Author's Note- Hello! I'm so excited to announce that I have finally written a new chapter! College kind of killed my muse. But now that I've been home for a while, it has been revived and I finally finished this chapter. I really hope you all like it if you've actually decided to not give up on this story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters. I also don't own Kouhei. He belongs to my friend soulful_ginger.

Chapter 16

I sighed and wiped the sweat from my forehead as I unloaded the last crate. Neji and I were currently working at a fish market in the Land of Waves. Our story was that we were cousins who needed work since we had just moved to the small village. I readjusted the bandana I had tied over my head as the owner walked over. It felt strange to have my hair down all the time.

"You guys have done a good job again today. You can go home," he told us. I took my gloves off and shoved them into the pocket of my apron.

"Thank you, sir," we both answered. He noticed the band on my left ring finger.

"You're married, Daichi?" he asked. I nodded.

"My wife is waiting for me to get enough money to send for her so we can start our lives here," I answered. The owner smiled.

"It's always nice to have young couples around. It usually means there will be more children. Although, I'm not sure this is a good place for children anymore," he sighed.

"Why do you say that?" Neji asked. The owner leaned in close.

"There's a large group of rouge ninja that live just outside the village in the mountains. Their leader, Katsuo, is power hungry. He has many powerful shinobi that go out and capture shinobi from other villages. He sells them as soldiers to rich lords all over the world. They still retain their jutsu after they've been tortured so they made perfect soldiers. Some are tortured so badly that their minds completely break and Katsuo just sends them back here. They're a danger to our village. We've tried to rehabilitate them, but it doesn't work," he explained sadly.

"Do you know where the hideout is?" I asked. He looked at me, shocked.

"You don't plan to go there do you?" he asked in return.

"Daichi and I used to be shinobi. I retired early because my father fell ill. Daichi retired early after he got married. His wife isn't a ninja and he wants to be able to start a family with her," Neji explained. The owner frowned.

"Are you really going?" the older man asked in utter disbelief.

"I've had my heart set on this village for a long time and my wife loves it, too. I want this to be a safe place. I promise that we'll take care of this," I said. He smiled at us.

"May Kami bless you both. Good luck."

I was quiet as Neji, Kiba, Shino, and I followed my dad and Kakashi up to the outer edge of Katsuo's compound. It was totally silent until we heard someone cry out in pain. I looked at the others and they nodded. That cry belonged to Kouhei. My dad and I made some hand signs and the shadows gathered around our group, concealing us. Neji quickly knocked out the guards and ran to the building that Kouhei's cries were coming from. I looked through the small window and narrowed my eyes. Kouhei was dangling a few feet off the ground by his chained wrists. A tall man with short green hair stood in front of him, tossing a kunai in the air.

"You're a tough one," the man said to Kouhei. "We've been torturing you for weeks and you still won't give up. It's actually quite impressive." Kouhei managed to look up and glare at the man.

"Go screw yourself, Katsuo," Kouhei snarled. Katsuo backhanded him. Kouhei was already bloodied and bruised. Katsuo placed the tip of the kunai at Kouhei's throat.

"Watch your tongue. Before I cut it out," he growled. It was at that moment that my dad and Kakashi burst through the doors, shocking Katsuo and his men. The others and I weren't far behind. I went after the ninja closest to me. Taijutsu isn't my preferred fighting style but I have to say that I'm not horrible at it. I punched him twice in the stomach and then got him in the face, knocking him out. I spun, knocking out a couple more. I finally managed to get to Kouhei. I took a step towards him and Katsuo appeared from behind him, holding a kunai to his throat.

"Let him go, Katsuo," I said calmly. He glared at me.

"As if I would make it that easy for you. You will leave my compound now or he dies," he said. He pressed the kunai harder against Kouhei's throat, drawing blood.

"Don't worry about me, Shikamaru. Just wipe this bastard out," Kouhei said.

"Didn't I tell you to watch your tongue?" Katsuo growled.

"You did, but I've never really been the type to do as I'm told," Kouhei said with a humorless laugh.

"You are outnumbered," Neji said as he stood beside me.

"You might as well give up now," Kakashi said, appearing behind Katsuo with my dad.

"This is the end," Shino added. With Kiba and Shino standing on the sides, Katsuo was completely boxed in. I could tell that he was starting to panic. We all took a step in.

"Don't come any closer!" Katsuo yelled.

"Put the kunai down," my dad said. I started to make the hand signs for my shadow possession jutsu when Kouhei suddenly kicked backwards and nailed Katsuo in the stomach. It was a good idea but he didn't plan on Katsuo digging the kunai into his neck as flew backwards. Blood splattered across the floor as Katsuo landed at my dad's feet. I quickly undid the chains on Kouhei's wrists and carefully lowered him to the ground. He coughed and blood splattered across my vest as the others moved to where we were.

"Tell…Anko and Naruto…that I'm sorry," he said, blood dribbling from his mouth.

"Don't say that. You're gonna be fine," Kiba said. Kouhei laughed wetly.

"Bullshit," he replied. "I'm done for." His eyes focused on me. "Take good care…of Yumi and those kids. I'm sorry...I won't be able to…see them grow up to be great…like you and Yumi." We watched as the light in Kouhei's eyes disappeared. I felt my eyes sting with tears but I held them back. We had all just lost a good friend and comrade.

"I've taken Katsuo's corpse to the village elder to let him do as he pleases like the Hokage instructed," my father told us after we'd packed up camp.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Kakashi asked. The rest of us nodded. We had already prepared Kouhei's body to be taken home. I lifted his body in my arms. It was going to be a very quiet trip home.

A couple of days later, we made it home. We entered the gate and Anko was eagerly waiting on the other side. She saw the body in my arms and her face fell. She sank to her knees as tears filled her eyes.

"No. No, no, no…" she said quietly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I laid his body in front of her. At that moment, Ino ran up looking frantic.

"Shikamaru! Thank Kami you're back! Yumi's at the hospital and she's in labor!" she said.

"Go, Shikamaru. Kouhei wouldn't want you sticking around here because of him," Anko said through her tears. I took off towards the hospital faster than I had ever run before.

I got to the floor Yumi was on and just as I turned toward her room, I heard a scream. I ran to the room that Ino had told me. I threw the door open to find Yumi, her mom, my mom, Hinata, and Tsunade inside. I hurried to her side and took her hand from Hinata as Hinata and our moms were hurried out of the room.

"You…made it," she said, smiling through her tears. I was about to say something when Tsunade told Yumi to push. She screamed again and gripped my hand so tightly I thought she'd break it.

"Of course I made it," I told her. "I wouldn't miss this for the world." I kissed the back of her hand. "You're doing great. Just keep going." My heart skipped a beat when I suddenly heard a baby's cry. I watched as Tsunade handed the tiny baby to Sakura. I felt Yumi's grip relax and I turned to her. She looked exhausted.

"Keep pushing!" Tsunade exclaimed. Yumi frowned.

"I…can't," she replied tiredly. I cupped her cheek and looked her straight in the eyes.

"You have to keep going. I know you can do this. Bring our other baby into the world," I pleaded with her. She nodded and her face scrunched up as she began to push again. I felt my heart break as she screamed in pain. I whispered encouragingly into her ear until another cry filled the room. She laid back limply in the bed.

"They're both okay?" Yumi asked. I smiled as I pushed some hair off her forehead.

"Both of them are fine. You did great. I'm so proud of you," I told her as I kissed her forehead. She gave me a tired smile. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Shika." Tsunade and Sakura came back with our newborn children.

"Congratulations! A little boy and a little girl," Tsunade announced.

"During the last ultrasound, this little guy looked like he was going to come out second, but he just had to be first." She handed him to me and Tsunade handed our daughter to Yumi. She smiled down at the baby. I stared down at the baby boy in my arms. I was amazed that Yumi and I made something so beautiful. Yumi laughed.

"My son," I said quietly.

"Let me see him," she laughed. Sakura brought me a chair and I sat down. Yumi looked down at the baby with wispy red hair.

"He looks like you, Shika."

"Aside from that trademark red hair," I said with a smile. I looked at our baby girl and I felt my smile widen. "She's beautiful. Like her mom." Yumi's cheeks turned red and I laughed as she yawned. Just then, Tsunade and Sakura brought in a couple of the hospital's cribs. Yumi yawned again as they left.

"Have you thought about any names yet?" Yumi asked. I shrugged and then we talked about names for a while.

"What about Shikio?" I asked. She smiled.

"I love it. I was thinking Yumiyo."

"Sounds good," I replied. Yumi let out a gasp.

"He has your eyes, Shika," she said, tears forming in her eyes. I looked down to see that Shikio had opened his eyes and that he had the typical brown eyes of a Nara. I chuckled.

"So he does." I watched as Yumi yawned again. I could tell that she was pretty much running on fumes. I was amazed that she'd stayed awake as long as she had. I stood up and took Shikio to one of the cribs. I gently set him down. I went back to Yumi and took our daughter from her arms. "You need to rest. Get some sleep," I told her. She smiled up at me.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too. Now get some rest."

Yumi was sleeping soundly as I cradled Yumiyo in my arms. The door to the room slid open quietly and my parents entered the room followed by Yumi's. I heard a yawn from the bed and looked over to see Yumi waking up.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Yumimaro asked. Yumi smiled.

"Good," she said. Her father smiled.

"Do we get to see our grandchildren?" my mom asked. I got up and walked over to her.

"Yumiyo, meet your Grandma Yoshino," I said quietly to my sleeping daughter. I carefully passed the baby to my mom.

"She's beautiful," my dad said as he stood beside my mom. I went over to pick up Shikio who had started to fuss. I took him to Yumi so she could hold our son for the first time. Her parents moved to stand beside her.

"He's just as beautiful as beautiful as his sister," her mom said, tears in her eyes.

"I still can't believe that I'm a mom now," Yumi said softly. "I can't wait for them to meet all their aunts and uncles. I'm honestly surprised everyone's not here right now."

"Oh, we are. They just won't let us in all at once," came Choji's voice from the door. I looked over and saw everyone gathered behind him. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to meet them though."

Everyone had passed through at some point that day. When the last of your friends left, Yumi turned to me.

"Was Kouhei too hurt to come visit?" she asked. I sighed looked away. "Shikamaru, what's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later." She frowned.

"Tell me now. And don't sugarcoat it just because I had our children today," she said firmly. I looked back to her. Her expression was stern. I took her hand.

"We found Kouhei in the Land of Waves. We…tried to save him, but things didn't go the way we planned. Kouhei's…gone," I told her quietly. Tears filled her eyes.

"Is he really dead?" she asked. I nodded and gently squeezed her hand. Her shoulders began to shake as she started to cry. I moved to sit next to her on the bed and I wrapped my arm around her. She cried into my shoulder for a while as I rubbed her back. Eventually, she stopped crying and looked up at me. "Is Anko okay? And has anyone told Naruto? I can't believe Yumiyo and Shikio are never going to meet him."

"I think she will be. I'm not sure if anyone has told Naruto yet. And Kouhei told me that he was sorry he wouldn't be able to see our kids grow up to be great like you and me. His exact words." Her eyes filled with tears again.

"He really thought of us as he died?" she asked. I nodded. Tears streamed down her face but she was smiling.

"I miss him already," she sobbed. I wrapped her in my arms again and kissed her forehead.

"We'll tell Yumiyo and Shikio all about how great their Uncle Kouhei was," I promised.

A couple days later

Yumi and I had taken the kids to her parents' house so that we could go to Kouhei's funeral. We stood in the cemetery, side-by-side in the rain. I looked around at the large group gathered around the grave. A still-bandaged Naruto had his arm around Anko as she sobbed. As I looked at the others, I couldn't tell who was crying and who just had water down their face. Yumi held my hand tightly, her own shaking, as the priest blessed Kouhei's passing into the next world. I rubbed my arm over my eyes as everyone said their goodbyes to Kouhei Uzumaki the Legend.

A/N- Yay! I'm so happy that I finally finished this chapter! I really hoped everyone like it and I hope you will all continue to stick with this story and with me. I love you all from the bottom of my heart! Please read and review! Thank you!

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