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Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Only my own.

Chapter 14

I was writing something on the chalk board when I heard a snore for the third or fourth time that morning. I turned around and saw a whited haired student in the back of the room with his head down, fast asleep. I frowned and tossed my piece of chalk at him. It hit him in the head and he instantly sat up.

"I'm awake!" he exclaimed. The whole class laughed and his face turned red.

"Tanaka, pay attention or I'll quiz you on this tomorrow," I told him.

"Yes, Nara-sensei." I nodded and went back to teaching.

It wasn't long after that that there was an argument. One of the students answered a question wrong and the kid beside him laughed.

"Fukusaku, you're such a loser," the raven-haired boy said snidely. Fukusaku shook his light brown hair out of his eyes and got right in the other boy's face.

"Shut up, Akatsuka! I'll take you on here and now!" he yelled. Akatsuka snickered.

"Will the two of you shut up? We're in the middle of class. Knock it off," I scolded.

"Sorry, Nara-sensei," they apologized.

I opened the door to the apartment and Yumi put down the book she'd been reading. She gave me a beautiful smile as I plopped onto the couch beside her.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"What a drag. One kid slept all day. And there was another one who would laugh at the kid next to him when the kid got the answer wrong. Then, that kid would yell back at the first. Why can't they just learn like they're supposed to?" She laughed as I sighed.

"Well, the sleeping kid sounds like a certain handsome shadow user." She nudged me with her foot. "And the other two remind me of Naruto and Sasuke. Don't tell me you've forgotten our Academy days so easily, Shika." I chuckled quietly.

"I haven't forgotten. But my future is more important than my past. Like making sure you and our baby have a good life."

"I love you, Shika," she told me, smiling.

"I love you, too. We need to be getting to the hospital." I got up and held out my hand to her. She took it and I helped her up. She put on some shoes and we were on our way.

We opened the door to the exam room and saw that Sakura was already there.

"Hey, you two! How are you?" Yumi returned her smile.

"We're great!" she replied. I nodded in agreement.

"Well, let's get started." Yumi laid on the table and exposed her abdomen.

"Should my stomach be this big already?" Yumi asked.

"Let's get the ultrasound going so we can check it out," Sakura replied. I watched as she prepped the wand and put it on Yumi's stomach. She moved it for a while and then gasped. "No way!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Yumi and I asked together. I took Yumi's hand. Sakura looked at us and beamed.

"You're having twins! That's why your stomach seems larger than it should!" she explained excitedly. Yumi stared at her wide-eyed.

"T-twins?" Yumi asked quietly. Sakura nodded. "Oh, wow…"

"You okay, Yumi?" I asked. She only nodded and squeezed my hand.

"Congratulations!" Sakura said. We finished with the check-up and thanked Sakura. Yumi was quiet the entire time we were leaving the hospital.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. She stared at the ground with a worried look, absentmindedly rubbing her stomach.

"One baby is one thing. Two is a whole different story when it comes to money. Are we going to be able to afford two babies? We don't even have a big enough apartment for one!" she replied. I stopped and made her look at me.

"Everything is going to be fine. We'll get a bigger place. It's not a problem. You and these babies will be taken care of. I swear that on my laugh," I promised she smiled.

"I'm not worried about me. Just the babies. I can't believe we're having twins!" she said. We kissed and then went home.

A couple of months passed and, although she was only five months along, Yumi looked like she was about to pop. It amazed me how her small frame was able to hold that much weight. Her back was sore most of the time, but she still kept up her daily life. She would train Kimi and Hiro even though she wasn't able to demonstrate like usual. She visited Aiko and Airi Ichiraku so they could see her stomach. We found a bigger apartment with two bedrooms. It was the day of the move and I heard a knock on the door. I was in bedroom packing while Yumi was in the kitchen.

"I've got it," I heard her call. I walked out into the living room just as she opened the door. Out in the hallway of our apartment building stood Yumi's parents, my parents, both of our teams, Shiro, Hinata, Naruto, Tenten, Neji, Kouhei, Kiba, Shino, Kimi, and Hiro.

"Hey, everyone. What are you all doing here?" I asked as I stood next to Yumi.

"You guys are moving today so we came to help," Shiro said with a grin.

"Yumi can't really carry anything heavy so we figured that you could use some assistance," Kouhei added. Yumi smiled.

"Thank you all so much! I was already feeling bad because Shika would have had to do all the work," Yumi exclaimed. I saw tears well up in her eyes. It reminded me that the over-emotional part of her pregnancy would be one thing that I wouldn't miss. Sometimes she would get so angry that she wouldn't speak to me over little things. I shook my head and pulled Yumi to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She sniffled and smiled at everyone.

"This really is a big help, everyone. Thanks. Come on in," I said.

"Hey, Shika, can you help me get this pan out of the cabinet?" Yumi called. I had been working on setting up the twins' room so I hurried out to the kitchen and she turned to me. I was stunned. Even though her stomach was large enough that she could barely reach the counter or stove, she was still trying to cook. I handed her the pan and then kissed her.

"You're amazing, you know that?" I said with a chuckle. She looked up at me.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, walking to the fridge.

"Seven and a half months pregnant with twins and you're still cooking for us. People are going to think I'm a bad husband," I joked. "What are you making anyway?" She pulled a fish out of the fridge and beamed at me.

"Mackerel cooked with miso, your favorite!" she said cheerfully.

We were sitting down to eat when there was a knock on the door. I opened the door to see a genin messenger breathing heavily with a frightened look on his face.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Please come to the gate! It's Naruto!" he exclaimed. I looked back to Yumi. She smiled but I could see the worry in her eyes.

"Go ahead," she told me. I turned back to the genin.

"I'll go on ahead. Take her, too," I said to him. He nodded and I took off running.

I got to the gate and was shocked at what I saw. Naruto was lying on his back, surrounded by medics. Hinata was kneeling next to him, holding his hand while silent tears rolled down her face. As I knelt beside Hinata, my eyes widened. Naruto was really beaten up. His left eye was swollen shut, his blonde hair was almost completely soaked with blood, his left arm bent at an unnatural angle. I looked at the medics.

"What happened?" I looked back to Naruto's blood-soaked jacket.

"We don't know. He came through the gate and then fell to the ground, unconscious. So far, he has a concussion, three broken ribs, a broken arm, a partially collapsed lung, and internal bleeding," one said.

"We need to transport him, but we can't until the others bring the stretcher," another said. As the medic finished speaking, Naruto coughed, blood trickling out of his mouth. His eyes opened and focused on me.

"They have…Kouhei," he wheezed. "Save…him. Get…my brother…back." His eyes then moved to Hinata. "Don't…cry. I'll be…fine. Love…you…Hinata." He smiled and then lost consciousness again. I heard footsteps so I turned. A couple of medic ninjas ran up to us with the stretcher. They loaded him onto it and when I turned around, they were carrying the stretcher past Yumi and the genin. Her hand was over her mouth and I could see the tears on her cheeks. She walked over to Hinata and me and hugged her best friend.

"H-he said they have K-Kouhei," Hinata told her, knowing how close he and Yumi were.

"They'll both be okay," was all she said.

I stood in front of Lady Tsunade with Neji, my dad, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi. The room was silent as we waited for our orders.

"Naruto has regained consciousness and told us where he and Kouhei located the men that did this to him. They are rouge ninja and they have a compound in the Land of Waves. They capture shinobi and torture them until their minds completely break and then sell them into slavery to rich lords all over the world. There are many smaller factions that capture shinobi from certain villages. Shikamaru and Neji encountered one of this factions in a small village outside of Suna. The leader was full of himself and started to abduct anyone he wanted to. If Shikamaru, Kouhei, and Naruto hadn't gotten to him when they did, his superiors would've certainly taken care of him." She looked at all of us in turn. "I've gathered you, our best strategists and trackers, to infiltrate their compound and end this operation."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," we answered.

"This needs to be taken care of as soon as possible. Meet at the gate in one hour."

I was packing for the mission when Yumi came into the bedroom.

"You have to leave soon?" she asked. I nodded and finished putting stuff in my bag. I walked over to her and put my hand over hers that was resting on her protruding abdomen.

"We're going to go get Kouhei back and take care of these bastards once and for all. I sent both of our moms a message asking if they can take turns staying with you while I'm gone," I told her.

"Shika, I'll be fine on my own." I weaved my fingers through hers.

"I know, but I'll feel better if I know someone else is here." She sighed.

"Okay. Be careful, Shika. I love you," she said quietly. I gently caressed her cheek and gave her a soft kiss.

"I will." She walked me to the door and I crouched down in front of her belly.

"You two be good. Don't cause your mom any problems while I'm gone," I said with a smile. Yumi giggled and grabbed my hand, pressing it to her stomach. I felt something bump lightly against my hand and my smile widened.

"They like your voice," she said happily. I stood up and slid my hand to the back of her neck, pulling her towards me. I kissed her deeply.

"That makes me want to stay even more," I said softly, my smile still in place. She smiled back, but it was sad.

"Go. Before I make you stay," she said with a humorless laugh. I kissed her again. "Be safe."

"Always am. I love you."

"I love you, too." I gave her hand a squeeze as I walked out the door.

We were camped for the night and I was sitting against a tree, twisting my wedding band around my finger. My dad sat down next to me and I looked up.

"You all right, son?" he asked. I sighed.

"I'm worried about Yumi. This is the worst time for me to be away," I said quietly. I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"Your mother and Kiko will take good care of her." I sighed again.

"I know. I just can't help but be worried."

"This is similar to when your mother was pregnant with you." I gave him a questioning look. "I was gone on a mission while your mother was pregnant. Granted, the mission wasn't this risky, she wasn't having twins, and she wasn't as far along, but I was worried sick about her the whole time. But I got home and a while after that, I had a perfectly healthy son. Everything will be just fine," he told me.

"Thanks, Dad." He patted me on the back and stood up.

"Get some sleep." I nodded and decided to follow my dad's advice.

After our arrival in the Land of Waves, we set up a base camp that we would operate from. My dad and Kakashi split us into groups to go gather information. Neji and I, Kiba and Shino, and then my dad and Kakashi were paired together. We covered different parts of the village that was near the location we were given. Many of the villagers we talked to said they'd never heard of such a group. There were a few who gave us some info. We med back up at our camp and discussed what we had found out.

"Kakashi and I found out that some people have seen the shinobi in the village before and after they'd been taken. Apparently, they noticed the big difference in them afterwards," my dad explained. "Their base is somewhere in the mountains. The best course of action would be to assimilate ourselves into society here. Once people are comfortable with us, we may be able to get more information. We will all go by different names of course. And we will have separate lives. The villagers can't know that we know each other aside from who we were with earlier. Are all of you prepared for this?" We all nodded. "Good. Let's get started."