A/n as promised, your update!

Please note: I will no longer be able to update this fic twice a week, unfortunately! I just have a lot going on right now, and updating twice a week takes too much out of me. But I will try my best to maintain a once a week update schedule; you can most likely expect one update at some point on the weekends. Please check my profile for the latest updates on my schedule. Thanks for understanding!

Thanks so much everyone for your warm reviews and kind support; I've worked extremely hard on this fic, and I'm so glad you are all enjoying it.

Extra special thanks to dazynl8 for her rock-star beta work, as well as to uchiha.s for her pep talks and for helping me to organize my thoughts. Thanks so much you two for making me a better writer! Much, much love!

Chapter 7

Journey

Though death surrounds us like a veil,

Like the sound of the wolf's moon lit wail,

As you saved my body from blood, boiling like a fountain,

I'd bear it all over again to be with the lady of the mountain."

The Second Book of Akash, Verse VII

"Nekobaa, Nekobaa...that sounds so familiar..." Naruto mused.

"She was one of our clients back when we were genin...we had to collect a certain paw print for a certain, somewhat embarrassing, paw encyclopedia..." Sasuke grinned wryly at the memory.

"Oh, that's right, the old Granny Cat! Oh man, those were good times...say, what do you need to see her for?"

"I entrusted her with the summoning contract scrolls for the Uchiha clan when I was...traveling," Sasuke stated diplomatically. And by traveling, he meant when he had been working with team Taka.

"So?" Naruto asked, still clueless.

"So I need the scroll," Sasuke stated evenly, schooling his face to remain stoic. However, his daughter was observing him out of the corner of her eye, and Yuki swore she detected a nervous twitch in her father's forehead.

"Oh. I thought you already had a summon—"
"It's for Yuki," Sasuke muttered, stifling the urge to pummel the Hokage.

"Ooooooooh! Right. Gotchya, gotchya." Naruto nodded wisely, as if he had known all along exactly what Sasuke had been talking about. Suddenly, Naruto smiled his wide, face-splitting, shit-eating grin as he continued in an overexcited tone, "Hey...can I come too? Oh man, that would be so cool!"

Sasuke took a deep breath before replying, "Don't you have... I don't know... things to do? You are the Hokage, after all."

"Aw, come on Sasuke-kuuuuun, I want to say hello to Nekobaa and Tamaki and those cute little ninja cats! It'll be so much fun!" Naruto whined. Sensing that he was getting nowhere with the Uchiha, the blond turned to Sasuke's silently amused daughter and ventured, "What do you say, Yuki-san, can I come with you? Please?"

Yuki smiled and bowed politely. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

Sasuke sighed. My own daughter is a traitor. Instead, he merely responded, "Hn."

Naruto began bouncing up and down. "Hey, we should go to the hospital and get Sakura to join us— it would be so much fun to have all of team seven together for this momentous mission! This is going to be awesome!"

Hinata smiled inwardly as Naruto used the word 'momentous'; she had caught Naruto studying the dictionary just last night, looking under 'M' for, as he put it, 'Hokage worthy words.' She was awfully proud of Naruto's improving vocabulary. Shaking herself out of her reverie, Hinata murmured, "I'll watch over the kids while you're gone; when you see Saki and Hoshiko, send them over to our house; I'll order a pizza and rent a movie. But first... I wonder where Sora and Takeo have run off to... Well, I'd better go track down uncle Kiba, have fun you three!" Hinata smiled and jogged out of the Hokage's office, looking for her wayward charges.

Naruto grinned over at Yuki and Sasuke. "Well, we'd better go collect Sakura-chan! Hold on tight!" he shouted as he grabbed their hands.

"Wait Naruto, we can walk—" Sasuke tried to protest, but unfortunately, they were already caught up in the nausea inducing motions of the hiraishin.

Sakura looked on as Saki and Hoshiko worked on healing rabbits with broken legs. It had been a few months now since the girls had begun doing extra curricular work with Sakura in the hospital, and Sakura was quite impressed. Although of course, Saki, as her daughter, was bound to be a natural. But Hoshiko-chan was also quite good, and of that, Sakura was glad. Hoshiko was a quiet, soft-spoken girl, and Sakura believed that she was better suited to the medical profession, rather than being a full-fledged combat kunoichi.

"Hey, Hoshiko-chan! Your rabbit seems to be doing much better!" Saki chirped. "How'd you do that?"

Hoshiko smiled shyly and blushed at the praise. "Thanks Saki-chan. Um...I was thinking about Sakura-sensei's advice on visualization...I thought about how I wanted the bone to straighten out, and I could kind of picture it...in my mind..." Hoshiko replied haltingly.

"Nice." Saki nodded vigorously before applying the method herself, with positive results: the broken leg on her rabbit started to straighten out as well.

"Hey, Saki-chan, you totally did it!" Hoshiko beamed.

Saki grinned and nodded heartily once again, obviously thrilled with her work.

Sakura smiled. She doubted that either of the girls would have done as well on their own as they were doing together. It was so different from Sakura's confrontational and competitive relationship with Ino; Saki and Hoshiko greatly encouraged each other to succeed. It seemed the latter method was much more conducive to learning, as Sakura was finding out. She had no doubt that the two friends would master medical jutsu by the time they hit ten, surpassing their sensei even at such young ages.

"Ok girls, now I want you to concentrate your chakra in your hands. Good, Saki, Hoshiko. Very good. Now take that chakra—"

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping sound behind her. Sakura turned towards the cause of the noise and sighed in exasperation. "Why are you three here? I'm in the middle of a lesson." She placed her hands on her hips and glared, while noticing that Yuki and Sasuke had both fallen to their knees, ostensibly in response the unpleasant, 'I'm going to puke my guts out now and never eat again' jutsu that had transported them here at a most inconvenient time.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, we're going to visit Granny Cat, you totally have to come!" Naruto apparently had not been affected in the slightest by the hiraishin, as he was practically jumping in excitement.

"Granny Cat?" both Saki and Hoshiko asked curiously.

"Why are we visiting Nekobaa? Don't we have more important things—"

Sasuke cut off Sakura's train of thought, "I'm going to get the Uchiha summoning contract for Yuki, and Naruto insisted we make it a team seven thing. Hn." Sasuke rose from the floor slowly while clutching his stomach.

"Aw, cool! Can I have a summons too dad?" Saki asked, ecstatic.

"Not until you graduate from the academy, Saki-chan," Sasuke replied wearily.

"Awwwwwwww—"

Hoshiko broke into Saki's wail, "Can I come meet the Granny cat too, otousan?"

Naruto grinned and patted the girl on the head. "I'm afraid I don't have enough juice to hiraishin that many people over to Nekobaa's house, Hoshiko-chan." Her face fell, which pulled at Naruto's heartstrings, so he added, "But I'll bring you back a present, ok, Hoshiko-chan?" Somewhat mollified, Hoshiko smiled. Naruto grinned and continued, "Ok, Saki, Hoshiko, you two girls head over to my place. Hinata's ordering a pizza for everyone, you girls are going to have movie night, ok?"

"Can Saki sleep over again otousan?"

"Of course she can, sweetie!" Hoshiko smiled, and, all too happy to get out of a lesson early in favor of pizza, pulled her compatriot out of the door before the adults could change their minds.

Sakura sighed through her smile. "Well, looks like I'm going then."

"Naruto, how are we going to hiraishin all the way there? I don't believe you've stashed a kunai over at an Uchiha warehouse..." Sasuke began suspiciously.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's located by the border— near Ame and the Sand's border to be more precise. I've got a kunai stashed nearby. We'll have to walk a little ways, but no matter! Hold hands everyone!"

"Just— do it gently this time, please, Hokage-sama?" Yuki requested, still a little green from her last hiraishin adventure.

Naruto grinned his face-splitting smile. "Yes, of course! One, two, thr—"

Everything disintegrated into a horrible swirl of gold. Once reality rematerialized, three ninja were holding their poor, aching stomachs while one Hokage loudly shouted, "Yosh!"

"Ugh!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh."

"Ouch."

"Naruto-kun, where are we?" Sakura managed between clenched teeth.

"Why, the only ramen stand near the border of course!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

"Why, oh why, am I not surprised," Sasuke stated dryly as he held his rebellious stomach with one hand and his aching head in the other.

"Hey, a Hokage's got to eat..."

Sakura mused, "I'll bet you have a three-pronged kunai stashed at every ramen joint from here to the ends of the earth..."

Naruto sighed dreamily. "I'm working on it, believe you me, but I'm not there yet!" He grinned while his two former teammates slapped their faces in stereo. Yuki's mouth twitched upwards, which was the young Uchiha's approximation of a grin: it was wicked fun watching the Hokage drive her parental units crazy. Naruto winked and continued, "Do you think we have time to stop for ramen—"

"NO!" chorused Sasuke and Sakura.

Yuki put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Let's go, the warehouse is about five miles south of here. You Uchiha can buy me ramen after we complete our mission."

"Fine." Sasuke smirked and began leading the way.

"YOSH!" The blond fisted the air in victory.

Sasuke grinned despite himself and walked alongside his wife. "Sakura-chan?"

"Mmmm?"

"Headache."

"Aw, poor baby," Sakura intoned mockingly. "Here, don't say I never did anything for you." Sasuke sighed appreciatively as Sakura's cool healing energy soothed the horrible tension headache right behind his eyes. Sakura, giving her husband chakra as they walked, asked quietly, "Stressed out? Or motion sick from the hiraishin?"

Sasuke muttered, "Little bit from column A, little bit from column B..."

"Well, there, how does that feel?"
Sasuke took Sakura's hand from his forehead and kissed it in a rare public display of affection that make Yuki wince. "Much better, thanks."

Naruto shot Sakura a look that said, 'Nice work, my adorable little teammate'; Sakura just shook her head at the Hokage and continued walking in stride with Sasuke. After a moment, Sakura smiled and held her husband's hand; Sasuke, a bit startled at the gesture, obliged. Sasuke and Sakura weren't usually this touchy-feely, but Naruto's buoyant personality had the tendency to inspire sentimental moments; perhaps because when Naruto was around, cheerful memories of team seven's good old days would surface. But Sasuke was sure it was also due in some measure to the almost tangible feeling of sunshine that Naruto imparted to those around him. Sasuke gave his wife's hand a squeeze, which she returned; he gave a content, relieved sigh. Maybe things are all right between us after all...

The four walked in comfortable silence for some time, until Yuki turned towards her father and finally ventured, "So. All I could glean from the library were the facts I already knew: you were abducted by Orochimaru, you joined the Akatsuki after Itachi's death as a Konoha spy, and you helped bring Madara down in the last ninja war. But something is telling me that there's more to the story." She speared her father with her gaze and continued, "Because you're acting like you're on house arrest. All the facts point to it— you're not on active duty even though you are certainly one of Konoha's top ninja, you don't leave the house by yourself..." Here Yuki started enumerating by counting on her fingers as she continued, "Mom's in charge of all the money, and when we sold that piece of property last year the elders had to authorize it..." Yuki paused again and took a deep breath before continuing, "And some of the other kids in the academy call me a dirty Uchiha behind my back...I could go on."

Sasuke sighed. If looks could maim, he'd have a hole bored through his head, courtesy of his eldest daughter. "It's because I am on house arrest," he replied bluntly.

Yuki blanched. It was one thing to have her suspicions, but another entirely to have those inklings confirmed so abruptly.

"Baka, you're only on house arrest because you won't let me revoke the sentence," Naruto grumbled, but then continued more softly, "Yuki-chan, I didn't know the other kids were mean to you!" Naruto, of all people, knew what it was like to be teased for something that was out of one's control.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "It's Yuki-san, please, Hokage-sama. But that's not what I want to talk about right now. Currently, I want to know why my dad is on house arrest." She placed her hands on her hips and looked straight at Sasuke. "And why you insist on staying on house arrest if the Hokage wants to pardon you."

Sasuke rubbed his temples with his hand, his tension headache rapidly returning. Where to start really? He had betrayed the Leaf by going to Orochimaru of his own free will, killed his brother, attempted to slay every single one of his former teammates, murdered innocent people whose names he did not know, attacked the Five Kage Summit, helped to instigate a war against all the shinobi nations...Sasuke was starting to sweat. He took a deep breath and stated candidly, "I wasn't a Konoha spy when I joined the Akatsuki. I had defected. But during the Ninja war, Naruto and I fought, and he convinced me that I was being an ass. So I gave up my eyesight to destroy Madara." At the mention of Madara, a cold shiver went down his spine, which he fought to ignore.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it. Ok, sure, you joined the bad guys, which is a surprise to me, but you ended up winning the war. So why the house arrest?"

Sasuke was not going to go into the details, especially not the fact that he had murdered Choji's father, and hence Yuki's teammate's own grandfather. I intend to tell the truth, but there's no reason to go into gory detail. Instead, he countered honestly, "Because I don't trust myself."

As he said these words, he saw strange images in his mind's eye, a flock of crows, a thin necklace with three silver circles, and crimson, flowing like water over dark cobblestones, glinting with moonlight, and steaming in the cold night air, as if the dead were offering incense with their own life's blood. Everything had begun and ended with Itachi; Sasuke's revenge that, like fire, had only grown hotter with his brother's death, wanting to consume the world until it, too, was a charred and ashen thing, like Sasuke's black heart. Wanting to kill those whom he loved the most, in a sick parody of Itachi's handiwork: because if the only people he actually cared about were dead, then Sasuke, in a sick sense, could finally be free...

No, Sasuke had been irreparably twisted, like a tree deprived of light, growing sideways and at unnatural angels to escape the shadows. Oh Itachi, you should have finished me that night...life is a painful and dark thing...to live, but to always be trying to escape your shadows in vain...

Sasuke wondered if he should tell Yuki about Itachi, the linchpin of his madness; after all, Yuki did not know the details of Sasuke's final battle with Itachi, how Sasuke had killed his brother and eventually had taken his eyes. But in the end, Sasuke decided against revealing this information; it was too soon admit to fratricide to his own, innocent child; it was a can of worms whose only end led to the truth about the mangekyo sharingan, and that was not a topic Sasuke was going to broach with Yuki until she was much, much older...

No, let Yuki believe the history taught in the academy, the one that glossed over truths best left untold. Sasuke shook his head from side to side, slowly, noticing that an uncomfortable silence had fallen over the group.

Sasuke cleared his throat and finally ventured, "By finishing my sentence, I prove to Konoha and to myself that I have some shred of integrity. That I..." Sasuke flailed a moment, trying to find the right words. He took a deep breath and finally continued, "That I have a right to be alive."

Sakura hid her gasp behind her hand. Sasuke was such a stubborn, private bastard about his past, and she had always thought Sasuke was being obstinate and prideful by insisting on maintaining his sentence. She shook her head as faded memories flooded her consciousness...

"Sakura, we've already had this conversation. My decision is final: I will be serving the rest of my sentence." Sasuke turned away from her and walked into the bathroom, an angry Sakura following him close behind.

"Idiot! Have you stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, your blasted house arrest bullshit affects all of us!" Sakura gestured widely to connote their family. "It's so damned awkward, especially now that the girls are older..."

"Sakura?"

"What?"

"Can I...urinate in peace? Please?"

Sakura took a step back, somewhat embarrassed. "Oh. Yeah..."

Sasuke shook his head and closed the door behind him; Sakura, still mad as hell, stomped back into the bedroom and threw herself down on the mattress. Sasuke was being such an imbecile. It was neither practical nor comfortable to assure that Sasuke always had an escort to leave the house. Sure, Sakura supposed, it wasn't a big deal per se to make a clone... But still! It was an unnecessary waste of chakra! And it was getting to be annoying!

Sakura glumly thought to herself that it just didn't make sense anymore for Sasuke to be on house arrest: it was a farce at this point. She patted her full, pregnant belly and sighed. Soon, they would be having their third child... She was tired of having to keep up Sasuke's pretense of quasi-prison from their children, tired of having a husband who didn't leave the house by himself, whose interests and focus seemed to rest solely on the home, on their children. Sure, he still trained with Naruto on occasion, and he did make it to the academy once a week to teach music... But didn't he want more from life? Wasn't he bored?

In fact, Sakura was bored just thinking about him. Her hands, which had been idly rubbing her belly, paused. She was somewhat appalled at her thoughts, but she couldn't deny their veracity. The two didn't even go on dates anymore; Sasuke just preferred to stay at home...

Suddenly, Sakura felt arms circling her, and she would have jumped if Sasuke hadn't been holding her. "You startled me, Sasuke," she practically growled.

"Sorry." He kissed the hollow of her neck. "I mean...sorry about upsetting you..."

Sakura sighed. She had trouble staying angry at Sasuke for long, and she decided that she would just forget about the whole thing. "Don't worry about it," she murmured.

He released her and stretched his arms up over his head. "It doesn't really matter all that much. Soon, the baby will be born, and I'll be doing the stay at home dad thing anyway," Sasuke called, cheer evident in his voice.

Sakura frowned slightly, but smoothed her features before her hyper aware husband could sense it. "You're right..." she agreed as she got under the covers and turned out the lights, her hands coming to rest on her stomach once again. She thought, ruefully, that it was always about the baby, about how many babies Sakura could have, and Sasuke being thrilled to stay at home and raise a veritable tribe of children. While she worked her ass off at the hospital and didn't get to enjoy the simple things that Sasuke was able to experience: first words, first steps, first...everything.

She was tired of coming home from work only to hear how she had missed the myriad adorable moments that made up their kid's childhoods. Sakura sighed. Didn't Sasuke understand that she could only take off so much time for maternity leave from the hospital? That if he was able to go out and get a job—like a real man— then maybe she could stay at home and be a real mother for once?

Sakura sighed; at times, she really envied Hinata...

"Is everything ok?" Sasuke called as he slid under the sheets, his hand caressing her rotund stomach.

"Uh-huh," she lied, allowing him to touch her pregnant belly as she blankly stared up at the ceiling.

Now, though, things had become clearer. Sasuke still didn't trust himself...and Sakura certainly hadn't helped things by beating him over the head with her annoyance regarding the house arrest situation. It had been frustrating to Sakura when Sasuke had refused to fully enter into normal life again, but now, she figured she could have a bit more compassion about the whole business. She gave Sasuke's hand a gentle squeeze and placed her other palm on his shoulder reassuringly, while Naruto nodded thoughtfully, seemingly already aware of what Sasuke had stated; but the Hokage kept his silence.

Yuki snorted. "That's ridiculous. Everyone that matters trusts you." She gestured to the present company.

Sasuke nodded. "Kami help them, that they do. However, finishing out my sentence for defecting from the Leaf is something I have to do. I trust that you'll keep it quiet for me." And for the love of Kami, don't tell your baby sister...

Yuki, who could read the thoughts underneath his words, nodded. "Ok, otousan," she replied evenly, taking everything in stride. Sasuke sighed inwardly in relief. Well, that wasn't so bad...

As the group mulled over the conversation in silence, they entered the dusty, dilapidated village that held the old Uchiha warehouse.

"This place is...antiquated..." Yuki stated, trying to sound polite.

Sakura smirked and retorted, "You mean, it's a dump. It hasn't changed much since the last time we were here..."

"Kind of gives me the hibbie jibbies..." Naruto mused as he unconsciously moved closer to Sakura.

They entered a dark hallway and continued walking until suddenly, two menacing shadows crept closer to them.

"Ack! Someone's there!" Naruto wailed, his girly scream piercing Sakura's eardrums.

"Naruto!" Sakura wailed in pain.

a/n Thanks for reading my dears. Tune in next week when we find out what, exactly, made Naruto scream like a girl, and what awaits Yuki and team seven in the house of the Nekobaa!

Your reviews help me to become a better writer. What did you love? What did you hate? What do you want to see more of? Please let me know via your review! Thanks:)