Haruno Residence

"Are you sure you don't mind watching Saki, dad?" Sakura asked for the millionth time, her emerald eyes searching her father's matching pair. When Sasuke had suggested Saki staying at her father's while she was working, she had been hesitant. She didn't want to put too much pressure on her father. When her mother, Nariko Haruno, died a couple years back, her dad had started acting strange. It was like he was back in The Land of Iron. A hard Samurai that need nothing and nobody.

"I'm sure, Sakura." Kaemon told his daughter once again. "You better go before you're late." He said sternly. She felt like a teen all over again. Sakura smiled though nodding. She leaned down to her daughter's height and kissed her hair.

"Be good for you grandpa, Saki."

Hokage Tower

"Here," Naruto dropped a file in front of Shikamaru, "Technically I'm not suppose to give this to you until the council approves it but, they take so long to do everything." Naruto waved his hand dismissively.

Team 10

Jonin Sensei- Nara, Shikamaru

Students (Genin)-

Ito, Eiji

Sato, Susumu

Yuhi, Akane

As Shikamaru continued to shuffle through the papers, there were test scores, their basic strengths and weaknesses. He would finally get to be a good Sensei to Akane just like Asuma was to him.

Haruno Residence

Saki walked upstairs, she loved her Papa Haruno really she did but it didn't mean she wanted to spend every day her mother worked here. To be bluntly honest, it was boring. Why couldn't she just go to the academy like her brothers? Saki used the bathroom and washed her hands. She was about to head back downstairs when she noticed one of the doors opened just a crack. Curiosity getting the best of the three year old she pushed the door opened just far enough for her to see in.

"Whoa," She gasped in wonder. It was like she had opened up a door to the past. The average sized room (Sakura's old room), was filled with old knickknacks, Samurai armor, daggers, swords of all shapes and sizes, wakizashis, tantos, kamas, kusarigamas, manrikigusari, various other weapons, pictures, and scrolls, tons and tons of scrolls; she silently wondered if her mother had read all of them and that was why she was so smart. Saki didn't know what many of the weapons were or what they did. The only one she knew with certainty was the sword with a long slender curved single edged blade that was leaning against a bookcase, it was a katana. She knew because her father had a similar looking sword in his and mama's room near their bed. Her dad never used it and they weren't supposed to touch it.

She quietly walked over to this one; it was as tall as she was if not taller. She sat down pulling the sheath onto her lap. The pink haired three year old slowly pulled the blade out watching as her reflection sparkle. She turned the blade slightly watching her reflection move. She started twisting the blade more seeing that she could look anywhere just by turning the blade; she moved it father down and saw her Papa. She gasped nearly dropping the weapon.

Konoha Hospital

Sakura looked at the ten people before her. She had immediately discarded five of the fifteen applicants- had Naruto even looked at their chakra control? They all wanted to be taught but she knew she would have to choose only two or three of them. She scanned the room there were six girls and four boys. She could hear them whispering to each other. Things like "She was Tsunade apprentice; it even said that she surpassed her." And "Yeah, I heard that she was one of the go-to medic-nins of Fourth Shinobi World War, and she was only sixteen!" It had been years since the war had ended but people still stopped and stared in awe of her and the rest of Konoha eleven. It was still strange that a bunch of people saw her as some type of hero.

"Alright, let's get started." Sakura said, and the room instantly went quiet, their attention undivided. She waved her hand beckoning them to follow her down the hallway.

Haruno Residence

Saki nervously watched her Papa, was he going to be mad? After a few moments she noticed the look on his face wasn't stern or angry, he seemed amused. "Do you know what that weapon is called?" Kaemon asked easing down to the floor crossing his legs.

"It's a katana, right?" Saki asked uncertainly looking back down at the sword. He nodded smiling. "Daddy has one too." Kaemon held back his distaste. It's not that he hated the Uchiha, what happened to his family was tragic, but that didn't mean he wanted his only daughter to marry him either. He knew Sasuke was taking care of her and if he wasn't they hid it miraculously and the Uchiha would be as good is dead as soon he found out, sharingan be damned.

"Papa," He looked down at his granddaughter, "Why do you have so many weapons? Ninja don't have this many, do they?" For a split second Kaemon swore he saw his daughter looking expectantly up at him waiting for him to answer one of her many questions. He shook the memory from his head looking at Saki.

"No, ninja sometimes use weapons but they depend mostly on chakra and jutsu. But for a Samurai, yes, it normal to have many weapons."

"Samurai?" Saki repeated the unfamiliar word. "What's a Samurai?" Kaemon smiled down at her, holding his hand out for the weapon. Saki sheathed it trying her best to hand the sword to him but it was difficult, not because of the weight but the height. He took it from her with ease unsheathing it and holding it in his fighting stance.

"Samurais," He said moving fluidly into his next move, "are the guardians and military power of the Land of Iron. They use weapons, mostly swords, in battle. This one is my main sword, The Tenkazeki." Saki watched in awe as her Papa continued to go through the motions of routines that had been pounded into his head since childhood.

"Land of Iron? Where is that?" He sheathed his sword, and looked for a map in the clustered room. He sat down next to her cross legged on the floor unfolding a map and showing her where it was.

"The Land of Iron is where I grew up. That is when the Haruno clan lives. I was trained to be a Samurai by my father along with my two brothers." He pointed picture of his family and Saki's gaze followed his finger. A motherly looking woman was standing next to a stern man with a mustache in front of them where three boys in their youth. The boy he was pointing to was the youngest, only about five, with shoulder length black hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck in a fighting stance holding a wooden sword. She looked up at her grandfather. His hair was cut short now and it was all grey, he also had a mustache and beard that was equally grey.

"That was you Papa?" She asked looking back at the worn picture.

"I was much younger back then." He said rubbing his beard. "It was tradition for fathers to teach their children the bushido, or the way of the warrior." He said his eyes filled with memories of a land miles away covered in snow. He could almost feel the chill of snow on his face.

"Why didn't you teach mama then?"

"Your mother never really any good with swords and didn't really have any interest in learning to fight with them." He chuckled softly to himself as he remembered how frustrated she got when trying to learn. It had been disappointing, he would admit that but only to himself, but after a few years he just learned toexcept that Sakura Haruno just wasn't going to be a sword wielder.

"Would you teach me Papa?" His eyes flickered down to her dumbstruck. The pink haired child was looking up at him hopefully.

"You want to learn sword fighting?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Saki said jumping up from her knees, "Then I'll surprise daddy with my good sword fighting and he'll be proud of me just like he is of Takuya and Ryu! So will you? Will you teach me Papa? I promise I won't disappoint you!" Kaemon recognized the light in her eyes; The will to learn, the fight to get honor. Though the honor she wanted was quite different than the one he had fought for.

Nara House

Shikamaru entered the house. The first think he noticed was the noise, or lack thereof. It was quiet, much too quiet. He kicked off his shoes, walking into the living room. Arisa was curled up in a ball on the couch fast asleep, blanket pushed down by her feet. Shikamaru smiled at the sight, pulling the blanket back over her small body, pushing back her bangs kissing her forehead. He turned the light off as he exited the room. He called out softly for Temari but she didn't reply. He searched the house for her but couldn't find her.

Shikamaru walked back down the stairs, he was about to go back through the living room when he caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye. She was outside laying on her back on the hill he usually cloud watched from. "Troublesome woman what are you doing out there?" He mumbled to himself. She had been acting strangely since he got back from his mission. No, she had been acting strange even before that. He slid open the backdoor, her fan resting on the wall, and walked over to her barefooted.

She didn't move or acknowledge his presence. She just continued to look up at the clouds. He stood in front of her his hands pushed in his pockets. It was quiet it for moment before Temari spoke, "I don't know why you like watching the clouds. It's boring. And I always get agitated by just sitting around, someone could attack at any moment and you'd just be laying there defenseless." Temari ranted but her voice never raised and her eyes never strayed from the darkening sky. He was relieved to hear Temari complaining but knew this problem, and conversation, was far from over.

Troublesome.

He lay down on the grass next to the blonde. Shikamaru Nara had always been a patient man-he always took everything slow, thinking everything through. But for some reason his quiet wife was unnerving him. He turned his gaze away from the clouds to look at the blonde. "Temari," He murmured when he could no longer take it.

"I'm pregnant."

Silence.

Konoha Hospital

Sakura was watching all of the Shinobi trying to complete a chakra control task. Most were doing well considering the level of control they needed for this task. Unfortunately others were not doing so well. Akira Bishoujo, the girl that Sakura thought was much like herself, seemed to one of the one that was struggling most. The task was to push your chakra into a glass ball, punching small holes into it without making it burst or crack. It took the utmost precision. She didn't expect anyone's to be flawless or not burst a few. Everyone was focusing hard at the task when the door slammed open loudly.

Smash.

Everyone's glass balls had burst.

Sakura turn and saw a girl, very young about twelve, stand or more accurately leaning against the door. The first thing she noticed was the girl was decked completely in black. She had chunky buckled boots, long stocking and a short corset dress with long fishnet sleeves, a choker, and her pale blonde hair was pulled into two high pigtails with bows, all in the same dark black color.

Looking over the girl again she noticed that her clothes were ripped unintentionally, her face was pale, her skin was cover with layer upon layer of dirt, pale blue eyes were glazed over, and blood was slowly starting to trickle down her check from a wound somewhere on her forehead, hidden behind her bangs. Sakura could tell the girl was in shock. Her medical training kicked in and she rushed over to the girl urging her to sit down. She did a scanning Jutsu and found that the young girl had concussion, and a bad one at that. Sakura also noted that she had been hit with a lighting Jutsu.

She winced inwardly, she herself had been hit by a lighting Jutsu once, and that was more than enough. First her body had felt immense electric pain run through all her bones, followed by her body being completely numb making it impossible to move. She was astonished that this girl had made it anywhere. There were also bruises, cuts, and scrapes but she wasn't really worried about that. She touched the girl forehead allowing her chakra flow through her hand and into the young girls wound and body.

The door open again, Sakura eyes flashed up. "Uchiha-Sama, a genin team was attacked-" The nurse cut of when she saw that Sakura was already working on the young girl. "Uchiha-Sama?"

"She'll be fine." Sakura said pushing herself of the floor where she had been kneeling. "Get her into a bed, give her an IV and give her some morphine before she wakes up." She turned to look at the students, "You guys are dismissed. We are going to have to finish this at a later date." She left the room before anyone could object, "Status?"

"The girl was the best off. One of the boys is in critical condition, the other is bad but not near death." The woman paused for a moment before continuing, "The Jonin Sensei was dead before arrival."

Haruno Residence

The young girl was slowing. It may not seem like much learning the basic movements of fighting with a sword but Kaemon knew that the three year old was tiring. "Alright, that's enough for today."

The pink haired girl whipped around, "What? Papa we just started!" Four hours ago. "And I haven't even really learned anything yet." Saki whined, whipping her wooden sword around for emphases. Kaemon chuckled.

"Aren't you tired, Saki?" He asked setting down his own sheathed sword. She shook her head wildly. He sighed, "Well I am. Your Papa isn't as young as he once was. So I'm going to put on some tea." He started for the kitchen.

"Papa," Saki asked from the doorway, "What was the point of this anyways?" She wasn't complaining just curious.

"It will help you when you're learning your sets."

"Sets?"

"Yes, there like your brothers' taijutsu set, but with a sword. There are fifteen basic sets. You have to learn the movements before you can learn them." He heard an 'oh' before footsteps leading back to the living room.

Kaemon return a couple minutes later with the tea. Saki was curled into a ball fast asleep on the matt they had been practicing on, her mouth slightly open. He smiled to himself, setting down the tea. He scooped her into his arms, setting her down on the couch, covering her with a throw blanket. He looked up at the clock, 7:32. Sakura was late to pick her up

Nara Backyard

Shikamaru reached for his pack of smokes before remembering what his wife had just said, pregnant. Was that a bad thing? He looked at Temari's face, apparently it was. "I don't understand." He admitted bluntly. Temari's face scrunched up,

"Pregnant. As in with child. In seven months there will be a baby." She said furiously, her cold blue eyes narrowing turning to glare at him.

"That's not what I meant," He lazily shifted his eyes from the clouds to her. "I don't understand why you're so upset." He corrected. He watched as her icy blue eyes started to soften, worry taking over the coldness. She ducked her head biting down on her lower lip.

"I don't…." She whispered.

Something was seriously wrong. "Temari?" He reached over for her but she flinched back.

"It's stupid. But I don't know if I can do this Shikamaru."

"Can't do what exactly?"

"Have another baby. What if I can't manage two kids? I'm not exactly mother materal!"

"Where is all of this coming from? You weren't worried about Arisa…were you?" The look in her eyes confirmed that she had been.

"Arisa was easier. I was pregnant when Sakura and Hinata were, and thank heavens I was because I had no damn clue what I was doing. But you- you seemed perfectly at ease. You were always good with kids, even before we got together." Shikamaru just watched her, allowing her words to sink in.

"You're a good mother, Temari." Shikamaru tried to get her to look at him but she stubbornly kept her eyes locked on the now dark sky, the stars were shining.

"I was four when my mom died." She said abruptly, "After that, I was a Shinobi. I was expected to act, train, and kill like one. I don't know how to play this part anymore. I was never taught this path." Tears burned at the back of her eyes but she pushed them back best she could. Damn pregnancy hormones. "I thought I was going to die fighting and I was fine with that. I never knew nor expected this path to be one of my choices, and sometimes- sometimes I still don't believe it. I just keep waiting for it to be snatched away."

She felt strong, warm arms wrap around her. "That's not going to happen, I promise."

And for once Temari didn't question such a promise, or the utter impractically of his promise and the fact that he could never really keep such a promise. She just leaned back and believed him with her whole heart, letting herself be wrapped his comfort.

Haruno Residence- 8:46

"I'm so sorry I'm late dad." Sakura apologized again walking into his house, picking up the sleeping child.

"It's ok, she been sleeping since 7:30 anyway. No big deal." Kaemon said a smile coming to his aging face. Sakura looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"You got her to go to sleep at 7:30?" Sakura asked in awe.

"Isn't that her bedtime?" Mirth shining in his old, war hardened eyes.

"Well, yes but," Sakura looked down embarrassed, "She never goes to sleep on time. She usually ends up stay up to around nine before I can actually get her to sleep." Pause. "Was she good for you?"

"Oh yes, we had a great time. She reminds me so much of you, so curious."

XXX

"Sounds like you've had a rough day." Sasuke agreed putting away some of his ninja weapons. He had taken a quick mission nothing major. He had been back in time to pick up his sons from Academy.

"I wish just one day would go as according to plan. Just one." Sakura laid down in bed pulling the covers over her. "I didn't even get to finish testing the students."

"Speaking of students," Sasuke said sitting down on the bed shirtless, "The academy talked to me today."

"Did Ryu get in trouble again… or maybe Takuya?" She asked doubtfully. Takuya was very serious about his studies, it was Ryu who liked to pull stupid stunts with his friends that caused them to get in trouble. Someday he would come home and when she asked him how his day was he would simply say a number, which meant that he was sent into the hallway and he was there long enough to get so bored that he started counting ceiling tiles.

"No, nobody got in trouble."

"Then do you mind if we talk about it tomorrow? I'm exhausted." The pink haired medic fell into the mattress.

"Tomorrow it is." Sasuke mumbled wrapping his muscular arms around her figure, thinking about his conversation with the Academy teacher and Naruto.

"You want to move Takuya up?" Sasuke asked leaning back against one of the long desks.

"Yes, I'm afraid he is no longer in our classes teaching range anymore and it would be wasting his time to continue in something he has long ago surpassed." Takuya's Chunin Sensei admitted.

"So you want him to skip a year?" He asked looking at Naruto, who was for some reason also present. He supposed it wouldn't be a big deal. Takuya was very mature for his age.

"Four actually."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke facial expression didn't change but Naruto knew that his friend was not okay with this new idea.

"With the knowledge of the Shinobi world and his skill with Jutsu we think that he could graduate by the end of next year."Sasuke's posture tightened, he crossed his arms over his chest and clenched his jaw tightly, his eyes narrowed at the man.

"And this isn't war, Sasuke." Naruto immediately cut in and Sasuke now knew why he was there as well, a mediator."So, it up to you and Sakura if you want to advance him or not. If you want to wait for Takuya to get older, that's okay too."

"But it would be stupid not to let him advance. Not to mention a waste of your son's time. He can perform a flawless Fireball Jutsu, a Chunin level technique." Sasuke glared at the much younger man his Sharingan activating unconsciously in anger. The man flinched back in undeniable fear as the was remind that this man had help kill the Akatsuki and ended the war.

"So can his younger brother, Ryu. That doesn't mean that he should be Chunin. There not ready of that." The man's eyes widened in shock, even a younger boy could form the Jutsu just as flawlessly? Just who was this powerful family?

"Like I said Sasuke, it up to you. Talk to Sakura about it and then we'll talk again later."