A/N: Hi All… Glad to see that you came back. I would like to say Thanks to Wandering Maverick !!!!AGAIN!!! for helping me out with this chapter… I don't write an "angry" Naruto very well and he helped me out with that… A LOT… In the meantime, while you're waiting for my next chapter, I would suggest you go read his "Ascension of the Kitsune". I have been enjoying it IMMENSELY.

Normal

"Speech"

Thought

Kyuubi

Warnings: I STILL do not own Naruto (sad isn't it). Rated "M" for language and adult situations.

Chapter 74: The Last to Know

Tsunade walked down the stairs of the house. There were several people gathered in the living room. They all had expectant looks, except for Tsunami, who looked more like a grinning Cheshire cat. "It's a healthy baby boy. Mother, father and baby are taking a little nap, but I am sure in a couple of hours, Naruto will be showing him off to everyone."

"Leave it to dobe to have a boy." Sasuke grumbled.

"Just because the first Uchiha to be born is going to be a girl, doesn't mean anything." Tsunade smiled, but turned a hard expression to Kisame. "How long has she been prolonging the birth?"

"It's been a few days at least, and I don't think it was Midoriko that was waiting." Kisame stated flatly.

Tsunade scratched her chin in contemplation. "I see."

"HER name is Myra." Sasuke growled.

"Unfortunately, Kisame is correct for the time being. Until we can figure out how Madara altered the Memory Seal, she will be Midoriko for now. It is apparent, however, that some of the memories are surfacing. Myra said something to Naruto moments before he placed the seal on her memories. He could change her mind, but he couldn't change her heart. The good news is that even if we can never remove the seal from her memories, Midoriko feels something for Naruto." Tsunade looked up the stairs.

"I know very little about how Madara altered the seal." Kisame shrugged.

"I want to know why you betrayed Madara." Tsunade demanded more than questioned.

"Look I know what he was planning. I didn't like the idea of world domination by that freak. So I did what I had to do. I saved a life or two in the process, yeah for me. Two sins whipped away because I was a good guy." Kisame sighed.

"What is he planning?" Sasuke asked.

"Well considering that his plan just went down the shitter, I wouldn't be able to tell you. But while that bastard is still alive, Midoriko and Son are in serious danger. Madara had Kabuto fake the body that was supposed to be Myra's. It was supposed to be perfect in every way." Kisame smirked and shot a glance to Sasuke. "I figure the reason it back fired was that the accident was TOO perfect. The old bastard was going to use Myra as a breeding machine to produce his new Uchiha army, but that idea got tossed out the window when he found out she was already pregnant. Then Madara was convinced that Naruto had some sort of DNA that made him perfect as a jinchuriki. So the new plan to create an army of jinchuriki under his control was conceived. He would have Kabuto clone the children. He has seven of the nine Biju sealed in a statue. Madara knows a sealing ritual to imprison each of the biju in a human child. Add to that the capabilities to control the biju, the demon child of Naruto to train as he saw fit, and Madara thought he would be unstoppable. Then IF Midoriko survived the birth, he was GOING to make more Uchiha babies to assist in ruling his world and keep him alive for all eternity."

"Permission to kill the lunatic ma'am?" Sasuke glared at Tsunade.

"Granted…"

"I don't think you will have to wait long. As soon as my little caravan doesn't make the rendezvous point with Sound, Kabuto will send a message to Madara. It will only be a matter of time before the bastard shows up looking for Midoriko and the baby."

"That's why I brought this with me." Sasuke pulled out a small handheld device from his pocket. "I made a phone call before we left Konoha. Uncle had this sent for us. He said that it is a smaller version of the one in Konoha and should keep Madara out of the vicinity." Sasuke tossed it to Tsunade.

She caught the small device. "An Ethereal Chakra shield? How thoughtful of Thunder Bear." Tsunade said with a hint of sarcasm.

Kisame tilted his head. "What is that thing?"

"Hn. Something that will keep Madara from making a surprise appearance." Sasuke mused. "It may piss him off a little more than he already is, but it was a nice birthday gift for the little dobe. Oh, which reminds me, Uncle Rai said he would meet us in the village as soon as he could."

0 – 0 – 0

Naruto stared at the sleeping baby in his arms. He had been checking over the bundle in his arms for the past several hours. It had been about fifty or so times he counted the number of toes and fingers. Naruto knew how many hairs the baby had on his soft head. The small bundle started to squirm and blinked open blue eyes. Father and son connected in that instant. The baby seemed to grin and reach out. Naruto nuzzled his face into the baby's hands, "My kit." He whispered ever so slightly.

The baby made a gurgle noise and started to make a sound like a hiccup. Then a soft cry assaulted Naruto's ears. Midoriko stirred and soon, Naruto was looking into deep chocolate eyes. "I'm going to need him back now."

"I can take care of him." Naruto said proudly.

"And how exactly do you plan on feeding him?" Midoriko smirked.

Naruto looked at his son. "Do you think you can wait three minutes for ramen?" For a child that was only a few hours old, it seemed strange for the boy to knit his thin eyeborws together, but Naruto watched the boy do exactly that. Midoriko laughed and took the small bundle from Naruto, who whimpered sadly. "I said I would make ramen."

"You get points for the thought, but ramen isn't something he can eat just yet." Midoriko laid the baby on her lap and started to undress from the waist up. She thought about what she was doing and turned back to Naruto. "Um… Do you think you can give us a little privacy?"

"I guess so." Naruto made a sad face and got up from the bed. He was sulking out of the room when he heard a familiar giggle.

"I didn't say you had to leave unless you're tired of keeping an eye on me." Naruto turned to see Midoriko holding the baby close to her breast and a small blanket thrown over her shoulder to keep things discrete.

Naruto just stared at her. Everything about her was beautiful, but there was still something missing from her. She was outwardly Myra, but until he unlocked that part of her that made her who she was, Myra would be trapped and Midoriko would remain. He let out a deep sigh and smiled sadly. "I would never get tired of watching over you."

"The Mizukage said that to me." She frowned and looked away. "But it never sounded as sincere as it does when you say it." Tears started to drip down her cheeks. "I know you and I can feel it. The memory is just out of reach." She started to sob. "Why can't I remember?"

Naruto rushed over to her and turned her head to look directly in his eyes. "Shhh. I'm here now and that's all that maters." He took a deep breath and Midoriko watched as he changed ever so slightly. "I was very serious when I said I would never let you go again and I am very serious when I say that I will watch over and protect you from harm, you and Kit."

Midoriko blinked as Naruto's eyes kept the crystalline blue color, but the human irises became feral slits. Then the voice in her head, just behind a closed door told her it was ok and not to be afraid. Midoriko had always been able to hear the voice, but it was always muffled and she couldn't hear it clearly. Over the last few hours the voice had become clearer. "Just trust him, for once in your life trust him." The voice screamed from just behind the door.

"Then I will let you." Midoriko smiled sadly.

This small submission from Midoriko made Naruto feel a little better about the situation. She would trust him and that was a beginning. He sat back on the bed and allowed Midoriko to lean back against him again and she felt the warmth she craved, no… the warmth from him she needed. She couldn't have explained it even if she tried. Midoriko needed this blonde stranger. She had felt so suffocated with the Mizukage. Here, with Naruto she could breathe again. Soon the baby stopped suckling and was fast asleep again.

Naruto averted his eyes while she dressed. Tsunade knocked on the door and opened it slowly. "Naruto? Midoriko? Are you awake?"

Midoriko looked up. "Yes. But the little one is taking another short nap before he decides he is hungry again."

"I need to do another check on him to make sure he is ok. Have you picked a name for him yet?" Tsunade took the bundle from Midoriko.

"There has only been one name I have ever thought about. I don't know why, but it was the name that seemed to fit." Midoriko turned to Naruto. "Does the name Minato have any meaning to you?"

Naruto looked away. "It was," he was still coming to terms with his father being the Yondiame, "my father's name." Naruto took a deep breath as if he didn't want to say more. "And it was your brother's name."

Short flashes of children laughing and running through a field of tall grass flooded her memory. "We used to play together. The man, down stairs, is he?"

"No… But he is like your brother in many ways." Tsunade said quietly. She checked over the baby and found him to be in good health. He was still weak from preventing his own birth, but it wasn't anything he wouldn't recover from. Tsunade handed the baby back to Naruto. "Midoriko, I need to have a look at you now, so is it ok if Naruto take's Minato downstairs?"

Midoriko blinked up at Naruto. "Does he have to go down stairs?'

Tsunade turned a little red. "Well I do have to check a few things that can make most men faint. So unless you want him here while I check on your stitches and a few other things…" Naruto was beginning to turn a little green.

Midoriko was beginning to blush. "Yes, you may take him down stairs."

0 – 0 – 0

Nartuo walked gently down stairs with his son. He got half way down the staircase when small blue eyes opened and looked at him. "I thought you were taking a nap?" The baby gurgled in response. Naruto shrugged and continued down the stairs. Sasuke was looking out the window when Naruto got to the bottom of the stairs. Kisame seemed to be taking a nap on the couch.

"Did you bring him downstairs to gloat?" Sasuke never took his eyes off the front of the house.

"No… Not really… Tsunade is checking over Myra to make sure everything is ok. I thought you might like to meet your nephew… Ok and to gloat a little." Naruto grinned from ear to ear.

Kisame opened one eye and then sat up. "So is that Noodle?" Sasuke and Naruto looked at Kisame like he was crazy. "What? Midoriko craved ramen all the time. It was a joke. I would make mention that my mother craved shark fin soup… She would look at me and scream that her son was going to be a noodle. So it kind of stuck."

"His name is Minato." Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke snickered. "Fish Cakes and Noodles, are you going to name the next one Broth? Then you can be a whole family of Ramen."

Naruto narrowed he eyes at Sasuke. "Ha ha ha… Very funny Teme…" Naruto looked down at his son. "The first thing you need to know Mi-Na-To… is that your uncle Teme is an idiot." The baby just gurgled.

Tsunami came into the living room with a tray full of tea. "Naruto… I'm going to go out on a limb here, but I don't think Midoriko is going to be happy with you teaching your son bad words at such an early age."

Tsunade was half way down the stairs. "I would happen to agree Naruto. Tsunami, please take the baby up to Midoriko. I need to speak to these three." Tsunami nodded and walked over to Naruto. The blonde reluctantly handed over the boy to Tsunami. The woman smiled and took Minato with loving expertise.

Tsunade walked the rest of the way down the stairs, picked up some tea, and waited for Tsunami to be up stairs. "Madara didn't alter the seal. He placed one of his own. If the main seal is broken, the secondary seal placed by Madara will trigger and cause a synaptic shut down of her nervous system. In short, it will kill her. The seal is not something I can remove. I do not know enough about sealing jutsu to make the attempt and anyone I would trust to make the attempt is dead."

Naruto nodded his head a few times. Then, with out a word or a glance to anyone he walked out the door. Tsunade blinked in confusion. She was expecting loud protesting or even declarations of hope and possibilities. This silent submission was not the Naruto she knew. Sasuke, too, watched his best friends walk out the door in confusion. He had never known the blonde to seemingly give up or to brood. But since Myra's supposed death, Naruto had increasingly wanted to be alone.

"Sasuke…" Tsunade didn't have to finisher her request.

The Uchiha shot a glare at Kisame. The large shark man rolled his eyes. "What?"

Sasuke's serious expression never wavered. "Can I trust you?"

Kisame shook his head. "There is a legendary Sannin in the house and you're worried about me?"

"I will keep an eye on Kisame." Tsunade stated firmly. "He won't go anywhere."

"Good." Sasuke turned to head out the door.

0 – 0 – 0

Naruto walked into the woods around Tazuna's house. He had reached his emotional limit when Tsunade had announced that she couldn't fix Myra. There was so much on his mind that he didn't know where to start. There wasn't one thing he wanted to tackle first. The walk was helping him sort it out, but there was still that overwhelming guilt and sadness that he was the cause of all this. If he hadn't done what the council had asked. If HE hadn't suggested it to Myra in the first place, then maybe she would still be here.

"Stop beating yourself up, you are NOT the Uchiha Bastard."

"I don't need you right now." Naruto spat.

"Then let me out to run around for a little while… I don't want to listen to you piss and moan about the things you can not change." Kyuubi grumbled.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you liked my self inflicted misery?"

"Back in the good ol' days when we had nothing in common… Yes… I enjoyed it immensely. But now that I can actually sympathies with you, not so much." Kyuubi took a deep breath. "I feel your pain Kit. I miss her too. We gave her the idea and placed the Memory Seal to keep her safe from Madara. We didn't think that he would try and keep Myra as a common whore."

Naruto's fists clenched and he growled. "I NEVER want to hear her name and the word "whore" in the same sentence."

Kyuubi hung his great head. "Truth hurts Kit. That's what he was going to do." The great beast let out a sigh. "Now do me a favor and let me out. I would like to have a look at the seal Madara placed. I may be able to offer some advice. I will also have the Uchiha bastard call on the Fowl-know-it-all and the Cryptic one. There are a few things I need to discuss with them. I want to know if they knew she was alive, and as Lord of the Ethereal, I will punish them for not alerting anyone"

Naruto felt his blood start to boil. "They knew?"

"Yes Kit… I believe they knew."

Naruto started swinging and didn't care how many trees were decimated with each punch. His violent outburst only lasted a matter of moments, but in those moments, Naruto created a large clearing of trees. When the dust settled and Naruto stood in the middle of the clearing still fuming. "Why am I the last person to know this shit?!" He yelled at everyone and no one in general.

Sasuke had watched his friend from a safe distance. "Excuse us for wanting you alive to see Myra again." He stated coolly as he stepped out from newly created tree line.

Red feral eyes glared at Sasuke. "No… I won't excuse it. I am SICK of being treated like a little kid. When I act like it I expect someone to smack me. Sakura does it ALL the time. But YOU kept MY SON from me." Naruto got in Sasuke's face. "You, Sasuke Uchiha, betrayer of Konoha because of your family and for your family; YOU, the Great Uchiha Avenger, who once accused ME of not knowing or understanding what family was; YOU DENIED ME MY SON!" the blonde roared. "So don't come to me with that crap."

Sasuke schooled his features and did not show Naruto the shame he was feeling. "Let's just say we did tell you immediately... What would you have done?" Sasuke stepped around Naruto "You would have torn out of the village in a blind rage with one thing on your mind. But you would have been walking straight into the hands the enemy; an enemy that isn't going to stop until he is dead."

Naruto growled. "I would have gotten her out and that's what would have mattered."

"DAMN IT NARUTO THINK!" Sasuke yelled in exasperation. "Sure, you're strong and with the Kyuubi behind you, you are a one man army. I want to believe that you would have gone into the village of the Mist and torn the place apart getting Myra out. But how long before the other shinobi villages are at Konoha's gates trying to prevent what happened to Mist from happening to them. They wouldn't have seen the destruction of Mist as a rescue mission. They would have seen it as an act of war."

There was a silence between them as Naruto face contorted with the concentration of Sasuke's argument. A few more moments slipped by before Sasuke spoke again. The Uchiha knew the blonde was finally beginning to see reason, but none the less, Sasuke needed to say something. "Despite being the smart thing to do…" Sasuke swallowed dryly. "I… I'm still sorry Naruto." He said hardly above a whisper. A moment later Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Tell ANYONE I said that and don't expect anymore children after this one." He growled out, before a small smirk started to tug at the corners of his lips.

At first, Naruto didn't register Sasuke's final words. His mind was still preoccupied with his anger over his current helplessness at the situation and his shinobi instincts making him begrudgingly understand Sasuke and Tsunade's decision. He mulled over these conflicting thoughts for several more silent minutes before he let out a long and labored sigh. Naruto turned his heated gaze to the ground.

He finally opened his calmer blue eyes, as if finally coming to a decision of what he should be doing, and let a small smile tug at his own lips when he registered the strange phenomenon that just occurred. "Yeah, sure thing teme, no one would believe me anyway." The blonde shook his head and chuckled lightly. They both started to walk back to the house leaving the anger and guilt buried in the decimated shrubbery around them.