okay so here we are chappie numero tres! (probably spelled wrong) anyway if you havent a guess what raven is then in this chapter and the following it is painfully obvious!!!!!! please enjoy and review!!!!! Sasuke is almost here yay! also sorry for not focusing on the baby a lot but I will more and more these things just gotta happen first! okay here we go.....

Even as they talked Naruto's thoughts kept drifting back to Raven. Sakura had said anbu knew about it. He was an anbu, but if he was supposed to know he guess he'd be told wouldn't he? He must have had a frown on his face because Sakura sighed.

"I've been trying for the whole month you've been gone to find out what it is, but Tsunade is seriously keeping it under wraps." As always Sakura could guess exactly what Naruto was thinking.

"Can't get anything out of Shikamaru either?" Naruto asked. It was nice. Even though Naruto was now a single father Sakura and he could still engage in the same old things like figuring out top secret plans the Hokage "keeps under wraps". Sakura grinned.

"No and he didn't tell Temari anything either which actually has her pretty miffed. She even tried to ask Gaara to see if he was in on it, but he doesn't know."

"What about Neji and Kiba? Have you tracked her or spied on the anbu?" Naruto asked as Koichi started to drift back into sleep hopefully for the night.

"Haven't been in town. They are on a romantic vacation." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Oh God. Who caved first Kiba's stubborn ass or Shy prideful Hyuuga?" Naruto had to know Sakura and he had been betting on those two for about a year now.

"Don't know. Been a bit busy." She smirked.

"Oh right wedding plans." Naruto feigned ignorance and Sakura bopped him on the head. "Haha so Kakashi-sensei hasn't gotten cold feet yet then?" Sakura giggled herself.

While the two talked and plotted Shikamaru had been led by Lady Hokage into her office to talk. Raven was a project that truthfully Shikamaru wanted nothing to do with. It's main purpose he didn't particularly care for, but the information it granted him was. He could keep an eye on things especially if the other component got out of hand which was most likely. The rain hadn't let up outside even as the faint light of day faded away. Tsunade sat at her desk and pulled out a bottle of sake from her drawer. It was going to be a long night.

Naruto woke up sore as the sun filtered in his window. It was six thirty and he had been up feeding Koichi only two hours ago and here he was crying again. Sakura was coming over soon to help his wounds along. Naruto grabbed the bottle of formula he had made two hours earlier, heated it up, and walked over to the crying Koichi.

"Shh…shh…shh…" Naruto hadn't felt this exhausted in forever. Koichi wasn't happy with the bottle. Did he need to be changed? Naruto sniffed the air…nope.

"What is it Koichi?" Naruto rocked the baby in his arms staring out the window. When would this storm let up anyway? He started to hum and Koichi finally quieted down. Naruto set him back down and rubbed circles on his small back to keep him calm. Soon the babe's even breathing was all that could be heard. Naruto was left with his thoughts. His mind was plagued with curiosity about Raven. Sakura and him and spent the majority of his time checking out of the hospital wondering about it. Of course they also caught up on the last month. Sakura was fretting over this and that with her wedding plans. She had asked Ino to be her maid of honor and apparently Ino also kept asking what kind of flowers to get for Sakura's bouquet. A soft knock came at the door. Naruto stood up on sore legs and walked slowly to his door. His legs weren't healed yet and Naruto was moving pretty slowly in his braces.

Tsunade sighed. Her bottle of sake depleted and she hadn't slept a wink. Shikamaru, Kakashi, Iruka, and Kurenai had been in her office discussing things all night. Kakashi was leaning up against a wall his shoulders sagging. Iruka was rubbing his eyes. Shikamaru sat in a chair. Tsunade was leaning on her elbows. Kurenai was the only one who seemed undaunted by the long night. Sure they were all ninja but this situation was delicate and Kurenai was the only one used to long nights figuring out delicate situations. Praise mothers everywhere thought Tsunade.

"So that's it then." Kakashi spoke from his place. "Raven is ready to be put into play?" This conversation had been going in the same circles for about an hour and a half. No one really wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

"Raven's abilities will help us immensely and it won't be allowed out of the village for a very VERY long time." Kurenai added with a small sigh. Tsunade was getting tired of the word Raven. Of course for security purposes it couldn't be said as anything else until it's deployed. You never know where blonde haired blue eyed ears may be, even if he was injured.

"This is such a drag. If any of what this had anything to do with the fact that Raven is not deployed it could be easily fixed…but its not. The problem is Naruto." Shikamaru sat up. Praise the young thought Tsunade. Now that this was brought albeit reluctantly to their attention they'd have to address it.

"He has been the elephant in the room hasn't he?" Iruka muttered.

"His injuries from his last mission are quite serious." Kakashi said looking pointedly at Tsunade.

"And the Kyuubi isn't healing him. If anything it's slowing mine and Sakura's treatments down. His legs should be healed today but it may take a week. Sakura will be in after her visit to report." Tsunade said.

"What about the wound to his stomach?" Kurenai asked.

"Yesterday it wouldn't stop bleeding and it took both me and Sakura combined to get it to. If anything Naruto's wounds aren't the problem though." Tsunade stood.

"Kyuubi is. It's sucking Naruto dry…. What if it doesn't stop?" Shikamaru looked into Tsunade's eyes.

"Kyuubi wouldn't kill Naruto. It can't without killing itself." Kakashi stepped forward.

"What if Kyuubi can't help it? It's unlikely but we have to face that there is a possibility that Kyuubi is killing Naruto right now." Shikamaru stood.

"Now calm down." Iruka stepped forward. "No matter what we don't know that this is happening for sure. We won't until Sakura reports in. And until then we don't want to cause him stress with his injuries, that definitely won't help and Raven would be VERY stressful to Naruto." It was probably the most Iruka had spoken all night. But of course he always seemed to get Naruto before any of them did.

"Let's come to a decision. If Sakura's report comes in badly we prepare to introduce Raven. Its powers would help us understand Naruto's situation and help with Raven being reinstated into the village." Kakashi stated.

"But we will have to do this carefully. The repercussions of Naruto and Raven could be tragic." Kurenai said. Tsunade sighed.

"It's settled then. All we can do is wait for Sakura and then Raven may be Naruto's only hope." Silence settled as the sun broke through storm clouds.

"It's a rather peculiar day for sunshine…"muttered Shikamaru.