Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Piece of the Puzzle
Chapter 13: The Next Piece; Friendship
Present day, Uzumaki household…
"That was how your mother won the chunin exams, and was promoted in recognition of her hard work." Naruto said to Hayao and Himeko.
'It was good they were held here that year too, otherwise Momo wouldn't have been eligible since she was still a rookie genin.' Naruto added, thinking to himself.
"That was a good story. I didn't know mom was such a great fighter." Hayao said, with a newfound respect for his mother.
Naruto laughed, remembering just how good Momo was in a fight when she was serious.
"Yeah, your mom was always a tough one, and she never gave up either. When she puts her mind to something, she won't give up until she's succeeded." Naruto said with much respect for his wife's determination.
'That's something I'll always be thankful for.' He silently added.
"Your mother hung up her chunin vest that she earned that day when she and I were ready to have you guys, but that's a story for later. She still wears her goggles from time to time, for old time's sake, and always keeps her tonfa handy in case of trouble."
"We know that," Hayao said, "everyone knows to steer clear of mom when she has her tonfa out."
"How do you know that? Have you been getting into trouble?" Naruto questioned his possibly mischievous son.
"No…," Hayao quickly said, averting his eyes from his father's gaze, "I have no idea who replaced the magazines in the Uchiha clinic with comic books." He finished with a suspiciously specific denial.
Naruto narrowed his eyes for a moment, and then let out a sigh of relief.
'I'm just glad he didn't replace them with any more… inappropriate literature.'
"Daddy," Himeko squeaked out in her impossibly adorable voice, immediately getting Naruto's attention, "is the bonsai tree mommy gave you the one in your office?"
"Yes it is sweetie." Naruto said, nodding to his little girl. "It represents your mother and me, the strong orange tree protecting and guiding the younger peach tree. It took me years to figure that out, but the day I did was one of the best days of my life. I'll tell you about it later."
'But I won't tell you everything that happened that day, heh heh…'
Naruto's mind seemed to have wandered into his happy place at that moment, causing Hayao and Himeko to give him weird looks.
"Daddy must be thinking of mommy. Daddy's only that happy around mommy." Himeko said to her older brother, who nodded back.
Eventually Naruto remembered he was supposed to be watching his children, who were still watching him intently.
'I'm glad they're too young to realize what I was thinking of. I am not looking forward to giving them the talk…' Naruto thought to himself.
Hayao and Himeko still did not show any signs of losing interest in Naruto's story, or falling asleep. Glancing at the clock, Naruto noted it was still early, and Momo had not yet returned from her parent's house.
'I hope she's okay, it's been a while. Still, the kids don't seem to be tired yet, and it's not too late, I guess I can continue.'
Clearing his throat, Naruto resumed the story of telling his kids about how he met and fell in love with their mother.
"After the exams were over, and your mother was healed up, there was a party for her at your grandparent's house. Some old friends of mine and your grandparents were there too, along with their kids. It was at this party that your mother and I became closer…"
Fourteen years ago, Hidden Leaf Village, Uchiha district…
Outside of Sasuke and Sakura's house, a party was in full swing. The guest of honour was their eldest daughter, and they were celebrating her promotion to chunin. Said daughter however, would have preferred if they had not.
Momo was used to being the centre of attention back in the ninja academy when her fanboys would fight for her attention. She was also a very good student, and stood out a lot for that as well.
For the past seven months though, she spent most of her time with her team and family. Even during the last month, Momo quite happily spent all of her free time with Naruto. Thus she now felt rather uncomfortable with all the attention.
Momo would have been happy if it was just her family, team-mates, and Naruto. However, In addition to them, her parents had invited their old friends to congratulate Momo, and possibly show off how their daughter was already a chunin.
Since Sasuke and Sakura were married at a young age, they had the oldest children out of the surviving shinobi among their peers. Momo was now a chunin, while the eldest children of Sakura and Sasuke's peers were just starting the academy.
Momo had already received a nod of approval from her Aburame team-mate's parents, which was a big gesture for them. He received a promotion as well, for his advanced tactics against skilled adversaries.
They also had a brief discussion regarding their match and the strategies they planned out for it. Momo admitted she found out about her team-mates secret fetish from his older sister. Aburame revealed he prepared several flash and chemical tags to disrupt her sharingan, but Momo's new goggles changed them from a viable counter to a mild annoyance.
Momo's Inuzuka team-mate was not promoted however. While Momo and Aburame would be moving on to bigger and better opportunities, he would be reassigned to another genin team. He still came to the party with his parents along with their canine partners, congratulated his team-mates for their promotions, and helped himself to the refreshments.
Said refreshments were provided by Ichiraku and an Akimichi barbecue restaurant, which catered the event. The Uchiha kids all seemed to love the food from Ichiraku. Sakura found that odd, as she and Sasuke only brought them to the restaurant once each when they were old enough to eat solid foods. Sakura and Sasuke did this so their children could learn about Naruto, and keep his memory alive in case someday he was not.
While the rest of the guests enjoyed the catering and impromptu entertainment, this time of Rock Lee re-enacting his fight against Gaara during their fateful chunin exams, Momo sat off by herself, down in front of a tree, a ways from the crowd.
'I liked how Mr. Naruto did it better.' Momo thought of Lee's performance, having seen Naruto re-enact it already during a break in their training.
Now that her training period with Naruto was over, Momo no longer referred to him as Naruto-sensei. She switched to a formal address, as she was not as presumptuous as some people to address Naruto in a familiar manner without getting closer to him.
Momo was not the only one not paying attention to Lee's performance. Naruto noticed Momo was on her own, even though the party was supposed to be for her. Remembering his resolution to learn more about her, and become her friend, Naruto walked over to Momo and sat down next to her. Momo felt her heart skip a beat, but focused on remaining calm.
"Why are you sitting all by yourself?" Naruto asked, getting straight to the point.
Momo sighed, and started playing with the pockets of her chunin vest. Although her party could be considered a formal event, Momo was dressed in her shinobi outfit, as a reminder of her new rank.
"I'm just not comfortable with how everyone is putting me in the spotlight." Momo admitted, unable to lie to her future husband. "They're treating my promotion like it was some big achievement, as if they expect great things of me."
"You're afraid of letting them down, aren't you?" Naruto asked Momo.
She merely nodded her head in response, and continued to play with her pockets. Sensing it was a problematic topic for her, Naruto, who was sitting on Momo's right, moved closer to her and put his left arm around her. Feeling his arm around her, Momo turned her head to face Naruto, while trying to hide the feelings of shock and comfort his embrace gave her.
"Why don't you tell me why you feel that way? It might make you feel better." Naruto said to the momentarily stunned Momo.
Although Momo had grown accustomed to Naruto's presence, in times like this when they shared physical contact, Momo's shy side took temporary control. Enjoying the feeling of Naruto's strong arm around her for just a moment longer, Momo let her gentle side take control, and poured her little heart out.
"My parents have always been supportive of me, and they've helped me with my training before, but I think it's because they expect me to follow in their footsteps. I think mother wants me to become a medic like her, and work alongside her at the clinic. I'm almost positive father expects me to join him in the military police. I don't want to let them down, but…"
Momo trailed off at that point, and Naruto felt they were getting closer to the source of Momo's problems.
"You want to follow your own dreams, right? But you don't want to disappoint your parents either." Naruto asked, finishing Momo's confession for her.
Nodding, Momo began to subconsciously snuggle herself deeper into Naruto's side. Still unaware of her feelings for him, and seeing her only as someone he wanted as a friend, Naruto continued consoling her.
"You don't have anything to worry about. Your parents love you very much, and would be happy no matter what path you take in life. As long as you are happy, that's all that matters."
Cuddling as close as she could to him, Momo was utterly content. Between his comforting embrace, and his words, Momo could not have been happier.
"Do you feel better now?" Naruto asked Momo, who was currently doing a very good job of being his teddy bear.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Naruto." Momo replied, giving him a cheerful smile.
"You don't have to call me Mr. Naruto, we're friends now. Just Naruto is fine." Naruto said with his own smile.
'Friends?' Momo thought with a blush. 'It's not what I really want, but it's a good start, and he's letting me be so familiar with him…'
The thought of being a step closer to her dream completely broke Momo out of her sad mood, making her wish she had her sharingan active, insuring she would never forget the moment. After a moment, when Momo was confident the memory would not fade anytime soon, she reluctantly pulled herself away from Naruto.
"Thank you, Naruto." Momo said, trying to accustom herself to the new form of address.
Now that she was standing next to Naruto, who was still sitting down. A little over five feet tall, Momo was the average height for a girl her age. This gave her almost two feet over Naruto at the moment, who was watching Lee's fight re-enactments, now of the time he and Gaara fought Kimimaro.
Looking down at Naruto, Momo could not do anything but admire him.
'Kiss him! Kiss him on the cheek!' A voice strangely similar to Momo's seemed to chant in her head.
Feeling compelled to go along with the suggestion, Momo stepped forward, leaning down slightly to give Naruto a thank-you kiss. So focused was she on doing so that Momo did not notice one of the tree's roots by her foot, and she tripped over it, sending her crashing into Naruto, who turned his head to look at her at the last second when she yelped.
For a second, Momo wondered why she was not in any pain, but rather felt quite nice. She felt her arms folded up and pressed between her and Naruto. Opening her dark eyes, she found herself looking right into Naruto bright blue eyes. It was at that point she realized they were kissing.
Reluctantly pulling herself away from Naruto for a second time, Momo was now blushing furiously, her face as pink as her hair. Naruto was lost in a daze, so Momo tried to figure out what happened.
'I guess I must have tripped, and fell into Naruto, lips first…'
Their embarrassment induced paralysis was soon broken when Sakura, who apparently had not noticed their condition, called out to them.
"Momo, Naruto, what are you two doing over here by yourselves?"
"Nothing." Both immediately replied, while avoiding making eye contact with each other.
'Hmm…' Sakura thought, shifting her gaze between Naruto and Momo, 'something happened between them, and I bet it was embarrassing, and that's why they don't want to talk about it. Well, Naruto's not the only one with a mischievous side.'
"Naruto," Sakura growled out in her "you are royally screwed voice," which had made even Sasuke cower in fear on several occasions, "You better not have been taking advantage of my sweet, innocent little daughter, have you?"
"No!" Naruto immediately shouted out. "I would never do something like that!"
His statement was met with mixed feelings from Momo and Sakura.
'I hope Naruto means he would never take advantage of me and not that he would never engage in anything consensual with me.' Momo thought worryingly.
"Good," Sakura said with an evil grin, "Momo is still too young for anything like that. You'll have to wait until she's older before making a move."
What followed Sakura's shocking statement, even though it could have been worse, was a sputtering of denials from Naruto that Momo did not hear, as she was once again lost in her fantasy world.
Being trained as a medical ninja, and a girl who had started puberty meant Momo had ample sexual education. Although little of it actually focused on sex, Momo's intelligence and vivid imagination was enough to fill in the details. Thus, at her mother's mention of Naruto making a move on her, and Sakura's possible approval for when she was of age, Momo began to fantasize.
'Oh no, not the whipped cream!'
Sadly, sexual education is still rather flawed, and no replacement for hands-on experience.
As for Sakura, now that she was satisfied with embarrassing Naruto, she took Momo's hand, and led her daughter, still oblivious to the world around her, back to the party, leaving a still sputtering Naruto behind. As she walked along, she contemplated the effect her joke had on him.
'Naruto is still the same as he was years ago. I know he would never take advantage of Momo, but he's fun to tease. Besides, it's not like anything would happen between them.'
Briefly, Sakura stood still before resuming her pace.
'What if something did happen? Would that be so bad?' Sakura wondered. 'Naruto did show interest in taking care of me and Sasuke, and if he married Momo they'd be right next door to us…'
Sakura paused once more to shake her head and clear her thoughts.
'That's crazy. He's nineteen years older than her! Plus, she's my little girl and he's my former team-mate that had a huge crush on me!'
Letting go of Momo, who continued to walk ahead, Sakura glanced back at Naruto. He was still sitting at the base of the tree, and appeared pensive.
'Although, since he was in that coma, from another perspective, he's more like eight years older then her. He even looks like he's still a teenager, and acts like it sometimes too. Not to mention, he'll live much longer then I will…'
Sakura's thoughts trailed off as she felt her heart begin to clench at the thought of Naruto's lifespan.
'It must be so hard for him, knowing he'll outlive everyone he grew up with. If he got together with someone his own age, he'd outlive them by a few decades. Most of the women our age have moved on too…'
Sakura felt her legs begin to wobble, and took a seat at a nearby picnic table that had been put out for the party. Never averting her gaze from Naruto, she continued her thoughts.
'I feel so bad for how I treated him when we were kids. If I had noticed him first, things may have been different. If I had though, I wouldn't have had Momo and my other wonderful children, and I wouldn't have known the feeling of being with the man I've always loved. Wait…'
Shifting her gaze from Naruto back to Momo, who had been roped by Lee into doing a re-enactment of her recent matches, Sakura felt the puzzle pieces falling into place. Suddenly, Momo's strange behaviour around Naruto made perfect sense.
'She loves him! My little girl loves Naruto, or at least likes him. Why didn't I see it sooner? I fell for Sasuke at first sight of him, and my mom always said that when she met dad it was love at first sight.'
Momo and Lee were currently re-enacting her first match, and Momo was using the move she learned from Naruto on Lee. It was possibly ironic, considering Naruto based the move on one Sasuke copied from Lee.
'She's learned so much from him in the short time they've been together, he's obviously been a good influence on her. They have much in common, and Naruto had a huge crush on me, despite how I treated him. If Momo continues her present rate of progress, with her career and her relationship with Naruto, he just may fall for her too.'
Momo and her Aburame team-mate were now having a rematch. Naruto had come over, and was cheering her on. Everyone was impressed with her skills, and how Naruto was the one who trained her for the finals. From Sakura's position, she could see Naruto and Momo, and kept her gaze on both as she thought of them with a sad smile on her face.
'Naruto, I've hurt you so much, and done so little to make up for it. Momo, if you truly love Naruto, and will have no other as I would if I couldn't have Sasuke, I'll support you, no matter what decisions you make. Naruto, I can't make you happy anymore, but Momo can be everything for you that I couldn't be.'
Momo and Aburame's rematch was now over, ending in her favour. Even though Naruto was not the person standing closest to her, and that Sasuke was standing closer, Momo ran to Naruto first. It was a clear indicator of who she wanted to be closest to. Sasuke seemed surprised, but Sakura, now knowing Momo's feelings took it in stride.
'Momo, I don't blame you for running to Naruto instead of your father. In my eyes, your father is the world to me. Even in a crowded room, he's the only person I see, and I now see you feel the same way about Naruto.'
Sakura's sad smile slowly turned to a happier one as she thought of Sasuke. Knowing Momo felt as strongly about Naruto as she did about Sasuke still gave her mixed feelings, as she was not used to the idea yet.
As for Naruto and Momo, the awkwardness from their accidental kiss had disappeared in the excitement of the battle. Naruto and Momo were talking animatedly about the match, and seemed to be unaware of anyone else. Many eyes were on the two of them, including Sakura's.
'Naruto, I'll support my little girl's feelings, but only because I know she'll make you happy and won't be happy if she can't be with you. However, if you hurt her and make her unhappy, or make a move before she's ready, you'll live to regret it. That's my promise of a lifetime.'
Naruto suddenly felt a cold chill run down his spine, and felt as if his life was in danger. Momo was now re-enacting her third match with Lee, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone, away from the crowd.
"Relax," Sasuke spoke up, "I get that feeling all the time."
"What was that?" Naruto asked Sasuke.
"I have no idea." Sasuke replied with a shrug. "I've learned to live with it."
"You've learned to live with feeling like someone's out to get you?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"Yes," Sasuke said, "I did spend nearly three years with Orochimaru, not to mention all those years of avoiding my fangirls."
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Sorry." Naruto said sheepishly.
"You want to know something?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto gave him a curious look. "Sakura is even scarier then Orochimaru. She's always wanted me, and in ways Orochimaru never did, or at least I hope he never did."
Naruto and Sasuke looked back towards Sakura, who had moved from the picnic table and was now cheering on Momo.
"You know what, I'm glad she picked you instead of me." Naruto said, trying not to imagine how Sakura could be more terrifying than Orochimaru.
"Me too." Sasuke said, giving a rare smile. "I thought I lost out on having a family with anyone here after I left, but Sakura stayed faithful to me."
"Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded." Naruto observed.
"I suppose so." Sasuke said. "I don't deserve her after all I've done, but…"
"Sasuke…" Naruto said, realizing Sasuke was confessing something important.
"I'm grateful for everything she's done for me, and I'll do what I can to make up for all my sins. I've spent the past fifteen years making up for how I treated Sakura, but I haven't done anything to make up for the pain I caused you. Naruto, I'm-"
"Don't worry about it." Naruto interrupted, having a feeling he knew where the conversation was headed. "I got over her a long time ago. Besides, she's happy with you, that's all that matters to me."
"Thank you." Sasuke said, feeling his heavy burden of guilt lighten a bit.
"You're welcome." Naruto said, glad he and Sasuke were still friends.
They stood in a slightly awkward silence for a bit as they watched Momo and Lee, who had moved onto a light sparring match.
"Do you think I'll ever find someone?" Naruto asked hesitantly.
"Chanced are, someone's already got their eyes on you." Sasuke replied, unaware his eldest daughter was that someone.
"You may be right. Still, I'm going to be Hokage soon. I don't have time to be dating. I guess whoever's interested in me will have to be okay with waiting until I'm ready."
"Hn." Sasuke agreed, no longer in the mood to talk.
Naruto sighed, and went back to watching Momo's match with Lee. Seeing his former team-mates daughter fight just like he would was a sight he enjoyed, for a reason he had not yet understood.
"Sneak attack!" Momo yelled out as she snuck up on Lee, actually surprising him, which allowed her to catch him off guard.
Everyone got a good laugh from that, especially Naruto.
'I think Momo and I will get along just fine. This looks like the start of a beautiful friendship.' Naruto thought, looking forward to where their new bond would take them.
Present day, Uzumaki household…
"That was how we moved from teacher and student, and became friends."
Naruto had just finished telling the first arc of his story to Hayao and Himeko, who had mixed feelings about it.
"That was so sweet!" Himeko said cutely with her childish voice.
"I thought it was a bit sappy." Hayao said, adding his two cents.
Naruto laughed at his children, and their opposing reactions to his story.
'Being a father is great, I can see why Momo wanted to have a family of her own for so long. I'm just glad I'm the man she chose to have it with.'
While Hayao and Himeko argued about what the best part of the story was, Naruto wondered what part of his and Momo's story to tell next.
Author's Notes: So now Naruto and Momo have moved on from being teacher and student to being friends. It'll be a few more years in this story before they become anything more than that. In a couple more chapters there might be more than an accidental kiss, and I hope no one was turned off by that. I'm not sure what kind of reaction it will get.
If I was using honourifics, Momo would have moved on from using Naruto-sensei and Naruto-san, or possibly even Naruto-sama, and use Naruto-kun instead. Like I said, she's not as presumptuous as some people from canon to use a familiar address with someone when they are not very close to said person. Naruto would still call her Momo-chan, but she doesn't mind it at all.
I'm surprised no one's asked if Momo has an inner, or is she's tsundere like Sakura. I'd like to think that instead of an inner personality that shows what she's really thinking like Sakura, Momo is prone to personality shifts. Like how she can be a blushing cutie around Naruto one moment, then an energetic girl the next. Or how she acts tough around her fanboys and strangers to get them to keep their distance, while she's sweet and kind with the ones she loves.
When Inner Momo manifests, it would most likely be as a result of her suppressed sexual urges, and be closer to a split personality, containing her perverted side, leaving Momo a mostly innocent girl who can't recognize a double entendre.
As for being tsundere, I'd say she is. Whether she's type-A or type-B depends on who you ask. Momo's family would consider her type-B, while to everyone else, she's type-A. I don't know how successful I was with portraying her as such.