At Home

Naruto returned home after a week long mission. Grateful he finally had the chance to be home not just in his house which he took great pride in but back in the village that had been painstakingly reconstructed a great deal after the disastrous Invasion of Pein. There was still a long way the village had to go before reclaiming its former glory.

Amegakure was in a state of perpetual cold rain this season. Naruto shivered thinking of where he just came from. He'd never understand how people could chose to live in that environment but he knew that home was home.

He carefully removed his ninja tools, shoes and kunai. All while wishing for a nice soak in the hot springs. Well he had better things in mind. He didn't want to wake his lovely sleeping wife in the middle of the night. Stepping in the shower her ruffled the smell of the forest from his blonde locks and ran warm water down his neck where he began soaping up.

It seemed like it took forever for him to get to this place with Sakura. The two were inseparable now. He only wondered what took so long to find what was right there in front of him.

'To find what was right in front of my eyes,' Iruka said. His Ramen eating buddy who tromped over to Ichiraku regularly with him. So he supposed he was guilty getting snared by a woman too. Sakura eventually just became so much apart of his life. They ate together, trained together, traveled together, and did everything together.

He laughed to himself picturing how Shikamaru was hopeless. Then there was the foulmouthed Sai who was doing his best with Ino who were no secret at all. As awkward as Sai is to others he is a valued comrade. Naruto knew what Sai was going though all these past few weeks with Ino. Vowing to bring whomever responsible to justice he knew Sai was right by his side.

Finally even Sasuke managed to open his heart to someone. When Sasuke finally started letting people in bridges were built. It came as no surprise to Naruto that it was the Uzumaki he only recently got to know, Karin. In Naruto's mind he could even see how Karin could take that place in Sasuke's heart.

He stepped out of the shower wrapped himself in his robe and made his way upstairs. He barely made it two steps before Sakura's sweet frame wrapped her self around him.

"I was barely gone this time," he said as she rained kisses on him.

"Shut up."

"Well if your going to be like that I think I'll just go sleep," he joked then paused to look at her face.

"What?"

Naruto could only stare at the smile he loved so much before he said, "You seem different."

"No, I am just happy."

He tipped her chin up and kissed her eager lips. "I was thinking about you all day."

"I thought about you too," Sakura confessed and kissed him once more. She was serious about getting started on a family. She didn't care about any of the excuses she gave herself or anyone else at this point.

"I can tell when something is-

"I know," Sakura managed to say.

What am I going to say Naruto I want to have a baby with you?

"Just say it we've been through some of everything," Naruto said at her silence.

"I want to have a baby with you," Sakura said echoing her exact thoughts prior.

Konoha was overloaded with happy couples. The old folks said that after war time it was only natural for a baby boom. Well he guessed he was now a part of that cycle. It took him a while to process what she was saying to him and all he could think of was the immediacy of her request,

"Now?"

"Yes." She blushed and looked away to gather herself before looking back at him directly in his eyes.

"Ok. Should I do something differently because we've been doing everything right for quite a while now I'm pretty sure dattebayo," Naruto said grinning because all the times they ever did the deed came racing into his mind.

"I know. It is all on me. I have my ways and medical ninjutsu…I wasn't sure before but now I think I am ready," Sakura said rubbing his shoulders as he leaned his head back.

"Things are really crazy right now but if you're sure I am sure," Naruto said and kissed the back of her hand.

"I am sure."

"Nothing's changed for me Sakura-chan you always known what I want. It is always like that with us-

"What did you find in Ame? What do they know about the case with Ino," Sakura asked changing the subject and mood in one fell sweep.

"Not a whole lot is known. If it is important I will tell you," Naruto said grinning from ear to ear he still wouldn't stop trying to get the mood back. She was just too stubborn to admit that he had been right and that nothing had changed for him. It was Sakura who stood in the way of her own dreams of starting a family.

"Nothing from you either I see," Sakura said and sat down on the edge of the bed. Naruto moved to the drawers to change and chuckled a bit.

"I was investigating a lead that tied into one of the old war sites and groups attempts at building a memorial at one of the attack points. The talks were peaceful and the memorial will not be built. But there is something strange going on all of a sudden with that war site and the attack on Ino the other night."

"No one was hurt it was all in Ino's mind right? I mean they are just nightmares right?"

"Yeah but there have been…we are tracking some bad people at the moment that took that night to start making moves all of a sudden."

"Can we drop all this," Sakura said and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. He smelled so good from the shower and she couldn't resist kissing his lips. Naruto nodded in agreement and kissed her back and the two went uninterrupted the rest of the night together.

000

Ino returned home from the hospital after a few weeks and things were seemingly normal for her and Sai. The house was an artist dream with windows providing plenty of light and bountiful views of Konoha and Sai was proud to walk in his home every day. Indoors still felt spacious and Ino loved that about their home.

Ino waited as Sai entered the room then went to him hugging him. The girl who once obsessed about a certain Uchiha took the time to settle down with Sai in domestic bliss. She was happy with how things turned out. Sasuke was a different person and they grew apart. It was clear to everyone when he did return to the village that Karin was the only woman for him. Either way Ino was too happy with Sai to feel sorry for herself.

"I love you," Sai said looking in her eyes, "something is wrong. You are being way too sweet to me. Tell me?"

"Nothing, I just missed you is all," Ino said.

"No matter, I'll find out later I am way too tired to play games." He started walking up the stairs.

"Damn it, why do you have to be so, so- Alright I'll talk," Ino said.

"That's my girl," he paused turning on the stairs, "thought so."

"Let's go upstairs," she said.

He gave into her request scooped her up and carried her to their bedroom.

The room was filled with scented candles. He was stupidly surprised of course she would go to all the trouble. It was just odd to him she was not being herself.

"Wow romantic lighting. It smells good in here. Are you trying to seduce me," he asked.

"I…might be," she smiled at him sweetly.

"Sorry, when did you do all this," he asked.

"Geez, again with all the talking. As soon as I heard you come in I watched you tiptoe to the shower it was very cute. Anyhow I just did it then," she said.

"Nice and you look and smell amazing too. I really just care about what's going on in here," he pointed at her temple.

"Alright, I need you to be the strong one now. I need you to listen carefully to what I am going to tell you. We need to make a decision and I can't do it alone. After I finish you can talk all you want, got it," she asked.

"Sure," he replied and waited.

"So the hospital gave me clean bill of health. Nothing is wrong with me physically. I've been having the same nightmare over and over. What if our child isn't normal?"

"I read about parents who have children who are different-

"That's not what I mean. I mean what if there is something different going on with my body. There was this one mission where I could have been experimented on in one of Orochimaru's labs or something…We can…terminate the pregnancy it's not too late," she said.

Sai felt a real pang of terror but he didn't want to scare her. He remembered what she said about needing him to be the strong one. He held her tighter and chose his words carefully. He felt a bit like he was being betrayed and of course the entire romantic mood went out of the room.

"It is our child not some experiment. I'm certain Ino!"

"The nightmares are just so real. I don't know what to believe anymore," Ino said though a stream of tears.

"We have the best chance to overcome any obstacle. There is a whole village of skilled medic-nin especially since Tsunade-sama arrived in our village. You have a skilled best friend who trained under her guidance. Then you have me," he tried to reassure her.

"I feel a little better," she said. But the damage was already done she said something that was so unlike her that she wished she could take it back.

"Good," he said letting her go to look at her expression. A look of panic stood out on her features.

"I would never do it," she pulled him closer; "I would never do something like that to our child no matter what. I'm so sorry I said anything."

"I know shh…" He said calming her down stroking her hair.

"I'm sorry," she repeated and he held her closer. It always felt so good to be in his embrace.

"Just one thing about before I left. The nightmare, you said the nightmares were about our child being kidnapped before so what changed," he asked.

"I did," she said then added, "That nightmare was easier to deal with than these. I knew there was no way we would let our child be taken away. But this…Sakura says that it is some kind of jutsu. It is controlling my dreams. So yeah I've been having both nightmares and the worse part is they feel so real…It sounds awful but I don't want to give birth to a monster. In every nightmare that child…is a monster."

"I don't want you to think about that. Let's just try to find a solution in the morning," he said. It was one thing to fear the child becoming a monster and another to fear their child being taken away. If he had to choose between the two fears he preferred the latter as he was confident that no one would be able to succeed in abducting their child.

The moment changed and their touching and holding each other changed. He was reminded of the romantic atmosphere all of a sudden.

"Tell me you what you want. I already had my weepy moment and you did good to listen," she said.

"You know me so well. How about I just show you instead," he lazily kissed a trail of kissed down her neck.

"What did you do to my husband," she teased.

"Oh I've had time to work myself into quite the frenzy all day thinking about what I'd like to do to you," he said.

"Let's go," she said seductively already anticipating her original plans.

000