DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe. This Natsumi is mine, though. So is Ichika! And little Haruka.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Natsumi speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

AKA: PART 2 to "Why (and How) Naruto Sent His Twin Sister Back In Time

Three days and 12 hours after Naruto and Natsumi left for Uzushio -

Tenzo glared at the two seals again and rolled them up angrily. Thrusting them under his arm he shot a furious glare toward his Hokage. "How could you do this?"

Kakashi hung his head. He'd already explained how - and why - and Naruto's agreement to most of it. Naruto agreed to as much of it as he'd known about anyway.

"I loved that kid, senpai! Natsumi-chan was MINE! Just because you didn't want her..."

"I did… I," Kakashi choked on his words. "Tenzo, she's my…"

"No, you didn't. You're selfish! Which is one reason why Uchiha Sasuke is out there running around, free as a bird, while MY kawaii former-Genin is… Natsu's…"

Kakashi looked up and quickly looked away again when he saw his precious kohai's big teary eyes. He'd known damn good and well that Tenzo saw Natsumi as a daughter or niece or something. And he hadn't even consulted him. Whether or not she is somehow my mother via Kushina and Minato. "Tenzo, you know that it's my job as Hokage to…"

"Fuck off, Kakashi!" Tenzo slammed the door behind him as he took off to do something about this.

- Something crazy.

Kakashi didn't go after him. He thought he'd hated himself before but knew now that the previous feeling was nothing compared to This.

Six days and 15 minutes after Naruto and Natsumi left for Uzushio -

Having secured his office, Kakashi went to turn himself into Tsunade-sama. His predecessor was supposed to be outside of the village but he'd had his ninken paying CLOSE attention to her whereabouts since she took off on her post-Hokage + Yakuza Friends Gambling Den Tour. Almost as if by divine intervention, the Godaime had snuck back into the otherwise-empty Senju Compound two days ago.

He should've gone to her immediately but Kakashi had been increasingly ill and unable to keep anything down. He also felt that he owed it to her to allow the woman who had once been dragged back to the village to have a couple of extra days off before she was probably forced to resume the duties of Hokage. And, of course, he'd promised Naruto seven days. He couldn't put it off any longer, however. He could barely walk as it was.

Or maybe this was because he was a complete coward: all of it.

As per the norm and for what he knew would be the very last time, he received kind nods and shout-outs from his fellow citizens and guests of the village. After today, they'll be calling for my head. The demands will come not only from Konoha but the rest of the Elemental Nations. He mustered a wave when he saw a few of the other Jonins at the Dango stand and wished that he could spend a little time with them. But that would be a lie and…

*SHWOOO*

He turned a very dry look to a still-recovering Anko who had thrown a chewed-up dango stick at him. Instead of responding, he simply nodded at them and continued moving forward.

He was surprised that Tenzo hadn't outed him as the selfish bastard and utter scumbag he was already.

Tsunade buzzed him in without checking to see who was on the other side of the stately Hashirama-crafted Senju Clan compound gate. He knocked on the door to her house and felt the world turn upside down.

"Kakashi?" she asked in shock after opening the door. The man was about to fall on his face!

Kakashi wasn't sure what was happening. He supposed it was dehydration but he felt more like he was chakra exhausted. Everything had turned white for a second: it was all so bright, he couldn't tell up from down. He opened his eyes again and gazed with one eye at the sunset-red hair of his student's sister. Something was on his face - and what was she doing here? "Natsu?"

"What's wrong? Oh my God, Tsunade!"

The next time he opened his eyes, Kakashi was lying down, and knew he'd felt much better. He took a deep breath, knowing that it was now or never. "Tsunade-sama," he began when the woman entered her living room. She was quickly smacked aside. "...Kaa-chan?" he asked weakly.

"What happened to you, Kashi?" Natsumi asked. She looked back at Tsunade who only shrugged.

"You look... old," Kakashi said unwisely but then immediately regretted it. "Sorry!"

"OLD?!" Natsumi squealed, shocked and outraged. "I look badass and incredible for a woman my age. I can't believe you pranked us like that! If I look old at all it's because I have five kids who aren't giving me and your father more grandchildren. But seriously… Are you okay?"

"I… had a nightmare, I think."

.

Natsumi's present time -

"You've been a dick ever since Nawaki-kun died," Jiraiya spat out in exasperation.

Orochimaru couldn't believe he'd said that! Just as the Snake Sannin was ready to sacrifice Jiraiya to his summons, an intense wave of sadness overcame him. God, how he had failed his Genins. And he had dreamed of being a Jonin-sensei!

Orochimaru had been forced to battle so many enemy nins that awful day; his clones that had covered his students had been forcibly dispelled, and when he got back to his kawaii Genins, all of them were dead; Nawaki by an incredibly overpowered explosive tag. He let out something between a groan and a whimper. It took him a while to respond to his… teammate.

"I suppose that's true. So. Why then do you continue to come to me? Why spare me any time at all?" Orochimaru asked. Why even spare my life? He sometimes wondered why Tsunade had, as well.

"You know why," Jiraiya grumbled before throwing his shoulders back, already regretting what he'd said, and turning toward him. He'd just been tired of Rochi's bitching and worried about getting in and out of Ame but that was no excuse. And then there was all the other stuff! "I also knew you knew - and you know that I know you knew, too; hell! We all know! And THAT'S… THAT'S why we have to go back to Ame!"

Orochimaru trudged forward in the rain, hating that he understood exactly what his baka-teammate (and boyfriend if that weren't such a repulsive term) had said. He really had spent too much time around Jiraiya, hadn't he?

And yet, he couldn't stay away from him.

They were nearly polar opposites. Snake and toad, dark and light, genius and idiot. He loved him, though. "Disgusting," he muttered to himself about it. Jiraiya playfully punched him in the shoulder, making him grunt and try to keep himself upright because the idiot had a physical strength, a brute force, that Orochimaru did not. At least it was a human strength, unlike Tsunade's. Their kunoichi teammate was more like an unhinged animal from an alien planet.

"They're going to love you," Jiraiya assured him with a broad grin.

"Right," Orochimaru snarked. "I'm sure your three Ame students will be quite fond of the shinobi who offered to kill them in order to free them of their wretched lives."

"Meh," Jiraiya drawled, waving his hand through the air as he began to move again as if that didn't matter, "I'll explain it. You're not a bad guy, Rochi-kun: you were just tired and… sincerely wanted to help in your own odd, malevolent way."

"...Right."

Orochimaru supposed that he had to hope for the best. If Jiraiya and - for some reason Natsumi - were so committed to bringing the Pervert's students back to Konoha, he would go along with it.

He hoped that Natsumi had recovered by now. He was sure that she would live but when he and Jiraiya had finally left Konoha, Natsumi still wasn't making sense whenever she was conscious.

And she'd been afraid of him, which had hurt.

.

Natsumi repeatedly tried to pry her eyes open and talk to those that she would occasionally hear around her. She couldn't figure out why she was this sleepy - so she eventually left the whole thing up to her alarm clock or Naruto to wake her. He was pretty loud in the mornings.

And always.

She knew that Godaime-sama had been around which was strange: the Hokage had never been to either of their apartments before. She had to be dreaming because… Oh crap: I must've gotten attacked or something. I must be in the hospital, not my room. She tried to sniff the area but suddenly felt much too drowsy to bother with it.

She'd heard her father's voice although it sounded a little different - and she'd even remembered her mother holding her hand which made no sense at all. Unlike Naruto, who had been able to give their mother a hug when he'd met her in his mindscape, Natsumi hadn't been able to touch her at all.

She'd tried. She had tried to touch both of her parents when they'd appeared in her seal. She'd wanted to hug them, or even hold either of their hands. She let out a sob as she thought about how hard it was, not being able to do such a simple thing. …How she couldn't believe that Naruto had punched their father in the gut when he finally found out about and met him within his mindscape.

It was surprising that Tenzo hadn't come to visit her yet, too.

Natsumi leaned against a tree where her twin, Naruto, was trying to master his wind chakra. Her expression soured more and more as Tenzo and Kakashi teased each other. In her humble opinion, those two needed to man up and tell each other their probable feelings. Why was she even here? She had her own team! Oh right, she'd brought them lunch and forgot to bug out.

"Are you sure you don't want to read this part of my book, Tenzo-kun?"

"Stop calling me that, senpai! I'm on a mission: your mission! And it's Yamato: YA-MA-TO!"

The large, dark eyes of a baby - one of her godsons - flashed in front of her, making her jump.

Damn that Infinite Tsukiyomi! –God, it really screwed with her head, didn't it? Was she ever going to be the same? Either way, she needed to get up and report to Rokudaime-sama so she could get the heck out of Konoha. Natsumi desperately needed a break and had always wanted to see Uzushio. Now that the war is over…

All hope is lost.

"Kyoko-hime! What are you doing?"

She glared at the large seal that had been carved into the ground. "I will not leave my people in their darkest hour of need. We're sending the children ahead. Now!" She turned around to prepare her place at another seal - one that, after everyone was evacuated, would soon destroy Uzushio's enemies (and Uzushio) - but was knocked aside. "What's the meaning of this?!" She gasped when the man she had secretly pined for slapped a paralysis seal on her back.

"I'm sorry, hime-sama." He began running through a long series of hand seals.

Kyoko panicked when she saw the error in the seal he'd unrolled and pushed her onto. "You fool! You'll split the timeli- NO - you could split reality itself! You can't do this with a paper seal! STOP!"

Kyoko-hime was right.

Although she ceased to exist in many realities, in others Kyoko made an impact - even if it was simply haunting the dreams of those she was able to reach.

In one reality, she led Uzushio to an overwhelming victory before leading them to eventually conquer the Konoha dogs who had betrayed them when they were at their weakest

In another, she destroyed Uzushio but only after sending all of the village's children to their sister-village, Konoha

In yet another, she found her way back to the idiot who'd sealed her fate and slit his throat

In a fourth, she was found by Kumo nins and was nearly forcibly bred before destroying the entire village with a seal that she'd earlier dug into her body while in captivity

In a fifth - or perhaps this was in two different realities - she found herself as a baby that had just been made into a jinchuuriki

- One of those times, she made a grave error while grieving her lost baby girl
- The other? Her beloved let her sign a summoning contract. The summons had saved far more than one child's life on that terrible day

There were many more shifts and fractures; only a few of which Kyoko would ever exist in or live through

.

Natsumi gasped and opened her eyes, realizing that she was in a hospital bed - in a possibly unsecured room, by the looks of it. There was a window, anyway, and for several moments, she wasn't sure where she was but the sounds outside told her that she was probably in Konoha. Her senses were… shot, for lack of a better word.

Damn that Tsukiyomi: screwing with my mind!

Her eyes closed again and she wondered if Naruto or Tenzo knew she had been admitted. What had gotten her here this time? Sucking in a harsh, dry breath, her monitors began blaring as she remembered just who she was and more importantly WHEN she was - and the battle she'd just been in. "SAKUMO," she croaked.

Sakumo threw the door open and tried to smile at his bewildered and panicked wife. This wasn't the first time this had happened but he kept hope alive that she'd eventually recognize him as her husband. She had called his name out this time so that was a good sign. "Hey, baby. -Are you finally awake?" He smiled more, treating her cautiously, and hoping beyond hope that she was coherent and would be alright. He helped her drink some water and was so relieved when she leaned into him.

Where the hell are the nurses? After glaring at the alarms and calming Natsu down, he unplugged the noisy damned machines.

"What happened?! Are we in Konoha?" Sakumo nodded and shushed her before leaning over her and kissing her repeatedly. "Ew, Sake: I must have terrible breath! But… Heehee - I'm so, so glad you're okay!" She covered her mouth and tried to kiss him through her hand, not realizing that she was… still more than a little out of it.

"I don't care." He kissed her again and again as he leaned over her and easily pulled her hands (one and then the other) away from her face. "I missed you. What do you remember? Shh, shh, shh." Natsumi began freaking out again, which was the last thing they needed.

"I panicked when I saw the Eight-tails coming at you! –-Oh my God! Are the pups okay? Are you?" They were in Konoha; that's what he'd said, right? "Where are they?! I want to see them!" She was so excited to be with them again! "NOW!"

Sakumo took a deep sigh of relief. Boy, she's in a mood and energetic, too. "Hang on. And yeah, baby; they're fine. They're with Ami right now." He shook his ponytail back before sitting down beside her, not letting go of her hands. "You've been saying the weirdest things when you were awake a few times." He smiled a little more crookedly when he saw the way her cheeks heated up before she flushed and made the goofiest, grimacing face.

She looked healthy and silly like that. So beautiful.

Natsumi bit her lip, wondering exactly what she'd said. She had been dreaming about her younger life and some other weird stuff. But Sakumo was still here, right? "Are we good?"

"Of course, we're good. What have I always said, hm? 'If you're good, I'm good!' Now, how do you feel?"

Natsumi felt fine but tired and really stiff. "Why am I here?" The way Sakumo suddenly looked so uncomfortable alarmed her. "What's wrong? Can you please get the pups for me? NO! Can I go home instead? – Please? I've missed them so much!" A nurse came in and a pouty Natsumi sighed and felt like pounding someone because she was not getting any answers. She was asked to wiggle her toes, and that's when she remembered what put her here. "I got stabbed in the back!"

Sakumo wiped a hand over his entire face and let out a groan. "You got repeatedly stabbed with a lightning-enhanced blade, you reckless woman: stopping a damn bijuu. —Don't you trust me? I'm really… I'm not a bad fighter, Natty!" His wife's shoulders came up and she gasped before saying that she DID know that (and making him darkly chuckle although he was relieved. For now,) before she broke down in tears.

"Shhhhh. I was kidding." Sort of. He waited until the speechless nurse left and internally cursed her when she'd done so without telling Natty anything. Considering that she hadn't replugged the awful machines back in, the woman was rushing news of Natty's recovery - please let it be her real recovery, finally - to a higher-up. "Are you okay? Chin up, baby!"

"I want to go home! How long have I even been here?" Something didn't seem right.

Where the hell is Tsunade? Sakumo wondered. "I'm sure you'll be released soon." Natsumi nodded and stretched her back like a cat as she lay in the uncomfortable bed, running her palms down her torso as she did so - and that's when she stopped, her eyes going wide before patting herself roughly. Sakumo grabbed her hands. She looked at him and screamed bloody murder.

Later -

"It's impossible! We were only together once!" Natsumi was FURIOUS. Tsunade - that bitch - was laughing at her. "It was too early in my cycle. How long have I even BEEN in here?! And why the FUCK don't your contraceptives or seals work?!"

"It only takes one ti-ime," Tsunade sang before she asked Natsumi to stand on her other leg and continued writing on her chart. She ignored the other crap her best friend said. She made a mental note to kick her ass in a year or so.

Sakumo spoke while their friend made his wife do tricks. Natsumi was incredible: when they'd reached Konoha, he feared that she might be paralyzed and now she was bending all over the place. She was definitely unsteady and wincing a little but that was easy to understand, considering how long (and how many times) she'd been unconscious. –Not to mention the other thing… "It was four times that night, thank you very much."

Natsumi was too angry to be flustered. "I meant that we were only together the one night. And how long have I been here to look like this?" She patted her very slightly extended lower belly.

Goddammit. She hated ancient times.

"Four times? Well, aren't you lucky?" Tsunade drawled snarkily about Sakumo's apparent drive. The two of them (like she and her husband) had run off exactly once for a few hours - to her knowledge - to get some action while they were in Lightning Country.

"No, I'm…" She looked at Sakumo - alive, well, handsome, and sexy - and began sobbing again. "I'm the MOST lucky, 'ttebane!" She cried out more when she heard herself let out that horrible non-word.

"Kushina's been here a lot over the past two and a half months," Tsunade sighed. "Stop pulling on your hair, Bartender."

Natsumi had slumped, blowing out her cheeks in frustration before she jumped again. "Two and a half months?! No!" How was that even possible?

- When Sasuke put his Chidori through Naruto's chest he was out that long, recuperating.
- And when Sasuke blasted off Naruto's arm he hadn't been able to… Natsumi let out a low growl.

How Many Times have I dreamt of drowning that little shit as soon as he's born in order to save Naruto from all of the pain Sasuke put him through?

Gosh, she was a terrible person but SASUKE was WORSE!

She looked at Sakumo whom she FINALLY realized looked terribly exhausted. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. He smiled and winked at her and Natsumi felt so guilty. "I don't like my verbal tic," she whispered, feeling terrible for letting Sakumo deal with who knows what, without her, all this time.

"Uzumakis are weird."

"Thanks a lot, Tsunade - although that would be you, too," Natsu pouted. "Kurama, what the fuck?!"

"You're awake!"

In her mindscape, Natsumi facepalmed. Kurama was hormonal and weird again, wasn't he? " What. Happened? Why have I been… hibernating?!" Her internal voice had gone quite high when she used that word. What was she, a fox or a bear?

"I was healing you. You were in BAD shape and grievously wounded, Friend."

"Friend?" Natsumi tried to release a genjutsu.

"And poisoned, too! I couldn't flush it out of your body like I normally would. I saved all three of you: thank you very much. Now go away so I can get back to my stories."

"What?!" What just happened with that crazy fox? "Sakumo," Natsumi began but grabbed Tsunade's hand, too. "I can't do this. It's too dangerous! THREE?" she shouted, suddenly realizing what Kurama had said. Her head was promptly shoved nearly between her knees as Tsunade threatened to flick her out of the window if she didn't settle down and breathe properly.

"Ze- That plant man is after me - and after that mission, he's probably not the only one. Madara's out there and…" She stopped, her near panic attack finally beginning to fade when she saw the way Sakumo and Tsunade looked at each other. "You don't believe me," Natsumi said in a small, hurt voice. This is dangerous. This is way too dangerous!

Tsunade shrugged and turned away but her voice was tight. "Nothing is impossible."

Natsumi knew her friend well enough to know that she wasn't completely shirking off her concerns, however. It was either that or Tsunade was concerned because she thought that she was crazy. Oh, God. What does Tsunade even KNOW about all of this? "You have to believe me. –I… I have to be able to fight."

"You need to trust your comrades and especially Sakumo." Tsunade pulled away from her and left, shutting the door behind her. She had looked angry.

"Sake," Natsumi breathed, wincing and not knowing what to do. Pregnant again when that damn Zetsu was on the loose? NO: she'd vowed to never be in this state again - especially not after sensing the plant/man/thing so close to her when she'd had Haruka-chan. She opened her eyes and fisted her hands repeatedly when she saw her husband carefully putting up additional silencing and barrier seals. "What's going on?"

Sakumo pushed her into one of the chairs that were in her hospital room. He couldn't believe how well she was moving now. "Kumo and Iwa are pissed."

"Well of course they are. It was a dumb mission," Natsumi steamed. Sakumo shot her a look before pushing his chakra into the wall. She ignored the warning. She was pissed and probably hormonal. "I get that Konoha had to harshly respond to Kumo trying to take Kushina - those fucking numbnut bastards - but the plan was overkill."

Sakumo raised his eyebrows at her interesting choice of language. "That's what Hokage-sama said at first when we reported in. And he was angry. Dan took responsibility for the decision to go big - as did I - although the results were ultimately good for us."

For now, maybe. "'Go big or go home,'" Natsumi said in irritation, repeating something that Dan often said. "Is Dan okay?" Sakumo was obviously still working, considering his uniform. She might be mad about Dan and especially Orochimaru's near-obsession with making a big impact (really: how Sakumo had talked Dan and Orochimaru into sitting still in Kumo for so long was a testament to her husband's ability to sway opinions.) "I just… Kumo and Iwa are going to be gunning for revenge against us now. We shouldn't have…"

"Jiraiya picked up intel before the mission that I'm going to show you, and you are going to remember who your alpha is; who your commander is. –That's an order, Natsu." Natsumi's beautiful face flickered through a series of emotions that on any other occasion would've made him kiss her senseless: outrage turning into puzzlement before she gave him an appraising look, a hint of mania in her beautiful blue eyes. Sakumo was sure that she would've been too curious about the intelligence to put up more of a fight in any case but with her being pregnant AND out for so long... Stubborn woman!

He unsealed a scroll that he'd been carrying every day for what felt like ages from inside his leg plate and swiped his blood over the seal - and then set about going through the many needed hand seals to open it. "The Hokage didn't even know about this. –Jiraiya brought it directly to me before we left Fire Country. As ANBU Commander, I have access to a lot of information. Even some I don't alert Hokage-sama to. Kai."

"I don't underst-" Natsumi began but felt sick, bile eventually rising in her throat. In a series of large black and white photos, were her three children, Tsunade and Dan's kids, a couple of Hyuuga kids glaring at three little Uchihas, and then Asuma-kun's sweet little face. The pictures were clearly taken from within Konoha while the kids were doing a variety of normal things. "Where did these come from?"

"Jiraiya's spies intercepted or at least grabbed a copy of them - and there were more, too. These children were the ones most in danger, though." He gave her a long, deadly look. "Kumo was targeting what's ours, Natty. Screw whatever trouble we could've been in for expanding the mission; Dan and I were not going to fuck around with those bloodline-thieving Kumo nins!"

Natsumi's heart had begun thumping HARD. "Had I known they were after our pups, I would've killed them all." She didn't recognize her own voice.

- No. She wouldn't have killed the children: like those that had come to aid their comrades in Kumo at the end of their fight, but…

To hell with peace. Straight out FUCK peace! How fucking dare they target what was hers?! Without realizing it, she had begun smoothing her hand over her slightly extended lower abdomen as she tried to turn her thoughts from the violent carnage she'd begun imagining herself doing to those… Scumbag Child-Stealing Assholes!

"We don't have as many spies in Lightning as we'd like," Sakumo said after a few silent minutes. It was silly, but he kept a hand clasped gently on his tense wife's shoulder, fearing that she would otherwise disappear and blow up half the continent or something. That or lose consciousness again, leaving me to wait for the real her again… "The former Raikage's only known relative was killed before we left."

Natsumi's sharpened blue eyes were icy when they refocused on her husband. "How?" As if blinders were slowly lifted from her eyes, she recalled when a young A, (the Fourth Raikage back when she was a teenager,) unfurled his enormous chakra and cut a line through everyone in his path - and then Sakumo barreling into him before he reached her! She choked, finding it hard to breathe.

"I cut his head off. He was going straight for you; fuck him."

Natsumi slowly bobbed her head. Jesus… She really had underestimated her powerful husband, hadn't she? The Fourth Raikage - either the third or the fourth Raikage, really - was supposed to be the fastest man on the planet; his strength was supposedly only outshined by Tsunade. Minato wasn't yet well known, thank God, but he was only going to get faster. One day Minato would have beaten him but Sakumo already had.

She'd known that Sakumo had been working on the Raikage's lightning cloak ever since he first came back from his jinchuuriki hunting mission but the fact that he'd beaten A?

Damn.

She slunk back into her bed and "relaxed" into her pillow as she thought about what happened on that battlefield. "I need to get stronger, Sake. I don't… I don't even know what I'm capable of. I've never done a full transformation with all of Kurama's chakra." She looked at herself, choking up when she thought about how Kurama said he'd saved their… "Twins again," she muttered to herself as she ran her hand over her belly.

"What?" Sakumo asked in a breathy voice.

"We're having twins again," Natsumi murmured. Was she dreaming? Is this a nightmare? –Only because of Zetsu because Sakumo really wanted a very large family. Right now she was just so glad to be alive, to be able to return to her pups - so, so glad that Sake was here with her. That was probably the only reason that she hadn't considered taking… other measures right now.

Her miserable or scared (she couldn't figure out HOW she felt about this) focus returned to Sakumo who'd fallen onto the bed, across her legs, as he pulled at his ponytail. Hard.

"Shiiiiiiiit. Oh… Fuck."

Natsumi realized that he must not have known. "Sake?"

What if he didn't want them? She grabbed his hand and silently implored him to be okay with this. Her emotions lurched in another direction, and she became FURIOUS. He had caused this, too!

Sakumo turned weary, steely gray eyes (with dark bags under them) back to her. "You were right about being outnumbered by our pups, baby." He let out a long groan. "I've been miserable without you. With work… Village shit… And three pups going bananas without their mother..."

Natsumi cursed when tears ran down her cheeks. "You don't want them?" She wanted to slap herself at how pathetic and whiny she sounded. No! She wanted to slap him! God, she was pissed now! Just waking up or not, she was going to kick his ass!

"Of course I do! I was… Natty! Do you realize that I allowed my pregnant mate to battle and pull down a fucking bijuu?! What kind of man am I?"

Natsumi pulled her fingers through her hair, wondering for a second if being bald would make the hormonal madness end - or if she was now making up for nearly three months of it all in one conversation since she was finally awake. "Give me a break. I could've only been like a couple of days pregnant then. You know, I did pretty well, considering," Natsumi hummed and wiped away her tears. "Heh. You got me pregnant in a cave outside of Kumo."

Sakumo gave her a disgusted look that turned into a sweet, lopsided smile as he cupped her cheek. "As long as we're together, we can handle everything. As long as you're beside me," he nodded to himself as Natty kissed his palm. "No more losing consciousness and talking crazy; no more battling for you, though. Alright? And… I'm going to get a vasectomy."

Oh, NOW he thinks that's a good idea. "Shoulda agreed to that earlier," Natsu mumbled to herself before dramatically gasping. "I didn't mean that!" She really hated being pregnant but her pups were awesome whether they were born yet or not. Kakashi, Ichika, and Haruka were proof enough of that.

Oh, Kami-sama! She was going to have five of them. She felt like she probably needed a license to be a damn baby factory at this point.

…

Minutes later, Sakumo didn't like Natsumi's falling expression, her intensifying glare focused on the ground. He wasn't sure it was any better when she suddenly focused on him instead. She looked awfully determined.

Natsumi's breath had hitched. "Did you say that you can keep sensitive information away from the Hokage? –That you won't get in trouble for it? And is this room FULLY, COMPLETELY secure?" Sakumo gave her a slow nod. She dropped to one knee, nearly falling over because of not using her muscles for so long. Sakumo, God bless him, had steadied her. Fist over her heart, she reported. "Before I married you, my name was Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsumi. I am the daughter of Jonin Uzumaki Kushina and Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato. After the Fourth Shinobi War…"

"What? –Natsumi, this isn't funny," Sakumo said in just over a whisper as he tried to get her to stand up.

"Commander-sama," Natsumi said in a louder and more determined voice, "My twin brother Naruto and I were Kurama's third jinchuurikis - since shortly after our births. Uchiha Obito attacked - he was a rogue thought to be dead at the time - when my mother, Uzumaki Kushina, the second jinchuuriki…"

"Stop!"

"NO, Sakumo. There are things you need to know - finally: God!"

"There were things I couldn't trust the Hokage with," she quickly whispered in his ear before continuing as she paced, holding onto the edge of the bed to steady herself as she did so. "I've tried SO many times to tell you but life got in the way, you were gone for years, and then… I don't know! I can't do this on my own! I'm not Magic-Talking Naruto and I'm not going to lose my family!" She was breathing hard now. "Having these babies - having children at ALL is DANGEROUS. But I'm not giving them up! I'm not giving any one of them up! Ever!"

Sakumo took her face in his hands. Natsumi looked away. It seemed she couldn't look at him and he didn't like that at all. He moved to settle her down next to him on the bed again. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Natsumi wanted to either weep or cry out in joyous frustration. -Something like that. Damn hormones and time travel!

There was no going back now, though.

"After the war, my brother used an unknown Uzumaki sealing technique to send me back in time." She swallowed hard and felt enormous gratitude when Kurama's warm chakra pulsed through her; it helped give her the courage to keep going. "I don't know why he did it, but we were visiting Uzushio at the time. It was the first time we'd been there. I'd… basically demanded my Hokage allow me to visit my mother's homeland but I NEVER anticipated Naruto doing something like that to me." She forced herself to glance up at him, knowing that she was trembling - and hoped that she hadn't forever shattered her husband's trust.

She was utterly shocked that he was also softly, just barely glowing with Kurama's golden cloak - as if it was just brushing against his skin - from her hand into his and up through the rest of his gorgeous self. "Thank you, Kurama." When he finally spoke, she was surprised by his question.

"You were originally from Konoha?"

Natsumi nodded but faltered when he began chuckling. "What?"

"Ohhh, Natsumi-chan. I was assigned to watch you because you were from a different village; allied or not. I fell in love with you - and I think you, me - during that assignment. Had Hokage-sama known you were from Konoha, I may have never gotten to know you." And they may have locked you away had they thought this was at all possible. The thought made him sick!

Natsumi blinked at him several times as he pulled her into his arms. "You're not mad? …We're okay?"

"Maa, I'm a little mad but what did I say? 'If you're okay, I'm okay.'" He smiled at the bewildered expression she was making and softly flicked her nose. "Rest… As long as you wake up with your wits about you, alright?" He sighed and grimaced at how growly it sounded. He was a little - okay, a LOT - overwhelmed (and exhausted) but there were certain truths that she didn't seem to get, no matter their circumstances. Plus, she'd been attacked with one overwhelming genjutsu and maybe she was hit again on that battlefield in Kumo.

Or maybe she was being honest and this had really happened. Shit.

"I love you, Natsu. I don't give a rat's ass about where or when you're from." He tried to forever seal the way she began to smile at him so beautifully into his mind. "You're my mate. –That's just the way it is."

A lot of kissing later, Natsumi pretended to sleep after she made him swear to soon listen to her full tale (and for him to take her to her children.) It was clear that Sakumo was incredibly tired and needed sleep much more than she did.

It was only after that, that Sakumo might have started to get really angry. Especially when he woke up next to where Natsumi SHOULD have been. Panicked, he found out that his wife had shimmied down the hospital drainage pipe and taken off to the Senju compound in little more than a hospital gown.

Oh, she is in SO much trouble!

Natsumi ran as fast as she could (as much as she could) to where she felt the chakra signatures that she loved so much. "Puppies," she breathed at seeing them playing in the distance.

Kakashi, Ichika, and Nawaki turned to her with bright eyes. "Kaa-chan!" / "Aunty!"

Natsumi cried with her twins as she checked each of them over after hugging all three of them senseless. "My babies…"

She answered their hurried questions as quickly as she could, assuring them that she was okay now. She laughed and ruffled her babies' wild hair, and felt so full of love (and relief) that she could cry out to the heavens.

"You're finally awake! And you'll be able to come to our graduation tomorrow!"

Natsumi blinked several times, not understanding, at first, what Kakashi had just said. "Wh- I'm sorry, honey? What do you mean?"

They were just babies. There was no way they could already be graduating from the Academy!