DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Obito didn't learn much that was new from Naruto-hime's "interrogation," if one could call it that. (He supposed that he could.) Horribly, his investigation found that the blonde was disgustingly in love with that traitor, Bakashi -

"Look after Rin, Kakashi"

Kakashi wallowing in self-pity near her grave… After he'd killed her!
Go away, Bakashi! I want to spend time alone with Rin!

Naru even waited for the silver-haired nuisance to Chidori her just so she could be with that baka again. Something in his gut twisted at the thought of him using that jutsu on her which only pissed him off more at the couple.

Outrageous! How could Bakashi leave Rin's memory behind - for sensei's daughter?!

Naruto didn't remember his identity from before, so that meant that Obito's initial strategy of placing seals on her mind over a decade ago had worked. Either that or she was brain-damaged - or addled or something - in that gruesome attack. Madara and Zetsu had been helpful in designing all of the seals he knew and used, but Obito didn't think either of them was a seal master. But now Naruto suspected that he was Uchiha Obito.

That I used to be Uchiha Obito.

Now I have to wait longer to be Uchiha Obito, "future Hokage," again.
Ha!

She never gave up where she seemed to have taken Isobu: it's like her mind was blank there. Worse, Obito wasn't sure what happened but at certain points of Naruto-hime's imprisonment, er- visit with them - when he tried to find out if she'd reverse summoned Isobu again - Naruto managed to reverse his genjutsu, showing him his worst memories. She still suffered through them, too, so that was a bonus.

That I let her see Kakashi murdering Rin?
Is it that something to call "a bonus," you traitor?!

–That I think she repeatedly saw the death of her parents?

Not that her genius father would bother Staying Dead. –Of course, he wouldn't: his former sensei always had a brilliant, unexpected strategy…

The Yellow FLASH, the fastest shinobi in the land, was always TOO LATE for those that relied on and trusted him.

Then one of the new Akatsuki recruits Kisame found in the Valley of Hell came in and took over for him when Obito couldn't stomach it anymore. The Chinoike guys were valuable to the organization but fucked up as people.

Aren't we all?

When Obito found Naruto-hime being forced by that Chinoike guy to dig into her cell with her shattered hand - just playing with her - he'd wanted to act out and kill him - and to help her but that was ridiculous!

So I scolded him.

And I let her go: I let her pretty much dig her way out!

That's only because Pein was being a Fucking Pain about the ritual, Dipshit.

Was that really true, though?

Really, she should be thanking me! Maybe I'll go see her and Bakashi soon so she can do that! And sensei!

.

Naruto tried to withhold a whimper and turned to hide her grimace (and her hand) from Jiraiya after she caught his punch. She'd tried to reach for it with her other hand but Jiraiya had grabbed it; he was a wily one.

"Let me see it," he demanded, holding his hand out. Naruto shook her head and he bent down and sighed next to her crouching position. "Have you been keeping up with your therapy?"

Naruto nodded. She had indeed been doing physical therapy with her grandmother, Shizune, or Sakura-chan, and had more exercises at home that she also worked on religiously. Additionally, she had therapy-therapy with Inoichi so what more could they want? "You didn't do it."

"Do what? Let me see it." Since the pins were taken out of Naru's hand, Jiraiya always made sure that his punches weren't that hard. Strength had to be built up in stages and he was more focused on making sure she kept that hand moving. –And toad techniques, of course. And fuuinjutsu!

Reluctantly, Naru uncradled her hand. Jiraiya gawked at the swelling and discoloration already evident. "Shit! I… I didn't put any real power into it!"

"I henged it before you came over."

"YOUR HAND WAS BROKEN BEFORE?!"

Naru gave him an irritated look that told Jiraiya that she hadn't appreciated how loud he'd been - right by her ear. "I don't think it's broken."

"At least one bone in there is broken again, bone-head."

Naruto sagged to the ground. "Kurama says it's broken." Jiraiya threw her over his shoulder and sunshinned her back to the hospital. She didn't bother to complain about it.

.

Tsunade was pissed! "How did this happen?! What did he do?!" She glared at Jiraiya.

Naruto sighed. "It wasn't him."

"Kakashi-kun did this?!"

"No," Naruto exclaimed, not wanting to go there. "I trained with Kakashi before physical therapy this morning."

"You were in decent shape then," Tsunade remarked, casting Jiraiya a pained but apologetic grin that might have sped his heart up a little. "And you're only supposed to do physical training with that hand once a day! …Who else were you training with?"

Naruto didn't want to say. Her father had been right: there was no time left. She had to get stronger! She never wanted to be in the position she'd been in with the Akatsuki again. She was just lucky that they didn't do that "thing" while she was there to remove Kurama. –She often wondered why they didn't.

Jiraiya gently placed his big hand on her back. In a soft voice, he asked if he was right - hoping he wasn't. "Did Minato know that he broke your hand?"

"No - and it's not totally broken. I felt it pop but, ya know: we were sparring." Plus her hand always ached. "I'm REALLY trying to get the Hiraishin down but it's just… beyond me!"

"I'm going to kill him," Tsunade said. Both Naruto and Jiraiya had to talk her down.

Much later that night, however -

"You made her road to recovery an even longer one," Tsunade hissed. Minato wilted under her ferocious gaze.

"She never said anything…"

"She's been working insane hours with GOD ONLY knows how many shadow-clones running around, plus trying to learn the Hiraishin, doing her therapy, sparring with Kakashi or Jiraiya…"

Minato scoffed. "Kakashi-kun can barely stand throwing a real punch at her."

"And you can?! You're her FATHER!"

Minato sucked in a deep breath through his nose, knowing he was beginning to lose his temper. "Making Naru stronger KEEPS HER ALIVE!"

Tsunade barked out an ugly laugh. "I didn't have a chance to be a parent. It was taken away from me, but… As a shitty mother, I can tell you that you're a shitty fucking father, Minato!" She stormed out in tears.

Minato looked to his sensei/father for a little backup but felt he only saw disappointment in his dark eyes. "Naru didn't say anything," he repeated softly. "She's so damn fast: faster than me aside from the Flying Thunder God when she's in Sage Mode. …It must have happened when her Sage mode flickered away. We stopped shortly after that."

To Jiraiya, that made sense: it sounded like a normal training accident although he wasn't sure if Kakashi-kun would feel that way. He'd heard his grandson-in-law often muttering complaints about Minato pushing Naruto much too hard and far before this. "Not that I'm one to give fatherly advice but you need to maybe stop with the whole 'making her strong' thing: not that we won't help her do exactly that! Between, well…" Jiraiya found it hard to say this but it was true whether he said it out loud or not. "Between everyone in our family plus her husband's reputation, our little Naru-chan has so much pressure on her to keep up and succeed, Minato. She already feels like a failure…"

"She's not a failure," Minato whispered. "She has too much that she thinks she has to do!"

Minato didn't pay attention to the way that Jiriaya dramatically rolled his eyes. He felt that Minato and Naruto were exactly the same in that regard.

"...And if I had been there for MY team: if I'd just been fast enough, NONE of this would be happening!" The two men sat in silence for a while before Minato asked what he felt was the remaining key question. "Did Tsunade say when Naru can go back to training?"

He had to keep his daughter alive: pure and simple. And to keep her alive, he had to make her insanely strong.

After days of trying, Naruto managed to "sprout" a load of chakra strings from her hands but didn't know what to do with them. Looking at them more, she wrapped the ones from her right hand up as if they provided a splint and was surprised that it provided some relief from the almost constant pain there. How bizarre. "What now?"

Nawaki tilted his head and scratched his scarred face as he tried not to kick the very obnoxious Golden Retriever puppy wildly attacking his sandals. "I guess with so much chakra, it makes sense that you produced more than one or two strings unlike how most people begin. You know," he drawled out, "mending or braiding the strings together kinda like you just did might give you an idea on how to produce your chakra chains. –Kakashi-kun said you made them before."

Reminding Naru of that ordeal made the chakra strings disappear again. "I didn't do that. My mother's chakra imprint pushed, er- pulled them out of me."

"But you're capable of producing them, Naru-chan," Nawaki said with an insistent hum. "I don't remember learning how my grandmother did it or have any idea of how your mother first made her chains - or any of the Uzumakis for that matter - but I know that each Uzumaki's Adamantine chain jutsu is supposedly different." Seeing that he had her attention, (seemingly depressed as it was, considering his normally-cheerful grand-niece's demeanor,) he kept going. "Kushina-sama's chains could make barriers AND attack and I think my grandmothers were similar… Or maybe they sucked up the chakra they encountered? –I'll have to ask Tsunade-nee. Your chains could provide you with a LOT of extra protection, Naruto."

Naruto pulled a face and hoped to get back to her chakra string lesson rather than talking about her non-existent chains. For one, doing things with these strings would improve her chakra control which was always important for improving and controlling jutsus. For two, thinking about producing chakra chains or "arms" which Kurama said she was definitely capable of yet couldn't make on-demand, made her sad. For three…. "Maybe we should go to Uzushio? The two of us and baa-chan, eh? To get some info and anything else that - I don't know - others should NOT have?" She didn't appreciate the look of incredulity that Nawaki gave her.

…For FOUR, though - she looked at her palms and concentrated on making the strings again: right now they looked like handfuls of ultra-thin noodles - "Can I shoot these at people?"

"Sure!" Nawaki replied enthusiastically.

Naruto grinned back at him. There was something about Tsunade's younger brother that reminded her of (a much older, of course,) Konohamaru, even after everything the man had been through. –Fucking Danzo and Orochimaru!

The blonde practiced again, trying to lessen the number of strings, really pulling a lot of them back. It felt like she was having a tug-of-war with not only her chakra but also her hands. "So you think I could make a bow and arrow?"

"I guess." Nawaki didn't see much use in that, though: Wind was already Naruto's primary chakra affinity. "You can use chakra strings for all kinds of things if you get good enough. Even to mend wounds: it's a step in some advanced medical ninjutsu that Tsu-nee and I are teaching right now…"

Having a mental breakthrough, Naruto closed her eyes, molding and pulling on her secondary affinity, and shot it out of her hands in the same way, imagining the water to be the strings. Long, sloppy spurts of water flew out of her hands, cracking her up for a second. "Introducing my Sprinkler-no-Jutsu: perfect for a hot summer day. …Wait!" She pushed wind on top of her "new jutsu" and then had to apologize to Nawaki when she shot him with something awfully similar to (but longer than) Haku's ice senbons. "Holy moly: it's Murder-by-Icicle-no-Jutsu! Let's keep going!"

Thank goodness Uncle Nawaki didn't get hit somewhere important and could heal himself. He wasn't happy as he did it, though; Naruto was definitely going to get pranked for that stunt later.

Riled up in jutsu-creating excitement, however, Naruto pulled on her yin chakra and tried to do the same thing with shadows. She was bummed that it didn't work: she'd really like to perform Shikamaru's freaky tentacle-like shadow jutsu. Nawaki ruffled her hair and told her that she was every bit the genius that he was.

The two stared at each other for a second and then burst out laughing: powerful or not, neither one of them could ever be considered high-IQ-geniuses.

Naru was still going to think about and work on that bow and arrow idea, though: there was definitely something worthwhile with that. BUT FIRST, she was going to try making a chakra leash for Jazu!

Speaking of geniuses -

"I've brought some of Lord Second's jutsu scrolls and thought we could work on them, Naru-chan," Minato said to his daughter, trying (and failing) to ignore the subtle electric-like KI still coming from his former student/son-in-law who seemed to be glaring at him every time he saw him recently. Kakashi had also given him a black eye after everything happened - right up through the jaw - the night he'd broken a bone in Naru's hand.

His former student (and current ANBU Commander) had to spend a night in jail - a technicality - and then Naru had to join him when she wouldn't stand down. So little respect for me being Hokage; I tell you what.

"Oh come on, Kakashi," Naruto chided. "That sounds exciting, right?!" Kakashi pulled his chin up, giving a very pointed look to her wrapped hand, making her pout up at him.

Minato cleared his throat. "Your most powerful jutsus come from your hands, without hand seals, Naru-chan. Lord Second used hand seals in many of his techniques, but so many of them came through molding his chakra and expelling them through his mouth."

"Like my fire jutsus," Naru said - although her fire jutsus weren't anything to write home about compared to someone like Madara: that bastard. Shouldn't they be, though? –She was getting that fire from Kurama!

"That's right. Now, for a lot of these, you'll need to first master Water - and that means reversing a waterfall."

"Fucking hell." Cutting a waterfall in half had been hard enough! She'd tried to reverse that damn waterfall before and it seemed impossible.

"Language," Minato scolded half-heartedly. Kakashi had begun to look through the jutsu scrolls, pulling a couple out for her and somewhat greedily reading or holding onto the others - with his Sharingan. "COPY Ninja," indeed, Minato thought to himself. What a brat. "Do you think you're ready for it, Naruto?!"

No. "Absolutely!"

"Talk to me, baby," Kakashi implored (after sighing tiredly) when he came home one night and found Naruto on the floor with all their sleeping ninken.

"I - My clones all popped."

"Did it give you another headache? Have you taken anything for it yet?" Naruto shook her head so Kakashi went into the kitchen to get her some aspirin.

The real problem wasn't the migraine, though: no, Naruto knew the real problem was that she didn't have the energy or chakra to even keep clones going - something she previously thought would be impossible. Being so depleted was putting her behind at work, training, and in her studies. She was able to raise her head when Kakashi came back with the aspirin and water but couldn't hold the glass. "Sorry." He pulled her into his arms and helped her, and Naruto KNEW she was right. "I've gotta stink: I'm sorry… And all that training is making me so weak. If I don't change something he could… He…"

"You're worried about being grabbed."

"Well, yeah! I mean, he didn't get what he wanted before."

Neither of them EVER said the name "Obito."

"I like your sweat," Kakashi commented. He really did like the way she smelled now, whether that was weird or not. Naru was so weak that she couldn't push him away when he licked her neck although she threw a tiny hissy fit. He picked her up and carried her to the master bathroom.

As water filled the tub, he gave his little wife a look that offered her opinions no respite. "You're going to bed, to sleep, and you're off all duties, including training, for the next week. That's an order."

Naru gawked at him. "There's no way that Tou-san will allow that!"

"You shouldn't have been allowed to stay in ANBU then. Or, sensei shouldn't have made me the Commander there: either one," Kakashi said, meaning it more than she knew. Seeing Naruto sputter at him was always amusing but in this decision, he would not budge. No matter what Minato says, either. He couldn't help but smirk at his wife's little pouty face, though. "What are you going to do about it?!"

Naruto huffed. "I can't kick your ass right now, but ya better put a future ass-kicking on your dance card, Copy Ninja!"

"Got it. Now let's get you out of those damp clothes."

.

The paper-user smiled up at one of her favorite people. "Sensei!"

"It's good to see you again, Konan-chan. How is Nagato-kun?" Jiraiya was on guard but hopeful that a peace treaty really was possible between Ame and Konoha.

"He's well… Well, he seems a little better than he's been," Konan said in a half-truth. Nagato had seemed softer, more willing to listen to reason recently but was still undecided on what path to take with the Akatsuki going forward. "I'm sorry for what happened before, sensei." Jiraiya barked out a laugh, making her smile. She'd always love her sensei: the kind man who had saved her and her friends. When Nagato had sent his paths out to attack him the last time he was in Ame, it had almost broken her heart and will.

"Me-ee-ee? I'm awesome as you can clearly see," Jiraiya boasted, striking a few muscle-bound poses to show that it was true. Konan giggled as she used to when she was a kid. "You seem to be doing well." Konan nodded but Jiraiya could see the hesitancy and pain in her face. "Konan-chan, I've got a story to tell you. Do you have a little time to listen?" He gestured to the small toad that was sitting next to him.

Jiraiya planned to tell her about time repeating and what had happened to them before. He also WANTED to use Minato's newest seal to secure Nagato's eyes but doubted that he would be trusted to do such a thing.

Sometimes Jiraiya wondered how things came to this. Yes, Konan and Nagato had experienced significant hardship and "pain," but so had he! And he had no desire to take over the world and destroy it… Maybe it was the Rinnegan?

Was the dojutsu a curse? More so than even the Sharingan?

Konan slightly shook her head, more because of amusement with her old sensei than anything. She never knew WHAT was going to happen when it came to those toads. "Sure." Within two seconds they were inside the little thing - and he had a bar inside of him?! The inside of the toad looked like a cozy little pub - a type of place she was somewhat unfamiliar with, really. "What in the world is this?!"

"A little technique of mine - and my partner's of course," Jiraiya replied jovially as he went behind the bar. "What would you like to drink? I've got six different sakes and…"

Meanwhile, the toad hopped into the water when he sensed a shinobi appearing out of nowhere. He'd been warned about this particular person.

"Now where did our little paper-bitch go?" Obito asked Zetsu who rose from the ground.

Zetsu shrugged. Black Zetsu was the first one to speak. "They are withdrawing from the great cause, Madara." Obviously, he knew that Obito was not Madara. " What will you do?"

"No one leaves the Akatsuki and lives," Obito/Tobi steamed.

"Better do something about it then," White Zetsu sang. They needed Nagato's eyes sooner rather than later. And he still wondered if Uchiha Itachi was really dead. Either way, he'd take his eyes, too. "I've got something I need to check on. Ja!"

"No, wait," Obito hollered. It was too late, though. Great: now he had to deal with that god-complexed idiot, Nagato, on his own.

.

Naruto patted the mountain-sized turtle that was now on Mount Myoboku - which (good news:) was apparently plenty big enough for him! Jazu was darting around like a little maniac, chasing her toad partners. "Sorry about her. I had her on a leash, er- harness thing and Kakashi warned me she'd probably go crazy when I took her off it but I didn't expect this!"

Akamaru had been so well-behaved when he was little, Naru remembered. Sometimes she wondered if Kakashi had given her a defective ninken although she'd never say that. She was pretty defective, herself! And she loved Jazu!

"That's okay, Naruto," Isobu said easily as he watched the puppy, as much as he could as it darted around, racing.

"Why are you bringing a ninken here, Naru-chan?" Pa took another flying leap away from the golden retriever. "What's next? I swear to Kami-sama if you bring a fox here…"

Naruto rubbed her belly. "I always do, man!" Kurama groaned inside of her; he really didn't like the toads. She turned back to Isobu and let Jazu do her thing. Really: where was her ninken going to go? They were on a magical damn mountain.

"How do you like it here, Isobu? You haven't eaten any toads, have you?"

Pa shook his head in exasperation next to her and substituted with a log to avoid being attacked by her rambunctious puppy. Jazu was fast!

"It's nice," Isobu said truthfully.

"Aww, YOU'RE nice, Isobu-sama! You're SO nice! …Shut up, Kurama." Naru felt that Kurama was jealous. It made her feel bad for him. "We need to get you out of there, buddy!"

Isobu, like his siblings, would always miss the temple his father built for him but now he was safe from the humans who would use him for power. Although he cared for Yagura, he hated that his jinchuuriki ordered those around him to war and to their deaths. It wasn't right. He'd still been horrified that Yagura killed himself, though.

Isobu would hopefully never go back inside that statue: that was the most important thing. He didn't want to be used again. And Naruto had some of his chakra so he could always talk to his siblings when he felt like it. Plus, the toads were pretty good hosts! Gamabunta had been teaching him some card games. "Do you want to play cards, Naruto?"

Naruto was thrilled! The cards, however, turned out to be WAY too big for her to hold or even set up. She let Kurama take over, laying down within his full-sized chakra cloak.

.

He could deny it all he wanted: Kurama, she thought, had a pretty good time that day. It made her think. "It's so not fair that you're cooped up inside of me." It's not like she hadn't known that, of course.

Kurama shrugged one of his shoulders. Naru thought he looked sadder now that he'd been out and doing something while Naru relaxed - even if he HAD been hanging out with his sibling on the toad's mountain.

"I'm gonna get you out of that seal, Kurama."

Later that night…

"Baby?" Naruto asked her husband. "Do you remember promising me a honeymoon?"

Kakashi looked up from his book. "I do."

"And we - or I - talked about going to a beach?" Naru bit her lip, hoping that Kakashi would go along with this. "How about we go to Uzushio? Do you have any time off accrued?"

Maybe in Uzushio she could find something to help her release at least part of Kurama? She had a safe spot for him, after all - although Kami only knows what she'd owe the foxes for keeping him there with them.

They should be honored to have him there; the little shits!

Kakashi swallowed the guilt for telling her no. "I don't think Uzushio is a proper honeymoon getaway, Naru-chan." Uzushio was supposedly a disaster site; it had to be.

Naruto tried to grin at him before looking away, knowing that he would be able to see straight through her. It took her a while to speak. "I've been so tired." She felt him move his arms around her. "I didn't think I could ever BE this tired." And talking about all this shit with Inoichi every three days fucking sucks! It was depressing as hell! –Normally, Naru simply avoided all of that emotional BS to the best of her ability. "I - thank you for having me take time off. It's been nice."

Although the "secret, high-level training" with Tou-san can still be overwhelming. Her promise to her father not to mention it to Kakashi also sucked.

"It's been nice for me," Kakashi said truthfully. "I like having you as my little housewife."

Naruto sputtered. "Well, you can forget me being that, mister!"

Kakashi knew that was coming. "I got you something." He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a little black velvet box.

"What is it?!" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Open it and see."

Naruto sucked in a breath and took it, sucking in another when she felt Kakashi's chakra remain inside of it. Opening it, her smile grew and grew until it became hard to see. Then she realized that she was crying, which was just dumb! She was SO happy! "It's beauti - -I love it!"

Beautiful might not be the right word for the very wide, silver ring inside the box but it so reminded her of Kakashi. It was simple other than the elaborate fuuinjutsu carved into it on both sides and when Kakashi slipped it on her finger she felt it tighten. "Wow," she breathed.

"It won't come off," Kakashi grinned in satisfaction, enjoying the look of disbelief on her face. Quick as the elite ninja he was, he pulled the box back and pulled up the little cushion the ring had been sitting on, and grabbed the other rings he was hiding inside. "This one's mine: put your chakra into it." The ring matched hers.

"Okay," Naru took it into her other hand and circulated her chakra into it. "It's so sweet and more, Kash! But I'll need to take it off to wash my hands…"

"No."

Bossy man! She jumped when he put something over her head. It was a long chain.

"This one was my mother's. It's too fancy for an active duty kunoichi to wear on her hand." He really hoped that she liked it - but Naru wasn't saying anything. Moments later, he smiled at her delayed reaction, tilting his head as he continued recording her with his Sharingan.

"Don't cry," he begged in a soft voice.

"It's exquisite." The ring on the chain was platinum but had what Naru guessed were diamonds in it, along with two beautiful blue stones on either side of the overly big one in the center. It had to be so… expensive! How was she going to take care of something like this?!

"I replaced the two diamonds that were there before with the sapphires. The jeweler said that he could make the diamonds into earrings for you but I didn't know what setting or style you'd prefer. Sapphire is my birthstone," Kakashi continued, "plus these two are the exact color of your eyes when you cum."

Naruto gaped at him, feeling her cheeks heat to an almost alarming degree. "You- you pervert!" She sniffed up more tears. "This is just too nice for someone… like me, ya know?" She couldn't help but smile, though, when she slipped his ring on, which was now full of her chakra. It was even wider than hers and seemed to lock in place on his finger, too.

Kakashi pulled her back down beside him, cuddling her in his giant recliner - and grunting when Jazu jumped on them. "I don't think so. Maa, I think you deserve the best of everything."

Naruto cupped his cheek. "Then that must be why I have you."