasuke drew away slightly and saw the joyous smile decorating her beautiful face. He leaned down to her closed eyes and kissed them each before moving to her lips.

He held her close for minutes after he had uttered those comforting and sweet words to his wife. "Sasuke?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Will you still love me when I'm fat?"

Oddly enough, he let out a couple of laughs. "Sakura, you're asking such silly questions..."

"Answer me."

"Of course I will," he said as if it was completely obvious, and in fact, it was. "It's my fault you'll be getting fat. No matter how fat you get I will still think you are beautiful, I mean it."

Sakura sighed, nuzzling his chest. It wasn't long before their breathing pattern was identical and both were almost asleep. In her half-sleep state Sakura managed to smile softly at the feel of her husband's arms wrapped tightly around her and his chin resting against the top of her head. She was completely content with this life too. She couldn't wait until their child was born...

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed suddenly, a thought bolting through her mind. "What if our child is a boy and has pink hair? I doubt you would like that very much. Please, tell me you would still love him despite the color of-"

The raven-haired man slammed his lips against her's and felt her frame relax immediately. "Sakura, you talk way too much," he muttered when he pulled away.

Thinking of that particular scene made Sakura's heart ache. She wanted Sasuke to return from his mission, wanted to feel his warmth, wanted to feel his lips against hers and his arms wrapped around her securely.

She hung her head and heaved a sigh. "Come back soon Sasuke...and be safe."

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"Can I have this?"

"No."

"Can I have that?"

"No."

"What about-"

"I said no!" Tenten finally yelled, her deep brown eyes narrowing at her two children. Neji inched away from her a bit and pretended to be observing a food product with interest. Their trips to the store usually ended up being this way.

Kiyoshi crossed his arms and started to pout, hoping maybe to catch the eye of his father. If he didn't have a chance of getting anything with his mother's permission, just maybe...

"Forget it," Neji muttered as he laid eyes on his son. He reached over and ruffled his son's hair before continuing down the aisle.

The two children were silent until the family got out onto the streets of Konoha with their groceries in hand. Bored, Kiyoshi reached over to his sister and tugged on her hair teasingly. Small hands shot up to cover her head, pale eyes glaring over at him. Before he knew it, Mitsuko was tattling, "Mommy, Kiyoshi pulled my hair!"

Tenten, not wanting to deal with the children at the moment, especially since they were on a busy street in Konoha, ignored her. The small girl yanked on her mother's pant leg and stared up at the woman, wanting justice.

"He pulled my hair!" she screeched.

Tenten merely shot a glare at her eldest child. Neji, on the other hand, decided to handle the situation thoroughly. "Apologize to your sister."

"But I-" Kiyoshi pointed at his sister and let out a defensive cry. "But I was just joking around with her!"

Mitsuko started to sniffle loudly and Neji's eyes widened. The last thing he wanted was for his two-year-old to have one of her crying fits out in public. "Apologize. Now."

"Sorry," the young male snapped, crossing his arms and glancing off to the side. Although it was not heartfelt, the apology was good enough for Mitsuko. Her tiny arms wrapped around her big brother for a split second before she drew away and skipped ahead of the rest of them.

Neji sighed inwardly. Handling kids was not easy. It had definitely been more difficult to take care of them when they were infants, but as they grew older they learned how to talk and run and get into trouble. He just hoped that they would grow up to be good people, good ninja too.

A smirk crossed his face. Of course they will be great ninja, he said to himself, they are my children.

Seeming to know what her husband was thinking, Tenten shot the man a fierce glare as a smile played across her features.

His eyes widened slightly. They are her children too, her's too! Ah, she really is a great ninja...

The Hyuga male was not the type to display affection, but as he stared into his wife's eyes he honestly didn't care who was watching or what they thought. His hand caught her's and she smiled softly at him. He didn't need to express his love through words, just simple actions were enough for the woman. She knew he cared.

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Mikoto bounced up to the counter at the flower shop and was greeted politely by Ino. The older female smiled at the blond and said, "Could I get a dozen roses delivered to Uchiha Sasuke's residence, six for Sakura and six for Hinata?"

Although Ino did not like either of the two women Mikoto had mentioned she smiled anyways and nodded her head. "Sure thing," she replied. Mikoto payed for what she ordered and leaned up against the counter as Ino fished out some change.

"They must be so lonely without their husbands there..."

"Don't they have each other there to keep each other company?" Ino responded, handing the change to Mikoto and perching her elbows on the counter to listen to what the woman had to say.

Dark hair swayed to the side as Mikoto shifted her head, eyes also shifting to the side slightly. "Well, it's a different kind of lonely. Hard to explain. Hinata is used to it more than Sakura since Itachi has been on a couple missions during their marriage already. Sakura, on the other hand...well, this is the first time Sasuke has been on a mission since their marriage. I'm sure she misses him dearly and is worried sick about him."

The subject of marriage somehow always made Ino's chest ache. She still hadn't found the right person, she didn't even have a boyfriend. Hearing about how much these people cared for one another sparked a sadness in her.

Without fully knowing it, she started to think about Sakura. We used to be such good friends...maybe I should take some flowers over to her from myself...

She shook her head and grinned at Mikoto. "Oh, yes, I'm sure she is. The roses will be delivered as soon as possible. Thank you very much." With that, Mikoto spun and walked out of the shop leaving Ino to sort through her thoughts.

No, that friendship is over. There is no reason to go over there and give her flowers when all there has been between us for years was tension.

Ino called to Chouji in the back room of the flower shop and told him she was going to deliver flowers and that he needed to tend to the shop for a while. He replied back and shuffled into the room, a bag of chips in hand.

Briskly walking towards the roses, Ino suddenly froze when daffodils caught her blue eyes. Sakura...

Memories flooded Ino's mind rapidly. She remembered when they were young and Sakura was crying because other children teased her. Ino had been kind to her and helped her out...that was how they became friends. Then they both started to adore Uchiha Sasuke. That had destroyed their friendship.

Staring at the daffodils, one memory in particular fought it's way into Ino's mind. When Sasuke had gotten injured one year Sakura had come here to buy a daffodil for him while he was in the hospital. Ino had personally picked the rose to indicate love, but Sakura had picked a daffodil to indicate hope. That was the day that Ino realized how much Sakura had grown up and how much she herself was still like a child. She knew that she didn't truly love Sasuke but Sakura did, either friendly or romantically or maybe even both.

I can't believe this...Ino thought as she pulled a single daffodil up in her hand. She admired the lovely yellow color before rushing to get the roses Mikoto had ordered.

It wasn't long before Ino was standing at the front door of Sakura's house, bunches of flowers held in her arms. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

The door swung open to reveal a disheveled pink head of hair and shimmering green eyes. Sakura's gaze hardened upon seeing the woman. "What do you-" Her voice died off as she realized that Ino was holding flowers.

"Six roses for you and six for Hinata, from Mikoto," Ino explained, handing the bundles to the pink-haired woman.

The only flower left in Ino's hand was what Sakura was observing. A single daffodil. "You must miss him a lot, it must be hard on you," Ino mumbled, holding the flower out towards the woman. "I brought you this. And congratulations on your pregnancy. I hope Sasuke returns safely and you have healthy children."

"Why are you-" Sakura choked out, shaking her head from side to side. "Why are you being so nice to me? We've despised each other for years now..."

It was truly difficult for Ino to swallow her pride and be kind to Sakura after all these years. She glanced off to the side. "I've been thinking about how it used to be. Our friendship took the wrong turn, but now that whole 'Sasuke' situation is behind us. You got him and I'm over him, so why are we still fighting?"

Translucent tears dripped from Sakura's cheeks and onto the ground. "I-I don't know..."

"Neither do I. And right now it seems like you're having a tough time dealing with your pregnancy and Sasuke's absence. Even if we are not friends...I still feel like...I should do something for you." Ino held the flower closer to Sakura and the woman eventually took the item. "I know you prefer daffodils over roses."

"I-Ino..." Sakura stammered. Seconds later roses were scattered across the ground, Sakura's arms wrapped around the blond and the daffodil was clutched in one hand. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem," the woman replied, wrapping her arms around the pink-haired woman in return. "Forehead."

"Pig." The years of resentment seemed to melt away and they shared a laugh together, holding each other tightly. Even after all those years of fighting, they still cared for one another.

Sakura broke away from her and bent down, snatching up a rose. She handed it to Ino. "I know you prefer roses." Giving a soft laugh, Ino nodded. Green locked with blue as they looked at each other. "Ino, I'm glad you came..."

"So am I." Glancing down, Ino blinked a couple of times at the roses. "Come on, let's pick these up and get them some water!"

Hinata watched from a little ways into the house, a soft smile flickering across her face. It was nice to see those two patching things up with their relationship. It wasn't very stable at this point, but she knew they would catch up on things and eventually become great friends again. This time nothing was standing in their way of being best friends. Hinata was happy, yet a pang of sadness hit her. She knew Sakura wouldn't ever forget about her. She was positive nothing in their relationship would change, but it would definitely take some getting used to the fact that Sakura would be hanging out with Ino again.

As the two women passed by Hinata, Sakura cast her relative a bright smile and Ino also smiled meekly at her. Hinata knew it was not just Ino and Sakura that would be bonding, she would also be bonding with Ino. This was time for change. The dark-haired woman smiled back at the blond and followed them into the kitchen.

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"I-I want my mommy!" one child wailed, gazing up at Kumiko with glistening eyes because of unshed tears. The man smiled wickedly and leaned down to whisper in the child's ear, "You want your mommy? Do you? Well, guess what? I don't care. I'm the one taking care of you now, the one that provides you with shelter and food. You don't need her anymore."

Leaving the child to cry silently, Kumiko strode across the room and peered down at a group of young boys. "Master, when are we going to train?" a couple of them asked in unison.

The brown-haired man smiled kindly down at the group. "Ah, maybe later. I'm not making any promises though. I have some business to tend to."

The children gazed up at him with grins upon their faces, nodding in understanding. Those were the children that had been with the man for at least a year or more, the ones that grew to respect and obey him.

Kumiko was a young man that had a plan to raise children he kidnaped to obey him and do as he instructed them to do. His ultimate plan was to one day have these children trained well enough to take over villages and one day start his own Empire. His friends since childhood had agreed to work with him and he had agreed to let them each rule a certain part of the Empire just under his own status.

The blond, Tsuki, strolled over to him and grinned. "What's on your mind?" she asked softly.

"Nothing...just thinking of how we can kill those Leaf ninja..."

His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and frustration. Tsuki rocked back and forth, waiting for him to say something. When no words were uttered, she gave his back a light rub with her hand. "We'll get them somehow," she assured him.

Well, that is the chapter. I was going to write more, but because of my exams I really need to get studying. Sorry Sasuke, Itachi, and Shikamaru weren't in this part of the story, but now you know what Kumiko's plot is. I want to try and hurry the mission up because I want them to get home. I miss them being with their wives! So hopefully I can get them home soon!