Chapter 5

I know this is late! I'm sorry! I've got school, and I'm figuring out the Beta system. This chapter made me so happy to write because it's not a slit your wrists fest!

This chapter is dedicated to Deadman19, IshiHatake23 and sakura216 for offering to help me edit! I'm agnostic, but I bless you guys theoretically. I got confused with stuff, so you guys didn't get to see it.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The next morning, I hide outside Sakura's house until I see her leave. After I'm sure she's gone, I go up to the house and knock on the door.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"It's me, the ninja. From the other day."

"Are you a stranger?"

"Wha- no, we met yesterday!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure! Open the door!"

"Okay…. But if you try to kidnap me I'll hit you!"

"I'll keep that in mind. Now OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

The door swings open to reveal a grinning Koyumi.

"Hey it is you!"

"That's what I was trying to tell you! Can I come in?"

Her brows furrow. "Well…. Mom said not to talk to you anymore…. But she's not home, so whatever!"

She lets me in, and I sit down on a cushion in the living room. Koyumi bounds over to me, holding a photograph. It's the team 7 group photo from when we were genin.

"Hey…. Is this you?" She says, looking up and down at the photo and me.

"Yeah. Koyumi…"

"So you ARE a ninja! That is so cool! What's it like?"

"It's…. look…."

"So do you, like, have to kill bad guys? Have you been in fights? What abou-"

I cut her off "Look, Koyumi I need to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" She looks surprised. "Why?"

"I was your mom's team mate. That's who she said you're father was, right."

She's looking hesitant now, but she slowly nods "Uh-huh."

"It's me, Koyumi. I…. I'm your father."

She stares at me for a minute, then grabs my hand and drags me to the washroom and shoves me in front of me mirror. She then stands beside me and stares intently. Then, a huge grin spreads across her face.

"It IS you! You're my dad! Daddy! I've always wanted to see you!" She shouts, leaping into my arms.

"Koyumi…. I'm sorry honey. I'm sorry I wasn't here before. I didn't even know about you until yesterday." I hold her tightly, relishing the feeling of my child in my arms.

She looks up, still grinning, than frowns. "Hey…. If you're my dad, tell me your name!"

"Huh? Oh right! My name is Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki." I had decided to adopt his father's last name.

"Wow…. That's a long name! Naruto, like, the stuff in ramen! Do you like ramen?"

"Like it! I live on it! In fact, if you get to come to The Hidden Leaf Village with me, I'll take you to Ichiraku's. They have the best ramen in the world!"

Her eyes grow wide. "In the WORLD?"

I laugh. "Yep! In all the places I've been, I've never had any better. Believe it!" I laugh even harder, pulling out my old catchphrase for the first time in over a decade. It seems appropriate. "Do you have any good ramen places around here?"

She nods. "Uh huh. Real close."

"Well, why don't we go there to get something to eat and get to know each other?" I say.

Her face lights up. "YEAH!" She yells. "Mom's helping this old lady today or something, so she won't be home for a while."

"Okay" I smile "let's head out!"

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Kakashi POV

"It's okay Sakura. Nothing is going to happen to Sasuke."

I snort at the memory. I knew it wasn't true, even then. But what was I supposed to say when my student was in front of me looking like she was about to shatter into pieces?

I walk through the small village. It's nothing much, just you're normal place in the countryside. Why would Sakura choose to come here, of all places? She was a skilled medic ninja. She probably could have been successful in any hidden village. Or even be a large scale doctor in one of the bigger towns. But maybe that's exactly why she chose this place. To lie low. Get away from all that. Naruto said she didn't want her child to be a ninja, and I can understand why, after what they went through with Sasuke.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a flash of pink, and I follow it quickly. When I catch up I tap her on the shoulder. "Sakura?"

She stiffens and turns around. "K-Kakashi sensei! So you're here to."

"Uh huh. And I think you have some explaining to do missy. Running out on your sensei like that." I eye smile with the visible part of my face, but my tone is icy cold.

She stares at me for a moment, and then says "Let's walk."

We walk in silence for time. "So, are you going to tell me why you Naruto's daughter from him for six years?"

She glares at me "I told Naruto already. I couldn't have loved him back."

"That's not the real reason." I lift my head band and look at her with my sharingan eye showing. It seems to help convince people to tell the truth. "Just because you didn't love him doesn't mean you had to his family from him."

She stops. "Fine you want the truth? I didn't want to be reminded of Sasuke. And every little thing in that god damn village made me think of him alright? Including the people. You and Naruto more than anyone."

"So you ran away."

She glares at me, indignant.

"Don't look at me like that Sakura. No matter how you spin it, the truth of the matter is that you ran away from your problems."

"You don't understand! You have no idea what it's like to lose the one person in the world you love!" She yells.

"Of course I do Sakura. Don't be stupid. I had to kill the person I had a chance of love with using my own two hands." A pang of pain goes through my chest at the memory "but I kept on going. I didn't leave everything and everyone behind." I sigh. "And losing Sasuke doesn't excuse you from your actions."

She looks up at me, tears welling in her eyes. Six years ago, that might have affected me, but not now. Not after what she has done to Naruto, who has already suffered so much.

"He went so long with no family. Did you ever think of that? He had no parents. Not even friends for a long time. He was always alone. He was hated by the people he was protecting. You never returned his feelings, and he never got over that. He might have, if you had bothered to think about someone other than yourself and have the guts to stick around." I'm getting angry now. It's so rare that I let my emotions show like this, but I can't stop.

"Will you all just leave me alone?!" She cries "I left so I wouldn't have to deal with this! I'm sick of pain and heartbreak and god damn ninjas!"

"I never did understand why you chose to take the path of a shinobi. I figured it was to chase Sasuke, but even so you never had the drive the rest did. So when he died I guess you really just thought it would be best to give up." I say "But you should have understood that the path you chose came with heartbreak."

"None of us understood! None of us could have known what it would be like! Did you know when you became a shinobi that you would end up watching your entire team get killed? Were you prepared to murder the girl who loved you?!"

"True enough." I say "But it shouldn't have taken you so long figure the whole thing out. Even you were never that oblivious."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She snaps.

"Sakura, for almost all the time I knew you, if it didn't have to do with Sasuke you didn't really care. You valued him above all others. Connections you had with other people always ended up having to do with him. You were completely oblivious to how others felt. Like Naruto. You almost always ignored his feelings until they were of use to you. When Sasuke left you asked Naruto to bring him back, when Naruto was in the land of iron and you pretended to be in love with him. When you slept with him and left. I've come to understand that it all led back to Sasuke. Even your training with Tsunade. Your ultimate goal was always just to get him back." I say. I watch emotions fly across her face. First anger, then embarrassment, and finally sadness.

"I…."

She looks past me into the restaurant behind me.

"What the hell? What is he doing?"

I look behind me. Inside sit Naruto and a girl I assume is Koyumi, laughing and, unsurprisingly, eating ramen.

"How dare he? I told him I don't want her to have anything to do with ninjas!"

She's about to storm in when I grab her shoulder.

"Sakura, she's his daughter too. He has the right to talk to her, at least."

She glares at me and stomps off. Someone's gotten nasty. I decide to go in and see if I can join him. It's a weird thought to think of meeting my student's child. I remember when Naruto was just a little kid. No god like powers or dead friends. Ah, the good old days.

"Hello there you two."

Naruto looks up. "Kakashi sensei! How'd you find us?"

"I was just passing through. Is this Koyumi?"

"That's me!" The girl grins, laughing. She really does look like Naruto.

"Mind if I join you two?" I ask "I don't want to intrude."

"Of course! If I buy you ramen will we see your face?"

"Nope! The only people that have seen my face are either dead or sworn to secrecy, and the only thing that will again see my face is a plate of food." I smile. He never gives up.

"Let me introduce you guys" he says "Koyumi, this is Kakashi sensei. Kakashi sensei this is Koyumi, my daughter."

He says that last part with such pride in his voice, and such joy in his eyes. It makes me so happy that Naruto finally, really has a family. I only hope that he will be able to keep it.