lostmoonchild: Yay reviews! I was surprised at both reviews regarding how closely Naruto and Hisoka are related and I honestly haven't given it any thought. We'll have to see just how closely they're related although now I'm grinning so that's a heads up. Oh, and before I forget to mention, on August 9th I'll be giving a special update since it'll be my birthday so next week will be seeing two updates.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto so don't sue.

Chapter Seventeen

Naruto said nothing as he held Hisoka in his arms, feeling the little girl's legs wrap around his waist as she sat on his hip with her arms holding onto him. There was silent curiosity on her features before a bored yawn would leave her lips. Did she feel that the test they had taken only hours ago was important or had she simply thought of it as something that needed to be done to answer some other boring question? "Come on, what'd the results say?" Naruto demanded.

"We've made our choice, Naruto." Tsunade told the blonde. "I want you to remember that regardless of your personal feelings, you are to do as you are told."

Hisoka looked at Naruto for a moment before offering him a bright smile. She could feel the anxiety rolling off of him and lightly patted a whiskered cheek before hugging him tightly. "Great. What is it?" Naruto questioned.

"First off, we've received the results of the DNA test." Tsunade handed the blonde Hisoka's birth certificate. "This appears to be telling the truth. She is a member of the Uzumaki clan."

Naruto felt his heart soar as he spun Hisoka around, laughter leaving his lips. He didn't care that there was something in Tsunade's eyes that said there was something strange about the results. As far as he was concerned, it was just something trivial. "You hear that, Hi-Hi? We're actually related!" Naruto laughed before throwing the girl up into the air and catching her again.

Hisoka laughed and clapped her hands excitedly, her entire face lit up with excitement. "Hold on a minute, Naruto. You might want to hear what we've decided." Tsunade told him.

Naruto stopped and held the girl tightly against him, his anxiety returning full force. They couldn't possibly still want to kill Hisoka knowing that she was related to him. Didn't they think that he could keep her from doing everything that her family had done in the past? "What'd you decide?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"We've decided that Hisoka will continue to be monitored for the next ten years. She will continue to receive therapy and copies of her sessions will be sent for the other leaders to review. The moment she uses her abilities against any of Konoha's allies is the moment that our decision to watch and wait will turn into an elimination."

Hisoka watched Naruto's face, seeing the anxiety shift to relief back to anxiety. She knew what elimination meant and could see on their faces that they really didn't want to be forced into that option. Biting her lip, Hisoka furrowed her eyebrows for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

"I…"

Everybody's eyes fell on the girl upon hearing the hoarse voice, seeing the girl's chest rising and falling rapidly as she shook in Naruto's arms from fear. "Hisoka-chan?" Tsunade questioned.

"I don't…" Tears gathered in Hisoka's eyes as she gripped Naruto's jacket tightly. "I don't want…"

"It's okay." Naruto soothingly murmured. "You're okay."

Taking a deep breath, Hisoka closed her eyes tightly before shouting as loud as she could, "I don't want to die! I want…" Her chest hitched for a moment from her fear before she was able to force herself to start again. "I want to protect my daddy! I want to protect Naruto!"

Naruto adjusted the girl in his arms, feeling her tears as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. They could hear her sobs as she cried in fear and frustration. "You did good." Naruto murmured as he bounced her slightly in his arms. "Shh, it's okay."

They stared at the crying girl in shock, none of them having ever heard her voice before. Tsunade knew that over the course of the past year, Hisoka had experienced several bouts of frustration but none of them had ever actually made her say anything. She had always depended on her hands and lips to communicate with the world around her but here she was crying in Naruto's arms after vocally shouting her want.

"Hisoka."

The crying girl pried her face from Naruto's neck and looked at Tsunade, soft hiccups leaving her lips. They could all see the fear in her eyes as if she was afraid she had done something terrible. "You called Naruto your father. Is it your wish to be adopted by him knowing that you're already blood related?" Tsunade questioned.

Immediately Hisoka nodded, her thumb retreating into her mouth as she pressed herself against Naruto. It was clear to them that they had been fortunate enough to hear the girl shout three sentences and that if they were to hear her say anything else, they'd be extremely fortunate. Her lack of verbal communication clearly came from being with Orochimaru for so long and perhaps never having human contact upon leaving stasis. "Can I take her home now?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Go ahead." Tsunade confirmed. "I'll have the papers ready for you to sign tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you." Naruto nudged Hisoka's cheek with his nose. "What'cha say?"

Pulling her thumb from past her lips, Hisoka bit her bottom lip before mouthing, "Thank you."

Oh yeah, they'd be extremely fortunate to hear Hisoka's voice again in the near future. As they watched the two leave the room, Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "I don't know about any of you but I'm heading for a drink. Any takers?" The busty Hokage glanced at the others.

"A drink sounds very relaxing at the moment."

With only two declinations, Tsunade couldn't help but feel as if some great weight had been lifted from her shoulders and all was right again. She just hoped that at no time within the next ten years would the need to have the girl's life taken ever arise.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

"Sai, what is this?"

Sakura eyed the table carefully, seeing that the pale shinobi had an elaborate dinner set out for them. "I believe when a woman says that she wishes to discuss something important…" Sai trailed off upon receiving a look that told him that he had once again missed something.

While it was tempting to hit him, Sakura couldn't help but smile to herself. The raven was at least trying which was a far cry from what Sasuke ever did. "It looks great, Sai." Sakura told him honestly. "Not exactly what our talk really calls for but it's the thought that counts."

He was fairly certain he had missed something now. The situation didn't call for an elaborate meal, at least not what Sakura wanted to talk to him about, but still she said it looked great and was actually sitting down. "Flowers were recommended but I didn't think that it would be wise to ask around for your favorite flowers." Sai told her lamely.

Sakura smiled and laughed softly, knowing that Ino would have spread at least a dozen rumors around within an hour if Sai had gone to the flower shop. "Probably not." Sakura agreed. "You asked me earlier if I would consider you as a…" Her cheeks turned a delicate shade of red at the memory.

"If you would consider me a possible lover." Sai said bluntly.

"Yeah. You see, Sai, we're teammates and that could mess up team dynamics." She was hiding behind the reasons why teammates didn't get involved with each other and they both knew it.

"I see. So it would be different if it was with Emo-sama because he is a former teammate and a traitor whereas I am a current teammate." Sai stated simply. "From what Naruto has, I believe the term is, bitched about regarding Emo-sama, Sasuke did not share your interest."

He wasn't going to let her hide behind rules and regulations. He was going to make her see that while he knew he was emotionally stunted, he could and would treat her better than Sasuke ever did. Some men, he learned from the various male shinobi he interacted with, apparently made many women want to give up on men all together. Sasuke Uchiha, Sai felt, was the worst of those men but if he could make Sakura see that then maybe men in general could be redeemed in her eyes.

"Sai, that's not fair." Sakura sighed. "That's completely-"

"No, it's not different. You've seen what he's done with your own eyes and you've even seen with your eyes what I've been doing but still you choose him." Sai told her. "I may not be able to fully recognize emotions but I can see plain as day that he does not want you."

"Sai…"

"Give me a chance to show you that you are too good for the Uchiha. Let me have my chance." Sai pressed. "Please."

She couldn't deny that her heart had been crying for her to give up on her unrequited love and as she stared into Sai's dark eyes, she could see that same unrequited love in his. Try me. His eyes cried out to her. Why won't you give me a chance? Why wasn't she?

Closing her eyes for a moment to soothe her nerves, Sakura took a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes and looking at them. "Okay. If you want we can consider this our first date." Sakura told him. "And for future reference, I like lilies."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Naruto dozed as he sat on the couch, weary from the day's events. They had just barely gotten home when Hisoka grabbed San from her room and hid behind a chair as if afraid she'd get yelled at just for talking.

She actually said her first words since he found her and she was entirely convinced that he didn't want her to say anything. He had tried for the next few hours to get her to talk again but her lips were firmly shut, her eyes pleading for him to stop whatever game she thought he was playing. Finally he relented and got dinner ready, reminding her that he wasn't going to be serving her dinner behind the chair. He halfway expected her just to decide to skip her dinner but was relieved when she came out long enough to eat before retreating back to her 'hiding' place.

What in the hell had been done before when she actually talked? Had somebody saw it their responsibility to beat the shit out of her if she said anything or had she thought that if she said nothing that Orochimaru and his followers would leave her alone? Maybe both had happened. She had been so panicked when she forced herself to talk that he had been convinced that she was going to hyperventilate.

The blonde jolted back to consciousness when he heard knocking on the door, his body moving before his brain had a chance to really catch up with it. "Gaara! What're you doing here?" Naruto questioned when he answered the door. "Come on in."

Gaara stepped into the apartment, his teal eyes focusing on the blonde for a moment. "I thought you'd be celebrating." Gaara said with the barest traces of a smile.

"If Hisoka wasn't convinced she was in trouble just for talking, we'd probably be out celebrating with a few friends." Naruto confirmed.

"She thinks she's in trouble?"

"Yeah." Naruto flopped back on to the couch, a weary sigh leaving his lips. "The only thing I can think of is that Sasuke and the snake bastard were involved."

Gaara calmly took a seat and glanced towards Hisoka's room before looking at Naruto with a patient look. He could probably count on one hand how many times he had seen such weariness in the blonde's eyes. "Then this is something that you both will have to overcome." Gaara replied.

"Yeah." Naruto's eyes were focused for a couple of minutes. "Hey, Gaara, I got a question for you."

"What?"

"You can say no if you don't want to but I'm planning on asking Kakashi too if you do say no and I'd feel a lot better since Kakashi's a ninja too and you're the Kazekage so it's not like you'd be sent out on painfully dangerous missions." Naruto said with a forced grin.

What in the world could Naruto be asking him that he was going to ask Kakashi if he were to refuse? "Well?" Gaara questioned.

"Would you be willing to be Hisoka's godfather?"

The redhead stared for a moment, trying to discern whether or not the blonde was joking around. "You are aware of my past, Naruto, and you're trusting me with somebody that I know is precious to you?" Gaara questioned.

"Yeah. I mean, there's only Killer Bee and me left that have the Bijuu and I'm not going to pretend that there's not a chance they could actually get us." Naruto ran his fingers through his hair. "I'd just feel better knowing that Hi-Hi's taken care of."

He couldn't even begin to imagine how painful this must have been to face a possible reality and set up arrangements in the event that the possibility did become reality. "You're serious." Gaara said with a tone of surprise.

"Yeah. I mean I know Kakashi could take care of Hisoka but he gets sent on so many high ranking missions…"

"I'd be honored."

Azure eyes stared at teal for a moment in disbelief, clearly expecting there to be some kind of argument. "Seriously? You'd actually be Hisoka's godfather?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes."

A cheerful yell left Naruto's lips as he tackled the Kazekage, sending them both to the floor. "Get off." Gaara sighed as he pushed against the blonde's forehead.

"Hehe, sorry. You have no idea how happy you've made me."

Now he knew for certain that he couldn't hope to count on both hands how many times he had seen the unrestrained joy in Naruto's eyes. He was just fairly certain this was the first time Naruto had ever tackled him in pure joy. "You do realize, however, that there may be those that won't appreciate the fact that a Konoha shinobi chose to have the Kazekage as his daughter's godfather." Gaara stated simply.

"Fuck them."

Gaara couldn't help but smile at the blonde's attitude, his teal eyes dancing with some excitement. "You do realize that you both will have to visit sometime soon." Gaara told his friend.

"Hell yeah." Naruto's excitement seemed to fill the entire apartment and the redhead was impressed that Hisoka hadn't woken up and checked to see what was going on. "Hey, Gaara, I got only one request though."

"What is it?"

"Don't let Kankuro teach her how to use those damn puppets."

While it was tempting to remind the blonde that puppetry was common in Suna, Gaara couldn't blame the hyperactive ninja any. Smiling ever so faintly, Gaara nodded. "Agreed."

lostmoonchild: Okay, I actually admit to sitting back and thinking carefully about the whole godfather thing for about an hour before deciding that Gaara would probably be the best option out of all the people Naruto knows. Anyway, I'll poke at who Hisoka's father is and how in the world that happened. So anyway, read and review!