Kosuke's POV

I slept well that night. It was the first night in weeks, months even, that I didn't cry myself to sleep, or even want to cry. I felt great, as if a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I knew the reason of course. He was dead. The man that had haunted my mind every hour of every day for nearly the last four months was dead! Before I drifted off I thought about what had happened earlier that day.

When I first saw Orochimaru standing in front of me, grinning that stupid, sly grin of his, I had been frozen in fear. I couldn't move a muscle in my body, though each one was telling me to run for my life. It was like I was a mouse and he was a giant anaconda, and he was about to swallow me whole.

But then Amaya was there. All of a sudden she was standing there in front of me, staring the giant snake down. She was glaring so hard that I wondered how Orochimaru could still be smiling.

I had finally been able to summon up enough strength to hiss at her, "What the hell are you doing?!"

She replied that she wasn't about to let him hurt me again, and how he had hurt me more than she had, and how maybe if she beat him I'd be able to forgive her. Then she had charged after him, fighting her heart out. I remembered that she had the curse mark on her neck, but she didn't seem to need Ookami's help, especially when Sasuke ran over to help her.

That was when I saw the man with gray hair and glasses. He was headed for Amaya and Sasuke. I knew that they would have a hard enough time fighting just Orochimaru, so I had to stop him from interfering. I moved quickly, setting myself between him and his master's fight.

Our fight was difficult, even after Kakashi joined in. Every time one of us landed a blow to the man, he was able to simply heal himself once again. I soon realized that he must be Kabuto, Orochimaru's number one follower. This realization made me fight harder, but even so, it was a hard battle. Kakashi and I were finally able to win once I used my water to capture him, and hardened it into ice, sticking him in place for Kakashi's chidori attack. He was able to keep the energetic chakra moving so long, with his hand still through Kabuto's chest, that the medic was unable to heal himself in time to save his life. Finally, our battle was over, and we had won. And not just the two of us, but we had all won our battles. It was a Leaf victory on all sides.

And so, we set out back to Leaf as soon as everyone was able to catch their breaths. We didn't want to stick around with the chance that there were more Sound Nin on their way. So we jumped back up into the trees, and ran back in the direction of Konoha. We only stopped when it was time to make camp.

Waking up slowly, I realized that the sun had just risen over the horizon. The sunrise was beautiful, the deep purples and oranges and pinks of the sky shining through the trees. I smiled, and felt my face brush against cloth. It was then that I realized that my head was rising and falling slightly.

I turned my face a little, and saw that I was still leaning against Kakashi. My eyes widened a little in surprise, but when I moved again, I found that his head was resting on mine. We had fallen asleep against each other. Or had I fallen asleep against him, and he just didn't wake me up, and then fell asleep? Oh well, I thought, it's kinda nice. He's warm, that's for sure.

Looking across the ashes that were all that were left of our campfire, I noticed that Amaya and Sasuke had fallen asleep together also, but a little differently. They were both lying down, whereas Kakashi and I were leaning against a tree, and Amaya's head was using Sasuke's chest as a pillow. Sasuke had his right hand in Amaya's hair, and his other one rested in the small of her back.

They look good together, I decided, As if they were meant to be together. Then again, they still kinda look a like. I giggled very quietly, thinking of that sleepover when Sasuke had cut Amaya's hair so that it looked like his. Even though her hair had grown out quite a bit from then thanks to Ookami, I could still picture it perfectly. And with some gel, I bet we could get it to stick up in the back like his does, I thought, grinning evilly to myself.

I felt movement, and looked up. My giggles must have woken Kakashi up. He was looking down at me, his one visible eye still fairly blurry from sleep.

He looked from me to Amaya and Sasuke, as he had seen me looking at them. He was awake then, and I felt him sigh slightly, and then he shook his head a bit. I frowned up at him, silently asking him a question. He put his finger to his mask where his mouth was, and moved. I sat up straight, and felt how stiff my neck and back were. Ouch!

We both stood and stretched slightly, and then he looked over to the spots that Naruto and Sakura had fallen asleep. I followed his glance, and saw that they too were still sleeping. Kakashi looked back at me, and began walking away from the camp, beckoning me to follow him. I did, knowing that he wanted to move far enough away so that we could talk and not disturb any of them.

We only walked a little ways farther into the woods before we stopped. We didn't want to go too far, because we didn't want to take the chance of running into enemies.

"So what was with the sigh and head shake?" I asked him, stretching my left arm out.

"I was just thinking about those two," he replied, referring back to Amaya and Sasuke, "I've always wondered who Amaya would end up with. It would figure that Sasuke's the one."

"And is that all that bad?" I asked, curious. I had thought that Kakashi liked Sasuke enough.

"Not really, but they're going to have problems once they get back to the village. They have each deserted us once, Sasuke twice even, and the villagers are probably not going to like them coming back, especially as a couple. Tsunade probably won't like it either. But I guess they're all going to just have to deal with it, won't they?" Kakashi told me, as he moved his head back and forth, trying to get the stiffness out of it.

"Yeah, they will just have to deal with it, because I can't see either one of them really caring what others think, and they definitely won't let anyone interfere," I said, thinking of how stubborn they both are.

"Yep. So how are you today?" he asked me.

He asked as if he was just asking for conversation, but I could tell that he was really curious.

I thought about it for a minute, and then replied, "Okay, I think. I mean, I'm not about to write a book entitled 'My Perfect Life,' but I feel better today than I have for a long time. Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I think. Now I have a little less to worry about."

He looked at me as if searching for something. He was completely serious when he said, "You mean now that you don't have to worry about Orochimaru finding out about you're child and taking it from you?"

I nodded, and then replied quietly, "I'm still a little scared though. About being a mother and everything. I mean, what if I do something wrong? I don't want to mess this kid's life up."

He looked down at me, and rubbed my right arm reassuringly.

"You're not going to mess up the kid's life, Kosuke," he told me, "Believe it or not, you are fairly ready for this. More ready than I ever was, anyway."

That was when I remembered that he had had Amaya and Lee when he was only about my age as well. I had never really paid that much attention to how old he was when he had them. Maybe that was why he had never been great with Amaya?

"What happened? I mean, why did you have Amaya and Lee so young? And why the heck with Gai? Amaya's never really told me," I asked, feeling that he would tell me.

He took a deep breath, as if trying to decide whether to tell a story that he obviously didn't like telling. But then he sighed, and I could see that he was going to tell me.

"I was fifteen too," he began, "And when I was on a mission one day, I encountered a wolf demon. Ookami was its name. My sensei had reluctantly taught me a jutsu for imprisoning demons. It only worked well on young demons, and only if done perfectly. Luckily, Ookami was young, and with my Sharingan I was able to perform the jutsu perfectly, so I performed it, thinking about all the damage that it would do if I allowed it to roam free. The jutsu worked. I was able to imprison Ookami inside my body, locking it away forever.

However, there were side affects with the jutsu. There were certain…emotions that Ookami was able to pass from himself to me. One day that emotion was…well, let's just say that I was extremely horny. Gai had been challenging me to absurd challenges, and so I challenged him to one, as he was the only person around right then. To my dismay and Ookami's delight, he agreed. And so Gai and I had sex."

He paused for a minute, and I could tell from the movement of his mask that he was frowning, probably thinking of a bad memory. If it has to do with Gai, then it's got to be a bad memory, I thought, and nearly shuddered.

Kakashi continued, "It was Ookami who really did it. He was the one who made it possible for me to get pregnant. It was…unpleasant. Since then I've wondered why any women would willingly put herself through that torture.

Anyway, after nine long months I gave birth to Amaya and Lee. Ookami was able to somehow leave my body and enter Amaya's, though I had to seal him inside as soon as was possible. I think that Ookami's amount of chakra may be the reason why Lee cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Ookami sucked it all up and gave it to Amaya.

Of course, this and his looks simply made Gai want to care for Lee more. He wouldn't spare Amaya a second glance, saying that she was the one that I should have, while he should have Lee. I decided I wouldn't fight him, and allowed him to take Lee to raise, and I took Amaya."

He shrugged as he finished the story.

"The rest you know all ready. I tried to raise Amaya when she was younger, but was never really ready for parenthood, and she was much too much of a handful for me. I tried, but quite obviously I didn't try hard enough. Being a ninja is easy for me; but being a single parent, not so much," he said, and I saw that he was actually kind of sad.

"Well, with a wild kid like Amaya, of course it wouldn't be easy for anyone," I told him, trying to be nice. After all, he wasn't the bad man I had thought that he was before Amaya left. He was the one person who had actually stood beside me while Amaya was gone, even if I hadn't really wanted him there a lot of that time. But what would I have done with out him? I wondered, looking back up at him.

He was staring down at me, and then he told me quietly, "You're going to be a great mother, Kosuke. I honestly believe that. And I don't know what I can do, but if you ever need my help, I'm here for you. No matter what."

I stared up at him, surprised. Only Amaya had ever said anything like that to me before, and I believed that he meant it. I could see in his eye that he meant every word of it. Somehow in the past week or so, Kakashi had become one of the two people that I could trust the most, after only Amaya.

"Th-thank you, Kakashi," I told him, trying to tell him everything that meant to me in just those simple words.

And then Kakashi did something I wasn't expecting. He very carefully and very slowly wrapped me in his arms, holding me close in a hug. And then I did something that surprised me even more. I hugged back. In fact, it wasn't really a hug. It was as if I was holding on to him, as if just this simple gesture could fix everything that was wrong, making everything right.

And hadn't he made it right? He had been next to me throughout this entire thing, and I just realized that his arms had been ready to catch me and keep me safe the entire time. He had just been waiting, knowing that I was going to need him, just waiting for me to figure it out.

I sighed, and held him tighter, and felt his response, doing the same thing.

We held each other for a few minutes, but finally I heard him sigh.

"We should probably be heading back to camp. They should all be up by now, and they might be worrying about us," he said, though he didn't let go.

"Yeah, you're probably right," I replied, not moving.

We stood like that for about a minute before we both dropped our arms. We turned together without another word and headed back to camp.

When we got there, we saw that everybody was awake, and packing and stretching. Naruto saw us first and waved at us.

"Hey! You two ready to go? I'm starving for some Ichiraku! Let's get going!" he yelled over to us, even though we weren't that far away.

"Typical Naruto," I heard Amaya mutter, but she wasn't saying it in a mean way. Then she looked over to Kakashi and I, and looked at me. She raised an eyebrow and asked me, "And what were you two doing all alone in the woods together?"

I rolled my eyes at her, but felt my cheeks blush slightly.

"We were talking," I told her, emphasizing the word, "We went out in the woods so that we wouldn't wake you lovebirds up, or Naruto or Sakura either!"

"Speaking of lovebirds, where's Sasuke?" Kakashi asked, looking around our small camp for the Uchiha.

"He went off a little ways to see if he could tell if anyone's following us, Sensei," Sakura told him.

Sakura must be having a hard time with this, I thought, I mean, she's crazy about Sasuke, but he's with Amaya now. Then again, she was getting over Sasuke when he and Naruto were going out.

I looked over at the blonde boy. He seemed to be doing okay. He wasn't as easy-going around Sasuke as he used to be, but that was expected. Sasuke had broken his heart in more than one way. But he wasn't completely ignoring Sasuke and he didn't seem to really hate him either. He just didn't seem to really trust him.

I shrugged, thinking, That's probably the best that anyone can ask for right now. Sasuke's got some work to do if he ever wants his team to trust him again. Though he may not really care.

"Well?" I heard Kakashi ask, and saw that he was looking up in a tree to the left. I followed his gaze and saw that Sasuke had returned.

"If anyone is following us, I can't see them or sense them," he replied, looking down at his former sensei.

Kakashi nodded, and then said to all of us, "Let's get moving. I want to get back to the village before nightfall."

We all nodded, and as one those of us on the ground jumped up to join Sasuke in the trees. Then we started moving, heading as fast as we could back to the village.

We made great time, getting back to the village about two hours before sunset. Luckily we hadn't run into any other ninja, so we never had to stop. I sent Hachi out ahead of us once we were about an hour from the village, to let them know of our arrival. So when we finally reached the village gate I wasn't too surprised to see a small group waiting for us.

Tsunade and Shizune were there, as was Anko-sensei and Cooro. Cooro looked relieved to see us, while Anko-sensei looked both relieved and worried. I understood why she was worried, when I recognized the man standing beside her. Ibiki, her old sensei. I swallowed, worried for Amaya, and then looked over to her. She looked as if she couldn't care less who that was, but I could tell she was actually very worried. As Anko's students, we had both heard some pretty gruesome stories of what Ibiki can do to traitors or captured enemies.

We all came to a stop in front of the group, and I also noticed that there were three or four Anbu standing behind the rest of them.

Kakashi took a step forward and said formally, "Hokage-sama, I am happy to be able to tell you that our mission was a success. Not only have we brought Hitomi Amaya back to the village, we have also brought along with her Uchiha Sasuke, who asks once again for your forgiveness.

Along with these two ninja we bring you good news. Orochimaru is dead, along with his right hand man, Kabuto, among others."

Tsunade and everyone else standing there looked shocked, but Tsunade shook her head, as if to clear it, and then replied, "Thank you, Kakashi. I would like for you, along with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, accompanied by some Anbu, to go the hospital to be checked out."

Sasuke took Amaya's hand in his, as if saying that he wasn't going anywhere without her.

Tsunade, along with everyone else, noticed, and she told him, "You will go with your team, Uchiha-san. Amaya and Kosuke are going to come with me for a short time, and then you can see her again."

Sasuke looked over at Amaya, and then back to Tsunade and nodded slightly.

The four of them started walking off with the Anbu and Ibiki went with them. Before they got too far Tsunade called out, "And Kakashi, I expect your report on my desk before the day is over."

All we saw was Kakashi wave back, but I thought I heard him mutter about "knew it was too easy."

Once that group was gone, Tsunade turned back to Amaya and I and sighed.

"Come on," she told us, "Let's go check you two out. I'm assuming you were both careful? I mean, neither of you should be out on missions in your conditions."

"Conditions?" Cooro asked, looking from me to Amaya to Tsunade. Anko-sensei looked a bit confused also.

Amaya and I looked at each other and shrugged.

"Turns out we both are pregnant. Ironic, huh?" she told them.

Cooro's eyes widened to about the size of a saucer, and Anko inhaled sharply.

"Who-who are the fathers?" she wanted to know.

Amaya looked over to me uncertainly.

"Well, Sasuke's the father of mine," she said, trailing off to see what I was going to say.

She was obviously wondering if I was going to tell people the truth now that Orochimaru was dead.

I turned to my teammates and said, "I don't know who the father of mine is."

Cooro's eyes got even wider, and Anko went a little pale.

"But-" Cooro began, but Amaya cut him off.

"So whatchya guys been doing since I left? Have you been punched into any more trees, Cooro?" Amaya asked him, obviously changing the topic of the conversation.

By this time we were all walking back to the Hokage building, and I noticed that there were some people outside who were staring at Amaya as if amazed and a little scared to see her. I knew that Amaya noticed it, but was trying to pay attention to the conversation instead.

"-punch their teammates into trees, ya know!" Cooro was telling Amaya how not everyone went around punching their teammates into trees.

"Well yeah! If they did, then there'd be no more trees standing!" Amaya countered.

Cooro rolled his eyes, and I smiled a little. It felt…different but the same. We were all acting like we used to, before Amaya left us. I was happy listening to the two of them argue over stupid things, and looked up at the sky. For the first time in about two weeks I felt like I was home.

Of course, it all had to be put on hold once we reached the Hokage building. Tsunade wouldn't allow Anko or Cooro to come in, saying that the three of us had to talk and she really needed to check us over, to make sure that the babies were okay. So Anko and Cooro watched us as Amaya and I followed Tsunade into the building. Obviously Tsunade had some important things to tell us, and I wondered if it had to do with our babies, us, or something else.

Amaya's POV:

I smiled, trying to keep my cool. Not only did I have to deal with Ibiki, but now Tsunade wanting to do a check-up. Tsunade had sat down, talking with Kosuke. I shook my head to rid my fear, thankfully neither people in the room noticed. I focused, knowing if I didn't pay attention it'd be trouble. I could do that a while back, but now that I left, I noticed I'm not taken too lightly.

"Amaya Hatake." at the sound of my name I came out of my thoughts. Wincing when I heard my last name. Tsunade was looking at Kosuke and I, and for the first time, I realized that she was completely serious and sober.

"Yes M'lady?" I asked, sticking to formal talk.

"Explain to me exactly how Orochimaru was killed." I noticed Kosuke go still for a fraction of a second.

"I used the Banshee Scream jutsu which knocked him out, then we gathered all of the bodies and burned them. That way no one could use their bodies to get their jutsus." I paused, debating on telling Tsunade that Sasuke had absorbed Orochimaru's power. I decided against it, he could tell her. I'm sure she would want to talk to him too.

Tsunade nodded, seeming to be pleased with my answer, but I knew better than to think that it was my pardon. She was merely pleased that we had taken Orochimaru out. Tsunade stood, leading us to another section of her tower.

In the room were a million different operating tools and machines. There were three tables set up, lined in a perfect row. I had been here before, with Kosuke, when she had found out about her child.

She had Kosuke hop onto the first table, she told her to remove her shirt, leaving her in her bra. I stepped back, back pressed against the wall. Shit. I closed my eyes and shook my head again. I looked at Kosuke, her once well defined stomach no longer held her muscles the way they used to. It wasn't noticeable unless she had her shirt off like she did though. I scowled at all the small scars running along her stomach and arms. I winced, knowing it was Orochimaru who had done that to her. It puzzled me to see that Tsunade never asked her about them.

Tsunade did a few normal check-ups on Kosuke first. She bandaged a wound on her right shoulder and put some healing ointment on her bruises. Then she moved down to her stomach area. Feeling around for a little bit before using chakra. Finally she stepped back and allowed Kosuke to put her shirt back on.

"I little less stress could do you some good Kosuke, and I'd prefer no more missions or heavy duty training." Kosuke looked a little upset at this but not much. I'm sure that was what she had been expecting. "I'm proud of you though, you're sticking to healthy balanced meals and not too little or too much." Kosuke nodded, her face not showing the relief she was feeling.

Tsunade looked at me, "Amaya," she paused, helping Kosuke down off the table. "Your turn."

I pressed harder against the wall, "No, really. I'm fine I swear."

Tsunade scowled, walking over to me and Kosuke was frowning, her hand up to her mouth. She knew what was coming. I put my hands out in front of me but of course Tsunade just grabbed my wrists and held them to my side. Of course with out Ookami's chakra, and being already weak, she was way stronger than me.

"Amaya, you will obey or so help me-"

I cut her off before she could go into detail, "Okay," I answered, relaxing every muscle in my body so she knew I wouldn't fight back. She let go of my wrists and stepped aside so I could sit on the table.

"Amaya," I looked up at her, golden eyes scared. "Remove your shirt." I did as I was told and sat there in my bra, my shirt held tightly in my left hand. I heard a gasp come from Tsunade and I knew she saw it.

I looked at her, and she hesitantly touched the mark on my neck. I winced, it wasn't that it hurt, but her fingers were cold. It looked almost like Sasuke's, but Sasuke had the sealing that Kakashi did around it. Not only was she looking at the curse mark, but she was also looking at the mark I had cut.

Thankfully Tsunade didn't go all motherly on me like Kosuke had, I sighed with an inside smile. Instead, "Amaya, you'll have to get that sealed. Has it stopped any of your jutsus?" she asked.

I shook my head, "No, but I can't use Ookami's chakra," I told her. She nodded, understanding more than I did at this moment. She continued on with the check-up, covering the cut on the curse mark. "I'll seal it as soon as the wound on it is healed." I nodded, just wanting to get out of here.

She moved down to my stomach, much like she had with Kosuke. She felt around and then used her chakra. I shivered now and then. I'm telling you! She has COLD fingers! She pulled back and let me slip my shirt on and slide off the table. "You're overexerting yourself." I looked at her.

"I'm whating-myself?" I asked. Hey, I'm no Kosuke.

"You're pushing yourself too far, also, you haven't been eating enough," she continued.

"Yes, because you know I can just walk up to Orochimaru and say, 'Oh, can I have some food?'" I saw a sliver of humor and relief in Tsunade's eyes at the sound of my cockiness.

After a few more questions and stuff Kosuke and I were let go. I was allowed to roam for a few days until I got the curse mark sealed. Then off to Ibiki for me, fun. One good thing was that I was able to not let emotions show on my face. That way he couldn't use them against me.

ANBU followed me behind, trying to be unseen. I looked at Kosuke, she seemed pretty deep in thought. I shrugged, I better get used to this emotional crap. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders; she looked at me, her eyes wide. "Thanks," I told her, looking at her stormy blue eyes, "For coming to get me and all."

She smiled, leaning into the gesture, "I should thank you. You killed that bastard snake." I smiled but before I did I saw Team 7 walking towards us, bandaged and looking a little better. I saw Kosuke smile when she saw Kakashi; I smiled too and rolled my eyes.

Sasuke walked over to the side Kosuke was not on and slid an arm around my waist. I smiled at him before looking at the others. Naruto was still a little upset with Sasuke, but he wasn't ignoring him and he was talking. Sakura seemed like she wanted to hit someone, but wasn't sure to hit either me or Sasuke.

Just then I heard something that made my blood run cold, "AMAYA! DEAR SISTER!" Lee. I slipped out from between Sasuke and Kosuke,

"It's been a pleasure, but I'm afraid I can't stay," I said running away. I didn't make it very far before I was entrapped in a huge hug from my brother.

"AMAYA I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK!" I smiled, and lightly hugged back. Kosuke walked up behind Lee, the others behind him.

"Help me," I mouthed to Kosuke, she smiled.

"Lee, you may want to get off before she kills you." He backed off, and I scowled.

"The wrong choice of words at this time Kosuke, wrong choice of words." I smiled anyways, "I need a bath! Let's head to the hot springs!" I called out, turning in that direction. Kosuke caught up quick enough.

"But Amaya-"

I cut her off, "I just fought a snake, I deserve a bath! You too! You stink," I laughed, trying to cheer her up.