Author's Note: This idea came to me after noting all the stories with a similar plot, but that weren't to my particular liking, i.e. Sakura gets pregnant by someone else and Naruto steps up to be the father. That got me thinking and then this little oneshot came to be.

This story takes into account the probably six months of filler that Naruto spent in the village after Sasuke's defection in the anime; of Naruto getting closer to Sakura.

Disclaimer: This is a work of FANfiction, made for no personal gain besides the satisfaction I get when someone enjoys reading my work.

"Speech."

'Thought.'

—

Beautiful Blessing

—

"Just a day ago you couldn't contain your excitement over the fact that we're almost home. Yet, now, you look like you're dreading stepping foot inside the village." Jiraiya spoke, watching as his disciple visibly paled, eyebrows furrowing in apprehension. "What's on your mind, gaki?"

Naruto took a moment to run an unsteady hand through his hair before replying, "I-I don't know w-what you're talking about, ero-sennin." he spoke shakily. The elder man merely leveled his gaze at him, to which he offered a nervous smile.

"Naruto, is the Kyūbi bothering you again?" Jiraiya questioned, voice low and eyes narrow.

"N-No, it's... uh, nothing."

"Naruto, I can tell something's troubling you. Why don't you tell me what it is? Chances are I know how to help."

Naruto was silent for a bit as they walked, contemplating whether or not he could confide his personal problem with his mentor. As much as he trusted and loved the man, he knew that the smut writer had a tendency to make fun of his problems if he thought they were silly.

"It's about S-Sakura-chan..."

Jiraiya couldn't help the lecherous grin than spread across his face. "Ohoho." he chuckled. "Girl troubles, eh?" He had expected Naruto to blush and tell him to forget it so when the boy gave an audible gulp and nodded, he couldn't help but let his grin disappear. "What is it; are you planning on telling her about your burden?"

Naruto's hand clutched over his abdomen. He hadn't even thought of that. Now his apprehension about reaching his home village doubled. He began to sweat profusely, suddenly feeling very hot. He tried to pull the zipper of his jacket down a bit in an attempt to ventilate himself only to find his palms too sweaty to get a good grip.

Watching his disciple wipe his hands on his jacket, Jiraiya couldn't help but grow Concerned for the young man. Putting a hand on the blond's shoulder, he stopped them. "Calm down, Naruto. I'm... sure she won't let something like that affect her friendship with you."

Thankfully his encouragement seemed to work, as the blond visibly calmed down but he still appeared troubled. "Thanks, ero-sennin, but that's not what's bothering me."

"Oh? Then what is?" Naruto again remained quiet for a while before he steeled himself.

"I didn't tell you, 'cause I know how you get," he glanced at the man as he began fumbling with his zipper again, "but... before we left... I... I kinda... huhsheckswihshukurashan."

"... What?" Jiraiya had not understood a word the boy had said, as he'd spoken through clenched teeth, and he still couldn't the five or six times he repeated himself afterwards. "Naruto, speak clearly!"

"I had sex with Sakura-chan!"

Well... That he had heard clearly.

"Oh! Oho! Ohoho!" Jiraiya's perverted giggles continued to grow until Naruto was sure every hot spring in Fire country knew he had returned. "So my little disciple got his girl before we even left! And all this time I thought you were being stubborn by not joining me at the brothels; you were just trying to remain faithful! And now you're shaking with anticipation to get back home and get another taste of your teammate!"

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto's voice cracked in the middle of his shouted protest. "See, this is why I didn't tell you before." he turned to continue walking towards their destination when Jiraiya stopped him.

"I'm sorry, gaki. What's on your mind then? You scared that all the time away might've made her move on?"

"No..." the blond paused to sigh. "You don't understand. Her feelings didn't suddenly switch from Sasuke to me..." his expression was downcast for a second before he shook his head. "When I told her I was leaving on this trip, she begged me to stay..."

—

"But why can't you stay?" Sakura whimpered as she clung to her only remaining teammate as if he was her last lifeline. And in a sense, to her adolescent mind, he was.

Naruto couldn't help but sigh as he rubbed the young rosette's back. He wished she would stop crying, he always felt as though his own heart was in pain whenever she cried and to know she was crying because of him made it even worse. But it couldn't be helped. He had a rogue organization out to capture him for what he contained, and he didn't want his precious people put in danger because of him. He had to leave; it wouldn't do anyone any good if he tried to learn how to control his tenant's chakra while remaining in the village.

This, however, he could not tell the girl crying into his shoulder. At least, not yet. So instead he mumbled something about how his mentor couldn't afford to give up his information gathering network. He was relieved when she accepted his lie since, in all honesty, he thought Jiraiya's 'spies' were nothing more than brothel workers the old pervert visited.

Still, the two young teens remained in their embrace for a while yet, not that Naruto was complaining. The girl of his dreams was hugging him like her life depended on it, something he had admitted to Jiraiya he would die happily afterwards if he could receive. Even though he knew she felt as strongly for their now wayward teammate as he did for her... No one would care if he closed his eyes and pretended.

When Naruto felt a soft pair of lips kiss the spot under his ear, he visibly stilled, but was too shocked to pull away. It wasn't until she had moved to trail kisses down his neck that he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away to arms length. He was about to scold her and ask her just what she thought she was doing when his words died in his throat.

The pure vulnerability and fear of rejection he saw in her eyes almost physically hurt. He knew it was wrong; he knew she wasn't in her right mind, possibly thinking her actions would convince him to stay, and that he shouldn't take advantage of her, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

He didn't want her to cry anymore.

Which is why instead of doing the smart thing when she leaned in to kiss him, he moved his hands from around her shoulders to wrap his arms around her back, kissing her back.

—

"After that things got... heated, fast." Naruto mumbled, a heavy blush burning on his face. He hadn't been able to look his mentor in the eyes about half way through his story, and had almost stopped when the old man began asking him to describe it better; to explain how her lips felt being the cleanest question he had asked.

'So it was essentially a pity fuck, on both their parts.' Jiraiya thought solemnly. "I take it you didn't stay to say goodbye afterwards?"

Naruto shook his head dejectedly. "Afterwards... I felt guilty. Like I took advantage of her." Naruto replied, looking down at his feet. "Plus I figured it would be harder to say goodbye after we did... that." The fact that he was scared to see her face when she woke up and regretted their coupling had also played a major factor into his decision to leave. He was a coward.

"And now, after leaving for almost three years..."

"I'm afraid she's going to hate me for having used her like that." Naruto finished, running his hand through his hair in apprehension. "L-Let's just keep traveling for a few more months, ero-sennin."

"Unfortunately, we can't do that." Jiraiya sighed. "I've taught you about as much as I can. And," he continued when he saw his disciple open his mouth to protest, "we're going to need some assistance if we want to get past four tails."

That stifled any argument the blond could think of. Begrudgingly, Naruto nodded, accepting that he could no longer run from the confrontation with his pink haired teammate.

—

"Is that?"

"I think so."

Naruto couldn't help but smile as he heard the familiar voices of Kotetsu and Izumo, the two Chūnin that had interfered with his last Chūnin exam. It felt good to be back.

As they continued to walk, he was bombarded by the amount of nostalgia he felt as he took in the village; so different yet exactly as he remembered.

"They added Tsunade-bā-chan's face to the mountain, eh?" Naruto commented after glancing at the legendary monument.

"Hrmm… It doesn't really do her justice, though." Jiraiya commented after a few seconds of scrutinizing the addition.

"What do ya mean; it looks just like her! The only thing it's missing are her giant breasts." Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes when his teacher snapped his fingers.

"That's it exactly. You've got a good eye, boy. It's nice to see my efforts the last few years haven't been for nothing." Jiraiya sniffed, wiping an imaginary tear off of the corner of his eye. "I"m so proud."

Naruto shook his head, chuckling at his teacher's antics. He turned the corner and almost ran into someone. His apology died in his throat, forgotten, as he looked down at the forest green eyes that had haunted his dreams for the past two and a half years.

"Sakura-chan..."

"Naruto."

"Oh, boy." Jiraiya muttered as he watched the two teens just stare at each other. He hadn't expected their reunion would occur so soon. Sure, he figured that, being Tsunade's student as well as his disciple's teammate, they would run into each other sooner or later—just not within five minutes of entering the village.

'Kami-sama, she's... beautiful.' Naruto thought as he took in just how much Sakura had grown.

He had passed her in height, by several centimeters, but she had filled out more than he would've ever thought. Her hips had widened ever so minutely, yet her waist had remained wonderfully slim, and he couldn't help but notice the pair of actual breasts on her chest. They weren't relatively big, just about big enough to confirm that she had breasts, but compared to the last time he'd seen her—he had to forcefully change his train of thought before he was lost in the three year old memory.

Her hair had grown to just past her shoulders, and her skin looked softer. Her face had thinned slightly, giving her an mature look. Her lips, he couldn't help but notice, appeared fuller, plumper, than they had three years ago.

He knew he had changed, gotten taller, lost a lot of his baby fat and maybe gotten slightly more tan than he used to be, but compared to the rose haired woman in front of him, Naruto felt like he was still a child.

Although Naruto felt like he could spend the rest of his life staring into the eyes of the girl-turned-woman he'd loved since he knew what the word meant, he was forced to snap out of his reverie as he heard someone clear their throat.

"Naruto. It's good to see you back." Tsunade spoke, a graceful smile forming on her elegant features. "I hope you two were on your way to my office to report your return." her gaze fell on Jiraiya as she spoke, resulting in an indignant, 'Hmpf.'

"I think I know protocol well enough, Tsunade-hime." Jiraiya responded before turning his gaze towards his student. "We'll meet you ladies there. Come, Naruto."

"Actually," Tsunade began when Naruto turned to follow his mentor, though not before the blond cast another look at her own student, "I need to discuss something with you, Jiraiya. Why don't we let our apprentices catch up?" the Godaime noticed the look her old teammate shot towards Sakura and decided to ease his thoughts. "Sakura, I understand there's something you wish to discuss with your teammate, but I ask that you leave that for after your test. For now, I need you two to report to your old training grounds."

"Hai, Tsunade-shishō." Sakura nodded, bowing slightly before the older woman walked away, Jiraiya following afterwards, albeit a bit hesitantly, leaving Sakura alone with her blond-haired teammate for the first time in two and a half years.

—

"Tsunade-hime, I don't know if you know what happened between them but I don't think it's wise to just leave them alone like that."

"Relax, Jiraiya. I know what happened but Sakura is an obedient girl. If I told her to leave the drama until afterwards, she'll be professional." Tsunade turned to glance at her old comrade over her shoulder. "I hope you've instilled the same discipline into your own disciple."

"He's still as brash as ever, I'm afraid." Jiraiya muttered before clearing his throat. "So what was it you wanted to discuss?"

Tsunade ceased her walking, remaining silent for a few seconds before turning towards her companion. "Due to certain events, I was forced to reveal Naruto's heritage to my apprentice."

"What?!" Jiraiya exclaimed, glaring at his Hokage. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Tsunade, having been expecting such a reaction, didn't even so much as flinch in the face of her friend's anger. "It couldn't be helped; their stupidity on the eve of your departure resulted in consequences that neither of them were, nor are, ready for."

What his leader was insinuating wasn't lost on the white-haired toad sage, but he still had to ask. "You don't mean..."

"Does Naruto know of his heritage, himself, or have you yet to inform him?"

"Of course I haven't told him yet!" Jiraiya replied, forgetting that his own question had been brushed aside. "We weren't supposed to tell him until he was either eighteen or made Jōnin; whichever came first."

"Well, seeing as how things were headed, I had no choice but to break that arrangement." Tsunade couldn't stave off the scowl that mired her otherwise pretty face when she thought back at how ignorant people could be. It made her ashamed to be Hokage, sometimes. "I'm asking you now, because it will come up during their talk; do you want to tell him before or afterwards?"

"I suppose there's no way the girl could keep it a secret for a few years?" he visibly recoiled away from the glare his former teammate shot at him. "Forget I suggested that." He sighed. "Tell your student to try to keep it hidden until tomorrow."

Tsunade's glare dissipated slightly but not entirely.

"Don't talk about her like that; she has a name."

—

Despite their time spent apart, and the obvious tension hanging over their heads, Naruto and Sakura managed to perform better as a team than anyone had thought they would.

No one had been more surprised by this than their old Jōnin sensei, Hatake Kakashi, who was conducting the exam to see whether or not they had improved enough over the course of their three years of training.

'I wish this wasn't a timed exercise. I would have declared them above expectations already.' Kakashi thought glumly, nursing his cracked rib as he hid.

His two formally cute little students had quickly fallen into a rhythm after the initial awkwardness on Naruto's part had subsided. Of course, even Kakashi had been shocked when the petite rosette had created a crater after punching the ground.

Unfortunately for the Jōnin, it wasn't long afterwards that the two teens began to get accustomed to how the other moved. Their attacks only became more and more coordinated as time passed.

Then there were Naruto's shadow clones, which had proven to be the bane of Kakashi's existence. He hadn't thought Naruto would've progressed so far with the forbidden jutsu in so little amount of time. Whenever he thought he had one of them, a clone would appear to either block his attack or be a stepping stone for their escape.

And Sakura was quickly learning to use the added distraction the clones provided to launch her own attacks. Most of her attacks had been easy enough to dodge thanks to the older Shinobi's experience, but she had gotten one good hit in when he was dealing with another squad of the blond's Kage Bunshin.

She had jumped at him while he was in the process of taking out a charging clone equipped with a Rasengan. Although he had managed to dodge taking the full brunt of the attack, the grazing touch had contained enough force to fracture his rib before he kicked the Kunoichi away and retreated once more.

That was the reason he was currently in hiding; he had to tend to his injury lest he wished to be overwhelmed by his students the next time they found him.

As he was rummaging through his equipment pouch, his hand bumped against the gift Naruto had given him and he struggled for a second to keep from whipping it out and reading it. With a sigh he pushed his desires away and reached for some first aid supplies.

—

"Heheheh. We beat you, Kaka-sensei." Naruto chuckled as he and Sakura held the proof of his statement in their hands; two silver bells, jingling on the end of their red string.

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh. "So you did. Who came up with that little tactic?"

"Naruto did. It really was an ingenious plan." Sakura commented, making Naruto blush from receiving such a compliment from the rosette.

"It wasn't that good of a plan." the blond rubbed the back of his neck, his blush intensifying when Sakura beamed at him.

"I guess you really have matured; I remember a boy who would boast about outsmarting a cat." Sakura giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Don't be so modest, Naruto. It was a great idea and you know it." Kakashi said from behind the cover of his new green book.

"The test is barely over and you're already reading that smut, Kaka-sensei?" Sakura spoke darkly, her eyes narrowed. Had Kakashi been looking over the top of his book, he'd have noticed the death glare his student was sending him. "Can't you wait until you get home?"

"Now, Sakura, it wouldn't be fair to let Naruto think I don't appreciate his gift. I'm simply reading it now so he can see just how much I enjoy it."

"Then what's your excuse for reading that around—"

"Sakura. Come with me." Tsunade's authoritative voice rang across the field, drawing everyone's attention to the two spectators in the tree nearest the three training posts.

"H-Hai, Tsunade-shishō." Sakura responded after a few seconds, walking over towards her mentor. As she neared, she was about to ask what her Hokage wanted when Jiraiya spoke.

"I understand that due to certain... circumstances, you were informed somewhat about Naruto's background." his gaze was firm as he spoke, as if gauging her character. Sakura nodded. "I assume you intend to speak with him about this?"

"It would be wrong not to; he has a right to know." Sakura replied, turning to glance at her teammate in question for a moment. The blond was busy pestering Kakashi until the Jōnin conked him over the head with his new book.

The toad Sannin studied her face for any sign of deception. When he found none, he sighed. "You two are a pair of idiots."

"Believe me, Jiraiya-sama, shishō has made that point quite clear." Sakura commented, watching a grin make its way onto her mentor's face.

"Wait until tomorrow evening;" Jiraiya requested as he glanced at his crouched disciple, "after I fill him in on his heritage. Then you can tell him."

"You mean you haven't told him?" Sakura gasped, wondering how they could keep such a secret from someone like Naruto. "You've been with him for two years. Why didn't you ever tell him?"

"Don't assume you know anything, girl. You don't know our reasons." With that Jiraiya decided their conversation was over and walked away.

"You are dismissed for the day, Sakura." Tsunade stated, drawing the rosette's attention. "Go home and spend time with your family."

Sakura allowed a small smile to tug on her lips. "Hai, Shishō."

—

"Why hasn't anyone ever told me about this?" Naruto snapped at his mentor, drawing the attention of the other occupants of the small teahouse they were currently in.

He was angry and understandably so. He had just been told who his parents were, and while one would think he'd be ecstatic, he had also been told that not only had those he trusted most known, literally, since he was born, they had just sat back and watched as he had grown up alone and abused.

The man sitting across from him sighed. "Calm down, Naruto."

"Don't tell me to calm down! You all knew and instead of telling me about my parents—that I had parents!—you let me believe that my parents had either abandoned me or, worse, that I was simply born to shoulder the hate of the villagers!

"Do you have any idea what that feels like? To walk home at the end of the day from the park, after seeing kids be led away by their parents and wonder where your parents are? Why they aren't there to pick you up from the park? Or school?"

"Settle down, Naru—"

"You wanna know why I even wanted to be Hokage? I wanted to be be recognized as the strongest not just so the villagers would finally have to respect me, but so that my parents, wherever they were, would hear about the son they had abandoned and regret ever having decided to get rid of me!"

"That's enough, Naruto." Jiraiya barked, causing the young blond to quiet down. "While I admit that your childhood was harder than most," Naruto snorted as if that was an understatement, "you aren't the only orphan to ever grow up thinking along those lines."

Naruto turned his head away in shame as he remembered that his master had also grown up orphaned and alone. That the aged Shinobi had also climbed to the top from rock bottom through blood and sweat and tears.

"I'm sorry..." Jiraiya raised his hand up to let the blond know that there was no need to apologize. "Why tell me now, though?"

"After your parents died, it was deemed that due to your father's infamy across the Shinobi Nations, as well as your own burden, you weren't supposed to be told of either until you were either eighteen or made the rank of Jōnin; whichever came first—"

"Are you telling me I've been promoted to Jōnin?" Naruto interrupted his teacher, leaning halfway over the table with stars in his eyes, his face full of hope and happiness.

"Sit down, baka, I never said that."

"But you just said I was to be told about my past when I turned eighteen or made Jōnin and since I'm not eighteen..." Naruto insinuated, his repeatedly rising eyebrows quickly getting on Jiraiya's nerves.

"And I was about to say, 'but' when you interrupted me." He deadpanned. "So as I was saying, you weren't supposed to be told until you either came of legal age or were strong enough to take care of yourself but due to an unexpected turn of events, I felt it was time you were told."

"What do you mean by, 'an unexpected turn of events'?" Naruto asked, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Jiraiya was quiet for a moment before he sighed.

"I... don't think it's my place to tell you." he stated, ignoring the look of further confusion on his student's face. "But you will find out soon enough."

—

Naruto grumbled as he walked out of the teahouse, inspecting his now empty frog wallet. Jiraiya had excused himself to go to the restroom after their conversation. The blond had thought nothing of it at first as five minutes went by, and then ten but when twenty minutes had passed and his mentor still hadn't returned he knew he had been ditched to pay the check.

"Stupid ero-sennin, always making me pay... I should stop going to restaurants with him." as he walked he couldn't help but think back on what the older man had said.

'He said that there was a reason he was telling me about my past even though it was too soon but he won't tell me what that reason was.' he tried to think of any possible reason on his own but he couldn't help how each of his possibilities led to childish daydreams. Shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts, his eyes lit up when he noticed a head of bright pink hair exit the store a few buildings down. "Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto?" the rosette turned, her green eyes taking in the form of her teammate in casual clothes for once. Sakura herself was also in civilian garb; a red short sleeve shirt and blue jeans. "What are you doing here?"

"Ero-sennin called me out to... talk about some stuff." For a second, the blond thought about telling her the subject of his conversation with his mentor, but in the end he opted against it after figuring she probably wouldn't care. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to buy some supplies to make dinner with." she replied, holding up her grocery bag full of ingredients. "So did you already meet with Jiraiya-sama or are you on your way there?"

"Nah. I already talked to him."

"Oh. Well that's good. I wouldn't want to keep you from meeting with your teacher." Sakura gave him a small smile that made his cheeks grow warm.

Silence fell upon them as they walked, though, thankfully, it was a comfortable silence. It gave Naruto hope that maybe she didn't resent him or regret what they had done.

"Naruto, I know this might be a little sudden but... are you doing anything later on?" Sakura's out of the blue question nearly made the blond choke on his spit.

"You-You mean like a date?"

Sakura put her hand on her chin and rolled her eyes in thought. "That depends; are you paying?"

Naruto's hands reflexively clenched at his sides. 'Fuck you, ero-sennin!' he mentally cursed his teacher, swearing that when next he saw the older man he'd kill him. "I-I can't—I paid for the bill when I met with ero-sennin. But maybe we could split it, just this once?"

Sakura giggled at how desperately her teammate was pleading. "Nuh uh." she laughed at the small whine he gave. "But seriously, I think we need to talk... about what happened."

"Oh." Naruto could almost feel the light atmosphere get its ass kicked by the heavier one that settled upon them. "Look, Sakura-chan, I—"

"Not now, Naruto. Not out here." The rosette silenced him with a finger to his lips. "We don't have to, but I'd really like it if we cleared everything up." she fidgeted under his intense stare but managed to avoid looking away.

"Okay, Sakura-chan." he agreed, bringing a grateful smile to the girl's face. With a few last details, mainly where Sakura lived so he could meet her, they split ways.

—

'Everything's gonna be fine. Everything's gonna be fine.' Naruto repeated in his head like a mantra as he walked towards his teammate's house later that evening.

Even knowing it wasn't a date, and that they'd be having a serious discussion about the dynamic of their friendship, he had spent quite a while getting ready. It would've taken him much less time if he hadn't spent half an hour trying to comb his hair down. A futile effort as his hair refused to be tamed.

Still, it wouldn't hurt his chances to look presentable for once.

After ten minutes of walking he reached the address the rosette had given him and, after taking a moment to shake off any nerves and insecurities, knocked on the door. A minute passed before he heard the doorknob click and the door opened.

Instantly, Naruto was glad he hadn't over dressed. Sakura stood before him wearing the same clothes she had been earlier. He himself was wearing a simple white shirt and a pair of orange shorts.

"Hey."

"Hi. Come on in."

As soon as Naruto was inside he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Sakura's apartment. It didn't look like the apartment of a typical fifteen year old girl. Then again, Naruto had no idea what a fifteen year old girl's home looked like. But, regardless, he figured Sakura wasn't a regular fifteen year old girl.

As clean as it was, Naruto couldn't get rid of the feeling that it wasn't usually like that. Plus it had an... odd smell. By no means was it unpleasant but he couldn't fully distinguish what it was.

"Sit down." Sakura ordered after a minute had passed and Naruto hadn't made a move to do so. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure." when Sakura returned with a couple of cups of water she sat down next to him on the couch. "So," Naruto began after taking a sip, "how've you been?"

"Good. Training with shishō was tough but I was determined to complete it. Now I work part time at the hospital." Sakura answered, leaning back on her small couch. "What about you?"

"Ero-sennin might be a super pervert but he's actually a pretty good teacher when he's not ditching me to go peep on women at hot springs." the blond chuckled.

"Sounds like you got to lounge around a lot while he wasn't there." Sakura commented raising an eyebrow when the blond shook his head.

"No, not really. Whenever he'd leave me, he'd show me a new jutsu and tell me to have it mastered by the time he came back. If I didn't, he turned into a real slave driver." He paused to chuckle real quick as he reminisced about his training trip. "Sometimes, I'd make a clone and have it use the Oroike no Jutsu to distract him long enough to let me catch my breath. Which wasn't long since he'd catch it quick and it would dispel even quicker out of fear of being molested by the old pervert. After a while I had to improve the technique just so it would stun him longer."

Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes at the blond's story. So he not only still used that perverted jutsu of his, but he'd even improved it. "I wish I'd have had a way to give myself instant breaks."

"I'm sure Sakura-chan didn't have any trouble learning anything Bā-chan taught her." Naruto teased, poking fun at how the rosette had always seemed to pick up new jutsu like a magnet.

"You'd be surprised with just how difficult medical ninjutsu really is." her jade eyes focused on her own cup as she spun it in her hands. "At one point, shishō told me that if I couldn't handle it I could quit and no one would think any less of me."

"I'm sure you surprised her with just how fast you refused that suggestion, right?" Naruto prodded, his light grin slipping off his face when the rosette remained quiet. "Sakura-chan?"

"Hmm? Oh. Well, to be honest… I almost did quit." she admitted with a sigh. "I had fallen behind in my training and I couldn't train for as long as I should have. I was starting to feel overwhelmed and so when Tsunade-shishō gave me a chance to quit... I was tempted to take it."

"Why were you having so much difficulty with the training, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked sincerely, turning to lean on her couch while facing her more. It was impossible to not notice the emotions in her eyes. Some were easy enough to distinguish, like determination but others were less so. "Bā-chan's training couldn't possibly have been that hard."

"It wasn't. Well, okay, it was but that wasn't the reason why I almost gave up." Sakura spoke as if she was having an internal battle with herself.

"Then what was?" The rosette remained quiet for a moment and it didn't seem like she would answer any time soon.

"Do you remember what happened the night before you left?" She suddenly asked, lifting her eyes to gaze directly into his. "Between us?"

"Of course I remember." Naruto immediately answered. "For the past two years I couldn't stop thinking about it—ah, not like that." he added when she shot him a look. "I mean, the whole time I was away, whenever I had a spare moment to myself, I would always think to what happened between us.

"I wondered if you had been angry to wake up in my bed, alone. If you were mad that I took advantage of your vulnerable state. If you regretted giving yourself to me when you clearly loved Sasuke."

"Naruto—"

He held up his hand for her to allow him to continue. "I wondered if you hated me. If the next time we met, you'd tell me you never wanted to see me again after what I did.

"More than once I was scared to return because I figured as long as I didn't, I could pretend nothing had changed between us. Convince myself that we were still friends because even if you don't care about me like you do Sasuke, I'm okay with that as long as we're still friends."

Sakura couldn't help herself as she wrapped her arms around her teammate and friend, burying her face in between his neck and shoulder and simply held him. It was reminiscent of how they'd held each other almost three years ago except this time it was different. This time she wasn't crying and begging him not to leave her like their other teammate had for she had already shed her last tear for the raven haired boy who had once held her heart.

They remained like that for a few minutes until Sakura pulled back and simply stared into his eyes, neither moving or saying a word.

And then Naruto winced and pulled back to rub his chest where Sakura had jabbed him with her finger.

"That's for leaving without saying good-bye." Sakura smirked as she watched her teammate gasp for air on her couch. "Now I can honestly say I'm not mad anymore." she got up and walked over to her kitchen area to set her cup on the table.

"S-So you... w-were mad!" Naruto wheezed, staring at the rosette through one eye.

"Of course I was upset, baka. You could've at least left a note. Do you know how angry and betrayed I felt?"

"I'm sorry. I was scared."

"And you think I wasn't? I woke up in a strange apartment and didn't remember whose it was until everything came back to me."

"I'm sorry."

"And then I find out from Ino—Ino!—that you'd already left. I was devastated, Naruto. I thought that even after I went farther to convince you to stay than I did Sasuke-kun, you had decided that it wasn't good enough."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing; I told you I'm not mad anymore." Sakura stated, walking to stand in front of the blond teen. "After all was said and done, what you gave me far outweighed my anger at you."

"What I gave you?" Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. Sakura merely smiled at him and grabbed his hand in her own smaller one.

"Come with me." was all she said as she led him down the small hallway connected to the living room, leading to a lone door. For a second the blond's eyes had widened, thinking she was leading him to her room for a part two of their coupling a few years ago, but when she shushed him as he started to speak he figured that might not be the case.

Once they reached the door the rosette turned to look at him one last time with a small smile before she gently pushed the door open, slowly revealing her bedroom to his blue eyes little by little.

As his eyes took in more and more of her room, he couldn't help but note that there were a lot of things out of place. A small doll, a small bowl caked with... a strange green substance, a small pair of shoes, a tiny shirt, a few more toys, a small pink hat— Sakura had a lot of small possessions, Naruto noted.

And then his eyes widened as he noticed a tiny person spread over the large bed in the middle of the room, slumbering peacefully under a light blue blanket. He barely registered when Sakura pulled him into the room, leading him closer to the sleeping toddler.

Now that he was closer, and his eyes had adjusted more to the dim light inside the room, he was able to see the child's features better. Her hair—he guessed it was a she from all the dolls and girls clothes he saw around the room—was a shade of yellow he wasn't familiar with. It was lighter than his but not as bright as Ino's. It also had a bit of a pink tint to it. Her ivory skin sported a light blush due to the heat under the blanket, and it was impossible to miss the twin lines on her small cheeks.

Naruto merely stared at the girl as she slept for what felt like forever before he had to be sure. "Sakura-chan... Is she...?"

The rosette nodded her head softly before she noticed her companion hadn't taken his eyes off of the toddler. "Naruto; this is Uzumaki Emiko. My daughter. Your daughter. Our daughter." she felt such a warm feeling spread throughout her body as she said that that she had to take a breath lest she wish to risk being overwhelmed by the foreign yet familiar feeling.

Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat at Sakura's revelation. Never in his wildest imaginings had he thought of the possibility that Sakura had gotten pregnant from their one time coupling. If he had, he might've asked his mentor if they could make a quick stop in their home village so he could check for himself.

Walking towards the edge of the bed, separating his hand from his pink haired teammate's, Naruto sat on the mattress and tentatively reached a hand out to touch his child's head. Her hair was silky, obviously Sakura bathed her regularly, and her ears were small and malleable. Her nose was dainty, resembling Sakura's when they had been children, and he couldn't resist the urge to touch her whiskered cheeks. Like his they were merely cosmetic and didn't feel any different than her skin.

"I wanted to introduce her to you when you came but she skipped her nap earlier and she was getting fussy." Sakura explained, watching the teen father caress his newly discovered daughter fondly, a sight she had wanted to see for a long time now. "I figured it wouldn't do any good to present you a cranky one year old."

"How long has she been sleeping?"

"She only just fell asleep when you'd arrived. I was tucking her in when you knocked." Sakura replied, shifting her weight. "I really wanted you to meet her awake; I even dressed her up in her cutest clothes."

Naruto barely paid attention to her words. He was too busy with his own thoughts that he barely registered anything else.

'I have a daughter.' he kept repeating to himself, as if afraid that if he stopped the baby would disappear. He ran his thumb over one of her small yellow eyebrows only to flinch away when she gave a deep sigh. He turned to look at the rosette standing in the room, taking in the amused grin she had on her face at his reaction, and thought, 'I have a daughter... with Sakura-chan.'

"I'm so sorry, I didn—" he was interrupted by the petite woman shushing him quietly before motioning for him to follow her out of the room. He did so, but not before casting one last look at his daughter. "Sakura-chan, I'm sorry. I swear I didn't know."

"It's okay, Naruto. It's not like either of us knew the consequences of our actions that night would lead to this."

"But if I had been smart and stopped myself this wouldn't have happened! We could've prevented—" Naruto suddenly found himself pinned against the wall of Sakura's hallway.

"Stop right there, Uzumaki." Sakura ground out. "Don't you ever talk along those lines again. I don't care if you think it was a mistake; Emiko is the best thing that's ever happened to me. So to hear not just anyone, but her own father talk about her as if she's a piece of gum on the street we could've avoided stepping in... I won't tolerate it!"

Naruto was speechless for a moment and it wasn't until Sakura released him that he found his voice again. "Sakura-chan, I didn't mean it like that, honest. I just… feel like I've robbed you of more than just your innocence now. I feel like I robbed you of your future and I wasn't even here to help you through the toughest part."

"Naruto..." Sakura paused as she tried to think of the right words, "while it may be true that my innocence is something I can never get back, I have never regretted giving it to you because I have Emiko as a result."

"But Sakura-chan, you almost had to give up being a Kunoichi because of her."

"And I found the courage to commit to the training thanks to her, too." Sakura countered, shutting her companion up. "When I felt like crying because it was all too much; when I almost gave up because I couldn't handle it... the only thought that held me together and pushed me forward was, 'I have a daughter at home that's depending on me to support her.'

"I have no other skills outside of being a shinobi. What am I possibly going to do to support her? I'm not proficient in flowers like Ino is; I can't sew; I can't even cook properly. My only option was to suck it up and persevere through Tsunade-shishō's training so I could hopefully become strong enough to at least make Chūnin and get a better salary."

"Sakura-chan... believe me, if I would have known, I would've sent you as much money as you needed." Naruto swore. "It would certainly have been better than wasting it paying for all of ero-sennin's exploits."

"Don't worry, Naruto. You helped more than enough." at his confused expression Sakura couldn't help but sigh. "Come, I'll explain in the living room." as soon as they were once again sitting on her comfortable couch, Sakura began.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I was scared of what people would think and tried to hide it. The thing is, you can only hide a pregnancy for so long before people start to notice.

"The first person to notice was shishō. She noticed the symptoms and put my training on hold until we could figure out how far along I was and how much longer I had to go. Once we had that figured out, and after she had coaxed a confession out of me, the combat training was put on hold and I was only allowed to practice my medical jutsu for a limited time every week.

"The real problem was when my mother started noticing. I think she knew for longer than she let on. But she must've thought that it might help put an end to my career as a kunoichi because she never really confronted me so everything was fine... until my dad started noticing.

"My dad's never been one for subtlety and he instantly asked me if I was pregnant. When I tried to avoid answering, he instead demanded to know who the father was so he could confront him. Seeing no way around it, I told him what had happened and... and..."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto was in the process of standing up off the couch to comfort her when the rosette shook her head and motioned to him that she was fine. "What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything and that was the problem." Seeing Naruto's confused expression Sakura decided she'd need to elaborate. "My Mother always seemed to wear the pants in my parents' relationship and when she heard what I'd done... she called me a whore;" Sakura choked out, "told me that I was a disgrace to our family.

"She told me to go ahead and pack my things because she wasn't going to have an ungrateful bitch living in her house." she paused to sniff. "I was devastated and confused as to why she would react that way—I knew my mother had always been rather strict but to kick her own daughter out? And my dad just stood there and watched. I begged him to reason with my mother but he did nothing.

"I went to my room and stayed there for a while before my mom came in and asked if people knew about me being pregnant or who the father was. When I told her that the only other person who knew was Tsunade-shishō, she told me that, as I was her only child, if I wanted to stay... all I had to do was get rid of the pregnancy.

"I couldn't—wouldn't do something so vile as to get rid of my own child," Sakura ground out, "and when I told my mom that she simply sighed and told me to be gone before she got home the next day, or else."

She stopped as she tried to reign in her emotions and Naruto couldn't help but feel like it was entirely his fault that Sakura's parents had abandoned her. He felt his hands clench at his sides until he was sure they turned white. He had put her through so much that she didn't deserve. However, before he could speak she continued.

"With nowhere to go, I went to Tsunade-shishō. I told her what happened and she took me in until she found me my own place. She made it clear, though, that I would have to provide for my child and I, myself. She said she'd help me by taking my living arrangements out of the equation but food and diapers and such would have to come out of my own pockets.

"The problem with that was that I was only a Genin." Sakura stated exasperatedly. "Even if I had been fit to do as many missions as I could, I still wouldn't have enough money to buy proper necessities needed for an infant, much less buy food for myself. So shishō came up with an arrangement.

"She told me enough about your background to explain that if I filed Emiko as either an Uzumaki or Namikaze when she was born, I'd be entitled to, at the very least, child support from the money your parents left for you but that I'd only be allowed to use the money for Emiko. And I was fine with that. I was only concerned that my baby would have clothes, food and fresh diapers." she turned to look at the father of her child, her face dry of any tears. "So you see, you've helped support us even if you weren't physically here."

"But I wish I had been here." Naruto admitted, standing to his feet and walking towards the rosette. "I wish I'd been here to help you through all of this. I wish I'd been there when Emiko was born." tentatively, Naruto pulled Sakura into a warm embrace, tucking her head underneath his chin, noting the way the petite woman stiffened for a second before relaxing. "I've missed... so much. I don't want to miss anything else in her life from here on out."

Sakura allowed herself a deep sigh, blushing as she inhaled the blond's scent and reluctantly admitted to herself that it wasn't an unpleasant smell. "I want you to be a part of her life." she murmured against his shirt. "She's extremely intelligent for a toddler so when she noticed that other kids had more than just a mama I started telling her about you. But right now you're just a bunch of stories and a picture to her. She doesn't know that you really exist."

Naruto tightened his hold on his teammate and barely managed to conceal a choked gasp. The mere thought that Emiko—any child of his might grow up thinking along the same lines he had about his parents physically hurt his heart.

"I'll make it up to her; to both of you." Naruto whispered in her hair. "Promise of a lifetime." Sakura merely nodded against his chest, too emotionally drained to really say anything.

A couple of hours later, it was getting late and Sakura accompanied Naruto to the door after a... non-lethal meal.

"So..."

"So?" Sakura repeated, gazing at her teammate's face curiously.

"Now that everything is out in the air... where," he paused to clear his throat before stammering out, "where do we go from here?"

"What do you mean?" Sakura questioned, making him cough awkwardly.

"W-What does this mean... about us?" Sakura's eyes widened before she looked away.

"Naruto... You're the father of my child, and one of my best friends but... I don't know if I can ever really get over everything that's happened."

"It's Sasuke, isn't it?" Naruto asked, his expression resembling pained resignation.

"No. Not just him." Sakura muttered softly, making him look at her curiously. "While it's true that I felt strongly about him before, after Emiko was born I learned what it really was to love someone. And when I compare the two feelings, I realize that what I felt for Sasuke-kun was nothing more than an infatuation."

Naruto grit his teeth as his mind processed her words. 'So she found someone while I was gone. And that bastard hurt her just as much as Sasuke did.' He had to know who this other person was. So he could kick his ass for hurting his precious Sakura, the mother of his child.

"Who was the other person?" he managed to ground out without looking at her. If he had been, he might've noticed the myriad of emotions that flashed across her face. Confusion, suspicion, realization, hurt, further realization and finally, amusement.

"Some jerk who spent a long time trying to get my attention and when I finally handed it to him on a silver platter, he ups and leaves the next morning without so much as a 'thanks for the sex'." she answered dryly, waving her hand in a nonchalant manner. She noticed how he bit his lower lip sharply and punched him on the arm lightly. "I was talking about you just now, Baka."

"Wh-what?" he stuttered, half from the pain and half from the shock. The rosette merely nodded.

"The love I was referring to earlier was my love for Emiko. Do you really think I had any time to date between Tsunade-shishō's training and taking care of Emiko?"

Naruto had to admit it made sense. "But I thought you didn't like me like that back then?"

"While I'll admit that I didn't feel as strongly about you as I did about Sasuke-kun, I did like you enough to give you my virginity." she admitted with a blush, turning away from him. "But the way you left me like that... it affected my views on boys. I didn't want to be hurt by anyone else so I just... avoided boys altogether."

Sakura was about to turn back around when she felt her teammate's arms wrap around her stomach from behind and what could only be his head rest on her shoulder, causing her to again stiffen in his embrace.

"One day, Sakura-chan, I promise I'll make it up to you." he whispered near her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. Before Sakura could turn around and hit him for invading her personal space, he was already running out her front door.

As she stared at his retreating form, Sakura couldn't decide if she should be annoyed by his declaration... or hopeful.

—

"Oi, is that Naruto?"

"Shikamaru! What's up?" Naruto greeted his long time friend. The lazy teen merely shrugged, muttering, 'Same ol', same ol',' before asking when he'd gotten back. "Just a few days ago."

"Have you, uh, met with anyone else?" Shikamaru asked carefully, trying to gauge whether or not his friend knew about his illegitimate child.

"Hm. Not really. I received a lot of news lately... Haven't really had time to look for any of the guys." Naruto explained, gaining a nod from his friend. "Why?"

"No reason. Have you met with your teammate?" he waited for the blond to either nod or shake his head before continuing. It turned out to be a nod. "Has she—"

"I know about Emiko." Naruto stated, cutting his companion off. "Sakura-chan told me about her yesterday. I'm actually on my way to meet them right now."

Shikamaru nodded, glad that he didn't have to withhold that bit of information from his friend. He felt it would be awkward to talk to him while knowing about the child the blond had conceived with his teammate if Naruto himself didn't.

"Gonna go spend some family time?" Shikamaru joked, gaining a small grin from his companion.

"Yeah. This'll actually be the first time I see Emiko, awake." Naruto replied, glancing up at the sky. "Yesterday she fell asleep before I got a chance to meet her so I'm hoping I make a good first impression today."

"Well, good luck then." Shikamaru turned to continue towards his destination before calling out, "She likes riding peoples shoulders."

"Thanks, Shikamaru." with that the two friends split ways. Naruto walked towards where he and Sakura had agreed to meet; the Yamanaka gardens—(He had always wondered where Ino's parents' store grew all their flowers.)—located behind the store.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop, how may I—oh. It's you."

"Gee, thanks, Ino." Naruto replied back dryly to the platinum blonde leaning on the counter. "Is Sakura-chan here yet?"

"No, as a matter of fact she isn't." Ino allowed her eyes to trail over his figure before meeting his gaze head on.

"Oh. Well, is it okay if I wait in here for her?" his fellow blonde said nothing, merely pointed at a chair to the right of the counter. Moving to sit down, he couldn't ignore the shiver that ran down his back from the intensity of Ino's stare. "What?"

"I just don't see why forehead is so hung up on making sure you're a part of Emi-chan's life." she spoke flatly, surprising him with her bluntness.

"Maybe because Emiko's my daughter, too?"

"If I were her I'd make sure you never saw Emi-chan." Naruto flinched at her sudden outburst and Ino took that as the opening to stomp up to him. "She has done fine without your help for two years while you were off galavanting about with your perverted sensei. And now just because you're back you should get to see her daughter?"

"You make it sound like I chose not to be here for her."

"Do I? Let me ask you this; where were you when she was kicked out of her home by her parents with nowhere to go? Where were you when she was falling behind in her training because she had to take care of a crying infant all night? Where were you when people started calling her names because she got pregnant so young?"

"They called her names?" Naruto interrupted Ino's rant, causing her to falter for a moment.

"Yeah, they called her names. There are traditions around here, Naruto, and getting knocked up outside of marriage, at the tender age of thirteen, isn't one of them." Ino spoke irritably.

"What kinds of names did they call her?" Naruto demanded, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. When Ino didn't answer right away he lifted his head to glare at her. "What did they call her?"

"What you would expect. Everything from 'shameless' and 'filth' to 'whore' and 'disgrace'." Ino answered angrily. "She became a sort of village pariah because of what you did to her."

Unfortunately for Ino the rest of her speech was lost on Naruto as he retreated into his thoughts.

'I can't believe the villagers would just concentrate their hatred of me onto her just because she had Emiko.' he thought angrily. Naruto had long since forgiven the villagers for their treatment of him throughout his childhood but for the first time in a long time he felt indescribable anger towards the villagers for their narrow-mindedness. 'Why didn't Sakura-chan mention any of this yesterday?'

"—kura's making enough money to support Emi-chan on her own. I don't see what you'll be able to bring to the table seeing as you're only a Gen—"

The sound of the bell above the entry door jingling, signaling a potential customer was entering, forced Ino to put her rant on hold. She was about to welcome the customer when she caught sight of who it was.

"Ino-ba-sha'!" came the near babble as a strawberry blonde toddler wearing a light blue sundress ran into the store heading straight towards the platinum blonde behind the counter. The older blonde crouched down to catch the girl as she neared.

"Emi-chan!" Ino picked her up before giving her several exaggerated kisses on her cheeks. "Ooh, kami-sama, look at you. You've gotten so big since I last saw you!" Ino spoke making the girl giggle.

"Nuh uh! Ino-ba-sha' big. Emi liddle!"

"Oh really?" Ino questioned as the toddler in her arms played with her bang. "Well where's your mother, little miss Emi?"

"I'm right here, Ino." Sakura announced her presence, standing near the door, a diaper bag hanging off of her shoulder. She caught a glimpse of Naruto behind the counter, noting how he was staring at their daughter before speaking to her friend again. "Ino, can you take Emiko out to the garden?"

Ino nodded, quickly catching on to what her friend was silently asking her; if she could have a moment with Naruto.

"Come on, Emi-chan; you want to go see the flowers?"

"Ah huh!"

As Ino carried the small child to the back she cast Naruto a look that said, 'I'm not through with you yet.' That was enough to disrupt his train of thoughts at having seen his daughter.

"Sorry we were late, Emiko got her other clothes dirty." Sakura spoke, sighing. "I swear she inherited your messy way of eating."

"I'm not a messy eater." Naruto retorted only for Sakura to giggle.

"Oh really? Because I saw you last night. I still don't know how you got some above your eye." Sakura teased him, smirking when he pouted.

"Sakura-chan's so mean." he muttered before his face became serious. "Sakura-chan... I know you told me last night that your parents turned on you," he felt his heart lurch when those bright green eyes became downcast, "but why didn't you tell me the villagers did the same?"

"Wha—none of the villagers—"

"Ino told me, Sakura-chan." he interrupted her, making her sigh in defeat.

"It's nothing, Naruto. Just a few traditionalist extremists getting angry because I had Emiko outside of marriage." Sakura told him, not noticing how his face took on a look of confusion.

"Just for that? Are you sure?" maybe he was wrong. Maybe it wasn't the villagers taking their frustrations out on his teammate because of her connection with him.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like it's the whole village; just a few particularly nasty people. All I do is ignore them." Sakura replied, glancing at him. "Why?"

Naruto panicked for a second, knowing he should probably tell her about his burden but afraid she might change her mind about letting him see Emiko.

"Ah, no reason. Just making sure you two weren't at risk of getting harmed. Fatherly instincts and all." he answered, laughing sheepishly. Sakura stared at him curiously.

"If you're worried about the people you used to prank trying anything, don't. Tsunade-sama told me that there were people who held grudges on you for stupid reasons, but I don't think harmless pranks constitute revenge on your family; no matter how annoyed people used to be with you because of them."

'So Baa-chan didn't tell her the reason why people hated me.' Naruto thought, unsure whether he was relieved or disappointed. Relieved because Sakura didn't know, but disappointed because he knew he would have to be the one to tell her.

"Now, if you're done being the overprotective father of his child he hasn't even officially met yet," Sakura began with a light smile, drawing his attention away from his troubled thoughts, "would you like to meet your daughter?"

Naruto nodded, a smile on his face as he let the thought repeat inside his head. He followed Sakura towards the back of the store before stepping outside into the lush garden belonging to Ino's parents. They walked down the middle before spotting the two blondes they were looking for playing in a field of daisies.

"Emiko!" Sakura called out, drawing the toddler's attention.

"Mama!" the young girl cried out before running over to the rosette excitedly. Naruto found the moment beyond adorable as Sakura crouched down to hug Emiko as soon as she was within arms reach.

"How's my little strawberry doing?" Sakura questioned, gaining a few unintelligible babbles from the strawberry blonde. He understood the gist of what she was saying, but the way she spoke was what he didn't understand.

"Ino-ba-sha' show-ed me da daisies. Bu-But a bug! 'n' Ino-ba-sha' scweam! The-the flowas fall!" she raised her hands to emphasize her point, making Sakura giggle.

"I'm glad you're having fun, honey, but there's someone I'd like you to meet; who wants to meet you."

"Me?" she questioned, pointing at herself with one of her small fingers.

"Yes, you." Sakura repeated, booping Emiko on the nose with her finger before turning Emiko's attention towards the blond man standing off to the side. "Introduce yourself."

Emiko looked up at the tall man nervously for a second before turning her teal gaze back to her mother. When Sakura simply nodded for her to proceed, Emiko spoke.

"H-Hi. My name ith Emiko." she started nervously as she leaned back against Sakura's legs, her gaze locked on her fidgeting feet. She glanced back up at the man in front of her.

Naruto met her gaze with a warm smile, which helped calm her nerves somewhat, before he spoke. "Hello, Emiko, that's a pretty name. My name is Naruto."

"Nau... Nawu-Nawudo?" Emiko sounded out, though she appeared to have trouble pronouncing R's. Understandable, considering she was only around nineteen months old.

Naruto nodded. "Hai, Emiko; Uzumaki Naruto." Emiko's little eyes widened in surprise.

"Uthmaki Emiko!" she exclaimed, making Sakura smile. Emiko had only recently begun learning to say her full name.

Teal eyes focused on the strange man in front of them before noticing the lines adorning his tan cheeks. A small hand reached up to touch her own cheek. She may be too young to connect the dots herself but she could recognize the markings on her face. Naruto's cerulean eyes looked up at Sakura before returning to the toddler.

"Emiko, there's a reason you two share those things." Sakura spoke softly, making sure the toddler was paying full attention before she continued, "Emiko... Naruto is your papa."

Everyone was silent as Emiko turned to stare at Naruto as if seeing him in a completely different light than a few seconds ago. Her shining teal eyes took in every detail of the blond-haired man standing before her. From the whiskers on his cheeks, containing more than her own—not that she could tell, being unable to count—to his deep blond hair and blue eyes. She took in the shape of his nose and the way he smiled warmly at her, making her feel safe and protected like she did only with her mother.

"Papa?" she mouthed, staring up at Naruto with those big teal eyes. It wasn't the first time she'd uttered the word. Sakura had taught her daughter that the boy in the photo by her nightstand was her papa.

"Hai." He confirmed, a gentle smile tugging his lips. Naruto crouched until he was eye level with the young blonde. "I know this must be a lot to take in but—!"

Whatever Naruto was about to say was forgotten as Emiko recoiled in fright before beginning to wail. "Mama!" the strawberry blonde turned towards Sakura, hands outstretched to be carried. "Mama!"

Naruto blinked, unsure of what he'd done wrong as he watched Sakura crouch down to console the crying infant. "Shh. Emiko, it's okay." she soothed as she stood up, bouncing the small child in her arms. "Don't cry. It's papa. See?" Emiko seemed to calm down only to start crying even harder when Sakura turned so she could see Naruto.

"W-What happened?"

"You scared her." Ino answered as she moved to help Sakura calm Emiko.

"I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't." Sakura reassured him as she continued to bounce Emiko in her arms.

"Let me take her." Ino reached to pull the crying girl from Sakura. The toddler clung to Sakura harder until she saw who was pulling her and shifted so Ino could take her. "There, there, Emi-chan. You're okay."

"Sorry about that." Sakura's voice pulled his attention from Ino's retreating back. "I should've known she'd react like this."

Naruto turned back to look at Emiko. "She hates me."

"No, she doesn't." Sakura placed a hand on his arm until he looked at her. "She's just not used to anyone besides shishō, Shizune-san, Ino and myself, really."

"You sure?"

Sakura nodded. "Give her time to get accustomed to you."

"So she's shy?"

"All babies are shy with strangers."

Naruto was quiet for a few seconds before glancing down. "I should have been here."

"You're here now and you want to be part of her life."

"Of course!" Naruto reaffirmed. "No child of mine will ever grow up the way I did." 'Wondering what they did wrong. Why their parent abandoned them.'

Sakura fought a grimace as she remembered how her teammate had grown up. Realistically she'd known that Naruto would be beyond ecstatic to find out he had started a family but a small part of her had always been worried. Sakura vowed right then to never voice that she'd been afraid of the possibility that he'd return and decide he didn't want anything to do with them.

Footsteps made them turn to the side where Ino was returning with a calmed down, though still sniffling, Emiko. The toddler was again playing with Ino's bang while babbling at her. As she neared Ino used the hand not supporting Emiko to mimic the snapping of her fingers. The signal was lost on Naruto but not on Sakura.

Abruptly, Naruto found his arms being maneuvered until one was held in front of his chest, palm up. As she neared Ino deposited Emiko onto his hand and Sakura had him place his other hand around Emiko's torso. The toddler, unaware that the arms she was in weren't her mother's, continued to speak gibberish at Ino.

Naruto found himself holding his daughter for the first time. She was a little heavier than he thought she'd be but her weight in his arms suddenly made it all feel real.

He was a father.

He had a daughter.

Haruno Sakura was the mother of his child.

He had a family.

Against his will he felt his emotions begin to waiver as he tried to keep his arms from trembling around his daughter, fighting off tears of his own. However from the way his vision was becoming blurred, he knew he was failing miserably. He was also aware of the choked gasps he was releasing.

Sakura stood off to the side as she watched the father of her child be overcome by his emotions over holding his daughter for the first time. Thankfully, she fared better at battling her own emotions, especially since the unbridled happiness she felt at the moment easily overshadowed every other emotion.

Naruto leant down to place a kiss atop Emiko's head, causing the girl to turn to regard who she thought was her mother only to catch sight of Sakura off to the side. A sense of dread filling him, Naruto stilled as the one year old finished turning until she was looking up at him.

'Oh, crap. She's going to cry again.'

Miraculously, she didn't. Emiko merely kept her eyes on him, curiosity evident on her face. Her hand once again moved to touch her cheek.

Somehow, Naruto wasn't sure if he had managed it by instinct or perhaps Ino had helped him, he supported Emiko as she turned in his arms until she was facing him. He made a concentrated effort not to make any sudden movements or do anything that might scare her.

Emiko's hands roamed the entirety of his face, touching his mouth, his nose—he bit back a yelp when she tugged on a lock of his hair hanging past his brow. Her attention was mostly held by his 'whiskers.' Tiny fingers prodded his cheeks, poking and running her palm along his skin.

He hadn't noticed Sakura had drawn near them until Emiko turned towards her. Ino appeared to have backed off a bit.

"Mama." When Sakura gave a soft 'hm' of acknowledgement Emiko slapped Naruto's cheek lightly with one hand while poking her own with the other and proceeded to speak gibberish. At least, it sounded like gibberish to him but from the way Sakura acted it seemed as if she understood the toddler.

"Yes, baby." Sakura tucked herself against his side in an effort to get closer to her daughter. "You have papa's whiskers."

Naruto was about to open his mouth to defend his markings but before he could;

"Papa." Emiko repeated, staring intently at him. He had to move his head when the blonde girl shifted forward to rest her head on his shoulder. Sakura reached up to stroke Emiko's hair and the girl released a contented sigh.

Once again, Naruto's emotions threatened to overwhelm him. It amazed him how the simple utterance of a word could affect him so. Soon enough he ceased trying to suppress his emotions and settled for pulling his daughter closer into his embrace and burying his face in her neck.

—

"Thank you for letting us use your parents' gardens, Ino." Sakura said as she and Naruto walked towards the door. It was nearing eight and the sky was beginning to darken.

"No problem, Forehead. Just give me a little more warning next time. I would've bought Emi-chan some snacks."

Sakura cast the child in question a quick glance, smiling when the toddler snuggled into her father's shoulder. Once she had gotten used to Naruto's presence Emiko had spent hours playing with him, not slowing down in the least until she had fallen asleep in Sakura's arms. Naruto wound up carrying their daughter after offering to hold her while Sakura collected Emiko's stuff into her bag.

"Nothing with too much sugar, I hope. She's a handful when she gets too hyper."

"Trust me, I won't make that mistake again. Must take after her father."

"Add that to the growing list of things Emiko has inherited from him." Sakura cast a quick look in his direction. The two shared a quick laugh before bidding each other good night and the visiting family left.

"You two got close while I was gone." Naruto started as they walked, looking down at Sakura. The rosette gave a hum of agreement before answering.

"Ino really helped me out after Emiko was born." She responded, closing her eyes in reminiscence, relishing in the soft breeze that blew by. "She practically helped me raise her. If it hadn't been for her taking care of Emiko when she could, I might not have been able to handle the pressure of everything. I owe her a lot."

As Naruto heard this he finally understood why Ino had unloaded on him just a few hours ago. It seemed the reason she had been so mad was because she had been the one who had been there to help Sakura raise Emiko for the past two years, all the while believing he had been out living it up with his mentor.

That was the part that cracked him up. The only reason he hadn't argued against her when she accused him of doing such a thing was because he knew no one outside of the Jōnin who had fought Itachi and his fish friend knew about the Akatsuki and the threat they posed to his life. A threat he'd had to leave his home for almost three years to train for.

"I'll have to thank her one of these days." Naruto spoke quietly so as to not disturb his daughter as she slept on his shoulder. "Anyone else help you out?"

"Aside from Ino, Tsunade-shishō and Shizune-senpai helped the most. Emiko considers shishō to be like her grandmother and shishō doesn't seem to mind. Honestly, Shizune-senpai's always reprimanding shishō because she gave me this big speech on how not to spoil Emiko and then she goes and does everything she herself told me not to."

Naruto grinned at the mental image of Tsunade behaving like the old woman she was, making a fuss over wanting to pinch Emiko's cheeks.

"Kakashi-sensei came around quite a bit when Emiko was first born and he even used to babysit sometimes but he'd always be reading those ecchi books of his and after Emiko started emulating his perverted giggle I told him he couldn't read in front of her anymore." Sakura sighed. "He doesn't come around as often anymore."

Rolling his eyes at their sensei's behavior Naruto asked, "What about, you know, the others our age?"

"Most of the rookie nine have supported us in their own way at one point or another." Sakura answered. "Shikamaru and Chōji were around the most besides Ino. Emiko was actually pretty used to them for a while until Chōji became a chūnin and Shikamaru was assigned as the delegate between Konoha and Sunagakure. Now it takes some coaxing for her to let them carry her.

"Lee and Tenten like to stop by and visit Emiko often. Maybe it's because Tenten loves kids and always brings candy but Emiko's never made a fuss when it came to her.

"Neji's come around every once in a while, though usually only when Hinata comes by." Sakura noticed the interested look that crossed the blond's face. "Kiba's come around with Shino once every blue moon but I get the feeling Emiko would prefer just Akamaru come by."

Sakura paused as she thought about whether or not she should mention the Hyūga heiress' hesitation about visiting them for so long but in the end she decided against it. Though whether it was because she didn't want to color the girl in a bad light in the blond's eyes or whether she didn't want to be the one to reveal the girl's obvious crush to the apparently oblivious blond, she didn't know. All she knew was that she'd felt an uncomfortable feeling when the blond showed interest as she'd mentioned the Hyūga.

Naruto grinned as he thought about all his friends. To a boy whom had grown up alone it made him overjoyed to hear that they all made an effort to visit his child while he'd been gone. Even Neji! Idly he wondered how much they'd all changed.

The only ones he'd seen so far had been Shikamaru and Ino and they hadn't changed much, like him.

At least, not as much as Sakura had changed.

'I wonder if having Emiko helped her development?' He wondered to himself as he stole another glance at the rosette. Especially now that he saw her differently than when he'd first arrived. She was the mother of his child, and she was beautiful beyond compare in his eyes. 'If only I hadn't messed up back then... maybe she'd be willing to give me a chance.'

Naruto's attention was turned towards Emiko as she shifted in his arms, gripping his shirt for a second before sighing and slipping back into a peaceful slumber. He smiled at her, his smile widening when he heard Sakura give a soft amused hum.

"Looks like you tired her out, Naruto." Sakura stated gently, causing him turn to look at her worriedly.

"Is that bad?" his question made Sakura laugh.

"No. Quite the opposite in fact." the rosette reassured him. "She seems to have inherited your endless energy and stubbornness; always refusing to go to sleep when she's supposed to."

Naruto chuckled gently. "It's the curse of being an Uzumaki, I hear." he joked before glancing at the rosette. "And if she's as smart as you are, she'll probably be Iruka-sensei's favorite nightmare."

"How do you know he'll still be teaching by the time Emiko starts the academy?" Sakura teased.

"Well, I ended up having ramen with him after our bell test the other day." Naruto revealed. "We talked for a while. Does he know about...?"

Sakura caught onto what the blond was asking quick enough and nodded. "Iruka-sensei has visit when he could, usually on weekends." Naruto nodded. It made sense with the man being a teacher and all. "Always says Emiko was very fortunate to take after me, facially."

"Hey." Naruto pouted as Sakura giggled.

A comfortable silence settled over them the rest of the walk to Sakura's house, and soon enough they were there. Sakura went to take Emiko from his hands until Naruto voiced a request.

"Do you mind if I... I mean," Naruto cleared his throat nervously, "can I tuck her in?"

Sakura was taken aback by the request but quickly nodded. She opened the door allowing Naruto to enter. He carried Emiko to Sakura's room and gently laid her on the bed after the rosette had pulled the covers away. The young blonde was in the process of making a fuss over the sudden change in position but Sakura quickly began shushing her. Once she'd calmed her down the rosette flashed Naruto a smile and he moved to pull the covers back over their sleeping daughter.

"Good night, Emiko." he whispered before leaning in to kiss her forehead. The strawberry blonde gave a deep sigh of content, turning to her side and curling up slightly. Naruto pulled back and walked towards Sakura standing by the door. "Thanks... for letting me... you know."

"No problem. It was sweet." Sakura teased him, though he didn't seem to mind as he kept his gaze locked on Emiko.

"I should get going." Naruto suddenly spoke up. "I don't wanna keep you up too late."

"You don't have to go." Sakura found herself saying before she could stop herself. She felt her ears burn as the blond turned his eyes on her. "I-I mean, I still have some of yesterday's leftovers, if you want to stay and eat?"

"Um... Alright." Naruto beamed. "If you don't mind. I'd love to have more of Sakura-chan's homemade dinner." his statement caused the rosette to blush making her turn away quickly.

While they were eating a series of frantic knocks on Sakura's front door caused both trained shinobi to go on alert until the interrupter spoke up.

"Sakura-san! Tsunade-sama needs you to report to her office immediately!"

"Shizune-senpai?" Sakura questioned as she moved to open the door. Sure enough, the dark brunette was standing on the other side of the door. "What's going on?"

"I can't say, but Tsunade-sama is requesting your team—oh, Naruto." Shizune caught glimpse of the teenage blond standing in the pink-haired girl's living room. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything," at this Sakura was overcome by a heavy blush, "but Hokage-sama is asking for team seven."

"Bā-chan's asking for us?" Naruto arched an eyebrow. What could the old granny possibly want at this time? "Guess we better go, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded before turning back to Shizune. "Senpai, can you watch Emiko for me?" Shizune nodded.

"Yes, that's why I came myself. I figured you'd need someone to watch her."

"Thanks. Come on, Naruto, let's go."

"Hold on lemme just drink my water..."

"Naruto!"

"What? I'm thirsty!"

"Just hurry up!"

—

To be continued...

Author's Note: While I do have plans to continue this story it won't be for a while yet. Currently I'm working on Naruto Wandering Demon.

I actually wrote most of this story way back in 2011-12 before my first daughter was born. That took up a lot of my free time and I had no time to write. But it was a good thing because initially Emiko was too smart and articulate for a 1 year old. So I came back and dumbed her down immensely based off my own daughter's intellect at the time. Then my second daughter was born and I had to put this on hold again. Which, again, turned out to be a good thing because my second daughter was much more advanced during that time which proved that Emiko could speak semi-articulately. Certainly not as fluently as I initially had her but enough so we could follow her.

Anyways, as I was going through this story for the umpteenth time I realized I'd like to open this up as a challenge if anyone is interested. I'd really like to see how Shippuden would be different if Naruto and Sakura were parents during the events.

The rules are simple:

Must take place at the beginning of Shippuden.

As explained in my top A/N, the child/children must be Naruto's, biologically. Naruto can not know about being a father until he returns.

Must be NaruSaku. The child/children must be Naruto and Sakura's biological child/children, conceived the night before he left on his training trip. The ending pairing must be NaruSaku.

The timeline of Shippuden has to be longer. The focus of the story is to be Naruto bonding with his child/children and Naruto and Sakura coming together as parents and lovers. For this to happen, realistically, while Naruto is constantly getting stronger there has to be more time between the major events of the series.

Sakura has to initially be reluctant to get together with Naruto. First and foremost, Sakura is a TsunDere. In my opinion they shouldn't get together before at least Jiraiya's death or the pain invasion but that's just my opinion.

(The Sakura I've written wants Naruto to be part of her daughter's life because she has had two and a half years to move on from the betrayal she felt from him leaving and after having to grow up so quickly she realizes that regardless of what happened between her and Naruto, both he and her child deserve to know each other.)

Tsunade has to be a voice of reason to keep Sakura from outright hating Naruto. She knows why he left even if she feels it isn't her place to tell Sakura about him being a Jinchirūki.

There are a couple of major scenes that I feel should be different because of their child. I will provide suggestions.

Most importantly, Sakura and their child/children spend a few days at/all but move into Naruto's apartment after news of Jiraiya's death, trying to cheer him up. Whether or not they're the ones to ultimately help him with his grief or it remains Iruka is up to the author. If Iruka, Naruto has to be with his child/children in the park (Sakura might be working at the hospital at that time, who knows).

Their child is with them when Sai interrupts the chopstick feeding and cheers Naruto up by feeding him him/herself/themselves. Ultimately it's a warmer family scene.

Pein goes after Naruto's child/children to use as a hostage to get him to return to the village. Sakura must put up a fight in this case.

If this scene is included: Sakura's confession during the Kage summit is sincere and if Naruto still accuses her of lying Sakura gets genuinely and visibly upset/hurt. (This is the problem with altering canon in my opinion; up until chapter 699 Naruto is written perfectly for NaruSaku.)

Naruto tells Kushina all about his child and his wonderful girlfriend/the beautiful mother of his child/children if not together—Kushina offers advice in this case.

Naruto responds to Minato's question of if Sakura is his girlfriend by saying she's actually the mother of his child/children. After Sakura hits him, Naruto then pulls out a picture he carries with him always and Minato gushes over his precious grandchild/grandchildren.

There's no need to keep every development from canon if you don't wish to. I myself will not be including the whole Kaguya storyline or the Sage's sons because FUCK FATE.

I think that's it. I will work on this story on the side but it likely won't be updated too often. Hopefully others will accept this challenge.

P.S. Sakura's 'vile' comment is how I believe she'd feel about her own child, not what I believe her view would be about that subject in general.