Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 16

7 Years Later….

Sakura looked out the window of her home. She observed her husband patiently explain his technique to their son on how to throw multiple kunai to several different targets at the same time. Their son, Akihiko, had awakened his Sharingan last summer at the age of six when he had to witness the birth of his sister, Natsuko.

Itachi had gone to deliver the intelligence that he had gathered from enemies in Sound to Sasuke's ANBU team and had to leave Sakura by herself with Akihiko during her eighth month of her pregnancy. She had assured Itachi that she would be fine since she had four more weeks to go and Sasuke would meet him in their usual rendezvous point that wasn't too far from their home.

No more than a week's worth of travel, was all that Itachi was going to be gone, but on the third night Sakura went into labor. Sakura didn't have a chance to call for Tsunade, like she did with her son, and she knew that she would have to act quickly.

Akihiko was the only one there and he witnessed his mother labor and give birth alone in their home. Sakura had tried to stay as calm as possible that night, and do what she knew had to be done so that Akihiko wouldn't be scared. Her son however, was just as smart as his parents and knew that something was wrong when he saw the pained expression on his mother's face and the beads of sweat on her brow. He was focused on helping his mother and making her feel better and didn't notice the surging emotions flowing deep inside him. As he heard Sakura cry out in pain he quickly got the things that she asked for and helped in any way that he could.

His little hands were the one's to carry the towels to his mother and bring in fresh water for her to clean off the blood. Akihiko was the one to hand over the soft pink blanket that was wrapped around his sister's tiny body.

Sakura was so proud of her son on how he handled himself. He was after-all, the true heir to the Uchiha clan, and was the spitting image of his father. They both shared the same Uchiha onyx hair and eyes, soft light skin, and striking features, but her son wore his hair short on the back and his bangs long on the front. Sakura knew that their son would grow up to be a fine shinobi one day. Akihiko not only shared his father's skills, but also his calm and collected temper and pacifistic views.

He was also so protective of his little sister that the night that Itachi came home, Akihiko's crimson eyes stared at his father as he stood guard outside of his mother's door. Itachi had been so surprised, that he slowly knelt beside his son and asked him what had happened. Akihiko said, "Dad… Mom had my baby sister three days ago… you weren't here so… I had to protect them. They're sleeping right now."

Itachi smiled and said, "Son have you been guarding them through the night?"

Akihiko nodded and said, "I had to… umm… Dad...?"

"Yes, son?" Itachi looked at his son, waiting for the question that he knew would be asked.

"Dad… My eyes… Is it normal for them to burn?"

Itachi activated his own Sharingan and looked at his son and said, "Son… when you feel that you are in danger, or more importantly, when you feel that you need to protect someone important to you… your eyes will activate the Sharingan. I know that you have the same chakra control as your mother, so you will have no problem knowing how to control it. I'm proud of you, Akihiko. You were there for your mother and sister when I couldn't… and for that I will never be able to thank you enough."

Akihiko held his father's hand and slowly opened the door to his parent's bedroom where Sakura and little Natsuko were sleeping.

Itachi gently kissed his wife's forehead and then gently caressed his daughter's cheek. That night father and son guarded their home, and that morning Itachi sent one of his crows to Konoha to inform the Hokage of the Leaf of the birth of Uchiha Natsuko.

Within five days, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Tsunade, arrived at the secluded home of the young Uchiha family to see the newborn babygirl. Naruto had been overjoyed to know that he was an uncle once more, and as the new Hokage he quickly came up with a reason to have him and his closest advisors go on a 'classified' mission to one of their most trusted intelligence agents.

That was a year ago and Akihiko was already proficient in the trademark fire style jutsu of the Uchiha and had exceptional control of chakra with sufficient knowledge in medical ninjutsu. He had been adamant about Sakura teaching him basic medical skills in case his little sister ever needed help. He had the same fierce protective instincts like his father and Sakura wasn't able to say no to her son's request. For someone of his age, Akihiko was already able to have had graduated from the Academy back in Konoha, but he was homeschooled and learned all of his shinobi skills from his parents.

A smile always came to Sakura's face when Akihiko mastered a skill, so seeing him hit nine of the twelve targets on his first try impressed Sakura and Itachi to no end.

As Sakura prepared dinner she called Itachi and Akihiko back into the house and settled in for the evening. Tomorrow they would set out with their son to the rendezvous point to meet with Sasuke and Kakashi to deliver some intelligence that Itachi had collected on his last mission. There had been some rumors that a certain masked nin had resurfaced and had taken over Akatsuki. Akihiko didn't know that Kakashi would also be administering a test, and when he passed, he would receive his official Konoha hitai-ate and rank of genin.

For the time being, Naruto wanted to continue to keep the couple in hiding because the classified missions carried out by either Sakura or Itachi had benefited Konoha, and even Suna.

Many treaties signed by Naruto had been directly influenced by the information gathered by the duo.

With Akihiko surely surpassing Kakashi's expectations, Itachi and Sakura had decided to ask Sasuke to take him back to Konoha to train in a team. Since Sasuke made it a point to spend as much of his time off with his nephew and little niece, Sasuke was a frequent visitor to their home. Akihiko also idolized Kakashi, and saw him as a good mentor, and for that reason Sakura had sewn him a mask similar to her former sensei's to keep Akihiko's identity secret. She knew that many questions would be asked but she was confident in her son's ability to maintain his identity and heritage to himself.

When morning came and they were setting out on their journey, Akihiko looked back at his home and then at his parents and said, "Mother, Father… this is the first time that we are taking Natsuko with us to meet uncle Sasuke, Kakashi-san, and his team…. Is there a reason why she is coming with us?"

Sakura smiled at her husband and they both explained what would happen and where he would go if he passed the test. Their son was clever enough to piece clues together and come up with on-point conclusions and several contingency plans. Sakura smiled and thought to herself about how much Akihiko would enjoy playing shogi with Shikamaru… and even how much he would enjoy being in said genius' genin team.

After they explained everything to Akihiko the young Uchiha looked at them and then quickly walked back into the house. After a minute or two, he reemerged and had a small handmade bracelet in his hands. He walked up to Natsuko who was playing by a patch of wildflowers and sat next to her. He secured the bracelet, with a set of intricate seals that he memorized from his father, on her wrist and swore to her, "Natsuko, I promise to always take care of you and protect you… I will do my best and become the best big brother for you. I swear to come back and always watch over my little sister."

Sakura heard every word her son said and held on a bit tighter to Itachi's hand. Itachi's heart soared at his son's vow and knew exactly how he felt. He swore to himself that he would help his son keep his promise to Natsuko, no matter what.

The young family placed their hoods over their heads and wrapped their cloaks tighter around them as they jumped from tree to tree heading towards the village that they loved so much, yet could never set foot in.

Both Sakura and Itachi were grateful that Tsunade had the foresight to give their children the ability to one day openly serve the Village Hidden in the Leaves just as they continued to serve from its shadows.

A/N: And that is a wrap! It ended very differently than I originally planned, but after what I dealt with the last couple of weeks, I just wanted to finish it for all of the people who kept up with the story.