Kunoichi's Burden II: A Mother's Sacrifice

by lilac haze

AU. Sequel to Kunoichi's Burden: Village First. She was happy. They were happy. So much was different that what she remembered. There was so much she did not recognize about her world. She was heavily invested. She had more to lose now. So much was different but would it stay that way? It felt like the happier they were the quicker everything around them started to fall apart.

58. Chapter 58: From the Ashes

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

---

Chapter 58: Rebuilding From the Ashes

Through some grace of Kami, the house was still standing. Minato watched the freshly bathed Naurto eat the food in front of him. He never thought he would find himself wishing that Naruto ate faster than he already did but here he was. He had even cut up Naruto's food into bite-sized pieces to speed up the process, which was something he had always given Sakura a hard time for doing because he firmly believed that Naruto was more than old enough to do it himself. Minato's face suddenly went slack as he remembered something very, very important.

"Dada?" Naruto looked at him. He stopped mid-bite to regard him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, Naruto," Minato put his hand on Naruto's head. "I just wanted to say happy birthday, son." He gave the grinning boy a hug.

Naruto held out a hand. "I'm five now!" He said with pride.

"You are," Minato's eyes softened. "You're my big boy."

Naruto nodded his head. He put another bite of food in his mouth.

"Can we bring the baby a present?"

"We do not have a present for the baby, Naruto." He said gently. He was early and truth be told, they were so turned around that the thought completely slipped his mind.

Naruto made a face. "But today is Manato's birthday too!" His expression became reflective. "I can share my presents with him."

Minato's heart melted. "That is very nice of you to offer, Naruto. Manato is lucky to have such a thoughtful and generous older brother."

Naruto beamed at the praise. His cheeks were dusted with red.

"Can we go see the baby now?" He asked with anticipation dancing in his cerulean orbs.

"You didn't finish your food," Minato pointed at his plate.

"Can you help me, Dada?" Naruto looked at him with a hopeful expression.

"I can do that." Minato crossed the kitchen to grab another set of utensils. He helped Naruto clear his plate in no time. He did not even mind that Naruto used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.

"Let's go!" He jumped out of the chair and all but sprinted to the door.

"I have to do the dishes first, Naruto." Minato put the plates in the sink.

"I'll help!" Naruto pulled out his step stool from the storage closet by the door. He put it down near the sink. He scrubbed his hands together aggressively under the running water.

Minato shook his head as he chuckled. It appeared he was not the only one anxious to meet the new baby.

---

Sakura leaned back in the hospital bed. She supposed it was a good sign that they still had available rooms. She ignored the morbid voice in her head that told her it could mean that everyone simply died. Sakura stared up at the ceiling. She was cleaned and examined. Tsunade was content that she would be fine. While she did not have a physical scar to remind her of today, she was not lacking in mental ones.

Just being in a hospital bed made her skin crawl. Her fingers danced against the outside of her thigh. She needed to fidget. It was the only way to channel her anxious energy while restricted to the bed.

Tsunade had brought her in through the east entrance of the hospital probably to shield her from reality a little while longer but she did not miss it. It looked like the remnants of a war zone. So many burn victims. Her guilt only grew as did her worry with each patient they had passed.

"Was the gown really necessary?" Sakura asked Tsunade as the woman came to sit down on a stool.

"It helps with feedings," she said with a shrug. "How are you feeling?"

"The same as the last three times you asked." She rubbed her forehead. She looked at the sleeping baby in the clear plastic bin. It was silly but she was scared to take her eyes off of him for too long.

Tsunade ignored the familiar sassy retort. "Well, I'm convinced that you're okay. Manato's okay too." No signs of poison or seals or diminished brain activity. She set a translucent orange plastic bottle with a white twist cap on the bedside table.

"You need to take a pill every day for fourteen days with food. I want to be sure that there is no infection from the c-section."

Sakura stared at the wide, round tablets. Her throat just hurt looking at them. Actually, the pain in her throat could be explained by all the screaming and crying she did. Tsunade opted to let her body naturally heal the small stuff. There was only so much chakra she wanted to introduce into Sakura's system after everything.

"The pills are safe to take while breastfeeding." The blonde said more for her own peace of mind, Sakura knew all this already. "I developed the formula for when you were pregnant with Naruto and we had that nasty bacterial infection that was going around. You didn't end up needing it but it's been a hit with the gynecology department." She was rambling. She realized that. Even so, she found it hard to stop.

"Thank you Tsunade-shishou," Sakura smiled tiredly at her. She rubbed her eyes. There was a lot floating in them.

Tsunade would never admit that she wanted to keep Sakura where she could keep an eye on her, not purely for medical reasons. She was still having trouble believing that Sakura was fine. She was fine physically but she was worried about her mental state of being. The woman needed to shut down and rest. She needed time to process what she went through. It was a marvel how she managed to keep her wits about her throughout it all. Tsunade had trouble comprehending how Sakura was managing to keep herself more or less together. It had been awful enough to just hear her recount. The knot in Tsunade's stomach only grew more and more ensnared with each passing second.

The blonde had beaten Bat in not just one but three games last night before Inoichi had arrived to search his mind. That should have told her everything she needed to know. Something bad was going to happen. And something bad did happen. Some part of her was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her amber eyes had not left Sakura's face.

"You can go home after you get some sleep," she ordered.

Sakura shook her head. "No, I can help. Let me help." She could not before not in a scalable way but she could now. She saw the exhaustion in Tsunade's eyes. She had seen it in Shizune's and Rin's eyes as well.

"Things are fine here," Tsunade said firmly. Her lips were pulled into a frown. Her pink lipstick had completely faded away. That was how hard of a day it was. Tsunade did not look perfect.

"You need to rest." She needed so much more but a hot meal and sleep was a start down the right path.

"Half a shift." Sakura countered. She crossed her arms. "I'm not asking for much. I'll even check in."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She was fragile, her mental state was fragile. But being useful was so ingrained in her that she completely pushed herself to the limits. It was at a teeth-gnashing level of frustration. She wondered if this was how Minato felt seeing that he was married to her.

"No." Tsunade presented her counteroffer to Sakura's half shift.

Sakura shrugged. "Fine. I'll just come back transformed as some random and work as long as I want."

She was going all in. As if Tsuande would fall for her bluff.

"You just had a baby," Tsunade reminded her with waning patience. She looked over her shoulder at said baby. He was well under the effects of milk sleep.

"I'll take pump breaks," she stated as if that offset everything. "I'll listen to my body."

"What about your brain?" Tsunade shot back.

"I can't sit with my thoughts, Tsunade-sama. Not right now. I need to be doing something. I'll rest when I get home. I promise." Her tone was solemn throughout.

Tsunade closed her eyes to give herself a break from having to look into Sakura's pleading eyes.

"I'll be good." She said very convincingly. She was playing with the IV needle poking out of the back of her hand as her eyes darted to the baby for the tenth time in as many seconds.

"You have a problem," Tsunade said with a scoff. She was done sugarcoating it.

"We have a crisis!" Sakura all but threw her hands in the air.

"The crisis has been dealt with." Tsunade reminded her vehemently.

"Not for the hospital it hasn't. The crisis starts now for us with recovery, not to mention all the mental health patients we'll be getting." Sakura sighed deeply. There was a debrief that was the mother of all debriefs waiting for Minato. She did not envy him. His job sucked.

Tsunade had saved so many lives which ultimately boiled down to more work for them. It was a good problem to have. A person in a bed meant one less in the morgue. Tsunade knew that. Sakura saw the admission of that fact in her amber-colored eyes.

"Half a shift," Tsunade's eyes bore into hers. "With check-ins," she added quickly before Sakura got her hopes up. "And breaks. Actual breaks, Sakura. Where you're not doing anything. Anything." She emphasized.

"Okay," Sakura agreed without much fanfare.

"A minute more and I'm kicking you out by your ears," Tsunade threatened nonchalantly.

"I understand," Sakura said with a nod. "Also," she smiled disarmingly at the fold that appeared on Tsunade's brow, along with a dark scowl. "For the time being I'm delaying my leave."

Tsunade crossed her legs and her arms. "Sakura," she said with exasperation.

"Just a little while. A week, two at the most. Maybe three, if needed." She rubbed her arms. She looked at Manato. "There's something I need to take care of first but it shouldn't take more than a week."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose. There was no talking to Sakura when she got like this. She would have better luck convincing the sun and moon to switch roles than convincing Sakura not to push herself so damn hard.

"You plan on going to Yumegakure." She shook her head. "With a newborn in tow? You're insane." She had done a brain scan. It came back clear. Maybe she needed to be more thorough. Obito did flatten her.

"Maybe, but I made a promise to her. I honestly can't pretend that that little girl isn't out there. She's waited long enough." Sakura tucked her locks behind her ear.

"Send someone else. Kushina or someone you trust. The contact that found them in the first place." Tsunade pointed out the alternatives.

"It has to be me." Sakura absentmindedly traced circles on her arm. "It has to be me."

Tsunade sighed in defeat. "What will Minato say?"

Sakura bit her lip. "He'll understand. He has to understand."

"You really know how to get yourself stuck between a rock and a hard place don't you?" Tsunade inspected her nails.

"It's a gift," Sakura said tiredly.

"Don't you dare get yourself killed, Sakura. I will never forgive you." Tsunade's eyes were harder than chocolate diamonds.

"I'll be careful. I won't push myself to my limits," Sakura grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I know my limits. Both physical and mental." She held Tsunade's gaze with unwavering conviction. "You drilled that into me."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "So you just pick and choose what nuggets of wisdom to take? Or do you just like defying everyone?"

"I couldn't have survived today without you, Tsunade-sama. Your training made me the way I am. It gave me my foundation." Sakura looked at her mentor with deep gratitude.

Tsunade's face, tone, and disposition softened. "You don't have to prove to anyone that you're strong. We all know it." Sometimes the only person who seemed to not know it was Sakura.

"Thank you, Tsunade-shishou." Her words of approval and acknowledgment meant so much to Sakura. She was so lucky to be given more time with the people she cared about.

Tsunade's lips pulled into a smile.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

Both women turned to see the face of the person who had spoken from the door. Sakura's eyes glittered with surprise.

"Biwako-sama," she bowed her head. "Please come in."

"Sakura," the woman's lips slightly in what could be called a smile in the loosest sense of the definition. "Tsuna," she nodded toward the blonde. "Is it too soon to see the new baby?"

Sakura smiled at her. "Not at all."

---

Kushina lowered herself onto the stool next to the cot. She did not fight the tears, it would have been a futile effort. She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. She watched the rise and fall of his chest. It brought her great comfort.

"You're going to be just fine," she told him in a light tone. She slipped her hand over his. "Rin-chan did an amazing job patching you up. Tsunade herself said you'll make a full recovery. She does recommend you take it easy on that shoulder. Maybe not swing a sword so much. Good thing you retired right?" She took a loud breath.

"The girls are outside. They are waiting for me to tell them how you are. I didn't think you wanted them to see you all bandaged up like a mummy. Honestly Joben, you should have been more upfront with me. If I knew you were so accident prone I never would have asked for your help. You're nearly as bad as Sakura-chan."

Kushina wiped her tears. Her hair fell over her shoulder. "She had her baby by the way. Another boy. I saw him. He's tiny. He has the prettiest green eyes. He looks just like Minato." She made a face. "Hopefully he takes after Sakura. It would be more fun that way. They named him Manato. Minato picked the name. It's okay. It's supposed to be a combination of his and Naruto's names, or something." She rubbed her arm. "They're both doing great by the way, Sakura and the baby. I know how you worry. You're a worrier."

"The Kyuubi got sealed in Naruto. I'm pretty upset about it. But there was nothing I could do, so I'm trying to accept it. He's only five, half the age I was. They sealed the whole thing and he's not even an Uzumaki. That kid is strong. He's sturdy. He won't let the fox out. The Hime, the one inside of Sakura's head is in there too. Apparently, her chakra will keep the fox in line. She always looked after my Sakura-chan. She kept her safe. Now she'll do the same for Naruto."

She sighed. "I worry about Sakura-chan though. She gets into all kinds of trouble and she just has herself now. Akemi, the Hime, can't help her. I'm already anxious just thinking about it. I suppose now I have to be more careful too. I don't have the Kyuubi to heal injuries. I can get drunk now, which I'm looking forward to experiencing for the first time. I can get sick now, which probably is less fun." Kushina's eyes filled with tears again. They landed on his cheek.

She held up his hand in both of hers. She closed her eyes. Kushina took a deep breath. She had a lot to get off her chest. She would do it now when it was all still fresh and seeing how he was in no condition to run away, he would have to listen to every word.

"I'm so mad at you, dattebane. What you did was so selfish, dattebane. If anything happened to you I would never have forgiven myself, dattebane. I love you, dattebane. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, dattebane. You have to be alive for that to happen, dattebane. The girls, you left an impression, dattebane. They love you too, dattebane. Tukiko, you should have seen her, dattebane. She practically dragged me to the hospital to come to find you, dattebane. You can't ever be selfish like that again, dattebane. My heart can't take it, dattebane. Can you please just say something, dattebane?!"

"Can you grab something out of my pocket for me?" Joben said with slightly slurred speech.

Kushinas gasped. She snapped her eyes open. She looked at his dimpled smile.

"Joben?!"

He winced at her volume. Kushian slapped her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry," she mumbled through her fingers.

"Kushina," he said tightly due to the strain of talking. "Pants, pocket." He pointed to the white armoire behind her.

Kushina furrowed her brow as she lowered his hand back down to his side. She slowly stood up. Of all the things she could have imagined this was not even remotely on her mind.

"What could be so damn important, dattebane?" She asked herself darkly. She pulled open the door on the right. She spotted his clothes. She grabbed his pants and shoved her hands inside his pocket. "I'm pouring my heart out and he asks for his pants, typical." She rolled her eyes.

"What am I looking for?" She asked him irately over her shoulder.

"You'll know," he stared at the ceiling in mirth.

"You'll know," Kushina repeated in a mocking tone complete with a face. She checked the right back pocket before shoving her hand in the left front pocket. Her fingers touched something velvety. She gripped it and pulled up. She looked at the box.

"Here," she all but shoved the box in his hand.

"Open it," Joben tried to keep his frustration down. Kushina was effectively ruining everything.

She frowned deeply. "Are you too hurt to open a box?" She sucked in her teeth. "I got to say Joben, this is a very unattractive side of you. Are you going to be like this every time you get a cold?" She shot her brows up and pinned him with a less-than-impressed look.

"Just open it," he ground out through gritted teeth.

She dropped his pants on the bed. She fisted her hands on her hip. "Excuse me. Not with that tone. I'm not opening it now." She crossed her arms in a huff.

Joben grunted as he sat up. He panted as the pain settled. "Kushina, my love, can you please open the box in your hands? Please?" His dark eyes implored her.

"That's better," she muttered, pleased with the level of groveling. She looked at the dark green box. She held it with one hand and she opened it with the other. She pushed her lips to the side. "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?" She asked him with ample annoyance.

His heart sank. "What do you mean?" He tried not to let his mind get too ahead of the situation.

Kushina turned the box around. His breath hitched. It was empty!

"Kushina! Check my pants." He said rapidly in a state of near panic.

She held up her hands. "I'm not falling for that again." She said dryly.

Joben let out a grunt of pain as he tried to reach for the pants at the edge of the hospital bed. "Ahh!" He let out a strained grunt.

"Geez," Kushina took the pants. "I'll check them. Keep your pants on," she grinned at him shamelessly.

Joben waited with bated breath as she turned each pocket inside out. No ring. He slumped forward in defeat.

"What are you looking for anyway?" She asked him as she came to sit on the foot of the bed.

"It doesn't matter anymore. It's gone." He said hollowly.

"Who kicked your puppy?" She quipped. "Come on Joben, don't be like that. Tell me." She whined. She batted her lashes playfully at him. She pouted when her display did not brighten his spirits.

He looked down at his hands. "A ring," he cleared his throat. "That's what was in the box."

"Was it valuable?" She asked him with a tilt of her head.

Joben shook his head. "Monetarily? No. But it was priceless. I made it special for you."

"Why?" Her violet eyes were filled with curiosity.

"I was going to ask you to marry me." Joben looked at her woefully.

Kushina covered her mouth with her hand. "You where?"

"But now the ring is gone and the surprise is ruined." He scratched his cheek. "I'm sorry Kushina. I keep letting you down."

A guilty look crossed Kushina's face. "Okay, this is not fun anymore."

"What?" He asked her dumbfounded.

Kushina held out a dark metal band between her thumb and index finger. "Is this the ring you made me that has no value? The one you planned on proposing with?" She grinned from ear to ear.

"How?" He looked at her shocked. "Why?"

"Did you miss the part where I explicitly told you how mad I am at you?" She rolled her eyes, completely dismissing the shock on his face. "I thought I would have some fun at your expense, duh." She said in a bored manner. "But you looked so sad." She sighed. "Ask me." Her eyes lit up in excitement.

He stared at her with a slack jaw. A minute went by. Kushina's smile waned slightly.

"Kushina, do you have any idea how messed up that was?" He asked her in a rough tone. Her smile completely vanished. "The metal used for the ring was around my neck when they found me. It was the only thing I had of my parents. You made me think I lost it forever."

Kushina's face was drained of nearly all color. "Shit, I'm so sorry!" She was practically bowing for forgiveness. "Joben I didn't know! You must think I'm a monster. I'm so sorry!" She held her face in horror. Panic rose in her. "I didn't mess this up did I?" She asked him desperately. "Answer me, dattebane!" She demanded less than two seconds after asking him the question.

Joben's shoulders started to shake as he laughed. He was wincing and wheezing from pain shortly after.

"You should see your face right now!" He pointed at said face.

"What?" Kushina blinked at him.

"Gotcha," Joben winked at her.

"What?!" Kushina stood up. She leaned forward. Their noses brushed. "You were messing with me?! How dare you?"

"You messed with me first," he tapped her nose. Her nostrils flared. "I just wanted to give you a taste of the panic you made me feel."

Kushina's anger dialed down. "So it's not carved out of a piece of metal given to you by your parents?" She asked him slowly.

"Nah. It's from the metal of my first sword. The first thing that was really mine. I loved it more than anything. It was all I had. When it broke I saved a part of it. I figured I would make something for the person that I loved more than anything. I melted it down and made the ring you're holding." He explained sheepishly.

"Is any of that true?" She asked him suspiciously. Her eyes darted from the ring to his face.

"Every word," he held her gaze.

"Damn it, Joben," she fought back a sob. She hugged him gingerly, mindful of his battered frame. "That was the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

"What do you say?" He asked her with great tenderness. He scooted over so she could sit next to him. She pressed her face against his arm.

Kushina stared at the ring. "Before I answer I need you to answer something for me."

"Ask away," he said without hesitation. He covered her hand on his thigh with his bandaged one.

"In a couple of months, I plan on asking the girls if they would be okay with me filing for adoption papers for them. How would you feel if we asked them together and applied together?" She stared at him with complete transparency in her gaze.

"I would love that," he answered with matching openness.

"Then my answer is a bit fat, yes." Kushina beamed. She slipped the ring on her finger.

The poor sucker had no idea. She had every intention of strapping him with all the paperwork. Sakura had a baby to look after. The medic would not have time to fix all her mistakes like she did in the past. Joben was the perfect replacement. He just bought a business so she knew he was competent enough to figure it all out.

Kushina was in the middle of snickering at her sneaky plan when she felt Joben grab her face and kiss her as if his life depended on it. It cleared her mind for her. Kushina pulled away for air laughing.

"I want a big fat wedding with all our friends. With the girls in adorable dresses that they pick out themselves. I want to go all out. The hair, makeup, dress, and everything. I want ramen and a buffet. A cake that is so outrageous and tall, chocolate. I want it all." She looked at him. "What do you say?"

Joben grinned. "No more talking." As he pulled her in for another round.

She grinned against his mouth. After the third or fourth kiss, her eyes shot open. "The girls!" She exclaimed. She jumped out of the bed. She kneed him in the chin in the process.

"Sorry, Joben. I need to go. I'll come to see you tomorrow. I love you!" She said in a singsong voice as she waved at him over her shoulder.

She left him alone in the room rubbing his sore jaw. "Just what did I sign up for?" He asked himself as a smile from ear to ear stretched on his face.

---

His heart skipped a beat when he saw her sitting up in a hospital bed clad in a patient gown. It took everything not to just jump into the worst-case scenario. Naurto was with him so he could not let the concern show on his face or his voice. He did not want to alarm him. He eyed the IV in the back of her hand when they came to her bedside. He searched her face.

Sakura saw the panic in his eyes. She grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm okay. Just a little dehydrated." Sakura patted the bed. "Climb up, Naruto."

He watched as Naruto clambered up. He instantly took his place in Sakura's arms. He looked up at her with a look of pure adoration.

"Mama," he smiled at her.

"Naruto," she touched her nose to his. Sakura looked back at Minato. She patted the spot next to her. He lowered himself onto the bed. She leaned her head against his chest. His slightly elevated heartbeat sounded in her ear.

"Where's Manato?" Naruto looked at his parents.

"He's getting some tests done. He'll be back soon. We'll be able to take him home today." Her smile filled her words. She had been worried about him having to spend a couple of nights in the hospital but the hearing test was the last of it. Tsunade assured her it was more a formality than anything. She did not expect any surprises.

Relief flooded Minato. He rubbed his suddenly sweaty palms on his pants. He was nervous. Just as nervous to meet Naruto. Only this time he would not faint. Maybe that was why Sakura had him sit down next to her. She always was proactive.

"Did you wash your hands, Naruto?" Sakura asked him as she rolled up his sleeves slightly. Naruto was a germ magnet and Manato really did not need any additional adversity to deal with for a while.

"I did." Naruto said solemnly. He was oddly quiet.

"What are you feeling, Naruto?" Sakura asked him gently.

"My tummy is doing summer salts," Naruto declared. "And my heart is beating fast. Like it does for tests." He did not like tests.

"It's okay to be nervous," Sakura reassured him. "If it helps, just remember that it's the same baby that you talked to every night before bed."

Naruto looked at her, not entirely convinced.

"What if Manato doesn't like me?" He asked his parents.

"He'll like you, Naruto," Minato told him without hesitation in a tone rich with conviction.

"How do you know, Dada?" Naruto asked him.

"Babies are born only knowing need. They need safety, food, sleep, quiet, cleanliness, and they learn everything else. You'll help Mama and Dada teach him what it means to be loved just like we taught you." Minato's eyes softened as he explained to his son.

Sakura looked at Minato with immense pride in her eyes. "That's right. And just like you learned to love Mama and Dada, Manato will learn to love you as well." Sakura added gently.

"But will he like me?" Naruto asked them again.

The door opened. All three of them turned to look at a nurse with short raven hair walk into the room she was pulling the cart with the plastic tub on top of it. Naruto peered over the bed to get a better look.

"Is the -" Naruto stared off in a loud voice but Sakura put a finger against her lips. "Is the baby sleeping?" Naruto asked in a loud whisper.

"He just woke up," the nurse said with a smile. She looked at their faces.

"I think it's about time his dad held him," Sakura nudged Minato.

His eyes were as wide as Naruto's. The nurse walked over to his side of the bed and gently placed the baby in Minato's awaiting arms. Naruto inhaled sharply. Minato leaned back against the bed frame. He stared into the green eyes of the newborn. His blue eyes welled up with tears. He did not trust his voice to cooperate the way his brain was telling it to, so instead of trying to speak, Minato held out a finger. Manato reached out his left hand and curled it around it with a surprisingly firm grip. Minato looked at Sakura in wonder. The way she was smiling at him was making his stomach do the same somersaults his heart was. He was instantly in love.

"Hi baby," Naruto whispered wetly. The baby blinked as no doubt Naruto's saliva made its way to his face.

"He's so little," Naruto looked starstruck. He tilted his head. "He looks squishy," Naruto said in a voice that sent alarm bells off in Sakura's head.

"We have to be gentle, Naruto." She reminded him quietly.

Minato watched closely as Naruto leaned forward. He kissed the top of Manato's head with a featherlight touch. The baby squirmed.

"He smiled!" Naruto brought his hands to his cheeks. "He likes me!" He was brimming with awe.

"I knew he would," Sakura kissed Naruto's temple. She would never point out that it was just gas. Well-timed gas.

"Can we take him home?" Naruto asked his parents. "I want to show Manato my toys."

Sakura looked at the clipboard that the nurse had handed her before she left. "Everything looks good," she said with a chipper tone. She looked at Minato with a serious expression. "There's a need," she began slowly, "and I have chakra."

He looked back down at the tiny face with the same eyes. "There's a need," he punctuated with a sigh. His eyes raised to meet hers.

"It's just a half shift." Her hand rested on his forearm. "I won't push it," she promised as she leaned against his shoulder.

Minato nodded his head. "I need to get back to the Tower. If I finish before you do, I'll bring them home." He rested his head against hers.

Neither of them moved as they prolonged the moment when they were all mostly together for the first time.

---

He was not in pain but his body moved slowly to the Tower. The lightness he had felt just an hour ago was quickly being displaced by the heaviness in the air around him. It weighed him down like his body was made of lead instead of skin and bone. His eyes took in everything around him to some extent. He registered the burned-down buildings, the solemn faces, and the grief. The village was in a state that he had never seen before. Konoha was at her lowest point. He could not help but wonder if they had hit the ground yet or if there was more room to fall.

His feet stopped at an all too familiar place. He tilted his head back to take it all in. The Tower was still standing. From his current vantage point, nothing was different today than it had been from yesterday. It was picturesque. It was beautiful in its unblemished, untainted glory.

He inhaled deeply through his nose before he straightened out his posture and walked through the entrance. He had not even taken two steps in when he felt himself being pulled into an embrace.

"Shikaku," he managed to say out loud.

The Nara pulled back quickly and rubbed the back of his head. He looked embarrassed that he let his emotions get the best of him.

"Sorry," he mumbled an apology.

Minato's lips pulled into a slow smile as his eyes became less glassy.

"I'm glad you're okay," he cleared his throat. "How are Yoshino-san and Shikamaru-kun?"

Shikaku's own eyes held profound relief. "They're okay, as are Inoichi's and Choza's families."

He nodded his head. He had seen all of them but he had not had a chance to speak with them. He rubbed the space between his brows. He could sense multiple presences up the steps.

"What are we looking at?" His blue eyes searched Shikaku's face. He knew there was no point in telling the Nara to go home. Yoshino would send him back even if he somehow managed to convince Shikaku to leave.

Shikaku's expression hardened. "It's bad," he was not known for pulling punches. "The catered food for Naruto's party has been redistributed to those without."

"Good," he was thankful that Shikaku took yet another thing off his plate. He alleviated the pressure in his neck by cracking it. "What's all that about?" He gestured subtly to the situation upstairs.

Shikaku pulled at his goatee. "Clan heads," he said with a sigh. "Kurama, Aburame, and Hyuga."

Minato repressed a sigh. He ran his hand through his hair.

"What do they want?"

"They wouldn't say. They were adamant that they would only speak once you got here." The raven-haired man looked exhausted. "How is the baby? Sakura?"

"They're both well. Thank you for asking, Shikaku." Warmth shone through his eyes.

"Good, good." Shikaku rubbed the back of his neck. "Minato," he was hesitant.

"What is it?" The dread rose in him.

"Sakura violated one of the terms laid out by the Elders. She entered the Hyuga Compound." He hated to have to say the words. "There were witnesses. She saved Hiashi's wife and daughter, along with Hizashi's son. But…." His voice trailed off, what was unsaid hung heavily in the air.

"She's in violation." This time he did sigh as he rubbed his forehead. He had left his forehead protector at home in his haste to see Manato. "Hiashi has every right to demand that the promised punishment be enacted." His jaw clenched. The law was clear. It did not make exceptions for circumstances such as this. It was painfully behind the times.

Shikaku nodded his head. "If he does, he gets to dictate her punishment without restriction." He spoke for the sake of it. He did not need to remind Minato of what was at stake.

"Do you get a read off of him?" Minato's dark eyes studied Shikaku's face closely.

"No, closed book." He said flatly. He lowered his gaze.

His face was a blank mask. It betrayed nothing. But his eyes were a completely different story. His eyes were volatile. Shikaku would not be surprised if electricity started to crackle off of Minato's person. His whole posture was rigid with coiled tension.

"Do you need a minute?" Shikaku was not sure if this was the best energy to be projecting right out of the gate.

"No. Let's just get this over with." His fingers curled into a fist. He flexed his fingers. The tightness of his posture lessened some as he took a breath. But he still held plenty of rancor in his eyes.

Shikaku said nothing as Minato climbed up the stairs. He was two steps behind him. He peered over the Yondaime's shoulder as the three heads bowed to the blonde.

"Hokage-sama, we need to talk." It was Murakumo who had spoken.

Minato nodded his head curtly. He reached for the doorknob. He held open the door. The three men walked inside wordlessly.

"You coming?" Minato asked him dryly.

Shikaku nodded his head as he too wordlessly walked through the door. Shikaku had seen enough. Minato would fight it. He would fight anything the Huyga head had in store. There was no doubt in Shikaku's mind about that. Minato was back.

Minato closed the door soundly behind him.

---

"I'm truly sorry for all this, Fugaku." Minato joined the brooding Uchiha and peered out at the village through the glass windows of Hokage Tower.

Fugaku's dark eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you want, Minato?"

The blond's expression did not change in the slightest. Neither of the adults turned their heads as Itachi shifted on his feet, several feet behind them.

"I want to know if you are okay with your arrangements?" Minato said in an even tone. It was not what he really wanted to say but it was a start. He figured it was a good way to ease into it.

The Kurama Clan and the Aburame Clan had offered up housing for the Uchiha and the Hyuga clans since they were the clans that lost nearly all - if not all - of their homes in the attack. The Uchiha Clan Compound had been burned to the ground. There was nothing left to salvage. The only good news was no one died from the fire. Everyone had been evacuated in the nick of time, not even a minute too soon. They got out by the skin of their teeth. It could have been much more catastrophic.

The Huyga were in a similar situation for different reasons. Their compound had a building dropped on it. Both the main and the branch houses needed to be relocated elsewhere. The Kurama Compound had the most space. It housed the entirety of the Hyuga Clan as of now. About a fourth of the surviving Uchiha were now staying with the Aburame. Once word got out, the other clan heads came forward and offered up their compounds as well. The clans were stepping up in a way he did not anticipate. It had been a much-welcome surprise. Tents had been set up and supplies delivered for the overflow of people displaced by the fires. Work would start tomorrow to start the rebuild.

"The Yamanaka are being very generous," Fugaku answered tersely. Ionichi and Miyoko would not take no for an answer. He found the blond man's guilt to be excessive and unwarranted. He would have been fine camping out in tents. But his wife, Mikoto, put her foot down so he had no choice but to accept. His family along with five other Uchiha families were staying in the Yamanaka Complex.

Minato saw Fugaku's reflection narrow his eyes. "Now that is out of the way, tell me what you really want."

Minato was nonplussed by the directness. On the contrary, it was refreshing.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened with the Uchiha, for what happened to Shisui," Minato stated in a voice laced with remorse. "His loss is a heavy one."

Itachi winced ever-so-slightly at the mention of Shisui's name. He kept his eyes trained on the ground when he felt Minato's eyes on him, he could feel his sadness and pity just from his gaze.

Fugaku closed his eyes. "It is an unfortunate loss the clan must carry."

Minato rubbed his jaw. "His family will be taken care of," as were all the families of slain shinobi. "His sacrifice will never be forgotten." His voice was tight with emotion. "I will never forget it."

Fugaku set his jaw. He kept his lips firmly together.

Minato did not overlook the tension in his frame. "I want to ask something of you," he stared into the eyes of Fugaku's reflection.

Fugaku remained the statue he was emulating. His silence did not seem to discourage Minato in the slightest.

"I would like you to be one of my advisors."

Itachi furrowed his brow and looked up at the coiled frame of his father. Fugaku's frown deepened. He did not turn around.

"I am not interested in empty gestures." He said harshly.

Minato stared out over the broken village. The broken but still standing village.

"It is not empty," he said firmly. "You provide a unique perspective," his blue eyes held honestly. "Konoha needs that perspective - it needed that perspective - if there is to be any hope of change. If there is any hope of peace. I respect your opinion, Fugaku. I respect what you stand for. Why not make it official?"

"The last time we worked together it was a disaster." He did not mince his words.

"It would have been an even more devastating disaster if we did not." Minato held his ground.

A thick silence blanketed the room. He could practically see the notion settling in Fugaku's mind.

"I cannot leave my post at the Police Force," Fugaku said roughly. Right now the village needed stability. He was the public face of the department. He needed to stay that way as the clan took accountability for what their own had done.

"I agree. Your work there takes precedence. The advisor position would be part-time for now with the option of having it be full-time in the future if that is something that interests you. The details of the schedule can be worked out later but I was picturing a bi-monthly thing. Or on an as-needed basis. You will always have 48-hour notice when you are needed to report in if it is outside of the regular schedule, barring emergencies of course." Minato laid out the high-level overview.

Fugaku's face dipped into a frown as he digested the information. Itachi could not discern which way his father was leaning. It sounded reasonable enough to the teen. The Hokage was being flexible and accommodating. He must really want his father on board.

The Uchiha head's reflection's gaze met Minato's. "What about Nara?"

"I've run this by Shikaku. He agrees with me that this is a good idea." His expression was reflective. "It is what's best for the village."

"He will be a mediator," Fugaku's eyes narrowed slightly as he picked up on what was not said.

"Of sorts for when we inevitably disagree," he sighed. "If we can't figure it out then what hope can we have for anyone else?"

Fugaku regarded his solemn demeanor. He closed his eyes. His mind turned over all the arguments he had in his head.

"The Elders?" Fugaku asked him slowly.

"Won't be a problem," Minato said smoothly.

"You're overly confident," Fugaku said with a scoff.

For all intents and purposes, he had saved the village. He could ask for the moon and the Elders would not be able to say no. He felt no remorse for the lie that was to be the official record. The record stated that he, Sakura, and Kushina sealed the Kyuubi in Naruto. That was the story anyway. No one bothered to question it.

Besides, he knew Koharu's secret. She would not be a problem anymore, not if she wanted to stay on his good side. She had been shaken when he presented her with the three options:

Option one: he kills her and then exposes her acts of treason after her death.

Option two: she lives in exchange for her supporting the positions he takes and her retiring when he does.

Option three: she admits to her actions, including her failed attempt to kill Sakura along with keeping silent about Spider being the ANBU, and she spends the rest of her days in prison.

It was not all that hard for her to come around to option two.

"I have some political capital coming my way," he responded without missing a beat.

"And you're choosing to spend it on me? An Uchiha. Not even twelve hours after the Uchihas helped release the Kyuubi and attacked the village?" Fugaku's tone was biting. Even Itachi felt the chill in his bones.

"As good a cause to use it on." Minato's whole disposition spoke to his conviction. He believed in it. He had said his piece. Now was the time for a decision, not more debate.

Itachi watched closely as both the men seemingly did not move. There was a lot of non-verbal communication taking place through their body posture. It was subtle. It felt like an eternity before Fugaku turned around.

Itachi observed with bated breath as his father extended his right hand out. He exhaled as the Hokage clasped his hand. They shook once. His father's hands came to rest behind his back as the Hokage crossed his arms and leaned back against his desk.

He had just witnessed history.

"Thank you, Fugaku. For what you did today and for everything that led up to it." Minato bowed his head in gratitude. "Konoha would not be intact if it were not for the sacrifices you and your family made."

Fugaku dipped his head in the shallowest of bows, acknowledging the thanks.

Itachi felt Minato's eyes. He kept his gaze trained on the ground as the Hokage was on the move. He was standing in front of him.

"Itachi," Minato searched for the words. "Thank you for keeping my son safe. I owe you everything."

Itachi dipped his head lower. His throat tightened at the emotion in Minato's words. He nearly flinched in surprise when Minato's hand came to clap him on the shoulder.

"Thank you for all your service to the village. Konoha is in your debt." Minato's expression became more strained. "I'm sorry that you had to carry such a heavy burden. I'm sorry so much was asked of you. And I'm sorry for your loss."

Itachi nodded his head mutely. It took everything in him to remain composed. Anything for Konoha. He thought of his brother's face. Nearly anything for Konoha. He lifted his head when he felt the presence of the hand no longer on his shoulder. The Hokage was back to leaning against his desk. Itachi could feel the air start to not feel so thin anymore.

He cleared his throat. He did not let his expression falter when he felt both their eyes. Itachi took a step forward.

"Otosan, Hokage-sama," his eyes regarded both as he gathered the confidence needed to say the words on the tip of his tongue. The fingers of his left hand traced the symbols on the coin in his pocket: The Land of Cloud Forests.

"I know what I want to do," he said in a level and smooth voice. He ignored the way his father's body tightened or the guarded curiosity that flickered across Minato's eyes. They all had a little PTSD to sort through.

"I want to be an ANBU." He filled the room with his words.

Both of them froze. It was as if they did not believe what they had just heard. The Hokage looked at Fugaku. His father's expression was unreliable.

"Itachi, do you know what you're saying?" Minato asked the young Uchiha. He was only thirteen. He could not in good conscience allow this to become reality without hearing Itachi verbalizing it.

Itachi nodded. "I want to help and this is how." He was too young and green to do what he really wanted. He needed more real-world experience. This would give him an opportunity to make an impact and help while he gained what he needed for his ultimate goal. The goal he believed Shisui would be behind. "This is my path forward."

Fugaku regarded his son with narrowed eyes before he crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you sure, son?"

Itachi paused for a couple of seconds before he nodded his head. The adults exchanged glances. He saw them slowly come to grips with his decision.

"Okay," Minato was smiling softly at him. "I'll let Wolf know and he can start training you in two weeks. Start thinking about your ANBU code name."

Itachi nodded his head. He had something in mind already.

Minato half turned to address Fugaku. "Does next Monday, the 19th, work for you as your first day?"

Fugaku nodded. "It does," he verbally confirmed. It gave him time to appoint a new assistant chief. Normally a vote would be needed but right now with the way things were in the clan, he doubted anyone would argue if the candidate was fair. He had a young man in mind. The Uchiha who was posted at the Senju Compound spoke highly of how the candidate had kept the other guards calm and grounded even when they were woefully outnumbered. Who knows how many lives his level-headedness saved?

MInato's lips twitched upwards. "Good. I expect to see you then." He looked at the father and son. "If either of you needs anything, if the Uchiha need anything, do not hesitate to reach out."

Minato watched as they both bowed before leaving the room. His face pulled into an earnest smile. He did not imagine the pride in Fugaku's eyes. Had he been anyone else, he would have openly hugged his son and smiled. But he was not anyone else and that was the precise reason he needed him. The blond turned around and looked at the monument in front of him. His blue eyes focused on the face of his predecessor.

He was certain of it now. There was only one direction to go from here.

---

She ran through the front door, barely stopping to kick off her shoes. She could not believe she had forgotten. She felt awful. Naruto had confided in them that he was worried about being forgotten and on the very first day with the new baby she had done just that, she had forgotten. Talk was incredibly cheap. All her assurances of him not being left behind, and being their heart, she had come up incredibly short to back it with meaningful action. This is how trust issues were born. She was going to give her son trust issues.

She burst through his room. He stared up at her in surprise.

"Mama?" he asked her with bewilderment. It must have been due to her state, it was probably a little alarming. Her being clad in scrubs probably did not help matters. It really made it seem like she ran all the way from the hospital, even though that was exactly what she did.

Sakura crouched down and pulled him to her. "Happy Birthday, Naruto." She squeezed him. "Happy birthday, Baby."

"You're squeezing me," he wheezed.

She let up some. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to say it to you," she searched his face. Her hands brushed his blond locks from his forehead. "Please forgive me?" She asked him.

Naruto grinned at her. "It's okay. I forgive you."

She felt even worse now. The village was still in shambles; she could not run out and get him anything. Not even a measly bowl of ramen. She never did get around to finding him a replacement gift after ruining the kite.

"Are you sure you're not upset? It's okay if you are." She took both his hands in hers. She continued to study his face closely.

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not upset."

"Okay," she kissed his hands. "Thank you for understanding. Thank you for forgiving me." She kissed both of his cheeks. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mama." His blue eyes sparkled as he said the words.

She rose to her feet. "Where's Dada?"

"Napping," Naruto ratted out his father with no remorse.

"I'm just resting my eyes," Minato called out in a quiet, low voice from the other room. Sakura leaned back in the doorway. She had completely missed him on the couch in her rush to apologize to Naruto. He was on his back with a sleeping Manato on his chest. Her expression softened as she realized what they were doing: skin-to-skin contact. She loved her little nerd so much.

"I'm going to go shower and change," Sakura told him with a smile on her face.

Minato gave her thumbs up.

---

"How are we going to eat all this food?" Sakura pressed her hand to the side of her face. They had half of the food for Naruto's birthday cooked and the other half prepped, ready to be cooked. She tapped her foot. 'We can probably donate it.' There was a real need. They were fortunate enough to still have a roof over their heads.

"I don't think that will be a problem," Minato looked through the kitchen window.

Before Sakura could ask what he meant by that, there was pounding on the door. She did not need to answer it to know who it was. The impatience in the knocking could only mean one person: Obito.

"I'll get it," Sakura said mostly to herself. She crossed the kitchen to open the door.

"Sensei!" Obito gave her a hug, he lifted her clear off the ground.

She patted him on the back. "Obito-kun, come in."

"Hi Sakura-sensei," Rin smiled at her. She was carrying something that smelled delicious with her.

"Rin-chan!" Sakura greeted her enthusiastically.

"Yo," Kakashi held up a hand, he too had an aluminum dishpan in his hands.

"Kaka-kun," she smiled as he stepped through the door.

"Hello, Sakura-sensei," Shizune smiled as she entered. She was holding two bottles of sake in her hands.

"Shizune-chan, welcome." Sakura blinked as she watched them all slip out of their shoes and set them aside before they rested their offerings on the dining room table. They had all just finished greeting Minato. She looked at him. "We're going to need more chairs."

"Why?" Obito flopped on the couch. "There's six chairs and six of us."

"Where's Naruto supposed to sit?" Rin asked him as she thumped his head. She sat down with a much more dignified manager.

"He can sit on the floor," Obito provided a solution.

Kakashi came to sit on the loveseat, and Shizune joined him. Naruto burst into the room. He shushed everyone at a much louder volume than anyone was speaking.

"My baby is sleeping. You have to be quiet."

Sakura refrained from rolling her eyes. He was taking the whole big brother thing very seriously.

"Naruto-kun, come here." Rin gestured for him to come to her. He ran to her. She put him in his lap. "Are you excited about the new baby?"

Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically. "He sleeps a lot."

"So did you when you were little," Kakashi leaned back against the cushions. He looked like he could fall asleep on the spot. He was well on his way to learning the way of Dad.

Naruto shrugged dismissively. "I don't remember."

Obito grinned. He mussed Naruto's hair. The blond scowled at him. "Little Man's got you there Kakashi. You're an unreliable witness."

Minato rested his arm on Sakura's shoulders. "We need a bigger place. The sooner the better."

"You're okay with leaving here? It's home." She looked at him with surprise in her eyes. Today was a hard day for them all. She did not think it was the best time to make such big decisions, well, any more big decisions.

"You're my home, Sakura." He looked at her with an intensity that could melt ice caps. What hope did she have? "My home is where you are."

She melted in his arms. Sakura wrapped an arm around his waist. She smiled at him with the light of a thousand suns. She would have kissed him senseless had they not been in a room full of people.

"We'll start looking once things settle down." They had just avoided calamity. It was not the time to look into purchasing real estate. Not with so many displaced.

"That works for me." He smiled at her.

She sighed in pure contentment. At this moment, her heart was full. She could not help but smile as the not-so-little kids interacted with the actual kid-aged kid.

"Brings back memories doesn't it?" She asked in a nostalgic tone.

"We're going to need more chairs," Minato said with a sigh.

"I'll get it!" Naruto shot up. He answered the door. "Obachan!" He launched himself at her legs. Kushina's laughter filled the room. "Karin and Kiko!" Naruto greeted the girls.

"Where's his enforcement of the quiet rule now?" Obito asked with a snort.

---

Her shift had long finished. Two hours ago. But she was in no hurry to see the outside of the walls of the hospital. She was fully committed to the idea of sleeping in her office. Or she could sleep in the head medic's office. Sakura had a sofa in hers. It was significantly a step up from sleeping in her chair or on the floor, even busted and all. Sakura would not mind. She was sure of that.

That had been the plan that developed in her head. It went all out the window when she sensed his chakra signature. He was outside. Out in the open. Blatantly waiting for her. She had no choice left unless she wanted to break the cycle of mixed signals. The hot and cold had long ceased to be fun.

Her heels clicked loudly with each measured step she took. She was apprehensive. Not to see him but to see the aftermath. When they had gone to the gates to wait for them she had taken the long way around purposely to avoid catching a glimpse of what was there. If he had noticed, he did not say anything,

She left the cool recycled air of the hospital for the crisp air of the night. Her green coat was draped over her shoulders. She pulled one end closer to her. It was rather sudden, the change in temperature. It had been hot not too long ago but now the nights were almost downright chilly.

It did not take any time for her almond orbs to find him. He was standing off to the side so as to not impede any patients from coming and going. But he was still visible enough for her not to miss. She barely looked at him, much less acknowledged his presence. He did not mind. He fell into step with her.

"It's your godsons' birthday." She said conversationally. "Shouldn't you make an appearance at least?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "I'm not really in the party or social mood."

"You turning down free food and booze, must be a first." Her tone was full of forced lightness.

"What about you?" He spared her a sidelong glance. She was trying so hard to appear nonchalant.

"Not in the mood for being around people right now," Tsunade admitted. She could always show up with Naruto's and Manato's gifts later. If they had survived.

"Hm," he all but grunted in agreement.

Each time her foot rose and lowered the knot in her stomach grew as did the frog in her throat. The silence was not fully comfortable nor uneasy. It just was. She looked up at the dark sky. The air no longer felt like it burned when it entered through the nose or mouth.

"I never asked her," Tsunade began in a distant voice. The stars reflected off her eyes.

"Reasonable," he provided a noncontroversial response. He only spoke to let her know that he was listening.

"You asked." Now she was looking at him. He felt the full weight of her scrutiny.

"I didn't." He contradicted her statement. "Sarutobi did not give me a choice."

Her pink lips pressed into a line. "Takes you back doesn't it?"

Jiraiya grunted. "He did not want to be the only one to bear the brunt of the weight. Maybe he wanted me there so that he could be sure he heard everything correctly and that his brain did not fill in the gaps. Who knows what goes on in his head?"

"He stepped up today. By his standards." She mused. "Even if it was the bare minimum."

"Maybe he did what he felt he had to, to right his wrongs." He tapped his thumb to his forehead absentmindedly.

She came to an abrupt halt. He looked at her over his shoulder. "Hime?"

"What happened to me?" She held his gaze.

"Tsunade," he let out a slow sigh. "Maybe it's best to leave well enough alone." There were stretches where he wished he did not know. He was caught between two worlds. One that once was and may never be again and the one that was.

"What happened to me?" She asked him again in a clipping tone. Her eyes were slightly narrowed and her face was as warm as stone.

"War. You die. Alone and miserable." He said the words without thinking and without emotion. It was the only way to get them through his throat and out into the air.

She looked like she just survived having a building dropped on her. She was in a state of shock. He did not blame her. It was difficult to swallow even without all the gory details.

He watched with careful eyes as she resumed walking. There was not a sound uttered between them for the next ten minutes.

"What happened to you?" She asked him hollowly.

"Pain. Before the invasion." He answered her current question in the same manner he had answered her previous.

"Did you die before me?" She searched his face.

"Yes."

She closed her eyelids over her amber orbs. "Where you alone? And or miserable?"

He froze. "Yes. Yes."

"I'm sorry. I'm sure I didn't want that for you. I don't want that for you." Her expression was grave with seriousness.

"I didn't want that for you either." He matched her expression.

She supposed she should not have been surprised. There had been a shift in him right around the time Sakura arrived. Now she knew why. He saw their whole lives. He saw their failures. He saw their mistakes. He was trying not to make the same ones again.

"I'm ready," she squared her shoulders.

He nodded his head. They turned the corner. The two hundred or so feet to the entrance of her compound gates might as well have been miles and miles. It was daunting. Her eyes saw, her brain processed what they saw but it failed to fully register.

Large patches of the light gray stone walkway were stained red with blood. It would never come out completely. It had been soaked in it too. She was reminded of his presence next to her as his wooden sandals tapped against the ground. It would never be the same, the compound, her grandfather's house.

"Tell me everything," she pinned him with a look. "I want to know."

Jiraiya sighed deeply. "How much booze you got?"

"Not enough," she opened the door to the mostly intact structure. She stepped inside. "But we'll make it work."

He followed her inside. He closed the door quietly behind him.

---

"And that's how I saved Kakashi's life." Obito finished narrating his story with a smug expression.

"How much of that was true?" Sakura looked at Rin to answer the question. She wanted to gauge how concerned and outraged she needed to feel.

"About thirty percent," Rin shot Obito a withering look.

"And that's being generous," Kakashi said with a scoff.

"Were you going to tell me you died or did that slip your mind?" Shizune asked him sweetly.

"Didn't seem important." Kakashi chuckled in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.

Sakura shook her head. Turns out they did not need more chairs. Kakashi and Obito had moved the furniture out of the way and set down two picnic blankets. They all sat on the floor on the ample cushions and pillows Sakura had amassed over the years.

Naruto and the girls were on the third, smaller blue and yellow picnic mat on the kitchen floor. Apparently eating under the kitchen table was the coolest thing ever. They were engrossed in their own little world.

"Shizune, did you really perform a four-person surgery yourself?" Sakura asked the raven-haired medic to confirm or deny the rumor that was floating around in the hospital.

Shizune blushed. She nodded her head.

Sakura whistled in appreciation. "Wow, that's amazing."

"Can we not talk about this while we're eating," Obito looked queasy.

"I second that!" Kushina piped up.

"No fun," Sakura pouted.

"Rin proposed!" Obito looked like he was about to explode. "I said yes."

Sakura's and Kushina's jaws unhinged slightly. "What?" They said in unison as they looked at Rin who was as red as a beet.

"I made it happen." Rin looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

"Congratulations, Rin! Obito!" Sakura gushed.

"Good for you, Rin," Kushina winked at her.

RIn's mortification grew.

"Congratulations to you both," Minato smiled at his former students. There was a twinkle in his eye.

"Thank you, sensei," Obito and Rin said together.

"A wedding and babies. Gosh, I feel so old." Sakura mused as she smiled at the young faces in the room.

"Getting older is a good thing in our line of business," Kushina said sagely.

The atmosphere in the room became solemn. They all knew what awaited them tomorrow. Right now was a reprieve from everything that came and what was to come. It would take at least a week for all the bodies in the morgue to be identified. Even the hospital had a few unidentified patients, burned beyond recognition. They would have to wait for them to regain consciousness to know who they were. They had no fingerprints left to identify them.

Kushina clapped her hands. "Who wants cake?" She asked loudly.

"Me!" Naruto, Karin, and Obito raised their hands in unison.

Sakura shook her head. She would just have to ask Kushina about the new piece of jewelry she was sporting later. Sakura laughed as Kushina got up on her feet. Kakashi, Rin, Shizune, and Obito helped move the coffee table back for the cake. Kushina brought the chocolate cake with five layers and five candles all in orange of course. Sakura could not help but get caught up in the moment as they sang happy birthday to Naruto. They made it another year as a family. Even Manato made an appearance, swaddled in his baby-blue baby blanket. His Obachan finished it just in time, three weeks early.

Sakura looked at Minato who was taking pictures. He was the practical and forward-thinking one. He knew that they would want to capture these moments from today and all the days to come. She was already picturing having the one taken of the four of them together printed and hung up on the wall of their room. It was the first of the many memories Minato had promised her. Her heart was full as she watched Team Minato plus Shizune interact with Naruto, the girls, and Kushina. Her family was growing and it would continue to do so in the not-so-distant future.

---

There was a comfortable still that settled around her. She placed a feather-light kiss on the back of the raised hand that was fisted around the bunched-up fabric of her shirt. Her expression was full of softness as she looked at the tiny face that was quickly giving in to the pull of sleep. It would not be much longer now. Her thumbpad gently stroked his face as he continued to nurse. Part of her could not believe that he was actually here in her arms, safe and alive. It was surreal. So surreal.

The second she saw him, it was as if her heart expanded. She fell in love instantly. Hard and fast and without warning. It was like a sucker punch to the gut. It was overwhelming to the point that everything else had faded away. She had forgotten everything when she saw him breathe for the first time. It felt like she had been reborn right alongside him. She could breathe again when she saw the rise and fall of his little chest. She was alive again. She had been too overwhelmed then to think about much then, she probably still was, but now she had time. She was thinking about a lot. She was thinking about everything. Everything that it took for them to be where they were now.

She was not the only one. With each word uttered and spoken it felt like the weight of it all became heavier and heavier. It became more real. She could feel his eyes. She knew it was not a conscious decision. He was looking past her. He was lost in his own thoughts. Just like her. Processing what happened to the other. Just like she was. They each had been through their own versions of hell and the more they shared the more she was convinced that was true for every single person in the village. No one was walking out of today unscathed or unchanged.

Manato yawned. It was as good a signal as any that he was done. He stretched his frame. The fabric green onesie gathered. It was a little too big or rather Manato was a little too small. He would catch up. He - like the rest of them - just needed some time and extra care right now. They were all a little fragile in their own ways.

Sakura coaxed his fingers to open. He was a lefty. She could already tell that he favored that hand. She gently inserted his hands into the mittens of his pajamas so that he would not scratch himself in his sleep. She pulled her loose, dark, oversized half-sleeved shirt down to her hips before moving Manato to her shoulder. She inhaled deeply through her nose, taking in the new baby smell that would not last forever.

Sakura continued to breathe in deeply as she patted him on the back gently until she heard him burp. Her bones creaked with soreness and tiredness as she got up to her feet. Sakura rocked him in her arms until his eyes slid closed. She set him down in his crib. She laid a hand on his chest until he settled. She tilted her head to the side as she continued to look at him. She hung the towel on her shoulder on the headboard of the crib. Minato came and enveloped her in his arms. She relaxed against him. Neither spoke for fear of breaking the spell as they watched him sleep. Time was nothing more than a forgotten concept.

She did not utter a word of protest as he led her back to the soft, comfortable embrace of their bed. She rested her head against her pillow with a soft sigh. She was exhausted more than she cared to admit out loud.

She stared at him just as he was watching her. Sakura moved closer to him. The sheets rustled underneath her as she did so. She did not want to go to sleep. She wanted to keep talking to him and judging from the look in his eye, she was not alone.

"Is it true that the Sandaime claimed full responsibility for the Kyuubi attack?" Sakura asked him in a soft voice. She brushed the bangs from his eyes. Every time he blinked his unfairly long blond lashes, his bangs moved. She needed to give him a haircut. It would get unruly if they let it get much longer. She had found time to trim Naruto's a week ago.

"He did," Minato sighed. "He did it publicly too. A lot of witnesses. I heard it straight from Shikaku's mouth, who was there." He rubbed his face. "By doing so he effectively killed any opposition I had in the council. The Third is now fruit from the poisonous tree. No one can argue that he be reinstated if there was a vote for my removal. Which makes the vote even less likely to occur in the first place. And no one in their right mind would want to take over right now. Not with the way things are."

'Sarutobi you sly old coot.' Sakura could not help but think. With one action Sarutobi managed to secure Minato's seat and his own retirement.

"I can't leave now, Sakura even if I wanted to. The village is in too bad a state." He looked at her face, searching it for clues.

"I understand," she put his mind at ease. She recognized the relief in his eyes.

"How did you hear about it?" He asked her as he brought his hand to rest on her hip.

"From Biwako. She came to see Manato about twenty minutes before you and Naruto got there." Sakura played with her hair. She twirled a shampooed and conditioned lock between her fingers.

"You two seem to be getting close," Minato said lightly.

"We've been talking. She's been helpful." Sakura admitted. "Speaking of helpful, the clan heads really came through."

"They did." He yawned. His jaw clicked. "Hiashi stopped by the Tower."

Sakura froze. She lost the ability to speak. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"He assured me that Neji would be taken care of. That he would not be sealed with the Bird Seal." Minato's voice undid the anxious knots in her stomach. "He said he would honor his late brother's wishes. Neji will be free."

Sakura closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. "That's very good." She bit her lip. "That's one thing that actually changed for the better."

Minato nodded in agreement. "I hope to see the day when there is only one house and the Bird Seal is nothing more than a distant memory."

"One day. We're headed towards it." She let the seed of hope settle in her. "One day." Hinata and Neji had a much healthier dynamic than their fathers did and if Hiashi was to be taken at his word, maybe it would stay that way.

"You saved his family, Sakura. He's never going to forget what you did today." Minato looked at her with admiration.

"I wasn't thinking about him or anything. I just -"

"Acted," he finished her thought.

"Yeah," she said sadly. It would not have mattered if she did have time to think. She could not leave them there to die. "I really don't learn." Her tone was abashed.

"Hey," he said gently. "Look at me."

She raised her eyes to his face.

"You did nothing wrong. You are who you are. Sometimes it causes problems but eight times out of ten, you do the right thing."

She made a face. "Only eight percent?" She never got anything less than a ninety-five during all her time at the academy. And that had only happened because she was sick. It would have been a hundred percent under normal conditions.

"I rounded to the nearest eight," he cut through her attempt to deflect with humor with some of his own. One corner of her lip tugged upwards.

"My point is," Minato said with a touch of impatience. "Because of you and your actions, three people are alive. You potentially saved four lives."

Understanding flooded her. "She's pregnant."

"She wants you to be her doctor. They both do," Minato elaborated.

"I'll have to think about it." It could get messy. Hiashi hated her. She knew that her actions today did not change that. Maybe he was just humoring his wife with the hope that Sakura would say no. That way she remained the bad guy in the scenario. The coward.

"Take your time. I already told him not to expect an answer right away." He drummed his fingers on her hip. He pulled her from her mini-rabbit hole before she committed and jumped right in.

"I don't want to mess up and put you in a bad spot. Politics and medicine should not mix." She chewed on her bottom lip. It was an opportunity but it could just as easily go wrong as much as it could go right.

"Do what feels right to you, Sakura. You made it this far." He brushed the pink strands of velvety hair from the sides of her face.

"Okay." She turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand. "I'll do it."

He grinned at her. He had no doubts. Maybe Sakura would eventually wear Hiashi down with her persistence and charm. She was really good and getting under someone's skin if she set her mind to it.

"It'll be a good test of patience." He offered her a different perspective.

"I'm screwed." Her face fell.

"I have faith in you." His smile set fire to her reservations.

"You have to say that. You're my husband." She said dismissively, expertly hiding the rising butterflies in her stomach.

"Doesn't make it any less true." Her heart soared once his words reached her ears.

She flipped onto her back. It was so nice to be able to do that again. Her fingers began to massage his scalp the second he rested his head on her chest. The pressure was of the comforting variety. His body heat kept the cold away from her.

"Joben will be out of the hospital by the end of next week."

"He was in good spirits when I stopped to check on him before I brought the boys home. He's sturdy." He gripped her side.

"Hm, good thing too. Kushina's a menace to his health." She said with a smile. "She nearly broke half of his teeth on accident. The one thing that doesn't grow back." She sighed. Minato's head moved up and down with her lungs. "She's getting married. It's about damn time!" She was grinning from ear to ear.

"They're good for one another. I've never seen her happier." He fought to keep sleep at bay. The aroma of her jasmine and sage lotion was luring him to the depths of the darkness.

The smile gradually slipped off her face. She could not ignore the question burning in her brain any longer.

"How did Naruto seem to you?"

"He's genuinely excited about the whiskers," Minato said humorlessly. He ran his thumb along his jaw. His expression turned serious. "I don't know if he fully understands what happened to him and what it means."

Sakura lowered her eyes and bit her lip. She pressed her right hand against the side of his head.

"I don't know if we can expect him to at his age." She shivered as Minato traced the scars on her other arm. The ones left by the fox fifteen years ago.

"I think it's a good idea for him to start seeing someone," He began evenly. She inhaled sharply.

"I can set something up with Mai," she said when she recovered. Sakura made another mental note. It was for the best if she was not the one handling it. Naruto might speak more openly with someone who was not his parents, such as Mai. It also allowed for a more objective assessment than anything she could give her own son, despite all her training and knowledge.

"I'm sorry about Owl, Ox, and Ryo." She was sorry for a whole lot more but their deaths were directly because of her. She moved to wrap an arm around his shoulders.

His eyes glazed over. His hand on her hip clenched slightly. She could feel tensed muscles in his frame.

"They were good shinobi, even better men." The pain of their loss weighed heavily on him. He had aged half a decade right before her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she did not have the words.

"Ban came by the house," Minato brought up in a lighter tone.

"Why?" Sakura asked him with curiosity in her tone.

"He wanted to personally make his case for why he should be reinstated in the Inner Guard." There was something complex in Minato's voice.

Sakura swallowed thickly. "What did you say?" She asked in a small voice.

"I told him the job was his if he wanted it. He's been nothing but loyal despite it all. As loyal as Wolf." Minato sighed deeply. "And it's not like there is a line out the door for people willing to fill the vacancies."

Sakura tilted his chin up so that she could look him in the eye. "Hey, you're the village hero. You're the Yondaime. The only reason there isn't a line is because you haven't asked yet." She said defiantly. Hell, if she did not have a job she would have been first in line to be his personal bodyguard. No one was as invested as her to keep him in one piece. Well maybe Wolf but it was neck and neck.

He chuckled despite the severity of the situation. Just one look at her and his troubles seemed smaller.

"Itachi is half a year out at the least."

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What?"

"Itachi officially requested to join ANBU." He studied her face. He moved to his side. He propped his head up with a bent elbow. He would have gotten a kink in his neck if he kept looking up at her at that angle. Now he could see her in her entirety without any discomfort.

"I don't know how I feel about that," she rubbed her eyes. "I don't know why he would want that." She rested her hands on her stomach. She looked at him with a glossy look in her eye.

"Help me filter through applications?" He asked her after some time. The silence between them was threatening to crush them both.

"It's a date," she agreed without having to think about it. They would rebuild. They would be stronger. The village would move on. They would all learn from this. The loss was great but so was the desire to keep going. It would take time but Konoha would be fine.

"I hate tomatoes," he said with a blank face.

"What?" She blinked in response. She frowned. "You love tomatoes."

"Can't stand them," he stressed his stance.

"But you always finish…oh," understanding crossed her face. "No more tomatoes. Got it." She stared up at the unmoving ceiling fan.

'Baby steps,' she thought to herself.

"Sakura," he said her name gently.

"Hm?" She blinked at him tiredly.

"I need to talk about things," Minato hesitated before speaking again. "We need to stay in sync. So things don't get remotely this bad again. Ever."

"That's a great idea. I can give you a list of names and you could give them a try and see which ones work the best." She said encouragingly. "I'm proud of you," she added gently.

"No Sakura," he cleared his throat. It was not easy for him to say. "I don't want to talk to someone. I want to talk to you about these things."

She was floored. She stared back at him in shock. She saw the way his face fell. Sakura licked her lips.

"I'm honored," she looked at him with a determination that eliminated any possibility of misunderstanding. "I won't let you down."

He smiled softly at her. "I know."

The smile slowly slid from his face. Naruto's innocent enough question rang in his ears. Their son had noticed her slightly protruding stomach during storytime and had excitedly asked if she had another baby in there. Sakura had laughed it off but he had seen that it bothered her. It really bothered her. It probably raised all kinds of emotions for her. He knew it did for him. They were the kind that was best not left to fester and grow.

His eyes and hand migrated to her torso. He slowly pulled up the fabric of her - his - black shirt past her upper abdomen. He saw the unblemished skin of her stomach. Sakura was back to staring up at the ceiling as his calloused finger pad traced a line agonizingly slowly, repeatedly, from the bottom of her belly button to just before the waistband of her shorts.

She could almost feel the pain all over again. Even the layer of flab she had did nothing to dull or mute the reaction his hand was kicking up in her. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together in a firm line, trying to will her breathing to stay inaudible.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all of that alone," his voice was tight with emotion. "I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there." His fingers did not stop tracing the line. "I'm so sorry."

Tears pricked in her eyes. "I am too," she said with a voice she hardly recognized. She foresaw a lot more nightmares, only this time Spider's mask would be joining Madara's face. Maybe it was a good thing the baby came early. She could blame the lack of sleep on him. She was scared to close her eyes. She was scared this all would be ripped from her. It almost was.

It was the most vulnerable she had ever been. She had close to zero control of the situation. She was completely at Sarina's mercy. Her breath hitched as she felt his warm lips trace the line where she had been sliced open.

It burned her and not in a good way. Her stomach churned and she swallowed back the bile in her throat. She must have stiffened because she found herself looking into a pair of concerned cobalt eyes. She shook her head.

"Sakura?"

"I can't go through anything close to this again, Minato."

She was done making children. She was balancing on a razor's edge just talking about it. She would lose her mind if she had to live through growing another life out of her person. She had been unable to keep her son safe - either of them. She had been forced to sit back and wait for her world to fall apart. She had experienced the worst seventy seconds of her life today. She had enough. And that was not even getting into how awful the past seven months of her life were for the two of them. She was done. It was more than just a knee-jerk reaction. It was her gut telling her. Never again.

"I can't." She repeated adamantly.

"You won't." He framed her face. His eyes bore into hers. "Three is plenty," he assured her. "Three is more than enough." There was only sincerity.

"I was so scared." She whispered brokenly.

He pulled her closer. "You're safe, we all are," he reminded her as he held her.

She buried her face into his shoulder. She stubbornly kept her eyes open. If she closed them for more than a couple of seconds, she saw Manato's face looking back at her, unmovingly.

"I thought he was dead," she covered her face with her hands. She broke down completely. She had thought both of them were dead, gone. She had nearly lost all three of them today.

"I'm sorry," he held her even closer still. His own tears mixed into her hair. He could only imagine how awful that must have been. "I'm sorry," he repeated as he held onto her desperately.

It took tens of minutes for their breathing to not be as loud. It took another several minutes on top of that for one of them to work up the strength to speak.

"I never want to have to say goodbye to you ever again, Minato. Today was enough." Her voice sounded distracted like she was lost in her thoughts.

He said nothing. He did not want her to go before him. He would not survive that. She was both physically and mentally stronger than him. Today proved that a hundred times over. Neither of them knew what was to come. He could not promise this to her.

"I'm here. I'm okay. Try to think about something else." He suggested gently.

Sakura traced the line on her left palm absentmindedly. "Can I ask you something?" She looked at him with the same heavy expression.

"Yes," he did not hesitate in his response.

She swallowed. "You'll be honest?"

"With you? Always." He held her gaze.

"Do you think any differently of me for accepting Sarina's offer so quickly?" She braced herself for judgment. She did not even think twice about it. She was okay with letting her die in Minato's place. She is okay with that. She had been relieved if she was being honest with herself. It scared her a little how heartless she had been. How decisive she was. He had told her that her compassion was one of the things he fell in love with, years ago. She had shown none for her sister or her niece. She let her die. She was more than happy to have her do it. Her own sister.

At the moment she has just acted, again. There was no time for duality. She would always make that call. But now she wondered if that decision changed how he saw her. If her mercilessness made him pause. Everything had a price. Maybe having him think less of her was the price for him staying alive.

"No." He said firmly with unshaken conviction. She stared at him with her lips parted. "Not at all. Not one bit. You told me you would do anything to keep our family safe. You were doing just that."

"M-Minato," she looked at him at a total loss. She licked her dry bottom lip.

"I would have done the same thing in your place." He cupped the side of her face. "And I wouldn't have thought about it again. The fact that you're worried about it speaks to your character, Sakura. You're kinder than I am. You have a stronger heart than I do."

She pressed her lips together to keep the unlabeled sounds her mind could manage to herself.

"Today did nothing to make me think any less of you. Don't carry that with you. If anything, I'm more in awe of you." He admitted openly.

"You're selling yourself short." She said after some time had passed when she remembered how to form words. "You're just as kind. Your heart is just as strong. If not kinder and stronger. You're my hero." She pressed her face against him. "You're my everything, Darling."

"I love you."

He held her close. Sakura closed her eyes and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. It combated what was going on in her head, slightly. She was being mended slowly. Mind, heart. and soul.

"What are you thinking?" He wanted an insight, a hint as to what was going on in that perpetually overactive mind of hers.

"I'm thinking about the promise I made Sarina," She wanted one day when they did not have to make tough choices or have tough conversations but she could not relax until she fulfilled it. It was consuming her. "Are you sure you're okay with everything?" She searched his face. "You're not mad?"

"I'm not mad." He said with more tightness than necessary. He was starting to lose a little patience with answering various forms of the same question more or less.

"Positive?" She pressed.

"Do you want me to be mad?" He forced lightness in his tone. She did not buy it.

"I just want to be sure that neither of us is harboring resentment over the hard choices that were made today." She countered matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough." He gathered his thoughts. "I'm not mad at promising her no retribution in exchange for her help. You did what you had to for survival. I'm not mad. I wasn't there. I'm thankful that someone was."

"And I'm not mad that you promised to take in her daughter. It was extenuating circumstances. I know that you would never make such an important decision of such magnitude without talking to me about it under normal circumstances. I would be dead if it wasn't for her and you. I really can't be mad, not at you anyway." He looked at her face. Sakura was listening intently.

"She's just a kid. None of this is her fault. Her mother let her down but she's the one facing the consequences of her mother's actions. She's all alone when she doesn't have to be. I would hope that someone would step up for our kids if anything happened to us. I can't realistically expect that if I'm not willing to do the same."

She could not put into words what she was feeling. She loved the man in front of her so much that she could not stand it. His heart was the best thing about him, hands down. She pressed her lips against his. She could not help herself. He knew just what buttons to press.

"Thank you," she whispered when they broke apart for air. "Thank you for everything, Minato. All of it."

"You never have to thank me, Sakura." He anchored her to him. "And now you're thinking about going to Yume," Minato stated with a sigh when he recognized the look on her face. He ran his hand through her hair.

"It has to be me," she said adamantly. She looked into his eyes. They were not the same relaxed eyes from just hours prior before they started to talk about their individual struggles of the day, but she supposed neither were hers.

"I understand that," he said gently. "I'm not going to try to stop you." He took a breath. "I'm going with you."

"Minato," she looked at him, taken aback at his suggestion. "The village can't afford to be without you. It will take at least a day and a half to get to Yumegakure. With Manato probably closer to two. I can't ask you to do this."

"You're not asking." His eyes held unwavering conviction. Not unlike earlier when he told her his plan to seal the Kyuubi in Naruto. "And it won't take days. A couple of hours. An afternoon tops."

Sakura looked at him stunned. "You're going to teleport us there?" She asked him mostly as a joke. It was absurd and her tone conveyed that.

"Yes," he grinned at her.

She sputtered. "You're not making sense to me."

"You have chakra right? Lots of it? We can get there and back and you'll barely notice anything missing. I'll be efficient." He said with a great deal of confidence.

"Your plan is to teleport her with us?" Sakura rubbed her temples. The Kyuubi must have knocked something loose. This was not her level-headed, pragmatic Minato.

"She'll love it. Naruto does." He said flatly.

"Minato, this is crazy." She sat up. She could have been a little more careful with her word choice but she had a rough day.

"It's a creative solution to a difficult problem. Manato is too young to travel and too young to be away from you but you need to be there. And I want to be there. This is a major life moment. I need to meet her too." There was a glint of something in his eye. "It's important for me to be there for you, for her, and for myself."

"Minato," she felt her protests being killed by his admission and the look on his face.

"This is the way we can accomplish the goal of bringing her home," Minato explained calmly. "I can't do it alone and neither can you. But this way we can. It'll work."

Sakura pondered it. "I'll need to coordinate with the neighbor that is watching her." She pushed her lips to the side. "We'll need to file the paperwork for guardianship."

"We'll need to have another talk with Naruto." Minato continued to add to the list.

"We've been having a lot of those lately." She mused.

"Must mean we're getting better with all that practice." He grinned at her.

Sakura sighed deeply. "I guess we're going to Yumegakure."

"We're going to Yumegakure," he said with finality.

"There's just one little thing," Sakura's stomach dropped. She has completely forgotten the not-so-minor detail.

He moved the hair from the side of her face. "How little?"

"I'm not allowed to leave the village." Her punishment forbade it and she had agreed to it. They would throw her in jail if she left. She had lucked out with the Hyuga Clan not coming after her for her other violation. She did not think it was best to press her luck.

"You're not allowed to leave the village unsupervised." He corrected her. "You won't be unsupervised. I have that covered. There will be no other tag-along. I can assure you of that. You saved both the hospital and the village from beast bombs, not to mention you 'officially' helped seal the Kyuubi, all of that will earn you something. Don't worry about that. I'll talk to the Elders." His tone was full of annoyance. "And another thing it's completely ridiculous that they expect you to work for a whole year without pay. Docked pay is one thing but this is wrong not to mention in a legal gray area."

Sakura's lip pulled into a humorless smile. He was adorable when he got worked up.

"Koharu won't be happy," she rested her head against him. "She'll remind you that all this is a distraction and that it's keeping you from fulfilling your duties. She'll tell you I'm a distraction. And truth be told, she has a point."

His eyes narrowed. "All Hokage that came before me had wives. They all had children. I'm no exception. I can do my job as the Hokage and still be a decent husband and father. You don't have to come second every single time. You are not a distraction. You are not keeping me from my job. If anything you push me to be the best Hokage I can be."

"Even if that is the case, Minato, she'll make it her vendetta to make your life miserable, even more miserable than she already was." Sakura could not keep all the guilt from her voice.

"She can try," Minato's tone was nonplussed. "I'm not worried about her. And neither should you be."

Sakura gave his face a hard look. "You heard." She stated.

"I heard," he confirmed.

Sakura closed her eyes. "You didn't do something reckless right?"

"I was very composed." He traced the curves of her face. "We had a productive conversation. We reached an understanding."

"Okay," she did not need the details. Not today. Not right now. "Minato," her voice was small. "I'm sorry about Shisui." Her eyes were full of regret and guilt. "I should have sensed Naruto. It was not Shisui's responsibility. He -"

"It's not your fault. You were where you needed to be." He paused for composure. "He made his own choice," Minato's voice was harsher than what she was expecting. "Shisui saved Naruto's life," it physically pained him to get the sentence out of his throat.

"I know," she lowered her gaze from his face. "His poor mother."

"I know," he grappled with his own guilt. "I should have sensed him sooner before Naruto triggered the defense mechanism, I was in Sage Mode."

"Your priority was the village," she said tightly. "You did what you had to."

Minutes passed by as they both came to terms with the reality that their son was alone and almost died and there was nothing either of them could do about it. They had both failed to protect him.

"It won't happen again, Sakura." Minato held her tighter.

Her blood had run completely cold when she learned from Kakashi that Spider had tried to take Naruto from Wolf. She tried not to think about what would have happened if Spider took Manato before her chakra came back. Things could have been so, so different if Sarina had not gone into shock from being able to successfully resuscitate Manato.

"I know," she inhaled slowly. "It can't happen again. With any of our children."

"It won't." He said through a clenched jaw.

She rubbed her face. "Kami, Yakumo," Sakura said sadly. "She's going to need a lot of support. Rin, Shizune, and Tsunade-sama can handle the hospital. But I owe it to Yakumo to be there for her at the clinic. It's my responsibility." She smiled apologetically. "I can't take leave."

"I know," he nodded his head curtly. He saw it coming. "Kids are resilient. She has her parents. She has her teachers. She has her friends. She has you. She'll make it through this." Minato believed every word. "She's strong like her clan, like her parents.

"Hm," Sakura hummed in agreement. After all, they had offered up their home to the clan whose eyes caused their only child so much anguish. She did not know if she could have done such a thing.

"The Kazekage's request for a resource for their clinics will have to wait."

"That's the right call. We need Mai here." The two of them had a lot of on-the-job training to give to all three of the top candidates. Something told Sakura they would need all the hands they could get.

Her emerald eyes bore into his. Work was going to be the most demanding it had been in years, going all the way back to when she first started to plan the clinic. What they had before in terms of a system was broken. It was dead. It was not going to work for them anymore.

"I'm going to be leaning on you more. I know the timing isn't great with everything you have to deal with in terms of the fallout and I'm sorry about that. But with all the changes that are coming our way, I'm going to need your help. With the house and the kids."

"I can do that. I'll pull my weight. I'll pick up the slack. Whatever you need. Whatever the kids need. For as long as you want." He said firmly.

"Okay." She saw nothing but honesty in his features. She was not worried about him. She wholeheartedly believed in him. He was always good at anticipating needs. She knew he could handle the added mental load of the kids and the household.

She lowered her head back down. Her world started to spin slightly. She felt the pressure build up behind her eyes. She listened to the sound of his steady heartbeat. Sakura yawned into the back of her hand. She stubbornly fought back against the pull of sleep.

Minato sighed. "Try to get some sleep, Sakura."

"I'm not tired." She said a little too fast to be true.

"I'll wake you before it gets bad if Manato doesn't wake you first," he promised solemnly.

It was a tempting offer. She struggled to keep her eyes open once he started to trace circles down the length of her arm.

"Just for a minute," she said sleepily. She sighed in contentment as she felt his lips on her forehead first then on the corner of her mouth.

"Everything will be okay," his voice was barely audible. "I promise."

"Goodnight," she muttered sleepily.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He pulled the covers around her.

Sakura was halfway to being asleep when her eyes fluttered open. Sakura and Minato both pushed up onto their elbows just in time to see the door slowly open. A pair of timid blue eyes stared at them. His hand did not leave the doorknob. He made shapes on the floor with his foot.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked in a quiet voice.

"I know that I'm big now. I'm five so I'm really not a baby anymore." Naruto prefaced his response. Sakura bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling at his very, very serious expression. "But can I sleep with you, Mama and Dada?" He spoke low enough that Manato was not stirred from his slumber.

Sakura and Minato exchanged a look, the same soft smile broke out across their faces simultaneously.

"Of course, Naruto." Sakura beckoned him to them.

Naruto grinned. He clutched his blanket in his hands as he all but ran to the bed. He climbed over Minato and came to settle right between them. They both moved closer to envelop him. It did not take long for his breathing to deepen. It did not take long from then for Sakura's breathing to follow. Mother and son donned matching smiles as they slept.

Neither had so much as stirred when Minato rose from the bed in a couple of hours to change a fussing Manato's diaper.

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A/N: Hello Readers. Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. It was a long one. Way longer than I thought. I guess I have no impulse control. Just two more chapters left. They will be chock full of cute little family moments amongst other things. Please take a moment to share your thoughts if it's not too much to ask. Until next time! 3