Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto

Piece of the Puzzle

Chapter 2: Unrequited Love at First Sight

Fourteen years ago, Hidden Leaf Village…

A new generation of genin had just been assigned to their teams and met their new instructor. Twelve year old Uchiha Momo was one of them. She kept her hair short like her mother, but wore her forehead protector properly. She wore a navy blue t-shirt with the Uchiha crest and a white skirt with black bicycle shorts similar to what her mother used to wear. Momo also possessed a kunai pouch/medical kit which she kept at her side.

Momo was just as skilled as her parents. Possessing a keen memory and great chakra control she had amazing potential. Trained as an illusionary type with basic first aid skills she aspired to be a strong kunoichi like her mother, and possibly even surpass her father.

She had already learned the fire release: great fireball from Sasuke and was very good at it despite having earth as a primary affinity. Affinities were now something that was tested for final year students to give them more time to master them.

Sakura had been working on Momo's chakra control so she would be able to learn and master medical techniques someday. Momo had not yet learned any, but did have a versatile knowledge of the basics, and knew a lot about first aid.

In order to learn the fire release: great fireball from Sasuke she first had to master the intercepting fist fighting style of the Uchiha. It was difficult for her at first since the moves were designed for full-blooded Uchiha, and Momo was only half Uchiha. She eventually found a variant that worked for her by focusing on the speed and evasion skills necessary to survive as a medical ninja in the field.

It was her skill with illusions where she had truly shown. Momo had an innate talent for them. It wasn't surprising, as the Uchiha clan was known for such a skill due in part to the sharingan, and Sakura herself started as an illusionist type. Many said Momo would one day easily surpass Yuuhi Kurenai, who was known as one of the Hidden Leaf Village's best illusionists.

Momo had graduated at the top of her class. Instead of being paired with the lowest ranked student as once was the tradition, she was with an Inuzuka and an Aburame.

Apparently she was to be the illusion support for a hunter team, and would act as the leader, directing her team-mates from safe cover while disorienting their opponents.

Momo had no problems with her team-mates, unlike the other boys she knew. Like her father she was very popular with the opposite sex, and with her pink hair and looks she was considered very cute. Momo however thought little of them.

'Why don't those boys spend their time playing with their kunai instead of trying to get me to go out with them? None of them are that great. I've never met a boy who's impressed me. Unless they're as good as my father they're nothing, no one's as good as him.'

Indeed, Momo was a daddy's girl and thought her father was the strongest man she knew. Thus she was only interested in boys who were stronger then him. That means they would have to be strong enough to be Hokage to get her attention.

Momo was currently with her team, meeting their chunin sensei. It was no longer necessary for a jonin to lead a genin team as the skill level for the lower ranks had increased greatly over the years. This allowed the higher ranked ninja to take on more difficult and thus more rewarding missions.

The four of them were on the roof of the academy, meeting in the same spot where team seven had their introductions nineteen years ago.

Momo's team-mates and instructor had given their introductions. Like Kakashi once did, the chunin asked about their likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams and goals for the future. Momo, unlike her mother actually did something other then blush and giggle.

"My name is Uchiha Momo." She began. "I like tsukemen and learning new ninja techniques. I dislike fanboys and anything that tastes bitter. My hobby is bonsai care. My goal is to be a great shinobi like my parents and my dream is none of your business."

Momo, despite her tough attitude was still a little girl and wanted to keep some things private.

'I'm never going to meet a great guy who'll help me carry on the Uchiha bloodline. Why can't I find someone with similar interests to mine, who's a powerful ninja, and handsome, and a great kisser…'

At that point Momo's thoughts trailed off. Her unspoken dream was to find a man to have a family with and pass on the sharingan. Not just any man though, but someone she would genuinely fall in love with.

While Momo was daydreaming about her ideal mate, her instructor had given the team a piece of paper with directions to where they would hold their first training session and dismissed them. Momo absent-mindedly accepted it.

There was no need for the three of them to be examined further. The old tradition of instructors giving an additional test had been done away with once academy standards had increased. If the students made it this far, they were ready to be shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village.

As Momo made her way from the spot where her first team meeting was held to go home she caught sight of her parents coming to pick her up. Momo surmised they must have wanted to find out how her team assignments went. What was unusual was that there was someone else with them.

Walking along with Sasuke and Sakura was a young man who appeared to be in his late teens and was wearing the standard shinobi sandals, grey pants, a black jacket and an orange coat with black flames.

'Who is that guy? He looks familiar. I know I've seen him before. Let's see, he has blond hair that's kind of yellow like the sun. His eyes are blue, like the sky or ocean. I don't think he's a Yamanaka, his hair and eyes aren't the right shade. He has scars on his cheeks too, they look like whiskers. I'm sure I should know him but from where?'

For once Momo's keen memory failed her. Caught up in trying to determine where she had seen the mystery blond before she had not noticed her parents' approach.

"Momo, dear, are you alright? You're looking flushed." Sakura inquired as to her daughter's condition, as Momo's face had become red while staring at Naruto.

"She's probably just being affected by the heat. It's been pretty hot lately." Sasuke interjected.

Sakura accepted that, as it was one of the hottest summers in years.

"Yeah, real hot." Momo said as she entered the conversation and averted her gaze from Naruto.

"So dear, how did your team assignments go?" Sakura asked her daughter.

"Umm." Was all Momo could say, too embarrassed to speak.

"Ahem." Sasuke just cleared his throat and tilted his head at Naruto, who was grinning sheepishly.

"Oh I'm sorry; I totally forgot to introduce you. Momo, this is Uzumaki Naruto, the former team-mate of your father and mine, and one of our closest friends. Naruto, this is Momo, our daughter and eldest child."

With that Sakura pushed Momo towards Naruto, as her daughter had become unusually shy for some reason. Naruto bent down to meet Momo at her eye level.

"Hello little Momo, I'm Naruto. It's nice to meet you." Naruto greeted Momo in a familiar sense.

Momo, still blushing, but now from the familiarity in which Naruto spoke to her managed to respond.

"It's nice to meet you too Mr. Naruto." She responded.

Momo had to stop herself from responding in a familiar tone as well since Naruto was her senior, but from the looks of him she thought it might only have been by a few years.

That was when Momo realized what her mother had said. Naruto was her parents' former team-mate. While that would make him the same age as them and not a teenager like she thought, that was not what she was focusing on.

'I remember where I've seen him now. There were pictures of him in my parents wedding album.'

Although Naruto had tried to keep a low profile at the wedding, being the best man made that difficult. Now that Momo knew who Naruto was, she remembered what her father used to say about him.

'Father used to say Mr. Naruto always wanted to be Hokage, and was very close to accomplishing that goal. Father would even say he wasn't strong enough to be Hokage. Does this mean Mr. Naruto is stronger then father?'

Naruto took that moment to speak up again.

"Well, it was nice meeting you little Momo. I'd like to stay, but I want to visit Iruka-sensei next. I can't believe he's still teaching. See ya!"

Naruto took off then, running into the academy to visit Iruka. Momo could only watch as he ran away.

"Okay, let's go home now. I'll cook us a nice dinner and Momo can tell us how her day went." Sakura said to her husband and daughter.

Momo followed after her parents, not really paying much attention to her surroundings. All she could think of was how she finally met a man who was stronger than her father, and was someone he definitely approved of. Most importantly, Momo was sure Naruto was the man that one day she would want to marry and have a family with.

Present day, Uzumaki household…

"That was how we first met." Naruto said to his children, who were still rapt with attention. "I didn't know it at the time, but your mother had fallen for me right away. She knew as soon as she met me that I was going to be hers, just like mom knew the same about dad."

Naruto was not referring to his own parents, although he was thinking of them, but to Sakura and Sasuke. While Sakura fell for Sasuke right away, Naruto's mother Kushina thought his father, Minato, was a girly boy and unreliable.

He had grown closer to Sasuke and Sakura over the years following his recovery and his time with Momo that he now saw them as the parents he never had instead of his former team-mates. The first time he addressed them as such no one even noticed as it seemed so natural to do so.

Naruto thought about how both Momo and Sakura knew that he and Sasuke were the men for them.

'It's kind of beautiful in a way how they both could tell who their soul mates were so quickly and not worry about spending years searching for that person. It was like love at first sight, even if it took me and dad took years to reciprocate our eventual wives' feelings.'

Naruto, remembering his first train of thought looked down at Himeko.

'Would she be just like her mother and grandmother? Will she be able to tell who she's going to spend the rest of her life with so easily?'

Naruto silently vowed to himself to carefully watch his daughter very carefully whenever she was around another boy before continuing his story.

"I spent the next six months adapting to all the changes over the past thirteen years. I stayed in the village the whole time, learning about everything that had happened and what I missed out on. I got back in touch with all my old friends, and paid my respects to those who weren't around anymore. I didn't see your mother again until the next chunin exams, which took place in our own village that year."

Authors Notes: I had a hard time stretching this one out to an acceptable length.

Tsukemen is dipping noodles. It's like ramen, but the noodles are separate from the broth. Bonsai are those little trees in pots.

If anyone's curious about the familiar address part, if I was using honorifics Naruto would have added chan to Momo's name. He was just doing it because she's a kid, but Momo took it differently. I didn't like using little, but it was as close as I could get.

Looking back on my note about the chapter length, I should have just made this chapter and the first chapter one long chapter. Oh well, that's just a consequence of making it up as you go. Writing out multiple chapters at once, as I'm getting into the habit of doing lately, helps to avoid problems like that.