Chapter Thirty-Two

Minato pushed his baby daughter along in her stroller on the lovely late June afternoon. God, two years old! It feels like just yesterday I was pushing Naruto in this stroller! Minato smiled at the precious memories of spending time with his children. He had taken the day off teaching to be with his little girl on her birthday. Later, they would have dinner at home with Kushina, Konohamaru, and Naruto – a rare treat that the family would have dinner together.

As Minato walked through Senju Park, the stroller's other occupant, the black cat named Luna, groaned as Akane snuggled her tightly. Naruto had always wanted a dog or cat, and Minato made every excuse to get out of pet detail. Now he felt a bit guilty at having been so resistant. While Naruto's childhood had been a happy one, Minato had no illusions about having missed huge portions of it due to being Hokage. Now that he was no longer Hokage, Minato had significantly more time to spend with Akane than he'd ever done with Naruto.

"Daddy, look!" Akane called out as a gentle swarm of butterflies took off from the nearby grass. His little girl clapped joyously. While Luna looked like she was hardly enjoying herself, she also did not take the opportunity to make a run for it like he'd expect her to. Perhaps they're more bonded than we thought!

Luna's hissing and growling suddenly froze Minato's blood. At first, he thought the cat had enough of Akane, but Luna's attention was to their left. Minato turned and saw two large men approaching. Both men wore dark business attire and blacked out sunglasses. While neither man sported features of the Uchiha Clan, it didn't take a genius to guess the two were connected. One man stood slightly talker than Minato, and the other roughly the same height. The taller man was built and sported close-cropped brown hair. The shorter man was still built enough to hint that he regularly trained, and he was completely bald.

"Afternoon, guys," Minato answered cheerful, hoping not to make Akane worried or cry. On a deeper level, bruisers were frequently unnerved by someone greeting them in friendship versus fear.

"Lord Minato, we've come to talk," the tall man said.

"You catch me at a disadvantage," Minato gestured to his daughter and smiled, "It's my baby girl's birthday. I'm not taking business meetings today."

Both men fidgeted slightly, they weren't used to threatening someone who had caused whole armies to flee on sight. The shorter man spoke next, "Lord Minato, it is out of respected that our employer has sent us here on neutral ground." Out of respect that they didn't just kick in the front door of our house.

"And I'm assuming your employers are members of the Uchiha Clan," Minato raised a hand to cut off their protests, "Don't bother denying it; just deliver your message."

The two men exchanged stony looks; the muscles twitching in the men's necks suggested they were both agitated by the situation. "Lord Fourth, we know your son knows where Sasuke went," the larger man started.

"And I am not pressuring my son to give him up," Minato cut the man off.

"Lord Fourth," the shorter man cut in, "the Uchiha Clan sent us as messengers. They respect you and your family. But know if you refuse to help them, they will not guarantee the safety of your son or your loved ones."

"You can return this message," Minato was unmoved, "Whole armies were ordered to run from me on sight. If so much as a hair is put out of place on any member of my family, there won't be anywhere far enough for them or anyone taking orders from them to run." He stared at both men long and hard before returning a smile to his face, "Please, deliver them that message." Minato smirked as his other wartime monikers as the Smiling Bandit and the Grinning Bastard came to the surface.

Both men turned ashen and turned a nervous glare at the other. "It might be a bit late for that," the larger one said.

Panic and adrenaline hit Minato, "One moment," he teleported to the Hokage's office, thankfully with Kushina and Kakashi present. "I'll be right back!" he said apologetic as he left Akane and Luna and teleported back to the park where he'd been. "Explain!" he drew a kunai and stared at both men with an intensity that could set them ablaze. "Don't even think of making a run for it; I have every inch of this park marked. You won't get ten paces before I cut you down!"

"The one that hired us, he sent another group to rough up that kid from the Sarutobi Clan," The large man sweated bullets as he answered.

Konohamaru! "Who hired you!"

"We don't know, he wore a mask!" The larger man answered. "He was definitely an Uchiha."

You don't have time to beat it out of both of them! Get to your son! "Disappear," Minato ordered, "and if I see either of you again, you will not wake up the following morning!" Minato teleported away to the seal he'd marked on Konohamaru's.


Sakura scrubbed away dirt and dead skin as best as she could under the small waterfall. It had been nearly a month since she'd been able to take a proper shower or bath indoors – instead settling for bathing in lakes and streams. The water was cold, despite being the end of June. This particular river was fed by snowmelt from a nearby mountain on the border with Kumokagure – even in the heat of summer, the water chilled her to the bone as she washed up.

As Sakura ran her fingers through her hair and massaged her scalp, a low voice near her left ear nearly caused her toe shriek, "Sakura!" Her eyes shot open to see Sasuke standing beside her, fully dressed. Before she could say anything, his hand covered her mouth, and he brought his other finger to his mouth in a shushing motion. "Keep quiet, dry off, and get dressed as fast as you can! We're being followed!"

Adrenaline sent her heart into overdrive, and Sakura darted from the stream of falling water, uncaring about her complete exposure. She ran naked to her things, frantically toweled off, and pulled on her red top and khaki capris – hardly stealth gear. As she got dressed, Sasuke eyed the bluffs above them intently. Sakura had just finished getting her shoes on when she heard someone in the distance say, "This way, I can see their tracks!"

"Run!" Sasuke whispered as they darted into the woods, dodging between trees as they ran. Great, there goes my change of clothes, our food, out tent! Sakura thanked her paranoia as she ran. She still had her medical kit and she still had the envelope with most of their money. Sasuke hopefully had the rest.

"There they are; I see them!" voices called from behind.

Sasuke snatched her wrist and dragged her off and to the right through the woods. Panic overwhelmed her, "Sasuke, it's a dead end up ahead!" The woods around them gave way to a rocky ledge overlooking a churning river.

He turned back frantically, but turned his attention back to the river. "No choice!"

Despite every instinct not to, Sakura took several steps back, ran up to the ledge and leaped out into the open air. Sasuke followed her over the edge. Gravity took hold, and the pit of Sakura's stomach rose up her throat as she fell maybe a dozen meters. Cold water hit like a brick wall, taking Sakura back to their water survival final exam back at the academy. Kakashi had cooled the water to just above freezing by the time her group had gone. Here and now, the water stung like a thousand icy knives as she crawled her way to the surface. You abandoned your friends then; you're not doing it now!

As she heaved in at the surface, Sakura scanned desperately of Sasuke, finding him already ahead of her and flowing down with the current. Her limbs moved stiff as modeling clay as legs and arms found her commands. It only took a few seconds to reach Sasuke, but it might as well been hours. This was snowmelt they were swimming in, fresh by the feel of it. If they stayed in the water too long, they'd die of hypothermia in the middle of summer.

Sakura hooked one arm around his shoulders, and he did likewise with her. She leaned them back, putting them feet-first to the river. "We use our arms to steer!" she called out, "Don't try swimming against the current; just let it carry us!"

The water churned in a sea of foam, but thankfully, they were not in heavy rapids. Even still, the current was relentless, pushing them along much faster than they could have run. Sakura began looking ahead for anywhere to steer towards that might bring them back to land. If you don't get out of the water soon, you can take your pick of hypothermia, going over a waterfall, or drowning in rapids. The unsetting thought competed with the worsening loss of sensation in her extremities.

Sasuke began steering them around a set of rocks, approaching a shallow area along the river bank ahead. Sakura assisted best as she could, feeling the assuring, if painful, sensation of scraping bottom with her legs and butt. As they ground to a stop, they took to hands and knees, crawling out of the river current until they reached dry land.

Sakura sprawled out on the gritty sand and dirt along the river's edge. Thanfully the sun was out for the moment, and the air at this altitude was at least temperate. Nevertheless, she shivered as heat evaporated off her body through her soaked clothing. "Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, breathless.

"I'll live," she sighed as she shivered. A quick check revealed that she still had her medical kit and the money they'd been given.

Sasuke pulled out a map from his pocket, scrutinizing it for several minutes. "There is village not too far from here; we can reach it by nightfall."

"Any hope that our pursuers gave up on us?"

He shook his head, "I wish, but if they can track us in this terrain, we'd be assume they could still track us. We should spend the night in town and leave immediately by morning."

"In town, as in, at an inn?"

"Preferably," he said as he offered he a hand. She took it and stood up.

"You mean we get to spend the night indoors, in a bed?" she asked.

"Assuming we can find one."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for!" she said excitedly as she dragged him along their way.


Konohamaru reveled in how far he'd come in just one month of no wheelchair. He still walked with metal canes in each hand for balance, but he was walking with increasing certainty. "You're keeping pace a lot better," Hanabi spoke beside him. She was dressed in black scrubs, much like Hinata had worn throughout her own medical-nin training. While far from revealing, the scrubs did compliment her body quite nicely. Her normally long, flowing hair was tamed into two braids down to her shoulders.

"Well, I had a lot of help," he said as they walked along out of the market district and into a residential district. The area was much quieter than the busy market. Konhamaru stared at Hanabi as they walked along.

"What?" she asked, cheeks turning a slight shade of pink.

"Just admiring the view," he chuckled. "It's so much nicer seeing you from this angle and not from a chair."

"Neither of us is sixteen yet, Konohamaru, behave!" she scolded in her teasing voice.

"Just motivating myself for it," He winked. "By the time of the Iron Shinobi competition next year, we will be!"

"You are an outrageous horndog!" she laughed.

"I thought that is why you said you loved me!" he laughed in return.

She shook her head, giggling, "Somehow," she brought her hand to her forehead, "yes!"

"And that is what is keeping me moving forward!"

Her face went from playful annoyance to playful mischief. She brought her mouth to his ear, "Tell you what," her words in his ear made his heart thunder and pants tighten, "win that competition next year, and I'll give you a first time you'll never forget!" She stood back, stuck out her tongue, and hurriedly walked off. "Catch me if you can!" She walked briskly enough to stay out of his reach while giving a slight shake of her hips. I never realized what fine assets she has!

Konohamaru summoned his legs to carry him, still relying on his canes for balance as he hurried along. Hanabi kept herself just far enough ahead to be beyond his grasp and just close enough to tease him. You're not getting away this time!

Teenage hormones were interrupted by the sudden presence of two dark figures standing in the roadway ahead of them. Even without knowing the men, their jet-black hair and sharp features betrayed that they were members of the Uchiha clan. Both men wore black jumpsuits and black sunglasses. As Hanabi and he came to a sudden halt, the clatter of boots on pavement from behind sounded. Konohamaru turned to see six other goons blocking their way out in any direction. "Lady Hyūga, you're free to go. This doesn't concern you. Our business is with him," One of the men in black sunglasses spoke.

Only two are Uchiha, the rest look like hired musce. Konohamaru might have considered it a challenge a year ago; however, he was keenly away that he was in no condition to defend himself. "Hanabi, run!" he ordered.

"Like hell!" Her Byakugan activated and she took a fighting stance. "You guys are going to have to go through me to get to him! Are you willing to risk a war with the Hyūga Clan?!"

"Will they risk a war with us over a disinherited princess who stuck her nose where it didn't belong?" The man to Hanabi's right lunged at her first, prompting her to dodge.

Konohamaru could feel the assailant behind him bearing down before the man struck. He grabbed the cane in his right hand and drove it backwards into the man's solar plexus, eliciting a guttural moan. Konohamaru's triumph was short lived as another man body-check him into the ground. Pavement split Konohamaru's chin and skin on his right hand and forearm.

The next sensation was a hard impact between his shoulders. "AHH!" he groaned. Another impact and he felt a sharp sting in his back. Right where I broke it last time! He didn't have time to panic as a firm hand dragged him upright by the hair. The man he'd hit with his cane swung the cane across Konohamaru's face – impact causing red stars in his vision. He tasted the familiar salty-coppery flavor of blood.

"Konohamaru!" Hanabi screamed as she took down one man, but three more piled onto her.

"Send a message," an authoritative man spoke above the group, "Break his hand!"

The man holding Konohamaru up threw him to the pavement again. There was a feeling of a boot on his right forearm, and Konohamaru saw the leader standing over him as his underling pressed the foot of Konohamaru's cane into the back of his hand, crushing his hand into the pavement. The man suddenly lifted up, and Konohamaru knew he'd have broken bones in as second.

"KEE-YAH!" a blinding flash came along with the sound of a heavy impact. Konohamaru looked up to see his adoptive father driving a heel kick into the man holding Konohamaru's cane. The man doubled over and dropped the cane, and Minato swung the cane into the man's face, causing his head to jerk violently.

Dad flashed out and teleported across to where Hanabi was, taking one of the three men attacking her. He grabbed the man by the hair, kicked out the man's leg, and pile-drove the man's face into the street. "HOLY SHIT, IT'S LORD FOURTH!" one of the men yelled. The group displayed half a braincell and took off running.

Dad was clearly not in a merciful mood. The men attacking Hanabi didn't get two steps before he head-bashed both men together, dropping them to the ground. The leader and two others got maybe ten meters before Minato chopped the first one in the side of the neck and swept the legs out of the next one. He then grabbed the leader of the group and pulled the man into him as he rammed the his knee into the man's stomach. "You like to hit little kids!" Minato grabbed the man by the collar and rammed his opposite fist into the man's face.

Konohamaru had only seen Lord Fourth angry a few times. This wasn't anger. This was something Konohamaru had never seen – rage, pure, unadulterated rage. Holy shit! Minato's cheeks were fiery red and his teeth gritted as he drove the man into the ground, folding him like a sheet of paper. Dad stood over the man with one foot on the man's right forearm. "You want to send a message? Well, here's one for you!" Minato pulled a kunai and threw the blade down through the man's palm, pinning the man's hand to the ground in a bloody mess. "The next Uchiha son of a bitch I see on the streets DIES!" Dad leaned in on the man's forearm with his full weight, his tone returning to a sinister caricature of his normally friendly voice: "Would you kindly pass that message on to your family?"

The man nodded, and Dad stepped off, walking toward Konohamaru. I've seen some creepy shit in my years, but if I never see that again, it will be too soon! Minato knelt down, "How about a hand, son, you look like you could use it." He extended a hand and Konohamaru took it, glad he was on the same side.

As Dad helped him up, Konohamaru felt another set of arms wrap him, "KONOHAMARU!" Hanabi sobbed as she clutched him.

He hobbled and turned, seeing her outfit torn and her lip bleeding, "Hanabi! Are you all right?!"

"I'm fine," she sighed, "but we should get you to the hospital."

"Make that both of you," Minato placed his hands on them and teleported them to the hospital courtyard. The next two hours were spent with Hanabi and Aunt Akemi checking every last inch of him head to toe. They poked, prodded, stuck him, and made him pee in a cup. He couldn't fault them after the ordeal they'd all gone through to heal him. Dad had briefly disappeared only to reappear with Akane and Naruto. "Hey sport, how goes?"

"Better than the last time some jerk landed me in the hospital," Konohamaru shrugged and laughed.

"Well," Akemi said, "Let's see how well you learned, Hanabi. Is it safe to release him?"

"His coma scale is basically nil, he shows no physical or neurologic deficit on exam," She flipped a page on his chart, "Blood and urine labs all look clean for any troubling signs such as rhabdomyolysis." Hanabi closed the chart and stared at her mom, "But all accounts, he is safe to discharge with standard emergency protocol."

"If you'd care to do the honors, Hanabi."

"Konohamaru," Hanabi spoke, "If you start developing severe headaches suddenly, begin getting a sensation of weakness, or start having worsening of you vision; please get yourself back here to the emergency room!"

"How come you aren't getting to sit here in the ER?" he asked Hanabi.

"I didn't get my ass kicked," she replied just as quick.

The response wasn't meant to sting, but stung it did. He opened his mouth to respond, but closed it just as fast. Before last December, you could have taken the lot by yourself. He stood up, eschewing use of the canes for balance. "Can I go training?"

Dad and Aunt Akemi both exchanged a shocked look. Akemi turned back to him first, "You got brutally assaulted and now you want to go training?"

"I'm feeling ornery!" He grinned, "Getting one's ass kicked by an Uchiha tends to do that. I might be channeling a bit of Lord Second right now!"

"Tell you what," Naruto said, gesturing for Dad to give him Akane, "How about we take a brisk walk with our baby sister tonight," he lifted her up on his shoulders. "And if you're feeling up for it tomorrow we'll see about some work with Rock Lee!"

Dad turned a skeptical look towards Naruto, "Rock Lee, really?!"

"He's not going to make us wear the green jumpsuits again, is he?" Konohamaru winced.

"Why not?" Hanabi gently punched him in the arm, "You look so handsome in it!"

"I do?"

"No, you just look silly!" Hanabi stuck her tongue out at him with a wink.

"I even hear he's made one for Akane if she joins us!" Naruto chuckled.

Dad cast a side-eye at Naruto, "Really?!" he shook his head.

"Unca Lee!" Akane clapped her hands.

"Sorry dad," Konohamaru said, "it looks like it's been decided."

"Just don't let her draw on thick eyebrows with a magic marker again!" Dad shook his head as he laughed.


Sasuke stood under the stream of hot water, scrubbing away weeks of accumulated dirt, grime, and dead skin. Even with regular refreshing in lakes and streams for over the past month, his hair was semi-matted, and his odor had lingered so long he almost was alarmed at it as he washed it away. The rental cabin might seem like a flophouse to most. For a poor bastard who'd spent the last month with nothing but a tent, it was the Grand Konoha Hotel.

The sound of a door opening and closing quickly caused his head to jerk toward the restroom's entrance. "I'm back with our supplies!" Sakura's heavenly voice calmed his racing heart.

"I'll be out in a minute!" he called.

"Don't bother, keep the water running!" she called back. After a few moments, she came through the door with her top halfway off. Sakura quickly discarded her bra, followed by her capris, and finally her panties. She pulled aside the curtain and stood next to him under the water. Down boy, she isn't trying to be sexy, not that she needs to try! "Gods, this feels so nice!" she began scrubbing her hair.

He took notice of her body as she casually stretched out under the flow of the water. Now is not the time to get a boner! You have to get ready to make a run for it tomorrow! Sasuke swallowed hard several times as Sakura turned about under the stream of water. "I can let you enjoy, privately, if you'd like."

"Sasuke," she opened her green eyes and stared, "Stay, please."

"Sakura," he placed a hand on her cheek, slowly massaging away a mask of dirt. You don't deserve this life, girl. I don't deserve you. He kept his words in check; she wasn't having any of it, and there was no point arguing. "I'll stay." She took her hand on her cheek. Wordlessly, he reached for the washcloth and the bar of soap. Sasuke took great care to scrub every inch of Sakura's skin from her toes to her chin. He gently dabbed her face until no speck of dirt remained, and then he took to washing her pink hair.

"You take such good care of me," she said, staring with her emerald eyes.

"Sakura, I…" he choked, "we need to clean our outfits and trying and rest tonight."

"Sasuke, promise me—"

"Yes?"

"Promise me when this is all done, we'll take a real vacation together. No mercenaries, no bounty hunters," he could tell there were tears mixing with the rain of the shower. "Promise me there is something to us beyond this!"

He again placed his hand at her cheek, "I promise." He brought the hand away from her cheek and tapped her forehead with his fingers the way Itachi had done with him when they were young. He shut off the water and grabbed each of them a towel. As they stepped out, he grabbed the pile of their dirty clothes, set them in the tub, and turned the water back on.

Sakura meanwhile left for the cabin's small kitchen. Sasuke washed everything he could as best as he could and hung clothing wherever he could – towel bars, the shower curtain rod – in hopes of drying them in the next few hours. Dourness overcame him again as he stepped out into the main room of the cabin, seeing two new backpacks and several bags of food. Sakura stood over the stove, wearing just a white towel as she cooked a pot of ramen. "Sakura, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," her protest did nothing to hide the fact that she was using her free hand to press on her stomach. Three days into their exile, Sakura had had a serious episode of stomach upset. After a month of living on nothing but canned and preserved food, she was dealing with chronic headaches and stomach problems. He wasn't much better. Survival food usually was high in salt and low on fiber.

"Liar," he said, moving to stand beside her. "You're sick again?"

"You mean, still," she said. "I miss real food."

Sasuke almost took the opportunity to ask her to go back to Konoha, but he thought better of it. She'd take it as an insult, and he wasn't sure if he actually could survive out here alone. The stress of the past month hit them both hard; he couldn't imagine being hunted like a wild animal without her to keep him going. "I do, too, love." He placed his hand over the hand on her stomach. "Sakura?"

"Yes, love," she turned to look into his eyes.

"When we get back, let's get married, no waiting, no ceremony."

"Are you sure?" she asked incredulous.

"Sakura, if this misadventure has taught me anything, it's this: I can't live without you in my life. I don't want the possibility nor the excuse of life happening to come between us ever again."

"Sasuke," she turned pink as she shut off the stovetop, "When we get back… well…" she tapped her fingers nervously, much like Hinata would.

"Go on," he said.

"Do you want to have children?" she asked with a nervous pitch to her voice.

The question was innocent and simple, and yet, it was profound. "You'd… let me if I did?"

"I've already let you more than a few times," she laughed and tapped his nose, "For real, though, are you wanting to have children?"

"After the screwed-up life I've had," he paused, searching his feelings, finding doubt replaced by assurance as he thought about Sakura having his child, "Yes."

"Yes?!" she seemed surprised.

"At some point, Sato and his baby sibling will need someone to play with," the words felt foreign but no longer caused him uncertainty, "And Naruto and Hinata will be having a child in the next two years. I think the next generation of their family will need ours."

"Okay," she said thoughtful. "Sasuke, there was something else." Her eyes sunk to the floor.

"I'm all ears."

"I'm…" she choked, turning pink.

"You are?" he asked, his heart rate slowly climbing.

"I'm pregnant," she said sullen.

"WHAT!?" Sasuke's heart jumped several beats.

"Sasuke," she pleaded, tears forming, "I didn't know how to tell you… we'd been so busy, I'd missed my appointment for a shot over a month ago!"

"How long?!" he asked in a panic. The first night he couldn't keep it in his pants. Your overactive libido has once again put both of you in danger!

"Before we left," she said sullenly, "That day at the restaurant, I was trying to find the courage to tell you."

"That long… you're already a month or two in?!"

"Ten weeks in two days… oh god! Sasuke, I'm so sorry!"

He took her by her hands, "Sakura… it… it's okay!" The world turned red as his Sharringan activated from nowhere. He could sense life, life beyond him and her. A cascade of emotion washed over Sasuke: fear, euphoria, anxiety, fulfillment. I'm… going to be a father! "It's okay!" he choked through tears.

"Sasuke…" she looked sullenly, "I can't go back to the village now…" She paused, eyes opening in fear, "If your clan found out!"

"We have to find somewhere safe for the two of you!" he cut her off. "We can't have a repeat of today! Had I known…"

"Sasuke… there is a place we can go. It's far, but I don't think our pursuers will follow once we get there!" she hadn't stopped crying.

"Where?!" he asked, desperate to protect mother and baby.

"Hachiōji Manor," she said with reluctance.

"Hachiōji Manor?" he recoiled in surprise, "That place is just a legend, a ghost story told around the campfire!"

"No," she shook her head, clearing tears, "It's real, very real!"

Sasuke gave her a skeptical look, "Explain."

"We stumbled on it on the way home from the Land of the Waves when we were all twelve," Sakura explained. "The locals avoided the area like the plague. The house was, in fact, haunted!"

"And you want to go there?!" Sasuke didn't know which made him more surprised: the fact that she was telling him a campfire story was real or that she wanted to go to one of the most horrifically haunted houses in the Land of Fire. He'd been near death too many times to not believe in ghosts.

"I said it was haunted," she raised a finger to correct him. "It's a long story," she explained, "Suffice to say it isn't haunted anymore, but we never told anyone that fact."

"You're… serious about all of this?" he asked, still not believing what she was hearing.

"No one in their right minds goes near the manor or the surrounding woods. It would be the perfect place to hide long-term."

You can't keep running like this. The strain is unhealthy for her and the baby. Do you really want to risk another jump off a cliff or over a waterfall? She can't now safely use chakra to protect herself, much less heal you if something happens. "Okay, where is this place?"

"South, near the border with the Land of the Waves."

"You realize we'll be moving throughout open plains a good part of the way," he said. No cover to hide in for the most part.

"Like the woods provided that much protection from being tracked?" she retorted. She's right, moving along heavily trafficked areas might make you more likely to be seen, but it will make tracking your moves much more difficult. "All right, I say we leave at first light, and try pushing our way there," he rubbed the stubble of a beard starting to form on his face. "I'll grow this out and try trimming my mop after we get out of this area."

"I'll try keeping my hair covered," she said, "And we should probably dress more civilian," she gestured to blue jeans, light windbreakers, and a few other nondescript bits of clothing.

Sasuke nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

"Sasuke…"

"Sakura," he raised his index finger, "I'm sorry we're in this mess, but I'm not sorry about us being parents…" He paused, "I mean, assuming you want to…"

"I'm happy to be the mother of your child," she cried. "Sasuke, I'm scared! Please, don't ever leave us!"

Sasuke took her in his arms, "I promise, I'm never leaving you! Never again!" Now you get the rest of your life to make good on that promise.


Author's notes: Hello everyone. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I thank your for reading. I apologize for this coming out a day later than usual, but the chapter needed major revisions, and I had to push several POVs to next chapter. I do have a couple of housekeeping notes:

1) As a preemptive trigger warning, the next few chapters are going to go some truly dark places. This was planned before what happened in November 2023, and the horrible events of that month have given me a frightful new insight into how devastating the events to follow can be. Please use your best discretion when reading.

2) Hachiōji Manor is based off a real place in Japan - a supposedly haunted castle ruin. This is a reference to a yet unwritten part of Critical Moments: Untold Tales.

3) For anyone following Critical Moments: Untold Tales, I posted a poll to my FFN profile about what tale you want to see next. For those wondering, Hachiōji Manor, is explained in Is Someone There? I'll keep the poll posted through February 2, 2024. Please, your feedback means a lot to me.

Otherwise, thank you again. Stay safe, stay healthy, and I'll see you next chapter.