Hello my good readers! I'm baaaack! Now, last chapter, the team returned to Konoha, and the mission was completed. Now, on this chapter, there's going to be a small time-skip, some flashbacks, and a whole load of Naruto/Mariko father/daughter fluff, with some hints of NaruLucy on the back. Now, I hope you enjoy reading this!

I DO NOT OWN SQUAT!

Three months later

Naruto was leisurely walking down the path to his new apartment, carrying two bags of groceries in each arm. The arrival of the Diclonii had been a huge change, both for the village and for the girls. When Tsunade registered the Diclonii virus as a bloodline limit, people began staring at their horns again, but not in fear or confusion, but with wonder and amazement. They quickly adapted to the village life, and Mariko was sure happy living with her new father. Said father had managed to get the hang of the Hiraishin, although he still had trouble when the seal was on a Kunai instead of a normal paper slip. However, not all effects were positive. The Hyugas had begun a long and rather annoying combat in the council because one of the Diclonii had… well… she had a Byakugan.

FLASHBACK!

Tsunade oversaw the two Diclonii that remained unconscious. She had removed the chips from them and, after some studying, she found out it was meant to alter both the brain and the reproductive system. Once removed, however, everything returned to normal. She had also removed some strange objects from Mariko's body, even though it took all her expertise to do so without harming the malnourished girl.

"Mmhm…" Tsunade looked up from the files she was reading when she heard one of the Diclonii moan slightly, waking up. She was not prepared, though, when her eyes, which she could have sworn had been brown when she was doing a check, were white with a hint of pink, a color only seen among the Hyuga. Upon closer inspection, Tsunade noticed that a pair of small objects had fallen from her eyes.

'Contact lenses… probably didn't want to draw much attention to herself aside from her horns.' Tsunade thought after seeing them. The girl, when she saw her location, began to panic, probably startled by the sudden change of scenery, prompting Tsunade to make her appearance. "Oh, good! You're awake!" The girl snapped her head in the direction of the voice, wondering why someone would be glad she was awake. She extended her vectors, just in case she had to defend herself, noticing how she no longer felt the incredible need to kill on sight anything she could.

"W-who are you!? Where am I!?" She yelled. Tsunade sighed and handed the girl a glass of water, noticing her voice sounded strained and dry. The girl was wary about drinking, though.

"Don't worry, it's clean. I swear it on my life." Tsunade told her. Still wary, the girl took a small sip. Seeing how it tasted normal, she greedily drank all of it, relishing the feeling. "Now, to answer your questions, you're in the Konoha General Hospital. I sent a team of Shinobi to rescue the Diclonii from that hellhole you were being kept in. As for whom I am, I am the Hokage, the leader of this village. Now, how about you tell me who you are?" The girl's eyes widened upon learning she was free, realizing she now owed this woman and the team that rescued her a life debt.

'Might as well as start repaying by giving them my name…' She thought, struggling slightly to remember her real name. Apparently, being called a number for most of your life could cause this. The only reason she managed to remember it, was because she had scratched her own name into the wall of her cell, along with the names of her parents. "My name is Hikari Hyuga."

FLASHBACK END

Needless to say, those words caused massive chaos within the white eyed family. When asked, she told them the name of her father and mother, after overcoming the shock that there were other people with eyes like hers. After checking their records, her father was an exiled Hyuga, although the reasons for the exile were lost. It was confusing, though, since most of the times if a member did something that deserved such a punishment, they would be executed to keep the Byakugan from falling into the wrong hands. The Hyugas spent one month trying to convince Tsunade to let Hikari live with them, so they may teach her how to use the Byakugan properly. In truth, they just didn't want to think of the possibility of the girl starting a new clan that had both Vectors and the Byakugan, an incredibly deadly combination. Luckily, when Mizore, the other Diclonius girl, had woken up, there hadn't been that much trouble. The girl hated fighting, and the mere notion of killing made her face go green. She and Nana had quickly become friends, since both of them had similar mindsets when it came to fighting and killing. Speaking of Nana, she had surprised everyone with her voracious appetite, leading Naruto to challenge her to a ramen eating contest when she was released from the hospital (The contest had ended in a tie, with 32 bowls each). Most of the Diclonii were living in an apartment building, even Hikari, who didn't want to be near the Hyuga Elders. Their living arrangements being paid for by Tsunade until they decided what to do with their lives. Most of them were considering taking the path of a Shinobi, partly to repay for their rescues, and partly because they knew a normal job wouldn't keep them entertained for long. There was only one Diclonius that did not live in the apartment building, and that was Mariko. After the adoption had been finalized, Naruto took on several high paying missions, one of which was to intercept Deidara and Sasori on their way to Suna. Once he had enough, he got a new, bigger apartment and used the remaining money to buy some new bedding and furniture for Mariko. He had asked the parents of all his friends for tips on how to raise a child, the usefulness of which was reduced considerably when he realized Mariko wasn't like a normal little girl. She was way more mature than that sometimes… although she did behave her age most of the time.

'Man, she may be a handful sometimes, but am I glad I did adopt her…' Naruto mused as he opened the door to his apartment. "I'm home!" He yelled out. Oddly, no words came back. Confused and worried, Naruto placed his groceries on the floor, and peeked around the house. The apartment wasn't huge, but it was big enough to support a young man and his daughter. It had a small kitchen with a table in it, a living room, two bathrooms, and two bedrooms. The bedrooms were right next to each other, just like Naruto had asked. It had been a blessing that he found it, too. Most nights, he'd be woken up by the sound of Mariko crying in her sleep, having a nightmare of her time back in the organization. After the first time it had happened, Naruto had stationed Shadow Clones in Lucy's bedroom, but apparently she didn't have the nightmares as often. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle when he remembered the first time Mariko's nightmares had awakened him…

FLASHBACK! (two months, 24 days ago)

Naruto was sleeping peacefully in his new room, feeling glad that the landlord didn't hate him for his tenant, when a small whimper woke him up. Several years of beatings, missions, and running away from the women that wanted Jiraiya dead had made his senses keen, and when the whimper came again, he identified the one who emitted it, and moved at a speed no one had ever matched before. He rasengand the door right off the hinges, several Kunai and Shuriken ready to take out whoever was hurting his daughter… until he saw her perfectly asleep, tossing and turning, tears flowing from her eyes and her vectors trashing wildly. It didn't take a genius to figure out she was having a nightmare. Having suffered through them before, Naruto knew that Mariko must be having a rough time. Honing his ninja skills, he dodged every single vector, not without a few scratches in the process, and, upon reaching her, gently rocked his daughter awake.

"Mariko! Mariko, wake up!" He said, causing the girls bloodshot eyes to snap open. Seeing her new father looking at her brought a huge sense of relief to her heart, until a new wave of tears came. She hugged her 'father' tightly, crying into his shirt. "There, there, it's alright. It was just a nightmare. It's over now…" He told her soothingly. He knew what he said wouldn't matter as much as the tone, but still decided to go with the standard issue after-nightmare talk.

"Don't… please…" Mariko said softly between sobs.

"Hmm? Don't what?" Naruto asked in return, hugging her tight.

"Don't leave me alone… please…" She muttered. Naruto answered by hugging her securely and rubbing the back of her head with his hand.

"I won't, I promise. And I never go back on my word." To anyone that knew him, this side of Naruto would sound like a joke. Hell, even the Fox found it hard to believe. "Now, would you like to sleep in my bed tonight?" Naruto asked his daughter. She nodded slightly, and Naruto carried her to his bed, where she fell asleep instantly. She didn't have any more nightmares that night, but Naruto knew that if he ever saw the man that had locked her up in that cell, he may not be able to stop himself from killing him.

FLASHBACK END!

Naruto sighed the last part of the memory. The day after that event, he told Lucy and Mariko about the fox. He found it amusing that had reacted so well to it, and Lucy had taken to referring to the fox as the 'Fluffy Asshole', whereas Mariko simply called him the Fox. The fact that he had led such a difficult life had made it easier for Mariko to bond with Naruto, since they could both relate to a life of hate and fear. Not long after that, maybe a week or so, Mariko had begun calling Naruto Daddy, which he had to admit, he loved hearing.

"Oh well, no sense thinking of that right now… Huh? What's this?" He found a small note on the table. Judging by the rather bad handwriting, he had to guess it was Mariko who wrote it. A month after they had settled, Naruto enrolled her at the Academy. Even if she didn't choose to be a ninja, she still needed to learn how to read and write, and Naruto wasn't precisely sure on how to teach her without Shadow Clones.

I went to the fields with a new friend! I'll be home soon!

-Mariko

Naruto was instantly filled with happiness. Mariko was making friends at an amazing speed, having already befriended half her class. Iruka had told him that they often worked together to play pranks on him, and, because of Mariko's vectors, they were usually much worse than anything Naruto had come up with during his Academy days. Just as he was about to sit down and plot new pranks to hit the Chunin with, the Chakra Link Kurama had formed between Mariko and Naruto flared up. It didn't tell them where the other one was, but it did tell them the other ones emotions. Right now, he felt massive amounts of fear coming from Mariko, followed by pain. He then felt, and heard, her call for help.

"Kurama!" He yelled at his gut, waking up the tenant. "I need your chakra, NOW!" he yelled as he activated the Hiraishin towards the Seal tag he had given Mariko.

Training Ground 7, a few minutes earlier

Mariko was having a good time with her new friend. She was a girl called Yukiko from her class, and the two were currently playing in the empty training ground. They were currently playing tag, although Yukiko had told Mariko she wasn't allowed to use her vectors, since that'd be cheating. However, all good things must come to an end, and not always nicely. Just as Yukiko was about to catch Mariko, several soldiers popped out of the woods, their weapons aimed at the girls. Kurama was standing among the soldiers, hiding his surprise and happiness to see Mariko alive, although he did wonder why she hadn't killed the girl with her. It looked like they had been… playing?

'No, that's impossible. All Mariko ever seems to think about is killing…' He was soon proven wrong though…

"Yukiko, RUN!" Mariko screamed, turning and pulling her friend away from the soldiers. It didn't take her long to figure out how they had found them… the chips. They must've had some sort of tracking device and they simply went to the last location it pinged out before being deactivated. Just as it seemed like they would manage to get away, or at least get help, Mariko was shot in the shoulder, having been too distracted to block the incoming bullet. As she fell, Yukiko tried to help her up. "NO! Keep running!" Mariko told her, pushing her away. As long as she was in pain, her vectors were rendered useless… 'Is this it? When I finally know happiness, I'm going to lose it again?' She thought faintly as the soldiers roughly picked her up. And then, all of a sudden, she remembered something. The Tag! If she could just throw it… She weakly managed to grab the piece of paper and throw it, making it land a few centimeters away from her, and then, with all her strength…

"DADDY!" She yelled as loud as she could. Kurama stiffened considerably.

'Does she know I'm here? D-did she, somehow, find out who I am?' Sadly for him, all of his thoughts were proven wrong when a flash of yellow light flooded the area.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER, TEMES!" Someone yelled. Kurama recognized the voice as the same one that had invaded the HQ three months ago, wrecking everything and even destroying the place, but right now, he was covered in a red Aura, with what seemed like three tails swishing behind him. The soldiers that were holding Mariko were now dead. 'Kurama, heal her.' Naruto commanded the fox. 'Do it and I'll add some raw rabbit meat to my next bowl of ramen.' As Naruto found out, all he needed to bribe the fox was some rabbit meat. The acidic Chakra of the demon slowly pushed out the bullet from Mariko's shoulder and closed the wound "Mariko, are you ok?" The blond asked her tenderly. Mariko, in return, did something that caused Kurama to be shocked and green with envy at the same time: She hugged him. Before he could say anything, his assistant decided to take the stage.

"Hey! You! Get away from it! That thing will kill you with no remorse, hell, it'll most likely enjoy doing it! Let us kill it, I'm sure you'll be safer! AH!" The woman was unable to hold back a scream as a Kunai imbedded itself into a tree next to her, just inches away from her head. A fourth tail began to emerge from Naruto's coat, and his skin was starting to peel off. The second the assistant said the word 'kill', Naruto began to see red. Despite his struggle, he was beginning to lose control, and just as he was about to go bezerk…

"Mokuton: Odayakana Kemono no jutsu!" Mariko yelled out of the blue. Several small vines crept up Naruto, sprouting flowers that slowly calmed him down with their sent. "Mokuton: Mokusei no Dangan!" Mariko yelled again. This time, wooden spheres began to fly out of the trees, striking every soldier down. Before long, Kurama (the human, not the demon) gave out the retreat order, knowing they had lost this battle.

'But not the war…' He thought. Meanwhile, Naruto stayed in his spot, holding Mariko, who had passed out from Chakra exhaustion, and a single thought raced through his mind:

'My daughter can use Mokuton!?'

AAAAND CUT! That's a wrap! I hope you all liked it. The reason behind Mariko's Wood Release (Mokuton) Will be revealed next chapter. BladeOfThePoet, logging out!

Mokuton: Odayakana Kemono no jutsu: Wood Style: Calm Beast Jutsu

Mokuton: Mokusei no Dangan: Wood Style: Wooden Bullets

Next Update: Percy Jackson, Guardian of the Nile

Note: This story was updated out of schedule for personal reasons.