Chapter 18:

See You Again: Welcome Home, Dad

It was a particularly lazy Sunday afternoon. Nagato swung lazily on the hammock on the porch in his backyard. He was propped up against some cushions, half-lying down, barefoot, reading an interesting book. Their yard was small, but Pinako, who enjoyed gardening as a obby, made sure it was very well-kept. This of course was very pleasing to Nagato's eye. It was a closed off by four walls surrounding it, so it was the perfect place for a private nap, or some quiet time, as Nagato was now enjoying.

The sliding door to the veranda opened, and Pinako emerged, holding a tray laden with a pot of tea and two cups. She set it down on the table, poured them both a glass, and sat down on the step of the porch, clutching the warm tea. She closed her eyes and sighed peacefully. She felt the serene calmness swoop up to her, seemingly refreshing her and vitalising her spirit. It was why she had such a fondness for gardening.

Nagato and Pinako's relationship was a very close one indeed. They sat, in close proximity, without once uttering a word for over an our, but they were each very happy their significant other was in their presence. When they spoke, it was idle talk, but each felt this was easily the best part of their day.

Pinako had something more serious to discuss today. She had been thinking for a while about it, considering the possibility, weighing their options, and whether or not it was viable. She opened her mouth tentatively. "Nagato?" He hmm-ed in reply, continuing to read.

"Have you ever...d'you ever maybe think about... starting a family?"

He closed his book and looked at her. "You know... having kids?" she asked, wondering what his reaction would be.

He continued to gaze at her, and she could see he was clearly weighing what she had said in his mind. Finally, he broke out into a broad grin. "I don't see why not. I've always wanted children of my own, and now seems like the perfect time."

"It does, doesn't it?" Pinako said, a smile stretching across her face as well. They were both Jounin level ninja, which meant they made quite a good amount of cash since their missions were also quite high level. Nagato, being a personal adviser and assistant to the Fourth Hokage, had an additional responsibility and source of income as well. More than anything, he thought, their missions were very dangerous, and death was, at all times, a very real possibility. He would hate to have left the world without someone to carry on his legacy, his name, and someone who would carry on his ninja way. That, and the fact that Nagato, being a gentle soul, was very fond of children, pretty uch made up his mind for him.

"Its settled, then" he said with satisfaction. Pinako gave a small cheer of happiness and jumped onto the hammock, right on top of Nagato. "Watch out!" he said, laughing, "it'll break!"

"Well, I'm not pregnant yet," she joked, as Nagato wrapped his arms around her, and they enveloped in a deep, happy kiss. When they broke apart, Nagato's red eyes were shining. "Would you like to be?" he asked mischievously. Pinako giggled a very schoolgirl-like giggle, as Nagato slipped off her robe...

About a week later, Minato sat at the breakfast table with his wife, Kushina. He idly spooned some cereal into his mouth while he read some of the documents which had been submitted to him to review. Kushina sipped her tea, fully dressed in her kunoichi clothing, as she had been assigned a mission, and was just about to head out to meet her sqaudron. Kushina quite enjoyed to watch Minato as he sat and read, simply due to the number of things he did unconsciously. He murmured and rubbed his chin, he frowned and scratched his head. Twice he dropped his cereal on the table and put an empty spoon in his mouth, he was so absorbed; Kushina laughed and wiped the table, before wiping his mouth like a fussy mom and giving him a kiss to break his concentration, so he could feed himself.

Today, she had to leave while he was still engrossed in his papers, but she had set an alarm clock on the kitchen counter to ensure he wouldn't lose track of time and be late. "I'm heading out!" she called behind her, as she slipped on her sandals. Minato murmured vaguely in acknowledgement. As Kushina stood, the doorbell rang. Outside stood Pinako, who smiled as Kushina opened the door. The two best friends hugged, before Kushina apologised for not being able to sit with her for a while, and excused herself after seeing Pinako inside. Pinako poked her head around the corner and saw Minato at the table. Of course, he hadn't noticed she was there, so she snuck behind him and pulled his bowl out from under him. He continued to spoon at air, and after the third time of him putting an empty spoon in his mouth, Pinako, chuckling silently, went to place it back in front of him. Minato felt her arm, and, assuming she was Kushina wiping the table, said "Sorry Kushina." To Pinako's shock though, he grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap, his eyes still on the document, and leaned in to kiss her, as was the norm. It was only when some of Pinako's hair tickled his nose that he noticed the person on his lap was raven-haired. He glanced down to see a very red Pinako staring wide-eyed up at him. They looked in each other's eyes for a second.

"AAAHHHH!" they both screamed, and leapt up, away from each other. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Minato apologised. Pinako was kept shaking her head, trembling. Finally, when they had calmed down a bit, Pinako laughed. "It's alright." They sat down and began to chat like the old friends they were, with Minato finally putting down his document. Pinako had come to invite them to dinner around their place.

DING-DONG! The Uzumaki's residence bell rang loud. Kushina nervously checked her watch. Minato had not arrived yet so she had been forced to come without him. She hoped he wouldn't be too late. She turned as the door opened, gave a smile when she saw Pinako and gave her a hug. "I hope you don't have anything to drink, because I brought the sake!" she proclaimed, offering the bottle. Pinako laughed. "I told you not to bring anything! We have some sake."

"Not this stuff" Kushina arged. "This, my friend, is the finest sake in all the land. Two sips and a man will be spilling his guts for all the world to hear." She widened her eyes and put on a scared expression in mock fear. Pinako laughed again and took the bottle, leading her into the living room, where Jiraiya, Tsunade, Dan and Nagato were sitting.

Nagato rose to greet her, giving his cousin a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Where's Minato?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but just then there came a loud DING-DONG. Nagato opened the door to see Minato, sweaty-faced, in full ninja attire complete with Hokage cloak, doubled over and panting. "Was... late... office... meeting.. sorry..." he rasped. "There's your answer" Kushina said, as she gaved Minato a scolding look, helping him to the sofa in the living room, where he collapsed to catch his breath.

"Well, since you're all here, let's move to the dining room. Dinner's ready."

Minato gratefully helped himself, not talking, as he ate. He had had to skip lunch and was ravenous. Pinako was deep in conversation with Kushina, hearing all about her latest mission, politely nodding as Kushina described in great detail her incredible daring and leadership, a fiery passion in her eyes. Twice she gestured violently, as she often did with her speech, and knocked over the salt shaker. Jiraiya of course helped himself to sake, and the hall was soon booming with his laughter and what he called his sage advice. Tsunade was busy dodging Jiraiya's frequently roaming hand, refraining from walloping him out of courtesy to her host.

"Do you ever think of having children?" Nagato asked his fatherly Sensei. Jiraiya let out a rich burp and laughed. "Can you really see me changing some little tyke's diapers and scolding him for bad grades? Nah! A pirate's life for me... I mean.. Shinto pri... ehh, ssshinobi, for me.. Although you know" and his expression grew serious. "Chicks dig the fatherly figure. I'm sure I'd score big with the hot single moms around town if I had a kid of my own! And I bet my faithful fans would love my Makeout Paradise characters to spawn a kid from their romance. Kids are a great idea!" And he let out another great belly laugh.

"Being a mom is pretty cool, y'know." Tsunade said reasonably. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to do missions, or my career would be over, or I wouldn't have any sleep, or I'd want to chuck my baby off the roof.. you know, everything they say comes with parenthood. Luckily Dan was always around. Lucky for me he can take an angry fist to the stomach or two!" And she gave a high laugh. Nagato politely smiled, resolving to never ask Tsunade for motherly advice. He noticed her face had turned a slight shade of pink.

Deciding he'd better break the news now before Jiraiya passed out, Nagato stood up. All eyes went to him and conversations came to a halt. Nagato looked at the faces in front of him and smiled. "There was acually a reason we invited you guys to dinner today. We have some news." He took Pinako's hand and she smiled up at him. "You guys are our closest friends and we wanted you all to know first... Pinako and I are expecting a baby!"

A general elated shock crossed the room. Everyone reacted at once; Kusina let out a high gasp and cried "Congratulations!", jumping up to hug the two soon-to-be parents; Minato began to clap, not knowing what else to do, a huge grin on his face; Tsunade cried, "Wow, another baby joining the fold! This is great!"; Jiraiya blustered, unable to string a coherent sentence together, and contented himself by simply slapping Nagato on the back hard in congratulations. Once the merriment had died down slightly, Nagato lamented aloud the fact that Konan and Yahiko were not around; His two adoptive siblings would be his first confidantes.

"Actually, I had an announcement too!" Minato replied brightly. "I wanted to tell all you guys, but wasn't quite sure how to bring it up. I met Yahiko a few days ago!"

Once again the elated shock crossed the room. The reaction was different, but just as merry and raucous. Jiraiya gave a sort of roaring laugh and, unable to contain himself, began a sort of war dance around the room. Kushina punched Minato's arm, shrilly saying "Why didn't you tell me?!" with a big smile on her face; Nagato and Pinako looked at each other, and Pinako promptly burst into tears so that Nagato would not have to. Tsunade stood up, her giant bosom swaying as she stumbled, saying "That's far too much good news for one night. I think I'd better go before I have a heart attack right now." She gave Nagato and Minato a hug of superhuman strength (they could feel their ribs actually bend) before sayin her goodbyes and walking off into the night. Jiraiya quickly followed suit, making the same excuse, but as Nagato saw him off at the door, he saw Jiraiy's eyes fixed at Tsunade's disappearing figure. Specifically, a certain part of her that swayed side to side as she walked. Nagato laughed and prepared the first aid kit.

The two remaining couples shared their jubilation with each other well into the night, and it was past midnight when Minato and Kushina finally left. As Pinako closed the door, she turned to see Nagato smiling at her. Their eyes shining, unable to say a word, they merely collapsed into each other's arms and sank onto the sofa.

Konan walked, her bag of rations in her hand. She walked along a dirt path skirting the edge of a wood, making her way to a small inn a few kilometres from the HIdden Leaf, where her and her two daughters were currently living. It had been sort of a vacation spot for the family as Yahiko had taken them there often. It was quiet and peaceful, some distance away from a large town. It was near enough that they never wanted for a job, and food was plentiful since they could both hunt and buy readymade. The area was peaceful.

She heard a disturbance, ever so slight, which would have completely been missed by a normal human being. Her grip on the bag surreptitiously loosened, ready to drop at a moment's notice, as she gathered up chakra within. Bandits were not uncommon around these parts, and Konan had developed somewhat of a reputation in the small village where her inn was located for being able to fend them off due to her skill.

She heard a woosh of air behind her. She dropped he bag and whipped around, raising her hand. The masked bandit slashed her arm, smiling triumphantly as it sliced in two. The next moment his eyes widened in shock as the severed arm turned to paper before his eyes; in fact, the woman herself seemed to turn into stacks of papers. The arm separated into many sheets, which began to swirl around the bandit. "What is this?!" he shouted in anger, stabbing at the whirlwind, to no effect. Seizing her opportunity, Konan dived intothe whirlwind (the paper seemed to melt away to give her room) and blasted him with a vicious wind style jutsu, which lifted him off his feet and threw him back, unconscious. Never one for violence, Konan preferred the use of genjutsu, and she readied herself as such, looking around for the rest of the attackers. Two leapt out at her simultaneously from each side: paper wings formed on her back, and like an angel she rose up, out of harm's way. The paper surrounded the two attackers in a whirlwind, just as they had done to their comrade, but these were patterned and coloured, charmed by chakra, so that they attracted the bandts' eyes, hypnotising them, until they fell back, asleep. "Stop resisting and we won't have to hurt your precious little girls" came an evil little voice, and Konan saw, with a thrill of horror, two more men stepping out from the shadows, holding kunai knives to the throats of young Pippi and Tsuri, and another bigger, meaner looking man, clearly the head of this little operation. Despite herself, Konan flushed with pride as she noticed the assailants bore bite and nail marks, and the two blue-haired girls, the spitting image of their mother, bore the defiant, fiery spirit inherited by their father. "Put your hands behind your head and kneel down, so you can't attack us." The ringleader commanded, his eyes glinting evilly. Konan's lip curled in disgust, but she complied, looking her daughters in the eye, reassuring them silently. "Good girl" the leader smiled evilly.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, he flung a kunai, with a precise aim, dead in the centre of her chest. Konan made a move to escape but was helpless in her position, with the speed of the knife, and so merely twisted so it would hit her shoulder and miss her heart. But the blow never landed. She turned and looked up to see a tall, masked man in front of her. The mask was different from that of the others, it covered the face and hair entirely, and he wore a long, flowing black overcoat.

The man spoke softly, but there was a danger and authority to his voice that made Konan's spine tingle. "Never threaten an innocent child. And never put a mother in a compromising position in front of them."

"We ain't got no business with you. Move your ass. It's the chick we want." The leader called, but there was a note of fear in his voice now.

The man seemed to fall forward, his torso bending down, and he seemed to take an age to descend. But suddenly, unexpectedly, his body snapped rigid, and he charged forward at top speed, catching the bandits off-guard. He leapt up as he ran, into a flying dropkick, landing squarely on the chest of the attacker holding Tsuri, using the force to push off and reposition himself, landing on his feet. The other bandit released Pippi, shoving her roughly to the ground, as he peppered the masked man with punches. The man ducked and weaved, dodging and deflecting the punches, catching his hand and pulling the man over his shoulder, kicking him like a football with enough forced to knock him unconscious. The leader gaped for a second in rude surprise, before flinging another kunai at him. But to his amazement and consternation, the kunai seemed to slow in midair, coming to a halt and falling harmlessly at the masked man's feet. At the same instant, a long, thin black swArd slid down his sleeve and he caught it, pointing it up, right at the leader's throat. The black blade glinted evilly, and the leader gulped in nervousness; he actually felt his Adam's apple graze the tip of the blade.

"Apologise to my wife" the man said quietly. The leader choked out an apology, before falling to his knees and begging to be let go. The man lowered the sword and stepped forward. The bandit looked up, and gasped, before falling to the ground in a trance, haunted by the purple eyes of the demon who stood before him. The man walked to the others, placing a hand on them, muttering a few words, before straightening up and facing the stunned eyes looking at him. "Wife?" piped up Tsuri, who had heard his words and was looking confused. Behind his mask, Yahiko smiled. Using both his hands, he lifted his mask off his face. Konan gasped; the girls shrieked.

"Yahiko!"

"Daddy!"

"Family people!"

There was a moment when the four reunited members of the family ran toward each other. Or toward the centre of the makeshift quadrangle they were making. Yahiko grabbed all his three girls in a tight embrace, lifting them off the ground. He kissed Konan on the lips and his daughters on the cheek. All of their eyes seemed to be watering. Yahiko looked around to find the final attacker, who was apparently assaultng them with peeled onions.

"Are you coming home, daddy?" asked Pippi, her bright eyes looking up at him expectantly. Yahiko merely smiled and said "Yes darling, for now."

His daughters cheered, but a shadow crossed Konan's face. She took a closer look at her husband's face. His eyes were not fully opened, and there were dark circles under them from lack of sleep. She could distinctly make out certain lines in his face, which were not there before, adding to his laughter lines. He was unshaven and had a bad case of five-o'clock shadow. And she had noticed his use of the words 'for now'. She opened her mouth, but Yahiko, sensing what she was about to ask, shook his head slightly. "Later", he mouthed.

"I've put these guys in a genjutsu, they'll wake up lost and confused but it'll wear off after a week or so. By then they'll have forgotten the way here completely." Yahiko deactivated his Rinnegan and rubbed his eyes. Konan took his hand gently and led him to a small well by the side of the road. Yahiko lay on the grass while Konan knelt beside him, dipping a cloth in the small drinking bowl she had gotten from the well, applying the cool water to his burning eyes. Half his face covered, Yahiko smiled. What would come later, would come. Right now, all that mattered was that he was back with his family. He intended to stay with them, at least for a little while. And there was nobody and nothing on Earth that was going to stop him. Except for maybe one thing...

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This was a longer chapter than the previous ones. I'm planning on keeping the future ones about this length, so you guys have some substance to read. As always, feel free to give feedback, and I hope you enjoy the chapter. Look forward to the next one!