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

Piece of the Puzzle

Chapter 16: To Be Part of a Family

Author's Note: To avoid any confusion, the names of Naruto and Momo's son and daughter have been changed to Hayao and Himeko respectively. Also, the previous chapters have been revised slightly to include minor changes and corrections.

Thirteen years ago, Hidden Leaf Village…

Outside of the shinobi academy, in the playground where the children awaited the arrival of their parents or legal guardians, an interesting event was taking place; one Naruto was quite familiar with. A young boy with dark hair dressed in orange and blue was loudly professing his love to a girl his age who appeared to be a Yamanaka. She was with two other girls who appeared to be members of the Nara and Akimichi clans. Meanwhile, two pink haired girls, one in a blue cloak and another in a red dress along with a Hyuuga girl who kept her brown hair in two buns watched the scene unfold from the sidelines.

"That would be Shippo, my foolish younger brother embarrassing himself again." Momo said, explaining the unusual situation to Naruto with a sigh.

Naruto merely nodded as the scene was bringing back memories of his childhood that he would prefer remain forgotten.

'It's like watching myself and my friends as kids…' He thought as he observed the scene.

"The girl he's always confessing to is Yamanaka Himawari, Mrs. Ino's daughter." Momo said, breaking Naruto from his thoughts. "Her friends are Akimichi Chouko and Nara Shizue."

'The next generation of the Ino/Shika/Cho trio.' Naruto thought. 'Funny but I always thought Ino would end up with Choji. I didn't know marriages between the shinobi clans of our village were so rare. I guess that's why there isn't anyone with the Byakugan and the Inuzuka's sense of smell, or someone with the ability to use all of the techniques of the Yamanaka, Nara and Akimichi clans.'

"That's my second cousin Mio over there with my little sister Suika." Momo said, now pointing out the girls watching Shippo from the sidelines. "Hyuuga Takeko is the other girl. She helps look out for them since her parents were friends with the other kids' parents."

By "them", Momo was referring to the children of the Rookie Nine, plus Team Guy. As for referring to Takeko's parents in the past tense, they were deceased. Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat at the reminder of the loss of two of his friends.

'Neji, Tenten, I should pay my respects to you both again soon. I don't know if you'd still be here if I hadn't tried to do everything myself like a big damn hero, but I'm not going to let anyone else die now that I'm back.' Naruto thought as he balled his fists. 'At least Hinata and Lee are there for your daughter. What a strange family.'

"Are you alright?" Momo asked Naruto.

He had been silent for a moment, and she was growing concerned.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking of some of the events I've missed out on, and the friends I had who died. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on so much that I'm no longer part of my generation and I don't know where I belong."

'You belong with me.' Momo wanted to say, but could not yet bring herself to do so.

"Well, until I figure this out, I think I'll stay with you Momo." Naruto said, granting her unspoken wish. "I feel like I connect better with you than people my own age." He finished, smiling at her.

"I like being with you too." Momo replied, smiling as well. "I don't get along with anyone my age either." She continued, looking down a bit and dropping the smile.

"Well, it's a good thing we have each other." Naruto said, pulling Momo into a one-armed hug.

By that point, the crowd that had assembled to watch Shippo embarrass himself yet again had dispersed, leaving the despondent Uchiha by himself. Even if Naruto and Momo were not having another of their moments, it was unlikely they would have been able to do anything to help him. Instead, they settled for collecting Momo's younger siblings and moving on.

Now that they had found Shippo and Suika, only Arashi needed to be picked up before moving on to Momo's youngest siblings who were too young to attend the shinobi academy. On the way to find the eldest son, Naruto decided to start up a conversation with the younger male while Momo spoke to her little sister.

"So Shippo, tell me about yourself." Naruto asked the young Uchiha. "I already know you want to become Hokage."

"Well, I have a wind affinity like you and I'm good at genjutsu, but not as good as my big brother Arashi. I am learning chakra sensing from Aunt Karin though. She says I have a talent for it!"

That statement caused Naruto to freeze in his tracks.

"Wait, did I hear that right? Aunt Karin?" Naruto asked.

"Yup!" Shippo answered with a nod. "She's my godmother!" He further clarified.

'That explains so much.' Naruto thought to himself. 'If he's as bad about pursuing a crush as me and Karin combined…' He thought before trailing off.

The idea was too horrifying to ponder any further.

"So, tell me about that girl you tried to ask out." Naruto asked, causing the young Uchiha to break into a grin.

"Himawari is great!" Shippo declared. "She's really pretty and smart."

"I see." Naruto said. "So, what interests does she have?"

"Umm, let me think." Shippo replied as he scratched the top of his head. "Her family runs a flower shop so she must like flowers." He answered, causing Naruto to suppress a sigh.

'He really is just like I was.' Naruto thought. 'He's only attracted to Ino's daughter for shallow reasons. He's not friends with her who share interests like I am with Momo.' He further thought, not realizing the implications of the comparison between Momo and Sakura in that context.

Glancing down at Shippo, Naruto was reminded of his own childhood, or rather, the lack of a proper one.

'I pretty much wasted my youth chasing after someone else's girl instead of trying to be her friend or focusing on my training. Momo's mother thought of me as just an annoyance for years. I won't let Shippo make that mistake with Ino's daughter. The problem is how to I convince him to move on? What would it have taken me to stop asking Momo's mother out and focus on my training?'

"Say, big brother Naruto, what would it take for me to become Hokage someday?" Shippo asked, breaking Naruto away from his thoughts.

Taken aback by the form of address, one he had not heard in years, Naruto took a moment to gather his thoughts before replying.

'I suppose that's my answer. If I was given a sure-fire way to becoming Hokage, even one that meant I had to dedicate myself to it in favour of doing anything else, I'd take it.'

"Well, there is one thing you can do." Naruto began. "If you're serious about becoming the Hokage someday, there is a technique you can learn that would definitely help you achieve that goal."

"There is? Tell me, tell me!" Shippo practically shouted in excitement as he energetically bounced about.

"This is a technique that combines rotation, power and control to create a sphere of pure chakra without the use of hand seals." Naruto began, keeping Shippo's attention on him. "I have to warn you though; it takes a lot of control and is very chakra intensive. You'll have to train non-stop for years, but by the time you become a genin, you should have it mastered. After all, you're not much younger than Konohamaru was when I taught it to him."

Shippo beamed at the comparison to the self-proclaimed Eight Hokage, thus Naruto did not feel bad for not mentioning that Konohamaru required the help of a shadow clone to perform the illustrious technique when he was still a genin.

"This technique was created by my father, who taught it to both his sensei and student, who as you know were my Grandpa Jiraiya and the Sixth Hokage, who taught me and your father, Hatake Kakashi. They helped me master it, just like I'm sure you will someday."

Needless to say, Shippo was hanging onto Naruto's every word, especially as he would soon be taught a technique known only to those who became Hokage, those who could have done so, or, unknown to him, those who married or would someday marry a Hokage.

"Shippo, I am going to teach you the Rasengan."

It did not take too long to move from one side of the academy where the younger students gathered to the other where the older students did. Naruto was expecting that Arashi would be waiting for them and not another scene like with Shippo.

Alas, it was not meant to be. As was usual for Arashi, he was getting into trouble. This time, he was challenging a group of boys from the senior class. The new academy year had just started, so he, Suika and Shippo moved up a grade. Arashi was eager to start the new semester like he always did, by cementing his reputation as a troublemaker.

He stood before his classmates with a ring of spectators that now included Naruto, Momo and Suika around all of them. They were facing Arashi so he would be aware of their presence but his opponents would not. Unfortunately, none of the children had noticed the village hero among them, or the guaranteed accolades from his many fans would have allowed Naruto to avoid something much more embarrassing.

"I'm going to beat you guys!" Arashi, who had still yet to notice his siblings or hero amongst the crowd, called out. "I've learned a super awesome technique created by none other than my dad's former team-mate, Uzumaki Naruto!"

That admission drew a raised eyebrow from the man in question.

'Just which of my techniques did he learn?' Naruto wondered.

"Here I go!" Arashi yelled. "Sexy technique!"

A poof of smoke appeared and Naruto's mind went into overdrive trying to determine how Arashi could have learned that particular technique before shutting down as the smoke cleared and he saw what it revealed. In the place of the four-foot-ten, dark haired boy now stood a five-foot-four, pink haired woman.

Although the trademark wisps of smoke produced by the technique preserved her modesty, they revealed enough to show, to Naruto anyway, that this was not Sakura he was seeing before him, which he was somewhat expecting, but something much better.

Due to being related, using the sexy technique, which turned a male into what they would ideally look like as an adult female, meant Arashi's transformed state bore a close resemblance to not only his sisters, but also his mother. A small part of Naruto knew that and had begun to make comparisons between the two.

While Sakura kept her pink hair short and fixed up, the woman before him had a mane that was wild and loose, reminding Naruto of his own mother's hair, but ended at the small of her back. While Sakura's skin was pale compared to his own, the skin of the woman beforehimwas the colour of peaches, which seemed oddly appropriate. She even did a brief spin, showing to Naruto, who was watching for it, that she had Sakura's best assets as well. Her only flaw, in Naruto's opinion, was that she did not have Sakura's pretty green eyes, but rather the charcoal coloured eyes of an Uchiha.

After he returned from his training trip with Jiraiya and they saw each other for the first time, Sakura asked Naruto if she looked more womanly. He told her she had not changed at all, which he later realized was a mistake. Even if she was not as sexy as Ino, or hot as Hinata, Naruto always felt she was cute, and had become a beautiful woman in his eyes. Seeing this new woman before him, who possessed similarities to Sakura, he definitely thought she was sexy, hot and beautiful. If a woman like that ever asked him if she looked womanly, Naruto would know the correct way to answer her.

While Naruto's mind was attempting to restart upon seeing its vision of perfection, Arashi, still unaware of his presence, continued the so called fight.

"So boys, what do you think?" He asked in his transformed state while striking a pose.

"Eww!" One boy cried out.

"Girls are gross." Another said.

"Ugh, now you have cooties!" The third said.

As was usual with Arashi's luck, the boys he tried the sexy technique against were the few who would be unaffected by it, or at least not affected in the intended manner. Instead of fainting from shock or embarrassment, although they may have felt the latter in regards to his display, Arashi's chosen opponents left the field in disgust, leaving him to cancel the technique. The young Uchiha still considered it a win for him, as his opponents chose to leave rather than fight.

Suika, among those having seen her older brother's performance, made herself known to Arashi at last.

"Idiot."

Having said her piece, she then took an ice pop out of nowhere and once more faded into the background.

As for Momo, who's Arashi's transformed state bore a closer resemblance to than Suika, like usual, she was torn between paying attention to her surroundings and paying attention to Naruto. Thus, she was the only one to notice his reaction to her brother's use of his technique.

'I might look like that when I'm older. This means Naruto would find me attractive.' Momo thought.

'Naruto thinks we're hot! Hell yeah, for once our foolish little brother didn't screw up!' Inner Momo added while waving a pair of victory fans, one with the Uchiha crest and another with the Uzumaki spiral.

While Momo was eagerly looking forward to the day she reached her physical maturity, which was only a few years away, Arashi had cancelled his transformation and having heard his younger sister's voice admonishing him, made his way over to his siblings and Naruto, who had just begun to snap out of his trance. The crowd had dispersed as well, leaving them all by themselves.

"Hey did you guys see me?" Arashi asked his siblings, who had mixed reactions to his performance.

"I thought it was great!" Shippo said in an affirmative tone.

"I still think you're an idiot." Suika said, as she continued to enjoy her ice pop.

Momo did not answer, since while she would have normally agreed with Suika, Naruto's reaction to the technique almost made her wish to learn it as well.

"Those seniors were too afraid to fight me! I knew that technique was going to be great when I found a record of it." Arashi said in a proud tone as he remembered the day he found it and the efforts involved. "Say, where's mom and dad?"

"It's their anniversary, so they're spending the day alone together. Naruto and I will be taking care of all of you for the day." Momo explained in her best authoritative voice, not that it had much effect on her siblings.

"He is? Where is he then?" Arashi asked, wanting to see his hero again.

Holding back another idiot comment, Suika just pointed behind them to where Naruto stood, slowly coming out of his trance.

In Arashi's defence, Naruto had mastered the use of the art of hiding in plain sight and anyone he had not directly interacted with would be aware of his presence. As he had been silent the whole time, he could have been wearing a clown suit covered in bells and no one he did not want to notice him would have done so. As Naruto's presence had been pointed out by Suika, Arashi finally noticed him.

"Big brother Naruto, did you see me? I was great, wasn't I?" Arashi asked his hero.

Once more taken aback by the form of address, Naruto did not take the time to respond in a proper manner.

"Yeah, it was great." He answered in an honest tone, although he was not exactly referring to Arashi's performance.

Arashi beamed at the praise while Momo blushed a bit before catching Suika giving her a sly grin, causing her to huff and look away.

"But it's not a technique you should be using if you want to be taken seriously." Naruto continued in a stern voice, having finally temporarily suppressed his previous thoughts. "I only invented that technique so I could be noticed, which you already are. You have no need of that technique; you are already a capable shinobi without it."

"You really think so?" Arashi asked, to which Naruto nodded in response. "Ha, I knew I was great! Well, come on, let's get going!" He continued before running off, leaving Naruto to sigh in a mix of relief and exasperation.

'It's not praise from who he needed it from, and he still needs more help, but it's a start.' Naruto thought of Momo's younger brother as they, along with Suika and Shippo, raced after Arashi.

Now that most of Momo's siblings had been picked up, all that remained was her youngest sister and brother, Hikari and Fuyuki. Since they were in the care of their godmothers in the former Uchiha district, it was better to leave them for last.

The first to be picked up was Fuyuki. Nothing unusual happened, but Naruto did note that his godmother was a nurse who worked part-time with his and Momo's mother in the local clinic. He also did not have a problem with the young boy's choice in clothing, as it brought up fond, yet painful, memories of his team's first C-rank mission.

Meeting Hikari's godmother was also an interesting experience. She was named Misa and appeared to not only have dyed her hair blonde but also wore blue eye contacts, making her look like similar to Naruto. Hikari, who Naruto had only briefly met, was acting just as strange, or what could possibly be normal for her. She was carrying a ball with a cartographical design making it resemble a globe and if anyone took it from her, she defended herself with a toy axe she carried with her.

Once she joined them, the group consisting of Naruto and the Uchiha siblings began to make their way home as a group. Suddenly, Arashi and Shippo grabbed onto their youngest brother and ran on ahead, much to Fuyuki's distress, leaving Naruto and Momo to each emit a weary sigh.

"It's times like this when I turn to cool sweets for comfort." Suika said for Naruto and Momo's benefit. "Ice pop?" She asked, holding up a selection to them.

Naruto chose a cherry flavoured ice pop and Momo picked an orange one, neither noticing Suika grinning at their choices. Although, based on what she read in her psychology books, Naruto picking a peach flavoured ice pop, if there was one, would have deeper implications.

"Excellent choices. I prefer grape myself." Suika said as Naruto and Momo began to enjoy their frozen treats.

Deciding that they needed to have some alone time, Suika took Hikari by the hand and walked on ahead, leaving Naruto and Momo to pick up the rear. After a short, but comfortable silence, Naruto spoke up.

"Hey Momo, there's something I've been wondering." He said in between licks. "I can tell your brothers are named after weather conditions, and you and Suika are named after fruits like other girls from the Haruno side of your family, so why doesn't Hikari fit the pattern?"

"She was named after Mrs. Misa's husband, Raito, who worked with father in the police force. He died while investigating a serial killer before he and Mrs. Misa could have any children, so she volunteered to be a surrogate mother for my parents. Mother and father decided to name their next child after him to honour his memory. Since they had a girl, instead of Raito, they used Hikari, as both mean light."

Naruto nodded along with Momo's explanation as he finished the ice pop Suika gave him.

'I haven't shared an ice pop with anyone since Iruka comforted me over grandpa Jiraiya's death.' He thought once he was done. 'It was nice. We should do this more often.'

Now walking in a comfortable silence, Naruto and Momo soon caught up to her wayward siblings and escorted them the rest of the way to their home.

Continuing the theme of revisiting the places that held fond memories for them, Sakura and Sasuke were taking in an afternoon matinee at their favourite theatre. It was not too crowded at this time of day, so they found a nice spot in the back where they enjoyed their privacy more than the film itself, just like they did years ago.

While their parents were supposedly watching a movie, Momo's siblings were off each off doing their own things at home. Arashi was studying, as he decided to put off planning a new prank for the time being. Suika was alone in her room, working on mediation exercises. Shippo was looking through his textbooks for chakra control exercises, as the Rasengan required the ability to control a vast quantity of chakra. Hikari dragged Fuyuki away to have a tea party with her stuffed animals, which the boy did not seem to mind participating in.

As for Naruto and Momo, they were back on the same couch they had collapsed onto earlier. Once her siblings went their own ways, he headed straight to said couch and sat back in it, letting out a deep sigh. While Naruto had put up a happy face, Momo could tell something was troubling him.

"What's wrong?" She asked him.

"Arashi and Shippo both called me "big brother Naruto" earlier, something no one's called me in years. It…," he explained before pausing to gather his thoughts. "It brought back some memories, pleasant and otherwise of my old life, the one I lost."

At that point, Momo moved over to sit next to Naruto and wrapped an arm around him in comfort like he frequently did for her.

"There were mainly two people who used to see me as a big brother. One was Konohamaru, the Third Hokage's grandson, but he still doesn't like being thought of as only that. He's a jonin now, and married to his old team-mate Moegi with two kids of their own, with more probably on the way."

Naruto did not begrudge his once self proclaimed rival for the title of Hokage for finding happiness with his female team-mate, as he saw more of Sakura and Sasuke in them than he did himself and Sakura. He actually felt he had more in common with Udon, who as it turned out, caught the eye of Hyuuga Hanabi and married into her clan.

"The other was Inari, the grandson of the bridge builder who I guarded along with your parents on our first C-rank mission. He's a carpenter like his grandfather, also married with kids of his own and considered to be widely respected in his country. So he's doing great too."

Naruto let out another sigh at that point as he began to slouch. Momo responded by attempting to snuggle into him as much as she could while still keeping an arm around him. Naruto did not object, slowly moved an arm of his around her as well as a sad smile began to form on his face.

"From my perspective, it was only a few years ago that they were both teenagers like me, just a bit younger. Now they're both adults with families and lives of their own, just like everyone else I knew, or at least those who are still around."

Naruto's fragile mask was breaking, but Momo held on tight, happy that she was the one he felt he comfortable enough with to let himself go.

"It's not just that though. Everyone I used to know has a new life now that I no longer have much of a place with, but what about those who lost their lives, the ones I'll never get to see again? I never got to say good-bye to Shizune, who was like an older sister to me, or be there for grandma Tsunade so she wouldn't feel all alone and close herself off. I never had another rematch with Kiba or Neji, or apologize to Shino for not recognizing him that one time."

"You can't blame yourself for that." Momo interjected. "They are all shinobi; they knew the risks of the trade and died in the line of duty. You can't hold yourself responsible for everyone."

"I know that, I just miss them, that's all."

Naruto was leaning forward now, cradling his head in his hands. Momo took that moment to gently rub his back, hoping it would soothe a bit of his pain.

"Thanks Momo, I needed that." Naruto said after a few minutes, leaning back against the couch and against Momo once more. "It's more than just not being there to support everyone through the bad times. I wasn't there for the good times either." He continued, trying not to let his frustration overcome him in front of Momo. "I've just missed out on so much; it makes me feel like I'm not as close to everyone as I once was. Like I said, almost everyone I knew has settled down and started a family of my own, and what do I have?"

"You have me." Momo said without a moment's hesitation.

Upon hearing her admission, Naruto just turned at looked at Momo, maintaining a neutral visage, causing her to repress the urge to blush and look away or faint like a shrinking violet. After a moment though, Naruto began to relax and smiled at her.

"Yeah, I guess I do. I really do feel like I'm closer to you than anyone else, even those from my old life. I guess I need to stop feeling sorry about what I've lost and enjoy what I have now. Konohamaru and Inari may not need or even see me as an older brother anymore, but I have two new little brothers who look up to me now that I can teach all my cool ninjutsu to."

Momo giggled at that, happy to see Naruto feeling better and also knowing that he would not teach her little brothers any "cool ninjutsu" he would not have already taught her.

"Even better, I have the best friend I've ever had right here." Naruto said, continuing his earlier statement. "Thanks for everything, Momo."

With that, Naruto leaned in and pulled her into a proper hug, holding her tightly to him as he let go of his worries.

"Well, come on! We still have time before we need to make dinner and I've got a lot of lost time to make up on. Let's go!" Naruto called out to Momo as he got up and jumped away, leaving her utterly confused.

"Naruto! You don't tell a girl she's your best friend, hug her and then run off! Get back here!" Momo yelled back as she ran off after him, wondering just when he would someday see her as more than a friend.

The Uchiha patriarch and matriarch were now relaxing at a private table in the restaurant in which they spent their first date. They had a picture of them take back then, which Sakura was now admiring.

"We were so young back then." She commented as she gazed at the photograph. "It's like looking at a completely different couple."

Sakura's hair was as pink as ever, but it was now in a pixie cut to save on time spent maintaining it. As it turned out, Sasuke really did prefer longer hair, but he grew to love his wife more than her tresses. As for the man himself, his hair was shorter too, but thankfully it had not yet begun to thin. It had started turning gray a bit prematurely, presumable from the stress of being the chief of police and raising six children, but it only helped to make him look more distinguished. Other than a looking a bit more mature, they had not changed much at all, which left Sasuke confused by his wife's statement.

"It's not our physical appearance that's changed so much, although it has a bit." Sakura said, beginning to clarify her statement. "When I look at this photo, I see a couple of teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them, filled with hopes and dreams; a young medic who could become the greatest healer of her generation and a young man out to redeem his family name. When I look at us now, I see two adults who have those dreams, the big family, the careers, and the happiness it has given them; a woman who runs her own family clinic and a man who reformed his family's police force and brought safety to his village." She explained before sighing. "Oh, I suppose it's all silly and too hard to explain."

"No, it's fine, I understand. You don't need to use a lot of words to say what you mean, I know what you meant." Sasuke replied. "We were young and full of potential back then but nervous about whether we could succeed, which we did and now all the happier for it."

Sakura smirked at hearing her husband's words, finding humour in them as she knew quite well that she could interpret the smallest statement he made to be worth a thousand words.

"Hn."

"Hn too."

Unlike the refined environment of the restaurant where their parents were enjoying their anniversary dinner, the Uchiha household was currently in a state of chaos. Naruto and Momo had warmed up the pre-made dinner and served it to their siblings. While both had experience commanding their fellow shinobi, neither had yet to develop the commanding presence to keep children in line that came from years of experience being a teacher or parent.

Arashi lasted thirty seconds before starting a food fight with Shippo.

Suika had somehow commandeered all the dessert for herself.

Hikari grabbed every bit of inarizushi and tried to eat it all before anyone else could, causing her to nearly choke.

Fuyuki just sat quietly and tried to eat his meal in peace with a calm grace, but broke down crying when an errant bit of thrown food landed on his kimono, leaving a stain.

Naruto just looked at Momo and sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

"We're not yet ready cut out for raising kids."

To her credit, Momo just nodded in reply.

"It's your turn to order the take-out from Ichiraku."

The main course of Sakura and Sasuke's anniversary dinner was now over. Before they started on dessert, they decided to exchange gifts. Sasuke got his wife a set of ivory hair combs, ivory being the traditional fourteenth anniversary present.

Sakura smiled fondly at the gift, memories of when she had long hair and spent many an hour on its maintenance because she thought Sasuke liked girls with long hair instead of training to fulfill her potential as a shinobi. While she felt she had matured since then, gifts like this every now and then from her husband showed he thought of her as a woman as much as he did a shinobi, and that she did not have to choose between the two.

Being a more modern woman, Sakura gave her husband a set of specially made iron kunai, iron being the modern fourteenth anniversary present. What made these kunai special was the engravings on them depicting the symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke liked them very much, as while the quality of the iron limited them to ceremonial purposes, he would be able to use them for that purpose much more than he would use an expensive set of high quality kunai that would likely be thrown once in the heat of battle, something he did not engage in as much due to his duties as chief of police, and lost afterwards.

The chaos from their earlier meal was now gone and Momo's siblings had retired to their rooms to rest off the excitement. Naruto was quite glad for that.

"Are all your family's meals like that?" He asked Momo, who shook her head.

"No, mother and father would never let any of them act like that, but they have had years to learn how to keep them in control." She replied, feeling a bit indignant at the lack of respect they showed her and Naruto.

"Well, going to bed without a meal would seem like a good punishment for the way Arashi and Shippo acted, but after my childhood, I would never deprive a child of food. A packet of instant ramen was good enough to get me by, so it should be good for them too." Naruto said, causing Momo to nod this time.

"That's true. I wasn't expecting Suika to eat all the dessert, but father doesn't like sweets so we rarely have any. I suppose the stomach-ache she'll have would be worth it."

"Yeah. Good thing you knew what to do when someone's choking. Still, I didn't think a little girl like Hikari could eat so fast, or so much."

"Poor Fuyuki though, that was his favourite kimono. At least it'll wash out, but I don't think he was expecting a food fight when he wore it to dinner."

Naruto let out a weary laugh at that point.

'I hope it'll be easier by the time I'm a parent.'

Present day, Uzumaki household…

Naruto was now looking upon his children with a happy smile on his face.

"I know you both are very well behaved and would not act like your aunts and uncles did for a babysitter, right?" He asked them.

"Of course!" Himeko said.

"We'll be good!" Hayao added.

Naruto could have sworn that, for an instant, he saw a halo and a pair of wings appear on the both of them as they grinned at him. He kept smiling, his fox-like nature keeping him from getting mad at them for doing what would come naturally for them, especially considering their heritages; being a menace.

'I will never be able to get a steady babysitter for them.'

"All right, where was I?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Oh yeah, dessert. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't read this part to you."

"Why not?" Himeko asked.

"Is it more mushy stuff?" Hayao asked as well.

"It is, nothing with me or your mother though. That won't happen until the end of the next chapter. This is about your grandparents."

Naruto's children exchanged a glance as he wondered what they were thinking. He suspected that Hayao did not mind the so called "mushy parts", as he enjoyed hearing how much his parents and grandparents cared for each other as much as he liked the action and humour, which Himeko did not mind at all.

"Himeko would probably like to hear it, so I guess I could handle hearing about grandma Sakura and grandpa Sasuke smooching." Hayao said, confirming what Naruto was thinking by making it seem he was okay with hearing it for his sister's sake.

"Alright, well, it happened like this…" Naruto said, still smiling at his son's attempts to look disinterested as he continued his story.

Thirteen years ago, Hidden Leaf Village…

Their dessert course had now arrived, but only Sakura was having any. She felt uncomfortable about it though, and said as much.

"Are you sure you're fine not having any dessert?" She asked Sasuke. "I know you don't like sweets but I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

"It's okay. Besides, I know how I can enjoy this."

Sasuke then took the dessert spoon, gathered up some of the ice cream covered fruits, and offered it to Sakura. Getting the idea, Sakura opened wide and allowed Sasuke to spoon-feed her. He even surprised her by licking off the spoon after her first mouthful.

"That was nice, but I want more." Sasuke said before moving by Sakura's side.

He then took his wife in his arms and began to kiss her with much passion. Sasuke never showed much in public as he was saving it for moments like this.

"Oh, Sasuke..." Sakura managed to say once they broke contact.

Her heart was racing and Sakura was breathing hard from their intimacy. It was heightened further when Sasuke gathered another portion of her dessert.

"If you're going to kiss me like that after every spoonful, I might not be able to take it." Sakura said.

"Good thing you're a medic than, isn't it?" Sasuke asked, serving his wife another mouthful.

Sakura was split between enjoying her dessert, the intimate moment with her husband, and keeping calm. Who knew Sasuke could still get her worked up after fourteen years of marriage? One thing was for sure, she would get him back later, putting her training as a medic and extensive knowledge of the human body to good use making him feel as she did now.

Present day, Uzumaki household…

"Eww, gross!" Hayao declared, regretting his decision already.

"I liked it, I don't see grandma and grandpa like that much." Himeko said.

Naruto just laughed at his kids, who had brought him so much needed joy.

'Maybe I should skip the part in the next chapter about how much I like their mother's butt?' He thought, trying not to think just how much he liked said feature of his wife when he was supposed to be watching his kids. 'Nah, I'll just do what I've been doing all along and tell them an edited version.'

"Okay, the chapter's almost over now, so let's continue." Naruto said as he did just that.

Thirteen years ago, Uchiha Household…

At last, Momo's siblings had now been put to bed. Exhausted from the day's ordeals, she and Naruto all but collapsed onto their couch in the living room, on opposite ends of each other. Slowly though, Momo inched her way across the gap between her and the object of her affections. Just as she was about to make contact with him, a noise startled them.

"We're home." Sakura called out, but not too loud as it was past her children's bedtime.

'Nooooooooooo! I was so close!' Inner Momo thought dejectedly. 'I finally got to be alone with Naruto, and this happens.' She continued to think as Naruto filled her parents in on the events of the day. 'I guess it's still too early for something like that. I just hope I'll know when the time is right.'

Naruto and Momo were now standing on her front porch to say goodbye for the night. Both had mixed feelings about how the day had went.

"Goodnight Momo. I'll see you again when I have time, but my duties will be picking up soon. I won't become Hokage just by sitting around and wishing for it to happen."

"I understand. Goodnight Naruto." Momo replied in a slightly solemn tone.

'He'll be too busy from now taking missions in preparation for when he becomes Hokage to spend anytime with me.' Momo thought, worried she might not see him again.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You're my friend and I'm not going to forget about you." Naruto said to comfort Momo, as he had developed a good sense of when she was in distress.

Like he usually did when that happened, Naruto leaned down and pulled Momo into an embrace, hugging her closely. The gesture always seemed to make them both feel better. Naruto had probably hugged Momo more times than he had been hugged in his entire life. It always made him wonder if the same was true for her, or there was something deeper to it.

Naruto then pulled away, but as he did so, he hesitated for just a moment, as if he was trying to make an important decision. Rather than pull away completely, he brought his lips to Momo's forehead and left another chaste kiss there before finally stepping back.

"Goodbye Momo. I'll see you again someday, that's a promise."

Naruto then turned around and walked away, leaving Momo alone to her thoughts.

'Yes! Victory! We're one step closer to making him ours!'

Rather, in her case, Naruto was leaving her to the thoughts of Inner Momo. Despite what she felt to be numerous failures during the day, it ended in complete success. Momo agreed with the mysterious voice in her head, it had been a good day. She and Naruto may not have one again for some time, so until then, while he was training to become Hokage, she would continue to become as strong as she could too.

As for Naruto, he was making his way home, slowly though, to collect his thoughts. Images of a young woman with long pink hair and charcoal eyes with skin the colour of peaches raced through his mind. He and the woman enjoyed a large bowl of ramen she had made just for them, talked about what flowers to plant in their gardens, played with a blond haired boy and pink haired girl who had to be their children, then retired to their bedroom for the night to engage in matters of an adult nature.

The woman's face was clearly recognisable to Naruto and while his mind was concerned that what he was thinking was wrong, his heart was trying to tell him it felt right. While he may have missed out on starting a family with Sakura, he had been given a chance to become a part of the family she had with Sasuke and someday, when he was ready, to start one of his own as well with someone who he connected to in a way he never did with his pink-haired team-mate. All Naruto had to do was be patient for just a little longer, and all his dreams would come true in a way he never would have expected them to do so.

The future had never looked brighter to Naruto. The darkness of his past and the lingering dark feelings were long gone, replaced by hope for a better tomorrow and the happiness it would bring. For a moment, he remembered the day he agreed to be Sasuke's best man when his team-mate married the woman Naruto thought he loved. Had he refused the offer and let the darkness consume him, things may not have worked out at all.

For some, their dreams come true. Others have to accept that while their dream may not have happened as perfectly as they would have liked, they can still be happy if they are willing to accept it, or move on and risk their dreams never coming true at all. Then there are those who think they missed out on them, only to find a happier ending.

For Naruto, while he had yet to accomplish his dream, he knew it would happen someday, and when he did, he would not only have the pink-haired girl of his dreams by his side, he would have people who considered him family with him as well.

Present Day, Uzumaki household…

"That was a special day for me and your mother. It was the day I realized she was more than just the most unexpected friend I could make, she was someone who would one day become the woman of my dreams."

While telling that part of the story, Naruto appeared to have developed a far off gaze and his children could tell he was thinking of their mother.

"It was more than just her great looks. We had a lot in common, she was a good cook and would only get better with experience and the way she handled her younger siblings showed she would be a wonderful mother someday as well, which she is. The most important thing though is that we were friends, and I can't think of a happier ending than two best friends love with each other."

Himeko was greatly enjoying the tale now, but Hayao looked like he was sick of the mushy parts again. He did not like hearing about his grandparents on a date, but did not mind hearing how much his dad loved his mom, although he would prefer if they not display said affection in front of him.

"The next few years of our lives were much harder." Naruto said as he continued his story. "Your mother was a chunin and someone I considered a friend, but she was still a girl to me, and for the first time in years, I was thinking of life with a pink-haired woman.

"To that end, I started to distance myself from your mother for a time as I began focusing on working towards becoming Hokage while your mother was studying medicine and working towards being promoted to jonin. It wasn't always easy, but I learned there were still people who thought of me as family to them and that I'd have a family of my own someday to look forward to." He finished as two of the most important people in his life learned just how much their father loved them.

In an instant, Hayao and Himeko moved from in front of their father to his sides as they hugged him tightly. Naruto hugged them back, happy knowing that while it took him longer than most, he found happiness. For him, the wait was worth it.

After several moments continuing with their hug, Naruto pulled his children into his lap and opened the book about how he and their mother got together so he could read it to them once more while they tried to follow along.

"This next part is important to me, as it was an old dream of mine came true, and one I once thought lost seemed closer than ever…"

Author's note: As a further clarification on the name change for Naruto and Momo's children, the original names for those two were taken from a random source and had no special meaning. The new names do, and once the origin for their choices are revealed, they should make a lot of sense.

Suika's treat of choice was originally intended to be a lollipop, as a reference to one of the inspirations for her character, but that lead to unfortunate implications. It was then changed to Popsicle (a registered trademark as it turns out) and then finally, ice pop.

I'm sorry if it seems like I went on a bit of an author tract near the end, but sometimes anvils need to be dropped. In a sea of angst, bashing, harems and yaoi, I think a nice, happy fic where Naruto is happy for Sakura and Sasuke and sees them as the family he never had is a refreshing change.

Once more, I'd like to remind readers that there are illustrations of Momo available and the links are at the end of my profile.