UPDATE! WOO!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced in this fan fiction, except the following:

Tsukuyomi Clan

Nero

Akumu

Inori

Shiôrisha Usagi

Shiôrisha Idomu

Roku

Fumichi Ecchio

A/N: THIRD POV~

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Chapter Thirty-Eight: It's Time to Let Go. Where Are the Adults?

What woke Ruriko up was a hand thrust across her chest, making her wince and blink to find Naruto fast asleep beside her, his hand cupped right over her. Ruriko rolled her eyes and grabbed Naruto's hand, thrusting it off so she could sit up and glance at Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was blushing for some reason, staring down at Sasuke as she dumped a little more poison into the bowl. Sasuke was glancing up, muttering something.

"You're not done yet?" Ruriko asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Sakura jumped a little and looked up.

"Ah, uhm… It's almost all out. He can see again, but his body is still stiff and he's still cold." She explained. Sasuke rolled his eyes, grimacing only slightly.

"I'm not that cold…" Even as he said it, it was pretty obvious as his teeth clicked together in a short, stopped chatter. Ruriko sighed, then nudged Naruto with her foot. Naruto groaned and rolled over. Ruriko sweat dropped, then looked up to see Sakura blushing again.

"Is he actually flirting with you or do you always blush around him?" She asked. Sakura blinked, then scowled a little, blushing redder. Sasuke flicked his eyes toward Ruriko in annoyance.

"Don't talk unless I give you permission, starting now." He ordered. Ruriko glared at him, but she said nothing in return, only huffing and folding her arms over her chest.

"SHIT!" Someone's voice yelled. Everyone looked toward the door, Naruto shooting up to groan a little and rub his eye. Karin, then Suigetsu came barreling into the room.

"We're in trouble," Suigetsu informed an aggravated Sasuke, "There are Kirigakure Jounin out in the town with that Akumu guy leading them and they're heading right this way." Sasuke's eyes darkened, his body visibly tensing. Ruriko frowned and glanced at Sasuke. Karin and Suigetsu waited expectantly while everyone looked at Sasuke.

"We're leaving." Sasuke stated.

"What?" Naruto yelled.

"Sasuke, I'm not finished…!" Sakura's voice fell away as Sasuke pushed her back, getting into a sitting position. Ruriko's eyes flickered, amused. Huh… He's still pushing himself… She thought. Karin winced and took a timid step forward in case Sasuke decided to fall over, but he didn't. He rose to his feet easily, giving only a single sway before he stood up straight.

"We're leaving now. We'll get a head start on them." He informed. Ruriko was on her feet, Karin and Suigetsu nodding, one leaving to inform Juugo. Naruto clenched his fists, his teeth gritted as he glared at the Uchiha.

"Y-You can't…! You can't leave! We have to take you back!" He shouted angrily. Ruriko scowled at him and opened her mouth to say something, but Sasuke swung his hand up and smacked her mouth shut.

"I'm not going back, loser," Sasuke spat at Naruto, lowering his hand, "I have business to attend to and I really don't want you interfering, or are you going to try and fight me again, getting your ass kicked?" Naruto twitched and he tensed up.

"Naruto, stop," Sora said softly, tilting her head to look at him, "We made a deal, right? We have to abide by what we said."

"I thought it was your 'ninja way' to stick by your word." Kai added in, averting his eyes innocently. Eiji sighed, then frowned as Naruto stomped his foot.

"I can't…! We just…! I swore I'd bring you back to the village!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke, who cocked his head to give Naruto a sideways look over his shoulder.

"Maybe some other time." He replied calmly, making Naruto fume. Sakura reached out to touch Sasuke's arm, but his reflexes seemed to be back and just as good as ever for he jerked his arm out of her reach.

"We're leaving… Come on." Sasuke ordered to Ruriko, who shrugged and followed him out the door. Naruto took a step forward, but Sakura caught his arm.

"Naruto, stop." She managed. Naruto whipped around to glare at her.

"Let me go! I have to go after him!" He yelled.

"It'd be pointless," Kai muttered, "Let him go. It's not like he's going to stay away from Konohagakure forever."

"Yea," Sora agreed with a frown, "Didn't you hear what Ruriko said earlier?" Naruto blinked, clueless as he tried to remember. Eiji averted his eyes, adjusting his glasses.

"She said 'at least not yet'… When Karin mentioned Sasuke never returning…" He said softly, making Naruto stare at him in surprise. Sakura blinked, then nodded in agreement.

"Exactly! That means Sasuke will come back!" She cried. Naruto paused, glancing down at his feet with a pained expression before sighing and relaxing with a nod.

"Then the only thing we can do right now is stall Akumu and his Jounin." Kai stated.

"And how do we do that?" Sora asked with a grimace. Kai paused, shifting his feet a little as if he was hiding a dirty little secret.

"Well… I have one idea…"

Somewhere Else

"Are you sure you're okay, Sasuke?" Karin asked worriedly as they bolted through the trees, leaves rustling and crashing as they whipped from branch to branch. Sasuke frowned, still running at the head of the group.

"Just fine." He answered. Ruriko glanced at him out the corner of her eye, then back with a huff.

"Tch, he's not screaming or anything. That's a good sign." She retorted. Suigetsu snickered.

"Oh, but there was 'anything' last night. You guys were just too out of it to hear." He taunted. Ruriko blinked and looked at him blankly. Karin twitched.

"What do you mean?" She demanded, then looked at Juugo, who looked away, probably already knowing what Suigetsu was teasing about. Then everyone looked at Sasuke, who kept running with as straight a face as he could keep without whipping around and slamming his fist into Suigetsu's face.

"What the hell is Suigetsu going on about?" Ruriko asked, frowning at Sasuke, who twitched slightly as if snapped from his thoughts.

"Hell if I know." He retorted sharply. Ruriko pursed her lips and cocked a brow at him suspiciously.

"You know, I think I have a hunch… You seemed to be pretty into talking with Sakura and getting up with ease too." She mused. Sasuke snapped his head at her, glaring full on, complete with raging Sharingan.

"Quit guessing."

"Judging by that attitude, I'd say my suspicions were right. You had sex with Sakura."

"… You are tempting me to rip your tongue out and strangle you with it. If you don't shut up, I will do it." Sasuke threatened coldly and looked back up ahead. Ruriko scuffed, but said nothing else.

Of course. He didn't deny it, so it has to be true. Good, gods, she's only what? Fifteen? Way too young to have a kid. She thought with an eye roll, but the group continued their trek in silence, leaving Kirigakure and their mess behind them.

Konohagakure

"I don't believe you guys! You're all banned from any outside missions for the rest of the month! You hear me? And you are only to accept D-rank missions in the village! Never in my life have I seen such reckless and selfish behavior! Unacceptable! And you call yourselves shinobi!" Tsunade roared, having slammed her fist into her desk and cracking it in half.

Everyone had returned by now, the Hokage's office rather cramped with everyone who was inside. Everyone in the room was either shifting or groaning in annoyance, but no one opened their mouth to argue with a red-faced and angry Tsunade. Eventually, they piled out of the room.

"This is so unfair…" Sora sighed, then jumped a little in surprise as Daisuke put an arm around her, huffing a little.

"Oh well. We did our best! And we learned some new things… And we get more time to spend in the hot springs." Daisuke said with a grin. Sora smiled faintly and leaned on him as they walked down the hall with Mai at their side, her eyes rolling.

"I'm still confused," Koyuki murmured as she moved down the hall with her teammates, "Why would Ruriko ever keep her word with a guy like Sasuke?" Kasumi shrugged, huffing a little as she folded her arms over her chest.

"I don't know, but it pisses me off… You should have seen Akira when we got back." She added under her breath. Kai raised an eyebrow.

"You were watching him?" He asked. Kasumi twitched and didn't hesitate to elbow him hard in the ribs.

"Shut up, dumbass! I meant in a friend way!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Did I ask you?" The team continued on their way down the hall, the next team moving out of the Hokage's office.

"Osamu, are you all right?" Kishi asked quietly as they walked. Osamu frowned, averting his eyes a little as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yea, just fine…" He muttered. Kishi sighed. Eiji looked back Osamu for a moment, then at the hallway up ahead.

"She'll come back." He said. Osamu looked at him, blinking in surprise, before giving a faint smile and nodding.

"She better." He responded. As they walked. Kishi smiled and looked at Eiji, whispering a thank up and earning a nod from him.

"Sakura, are you all right?" Naruto asked as they walked down the hall with the other teams.

"She just puked," Kin muttered, "I don't think she is." Sakura smiled weakly, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's fine, I'm okay… I think it was something I ate." She replied, holding a hand over her belly.

"I hope so." Naruto mumbled.

"She's probably right. What else would make her vomit?" Kin questioned rhetorically with a shrug. Naruto blinked, then laughed a little.

"Good point!" He laughed. Sakura stared at them with a sick look before following them down the hall.

"It could've been worse," Honoka told her twin as they left the office, "It could've been completely crushed. You should've thanked Shizune…" Ayaka snorted as she hobbled on her crutches.

"This is stupid. I hate these things! I'm still gonna train my ass off!" She declared. Ryuuko gave her a comically deadpan stare, his arms folded over his chest.

"At least you're not down." He said with a light shrug.

"Hell no! I'm not giving up and I am so going to find that Deidara and kick his ass!" Ayaka proclaimed. Honoka blinked, then sweat dropped.

"Aha, okay." She agreed anyway. Ryuuko sighed and the team kept walking, following the others out. Back in the office, Tsunade huffed and slammed back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest. Shizune was shaking at her side, covering her face as if to hide her shame. Across the desk, Kazuya stood with Akira and Nero at his side, Roku standing by Akira.

"I'm sorry for the mess these two have caused in your village. I'm sure it's too much to ask if we can stay a bit longer." Kazuya explained with a little sigh. Tsunade paused, scanning them over before shaking her head.

"It's fine. Stay as long as you like. I'm thankful that you and the other Jounin went to fetch the teams." She replied. Kazuya beamed oh so sweetly.

"Thank you, Lady Hokage! It's a pleasure speaking with you! Have a nice afternoon." He bowed a few times before nodding to his team, leading them out into the hallway.

"Do you guys have anything to say for yourselves?" Kazuya asked quietly, his expression tired and annoyed. Nero frowned and looked the other way, not saying a word. Akira glanced up at him, a somewhat hurt look on his face before he looked back down. Kazuya sighed, then looked at his feet.

"Ruriko's gotten herself into trouble I take it from your looks… And not to mention, you brought a kid back with you." He added, glancing at Roku, who blinked with wide curious eyes up at him. Akira looked surprised at first, as if he had almost forgotten Roku, then smiled down at him.

"Sorry if all this seems scary." He said to him. Roku shook his head, then shifted a little with a sad look on his face.

"Na… Roku miss… Ruriko…" He mumbled. Akira sighed and nodded a little.

"I miss her too." He replied.

"Me three." Nero said at last. Kazuya frowned.

"I know… But if what you said is true, she'll come back on her own. She just needs time… Whatever you do, don't tell any one of higher power, such as the Hokage. If they find out that Ruriko is traveling with a missing-nin, they'll probably sign her up for death row." He explained quietly as they exited the building.

"So what do we do now? Are we ever going to go back home?" Akira asked. Kazuya nodded, then paused and shrugged.

"You still have business to do with the medical teachings here… So I don't know about you, but Nero and I will probably be going back in a couple days… What're you going to do with Roku?" He asked. Akira averted his eyes.

"I want to keep him with me… If that's okay." He added. Kazuya shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Ruriko gave him to you to take care of. I just hope you know the responsibilities of having a child." He replied. Nero snorted, laughing out loud.

"Akira! Haha, with a kid, that's funny!" He snickered. Akira twitched, then huffed.

"I can take great care of him! Just you wait! Come on, Roku, we're going to the hospital." He muttered and grabbed Roku's hand, dragging the child after him. Kazuya and Nero shared sarcastic looks.

"All right," Akira declared as they walked into the hospital, "You have behave when we go in here okay? I'm sure Ruriko taught you how to behave right?" He looked at Roku hopefully, earning a cute little smile from the five-year-old.

"Yes!" He replied. Akira smiled.

"That's great! She mentioned you're not so great with communicating… Which words do you know?" He asked. Roku blinked and stared at him, tapping his lip thoughtfully.

"Na… Lots." He answered. Akira shrugged.

"Good enough for me," He smiled, then looked up as Sakura came down the hallway with Kasumi, who had a bandaged up hand, "Hello, ladies!" He greeted boisterously, throwing his arms out dramatically. Roku sweat dropped. Sakura huffed and Kasumi sighed a little.

"You're cheery, even after the bad news we got." Sakura muttered.

"How do you keep it up?" Kasumi asked, shaking her head. Akira grinned and easily linked an arm around Kasumi's shoulders, using his other hand to take her sore one.

"Thinking of you every day has me energetic and excited! Just think what sex would be like." He added with a wicked grin. Kasumi glared, her face heating up. Sakura twitched.

"You pervert! And you call yourself a medical ninja!" She yelled angrily. Akira shrugged, folding his arms over his chest.

"I can't help that I'm attracted the beauty of all things! It's just enough to make me go crazy." He said with a grin, winking at Kasumi, who stared at him unable to come up with anything to say. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Akira, weren't you supposed to be taking care of someone?" She demanded and pointed beside Akira, who blinked and looked over. He yelped, flailing a little at the empty spot beside him.

"Holy shit, no way! He's gone already? This is unbelievable!" He cried.

"You'll never do well with children." Kasumi muttered. Akira gave her a weak little smile.

"Trust me, when we have children, I'll keep them on leashes! See you ladies later!" He yelled and bolted down the hallway. Kasumi felt a brand new blush set her face on fire as she glared after Akira. Sakura sighed, then smirked at Kasumi.

"He's cute, right?"

"… I guess… Maybe a little." Kasumi mumbled a little, averting her eyes and huffing a little.

Meanwhile, Roku stepped out of the hospital, his gold eyes scanning the tall buildings. The village was definitely, by far, much bigger than the little valley town or the shore side village that he'd been to with Ruriko and Sasuke. Roku twitched in annoyance at the mere thought of Sasuke. Of course, due to his vocabulary, he couldn't come up with anything to fit Sasuke as an insult, except for the few he'd heard Ruriko use. Roku beamed happily as one came to mind.

"Asshead." He said to himself, then blinked in surprise. The word sounded just right, as in, the pronunciation. He was thoroughly pleased with himself and couldn't wait to tell Ruriko about his accomplishment! But the happy moment he felt slowly fell away at the thought of the her.

He walked down the street, holding one of his plushies to his chest. He didn't know whether to be super mad or super sad that Ruriko had left him with these people. Why would she do that? He was okay with traveling with them, even though they were always in trouble. Of course, it also worried him that Ruriko was by herself with Sasuke. Roku paid no mind to the other three. As he figured Juugo was quiet and gentle, Karin was loud and obnoxious and needed to be smacked, and Suigetsu was pretty much a laid-back jerk.

He didn't like the thought of Ruriko not having him there to keep an eye on Sasuke. Roku knew, of course, that he didn't have enough power to fight Sasuke. He was only five, for crying out loud! But the least he could do was warn Ruriko when Sasuke was about to go after her so she could prepare herself. Roku frowned.

No, it couldn't stay like that. He wasn't some kind of alarm. He was a ninja too. Or at least, that's what he was going to be. Roku nodded confidently to himself at the thought.

He had to become a ninja! He had to become a ninja so he could kick Sasuke's ass and protect Ruriko!

Roku walked on down the street, thinking of ways of how he was going to reach his goal until a child came racing out of a shop and slammed right into him, causing him to topple over. Both boys yelped out loud, Roku falling on his back before sitting up.

The other boy scooted back on his bottom, knocking up dust. The boy looked about three, his a butterscotch gold with red flicks of paint under them going off to the sides and his hair as white as snow as a messy mop on his head, save for two shoulder length strands in front of his ears. He wore a loose black t-shirt with a leaf on the left sleeve, a pair of over-sized shorts tied with a white rope. He also had two small silver bells tied to the long strands of his hair so they jingled as he shook his head.

"Ah…" Roku didn't know what to say nor how to greet the boy who stared back at him curiously.

"Heyyy, you're new…" The boy mused, reaching out to poke Roku in the nose. Roku clasped his hands over his nose, staring at the boy in shock. The boy smiled a little and held out a hand.

"I'm Fumichi Ecchiooo!" He beamed. Roku looked at his hand a little curiously, trying to remember if he'd ever seen Ruriko do such a thing before he took one of Ecchio's fingers to look at it curiously. Ecchio blinked and smiled a little, watching Roku look at his hands curiously. There were lots of cuts in his palms, scars etched deeply into his hands and fingers.

"Ow?" Roku asked, looking up. Ecchio flexed his fingers thoughtfully before looking up with a big smile.

"Not that much! They was lots worse when I woke up!" He replied. Roku blinked, tilting his head curiously. Ecchio nodded, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yup! I woke up, and my hands was hurting lots, but not no more… Not really." He assured from the look on Roku's face. Roku lowered his eyes to Ecchio's hands again before looking at his feet. They were completely bandaged up, but there was a faint blood stain over the top of them.

"Ow?" He asked, pointing. Ecchio blinked and looked down, before smiling, but it looked a little more pained.

"Ah, I don't know how those got there… But it don't matter no more! I'm wake now and that's all that matters! So what's your name, huh?" He asked eagerly, leaning in a little close to Roku's face. Roku twitched a little, then tilted his head and tapped the side of his head, trying to remember what he was called before he snapped his fingers and held up six fingers. Ecchio looked at them before looking back at him.

"Roku?" He asked. Roku nodded. Ecchio beamed.

"Nice to meet ya, Roku! Let's be friends!" He threw his arms around Roku's neck, hugging him tightly. Roku yelped a little before blinking in surprise as Ecchio hopped to his feet, holding out his hand again.

"Come on, get up! I wanna show you where I live!" Ecchio whooped, pulling Roku to his feet. Roku nodded and followed anyway. He knew he shouldn't be running around the town with a strange child like Ecchio, as he could remember giving Ruriko a heart attack when he ran off and met Itachi, but he was sure Akira wouldn't mind. Ecchio led him around a complete circle at first before they stopped just outside a little shop.

"Agh," Ecchio whined, ruffling up his hair on the sides, "I coulda sworn I knew where it was! It's real big, gots lots of lights hanging on the sides too! It's right near here, I know it!" Roku smiled a bit weakly, rubbing the back of his head as he watch Ecchio flail and look around. Behind them, a chuckle made them look up to find an old man working at the shop, two customers sitting at the stools.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Ecchio." The old man laughed warmly. Ecchio looked up and beamed.

"Teuchi!" He beamed. The girl customer with waist length black hair, her fringe red and icy blue eyes looked down at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you forget where you lived?" She asked, as if this happened all the time. Ecchio blushed, but smiled at her anyway.

"Maybe!" He replied boisterously with a wide grin. The other customer, a girl with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, blinked.

"You have a new friend?" She asked, gesturing to Roku, who shifted a little uneasily at meeting so many new people. Ecchio beamed and thrust an arm toward Roku, putting his other hand on his hip.

"This is Roku! He's my new friend," He announced, then looked at Roku, pointing at the others, "That guy is Teuchi! He runs the ramen shop and he's veryyy nice! This is Hitsuki Kesshou and Kirai! They're cool too! … And pretty." He whispered the last part in Roku's ear, making him blink in confusion.

"How old are you, Roku?" Kesshou asked with a light smile. Kirai huffed, but was smirking as she heard Ecchio's comment. Roku held up five fingers for them to see.

"Really? You should feel mature hanging out with someone like Ecchio." Kirai replied with a smirk, making Ecchio twitch.

"I am so mature! I bet ya I'm more mature than Jiraiya!" He boosted. Kesshou sweat dropped, the corner of her mouth twitching a little.

"I think anyone's more mature than Lord Jiraiya." She pointed out. Kirai laughed out loud, Teuchi joining in. Ecchio huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"See? It's already showing!" He announced, making all three of the elders snicker. Ecchio smiled proudly at a job well done. Roku blinked, peeking at him. Ecchio seemed pretty nice as he had lots of friends. Akira definitely shouldn't mind if he hung around someone like him. Even if Ecchio seemed a bit weird, calling older girls pretty. Roku didn't really get it.

With help from Teuchi, Ecchio easily led Roku to his apartment, although, they climbed the back fire escape to gain access to the small apartment. It was cozy, though. The living room was average sized with a sofa, television set and a counter that led to the kitchen. A short hall led to the bedroom and bathroom. Roku got uneasy, however, as he saw towels piled up in the middle of the living room floor, drenched in dried, brownish blood."Uhm… E… Ecchio…" Roku pointed. Ecchio blinked and followed his finger, then beamed, waving his hand at the mess.

"Sorry, I forgot ta clean up my mess. Is from when I woke up." He responded. Roku stared at him, confused, but Ecchio said nothing more about the mess and continued on into the kitchen happily. Roku followed after, looking around.

"Well," Ecchio said, opening the fridge, having to hop up a bit to grab the handle, "I has some ramen cups left… And, some ice cream…"

"Eh?" Roku peeked into the fridge, then looked at Ecchio, still completely lost. Adults, right? Adults were supposed to take care of kids when they were little. Roku remembered the old man from back at the scary cells. The old man took care of him, but he went somewhere that Roku didn't know about. He left Roku with Ruriko. Where was the adult in Ecchio's place?

Roku went to try and question, but Ecchio was pulling out some rainbow colored ice cream and grabbing a chair from the corner. Ecchio pushed the chair in front of a counter and hopped onto it to open up some cupboards, getting out a couple spoons.

"I hope ya like it!" He said, hopping off with the ice cream. However, he winced, losing his excited expression for a split second before smiling a bit weakly up at Roku.

"Ow, that hurt… I forgot my feet still hurted." He replied. Roku looked at him a little sadly, tilting his head.

"Ecchio… No… Big peoples?" He asked. Ecchio blinked, looking at him for a moment to let the words sink in before he laughed.

"Adults? I don't has any. I doesn't need none! I woke up without any adults and I just fine!" He answered cheerily, leading Roku into the living room, displaying a bit of a limp as they walked. Roku averted his eyes as he hopped up on the couch beside Ecchio, who flipped on the TV. Roku stared in awe at the picture box as Ecchio settled down comfortably.

"Ecchio." Roku said as they ate the ice cream. Ecchio looked up, licking blue ice cream off his spoon.

"Eh? What?"

"Tell?" Roku asked. Ecchio cocked his head.

"Tell what?" He questioned. Roku shifted on the couch, trying to find the words as they bounced around in his head like jumping beans.

"Ahm… Hap… Happen…?" He asked, pointing toward the towels again. Ecchio pouted a little.

"But that story is so boring! Is like a month er something old!" He exclaimed. Roku stared at him, urging him with his eyes to continue. Ecchio sighed, taking the spoon out of his mouth to shrug.

"It's nofin special… I just woke up on the floor over there. I couldn't remember what happened before. I just found the whole place empty, cept for the bloody stuff that I was lying in. It was icky! So I got up and put some towels there… I forgot to clean 'em up since I dun really wanna be home… S'too quiet. I like runnin' 'round the village and meeting everybody! That's my goal!" He declared. Roku nodded, smiling a little.

"Nice." He replied. Ecchio nodded with a grin, then poked him.

"And you, huh? Can you tell a story?" He asked. Roku waited, looking around. His vocabulary wasn't big enough to explain all the hellish and yet fun life he'd led up until now. His eyes landed on a crayon and notebook sticking out from under the sofa. He bent down and held it up to Ecchio, who just nodded.

Roku started drawing.

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A/N: LONG. Kinda. XD 12 pages. Decided to stop it here since it's pretty late right now. C: I hope you guys like this! Yea, I've never actually hung around a 3-year-old before, so I don't quite know how they act or anything… :'D Hopefully I got Ecchio close enough. o3o Decided to stick a little cute filler sort of thingy mahjig in there with Roku. A lot of people seem to like him~ :D! Well, thanks so much for reading, hope the OCs are in character, and your reviews would be just fantastic!