Hello,

It has been a very long time sine I last uploaded anything - very sorry for that, however personal life happened, and last year for very trying emotionally and psyhologically for my family.

As everything seems to be better now, I found some inspiration to write new chapter. I hope it is fine and up to your liking.

Have a good read!

The tension in the room was quite suffocating. Natsu hadn't felt so uncomfortable for a long time - she was twitching nervously in front of her mother when she was in the early teenage years.

Akiyama Areksu was a strong and independent woman, who, even after giving up her jounin carrier to raise her two children, was still respected and liked amongst both shinobis and civilians. She was also a force of nature that hold no mercy against the ones opposing her. No exception for her own blood and genes, mind you. If Natsu or her brother were brats in her house and ignored appointed rules, they had it coming. Usually by a monstrous training imposed by their mother, after which they were not able to move their muscles. And yet, she still looked fresh when she was done with them.

Natsu nervously twirled the cup of green tea in her hand, waiting for her mother to speak. She had summarized her the entire situation, from meeting with Naruto for the first time, through the Hokage's interaction and the orphanage visit. After that, her mother was silent, calculating what she had just heard in the head.

"I planned on visiting you after we finished shopping." Natsu finally broke the silence, deciding that she can no longer deal with it. "However, I was not expecting it to be so... exhausting and nerve wrecking. Naruto fall asleep, and I didn't want to overstrain him with more excitements."

Areksu looked at her for a moment longer while sipping her tea.

"You received a backlash from the villagers, didn't you?" she finally asked.

"Quite strong one. Though it was not directed at me, they would no risk going against jounin." she admitted, deep frown on her face. "They fully presented their dislike to Naruto instead."

"They will eventually. Go against jounin." Areksu clarified after seeing her daughter questioning look. "Either in drunken stupor or moment of blind courage, they will try to harm the kid, no matter whether you are present or not."

"I think I am pretty capable of taking on a few drunk civilians."

"Quantity sometimes overcome the quality." her mother replied, her green eyes, the same as her daughter's, still watching Natsu. "You still will need to go on missions, some longer, some shorter. You will be gone for days, maybe weeks. What will happen with the kid then?"

Natsu dreaded that question, as she had no answer to it yet. There was no babysitting arrangements made, leaving Naruto with her civilians friends was not an option, as they would not provide him with suitable protection when needed. For now she was planning to take few weeks off, as long as her financial status will allow her, to let the kid accustomed to his new environment and her presence, as well as to establish some sort of habits for their new arrangement.

"... I will figure that out." she answered and seeing a raised brow, she added. "I am not the only guardian appointed to the kid. Hatake Kakashi was listed as the second one."

Areksu's brow raised up and her eyes took on a calculated look again.

"So Sarutobi took an additional precaution with the kid's future. I wouldn't expect Hatake to agree to that." she admitted, looking a bit surprised.

"He did, probably on Hokage insisting, but still. He is listed as male guardian of Naruto." she shrugged her shoulder.

Areksu looked ready to grill her daughter for a bit more about the subject of babysitting and guardianship, but she let that go for now.

She was quite angry and irritated after finding out, from the orphanage matron herself, that her daughter suddenly went and adopted a child, and not a normal child, but the Kyubii container. She didn't honestly cared that Naruto was the chosen boy, but the fact that Natsu did not reach out to her was irking her. She knew that her daughter was stubborn and often closed to others, reacting with dark humor or sarcasm when she was in binding situation, however she was not expecting her to take such responsibility in the age of eighteen.

Well, children often surprises their mothers.

"Did you think it through?"

"No"

Areksu did not know whether to hit her daughter, laugh at her bluntness or despair over her stupidity.

"Your decision influences every member of our family." she said instead. "Me, your father, grandmother, brother. We all will be judged and perceived through the decision you made. I need to know that it is not your whim and you are going to stand with the choices you made."

Natsu suddenly looked up from her cup of tea with steeled eyes and set up expression on her face. Areksu was surprised, though she did not show it. She had never seen the expression on her daughter face, as she never witnessed her actions on battlefield, but she suspected it was the face her opponents must have seen.

"When we were growing up, you always told us to not judge the people, place nor objects through other people eyes. To not let the others opinions cloud over our own. Father always told us that we will decipher more from watching someone's actions and decisions than from looking at their looks or attire. On the night I bumped on Naruto, I didn't see the Kyubii container and did not consider him to be the monster he is holding inside of himself. I have seen the barely four year old kid who suffered immense hatred and was abandoned the way no child should ever experience it. And you taught us to never walk away from any difficulties and responsibility that come across our way."

Natsu stopped for a moment, but Areksu did not interrupt her.

"I decided to give the happy childhood, as much as I will be able at least, to a child who is trusting, naive and sweet in nature. The same memories and experience I was lucky enough to get when I was growing up. And yes, my decision was mostly influenced by the Hokage's order, but I am going to stand by it. With or without your help."

She may pull a strong facade, but inside she was freaking out. She was not an idiot and knew perfectly well she would be totally and utterly helpless without her parents' support.

Well, she got the stubbornness from her mother and teacher, so it seems.

For a longer moment, green eyes clashed with green eyes and no word was exchanged.

Suddenly, Areksu stood up and straightened her clothes.

"Very well. I will see both on you for dinner tomorrow."

Natsu blinked at her owlishly, trying to grasp the sudden change of subject and demeanor. Areksu smirked at her.

"I need to meet my new grandson. I also had to restrain your grandmother from coming with me, so come prepared."

There was a huge relief coming over Natsu. She was scared all day about her family reaction. She did not expect them to be openly hostile towards Naruto, but as all of them did lose some friends to the attack, some close some not, she was not sure what their reaction was going to be.

In a rare moment of weakness, she stood up and hugged her mother, to the surprise of older woman.

"Thank you."

She whispered, before letting her go and hiding her hands in pockets, as if nothing happened.

Areksu smiled to herself, watching the young woman before her. She raised her children to be tough and not wear their emotions on sleeve, so such affectionate moments were pretty rare and only showed how much insecure Natsu was about the entire development.

"In the future, I want to know beforehand about more additions to the family."

"... I am not planning to add any more." Natsu answered with a raised eyebrow.

"We will see."

Natsu decided to not grace her mother with any more answer, only the dubious look, and her mother exited the small apartment with a quiet laugh.

She had a feeling that the dinner will be an interesting affair.

Once her mother left, Natsu dropped on the sofa with her eyes closed. She seriously hated emotional situation and usually tried to keep away from them, even if they concerned her.

It was a tiring day for her as well. She still was grasping the idea of all new responsibilities she signed up to. She knew it was a bit out of character for her and she will have to explain the situation few more times to her friends and the rest of family. She groaned, already thinking about meeting with Kurenai the next day. Good think they were meeting in her apartment, she won't need to stress about taking Naruto out... yet.

She opened her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek while thinking. She was not going to keep the child holed up in her apartment for the rest of his life. It would be not fair to Naruto and definitely not healthy. She could envision the looks of terror of the other parents when they would go the playground for the first time... But did she care about it?

Naruto was Konoha citizen and growing child, he deserved as much freedom as other children.

So no, she did not care. It was her role as a guardian to ensure the best growing environment to Naruto, so screw the others.

She looked around the apartment, watching her equipment scattered around - there were a lot of kunais laying around from where she dropped them after cleaning. She sighed and run her hand through her hair. It will definitely need to be hidden. Her katana, thankfully, was placed on the hanger beyond the reach of the children, so it should be fine. Also all exploding tags, scrolls and other possibility health damaging and lethal equipment will need to stored in the childproof shelf, preferably with additional seal on it.

Also, she would need to acquire some children book, as she knew close to zero about child development and how it was supposed to look like. She would greatly base this knowledge on what she will be able to get from her mother's experience, starting tomorrow at dinner. She was not qualified enough at this stage to decipher, whether Naruto was growing up properly. He seemed a bit smaller from other children, but she remembered her mother saying once she was also a tiny child for her age, so maybe it was normal in some cases. If there will be something amiss, she will need to take required actions to correct it. She only hoped she will be able to make good decisions.

Natsu was also aware she will need to change her style of life.

She was not going out very often, but she went out for few drinks with other jounins from time to time. Now, she won't be able to just go whenever she wanted wherever she wanted. Everything will circle around her care now. Unless she will find a proper babysitter or discuss the sitting plan over with her parents, she will need to stay at home and take care of Naruto. She will not be able to return home drunk to the point of collapsing anymore - she knew Naruto had bad experience with drunkards, so seeing her such state may set some trauma in him.

She would also need to limit the amount of new people being invited in her life. She was not a fun of one-night stands, but she still was sexually active. Her relationships usually lasted up to few weeks before ending, usually on goods terms, as no promises were made on none of the sides. She considered it now. Before dating or letting any men in her life or bed, she will need to think twice.

Natsu sighed and shook her head. No sense in thinking it over now. She had her mother's tendency to over-think things and stress out about them beforehand. She will consider it when it comes her way.

Getting up from her coach, she grabbed her battle equipment and store it in the highest shelf she owned, hoping that Naruto won't get his hands on it.

She slowly opened the door to Naruto's new bedroom and peeked inside. The child was fast asleep, snoring slightly with his mouth open. She smiled to herself. She looked peaceful now, calm.

Slowly closing the door, she headed for a shower, to call the end of the day. Tomorrow is also going to be trying, she needed a lot of rest to be able to handle it.

Her eyes flew open when she heard light and muffled sobbing.

Blinking of her confusion and reminding herself that she is now not the only inhabitant of her apartment, she shot up from her bed as quietly as possible, with the kunai in her hand. She slept with one just next to her head, as possibly every shinobi out there.

She moved stealthy but quickly to the next bedroom. She did not feel any additional presence, aside from the Naruto's chakra signature, so she did not except any immediate or lethal threat. However, it was still better to remain cautious.

She opened the door with kunai ready to strike. Quickly looking around the room, she saw no one there, so she disposed the weapon before closing to the bed where the small figure was curled around himself. She kneeled next to it.

"Naruto." she whispered quietly, not wanting to scare the child more.

She did not what frightened him to cry.

She watched with furrowed brow as the child curled tighter around himself hiding his face more into the pillow.

"Naruto, you are safe." she continued, trying to calm him and make him react positively to her. "It's me, Natsu."

The sobbing did not stop and he still did not uncurled himself from his fetal position.

"Can you please tell me what happened?" she still tried, wandering if she could touch him or if it would scare him more. " I want to help you, sweetheart, but I need to know what is wrong." she rationalized with him, but it did not help in any way.

She waited a bit more for any reaction, but the sobbing continued. She tried to change her position, but when she supported her hand on the mattress, it came in contact with something wet.

She went still for a moment, analyzing the situation.

"Naruto, did you wet the bed?" she asked finally, moving the covers a bit, so she could see the wet mark on the bedsheet.

Her question resulted in louder sobbing and shaking of the small body before her.

"I...I... sorry..." She could hear muffled hiccups, barely audible because of the pillows. "I... I... it was accident!"

The child was seriously terrified by what happened, as if he was expecting severe punishment for it. Which, as Natsu wandered about it, must have happened in the past, considering the reaction.

She gulped down her hesitance over touch wetted mattress and sit down next to the child ignoring his stiff position. She had to show him that it was not as serious as he thought and that she was not going to hurt him or punish him in any way.

"Naruto, that is fine, nothing happened." she said, reaching her hand out and lightly stroking his hair, hoping it will calm him. "Accidents happen, you don't need to stress over it. I am not mad. We will just clean you up and change the sheets, it will be fine."

The sobbing continued, but Naruto was no longer so curled as before.

Natsu waited for a moment, before saying.

"You know, I have an older brother. He is a jounin, like me. You will have the not-so-pleasure meeting him tomorrow, probably." she muttered the last part under her breath. "I looked up to him, in a way, when I was growing up. He always seemed so strong, and when he started academy, I was awed, because he seemed pretty grown up, as a student. But you want to know a secret?" she asked and waited until one blue eyes peeked at her. "You can't tell anyone, though, otherwise he may kill me." the eye blinked at her, so she continued. "he also wetted a bed, it even happened to him once after he joined the academy." she said in stage whisper, as if she shared a biggest secret in history.

It probably was, because her bother would skew her alive if anyone discovered it.

"He did?" Naruto whispered shocked, putting his attention fully to her now.

She high-fived herself in her head, while nodding to him.

"He did. But he still get over it and became a strong jounin. Every child has such accidents from time to time, I am not going to get mad about it." she ensured him, still stroking his hair. " But now you need to get up from the bed, so we can clean you up, all right?"

He watched her for a moment with scared eyes.

"You won't hit me?" he asked suddenly not sure of himself.

Natsu gritted her teeth, making sure her anger won't show on her face. She did not want Naruto to think it directed on him. She was angry on the matron, hoping that the woman would not cross her path in long time.

"No, sweetheart, I won't. I am going to make sure you are just cleaned." she confirmed, standing up from bed.

She waited until Naruto run this over through his head, not wanting to rush him. Finally he sit up and slowly get up from the bed. For a moment he just stood there, before extending one hand to her with uncertain eyes, while the thumb of the other hand went to his mouth.

She smiled at him and took his, before leading him to the bathroom.

"Now, you need to take this wet pants off and we will change you into proper pajama." she continued speaking, not wanting there to be much silence. "You were so strongly asleep when we returned, that I did not want to wake you up. But, that was the last time, mister, as we are going to implement daily bath rule starting tomorrow, understood?" she asked sternly, but smiled at him, watching as he nodded his head.

He was still watching her with big, scared eyes.

She quickly filled the tub with the water, making sure it was not too hot.

"Good. Now, I am going to grab you change of clothes. Wait here."

She quickly went to the new clothes they had acquired few hours before and fished the new frog printed pajama Naruto chose in one of the shop. She was congratulating herself on the decision to buy a few of them, as it seems there will be a need of them. She also grabbed a few cosmetics they bought him.

She returned to the bathroom and saw that Naruto was standing there ready for a shower, stopping from one feet to the other nervously.

Natsu dropped the items she was holding on the nearest cabinet.

"All right, big guy, to the tub with you." she said before picking him up under armpits and putting slowly in the tub. "Are you able to wash yourself alone?" he nodded his head. "Good. Here is a bath gel for you and some shampoo. It seems like it is super bubbling, so it is going to be fun." she read the label, before putting some gel into the tub and adding water, so it could make more bubbles.

Naruto watched with wide eyes.

Natsu smiled at him.

"Are you sure you will be fine?" she asked and he looked at her, his eyes shining again.

"Of course, nee-chan! I am big guy!"

She smiled wider, seeing as his humor was back. He rebounded very quickly once he was sure that there was no harm to be done to him.

"All right, I will be right next here, so just tell me when you need help."

He nodded, before starting to have his fun with bubbles.

Natsu yawned, she still felt tired, as her sleeping routine was interrupted.

It wasn't long until Naruto required her help, as the shampoo got to his eyes.

The entire procedure took almost an hour, as Naruto was fascinated with the bubbles and did everything to prolong the experience. After confirming it a few times that yes, the bubbles will be included in the next bath and yes, she will make sure the shampoo won't get into his eyes, he left the tub with one happy blow to the bubbles.

By the time she was able to put him into his new pajama, he was rubbing his eyes and swaying on his feet.

Once he was fully dried and dresses, Natsu picked him up, smiling at the way he dropped his head on her shoulder.

"Ok, now, it seems you are going to sleep in my bed today, all right?" he nodded tiredly, his eyes already closed.

Natsu put him down and covered him and it wasn't long before he was asleep again.

She waited a moment longer to ensure that he was fully asleep, before going to his bedroom and removing the wetted sheets. She disposed them in the bathroom, before returning to bed for much needed sleep.