A/N: Hi everyone!

A little explanation since lots of you asked what exactly happened to Menma last chapter:

Menma has fully merged with the tailed beasts. He and them are now the same being, he has their memories and attributes from each of their personalities. They still live as "different" beings but only as different sides of his fractal personality. It is somewhat like Aang and Korra from the Avatar series, and more precisely like Alia from the Dune series, as Menma is no longer just a child anymore, because he carries the beasts' experience of maturity.

Oh, by the way, there is nothing entirely surprising happening on this chapter. If you feel confused by one specific bit of information, please refer to chapter 3, it is explained there.

As always, please review, I hope the confusion begins to clear with this chapter.

They reached Orochimaru's nearest hideout a couple of hours after sunset.

It was located underground at one of the few large forests left in the Fire Country, and they entered it through an entrance hidden behind a waterfall. Suigetsu stopped to turn on the power circuit.

"This place's power comes from the waterfall," he explained nervously as he led them down the winding ramp. "It's not attached to the official power grid like some out of the Fire Country, so you don't have to worry. There's running water too, but there isn't any kind of artificial heating, so we should stay at the lower levels as the winter progresses, they are much better insulated."

It took them five minutes to reach the first underground level, and Suigetsu led them further without stopping. "This one is just a mock floor full of traps, in case of enemy infiltration," he continued explaining. "Next level is where they left the more aggressive experiment failures so that if someone survived the traps in the first level and tried releasing any prisoners they'd be killed by those. They, um… we put them down when we came to set this place up after the war before Sasuke set up a base of operations within Konoha City," he said, scratching his elbows.

Bolt and Inojin gave a curious look to the hallways before descending, but Shikamaru noticed Menma reach out for Tsunade's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. She looked down at him, startled, but squeezed back and let him pull her forward.

They passed two more levels before reaching the living quarters level. It was one single hallway crossing from the south to the north of the ramp, and although the air was stale, the temperature was comfortable enough for those who had them to shed their coats.

"Um, refectory and bathrooms are at the far end," Suigetsu said. "There are four bedrooms, a meeting room and a library. "Uh, Orochimaru's quarters are that way," he pointed to the other end of the hallway as he muttered.

Everyone decided to leave those alone.

Naruto found Menma walking around the hideout's fourth level a couple of hours later.

The child had found a training room of sorts, with weapons and other equipment at the back, and was playing with a small rubber ball, kicking it against the walls and trying to catch it when it bounced back.

"Menma?" Naruto asked, and the boy stopped, turning his head to him while his left hand caught the ball effortlessly.

"Yeah?"

Naruto approached and sat on the floor in front of the boy. "Why didn't you want to stay with me and Bolt?"

The boy shrugged and sat down. "Figured he needs some alone time with you," he said, and reached for Naruto's hand. "Look, you don't have to worry, I mean… I never had any family besides you, I know that now. And you're still here. But he lost his mom and his little sister, and he thinks he never had you in the first place. I remember him looking at you when he was really little, and how his face changed through the years every time you pushed him away. And I know that it's not all your fault you did that, but he won't be sure of that unless you prove to him he's the most important thing to you now."

Naruto blinked. Even as used to the beasts' powers and how they influenced someone as he was, it was still baffling to see a little kid talking like that. "You..." He paused, reflecting about what Menma had just said. "You can remember that because of Kurama?"

Menma nodded. "I… I am Kurama too now. And he is me, as well as the others. What I'm trying to say is that… I'm a little kid, but I'm not just a little kid. Because I'm so young I didn't really have time to form an opinion on anything much. To me, everything is still… new, even though I have these memories. So maybe you might think I'm being kinda cold or stupid, but-" He was interrupted by Naruto pulling him into his arms.

He was startled to feel tears wet his cheeks when Naruto kissed them.

"Don't cry!" he said, and felt his way to Naruto's face. "Please don't cry, Papa, I ain't going nowhere. I just want you and Bolt to make up so he can have you too. And now even if I can't see anymore I can do stuff by myself, and Ino-chan is here, and Tsunade baa-chan, and Shika-kun, you don't have to worry about me," he said, and smiled. "Besides, maybe if you guys make up Bolt might stop acting like his dango stick fell on the floor all the time."

Naruto chuckled, and hugged him closer. "I just don't want you to feel alone, so promise me you won't isolate yourself from me, 'cause I need you too, ok?"

"Alone? I can't ever be alone anymore, I got nine people living in my head talking all the time! I mean, eight, Choumei just squeaks," Menma said, showing the number on his fingers. "And I told you, I ain't going nowhere," he repeated, smiling, returning the hug and yawning.

"How about I take you downstairs to baa-chan so you can sleep then? Yeah, yeah, I promise to tuck Bolt in too, he's sleeping in my room, remember?" Naruto said when Menma raised his head. The boy nodded quietly, and Naruto stood up, still carrying him.

When he reached Tsunade's room, he stood in front of the door a second, before going in, and looked down at the boy, who had fallen asleep on the way. "Thank you, son. And I promise Bolt won't get jealous of you," he whispered, and entered the darkened room, tucking the boy in the sleeping bag besides the bed, before leaving to his own room.

Bolt was curled up into his sleeping bag at the farthest corner, facing the wall.

Naruto sat heavily on the bed. "I know you're up, Bolt. Can we talk?" he asked with a tired voice.

"About what?" Bolt asked quietly, still burrowed under the covers.

Naruto sighed deeply. "Look. If you can see everything like you said, can't you see what happened to me? Can't you see I'm different from before? Please give me a chance to clear things up, I… I don't want to lose you before I've ever actually had you, son."

Bolt's sleeping bag moved up against the wall like a caterpillar, and when the boy turned to face him, only a mop of blond hair and half-covered eyes could be seen through the opening.

"Whatever you and mom had going on had nothing to do with me. Or with imouto*. Why should I believe you really care about me?"

Naruto slid down to the floor and sat with his legs crossed. "Look, what happened was… your mom was in love with me when we were young, but… I didn't really want to be more than her friend. I didn't want to be more than friends with anyone, back then… but something happened when we went on a mission that tampered with my mind, a jutsu…"

"I know," Bolt said quietly, "it's what mom and Uchiha-san were talking about, before she… before…" he swallowed hard to break the knot forming on his throat. Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Uchiha-san told mom that she couldn't tell you about the jutsu because you'd take away her freedom," Bolt heaved out with a strangled breath. "And mom said… mom said she couldn't hide it from you because you'd send her to Ibiki-san. She said she was tired of lying… that she manipulated you… but that she wanted to tell you because she loved you, she… she believed you'd understand her," he sobbed. "And then Uchiha-san stabbed her with a kunai, and I was outside looking at everything and I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything, and Hiashi… Hiashi came in carrying imouto and he said he was going to offer Uchiha-san something… and to accept his proof of trust, and then he just… he just snapped Hima's neck, and I can't… I can't… I can't sleep… I can't close my eyes, I see him doing that again and again and again and I'm not even sorry for them, I'm just afraid because I know he's right there and he's coming after me!" he finished in a pained yell, grabbing his own chest and falling forward; Naruto caught him in his arms, hugging the boy as he started hyperventilating.

"Bolt, look at me, look at me," Naruto said, holding his face up and pulling one of his arms out of the sleeping bag. "Come on son, breathe with me, ok? I'm gonna count, you're gonna breathe with dad, ok? One," Naruto said, and took a slow breath, holding the boy's hand against his own chest. "Two," he said, and breathed again; "Three… keep your eyes on me, I've had the same thing and this worked, breathe with dad," he pleaded, and repeated the exercise over and over.

Bolt finally calmed down and took a deep, sobbing breath before yawning, and Naruto snuggled him against his chest, humming a tune he had learned when the boy had been born, and wondering why, why, why had Hinata put him under that jutsu, and why, why, why had the damn jutsu not only brainwashed him into falling in love with her, but into becoming such a bad father? He could remember being close to Bolt when he was a baby, having enjoyed taking care of his son, playing with him, watching him take his first wobbly steps, arguing with Hiashi when his father-in-law had scolded him for "spoiling" him, and arguing with Hinata when she told him it was improper for him to help her take care of their baby girl… had Hinata's antiquated views on parenthood based on her clan tradition made her push him away from his own children?

He could hardly remember correctly how long had it been since he had started to view his social status, his position as Hokage, as more important than his own children, but he could remember Hinata's face one day, when he had sent a clone to a meeting instead of going himself, so he could take the children out for ramen at Ichiraku's. It was near his birthday, he remembered the festival lights being put up around the village.

It was the last time he had done such a thing. Speaking of which, it was also the last time he had gone to Ichiraku's...

Naruto felt a pang of guilt. How long was it since he had last since old man Teuchi and Ayame-chan, five, six years?

He stood up carefully and laid his sleeping son on the bed, carefully embracing him and promising himself to take both Bolt and Menma to Ichiraku's as soon as this whole mess was over with.

"I promise, ttebayo," he whispered as he fell asleep.

Tsunade walked into the refectory the next morning, pulling a half-asleep Menma by her hand.

"Good morning shichou, good morning Menma!" Ino said from the counter, where she was pouring oatmeal into bowls with Inojin sitting on it cross-legged by her side. The boy looked curiously at the blindfolded, grumbling kid dragging his bare feet next to the Godaime, and greeted them as well.

"G' mohnin'," Menma grumbled, feeling for one of the tall chairs next to the counter and clumsily trying to climb one.

"Mornin'," Tsunade greeted sleepily, pulling the blind boy up. "Don't fall asleep, kid, you'll fall headfirst. Did y'all get any sleep? Where's Shikamaru?"

Inojin shook his head. "Ouch, mom! Why didja do that?" he complained when Ino knocked on his head.

"Shika will probably sleep until someone kicks him out of bed," she said.

Bolt had woken up screaming many times during that night from night terrors, but Tsunade had stopped everyone from intervening so Naruto could take care of him alone. It had been so heartbreaking, Suigetsu had quietly entered Tsunade and Menma's room and hidden under her bed, sobbing quietly until the blind boy had cuddled next to him.

The mist nin had finally fallen asleep an hour ago.

Inojin picked up the bowl his mother gave him, and stretched one leg to leap off the counter, but the little brunet hugged it before he could move. "Hey, leggo of my leg!"

Menma snickered, and hugged it closer, laying his head on the counter. "Leggo my leggo!" he joked, and Inojin burst into laughter.

"Ok, that was funny," the blond boy conceded. "Why are your eyes covered?" he asked, and Menma raised his head to him.

"Oh, that's 'cause I can't see anymore, so Bolt gave this to me. Ain't it cool tho? I can be the masked ninja!" the boy said animatedly before the two women could say anything, and Inojin's eyes widened.

"Mooooom, can I be a masked ninja too?" the little Yamanaka asked, turning pleading eyes to Ino, who laughed.

"That depends, can you find your way around things without seeing like Menma does?" she asked, and the boy pursed his lips.

"No…" he said dejectedly, but then looked at the other boy with an expectant expression. "Hey Menma, you think you can teach me how to move around like you? I can teach you taijutsu and stuff Shino-sensei taught us at school!"

Menma turned his head at Tsunade and fidgeted. "Baa-chan, can we go upstairs so Inojin can teach me stuff at the playroom I found yesterday? I can show him how I find my way around… please?"

Tsunade finished loading a large bowl of oatmeal with enough honey to feed a swarm of bees, and pushed it into the kid's hands. "Sure, brat, why not? But after you eat, ok?"

"Ok! Thank you, baa-chan!" both boys exclaimed, and immediately started discussing with each other, tuning out the adults.

Ino and Tsunade dragged their feet to one of the nearby tables, carrying each a large cup of coffee.

"Good thing there were a few non-perishable supplies here, I'd have dreaded to get out and foraged in the cold," Ino said, and Tsunade nodded.

The two boys finished their breakfast and got off the counter, Inojin helping still-sleepy Menma down, both talking animatedly, like all little boys anywhere, as if they had been friends since birth.

A grumbling, blanket-draped Suigetsu appeared at the doorway, looking lost and famished.

"Breakfast?" Ino asked with a smile, rising from the table, and the spy nodded quietly as he entered, only to have two excited boys barrel into him on their way out.

"Whass gotten into 'em?" he grumbled, leaning on the counter. "Uh, can you get me some water please, I forgot my night bottle…" he asked, looking pasty.

Ino nodded and gave him a jar full, a cup and pointed to where Tsunade was slumped. "Go sit over there, I'll get you some food," she said, and shushed him with a hand as he thanked her meekly. "Nonsense, I'm used to waking up in the middle of the night like this, Sai often has nightmares too."

"See, it's not just you, Bolt," a male voice said, and Ino looked at the doorway to see Naruto leading a very embarrassed-looking young Uzumaki.

"Hi guys, I made us some oatmeal," Ino said, and Naruto groaned dejectedly. "What, no ramen?"

"Is it me or the cheerfulness seems a little forced?" Suigetsu whispered to Tsunade, as Naruto and Bolt waited at the counter.

"With kids this age it's better to keep up an appearance of normalcy to help them recover from nightmares; as to the other boys, well, they're little boys, playing is a way to form social bonds and cope with emotional issues," the Godaime said. "Right now it's more important for us that they burn their energy than train, and the fox will keep an eye on them."

"Oh," Suigetsu said, and then choked on his water. "Who?" he shouted, slapping his own chest.

"Kurama," Naruto said as he, Ino and his son sat beside them, carrying their food. He gave Suigetsu a serious look. "The nine beasts fused with him to save his life," he explained.

Suigetsu's eyes went as wide as saucers. "You made an Uchiha the jinchuuriki for the nine tailed beasts? Are you fucking CRAZY? Didja forget what happened last time?"

"I thought you were working for an Uchiha," Ino deadpanned, and Suigetsu sputtered.

"Lo-look, I love Sasuke like my own blood, but duuuuude! I mean… whoa, man, come on!" he opened his hands in a shocked gesture. "He's not the sanest person I know, like, by far, and he's the most normal person out of that clan! Remember Madara? Obito? Remember how powerful Obito was when he was the Juubi's jinchuuriki?"

"He's not a jinchuuriki," Bolt said quietly between spoonfuls of his oatmeal. "The beasts aren't inside him, they and him are a third different thing now," he added, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, uh… he told me he's the Juubi itself now," the Nanadaime explained.

Suigetsu's eyes rolled back and he slipped off the chair, liquefying as he fainted.

Juugo went out the back of the house and quietly knocked on the old outhouse, turned obsolete by the new in-house bathroom facilities. "Sasuke?" he asked quietly, concern evident in his voice.

A small retching noise was heard from inside. "Go back inside, I'm fine," the Uchiha answered him weakly.

Juugo deposited the steaming kettle he was carrying beside the door. "I got you some water and a cloth. I'll go check on Salad," he said in the same quiet tone and left, shaking his head.

The door opened a fraction and a pale hand pulled the kettle and washcloth inside.

Sasuke pushed the door closed and leaned against the wall again, still too dizzy to stand, the stench of blood and disinfectant filling the small enclosure.

He took small breaths while pouring the hot water over the washcloth with his eyes closed.

Today, he realized, was going to be a bad day. He knew he had it coming, though.

Sasuke had been able to hide his illness from everyone for nearly a decade, but in the past two years since Juugo had first caught him being sick he had more and more frequently begged the Uchiha to seek medical help, to no avail. So the man had taken to study medical jutsu himself, to try relieving his friend's condition.

Sasuke had been taking monthly sessions of healing chakra from him for the last fourteen months. It was enough to stop the internal bleeding and keep the disease in check.

But he knew very well he would eventually run out of time, and honestly he had been looking forward to it.

He wouldn't hasten his death; he had promised not to kill himself, and he was a man of his word. He had never promised to avoid a natural death, though, and he was tired, so tired.

He had seen the world, witnessed as his clan had been mocked and his own role in it had been completely dismissed, as the changes he had yearned for had never happened and injustice had become even more rampant than before, as his most important person had coldly turned his back and forgotten him, as the woman he had once regarded as family had not only never grown out of her childish ways but had shown to not care about him as a person, only as an object, a status trophy, even after he had married her and fathered her child.

All he had wanted before he died was to finally expose the corruption within the system, avenging his clan at last. He had desperately tried to find the thread that connected Naruto to the damn scheme; however, now… now the idiot had finally dug his own grave. 'Good riddance', Sasuke thought, cleaning his mouth and gargling on the water when he felt a little more clear-headed.

One more trip to the cursed city and Ayame and the others would be able to proceed without him. And Juugo would be a much better parent for his wretched child than he or Sakura could ever be.

He stood up on unsteady legs, and made his way back to the house.

Salad was having breakfast when her Papa entered the house, and called Juugo to the library, where she had been sleeping in a cot ever since they had arrived at the farm, closing the door after them.

She washed her few dishes and sat in the living room to read the book she had started the previous evening, but was startled by the raised voices coming from the two men.

The argument had been short, however. A couple quiet hours later, Juugo left the library and entered his own room, and twenty minutes afterwards, he came into the living-room, sitting on the couch next to her.

"Salad, can I ask you a favor, please?" the kind man asked her, and she nodded. "I need to go to the city to run some errands. Can you cook and take care of your dad for a few days?" he said, and she nodded again, before looking at him reservedly.

"Is he mad because you fought?" she asked. "He always left home when he and Mama fought before."

Juugo ran a hand kindly through her hair, and shook his head. "We didn't fight, we just argued because your Papa can be stubborn sometimes. Don't worry, he won't leave you alone. I'll be back soon, would you like something from the city?"

"Hmmm," she thought, and pushed her glasses up her nose. "Can you get me some ramen noodles please? Oh, and tell Ayame-chan I said hi," she asked, and Juugo laughed before kissing her forehead.

"Sure. I'll be back soon. Take care!"

Salad's Papa was still in the library when he left.

A/N:

· * Imouto = little sister