11

"Are you sure Gaara-sama?" asked Hinata as she was fed some ice-cream. Her white eyes were looking into the face of one of the most feared ninjas in the known world and she couldn't help herself but to feel cared for.

"Yes, Uzumaki is pregnant; you can see it with that skill of yours. There is no doubt in my mind anymore," said Gaara with a light smirk as he fed Hinata another spoon of ice-cream.

"How do you feel about it Gaara-sama?" asked Hinata and looked into those aqua green eyes of Gaara. "I know that you had a special connection with Naruto-kun."

"So did you Hinata-san," said Gaara without answering her question.

Hinata blushed and nodded to that question. She had a special connection to the blonde boy once, but not any longer, the crush was long gone, replaced by another form of connection. Now it was Sasuke that had that privilege, but she wasn't jealous or anything, because she was walking towards the same sort of happiness. Being with Gaara gave her that. But still, she had seen the strange chakra that was residing in Naruto's stomach. It was not his own and it was not the Kyuubi's, it was a cauldron that blended Naruto's, Sasuke's and the Kyuubi's chakra into a real soup that was lilac in colour.

"Hinata-san, you danced that night… or… you trained. My guess is that you trained – what do you call it?" asked Gaara as he fed Hinata another scoop of ice-cream.

Hinata blushed but answered. "I call it kaisui baree jutsu – Water Ballet Style."

"Suitable to what I saw you do," answered Gaara as he saw another scoop of the sweet treat disappeared into her plump mouth. 'Sweet gods, have she any idea to what she's doing when she eat this thing?' he thought as he put another spoon of ice-cream to her mouth. 'And why on earth am I the one doing this??'

Hinata blushed again as she swallowed the treat Gaara fed her. She knew that they looked as if they were lovers, which they were not, but… 'But I want us to be…' whispered a voice in her head and she blushed even more. 'I did not… no… no… I did think that didn't I?'

"Yo!!"

Gaara and Hinata moved apart when they heard the third voice and turned around to see Kakashi sit next to them. His visible eye held amusement and Hinata turned from a light rose shade to a violent red one.

"Hatake-san," said Hinata with her soft voice and Gaara nodded towards the copy ninja.

"So what are you two love birds up to?" asked the amused Kakashi as his eyes darted between the two, Hinata's face turned dark red and Gaara looked as if he was ready to kill him. 'So cute they are together.' he thought.

"We were having a nice, quiet time together until someone decided to drop in and disturb us," said Gaara icily.

"Ohh, don't mind me, I'm just here to fetch me some dinner and feed my little dolphin," chuckled Kakashi, "but I overheard you when you talked about Naruto-kun. Is something wrong with him?"

"So what if it was? Why should we tell you about it?" asked Gaara but was silenced when he felt Hinata's hand grab his. She looked at him with a small smile that said he should be more polite.

"We are not sure Hatake-san, but Naruto-kun has started to act strange," said Hinata and tried to mend over the harshness of Gaara's words.

"And he smell strange too," muttered Gaara and it was almost as if he was pouting.

"Ohh, prey tell, how does he smell?" asked Kakashi, now more concerned about what they were telling him.

"Like a pregnant woman says Gaara-sama and the other day at the training ground he stopped fighting with Sasuke-san and began collecting things from the ground, and later he put them into a hole in the ground," continued Hinata.

"Have you talked to the Hokage about this?" asked Kakashi, his chest tightened a bit. Perhaps the seal was breaking or something, because they had just described the behaviour of an animal.

"She's aware about his strange smell. I was there earlier and talked about it," said Gaara, only wanting Kakashi to be gone so he could enjoy feeding more ice cream to Hinata. 'And I am a masochist, forcing myself through this torment,' he thought and saw Hinata lick her lips again. Inwardly he groaned and a small chuckle alerted him to the fact that the copy cat ninja obviously knew about his predicament. 'I'll kill him later.'

"Well, I'll leave you two love birds alone then. But I suggest that you talk to the Hokage again about his behaviour," said Kakashi with a smile and saw them nod before he left them alone.

Gaara growled but was silenced when Hinata pecked his cheek lightly. His head spun around and he looked at her and saw her blushing face. His eyes widened when he saw the soft smile and he melted. "W-want more i-ice cream Hinata-san?" he choked out.

"Please," she said and parted her lips.

'Yes, pure torment it is.'

Another Part of Town

Sasuke was beginning to feel frantic. Naruto was nowhere to be found. He had searched everywhere and he couldn't find him. Naruto wasn't at home, not at the ramen stand, nor was he on the training ground. 'Naruto, where are you?' Sasuke's black eyes searched over the town from the roof of the building where Naruto's apartment was located but he couldn't see his blonde lover anywhere.

But he did see Temari walk with Neji and he jumped down to ask them if they had seen Naruto anywhere. He landed gracefully just a few feet away from them and they looked strangely at him.

"Have you seen Naruto?" asked Sasuke and felt his heart almost stop when they had to think about their answers.

"No, can't say that I have," answered Temari.

"Neither has I, but we'll help you look for him," said Neji and activated his Byakugan to scan the area for the those special signs that Naruto's chakra gave off. And it didn't take him very long to find them.

"Well!??" breathed Sasuke.

"He's at your home," said Neji and looked at Sasuke.

Before they could say anything, the raven haired teen was gone. They decided to go with him. Neji wondered why Temari was so set on following Sasuke.

"Since we came here, Gaara has begun to act strange too. Almost as if he wants to be accepted. You know who is responsible for that, Hinata-san, and this morning – he even brushed his hair. He never brushes his hair," said Temari with a wicked smile. "And you have seen the way Naruto acted on the training ground. Something's up with that boy."

Neji had to agree with that. Naruto was acting strange and he had detected something even stranger within the blonde hokage-wannabe. He held a different chakra within his body, something that he only could see when he was looking at pregnant women, but Naruto couldn't be pregnant, he was a man.

They stopped at the gate that led to the Uchiha compound and saw Sasuke stand there. Music was playing loudly and as they followed Sasuke's line of sight they dropped their mouths open.

Because there they saw Naruto and Kankurou move around with two sweeps, singing along the song very loudly.

# I got you – James Brown #

They just looked at the two as they moved around with the sweeps, the music thundering between the thin walls. It took Naruto and Kankurou a while before they noticed that they were being watched and they stopped.

"KANKUROU!!" yelled Temari.

"NARUTO!!" Sasuke's voice hollored.

"Ohh, hello, Sasuke," said Naruto and grinned with his hand behind his head.

"What the fuck are you doing? Do you have any idea how worried you made me?" whispered Sasuke as he grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled in the blonde youth into his arms and hugged him fiercely.

"S-Sasuke… I'm sorry," mumbled Naruto into the taller boy's chest as he slid his arms around his waist and returned the hug.

"Kankurou, what the hell do you think you're doing?" snarled Temari, she was furious over her younger brother's behaviour.

Naruto untangled his body from Sasuke's arms and turned around and then he leaned back against Sasuke's chest instead. He blushed lightly but tried to explain what had happened during the day.

He had met Kankurou at Ichiraku's ramen stand and the sand ninja had complained about the gloomy energy inside the Uchiha mansion. Naruto had agreed with him and told Kankurou the story behind the mansion and to why Sasuke was reluctant to stay there by himself. Kankurou had paled when the story was unfolded and he fully understood the Uchiha's choice to stay with Naruto instead. It was now that Kankurou suggested that they would try and lighten up the atmosphere in the dark mansion and Naruto had been more than happy to help out with that. He had forgotten that he should tell Sasuke where he was going and he ended up singing into the end of a broom stick.

Temari began to laugh softly as the blonde boy told them the story. Neji smiled but Sasuke wasn't happy. He had been worried sick that something happened to Naruto and he growled unhappy with the whole thing.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean for you to worry so much," said Naruto softly and turned around again in Sasuke's arms. "But look, can't you tell that the air here is much better now?"

"I don't care about that right now, please come home with me…," mumbled Sasuke as he forced his heart rate down to a normal pace. His little fox was acting up again and he promised himself that he noticed one more strange thing they would go to the Hokage and talk about it. This blonde was nothing like the old Naruto. But he couldn't tell just what was wrong with him.

Naruto just nodded and they began to walk away from the old mansion, leaving three stunned people behind.

Temari then forced Kankurou into the kitchen and she lost her face again, because the kitchen looked very lived in. Flowers in the windows, a yellow and red cloth on the table and a vase with flowers. Curtains with the same coloration as the table cloth hung over the windows.

"What the fuck have you two been doing?" asked Temari as she began to move around the house, only to see similar things in the rooms they were using.

"We thought we could put some life into this crypt of death," answered Kankurou and smiled so his kabuki-painted face grinned evilly.

"Crypt of death?"

"Yeah, Naruto-kun told me about Uchiha's past, and it's no wonder that we don't like it here," snorted Kankurou.

"So you know about the tragedy that struck Sasuke in his childhood?" came Neji's baritone voice.

"Yeah, fuck, that brother of his must be a real bastard. He's even worse than Gaara was before," said Kankurou and nodded and with Neji's help he told Temari about what had happened to Sasuke and to why the Sharingan-user didn't want to live here.

Temari sunk down at the kitchen table, unable to respond to what her brother and Neji just told her. 'Talk about fucked up family, fuck…,' she thought as she smiled weakly at Neji who held out a glass of water to her.

"Yeah, so now you know, and I hope we did a good work cleansing this house from negative energy," smiled Kankurou as he opened the fridge and pulled out a beer, he shot a look at Neji who nodded and the sand ninja tossed him a beer too.

Neji agreed with Kankurou, the energy within the house surely had changed and for the better. He smiled a bit and opened the beer and gulped down the alcoholic liquid. He was not the one to drink alcohol, but sometimes he enjoyed it and he was glad that today was Saturday and he was not going on any missions anytime soon. For now he could relax and enjoy the company, but he would rather be alone with Temari, but since he was here in their quarters, he couldn't chase that perverted kabuki painted clown away from what was his home now.

But Neji didn't have to chase Kankurou away, he told his good byes and a promise to find a good looking leaf kunoichi to fool around with. And Neji, knowing that Gaara already had found Hinata wasn't too worried. 'He, he, the perv would have a tough time if he came across Tenten,' thought the Hyuuga-prodigy.

Temari noticed the grim smile and she looked at Neji, asking him what he was thinking about and Neji told her. Temari broke down in laughter and tears and Neji chuckled. He was happy to see her spirit up again.

Kakashi unlocked the door to his apartment and went inside, closing and locking the door behind him again. He had begged Iruka for a set of keys so he could come and go as he pleased. And his little dolphin had blushed when he asked it but given him the keys. They had been dancing around each other for quite some time and Kakashi had know that it would only be a matter of months before they would be together. And now he didn't want any uninvited guests. He had plans for his little dolphin. And said little dolphin was lying on his bed, napping the afternoon away. Kakashi almost purred when he saw the barely covered firm bum on Iruka.

Kakashi reached into his bag of groceries and found the bottle of red wine he had bought. He opened the bottle and put it on the table as he removed his vest and shirt, leaving him in only in a pair of pants and his mask.
He chuckled and grabbed the bottle and walked into the bedroom. With the stealth of years being a ninja he straddled Iruka's thighs without waking him up and then leaned over Iruka's backside. He rested on his left hand as his right tipped the bottle over a bit, spilling blood red liquid over Iruka's back. The wine ran down his spine to pool at the small of his back.

"ACK!!" gasped Iruka as he felt the cool liquid roll down his back and he shot up but was pushed down again.

"Mahh, Iruka-kun, it's just me," purred Kakashi into Iruka's ear and he felt the teacher relax under him, the next thing he did was to remove his mask and placed it on the floor next to the bed. "I'm just treating myself to a wine drenched dolphin meal."

Iruka gasped as Kakashi began to lick up the wine from his back, beginning from the top and down to where the wine had pooled. His shaft began to swell just feeling that hot and skilled tongue of Kakashi. They had not yet consumed their partnership, but if this continued he would not say no to the scarecrow.

Kakashi moaned as the wine mixed with Iruka's taste and he could feel himself become drunk because of it. His head spun with desire to make this dolphin his and the way Iruka was moving under him told Kakashi that it would be a perfect time for claiming. He rubbed his growing erection against Iruka's firm bum, making him squirm against him.

"Kakashi," whispered Iruka harshly as Kakashi put the bottle on the nightstand and then grabbed Iruka's waist as he made one final lick right above the split of his behind. Kakashi was driving him towards the edge faster than he ever had experienced before. His hands gripped the pillow and he let out another moan.

"Shh, soon my little dolphin, just let me enjoy your taste a little bit longer," answered Kakashi as he flipped Iruka around to lie on his back and then he removed his pants and shorts in two short moments before coming down onto the bed again. He took hold of Iruka's wrists and pinned them down next to his head. He leaned over and saw Iruka's flushed face and Kakashi smiled gently before catching the other man's lips in a soul searing kiss.

Iruka answered the kiss with equal heat and he rubbed up against the scarecrow's pelvis, feeling their hard shafts rub against each other, sending flares of desire through him. He could hear Kakashi whisper into his mouth and Iruka lost it. He tore away from his lover's lips and looked into a black and a red eye. The sharingan-redness was almost sinful as the black was seductive and Iruka pleaded for Kakashi to take him.

"Are you sure Iruka-kun?" asked Kakashi as he nibbled at Iruka's throat. He could feel him nod and Kakashi decided that it was time to claim his dolphin. He parted Iruka's legs and took place between his thighs.

Iruka could feel his face heat up even more as he became so exposed, but his body didn't mind at all. A light gasp spilled from his lips as Kakashi lowered his head and gently began to suck his erection. "Kakashi…," he mewled as the sensation of feeling the other man's tongue lave over the sensitive tip of his limb.

Kakashi smirked as he took his time to prepare Iruka for the inevitable. With a finger, slick with saliva he pushed inside Iruka's body, his eyes on the shy man's face the whole time. He would rather kill himself than hurt Iruka in anyway even though he would feel pain when Kakashi would penetrate him fully. But he wanted to make sure that the pain was as small as possible.

Iruka felt slight uncomfortable as Kakashi's finger entered him, but it went away as soon as he felt Kakashi increase the sucking of his shaft. 'Dear gods,' moaned Iruka as he arched his back off the bed. His eyes shut tight as pleasure wrecked his body.

Kakashi added another lubricated finger, stretching Iruka's tight opening until Iruka let out a scream and Kakashi looked up just as his lover spilled his seed into his mouth. Surprised but not revolted, Kakashi swallowed the little treat Iruka gave him and then he removed his fingers and replaced them with his flesh instead. Before Iruka had a chance to catch on what was happening, the scarecrow had buried himself to the hilt inside the dolphin's body.

Both let out a moan of pleasure and Iruka opened his eyes to see the excitement in Kakashi's face. He had been surprised when Kakashi used the moment of his peak to enter his body, the tip of his erection brushing over Iruka's sweet spot, giving him another small climax. But he began to grow impatient as Kakashi refused to move. Iruka knew that the copy ninja didn't want to hurt him, but god damn…. "Move," growled Iruka as he pushed against Kakashi's pelvis.

With a growl Kakashi complied with his shy lover's wishes, a lover who wasn't so shy at the moment. So ever so slowly he began to move, taking great care of brushing over that spot inside Iruka that would drive him wild with need. But when Iruka's hand moved lower and grabbed his bum, Kakashi lost it. He couldn't hold back any longer and began to pound rather fiercely into Iruka, making the dolphin scream his name in pleasure.

Iruka could feel another peak near itself and he tried to find the place that could make Kakashi go over the edge as well. He wanted to feel Kakashi fill him with is essence and his fingers moved up over the crack of his ass until he found a very sensitive spot right above it. The same place where he too was very sensitive to touch. He gently massaged the spot, earning himself a dark growl from the jounin.

"Iruka…," Kakashi let out as he spilled his release deep within Iruka's warmth. No sooner, Iruka sprayed his seed over their stomachs and Kakashi fell forward, pushing his face into Iruka's neck. He could feel the teacher's arms wove around his shoulders and he smiled tiredly.

Iruka enjoyed the moment of serene silence before Kakashi moved away from him, pulling his flaccid shaft from Iruka's body. He moved to lay down next to him and Iruka moved to look into his lover's face. He felt a slight throbbing pain running up his backside but he ignored it, he had asked for it.

"Iruka-kun…" mumbled Kakashi as his hand came up and stroked Iruka's face.

"You know what… I think I like to have some more wine," said Iruka with a smile.

12

Naruto looked at Sasuke. The raven haired youth was asleep and Naruto couldn't help but smile at him. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful like this. Naruto sighed, he had tried to get some sleep too, but he was restless and now he moved out of the bed. He walked into the kitchen, feeling the urge to eat something. He had a craving, but it was not for ramen. But what was it that he wanted. He looked into the fridge trying to decipher the craving. And there, right in the middle laid a large chunk of liver, all raw and all fresh. He licked his lips as he pulled it out and placed it on the table. And two seconds later he was using his teeth to rip the flesh apart and chewed it. Raw. He closed his eyes feeling a bit disgusted with himself but he couldn't help it. The taste of the meat was just heavenly at the moment. He was so lost in the taste of the liver that he never noticed Sasuke's black eyes looking at him.

Sasuke had awakened a few minutes after Naruto left the bed. He found his blonde lover in the kitchen and the sight was really upsetting his stomach. Because there at the table sat Naruto, eating the next day's lunch. And he ate it raw. And in his mind Sasuke had already decided. 'This was the last straw Naruto, tomorrow we will go to Tsunade-sama to get her to help us to figure out what is wrong with you.' he thought as he went to the bathroom and put a towel under the hose and soaked it before going back to the kitchen. And by the time he came back, Naruto had eaten the whole thing. He looked as if he wanted to throw up and he raised his hands in front of his face. His fingers were covered in blood.

'What am I doing?' he thought horrified as he felt the urge to lick his fingers too. 'You damn fox – what are you up to?' he mentally yelled and clenched his fists and felt tears appear in his eyes. But his "guest" was silent, she didn't say a word. 'Stupid kitsune!!'

"Naruto… here, use this," came Sasuke's soft voice from the opening to the kitchen. In his hand he held a towel and Naruto nodded and took the offered wet rag. "Tomorrow we will visit the Hokage. This was just the last straw. What on earth possessed you to devour that piece of liver?"

"That baka kitsune I'm sure… she was the one that made me want to eat it raw," growled Naruto, feeling a bit agitated at his sealed fox.

"I'm sure Tsunade-sama will be able to tell what's wrong with you koibito, now come back to bed," said Sasuke and guided his lover back to the bedroom. As soon as they were back in bed, Sasuke spooned the worried little fox boy against his chest, putting his arms around him. "Don't worry about it Naruto, everything will turn out just fine, I'm sure."

"I hope so Sasuke, because this is getting ridiculous you know," said Naruto and relaxed as Sasuke's arms provided him with warmth and comfort. "She's making me do a lot of crazy stuff."

Sasuke just hushed the boy in his arms and soon the blonde was fast asleep. But Sasuke couldn't find the peace to follow his lover into the land of dreams. He was worried, very worried. He could handle the nesting thing, he could handle the urge to act like a cleaning lady, he could handle the collecting of sticks and grass and stuff, but eating raw liver in the middle of the night, that – that the Uchiha could not handle.

Naruto did not want to be in this very room at the moment. He was beginning to feel real queasy and just thinking about what he had done during the night made him want to drop his ramen breakfast on Tsunade's sparkling clean floor.

"Hokage-sama, will you please take a look at Naruto?" asked Sasuke sternly as he watched the rather sleep messed blond woman in front of him. "He has been acting strange and last night I found him sitting at the table eating raw liver."

Naruto turned green and dashed out of the room.

"NARUTO!!!" yelled Sasuke and followed his beloved blonde lover. Not far after came Tsunade and Shizune. They too were worried about the boy and his behaviour. They found him hanging over one of the toilets in the bathroom, spilling the contents of his stomach into it. "Naruto, are you ok? What happened?" asked Sasuke as he kneeled next to Naruto putting his arm around his shoulders, gently rubbing his back. Naruto answered with another hulking sound.

"Naruto-kun, do you have a stomach-flu?" asked Shizune as she wetted some paper and handed it over to Sasuke who in turn helped Naruto to wipe his mouth.

"Stomach-flu? Well, you might put it like that…," mumbled Tsunade to her self but Sasuke heard her and he looked at her as if wanting to squeeze the answers out of her. She sighed and turned around. "Clean him up a bit and bring him to the examination room," was her final words as she exited the bathroom. 'I can't believe it. The kyuubi really did it… how on earth is that possible?' she thought as she waited for the others to come to the room with her.

Shizune had left before Naruto and Sasuke. Sasuke was holding on to Naruto and looked into those blue spheres that seemed to have captured the sky. "Naruto, what's wrong with you? Please, talk to me," he whispered as he put his hands on Naruto's cheeks. His heart was racing inside his chest; he feared that there was something seriously wrong with his beloved sunshine. If he lost Naruto, he would die of sorrow. He would perish like a leaf in the autumn's winds.

"I'm sorry if I worry you so much Sasuke," answered Naruto as he closed his eyes and tried to chase the dizziness away. With Sasuke's help he was able to stand up and he walked over to one of the sinks to clean his face a bit. He washed his face and gurgled some water to get rid of that bad taste in his mouth. Once he was finished he was hugged by Sasuke.

"I don't want to loose you Naruto, you are my everything," said Sasuke. "I will die if you are not here with me!"

"Sasuke..?" Naruto saw into charcoal black eyes and lost himself in them.

Sasuke nuzzled his neck, feeling the soft skin tickle his lips and he hugged his lover even tighter. "I mean it Naruto, I really do mean it," he said and took Naruto's hand and together they walked to the examination room.

They saw Shizune and Tsunade sit there waiting for them. Wordlessly Tsunade ordered Naruto to sit at the edge of the bed and to remove his jacket and shirt. Once that was gone she gasped lightly. The seal on Naruto's stomach was clearly showing, it never did that unless he was using chakra. 'But there are chakra flowing here, red chakra that are protecting a third source of energy. Indeed, the panda-boy wasn't wrong. Naruto is really pregnant. It shouldn't be possible, but if that fox is involved, anything could happen of course,' she thought and gently pushed Naruto to lie down on the bed as she put her hands on his stomach. And she was in for another surprise. She was actually burning her hands because of the energy that was swirling around his stomach.

"Don't worry Kyuubi-san; I will not harm your kit. I'm just going to make sure that Naruto is alright," she whispered softly, making Shizune, Sasuke and Naruto gap in surprise. But her words had made some change, because she was no longer burning her hands. Amazed as she always was when she discovered new life with in a person, this however had much larger impact on the blonde woman. She could feel her eyes become moist as she felt the new life within Naruto. Her boy was going to have a baby.

"Hokage-sama, what's wrong with Naruto? Will he be ok? It's not bad is it?" Sasuke fired one question after another.

Tsunade smiled and removed her hands from Naruto's belly and motioned him to put on his clothes again. She turned around and looked at the worried Uchiha. "I don't think you have to worry one bit about your lover Sasuke-kun. He will be fine. Sure, he will continue to have strange cravings in the middle of the night, he will most probably throw up every now and then, especially in the mornings and I can assure you that he will have grave mood swings and then there is the occasional dizziness also."

"Ehh? How can this be normal? If Naruto's feeling sick, how can that be fine??!" roared Sasuke and grabbed hold of her collar, his eyes flaming with anger and frustration.

Shizune began to understand what Tsunade was talking about and fell back on one of the chairs, looking all but shocked out of her wits. But Naruto-kun was a boy… that couldn't be possible?

"Sasuke-kun, trust me, he will be perfectly fine. And I will not order him to go on any missions, not for a long time Sasuke-kun. Well, run along now boys, I have other things to take care of," said Tsunade and was about leave when Sasuke grabbed hold of her again.

"Tell me what's wrong with Naruto or help me God – I will beat it out of you, I don't care that you are the Hokage!" growled Sasuke viciously.

Tsunade pried his fingers from her jacket with ease and walked out the door but just before she exited the room she turned around and shot a happy look at the trio. "Sasuke-kun, Naruto is in perfect condition, he's just pregnant." And with that she left the room with Shizune jogging after her.

Ok, Naruto was just pregnant, well that was not so bad was it….

PREGNANT????!!!

Naruto felt dizzy again and he wanted to grab on to something. Where the hell was Sasuke? Naruto looked around and let out a shriek when he saw his raven haired lover lying flat on the floor.

Yes, the mighty Uchiha had fainted.

Naruto jumped down from the bed and picked up Sasuke and placed him on the bed. "Hey, Sasuke, w-what are you doing? You can't drop dead like that, you're scaring me here. Come on, wake up love…" he whispered as he gently caressed Sasuke's face. "She was just kidding, I'm a guy, I can't be pregnant, don't be so stupid to believe what the old hag tells ya. Come on, wake up… please.." Fuck he was about to cry when finally Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at the devastated boy next to him.

"N-Naruto?" Sasuke stuttered as he watched Naruto's relieved expression. He was suddenly hugged fiercely by the blonde and he couldn't help but hug him back. "W-what happened?" asked Sasuke a bit shaken by the fact that he actually had fainted.

"The old hag is pulling our leg. She's said that I was pregnant. Tsk, tsk, that's just impossible ne… I'm a guy!" said Naruto with a grin and helped Sasuke to sit up. "Come on, we must talk with her again, because I want to know the real answer. That woman has the oddest humour you know."

Sasuke nodded, still feeling a bit off. It was something about what the Hokage had said that actually made sense. He wasn't stupid, he had read books, he had read about pregnant women and he had heard some talks from people whenever he visited the store and other places. Morning sickness, strange cravings, odd mood swings. Yes, Naruto had them all. Sasuke remembered the aggressive side of Naruto earlier, that had to be counted as a mood swing… right? But what he really couldn't get into place was that habit of making their bed into a nest of some sort. Naruto had done it a couple of times now and then that twigs and grass-collecting thing at the training-ground. Strange behaviour. But pregnant? How was that even possible? Naruto was as anatomical male as you could come.

Naruto dragged him back to Tsunade's office and without knocking; he just burst through the door, demanding some real answers.

"Hey, brat, ever heard of knocking?" growled the Hokage as she looked up from her papers.

"Stop joking around old hag, tell me what's wrong with me or I will put my Rasengan through your chest!!" said Naruto and looked as if he would do it too.

"I can promise you that the fox will stop you from doing such a thing. You need all your powers to protect that child that now lives inside you," snorted Tsunade feeling rather sure of herself.

"WHAT?? Are you crazy?? Have you been sipping on the sake before we came here or what? Last time I checked - guys do not become pregnant!!" spat Naruto.

"Well, no ordinary guy can not become pregnant Naruto, but you are not like the others. You carry the spirit of the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside you. The nine tailed fox, and my guesses is that she wants to help the two of you out a bit."

"Help us out?" asked Sasuke as he tightened his hold around Naruto's hand. "What do you mean Hokage-sama?"

"Do you remember the night you came to me, wanting to talk?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Well, now is the time and I will not send Naruto on any missions, nor will he use any form of chakra while training. Taijutsu only from now on, and very light taijutsu. Do you understand this Sasuke? You must make sure that Naruto does not strain himself."

"Old hag, shut up, I can't be pregnant!!" shouted Naruto.

"Just ask her and I am sure she will tell you," said Tsunade and shrugged. "Now, can you please leave, Shizune has put all these papers here and I must go over them. Now shoo, shoo…"

Sasuke bowed and dragged the curse spitting Naruto with him. He had been given a lot to think about and now he just wanted to go home. When Naruto continued to struggle Sasuke became annoyed and picked him up and carried him back to their apartment.

Shizune came into the office right after the boys had left. She too wanted to know if Tsunade was serious in the matter. Tsunade explained to her about Sasuke's strange message from the Kyuubi, she told her about the Kazekage's strange message and about Hinata's discovery of a third source of chakra. And the behaviour of the boy just summoned it all up. Naruto was pregnant. It was that simple.

And it was because of Kyuubi's endless source of chakra that could keep Naruto pregnant. But since her chakra was occupied, she couldn't help Naruto if he got into fights while on a mission. Thus he was now relieved from missions.

"I just can't believe it Tsunade-sama… it's just unreal…," whispered Shizune, quite stunned by the news.

"I know and I agree with you Shizune. It's unreal, and yet it's real. We will just have to wait and see what's going to happen," answered Tsunade.

Gaara and Hinata were walking back to the Uchiha-compound. They had enjoyed a breakfast at the Ichiraku's ramen stand. They stopped when they saw a figure jumping over the roofs, carrying someone in his arms. Hinata frowned as she followed the figures until they disappeared and then she looked at Gaara.

"Was that who I think it was?" she asked.

"Yes, that was the Uchiha and he carried a most displeased Uzumaki in his arms."

"Oh, do you think Naruto-kun is alright?" asked Hinata suddenly very worried about her best friend.

"I guess they found out about Uzumaki's condition and by the way he was cursing, Uzumaki didn't take it very well," said Gaara with a light smirk.

"Do you think we should check up on them? Just in case?"

"No, I think the Uchiha will take care of it. Not to worry Hinata-san."

Hinata sighed. Gaara was right. If anyone could handle it, it would be Sasuke. But still, she felt a bit worried about it. Naruto was one stubborn boy to convince.

"So what do you want to do when we come back to your place?" asked Hinata wanting to get her thoughts on something else.

"Aniki taught me a new card game, want to try it?" asked Gaara.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Poker."

Sasuke struggled to get Naruto through the door; the blonde was still angry and was cursing until his tongue threatened to turn black. "NARU-CHAN!!"

That got Naruto to shut up and he looked with blazing eyes at Sasuke. "Don't call me that!" hissed Naruto after a moment.

"Just sit down and take a few deep breaths. Please?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto reluctantly did as he was asked and slumped down on the sofa in the living room. Sasuke came around and sat down next to him. They looked at each other and suddenly Naruto could feel his cheeks warm up. The gaze Sasuke gave him made him feel hot. It was as if Sasuke was looking into the deepest corners of his soul. "Sasuke?" he hesitantly asked just before said boy pulled him into his arms and cuddled him tightly.

"Naruto, why should the Hokage joke about such a thing? Think about it Naruto for a moment. Hokage-sama has no need to pull a cruel joke like that. And you have behaved strange this past week, you must admit that," whispered Sasuke as breathed in that wonderful scent of sunshine and oranges in Naruto's hair.

"But I'm a guy…," mumbled Naruto and his arms slipped around Sasuke's waist. The brunette had pulled him into his lap and Naruto pushed his face into Sasuke's neck, letting the taller boy cuddle him.

"Yeah, that it self would make things impossible, but you are also a guy that walks around with a nine tailed fox inside you. And that fox is female, I have talked to her," said Sasuke and put two fingers under Naruto's chin and gently pushed his face up a bit.

"W-what? When?" Naruto blinked confused.

"Do you remember the night when we got together? When we had been to the onsen?"

Naruto blushed but nodded.

"Kyuubi-san came out that evening Naruto. She told me to leave a message for the Hokage. She wanted me to tell the Hokage that she wouldn't give you any missions when the time comes. Do you remember what we were talking about? We talked about reviving my family, but since I refuse to leave you, I also refuse to have anything with any woman out there. Back then I had no idea what she was talking about, but now… now it all makes sense. She has somehow managed to make me impregnate you. You will be the "mother" of my child. Naruto.."

Naruto's blue eyes widened when Sasuke again shocked him by the amount of words that came out of him, but as the words sunk into his mind he began to realize that the Hokage had been right. She had not pulled a cruel joke on them. Why should she? He paled and fell back with his head on Sasuke's chest.

There was no joke – Naruto was pregnant. Naruto was carrying Uchiha, Sasuke's heir.

13

It was all so surreal to Sasuke that he for a moment feared that he had stepped into another reality where things like this happened every day. Naruto had fallen asleep on him and Sasuke had carried him to their bed, undressed him and put him under the covers. And then he sat down next to the blonde boy. His fingers gently followed the whiskered marks on his lover's face.

Naruto was pregnant and it was the Kyuubi that had made it possible. They were going to have a child. A tightness formed in Uchiha's chest and suddenly without knowing why, Sasuke was crying. His hand came down to rest on Naruto's flat stomach, the seal that held the Kyuubi in a tightly locked cage, was glowing faintly and Sasuke traced the marks with is forefinger.

"Kyuubi-san? If you can hear me… why did you do this?" Sasuke whispered as he lay down with his head on Naruto's chest. His hand was still on the blonde's stomach, trying to feel the life that they had created in there. He had yet to fully believe it, but if it was true, he would be the happiest man in all of Konoha. Naruto twitched a bit under Sasuke's touch and Sasuke couldn't help but smile softly. His little fox was ticklish, that he would put to use sometime.

"Because I love my kit and I can feel that you love him very much too. You love him so much that you refused to revive your clan so that you can be with him. I did it for your love Uchiha-san."

Sasuke's head shot up, but Naruto was still asleep. But the voice still echoed through his head. Was the Kyuubi capable of telepathy too? But he didn't hear anything else so he laid his head back down and listened to the soft thumps that Naruto's heart made. That alone was enough to lull the former avenger to sleep.

Inside her cage, Kyuubi was purring in contentment. She had found a spot for the child to grow and she surrounded it with her chakra, protecting it from being aborted by the laws of nature. It was still very small, but she could feel that it would become a strong child. Her power, Naruto's own personal determination and stamina and Sasuke's strength… Yes, it would all blend together in a very powerful mix in this child. 'Yondaime-sama… your son will continue your legacy and with my wisdom and strength, this baby will most probably turn out to be Hokage one day too…' she smiled as she saw the image of the fourth Hokage appear in her mind.

During the day, Tsunade began to make plans to protect Naruto at all costs. The moment it became public that Naruto was pregnant all hell would probably break loose, especially if it became known that it was the Kyuubi that was responsible for his pregnancy. For a moment she wished that she could talk to the demon fox about this. That would probably make things a lot easier. Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose, this was becoming so troublesome and yet she couldn't help to wonder if this was not something that Naruto wished for as well. Naruto was considerate to others, thus he probably didn't want the Uchiha to become the object of taunting and such because of his connection to the fox vessel.

'But I must admire Sasuke's determination in this, but then again, since when did he care about what others thought of him?' Tsunade smiled weakly and resumed her paperwork. But she decided to talk to Jiraiya later on…. and Gaara and Hinata of course. She sighed; suddenly she realized that there were more people involved in this that she had thought of from the beginning. 'But they are all people that cares deeply for Naruto. That might just do the trick for my little brat.'

She called for Shizune and then she told her that she was going out to do some investigations of her own about what the people close to Naruto knew about him. And Shizune smiled and said she was going to try and work through some of the stacks of paper that needed to be done. She understood the Hokage's concern for the boy. Naruto-kun had taken a place in her heart as well.

Tsunade's first visit was to the training ground. She had to admit, it was a very nice day, the sun was shining although a bit chilly in the air. But it was autumn, it was supposed to be like this now. She breathed in a lungful of fresh air and sighed softly. Yes, it was a nice day indeed. But as she neared the training ground she could hear a woman shout with a voice full of venom at someone. Tsunade stopped and peeked around a tree.

She recognized the woman to be Tenten, the girl that was on Neji's team. She had seen this girl many times in battle and her knowledge of using weapons of all kind was amazing. But who on earth had made her so mad? Tsunade decided she would just stay hidden and listen in on the battering of the poor soul who ever it might be.

Kankurou ducked as another wave of shurikens came flying through the air. He growled, what the fuck was wrong with the girls here in Konoha? Couldn't they take a joke? 'Or a grope…?' Kankurou smirked at the memory, he also remembered how soft and grope-friendly her ass was. Now that was something he wanted to feel again. Not even that girl with long blonde hair had such a nice ass even though she had much larger breasts.

"You freaky puppet-user, you do NOT go around and grab women's asses like that. It's just perverts who does… Touch me again and I will kill you… you… you pig!!" yelled Tenten, she was furious. She had been up early and decided that she would go and get some training. While she was concentration on beating the shit out of an old tree this clown had appeared and asked if she wanted to spar with him.

Sure she could use a spar with someone else than Lee or Neji so she had accepted it. But now she was regretting it, because the moment he came close he reached for her softer parts, giving her a healthy dose of palming.

"But baby, you have such a…" began Kankurou but was silenced when another shower of shurikens came flying around his head.

"Do Not Finish That Sentence…," growled Tenten as she pulled her sword from the sheath on her back. "If you do I will snip off that little clown of yours and make you a castrate singer!!"

Kankurou gulped, he was sure that she would go through with that threat. So he obediently shut his pie hole. This girl was just plain dangerous. Gorgeous but dangerous. He saw her chest heave as she was breathing, actually he had no trouble of seeing smoke and fire coming out of her nose, she was like a fire breathing dragon at the moment and that made him want her even more. He wanted to tame that fire within her, make that fire his own. With his hands behind his back he began to work his puppet Karasu with the help of chakra-strings. He would catch her off guard as her attention was on him and not on his puppet.

Tenten was fuming with anger; she absolutely hated it when men thought she was just a pretty doll they could fool around with. Tenten was no such thing. She was a woman with her own will. She was strong and one day she would become as strong as the Great Tsunade-sama. But before she could let out another battering string of words she was caught by two pair of wooden arms and she was enclosed in Karasu's embrace.

Kankurou let out a sigh of relief. He had captured the hot headed girl, she couldn't throw anything at him now, nor could she perform any kind of seals. He was safe for now. He smirked and straightened his back and walked over to the feisty little woman. Her dark brown eyes were shooting something similar to death rays at him.

"Ya ain't so cocky now are ya?" he said, his face grimacing at her futile attempts to get loose.

"You let me go you fucking pervert!!" snarled Tenten, she had lost her patience with this guy and now she couldn't wait to get loose so she would kick his furry ass. Yeah, she was sure that he would have a really hairy ass!

"Now, now… why don't you cool down a bit?" asked Kankurou.

But he made a mistake; he came too close to her. Her hands may be tied up in Karasu's grip, but her feet weren't.

Tsunade couldn't hold back any longer, she began to laugh as she emerged from her hiding place. Kankurou looked positively scared shit and Tenten looked relieved. Tsunade waved her finger in front of Kankurou's smashed face.

"Nahh, that's no way to treat a lady, is it? Release her so you can kiss and make up," said Tsunade as she turned around and began to walk away. This was not the time to ask the two about what they thought about Naruto. No, these two youngsters had enough to deal with at the moment. Meaning a whole lot of hormones and emotions. She smiled and looked at the sky again. She would've given a lot to stay and look how things progressed but she had a mission so she had to cancel her peeping tom qualities. She had been with Jiraiya far too long mind you.

Kankurou didn't dare to go against the Hokage's words so he released Tenten from Karasu's arms. The weapon's master brushed out her clothes a bit before shooting a deadly glare at Kankurou. He smirked again and grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms instead. And before Tenten could react, he kissed her. French kissed her. Her surprised gasped made it easy for him to taste her mouth which he of course did, passionately I might add.

When he let her go she was spitting like a wet cat, brushing his kiss off her lips with the upper side of her hand before turning around and looked at him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" she snarled, ready to give him another shower of shurikens.

"I just did as the Hokage told us to do – kiss and make up…?" said the smiling Kankurou. He had gotten a taste of a fiery heaven and he would make sure he would be able to taste it in the future too. Never in his life had he met a woman with Tenten's spirit.

"But… you shouldn't!!" she inwardly groaned over the lame retaliation.

"Why?"

"B-because.. because… t-that's j-just a figure of speech!!"

"And here I thought I was a good kisser – or so I've been told," said Kankurou and stepped closer to her again, ready to sweep her off her feet again. She had been surprisingly soft and warm in his arms, no fighting what so ever.

"You've been told wrong!!" she shot back as she eyed him wearily. She did not like the look in his light brown eyes. Her pervert-radar began to scream in alarm. 'Don't let him come too close, because he will try it again!!' the radar shouted inside her head. But what she not had expected was the way her heart picked up speed just thinking about kissing this clown again.

"Really? You think I'm a bad kisser?"

"Y-yes…?" 'Now why did that sound like a question..?'

"You don't know? Have you never been kissed before… Tenten-chan?" purred Kankurou and he got his answer when her face turned beet red. He had stolen her first kiss. Now that was interesting.

Tenten tried to blow up like a balloon but ended up looking just flustered. She tried to find a snappy come back but she couldn't. "O-of course I have been k-kissed before…," she mumbled and hated the fact that she was stuttering just like Hinata.

"Little grasshopper, don't you know that it is not nice to lie to another person?" asked Kankurou as his grin widened when her blush turned to one of the oddest colours he ever had seen, she was practically purple in the face by now. "But out of curiosity… who have kissed you?" 'Because if you have been kissed by someone else… if someone else has tasted those luscious lips I will certainly kill him.'

"That's none of your business clown!!" 'Why doesn't he give up?'

"So you have not been kissed?" 'I knew it!!'

"Y-yes I have!!" shouted Tenten.

"Then tell me the name of the boy who kissed you…" 'I don't believe that you ever had been kissed before Tenten-chan… I was your first kiss…'

'Name… name… Uhm… Neji-kun? No, to unbelievable… Lee-kun? Ihhh too furry eyebrows – creepy…. Sasuke-kun? No, he wouldn't go for that… Uhm… name, name…. Shikamaru-kun? Nahh… to lazy… Shino? Ehhh, no, too many bugs on that guy… Kiba? Wait… wait… dog-boy is a notorious lady-hunter… yeah… Kiba…!! He's perfect, plus he's away on a mission so the clown-freak can't check if my story is true or not. Perfect.'

"Kiba-kun if you must know," said Tenten after the mental rambling she just went through inside her head.

Kankurou felt his stomach turn inside out when he heard her. 'Kiba-kun?? That dog-nosed bastard have been kissing my little grasshopper?' Anger and jealousy erupted inside him and his smirk turn into a very evil look.

Tenten did not like the look in his light brown eyes and she gulped down the heart that was beating like crazy inside her throat. 'Ooops, he does not look very happy about…. hey – why do I care anyway??? He's just a lecherous creep… I don't care about him at all!!'

"You're lying…!!!" growled Kankurou.

"Why are you so obsessed with who I've been kissing in the past?" asked Tenten and took a few steps back as her right hand reached for a kunai. She began to feel a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation. If it was bad before, it was ten times worse now.

"Because I want to be the only one that has tasted that sweet and yet fiery taste that your lips can provide a man." Kankurou had no idea why he said it, but the words just came out all by themselves.

Tenten had been blushing before, but now she became pale as the Uchiha himself. All blood was drained from her face and suddenly she felt faint. 'Why does he affect me so much? He's nothing but a groper and a pervert…' But before she could fall to her knees she was caught in his strong arms again.

"Was it the truth Tenten-chan?" asked Kankurou softly as he helped her to stand up again. And when the girl with the two hair-buns shook her head he couldn't help but swinging her around in his arms, before he put her down again. "Thanks… and now, a real kiss and make up…."

He grasped her right hand and kissed the upper side and then two seconds later he disappeared in a pillar of smoke, leaving a stunned Tenten alone to contemplate on what the fuck just happened.

14

Sasuke had many ideas on how to wake up after snuggling with his dobe. But being shoved rather violently out of bed was not one of them. The avenger found himself having a close encounter with the floor as Naruto made a dash for the bathroom. Two seconds later you could hear the disgusting sound of the poor blonde loosing what was left of his ramen breakfast. Sasuke groaned and got up from the floor, rubbing his sore nose and forehead before walking to the bathroom to see if he could help Naruto feel a little bit better.

"Hey, Naruto…" he whispered as he put his arms around Naruto's shoulders.

"I feel like shit Sasuke…," growled Naruto as he gratefully grabbed the towel that Sasuke was handing to him.

"Can't be anything compared to what you look like dobe," said Sasuke affectionately and kissed the damp forehead of his beloved fox.

"Thanks Sasuke-bastard!!" answered Naruto as he leaned against Sasuke. He was too wiped out to even fight the raven haired boy at the moment.

"Are you finished?" asked Sasuke softly as he looked at the light green paled Naruto who nodded just a second later. "Come, brush your teeth and then step into the shower… I'll wash your back this time."

Naruto laughed lightly at that comment but he brushed his teeth and then with Sasuke's help he removed his clothes and stepped into the shower. He was soon joined by an equally naked Uchiha.

Sasuke adjusted the water until it was just right before he with gently hands made sure that Naruto was totally soaked before grabbing a bottle of soap and squeezed some onto a sponge and began to wash Naruto's back. He made sure that his lover was washed all over, from head to toe, taking extra care of those spots that made Naruto squirm with need. He saw Naruto grow hard and he smirked.

Naruto leaned back on the cool tiles as Sasuke began to wash his front side. He could feel his lover touch every place on his body that made him want more and he looked down on the kneeling Uchiha as his hands roamed down over Naruto's strong thighs. His blue eyes met black pools of desire and he let out a light moan as Sasuke nuzzled his hip, his face not far away from Naruto's growing erection.

"Sasukeee," hissed Naruto in a pleading tone.

"Want to give your lover a treat perhaps?" asked Sasuke huskily as he let go of the sponge and slid his fingers up over Naruto's legs until he grabbed the blonde's behind possessively.

"T-treat?" Naruto stuttered as he felt Sasuke's finger pry between his ass cheeks and brush over his back entrance.

"Yeah, want to give me some sweets perhaps?" asked Sasuke as his tongue followed the faint swirl on Naruto's stomach, making the blonde gasp in surprise.

Naruto blushed dark red when he remembered what kind of "sweets" his lover was talking about. But before he could answer that question, Sasuke had slipped the head of Naruto's shaft into his warm mouth and gently began to tease the sensitive head with his tongue.

Sasuke could taste that essence that was purely Naruto's desire and he licked the tip to get more of it. One finger, wet from the water eased into Naruto's tight opening. His other hand moved around and cupped the sac underneath Naruto's shaft, massaging it gently. His actions drew out a dark growling sound from the fox boy and Sasuke mentally smirked. He could almost feel the tension that was radiating from Naruto and he knew that his blond sunshine wouldn't last long.

"Sasuke… please… I… I need…," panted Naruto as Sasuke found the little pad inside him that made him go all wild. His hips bucked forth and Sasuke's mouth was filled with his hard and pulsating flesh. "Sasukeeeee!!"

Sasuke could feel his own release shot forth as Naruto's ragged scream vibrated through him. He swallowed Naruto's sweet seed and licked the softening shaft clean with his tongue before standing up to embrace his beautiful fox. He smiled gently before turning off the water and then grabbing a large towel and began to dry off the wetness from Naruto's lithe body.

Naruto let out a yelp as he was picked up and carried back to bed. But as Sasuke placed him on their bed he could see the warmth in the Uchiha's black eyes and felt his heart constrict and tears came to life.

"Naruto??" Sasuke was alarmed by the tears that began to flow from Naruto's eyes.

"I love you Sasuke… I love you so much…" sobbed Naruto as his tanned arms went around Sasuke's neck and pulled him down on the bed, onto himself.

"I love you too Naruto… but why are you crying?" asked Sasuke, moving so he would not put all his weight on Naruto. His hand came down almost instinctively and was placed on Naruto's lower belly.

"J-just so happy… Never had anyone that loved me like this before," mumbled Naruto once he had calmed down a bit and snuggled closer to Sasuke.

'Is this one of those mood swings again?' Sasuke thought and cradled his lover against his body.

"Do you really believe that she spoke the truth? Do you think that I'm pregnant Sasuke?" asked Naruto and locking his sky blue eyes on Sasuke's pale face. He wanted to know what Sasuke thought about it all.

"What reason would she have to prank us like that? She might be tough and an old hag from time to time, but I don't think she would be that cruel to us… do you?"

Naruto shook his head. No, he didn't believe that Tsunade could be that cruel. He took a last shaking breath before relaxing against Sasuke, feeling his hand on his stomach, tracing the faint marks of his seal. His hand came up and was placed over Sasuke's and he turned his head so he could look into his lover's black eyes.

"So… I'm going to be a mommy then?" he chuckled a bit nervously…

"Yeah… a mommy… mommy Naruto," said Sasuke and his lips was pulled up in a small wicked smile.

"So…. what do you think about it?..."

Sasuke looked deep into sapphire blue orbs and he rubbed his nose against Naruto's before answering the question. "I think it's a miracle, Naruto. Nothing more than a sheer miracle. A heaven sent gift."

"R-really?" asked Naruto and felt new tears well up in his eyes, happy tears.

"Really, Naruto…" 'There are not enough words to describe what I actually think about it all…. '

Naruto couldn't answer that, he just snuggled as close as he could to his raven haired angel. 'Kyuubi… thank you for making Sasuke so happy… if it wasn't for you – this wouldn't be possible…' he thought as he closed his eyes and felt very tired.

'Think nothing of it kit. I'm happy that you are happy. You've been treated so badly in the past, you deserve all the happiness you can get and I'm glad that I can give you some of it,' came the warm reply from the caged fox. 'I promise you that I will do anything in my power to protect this little critter here, don't you worry about a thing, just follow the cravings your body is going to have and you are going to be just fine. Sorry about that raw liver thing, but there was a need for iron in your body.'

Kyuubi continued to feed Naruto information on how to go about with this and some of the things was going to make Sasuke very giddy, Naruto was sure of it. But for now… 'Let me sleep Kyuubi… I'm tired.'

'Sleep tight my little kit…'

# The Uchiha Mansion #

When Gaara came back to the temporary home he was sharing with his siblings he found Neji there already. Recently the Hyuuga-prodigy had been there with Temari from early morning to late night. Not that he minded, he was happy for his sister. He knew that she had have this little fling for that lazy ninja, but she needed something more than just lying around watching clouds all day. He often found Temari and Neji in the zen-garden that was located in the far back of the mansion, talking softly to each other. Once he overheard some of their talks and it was heavy philosophical stuff that made his brain hurt just thinking about it. But as long as Temari was happy, he was happy.

Hinata saw her cousin sit in the garden with Gaara's sister and she smiled softly. 'So he has finally found someone and here I thought he would end with Tenten-san somehow. I wonder what you think of fate now cousin?' she thought as she was guided towards the room Gaara had claimed as his own for his time spent here in Konoha. She looked around the room, it was in old fashion style. She could see the futon rolled up and placed where it wouldn't be in the way. A low table with a vase of dried flower and four pillows around the table was placed next to the sliding doors that led outside to another small garden. Bonsai trees were decorating a vanity table at the opposite wall. Hinata guessed that this had once been a woman's room.

Gaara had almost read her thoughts. "Uchiha told me that this room had been his cousin's room once. She was a few years older than him when she was killed." There was a soft growl as he spoke. The older brother of the Uchiha was a bastard, a real monster if you asked Gaara. He had no sealed monster spirit he could blame his blood thirst on. It had been his own hunger for power that had drove him to slaughter everyone in his clan, leaving a small boy around eight behind because he wasn't even worthy to kill.

"Gaara-sama, it's a very nice room even if it has been a while since someone lived here," said Hinata with her low and gentle voice.

"Aniki and Uzumaki went wild the other day and tried to change the atmosphere…," mumbled Gaara, not sure to why he opened up to this girl like he did. She just smiled softly towards him but she didn't say anything. He liked this girl, he began to understand that now. She understood him even if he didn't talk that much. And she wasn't annoying like many other girls. She didn't care about putting on make-up or that blasted thing called perfume.

"So… wanna play poker then?" asked Gaara after a few minutes of silence.

Hinata nodded. She had played it before with her sister so she knew the game. He invited her to sit down at the low table and he went to fetch a deck of cards. He soon came back and sat down on the opposite side of the table. He mumbled the rules as he had learned them and Hinata nodded to them, it was no different from how she played the game. He dealt the cards and she picked them up and looked at them. She didn't show it, but she did get some lousy cards.

Gaara felt his lips quirk a bit when he took home the first round. He looked intensely at Hinata. He was waiting.

Hinata blushed lightly and took the stack of cards and flipped them together in order to blend them properly. But she stopped when she heard Gaara cleared his throat. She looked at him in confusion, had she done something wrong?

"You need to remove a piece of clothing by your choice," said Gaara and wondered if she really knew how to play this game. He had never played it before but Kankurou had taught him and Gaara's memory was perfect.

"Ehhh…?"

"You lost the round so you must remove a piece of your clothing."

"W-what?"

"That's how you play this game," said Gaara and looked into her pale eyes.

'Remove a piece of my clothing…? He's talking about strip poker…!!' Hinata's eyes widened, her blush darkened in colour when she saw the unmasked lust in his aquamarine orbs.

"You want me to strip…?" she had to know.

"Yes, one piece of clothing for each time you loose. That was how aniki told me how to play this game," stated Gaara and nodded.

'That perverted clown… I'll kill him!!' Hinata's thoughts began to form a plan on how to torture the kabuki painted doll master.

"Gaara, you don't have to play it like that, you could just keep a record on how many wins you have. Agree on a certain number and the first one to get there wins," said Hinata softly. Her face didn't show all the torment she was going to put Kankurou through.

"But aniki said this was the only way to play this game…???" Gaara sounded lost and confused.

And this was the moment Kankurou decided to show up. "I'm Home!!" his voice echoed through the main house and Hinata was the one to get to her feet and go and greet him. He was in for one hell of a warm welcome.

Hinata walked up to him, her pale eyes blazing with fury. He grinned wickedly but regretted it the moment later because he was paralyzed by her Gentle Fist Style and then – BANG!! He was punched right in the face.

"You perverted clown…. Pull a prank on your brother like that again and I will make sure that you never can have any babies!!" snarled Hinata before she stormed off.

Kankurou rubbed his bleeding nose, wiping paint all over his face as the blood smeared it. "What the fuck is wrong with the chicks in this town?" he growled and groaned as he rose to his feet.

"Kankurou… what did you do to Hinata-san?" asked Gaara, sand began to sizzle around him with a threatening sound.

"I didn't do shit – there is something seriously wrong with the babes in this town. But what did you two before I got here?? Huh??" answered Kankurou, refusing to feel afraid.

"We were playing that card game you taught me the other day," said Gaara.

"And you won the first round and ordered her to strip right?"

"Yes, that was how you said the game was played," said Gaara almost innocently.

"Yeah… and you told Hinata-san that I was the one to teach you of course?" 'Sometimes you are so gullible little brother…'

"Yes."

'Oh fuck… no wonder I got punched in the face…' thought Kankurou and grabbed a towel he found in the kitchen.

"So what did you do to Hinata-san.?"

"Sorry little bro, I've have to go to the bathroom, why don't you follow her and ask her what happened…?" mumbled Kankurou through the towel before he ran to the bathroom, seeking shelter there.

Gaara nodded to himself and ventured outside to find his friend again. He was a bit worried about her behaviour, had he done something wrong?

Sasuke came too later that evening feeling very aroused and he wondered if he had a wet dream but as he opened his eyes and took in the reality he understood that it wasn't a dream. Between his legs lay Naruto, his hands on Sasuke's growing hardness, gently fisting him until the tip was weeping with precum. He let out a harsh wail when Naruto began to lap up those transparent drops of liquid.

"W-what are you d-doing?" gasped Sasuke as his hands gripped the sheet under him.

"Rrrreturning the favourrrrr," purred Naruto with a voice that was blended with the animalistic sound of the Kyuubi. He put the tip of Sasuke's erection into his mouth, licking the underside of the head before adding a light suction, pulling out another cry out of his black haired lover.

"Gods… Narutoooo," growled Sasuke as Naruto parted his legs further and suddenly he felt a slick finger brush over his back entrance. His black eyes widened and he looked down only to meet Naruto's devilish gaze.

"Let me show you what you are doing to me every time you fuck me," whispered Naruto passionately and added some pressure on Sasuke's puckered hole. Once he slipped through the tight ring of muscles he held still, waiting for Sasuke to adjust to the odd intrusion. At the same time he concentrated on sucking on his lover's erection, taking in as much as he could into his mouth before he began to move up and down, mimicking what Sasuke usually did when he made love to Naruto.

Sasuke wanted to protest when Naruto invaded his body, but as the blonde began to bob his head up and down the Uchiha's shaft he soon forgot about the strange sensations that shot up his spine. He raised his hips unconsciously to be able to feel more of that wet heat that Naruto's mouth provided. 'Gods…. he's going to kill meeee…' Sasuke silently cried as he felt wave after wave of pleasure wreck through his entire body. It was as if he had become just as sparkling as his Chidori. He could almost hear the chirping of thousands of birds.

But it was nothing against the feeling of white fire spreading through out his whole being when Naruto's finger brushed over a small area inside him. Before he knew what happened he had sprayed his seed into Naruto's awaiting mouth. Spurt after spurt was swallowed by his lover until he was totally spent. His breath seemed to have become one erratic motion that he had no control over. He could feel Naruto's light smirk against his softening limb and when he finally was able to open his eyes he saw the fox boy grinning as he licked his lips.

"You were right Sasuke… this kind of sweets are certainly the best," said Naruto as he gently pulled out his intruding finger from Sasuke's opening and gave the tip of the shaft in front of him one last lick before moving up a bit.

"What the hell was that??!!" gasped Sasuke as he looked up into those blue eyes.

"That was just exactly what you do to me every time we make love Sasuke… did you like it?" purred Naruto and nuzzled his face into Sasuke's neck, kissing his jaw line until he came up to claim the brunette's lips in one passionate kiss.

Once Naruto released his mouth Sasuke let out a soft moan before answering the question. "Hell yeah!!"

"Good, I liked it too… You look absolutely breathtaking when you climax…."

Sasuke got a healthy blush from the blonde's statements and he managed to get his shaky arms around Naruto's shoulder and pulled him down and cuddled him against his body. "You will never seize to amaze me… will you koibito?"

Naruto shook his head and let his lover spoon him against his shivering body.

"Good…" 'Some of these mood swings of his can be quite joyful I gather…'

15

Two weeks later…

Shikamaru stood in the middle of the Hokage's office. He looked at the blonde woman that held more power in her forefinger than his entire clan could put together. He had been called inside her office once he came back from his mission. He had been away for three weeks on a rather troublesome mission to gather information about the hidden village of Mist. They had begun to act up again and Tsunade wanted information, so she had sent Shikamaru, along with Inuzuka, Kiba and Aburame, Shino.

"Hokage-sama?" asked Shikamaru when he couldn't get her to look at him; she looked as if she was deeply concerned about what was written in one of her scrolls. She turned her attention to him and suddenly he got the feeling that she was looking right through him.

"Shikamaru-kun… good work, you have proved once again that you are an excellent leader. The information you gathered is of much use. But tell me…. What do you think of Sasuke-kun and Naruto being together?

Shikamaru stumbled backwards a bit before he regained his posture. 'Sasuke and Naruto… what the f…. ' he thought as he scratched the back of his head. What had happened while he was away?? But not wanting to look stupid he just went with the first thing that hit his mind. "Well, they have always been together, if they are lovers, should it matter somehow?"

"No, except Naruto will not go on any missions for a very long time and Sasuke, well, I doubt the Uchiha will venture far from his boyfriend at this moment," said Tsunade as she watched the genius frown at her words. But she couldn't see any disgust in his face and that was a good thing… right?

"Why not if I may ask, Hokage-sama?"

"Because there are circumstances around the two that are a little bit out of the ordinary. I will not be a good Hokage if I sent out one of my subordinates on missions if the person was carrying a child inside their bodies… now would I?"

Shikamaru's frown deepened and he was sure that his beloved Godaime had flipped her lid. She was talking about Naruto and Sasuke and pregnant women within one sentence, almost as if she wanted to tell him that one of the two boys was pregnant, but that couldn't be true could it? No, it couldn't. She must have been drinking a lot of sake before he came into her office, that was Shikamaru's thoughts at the moment. But why did she look so serious then?

"You are a trustworthy man, Shikamaru, and you are Naruto's friend right?" continued Tsunade as she looked at her genius ninja. He was having trouble with what she was saying. She couldn't help but inwardly smirk when she saw his handsome face frown in confusion. 'How I wish I was thirty years younger… if I was I certainly would try and bed you…' She shook her blonde head slightly when she realised that her thoughts were carrying her down a very dangerous road.

"Naruto is a friend, yes… but why Hokage-sama, why do you want to know that? You know that Naruto and I have been friends since we were sent out to retrieve Uchiha-san."

"Yes, of course… But what if I told you that Naruto is expecting a child…?"

"What?"

"You see, there have happened a lot here since you and your team left to gather information on the Mist-village. But let me first ask you this – do you know what Naruto is carrying inside him?"

The Hokage was talking in riddles and around the subject she wanted to tell him, that was Shikamaru's professional opinion at the moment, but he answered the latest question as he thought she wanted hear. "He's the carrier of the nine tailed fox-demon," he said as he found a chair and sat down in front of the big busted woman that had him have wet dreams every night. Unbeknownst to most people in this town, he had a thing for his leader.

"So you know about the Kyuubi then?"

"Yes, I figured it out years ago," answered Shikamaru.

"Well, you see, it seems as if the demon chooses Naruto to be the vessel of her kit. Naruto is pregnant. Yes – he's a male, but that doesn't stop her. She has made him pregnant and I have seen it for my self. He carries a baby inside him. My question to you Shikamaru-kun, what do you think about it?"

Shikamaru was glad that he had found a chair to sit down on, because this almost floored him. 'What do I think about it? Well, I still think that you have looked too deeply into the sake-bottle Hokage-sama…' but at the same time he was unsure, he could see the sincerity in her hazel brown eyes and he began to move uncomfortable in his chair. He cleared his throat and voiced his opinion.

"If what you are saying is true, Hokage-sama, my feelings regarding Naruto will not change. Naruto is Naruto, he may have that thing inside him, but that will not change who he is."

"I have sworn to protect this village and its inhabitants, and thus I have sworn to protect Naruto as well. That boy was the reason that I took on this job you know. He has a determination and a stamina that is out of this world and I will do anything in my power to protect him. He's my "son" or so to speak. He's the one I will pass on my title to in the future. All I want to know Shikamaru-kun, can I trust you to help me in this task?" asked Tsunade as she leaned back in her chair and looked at the lazy ninja whose brain surpassed even her own.

Shikamaru was no fool; he knew that Naruto had changed most of their generation just by being there. Of course he would help the Hokage in this matter. He nodded and he was rewarded by a brilliant smile from the woman in front of him. And it even got better when she rose from her chair and walked around hand grabbed his collar and pulled him up from his chair and hugged him tightly. His face was crushed into a soft chest and he was sure he was going to die from a nose bleeding right there and then. The woman whom had been the star of his many wet dreams was hugging him tightly, his face buried in the crevice of her large breasts… Yep, he could die a happy man now.

"Hokage-sama," he mumbled as he took in her feminine scent that lingered on her skin. Gods, he just wanted to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her even closer. He wanted to get lost in her very being if that was possible.

"Sorry, Shikamaru-kun, I'm just so happy that Naruto have a friend like you…. so…." said Tsunade and could feel her cheeks flare up in a light blush as she reminded herself that she still was around 40 years older than the man in front of her.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto's love and baby is safe with me, I promise you. I just know that if Shino or Kiba finds out they will be rather jealous of him. They are a couple as well, and they have faced the wrath of their families because they can not continue their clan's abilities," said Shikamaru as he tried to will his hard shaft down a bit.

"Aburame-san and Inuzuka-san? They are an item?" asked Tsunade as she sat down on her chair again. How could that have passed her?

"For many years now, Hokage-sama," answered Shikamaru.

"I didn't know that… well, I'm happy for them, unfortunately I can not do anything about their wishes to help out their clans, but I will support them if they choose to stay together," said Tsunade and tried to calm her body down. 'Gods, I have been alone too long…'

"You have my report, Hokage-sama, is there anything else you need from me?" asked Shikamaru and looked intensely at his beloved leader.

'Yeah, I need you to fuck me…' But that she couldn't say. She was too old for this guy… She shook her head and she saw him exit her office. Yes, she was officially crazy – she loved that lazy jounin with all her heart.

Sasuke saw his lover stretch his body before his eyes opened and his eyes darted down to the exposed tanned belly. He could clearly see the bulge now. The bulge that told the Uchiha that his lover was carrying life inside him. He couldn't help himself, he moved lower and nuzzled his face into that little bulge and took in the scent that was Naruto's own. His hand came up and caressed the stretched skin of the blonde's belly and he looked up and saw Naruto's shimmering blue eyes.

"Morning love," whispered Sasuke before his hand moved lower to caress the morning woody underneath Naruto's boxers. His answer was a dark growl. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Be with you…., and…. I'm sure that the old hag wants to see me too….," whispered Naruto as Sasuke began to move to lie between his legs and teased his semi-erect shaft through the layer of his boxers.

"Ahh, the weekly check up?"

"Mmm, but right now… I need only you.." said Naruto and his hands down and was placed on Sasuke's head.

When the door bell rang, Sasuke was sure that there was a conspiracy against him that prevented him from doing all the wicked things he wanted to do with Naruto. He growled and quickly put on a pair of pants and then silently ordering Naruto not to leave their bed. One look and he had his blue eyed lover tied to the bed.

"Don't move!!" growled Sasuke as he moved out of the bedroom.

The face he was going to kill was not one on the list he had at the moment, because outside Naruto's door was Shikamaru. The jounin sighed and just waved his hand in front of him.

"So, you two are together then….. But tell me this…. Naruto – is he pregnant or does our Hokage have a very strange sense of humour?" asked the man outside the door.

"Why do you want to know?" asked Sasuke, feeling a bit agitated.

"Because Naruto is my friend, that's why."

"And if I said that Naruto indeed was pregnant – what should you do Shikamaru?"

"I would think that mother nature have a funny way of telling us that you never should take things for granted," said Shikamaru truthfully.

"Hey, Shikamaru… So how did the mission go?" asked Naruto as he came into view. His large t-shirt was covering the bump but Sasuke grabbed the hem and pulled it up and brushed his hand over the stretched skin. "HEY!! What are you doing bastard!???"

"Be silent Naruto, I'm just showing our friend here something that the old hag told him about, but he don't want to believe it," said Sasuke as he looked sternly at the lazy ninja. "Do you see this… ?"

Shikamaru nodded, his eyes almost popping out of his head when he saw the bulge. As he concentrated he could feel the baby's chakra flow around Naruto's stomach area. The Hokage was telling him the truth, and so did Sasuke. "Well…"

"And right now I have some important business to attend to… so if you excuse us… ?" asked Sasuke.

"Troublesome…. But what will others think of this?"

"I don't care at the moment, right now all that matters to me is that Naruto actually is carrying my child here. What ever the others say – I don't care about it." Sasuke almost shoved the jounin out the door and Naruto growled, mumbling something about Sasuke having mood swings and was being a bastard.

"See you later Shikamaru… !" yelled Naruto and waved at him as Sasuke closed the door. "Damn it, Sasuke, you're going to scare off every guest we have if you are going to continue on like this."

"Don't care at the moment… I more interested in taking you back to bed and get down to business again," said Sasuke and smirked evilly as he picked up his lover and carried him bridal style back to their bed.

16

Shikamaru walked down the street from Naruto's apartment. He was still a little bit bewildered over the fact that the fox vessel was carrying a child inside his body. The genius ninja grunted something as he put his hands inside his pockets and then he looked at the sky. The winter was approaching, the air was chilly. His mind tried to accept the facts he just had been fed, but it was hard. He sighed and in the end he gave up. It was too troublesome to think about.

He ran into Choji, his former team-mate and still best friend. He smiled when he saw the tall and well grown man. He was still a bit chubby, but since he hit his growth spurt around fifteen, he was now a very large man. And his kindness still outrivaled his body size.

"Shikamaru… you're back," said Choji and grabbed the outstretched hand and pulled in the jounin for a warm hug. "So how was the Mist Country?"

"Troublesome as ever. They are thinking about going to war against us," said Shikamaru and followed Choji to a nearby barbecue restaurant.

"I'll by you dinner if you want?"

"Sure, thanks Choji."

"It looks as if you need it anyway. Something else happened?" asked Choji as he waved at waitress who in turned fired off a brilliant smile. Her favourite customer had arrived.

"I got hugged today…" Shikamaru said a little bit absentminded.

"Hugged? By whom?" asked Choji and sat down at one of the tables next to the window.

"Hokage-sama…"

Choji chuckled. His friend had never said anything about it, but Choji knew about Shikamaru's infatuation with their leader. But he didn't say anything, instead he just enjoyed the soft blush that now covered Shikamaru's cheeks. 'Well, she's good looking even if she's fifty or so years old.' He thought as he ordered in dinner for them two.

"So did the Hokage tell you anything about the things that are happening around this town?" asked Choji as he began to nibble at a bread stick. He looked intensely at Shikamaru, watching how his forehead frowned. Apparently he had been told something.

"She said that Naruto and Sasuke were together. And something else, but I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about it," he mumbled as a flash of the bulge on Naruto's stomach crossed his mind.

"Perhaps she told you about Naruto's condition?" 'Bingo!!'

Shikamaru's eyes widened and then he nodded. "You knew about it?"

"Yes, she has asked a few people around the village, mostly people from our old teams. Do you think it's disgusting or something?"

Shikamaru's frown grew deeper. "No, not really, just…. "

"Too troublesome to understand?" filled Choji in with a soft smile.

"Yeah…."

"I think it's a wonderful thing. You should see them together. Sasuke-kun is very possessive and protective around Naruto and Naruto… well Naruto is Naruto, don't think that will change much," chuckled Choji.

"Have something else happened since I left for the Mist Country?" asked Shikamaru and rubbed his temple a bit.

"Well, Sand people are back in town. They are living in the Uchiha mansion at the moment. At first the Kazekage would just be here for a two week period or something. But now they seemed to have rooted themselves in that house," said Choji and looked up and saw the waitress come over with their orders.

"Sand people? You mean Gaara and his siblings don't you?" asked Shikamaru and began to feel his knees tremble a bit. Gaara and siblings meant that Temari was back in town. He had known she liked him a while back, but he couldn't return her feelings because he was more interested in his leader.

"Yes, but don't worry, I don't think you have to hide from Temari-san anymore," said Choji and choked on a laugh when he saw the terrified look on Shikamaru's face. "She's interested in someone else… and I'm sure not even a genius such as you can figure out who."

'Who in this town would want that bossy and violent woman anyway?' thought Shikamaru as he picked up a piece of grilled meat and put it in his mouth. After he swallowed it he said he had no idea on who would want to date that bothersome woman.

"Neji-san… can you believe it?"

No, that Shikamaru couldn't believe. 'What is he… a whipped puppy? A masochist?'

The whole dinner turned out to be a gossip central and Shikamaru was sure that he had stepped into a parallel universe or something because never in his life could he have figured out the things that now occurred around Konoha. 'I need a vacation…'

"So what are you going to do now Shikamaru?" asked Choji as he paid the waitress.

"I don't know."

"Do you have any missions that are due?"

"No, Hokage-sama didn't say anything so I'm free until she calls for me," said Shikamaru. "But I have no idea on what to do, what you have told me today has made me quite shocked…"

"I can understand it. We have been exposed to this little by little, so for us it's nothing that shocking, but I agree – for you it must be quite the surprise."

"I better get home, my mom will get me by the hair unless I show up the same day as I come home from a mission," said Shikamaru and rose to his feet. He thanked Choji for the food and exited the restaurant. This needed several hours of cloud watching if he ever was going to digest what his friend had told him.

Naruto and Sasuke sat outside Tsunade's office and waited for her to call them inside. Shizune saw them hold hands and she put her hands up to her face and giggled to herself. They were so cute… 'Kawaiiiii' her heart yelled and she sighed happily. Yes, she was happy for Naruto, he had been a very good friend to her over the years and she, like Tsunade, wanted the shunned boy to be happy. And seeing how protective and loving the Uchiha-boy was around the blonde kitsune, yes, she was sure that her little sunshine finally had found that.

A call came through the speaker and Sasuke and Naruto was allowed to go into her office.

"So, how are we feeling today?" asked Tsunade as she watched the blushing blonde boy sit down on the chair in front of her. Sasuke stood behind Naruto placing his hands on his lover's shoulders. Tsunade could almost see the love flowing between and around them.

"We??" shrieked Naruto but relaxed when he saw the gentle smile on her lips. "We are feeling just fine… I'm beginning to show now."

"Really – can I see??!!" Tsunade jumped up and ran around her desk and kneeled in front of a bug eyed Naruto.

"Hell no!! Get away you old hag!!" yelled Naruto and tried to pry her hands off his shirt. "Sasuke, do something!!"

"Be still Naruto, let her see, she's going to be a grandma, she's got the right to see you little tummy…" said Sasuke with a gentle smirk.

"WHAT?? SASUKE-BASTARD!!"

"Grandma?? Oh you little shit-head!!" growled Tsunade as she watched the amused smirk on Sasuke's face and she rose to her feet again.

Naruto realized that Sasuke's choice of words had gotten Tsunade to move away from him and he took a deep sigh and placed his hands protectively over his little bulge just before he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it up so she could examine him.

Tsunade watched as the fox's chakra surrounded the small bump and she placed her right on top of it on order to feel it. Amazed like she had been at every other check up she smiled brightly at Naruto and removed her hand.

"You and the baby are just getting along nicely. I can sense that the Kyuubi will make your body able to stretch the skin a bit. And so far I don't see any troubles what so ever. But I am a bit concerned about how it will go later on."

"What do you mean Tsunade-hime?" asked Sasuke as he felt his stomach tie up in knots hearing her words.

"Well, obviously your boyfriend here lacks a few certain things when it comes down to giving birth. And that's what is worrying me. But perhaps Kyuubi have thought of that as well?" said Tsunade as she sat down behind her desk again and watched Naruto's eyes turn red and suddenly she was faced with the Kyuubi. "Kyuubi-san? You heard what I just said?"

"Yes, and don't worry Hokage-sama, I will make sure that my kit can deliver the baby without any trouble at all… You have done a good job looking after him and the little one… Thank you…" and with that the red eyes again turned deep blue and Naruto shook his head and looked up at Sasuke.

"She came out again didn't she?" asked Naruto and bit his lip.

"Yes, but only to reassure Tsunade-hime that everything is under control koibito," said Sasuke and lowered his head and kissed Naruto's forehead. He was relieved as well. "She's a good fox, remember?"

"Ahh, yeah…" mumbled Naruto and closed his eyes and felt comforted to feel Sasuke's hands on his shoulders.

"Well, since everything is in order I can see no reason to hold you here… but come back next week or if something feels strange or bad… ok Naruto?" said Tsunade and began to flip around with her scrolls.

"You bet Tsunade-baba!!" grinned Naruto and got a death glare but he just laughed and darted up from the chair. "Coming Sasuke?"

"You go on ahead, I'm right behind you, I just want to ask Tsunade-sama a few questions first," said Sasuke and cursed the facts that his ears were beginning to heat up a bit.

"What kind of questions Sasuke?"

"I'll tell you later, go on now – I meet you at Ichiraku's later," said Sasuke.

Naruto nodded and his fox grin became wider and he ran out of the office.

"DOBE – be careful!!"

Tsunade laughed softly and looked at the terrified Sasuke. "I don't think you have to worry about Naruto. He will not do anything that will harm your baby," she said. "But what did you want to ask me about Sasuke-kun?"

After Sasuke had left Tsunade couldn't hold it in any longer, she began to laugh. She laughed until her tears flowed down her cheeks and the sound of her roars alerted Shizune who came into the office asking what was wrong.

"I'm sorry Shizune… I can't tell you, but man… I haven't had such a good laugh in years. God bless boys and their naiveté. They are so precious," sniffed Tsunade and wiped the happy tears away from her eyes.

"Oh, I see," mumbled Shizune and turned around again.

"By the way Shizune, can you see if you can get hold of Kakashi for me, I need to talk to him about something that disturbed about Shikamaru's report this morning."

"Of course Tsunade-sama."

Shizune disappeared and Tsunade relaxed back and felt her lips twitch upwards again in an amused smile. 'Poor, poor Sasuke-kun, he must have felt mortified and what on earth did that boy found his courage to ask what he asked me?' she thought as she sighed.

Sasuke found Naruto at the ramen stand. He could still feel the heat linger on his face as he hugged his lover from behind. "Hey, missed me?" he asked as he sat down next to Naruto.

"Mmm, what did you ask the old hag?" asked Naruto as he stuffed more ramen into his mouth. He could see that Sasuke was embarrassed over something but what it was he could not tell.

"I'll tell you when we get home, let's eat, shop a bit and then go home ok?" said Sasuke and could feel his ears flare up like stop signs again.

"Alright, but I'm expecting you to tell me the moment we step inside our apartment!!"

"Of course koibito… of course," said Sasuke with a wicked smile. 'Unless I manage to get you to think about something else first…' Oh, yes, the Uchiha was addicted to the sun kissed fox-boy.

"You look funny Sasuke…" grumped Naruto as he inhaled more food.

"Eat up so we can get going."

Naruto nodded and finished his third bowl of ramen, he had managed to eat two before Sasuke showed up and then he handed over some money to the ojisan who smiled widely. Naruto was still his best customer.

When Naruto and Sasuke came into the store they met Gaara and Hinata together with Kankurou. The kabuki-painted man looked absolutely miserable and Naruto just had to know what happened to the man. And what on earth was that dark colour around his right eye?

"Hey Kankurou, changed the face again? New look or???" asked Naruto.

"Shut up…" growled Kankurou and stomped outside the store, leaving a confused Naruto behind.

Hinata giggled a bit and I'll be damned, the Kazekage actually tried to smile too… Naruto eyed them both suspiciously.

"Ok, what's going on here?" asked Naruto.

"Kankurou can't get Tenten to go out with him, and I can't say that his ways are very trustworthy either," said Hinata softly as she stifled her giggle a bit. When Naruto looked lost she made a gesture with her hands and grabbed an invisible butt in front of her.

"No way!?? Are you sure he does that?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, thus he has a very large bruise over his eye now," said Hinata.

"Great, what this town needs, another pervert," snorted Sasuke but he couldn't help but smile a bit too. But what on earth possessed the clown to pursue the most strong willed woman in Konoha? That weapons master had the Hokage as an idol for crying out loud. Surely Sakura would be more easier pray…. 'Sakura… what the fuck happened to her?' the thought suddenly hit him and he felt a bit bad for not have thought one bit about her. 'Perhaps because you were more interested in Naruto's body…' whispered a voice inside his head and he could feel another wave of lust course through him. He could bare stand upright now that he knew that there was no risk at bay if he wanted to make love to Naruto again.

"So she beats him up?" asked Naruto, his eyes almost popping out of his head.

"Something like that, but he has promised me that he will try and be better, but I think he's a lost case. But he loves her I think," said Hinata and Gaara nodded sternly without saying anything. His eyes were upon the Uchiha, the man reeked of arousal at the moment, couldn't his lover smell it too? What on earth was he thinking about?

"So what are you doing here? And Hinata, are you going out with Gaara?" asked Naruto as his eyes darted between the two and bingo, Hinata's face turned instant red.

"Yes, does it bother you?" asked Gaara as his hand grabbed hold of Hinata's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"No, no… that's great… perhaps we could have double date… what do you think Sasuke…… ehh Sasuke… ?"

Sasuke shook his head, trying to rid himself of the erotic images that flowed through his brain at the moment. He turned his black eyes and looked at his questioning boyfriend. "What??"

"What is wrong with you Sasuke, you are acting weird."

"He's just horny," said Gaara and had to bit his tongue in order not to laugh as the avenger turned beet red and looked as if he was ready to kill him.

"Horny?"

"Gaara-sama, I think it's time we left… Nice to see you Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun…" and with that Hinata dragged the smirking sand ninja out of the door and on the way from the store she managed to get hold of Kankurou as well.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What was that all about? Sasuke…??"

"Don't worry about it. Let's do some shopping," said Sasuke and grabbed a basket and began to move inside the store to find what they needed. 'I'll kill that sand boy one day….'

'What is it with everyone today?' thought Naruto but shrugged and followed his black haired lover deeper into the store.

"I'm glad you could come with such short notice, Kakashi-san," said Tsunade as she saw the masked copy ninja enter her office. "I think we might have a war on our hands if nothing is done against it."

"War, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, the surveillance Shikamaru and his team have done tells me that the Mists are planning to attack us. They alone are no trouble, not when we are allied with the Sand now, but… there is more. Shikamaru's reports tell me that the Mists have been in contact with the Akatsuki. And that is not good news," said Tsunade.

Kakashi let out a growl. He had a goose to pluck with Uchiha, Itachi, Sasuke's older brother. "Are you sure Hokage-sama? Those guys are seldom willingly lending their help to hidden villages?"

"Yes, I am fairly sure, yes… It seems as if the blue-faced creep has been visiting the hidden village of Mists several times during three weeks. I need you to look into this more carefully. Ask Ibiki-san, Anko-san and Gai-san to accompany on a mission. Here are the instructions. If possible, assassinate Kisame, with him out of the way, perhaps the Mists will pull back," said Tsunade and handed over a small scroll to Kakashi.

"Yes ma'am," said Kakashi and took the scroll and put it inside his vest. "Anything else?"

"No, not at the moment. Except… The Haruno-family… they moved didn't they?"

"Yes, I promised them that I would send them reports on Sakura-san's state once every month. Her mother told me that she was afraid that this could happen. She had seen the compulsive attention Sakura gave Sasuke-kun. She also told me that mental illness has been in their family for generations."

"Oh, I understand, well I will help you with those reports," said Tsunade. "Now, go and find the others and leave the moment you are ready."

Kakashi nodded and made a few hand seals and then he was gone, left was a pillar of smoke.

Tsunade relaxed back with her hands woven together in front of her. No, she didn't like the way things progressed right now. And her apprentice was beyond help and she needed a new one that could continue on the legacy that Tsunade fought so hard to build up. A person with healing abilities on every team. 'But who will I choose to take on this?' she thought as she closed her eyes and decided she earned herself a small nap… just a teeny weeny one…

But before Kakashi sought up the other three for the mission, he went out to find Iruka. He wanted to tell his beloved dolphin that he was going to be away for a while. His relationship with the teacher had grown considerable over the passing weeks and he could feel his heart clench just thinking about being away from him. 'I hope he's home…'

Kakashi unlocked the door to Iruka's apartment and ventured inside. He heard the stereo and knew that his lover was home. Soft tones of classic music filled the apartment with sounds and he tiptoed over to the kitchen where he saw Iruka stand next to the stove making dinner for them both. He put his arms around Iruka's waist and hugged him from behind.

"Kakashi," gasped Iruka when he felt the familiar arms embrace him.

"Love…. what are you making?" mumbled Kakashi as he pushed his clothed face into Iruka's neck.

"Just something light, I didn't know if you were going to show up in time for dinner," said Iruka with a smile as he relaxed back against Kakashi's strong chest. How he loved to be hugged by his scarecrow.

"I'm sorry Iruka-kun… I can't stay for dinner, I don't have the time. Hokage-sama have ordered me to go on a mission. I just wanted to see you before I left."

"oh, I see…. Will you be way a long time?" asked Iruka and worry began to grow inside his stomach.

"I don't know, I've been ordered to take Ibiki, Anko and Gai with me and go to the hidden village of the Mists. We have also been ordered to take out one of the Akatsuki's members," whispered Kakashi and pulled down his mask so he could claim his lover's lips as he turned him around in his arms.

Iruka sighed into the kiss and put his arms around the taller man's neck. He didn't want him to go away, but orders were orders but he could get something to keep with him to remember during the long cold nights with out his lover. He never noticed that Kakashi turned off the stove as he grabbed hold of Iruka's behind and pulled him up so he sat on the kitchen sink.

Their kisses grew more and more passionate and Kakashi couldn't get enough of the responsive dolphin inside his arms. His fingers released Iruka's hair so it flowed down his neck. The dark brown, silky locks felt so wonderful against his calloused skin and he moaned into Iruka's mouth. "Iruka… I love you… I don't want to leave…" whispered Kakashi as his lips traveled lower on Iruka's neck and lower. He began to unbutton Iruka's shirt and soon he found a dark beaded nipple to suck on.

"Kakashi… s-stop…," moaned Iruka but his back arched into Kakashi's talented mouth and he grabbed the collar of Kakashi's shirt tighter as passionate flames began to lick his veins from the inside.

"No, let me take this with me… I might not be able to see you for a long time. Just let me taste you Iruka… Koibito. I need you so much that it will hurt my soul to be away from you…"

Iruka gasped as his vest and shirt was removed and he was sitting there on the kitchen sink half naked. He could see the desire in Kakashi's visible eye and he shivered a bit as the older jounin's hand began to undo his trousers as well.

"Lean back and enjoy Iruka-kun," purred Kakashi as he freed Iruka's growing shaft from its constricting confinement. He was looking at Iruka's face the whole time as he began to pump the flesh in his hand. Soon he was having Iruka's hard length at it's peak and he lowered his head and began to lick the weeping tip.

"Kakashi," hissed Iruka as his hips pushed forward instinctively as Kakashi's warm mouth engulfed him. He closed his eyes and let the waves of passion and lust sweep him away. He could feel Kakashi's tongue follow the thick vein that ran underneath his shaft down to his balls and then up again, gently teasing the underside of his mushroom head where the vein stopped.

"You taste good Iruka-kun," whispered Kakashi just before he took as much of Iruka's length into his mouth and began to suckle it like he would suckle a lollipop. He could taste Iruka's precum as it coated his teasing tongue. He could feel the shivers go through Iruka and he knew that his shy lover wouldn't last very long. His right hand moved up over Iruka's ribcage to tease a neglected nipple.

"Please…. Kakashi… I can't..," breathed Iruka harshly as his hips pumped upwards into Kakashi's wet mouth, his hands gripped the edge of the sink and he could feel heat coil inside his stomach.

"You want to cum in my mouth?" asked Kakashi when he for a few seconds let go of Iruka's hardness. He saw his lover nod violently. "Then cum in my mouth… I said I wanted to taste you."

A dark blush covered Iruka's face, making his scar shine brightly. But as Kakashi began to suck him again he let go of everything and let the jounin have his wish. With a low growl he released his essence inside Kakashi's awaiting mouth and a bit mortified he could tell that Kakashi swallowed his seed. "Gods, Kakashi… that was…" he whispered with a raspy voice.

"Wonderful…ne?" smiled Kakashi as he licked Iruka's shaft clean and then licked his lips in order to get every spilled drop of cum into his mouth.

"You really are perverted Kakashi," said Iruka and watched that hypnotic tongue move over Kakashi's lips.

"But you still love me don't ya?"

"I do… no point in denying that.."

"Come here and give me a kiss before I leave," said Kakashi and wove his fingers into Iruka's hair and pulled the teacher closer.

They shared a heated kiss and soft spoken words of love.

"Promise me that you'll come back in one piece…."

"I will, I have a good team to assemble… I will come back to you no matter what. I promise."

Iruka nodded and moved to stand on his feet and Kakashi tucked in his limp appendage before hugging him tightly. One last kiss and then Kakashi was gone. Iruka suddenly felt very lonely and cold.

17

Sasuke was stalling, Naruto just knew it. He had tried to get the raven haired teen to tell him about what happened inside Tsunade's office after he left. He had tried to get Sasuke to tell him but he always came with excuses. Things like, let's put this stuff in the fridge, I need to take leak and so forth. Well, he had enough of excuses now. He wanted to know!!

Sasuke felt Naruto's strong hands grab hold of his shirt and he was pushed against the wall. He smiled wickedly when he saw the angry, blonde boy. His own hands came up and was placed on Naruto's hips. "Ohh, pushy are we?" he said as he leaned his head forward to brush his nose against Naruto's.

"Don't stall anymore Sasuke-bastard. What did you want to talk to Tsunade about?" snarled the enraged kitsune.

"You are one impatient boy… why don't I show you instead?" purred Sasuke as his tongue darted out to lick Naruto's lips.

"No, tell me you bastard!!" yelled Naruto and showed Sasuke just how impatient he was. His head jerked away and he decided he really liked the way Sasuke was looking at him right now. Then he mentally shook his head… 'No, I do not – I want to know!!'

"Well, I'll tell you if you suck me first…." It was a bold gamble, but Sasuke was about to burst through his pants any second now.

"WHAT??!! SASUKE!!"

"Do it and I'll promise I will tell you…" 'Right after I've fucked you into the mattress of our bed…'

Naruto eyed him suspiciously but the look in Sasuke's dark eyes seduced him. He could see the lust and desire flaring in those black pools and he could feel his body respond to it. The warmth in his stomach spread across his system and he leaned forward and his lips were caught by Sasuke's in a gentle kiss.

"You taste good koibito… makes me want to taste your whole body…" whispered the Uchiha as Naruto melted into his embrace. Sasuke's hands moved over Naruto's back and down to his behind and grabbed the two buns possessively.

Naruto let out a small yelp as Sasuke grabbed him but then he relaxed again. He could feel the need of having Sasuke inside him again, but he was a little bit unsure about it. He had come to accept that he actually was carrying a small developing life inside him, and it was Sasuke's and his baby. A life, a baby… the product of their love. He would do anything to protect it, even if it meant to stop having full out sex with Sasuke until after he had delivered.

"Naruto… " growled Sasuke as he noticed the lack of attention he was receiving at the moment. His beautiful dobe had his mind on other things and that did not sit well with him.

Naruto looked up and saw the annoyed look in Sasuke's face and he grinned to cover it up a bit before his lips began to move lower on Sasuke's neck. His hands came up to undo Sasuke's shirt, exposing pale skin for him to taste. And it was at this point when Naruto turned into a little devil and he smirked against the warm skin under his lips. If Sasuke wanted to play hard to get, well, Naruto could surely tease his lover until he was in such a state where Naruto could get any answers he wanted.

Sasuke leaned back against the wall as Naruto kissed his way down over Sasuke's prominent abs. His skin rippled in anticipation of just knowing that Naruto would suck him off. The memory of the evening when Naruto showed him just how good it would feel to be fucked came rushing through his mind and Sasuke let out a moan. His hands moved to be placed on Naruto's descending head and he closed his eyes as his lover began to play "hide-the-tongue" with his belly button.

As Naruto moved lower he could feel the bulge inside Sasuke's pants brush over his chest until he was kneeling in front of the black haired boy. He could feel the tremors coursing through Sasuke and his smirk became a little bit more taunting. 'You are just waiting for me to unbutton your pants and take you into my mouth ne? Well…. Let me show you how teasing I can be lover of mine…' thought Naruto as he licked the skin right over the hem of Sasuke's pants, pulling out a dark groan from his lover.

As if the day had not been teasing enough, but now Naruto seemed determined to make him beg for release. Just feeling the kitsune's tongue lapping every inch of his stomach was enough to make Sasuke to shiver with unleashed desire.

Naruto could sense it and he pulled away and looked up to see Sasuke's eyes closed. Sasuke's hands were fisted as he trembled under his touch. "Sasuke… you are shivering," said Naruto teasingly as his hands grabbed hold of Sasuke's bum.

"Dobe… you are talking too much again," growled Sasuke and opened his eyes and saw Naruto's blue eyes gaze up at him.

"And you call me impatient bastard," said Naruto with a chuckle as he brushed his nose over Sasuke's belly button.

"Shut up and suck me off!!"

"Impatient… "

Naruto laughed softly and unbuttoned Sasuke's pants and pulled down the zipper and with one swift moment he had the said trousers around Sasuke's legs. Sasuke's prominent erection was twitching right in front of Naruto's face and the blonde was satisfied to see the wet spot on the inside of the Uchiha's boxers. And he could understand why, because Sasuke's shaft was dripping with precum.

Sasuke couldn't help it, he wanted Naruto so badly that it almost broke him into. He grabbed two fistfuls of sun kissed hair and shoved his hips forward, trying to show Naruto what he should do instead of just teasing the avenger.

Naruto's face was pushed into the black bush of Sasuke's pubic hair and he inhaled the musky scent before he grabbed hold of the base of the jutting erection next to his face. He fisted the hard flesh in his hand a couple of times before he moved his mouth to kiss the weeping tip. The bitter taste of Sasuke almost blew his mind and the idea of teasing Sasuke until he would become so aroused that he would tell Naruto everything, was thrown away. Instead Naruto began to indulge himself with sucking Sasuke's length, wanting to taste that little sweet treat he wanted so badly.

Sasuke was sure that his brain had taken a vacation the moment he could feel Naruto's lips engulf his length. He responded accordingly and pushed his hips forward, wanting to bury himself inside that warm mouth. God, his lover was good at giving head…

Naruto's right hand sampled some of his saliva, mixed with Sasuke's precum and coated his right forefinger. The mixture was smeared over Sasuke's back entrance and before his black haired lover could say anything, he had pushed his finger inside. The howl of pleasure Sasuke made was enough encouragement for Naruto and he gently began to pump his finger in and out of Sasuke's warm body. Naruto made an effort in letting his finger brush over that sweet spot inside Sasuke every time and soon Sasuke was pushing back onto his intruding finger.

Sasuke could feel his peak rush forward but he didn't want to spill his seed… not just yet. The grip he had on Naruto's head made him pull his blonde lover away from his groin and he got a confused look from Naruto.

"Not yet… I want to fuck you first," growled Sasuke as he hauled Naruto up to stand in front of him.

"Sasuke…??"

"Don't worry… " whispered Sasuke as he stepped out of his pants and showed Naruto into the kitchen. One minute later he had bent Naruto over the table, and just a few seconds later he had unbuttoned Naruto's pants and pulled them down, leaving the blonde literature butt naked in front of him. Just seeing those tight buns made Sasuke's length twitch again and he spit into his hand, coating his fingers with his saliva and then he brushed them over Naruto's tight rear entrance.

"Sasuke… no!!!" Naruto cried out as he realized what his lover was about to do. He would never risk the life of his little one, his hand came back and grabbed hold of Sasuke's wrist and pulled him back. "NO!!"

"Naruto…. Don't worry, it's ok… " said Sasuke, as he calmed himself down, not wanting to cause more distress within his lover.

"No, it's not OK you bastard… what if we hurt it?" spat Naruto and his ass-cheeks clenched together, stopping the intruding fingers.

"No, we will not hurt the baby… that was what I asked Hokage-sama, I wanted to know if we… well… c-could have s-sex," said Sasuke as his cheeks blossomed cherry red.

"Ehhh?..." Naruto was confused.

"Dobe – that was thing I asked the Hokage. That's why I let you go ahead to Ichiraku's, that was the thing I discussed with Tsunade-hime," growled Sasuke, not liking the interruption.

Naruto's eyes widened when Sasuke's words finally penetrated his lust hazed mind. Sasuke had asked the old hag about … that??!! 'No way!!'

"So don't worry… so… want to pick up where we left?" asked Sasuke and forced his blush down a bit. He saw the uncertain look in Naruto's blue eyes. "Do you really think she would kid about something like that?"

Naruto shook his blonde head. No, he didn't believe that Tsunade would lie about something like that. But had Sasuke really asked her about things like that? That was almost as if you would say the moon was made out of cheese.

"Do you not trust me Naruto..?" asked Sasuke as he leaned over and kissed Naruto's ear.

Naruto blushed, of course he trusted Sasuke and he nodded and relaxed. Sasuke moved away and again he could feel a wet finger probe his back entrance. He could hear Sasuke telling him over and over again that it was alright, that there was nothing to worry about. He told Naruto that he loved him and that he blessed the cold night that made him crawl into Naruto's sleeping bag. He even told Naruto that he was happy that Naruto was carrying the demon spirit of the Kyuubi inside him. It was that very spirit that had made it possible for them to conceive a baby together.

Sasuke made sure that Naruto was stretched and lubricated before he guided the tip of his flesh against the tight entrance. The feeling of sinking inside Naruto made Sasuke hiss out in pure pleasure. Those inner muscles gripped his shaft so wonderful that he was afraid that he would spill his seed right there and then.

This was something he had missed. The feeling of being filled with his lover's flesh. Naruto let out a moan as Sasuke gently buried himself inside his body as he lay bent over the table. Breakfast and dinner would never be the same in the future. Sasuke's hands tightened on his hips as the raven haired boy pulled out a bit before sinking deep inside again.

Naruto growled in pleasure as Sasuke brushed over his prostate every time he pumped his flesh in and out of him. His nails raked against the table and he could see that it made marks in the surface. No doubt about it – breakfast and dinner-time in the future would never be the same.

Sasuke let out a dark moan as Naruto's inner muscles gripped his shaft in a tight hold and he was stuck inside his lover. Hearing Naruto call out his name as the kitsune came, spilling his seed onto the floor made Sasuke grip Naruto's hips harder and he pushed as deep inside his lover as he could before he followed the suit.

Naruto could feel his bowels being filled with Sasuke's cum and that alone made him cum a second time. The orgasm was so powerful that he almost saw spots in front of his eyes. Sasuke's arms went around his ribcage and he was pulled up and Sasuke hugged him from behind even if he still was buried inside his body.

"Naruto… I love you… love you…. and you are mine… never forget this… dobe…" whispered Sasuke as he licked Naruto's ear before gently biting down on the earlobe.

"S-Sasuke… " moaned Naruto as he felt Sasuke's spent limb slide out of his ass. a river of the Uchiha's cum followed, coating his inner thighs and legs.

And before Naruto could protest he was picked up in a pair of strong arms and carried to the bathroom. He saw Sasuke's soft smile and he relaxed into his lover's hold and placed his arms around Sasuke's neck.

"Clean up and then we'll take a nap..?" asked Sasuke as he removed Naruto's shirt and placed the blonde teen in the shower.

"Sounds like a good idea…" mumbled Naruto as he sunk to his knees in the tub, his legs refused to support his weight at the moment.

18

Thursday evening and Shikamaru lay on his sofa, feeling miserable. And lonely. Every time he closed his eyes he could feel those enormous breasts being pushed against his face, almost choking him. He wanted to touch them, lick them, suck on them… he wanted to be with her. But that would probably never happen. He cursed when he felt his member hardened again. Damn that woman, she was going to give him a permanent erection, he was sure of it. Not an hour could pass without him thinking about her.

His right hand unbuttoned the trousers he wore and a few seconds later he had freed his aching member. He smeared precum over his sensitive tip as he imagined her doing it for him. He let out a raspy moan as he imagined her grab hold of her breasts and placed them on each side of his weeping shaft and rub up and down. His balls contracted and seconds later he spurted his seed all over his hand and stomach.

'Great, now I made a mess of my self again…' he grunted silently and got up to find something to wipe himself clean with. He found a towel in the bathroom and used it to clean his hand and stomach from the evidence of his recent imagination. How many times had he done this? It must be over a thousand or so he guessed. That woman was going to be the death of him. He sighed as he threw the towel into the basket with other things that needed to be washed.
'Why me…??' he silently asked as he zipped his pants and ventured into his kitchen to make something to eat. He was happy that he had his own place or else this crush he had on his leader would have been much more troublesome. Now he could go on for days without hearing his mother constantly nagging him about that it was time for him to find a nice girl and settle down and have some more little Nara-children.

"How can I do that when the only woman I want is forbidden for me?" he said to the pot of boiling rice.

Unknown to Shikamaru, Tsunade was having similar problems. She was still at the office, being the last one to leave. Her head rested against the arms that were placed over her desk. All she could think of was her lazy jounin captain. His dark grey eyes that pierced her very soul. When she thought about it, she had never seen him with his hair down; he always had it in a high tail. She closed her eyes and imagined that she removed that ribbon from his hair and she could almost see how those black locks spilled down over his broad shoulders. Just imagining him shirtless made Tsunade's body shiver and she could feel her lower areas become heated and she rubbed her thighs together in order to relieve some of the need she felt.

'Stupid woman… you are too old for him… remember?' her consciousness told her. But Tsunade didn't want to listen to that voice. No, she had the rights like everybody else to dream. And it had been so long since she been with one on that level. And right now she wanted to dream about giving him a mission – a mission where she ordered him to give her the attention she so desperately craved. She could almost see it as his hands were all over her naked body, teasing her large nipples until they peaked in hardness. She could almost feel him part her legs and settle between them. Just feeling him fill her needy body with his flesh made Tsunade bold enough to put her hand inside her pants and she began to rub that blood engorged nub in order to find her release.

'My Shikamaru… I want you so much that it hurts my soul not to have you…' she silently cried as her finger rubbed her clit faster and faster. She could feel her peak rush forward and with a soft moan she came, spilling her womanly juices into her panties. 'Gods… I need to stop thinking about him or else I will end up rubbing my self sore…'

# The next day #

Kankurou stared at the flyer on the wooden fence. It announced that one of the restaurants would have a dance this very evening. 'Perhaps I should try to get Tenten to go with me to this dance…? This might be the chance that I'm been waiting for. I can dance…' he thought and scratched the back of his clothed head. He decided that he would try to ask her out again and he promised himself that he would behave. Or else she might not want to go out with him. And for that occasion he needed something that could convince her that he really was a nice guy, something that you could bet on. He needed flowers.

He searched through the town for a flower shop and found one pretty soon. He recognized the woman inside as Ino and he was a bit surprised, but he didn't show it. He saw her eyes widened a bit as he stepped inside her shop and looked over the massive amounts of flowers.

"Can I help you?" asked Ino when she saw the confused sand ninja look around her shop. She had encountered him a few times when the sand siblings came to town and she knew that he was a guy that liked to touch girls' private areas. But right now he just looked lost and almost vulnerable.

"Uhm… I think I would like three of those…" mumbled Kankurou and pointed towards white roses which edges looked as if they were dipped in blood. They looked very beautiful and he thought that Tenten would like them.

"Of course," said Ino and picked up three of them and placed the ends of the stems in wet oasis and then she wrapped a thin silk paper around them and handed over them to Kankurou.

"How much?" asked Kankurou as he dug into his pocked to find some money.

"Seven dollars…"

He nodded and handed over the asked amount and then left without saying anything. He was glad that he wore paint, because he was sure that his face was flaming red at this moment. It had been a bit humiliating – having to buy flowers for a girl that most of the time kicked his ass for being a pervert. 'But this time… this time… I hope she'll agree to let me take her to this dance.'

Tenten was training as usual when Kankurou found her. She looked at the kabuki-painted young man and she frowned. Couldn't the guy take a hint at all? But as he came closer she could see that he was not acting like he had during these weeks of pursuing. He stopped a few feet away from her and then he shoved a paper thing into her face.

"Tenten-chan, come with me to the dance tonight… please?" he asked as his eyes were diverted to the ground.

Tenten removed the silky paper and saw the three roses he had bought for her. They were beautiful and she couldn't help herself, she put her nose into one of them and inhaled the sweet fragrance. She looked at him and finally she realized that he actually was true in his feelings towards her, but had a hard time showing them. She smiled in secrecy before she placed a hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her again.

"Alright Kankurou – I'll go out with you. Where is this dance you are talking about?" asked Tenten.

She had agreed??? She really had agreed!!!! His head was spinning, his heart was racing and his face split up in a wide happy grin. "

"Shareta Restaurant is the place that are having the dance," said Kankurou.

"Alright, I know where it is. I'll meet you there, ok?"

"Ok, how about eight o'clock?" asked Kankurou, still in a daze that she actually had said yes to a date with him.

"Eight o'clock, alright – I'll meet you there?"

"Ok, see you tonight then Tenten-chan," said Kankurou and left before he could ruin the whole thing, like trying to grab her softer parts or something.

Tenten saw his retrieving form and for the first time she was actually very confused. When she had met him every other day before he had always tried to grope her or he'd come up with some stupid pick up lines to get her to date him. But now he just gave her flowers, asked her to come to a dance with him and then he left. Yes, Tenten was confused as she put her nose into one of the roses again and breathed in its scent.

Her confusion was interrupted when she heard Neji's voice call out her name. She turned around and saw her former team mate stand there with a smile on his lips.

"Hello Tenten, what's with the flowers?" asked Neji with his deep baritone voice and that got Tenten to blush a bit.

"Kankurou brought them for me… He asked me out to a dance at the Shareta Restaurant this evening," said Tenten truthfully.

"They are having a dance?"

"Yeah, apparently they do."

"Hmm, perhaps I should ask Temari-san if she wants to go with me," said Neji more to himself than to Tenten.

"You like that sand girl don't you?" said Tenten with a soft smile as she saw Neji's cheeks turn cherry red and he began to stutter out excuses about them just being friends and nothing else. "Don't do that Neji-kun, I know that you like her and I think it's a great idea to take her to the dance too."

Neji sighed in defeat. Tenten could always read his mind even without having any special powers or something. He nodded, perhaps it would be an idea to ask Temari if she wanted to come with him to the dance. And a dance meant that you could dance with a person, a slow dance meant that you could have that person close to you. That thought alone made Neji agree more than eagerly to the suggestion. Yes, he would ask her to come with him to the dance. But instead of humiliating himself more, he asked Tenten why she had agreed to go with Kankurou.

"W-well… he was sweet… a-and he brought me flowers…" mumbled Tenten as a blush covered her face and she began to fiddle with the roses she got from the puppet-master.

"You like him," stated Neji with a soft smirk.

"N-No I don't, not like that anyway," stuttered Tenten mortified.

"You do, and don't deny it Tenten, I have watched you and I have watched him. You like each other."

"Well, you like Temari-san so who are you to talk mister!!??" snapped Tenten.

"Yes, I like her very much, but I am not in denial as you are Tenten," said Neji and laughed quietly.

"Shut up!!"

Neji just chuckled and left the weapons master behind. She would come to her senses soon enough. And Neji had other business to attend to at the moment. He had a blond woman he wanted to ask out on a date.

Tenten growled in anger as she collected the shurikens from her target practice and put them inside her pockets and then she left for home. She had to decide what to wear for the evening.

Hinata had seen the flyer too and she was about to ask Gaara if he wanted to go with her to the dance. But she was afraid that he would say no, that those kinds of things were not his thing. She knew that he liked to go and have dinner at that place because they had booths that could shield them off from others visitors. She knew that he liked solitude and walks in the forest and in the park was something he enjoyed. But she really wanted to go and she had this twisted idea that she wanted to show everyone that even a shy and timid girl like herself could find someone to love and be loved by.

"Hinata, what are you thinking about?" asked Gaara as he came up to her where she was sitting in the garden of the Uchiha compound.

"Nothing special," mumbled Hinata and blushed lightly as she felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him and she could see the concerned look in his aquamarine eyes. "Nothing at all really…."

"Hinata, you will never be able to lie to me…. tell me what's wrong," demanded the sand using ninja as his arm moved around and was placed on her shoulders to pull her closer to him as they sat on the bench in the beautiful zen-garden.

Hinata sighed with a soft smile on her lips. No she would never be able to lie to him and she turned her gaze towards the clear blue autumn sky. "There is a dance at one of the restaurants tonight… I really want to go to that dance with you. But I know that you hate crowds and I will not force you to take me. But it would be nice to break away from the ordinary routine," she said.

"If that is what you want, then I'll take you there," said Gaara and put his free hand under her chin and gently forced her to look at him again. "Never hide the things you want Hinata."

"You don't have to Gaara-sama, you don't like crowds and…"

He silenced her by putting a finger on her lips. "I want to take you… As long as I'm with you I don't care about crowds…"

Hinata blushed when she felt his finger against her lips and her eyes became wider as he removed it and his face came closer.

"You make me complete Hinata, with you I can be myself without feeling feared or rejected," whispered Gaara as he closed the small space between them and placed a light kiss on her trembling lips.

Hinata gasped lightly as Gaara kissed her. It was innocent and sweet but suddenly she felt the need to feel more of him. She parted her lips a bit and suddenly she could feel the tip of his tongue enter her mouth. The gently caressing made her shiver and her hand came up and was placed on his cheek, gently stroking that sand covered skin. Oh, how she wished she could feel the warmth of his skin instead of that coldness that his demon spirit covered his body with.

Gaara felt warmth seep through his soul as Hinata responded to his kiss. Feeling her melt against his form, tasting her mouth like he did right now, it all made him feel something that made his world shake at its foundations. Her sweet innocence, the knowledge that she would set his interest in front of her own wantings made him want to do anything for her. If she wanted to go to a dance, he would take her there. He didn't care that the Shukaku moved restlessly inside him, trying to get him not to do it. Stupid humans that he was not allowed to kill and taste their blood did not equal as fun in the demon spirit's mind.

"G-Gaara…" she let out a soft moan as he nibbled at her lower lip with his teeth and she seemed to fuse against his body.

"I'll take you to this dance Hinata and don't worry about me, if you are with me I can go against any crowd out there," said Gaara as he brushed his thumb over her peach soft cheek. "Now… go home and eat something and then I'll come and get you around eight o'clock."

Hinata nodded and rose to her feet as Gaara did the same. She looked at him and blushed a bit before rising up on her toes and placed another kiss on his lips and then she ran out of the garden, out of the Uchiha mansion.

Gaara saw her fleeing form and he smiled gently before he noticed his older sister looking at him from the door way that led to the garden.

Temari had seen her brother steal a kiss from the timid young Hyuuga-heiress and it made her warm. She knew that the shy girl really liked her baby brother and she wouldn't hold anything against him. Sasuke and Naruto had spoken the truth that day when she and Kankurou came to visit them in order to find out what kind of person Hinata was.

"Temari-neechan…, what are you looking at? Why are you smiling?" asked Gaara coldly as he came up to the door and looked into his sisters dark blue eyes.

"I'm happy for you Gaara, very happy. She's a nice girl and I like her," said Temari without answering his questions. "So you are going to take her to this dance-thing?"

"Yes, she wants to go and I've promised that I would take her."

"Good, I hope you have a nice time little brother," said Temari softly.

But Gaara could detect the sadness in her voice. "Something's bothering you neechan?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen and put on the tea pot on the stove. "You want tea?"

"Yes, please… and yes… Something's bothering me… Hearing you two talk made me want to go to the dance too," said Temari and was surprised that her brother could read her so well.

"You want Neji-san to ask you if you want to go too?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes… that I would want very much," answered Temari truthfully as she sat down at the low table and watched how Gaara placed two tea cups on the dark teak.

"Why don't you ask him instead?"

Temari blushed was not able to answer the question because there was a knock on the door. She excused herself and went to open the door.

Gaara smiled as he overheard the voice asking his sister to this dance-thing. It ended up with Gaara drinking his tea alone. But he smiled, he was happy that his sister had found that special someone to care for just as he had found such person too.

But not everyone looked forward to the event that would be spoken of in years to come. Tsunade groaned as Shizune rambled about of the dance that was going to take place in the largest of Konoha's restaurants. Sure she liked to party, but right now she wanted only one thing – or rather, one person. Shikamaru was not going to leave her imagination any time soon. She wanted that teenaged young man so badly that she was ready to break any moral laws that existed.

So she was old, she should be all wrinkly and stuff, but due to her special jutsu, she didn't look more than 30 years old. And he was nineteen, that would only make it eleven years of difference… Tsunade bit her lip as she looked at her phone. Could she call Shikamaru and ask him to accompany her to the dance…? Or would that be too forward?

'But I really want to go with him… I want to feel loved again, I want to have someone to care for just like I cared for Dan. Why can't I have that again?' she thought as her painted finger nails tapped against the phone in front of her.

And before she knew it she had picked up the phone and dialled Shikamaru's number.

Shikamaru dragged himself out of his sofa and walked over to the phone to answer it. "What?" he mumbled into the receiver as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He had managed to fall asleep on his couch again.

"Shikamaru-kun, did I disturb you?" came a voice over the phone that Shikamaru knew all to well. His eyes widened a bit and he straightened his back.

"Hokage-sama… No, I just rested a bit. Can I be of service?" he asked as his body throbbed with the unleashed desire he held for his leader.

"I have been informed that there will be a dance tonight at Konoha's largest restaurants. And I want to go there, and I need my number one genius captain with me," said Tsunade.

"Ehhh?"

"Since many people might be there, it can produce troubles. Will you come with me Shikamaru-kun?" asked Tsunade.

It didn't really sound like it but… did she asked him out on a date?? He cleared his throat and answered her.

"Of course I'll come with you Hokage-sama, if you ask me to."

"Good, pick me up at the office around eight o'clock," she said and forced her blush down. She knew that it must sound very strange in his ears, his leader asking him to accompany her to a dance. 'Almost like a date or something…But at least I get to spend some time with him, and in a place where I can't molest him, there will be too many people there.'

"Yes, Tsunade-sama, I'll pick you up around eight o'clock," said Shikamaru and felt his hands become sweaty and his heart was beginning to act up, almost as if he was nervous. But he was never nervous.

"Good, see you then Shikamaru-kun," said Tsunade and hung up the phone, her hand shivering as she did. 'Oh, dear…. I really did it… and he said yes… Ihhh, but what am I going to wear?'

Yes, Tsunade did suffer from this female problem too from time to time. What was she going to wear??

Iruka felt cold as he walked home from school this Friday afternoon. He would walk home to an empty apartment and he didn't like it. He had been so used that Kakashi would be there with him that he could barely imagine anything else. He had gotten used to cuddle up next to the tall jounin, knowing he was loved and cared for. He sighed and looked at the colourful trees he passed. It had just been a day and he missed Kakashi so much it hurt just thinking about him being away.

"IRUKA-SENSEI!!" A familiar cheery voice called out to him and he turned his head and saw Naruto come running towards him, behind came the ever present Uchiha.

'They are always together now and I'm happy for them. I always thought that they would end up together…' Iruka thought but then the air was pushed out of his lungs when Naruto hugged him tightly.

"Ouch, take it easy Naruto… What's with the bear hug?" asked Iruka and smiled at his "son". He noticed that Naruto didn't wear his usual clothing; instead he had a pair of black sweat pants and a large jacket that was covering a dark blue sweat shirt. It was odd; he never had seen Naruto in such clothes.

Naruto practically jumped up and down until Sasuke put an arm around his waist and calmed him down. "You see, Naruto wants to tell you something," said Sasuke and smiled a bit when he saw Naruto's cheeks flare in an interesting red colour.

"Oh, what is it Naruto?"

"Not here, but if you promise that you'll make me some ramen we can come to your place," grinned Naruto and leaned against Sasuke's form. The avenger just hugged him more tightly and he could tell that Sasuke wanted this just as much as he did. To tell Iruka about the baby. He wasn't sure how Iruka would take it, but he wanted to tell the man that acted like his father for so many years now to know what happened these last couple of weeks, the last month and a half.

"Alright Naruto, I'll make you some ramen, at my place. Come along boys," said Iruka and patted Naruto's head and took the lead towards his apartment.

Iruka set about to make some ramen the moment they came into his home. But he could still feel the slight chill it gave him to know that he was going to spend the night alone again. Last night had been awful and he knew that this night would be just as horrible. But he didn't show anything to the boys; no he put on a fake mask and asked Naruto what it was he wanted to tell Iruka.

"Uhm… well… Y-you know that Sasuke and I are together?" Naruto began, almost mumbling out the words.

"It is kind of hard not noticing it when you walk around town and every now and then have a make out session in the public places," said Iruka with a soft smile. "Plus, I was at the onsen when you two decided to take a step closer to each other. But don't worry; it was just me who saw you there."

"Ohh…" Naruto's face turned beet red as he remembered the occasion. And Sasuke had a soft dusky colour over his nose too.

"And I am happy for you. I always thought you two would end up together, but I am surprised that it has taken you so long to come here and tell me in person, Naruto," said Iruka, lightly scolding the blonde boy.

"I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, I really am… "

"Don't worry about it, so what else did you have in mind when you wanted to come here and have some free ramen?"

Sasuke sat down and pulled Naruto down to sit in his lap. His hands were placed on the little bump on Naruto's stomach and he placed his head on Naruto's shoulder. He smiled softly as Naruto began to stutter out what happened to him.

"Well, you see… uhm… You know about the Kyuubi right? Uhm… she's did something to me… so Sasuke here could get his heir, so he could make sure that his b-blood line wouldn't die out…"

Iruka's eyes widened as his son began to stutter out the reason to why Naruto wanted to talk to him. He stopped in mid movement as he noticed the way Sasuke was stroking Naruto's stomach and then when Naruto talked about being tampered with so Sasuke could have his heir… 'No frigging way??!!!'

"What are you saying Naruto?" whispered Iruka as his hand tightened on the plate he was holding in his hand.

"What he's saying Iruka-sensei, is that he's expecting our child," said Sasuke as he noticed that Naruto was a bit too shaky to continue. He gently rubbed his stomach and nuzzled Naruto's neck to get him to calm down.

Even though his brain already had suspected that answer it didn't matter. Iruka fell flat down on a chair, the plate of ramen splashed out on the floor. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't accept it. It was just not normal. His little Naruto was a boy for crying out loud. And boys did not… I repeat DID NOT GO AROUND AND GET THEMSELVES PREGNANT!!

"Iruka-sensei…, hey… are you ok?" asked Naruto worriedly.

Iruka shook his head violently. No, he was definitive not ok. His mute answer made Naruto get up and searched his lockers and found a bottle of sake and filled a small cup and gave it to Iruka. "Here, take this, I'm sure you need it," mumbled Naruto. He was afraid that he might have made Iruka disgusted or something.

Iruka gulped down the strong alcohol and took a deep breathe before looking at Naruto and then at Sasuke and then back to Naruto again. "You are not pulling my leg here…. are you?"

"No, of course not, why would we joke about something like that?" asked Naruto and smiled nervously. His hand came down and closed over the little bulge. "You want to see?"

"Ehh?"

"I'm beginning to show a little, you wanna see?" asked Naruto again and blushed lightly.

'Do I really want to see??' Iruka silently questioned himself but before his mind could decide, his heart had done it for him. He nodded.

Naruto pulled up the hem of his jacket and shirt and pulled down his trousers just so Iruka could see the little bulge and the faintly glowing seal on his stomach. He saw that Iruka looked at him with wide eyes and his hand moved forward in slow motion before it was placed on Naruto's stomach, but as soon as his fingers touched skin he pulled back as if he had burned himself.

"Naruto…" whispered Iruka stunned.

"I'm sorry Iruka-sensei…"

"W-what… why are you sorry?"

"You don't like it do you?" mumbled Naruto devastated.

Sasuke saw the tears that began to shimmer in Naruto's eyes and he stood up and walked over to his lover and hugged him from behind. He could see that Naruto was distressed by Iruka's response and wanted to comfort him.

Iruka felt crushed as he saw the small tears that rolled down Naruto's whiskered face. He shot up and put his arms around both boys and hugged them. Naruto's arms came around his midriff and his face was buried in Iruka's chest.

"Naruto, Sasuke… I'm sorry. It just shocked me… Of course I'm happy for you," said Iruka with a voice thick of emotions. "You are my boy Naruto, and if you have found happiness with Sasuke and somehow are able to give him a child… I am happy… Sorry for being such a poor father and for how I acted up…"

"Iruka-sensei?" sniffed Naruto when he heard Iruka actually call him his son. That made Naruto's heart swell over and now he was crying violently. 'Damn these emotions… does every woman go through this?' he quietly asked as his whole body rocked with sobs.

Sasuke was the only one that managed to keep his emotions in check as the other two cried their hearts out and hugged each other. But he was happy for Naruto. He knew that the blonde boy had seen Iruka as a father figure, but never said anything about it. And see another person take his lover to their hearts made Sasuke's soul feel very good. Naruto needed it. He pulled away and that made Naruto turn his head towards him.

"I'm going to run some errands, Naruto. Stay here with Iruka-sensei and I'll come back within an hour or so. It looks as if you two need some time alone," said Sasuke and brushed his thumb over a wet, whiskered cheek.

"Sasuke…?"

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you have time to miss me," said Sasuke with a light smirk.

Naruto nodded and saw Sasuke walk out of the kitchen and two seconds he was gone.

"Let me clean up the mess before I slip and hurt my ass, and then we can make more ramen and you'll tell me everything from the beginning, ok Naruto?" said Iruka as he let go of the young man.

"Alright Iruka-sensei," said Naruto and brushed the last tears away from his face with the back of his hand.

"Why do you continue calling me sensei, Naruto? I have not been your teacher in many years."

"Old habits are hard to kill I guess," said Naruto with his trade mark fox grin.

"I guess you are right," answered Iruka and answered that smile with one of his own grins.

Sasuke was actually happy that Naruto stayed behind with Iruka. That meant that he could purchase a few books that he thought would come in handy. But that also meant that he would be exposed to new rumours in this town. 'Yeah, which girl in Konoha have been impregnated by the Uchiha-heir?' he mentally snorted. Yes, he could already hear them spread around town like a wild fire. But he hated not knowing things and he wanted to know about pregnancies and what he could expect from Naruto in the future. And of course… how the hell did you take care of small people… babies???

So the proud Uchiha had to swallow that pride and risk the fact that rumours would appear after his visit to the local book store. But he was in luck, he was the only customer at the moment, and he took his time to look at the section where he thought he would find the books he was looking for. He found some and grabbed them and was about to round a corner when he almost fell over a crouching person.

A person which hair looked as if it were made out of red flames. 'Gaara??'

"Uchiha…" was the Kazekage's only reply.

"Gaara-san, what are you doing here?" asked Sasuke and then his eyes landed on the book Gaara had in his hand. 'How to make your woman happy by Jiraya-sama…'

"Nothing, but I see that you have found some interesting books," said Gaara in retaliation as he saw the smirk on the Uchiha's lips.

"Don't worry, I will not tell anyone if you can keep your mouth shut too," said Sasuke as his smirk grew wider when he saw Gaara's eyes narrow a bit.

"Fine, I will not speak about your purchases."

"Good, but a little advice, anything written by the great Jiraiya-sama shall not be applied when you just begun dating a girl, he's a major pervert… just for you to know Gaara-san," said Sasuke and turned to the clerk to pay for the books he had picked up.

Once he had the books in a bag he walked out and then took the detour to his and Naruto's place and hid the books in his part of the closet. He was not very willing to share his thirst for knowledge, but he knew that he had to show Naruto someday, they were two in this and his lover should know about things too. Sasuke sighed and opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water and gulped down half of the content before he decided he would go back to Iruka's place again.

Gaara cursed as he walked out of the book store. He had been relieved to notice that it was empty as he went inside. He wanted to do something for Hinata, but he had no idea on what. And asking his sister was out of the question, he would not humiliate himself like that, she would probably laugh at him. And Kankurou? No, that bastard had done enough damage with that poker thingy. No, Gaara wanted to gain the knowledge on his own and decided the best way was to read books.

And with the all the people in Konoha it was the Uchiha that had walked in on him while reading the back side of a book which later was said that was written by a major pervert. Perhaps Gaara should be grateful but somehow he just felt embarrassed beyond words. Well, he had found another book that had another author and he was now headed towards the park to find a secluded spot where he could read it in peace. He had a few more hours before he would pick up Hinata. Yes, he would use these hours to research how to court a woman properly. But nagging in the back of his head was the fact that he one day would have to return to his village and leave everything behind. His heart did not like that. Actually he had come to like this village over the weeks he had stayed her with his siblings and he could easily tell that they liked it here too. Perhaps he should pass on his title to Baki instead. His former teacher was probably much more suited for this Kazekage title anyway. Gaara sighed as he found a tree that still held a rather luscious amount of leafs and he gathered chakra under his feet and jumped up and sat down on a large branch with his back against the trunk. He fished out the book from his jacket and began to read, not wanting to think about what would happen if he left Konoha and Hinata behind.

19

Naruto hugged Iruka one last time before leaving his teacher's apartment. He had found out that Iruka too had found someone special and that one was his other teacher, Kakashi. He had been surprised but happy. As long as his father was happy, Naruto was happy. He could also understand that Iruka now felt alone when the scarecrow was away on a mission. What mission Iruka didn't say, but Naruto knew that Iruka was worried about him. 'I would be worried too if Sasuke was sent away.'

"Naruto, what are you thinking about?" asked Sasuke as he unlocked the door to their place.

"About Iruka… and Kakashi. Iruka-sensei said that they were together just like we are," said Naruto and looked up into Sasuke's dark eyes. He saw a slight surprise in those black pools, but then his lover just smiled.

"Actually I am not that surprised, Kakashi-sensei has dropped a few strange excuses when he showed up late. You know – the time he said he had to help a dolphin with his paper works and stuff like that," said Sasuke as he moved them both to the sofa and sat down and pulled Naruto down in his lap.

Naruto silently agreed to that as he cuddled up in Sasuke's arms. He really didn't like this soft, mushy side of him that switched on and off depending on how his hormones were moving inside him. But at the same time it felt really good. Sasuke brushed his fingers through his blonde hair and Naruto knew that he could fall asleep like this.

"Hey, Naruto… You want to go out and have dinner tonight?" Sasuke suddenly asked out of the blue as he remembered the flyer that sat outside the book shop. It announced that a dance would take place at one of the largest restaurants in Konoha and he guessed that many of their friends were going to be there. Not that Sasuke was that found of parties of any kind, but if Naruto wanted to go, he would go too.

"Ehh?"

"I thought it might be nice to go out and have some dinner, what do you think?" asked Sasuke again as he nuzzled his face against Naruto's whiskered cheek, breathing in his scent. Gods, he loved this smell of sun and oranges.

"You mean… like a date or something?"

"Like a date, love," said Sasuke with a soft smile that was only reserved for his blonde dobe.

Naruto practically purred his consent to the idea. "Yeah, that would be really nice Sasuke. Perhaps we meet some of our friends there too?"

"We just might, it's a dance there tonight too. I'm sure that we will be able to see some of our friends there."

"He, he, you think Gaara have the balls to ask Hinata-chan out?" chuckled Naruto.

"I have no idea, but I wouldn't put it pass him," answered Sasuke and remembered the flustered Kazekage from the book store. 'I'm actually pretty sure we'll meet both Gaara and Hinata there tonight.'

"So when are we going?" asked Naruto as began to feel as if he had to run to the bathroom. He had done a bit of that lately and he guessed it was because the little critter was growing inside him and it was affecting his bladder.

"Well, I thought we could be there around seven or eight, how does that sound to you?"

"Fine, but now… I need to pee," squealed Naruto and jumped out of Sasuke's lap and made a dash for the bathroom.

Sasuke laughed softly as he got up and headed for the kitchen to drink some water. He was glad that Naruto had liked the idea of going out. And they never had an actual date before. It could turn out really nice the Uchiha thought as he gulped down the bottled water before hearing the sound of the toilet being flushed. Soon after Naruto came into the kitchen with a small embarrassed smile on his lips. Sasuke ignored it and just pulled his lover into his arms and kissed him passionately.

"So what do you say about a shower, koibito?" asked Sasuke seductively and saw the colour on Naruto's cheeks deepen. Yes, his lover would very much like to have a shower.

# Friday Evening #

Tenten was beginning to feel a little bit irritated. She had made a deal with Kankurou that she would meet him here outside the dance at eight o'clock. She had been here ten minutes before scheduled time and now her watch said it was ten minutes passed eight. She had one of the roses he had given her behind her ear. Her hair that otherwise always was put up in two buns was now flowing like a river of tar down her back. She wore a pink, satin dress with Chinese dragons sown into it. She got a lot of complementing looks from the single men that entered the restaurant but she ignored them. And now he was twenty minutes late. 'I'll give him ten more minutes, if he doesn't show up by then, I'm going home again!!' she thought angrily. She had seen Temari and Neji enter the restaurant, she had seen Tsunade-sama, escorted by Shikamaru, now this was odd, because Shikamaru looked as if he had put some effort behind dressing himself this evening, but the ever present jounin-west was on him and that made Tenten pretty sure that the reason he was here was because it was work-related.

But just after she had said hello to Hinata and her Kazekage, she met this person, this really beautiful man. He walked up to her and bowed but didn't say anything. Tenten blushed a bit as she tried to figure out if she had met this guy before or if he was from out of town. He held out his arm and she shot one last glance at her watch and decided that Kankurou's time was up. 'And why not enjoy myself with this hottie instead of going home?' she thought and placed her arm around his and they walked inside.

He took Tenten to a table that had been reserved for him and he just smiled and again Tenten was filled with the suspicion that she actually knew this guy. Why did he seem so familiar and yet she was pretty sure that she never had seen him before. A waiter came up with a bottle of red wine and served them. The silent man held his light brown eyes on Tenten and she felt a little bit uncomfortable and she made sure that she could reach her hidden weapons if it was needed. 'Perhaps this was a stupid idea after all…?' she pondered as he raised his glass and motioned her to do the same. They put their glasses together and the man spoke for the first time.

"To us Tenten-chan and to our evening," he said and smiled as Tenten's face dropped to the ground.

"No way!!???"

"I'm sorry I was late," said the man as he smiled softly.

"Kankurou??"

"Did you have a date with someone else perhaps?" asked the brown eyed man as the smile grew wider. "Don't tell me that you didn't know it was me?"

Tenten blushed darkly as she began to fiddle with the glass in her hand before she gulped down the red content in one swoop.

"Don't worry Tenten-chan, I'm happy that I was able to surprise you a bit," said Kankurou as he refilled her glass with more wine. The waiter came back and Kankurou asked him to take in the orders that he had made before he came here.

"You are a man of many secrets Kankurou," said Tenten as she began to relax a bit, most probably because the wine began to work its way through her system.

"Or you could just say that it sometimes pays off to be the brother of the Kazekage. But never mind that – I think you look just heavenly tonight Tenten-chan, you should wear you hair down more often," said Kankurou as he let his eyes roam over her features again.

Tenten couldn't help it, she smiled as a new blush covered her face. He really knew how to sweet talk sometimes. But he also showed her a new side of himself, a side that she found to be very pleasant. She decided she would give him this chance and then see what would happen.

Tsunade had gotten a real shock as her favourite jounin came to the Hokage-tower to escort her to Shareta. He was dressed in black slacks, a black silk shirt even if he covered up most of it by the west. A quick look at his feet told the Hokage that he didn't wear the blue sandals that otherwise was so common in the ninja society. She forced down the blush that threatened to cover her face as he held up the door so she could step outside her office.

They walked in silence towards the restaurant and she cursed silently as her stomach began to act up a bit. She was feeling a bit giddy, just like a young woman that was going out on her first date. 'Get a hold of your self. He doesn't care for old ladies like yourself. You are just a fool thinking otherwise,' her common sense told her as she walked next to the tall jounin that held her heart.

"Tsunade-sama?" said Shikamaru when he saw the troubled look on Tsunade's face.

"Mm, what Shikamaru-kun?"

"You look troubled. Do you suspect that something bad will happen tonight?" asked Shikamaru as his dark grey eyes watched her face. He was worried about her and he could clearly see that there was something troubling her.

Tsunade shook her blonde head and looked forward towards the entrance of the restaurant. They were here. She saw the young woman that could handle every weapon there was and she nodded a "hello" to her before she walked inside the place and Shikamaru followed her. Once inside her favourite jounin walked up to the bar and ordered two bottled water. They were here on duty so no alcohol was allowed. She sighed as she unscrewed the bottle he gave her. 'I wished I could tell you that this was something else than a mission…' she thought as she downed down the water.

But just a moment later he handed her a cocktail and she looked a bit surprised up at him. "This isn't really a mission is it?"

'I hate his brain sometimes…' she thought as she took the cocktail glass and shook her head. "I'm sorry Shikamaru-kun, but this was the only way I could get out with a date at my side," she said and saw that he too had a glass in his hand.

"No…. all you had to do was ask…. Tsunade-hime," said Shikamaru as his cheeks bloomed red and he turned away so she couldn't see his predicament.

Tsunade could feel her heart melt at his comment and she placed her hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her again and he did. "Thank you… that made me very happy Shikamaru-kun," she said softly and nodded a bit.

Shikamaru tried in his own way to cover up his bold statement by asking something even bolder: "Then perhaps my Hokage would agree to join me in the next slow dance?"

Tsunade blushed and nodded as she was given a new drink, a Long Island tea.

Gaara was stunned as he saw the angelic apparition in the doorway to the Hyuuga-mansion. Hinata was dressed in a long white, slimmed dress; over her shoulder was a pearly grey cape with a large hood. She looked as if she had been taken out of a fairytale or something. His mouth dried up and he had no words to greet her as she stepped out of the large sliding doors of her family's residence.

"Gaara-sama," she greeted him as she stepped out from her family's home.

"H-Hinata-san…" he stammered and for the first time in his life he was suffering from a loss of words.

"You look very handsome Gaara-sama," said Hinata quietly and blushed as she saw his eyes wander up and down her body. And she didn't lie either. Gaara was dressed in a pair of burgundy coloured pants. The ninja-pouch was taped against his right thigh, he had a burgundy shirt and the ever present gourd was on his back, but he looked very handsome and she took his hand and gently motioned him to come with her. And he never lost his grip on her hand as they walked towards the place that held the dance this night.

But Gaara couldn't hold it back, he had to taste her again. And as they passed through the park where he had seen her do her little water ballet jutsu, he grabbed her waist with his arm and pulled her up close into his embrace. His sea green eyes locked with her lavender white ones and he gently brushed his finger tips over her soft cheek.

"Hinata-san…. You make me feel strange," he mumbled as he watched the emotions of surprise wash over her face as he touched her.

"Gaara-sama…. I think I make you feel…. emotions," said Hinata as she blushed and her hand came up and covered his as he cupped her cheek.

"Emotions…. Is that a good thing?" asked Gaara as he watched his precious pearl smile back at him.

"Emotions prove that you are human, Gaara-sama," said Hinata as she waited for him to kiss her again. Since the moment he kissed her earlier that day, she had waited for him to kiss her again and this would be the perfect time for one of those things.

"Do you see me as human, Hinata-san?"

"You are human, Gaara-sama, never think anything else."

"I must go back to Suna soon…. But I will come back…"

"And I'll be here when you come back…" whispered Hinata when she caught on what he wanted to tell her. "No matter how long it'll take… I will be here… waiting – for you Gaara."

It was all he needed to hear and his lips descended down on hers, capturing them in a passionate kiss. He silently promised her that he would come back for her, no matter what, he would come back here and claim her fully and she gave her consent to that wordless promise by kissing him back.

Their kisses grew more and more passionate and suddenly Gaara pulled away, but his hands was still on her body and he nodded in unspoken terms that he would go through the pits of hell to keep his promise to her. He would come back and claim her as his own.

Hinata understood and nodded as her left fingers were woven with his right ones. Together they walked to the dance that Gaara had promised to take her to.

Ino, the blonde girl that in the past always could be seen with Shikamaru and Choji, was sitting alone at one of the booths and she looked over the dancing floor and was shocked. She saw several things or rather, several pairs that rocked her stone pillars. She couldn't help but smile as a dressed up Shikamaru came in the company of their beloved Hokage. Try as he might – but the lazy jounin couldn't hide the fact from Ino and she knew that he was in seventh heaven at the moment.

And seeing Naruto in the company of her former "I'll be your girl forever" Sasuke-kun, didn't faze her at all – that was a pair bound by fate to be together. But what struck her as odd was the fact that her best friend and rival was not anywhere to be seen. Where was Sakura??? 'Come to think about it… I have not seen her in over a month….' thought the blonde mind trixing kunoichi. But then she just shrugged and guessed that her friend was on a long termed mission or something therefore she had missed the fact that her former team-mates now were a couple. 'A couple that anyone with eyes in their heads could predict would happen in the long run…' she thought with a small smile on her lips.

Yes, Ino had seen the signs between Sasuke and Naruto long before they showed it to the rest of the world. She knew that they would end up together in one way or another. Was she jealous? A bit… but she liked Naruto and if he was with Sasuke and was happy or the other way around, she wasn't complaining. She was happy for them both.

"Naruto-chan…" purred Sasuke as he held his fox closer as he moved over the dance floor. They had a few eyebrows to rise as Sasuke pulled Naruto onto the dance-floor, but the Uchiha couldn't care less. He wanted to dance with his beautiful lover and he would kill anyone that dared to say anything about him.

Naruto couldn't do anything else but melt into his lover's embrace as he folded his arms around the blonde. Gods, if he were to die now, he would die a happy man. Kiba and Shino, newly returned from a mission came up to them and said their congratulations to their relationship and suddenly it became clear to Naruto that they too had a relationship. Naruto smiled and whished them the same as he was moved away due to Sasuke's strong arms. And who could've known that the Uchiha was such an excellent dancer?

Sasuke moved the man that carried his offspring with the utmost gentleness, he just enjoyed the fact that Naruto liked to be hugged by him in public, not to mention that the blonde boy didn't put any effort to hide the fact that they were together, in fact, he said that he wanted Shino and Kiba to be happy in their relationship too. So the dog boy and the bug-lover was a pair? That was more than he could've suspected, but not that Sasuke cared. All he was caring about at the moment was the fact that Naruto was rubbing against his ever hardening body. He wanted Naruto so badly that he was ready to strip the blonde boy right here on the dance floor.

"Sasuke… what are you doing?" asked Naruto as his blue eyes turned towards to look up into Sasuke's charcoal ones.

"Do you have any idea of what your rubbing is doing to me Naruto-chan?" whispered Sasuke heatedly and pressed against the young man in his arms.

Naruto's gaze lowered and he saw the bulge in Sasuke's pants. "Ohh, you are hard," he stated innocently and pushed his pelvis against that hardness, pulling out a dark, raspy sound from Sasuke. Blame it on hormones or wicked, invisible devils or what ever, but Naruto tried his best to arouse his stoic lover at this point.

"Naruto.." growled the Uchiha-heir as his blonde fox began to rub himself against him in earnest.

"Why did you take me here when you wanted me stripped naked on a bed, Sasuke?" asked Naruto seductively as he rose to his feet to lick the outer shell of Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke let out an animalistic purr when he felt the wet tongue move over the sensitive areas of his ear. And why had he taken Naruto here when he could have his little fox-boy stripped and butt-naked on a bed at home instead? On a bed where he could fuck him into the mattress? 'Oh, yes, I promised him that I would take him here on a date… but why has he to rub against me like that???'

Naruto could feel his lover's predicament and gently guided him over to one of the booths in the darkness of the restaurant. Before Sasuke could stop him, Naruto had undone his pants and held his throbbing erection in his hand. Naruto looked up into Sasuke's stunned face as his lips moved down to engulf his lover's length.

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Naruto was giving him a blow job right here at the club. But he couldn't deny that the fox-boy's lips felt good, just feeling that tongue move over his sensitive tip made Sasuke snarl in pure pleasure. His fingers grabbed hold of golden strands and he pushed Naruto's head against his groin.

Naruto tasted the transparent precum that seem to be oozing out of Sasuke's tip. He had aroused his lover to the point where he was practically was weeping at the moment. Naruto didn't mind, he truly loved the taste of Sasuke, he almost craved it. His lips came down and engulfed Sasuke's length and he could feel him put his hands on the back of his head and push him down until he had taken all his length into his mouth.

"N-Narutoooo," growled Sasuke as Naruto's hand moved to cup his clothed sac, gently massaging it.

Naruto released his shaft and looked up to see the glazed look in Sasuke's black eyes.

"You are such a teaser, koibito," mumbled Sasuke as his fingers brushed over a whiskered cheek.

"Want me to finish you?" asked Naruto without feeling guilt that they were in a public place.

"Ahhh," moaned Sasuke as Naruto pumped his shaft a few times. Waves of pleasure rocked him as he closed his eyes, just waiting for Naruto to take him into his mouth again.

'Guess he wants me to finish him right here then…' thought Naruto as he put Sasuke's shaft back into his mouth and began to suck his lover with earnest. He could hear the short pants, the moans from Sasuke and Naruto knew that his lover liked what he did to him. He sucked his tip, letting his tongue play over the small slit at the top a few times before moving his hand down in order to take him into his mouth fully.

Sasuke could no longer hold back, with a harsh cry he released his seed into Naruto's mouth and seeing the fox gulp down the essence of his pleasure made Sasuke go over the edge a second time. And as Naruto looked up, the evidence of Sasuke's happiness still on his lips made Sasuke loose it. He refused to stay here at the club another minute.

"We're going home," said Sasuke as he buttoned his pants and then grabbed hold of Naruto's hand.

"Sasuke!!"

"I don't care, we're going home – NOW!!!" growled the Uchiha-heir.

Naruto grinned widely as he waved a good bye to his friends as he was pulled outside the club.

Ino's eyes were wide as saucer the moment she realized what Naruto was doing to Sasuke in the far end of the restaurant where the light was a bit more dim. Naruto was giving his boyfriend a blow job, in the restaurant. 'Are they crazy??? Anyone can catch them and they will be thrown out!!' her mind screamed as she watched the hypnotic bobbing of the blonde tussled head. She could feel something hot shoot right through her lower stomach as Sasuke leaned his head back, his mouth opened and she just knew that he was reaching his peak. She was glad that the music was rather loud or else she was sure she would hear Sasuke's cries of pleasure.

'They are nuts… simply crazy!!' But seeing Naruto come up again, lick his lips she couldn't help it, she began giggle nervously. Just a few seconds later she saw a rather flustered Sasuke grab hold of his blonde lover and drag him out of the restaurant. She grabbed her beer glass and gulped down its contents in one sweep. Man, it was hot in here.

'When did my lazy but oh, so handsome, genius ninja, learn how to dance?' Tsunade asked herself as Shikamaru moved her around the dance floor very gracefully. Not that she complained, not at all. She just engulfed herself in the feelings that came from being in his strong arms. The movements of their dancing were almost putting her into a trance and she found herself leaning her head against his broad shoulder. He smelled of sandalwood and soap and she found it to be very arousing.

Shikamaru was not better off either. He was quite tall now at age nineteen and he was certainly a head taller than his beloved leader. And just feeling her generous bosom push against his abs made his teenaged body go wild. He closed his eyes as her arms went around his lower ribcage and pushed even closer. 'Closer and she'll know what I want to do with her,' he thought as he gently put his arms around her shoulders and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. But as he whirled around with the flow of the music he stopped caring about if she would find out or not. He was in seventh heaven at the moment. He didn't even notice when Sasuke dragged his blonde lover out of the restaurant. All he cared about was the fact that he was dancing with the woman that had been the focus for him for so long.

Tsunade had not lived for sixty years and not learned a thing or two, the moment she pushed a little bit closer to the tall jounin she knew that he was aroused. But his hands was not wandering about, he just held her as they softly moved with the beats of the current song that was played. But the knowledge that he shared the same feelings for her as she did for him made her warm all over. At the moment she would just bask in the knowledge that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. If she would act out on it? She was not sure yet, but for now she would just be happy to feel his arms around her just as she had dreamt about for two years. 'You dirty ol' woman you…' her mind snarled as she pressed closer to the lazy jounin. 'Shut up and let me enjoy this at least,' her heart growled back and that silenced her brain for awhile.

Tenten had to change her beliefs about Kankurou. He had asked her for a dance and he proved to be a wonderful dance-partner. He somehow just softly guided her through the music that was played and as the tune slowed down; he pulled her into his arms and continued to dance with her. Was she enjoying herself? You could bet your shuriken-collection on that one.

Kankurou was not far off either. Just feeling her close was enough to make his hentai mind work overtime. But he bit the inside of his cheek just to keep his hands in check, he didn't want to spoil this evening with groping her softer parts even if his body just screamed to find a private place and take what she could offer him. Even if he didn't grope her, he could tell her how he felt, he wanted her to know and if she didn't feel the same, he needed to know this.

"Tenten-chan, please, tell me truthfully… do you like me?" he whispered softly into her ear as he pulled her around as the music changed again and he looked into her dark brown eyes.

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise over the straight forward question and then… and then she blushed and avoided his piercing gaze. She couldn't answer him, not straight into his face, not like this. "W-why do you want t-to know?" she mumbled as she looked over the dance-floor and saw her former team-mate put his hands on Temari's cheeks and then he gently kissed the sand-kunoichi. That alone made her mind go overboard and she wanted to be kissed by Temari's brother just like that. The blush was inevitable in the end.

"Because Tenten-chan, you have caught me in your net and I really like you. I like you a lot," said Kankurou as he put his hand on her warm cheek and gently forced her to look into his eyes.

"Kankurou-kun… I…," began Tenten as she felt her voice fault her, she couldn't get a word out at all.

But she nodded, she couldn't lie to him. Not straight to his face. She had tried it before and failed and this time were even worse off, seeing his eyes, hearing his sincere voice tell her that he liked her, how could she lie to him, especially when her heart screamed to her that this was a man she could bet her money on.

Kankurou's face split up in an enormous smile and he hugged the little female ninja tightly, the dance long forgotten at the moment. She actually liked him and that alone was enough for the puppet-master to feel as if he owned the world this very moment. She had nodded yes to his question if she liked him and that was a pure gold nugget. His handsome face split up in a wide smile that could rival Naruto's fox-grin and he put his large hands on her tiny waist and swirled around a couple of times in pure happiness before he let her stand on her own two feet again.

"K-Kankurou-kun???" she mumbled.

"You Konoha-chicks really know how to make a sand-nin go wild," he said and he hugged her tightly again as the music changed to become more normal, no slow dancing that is.

Tenten smiled at this and she followed the man that had caught her interest in such a short time. 'A real pervert, but who cares ne?' she asked herself as she let him guide her through the beats of the music. All thoughts of what was happening with her former partner and sparring friend Neji was lost to her and she was pretty sure that Kankurou didn't care about his older sister either. Right now it was just the two of them and they were ruling the dance-floor. For the first time in years, Tenten just let go. She dropped everything and just followed the stream weather it was going straight a head or backwards. She followed it. She followed her heart

Choji entered the restaurant and it didn't take him long to spot Ino. You might think that the once very chubby boy would only love food, but that was one wrong conclusion. He had a very soft spot for his former team-mate Ino. And seeing her now sit alone made him a little bit courageous and he walked over to her table.

"Hello Ino-chan, can I join you or do you have company?" he asked politely. His heart melted as her face lit up.

"Choji!! Yes, sit, sit… I was beginning to feel lonely here!" Ino practically yelled as she grabbed hold of Choji's strong hand and pulled him down to sit next to her.

Choji slumped down next to the blonde girl that he had spent most of his teenaged life with. Her hand was still on his and he could see that she was gazing at the dance-floor. He followed her gaze and his eyes widened just slightly when he saw Shikamaru dance so closely as humanly possible with their leader.

"Shika has found his heaven," mumbled Choji as he was served a glass of beer.

"Indeed he has. And with that statement I assume that you know about his… affection for our leader?" came Ino's voice a few seconds later, bursting through the swirled cheeked young man's thoughts.

"Yes, I have known for quite awhile," said Choji and turned his black eyes towards his former team mate.

"How long have you known about it?" asked Ino as she looked into Choji's face. 'He's quite handsome now…. ' The random thought burst her bubble quite effectively and she blushed a bit as his warm gaze pierced her soul.

"Two years or so. He never said anything, but I knew. He's lazy and a genius, but in the long run, he's just a man. And so am I… And even if you all think that I'm always putting chips and barbeque meals on top – I still have eyes in my head. And Shika have been my best friend for so long – he can not hide anything from me, not anymore. Yes, I know about his love for our Hokage. But…. But how do you know about it Ino-chan?

Ino giggled as she leaned her head against Choji's shoulder. "Call it a woman's intuition," she said and smiled widely. "I've known about his infatuation of Tsunade-sama for quite awhile, but this… man, this is just priceless. Just look at him Choji-kun. Shikamaru-kun is in heaven!! He's dancing!!"

Choji followed her blue eyes and smiled; yes, his best friend was dancing. He was dancing with the Hokage and he looked just like he had stepped through the gates of heaven.

"I believe you're right Ino-chan," said Choji.

"This is a night for magic and love…." mumbled Ino and blushed lightly as she realized that she still held a tight grip around Choji's hand. But she didn't pull back. She had been right, this was a night for magic and love and suddenly she saw her former team mate in a new light. The chubby barbeque meat loving boy had grown into a man. And he was no longer as chubby as he had been. A large man yes, chubby man – no. Choji was large, he was huge. 195 cm over the sea, light brown hair, broad shoulders, muscular legs, black eyes and a heart that could swallow you whole. Choji was a man to die for.

"Ino-chan…. Ino-chan??!!" his voice cut through her daze and Ino suddenly found her self looking into his eyes and she blushed. 'Why have I not noticed him before?'

"S-sorry, Choji-kun… got lost in thoughts there for a moment… Uhm… you wanna dance?" she babbled in order to hide the fact that she was embarrassed beyond words that she had actually checked him out.

Choji was about to choke on his breath when he heard Ino ask for a dance. But he nodded and moved out from the booth they were seated in but as they came up on the dance-floor he looked like a lost puppy. He didn't know how to dance. But Ino just smiled softly and grabbed hold of his hands and suddenly he was holding the little blonde female very close, the little woman he had been crushing on for so long, she was in his arms. He turned almost blue in the face – but hey, he was happy.

Iruka was at lost. He had a heavily wounded Anko lying on his sofa. He had called for the Hokage to come, only to receive a message that she was out for the evening. The scarred Chuunin-teacher had no idea how to locate his leader at this moment. He called for Shikamaru, the jounin that seemed to have their leader's attention.

20

Shikamaru could feel his cellphone vibrate inside his vest and he growled and pulled away from his beloved leader's embrace. He mumbled out an excuse and answered the phone. And before he put away the phone he had grabbed Tsunade's hand gently and pulled her away. Tsunade stumbled a few times before she was able to catch up with his steps.

"Shikamaru-kun, what's the matter?" asked Tsunade.

"Big trouble hime, big trouble. That was Iruka-sensei. He has Anko with him. She's badly wounded and needs your immediate help," said Shikamaru as his stomach tightened up in knots. This was not good, no, no… not good at all.

"Anko-san?"

"Something went wrong he said, she keeps on mumbling Kakashi's name over and over and he doesn't know where they are."

"Let's put some boost under our feet then, Shikamaru-kun," whispered Tsunade and clenched her teeth together. She let him lead her towards Iruka's home and was amazed to see that Shikamaru actually could move very quickly spite his records of being the laziest ninja in Konoha.

They were met by a teacher that was about to fly to pieces with worry. Shikamaru took it upon his shoulders to calm the Chuunin down a bit as Tsunade went to work and heal the wounded Anko. And what he heard from the teacher was nothing but sheer horror.

Iruka swallowed the contents of the sake-bottle that Shikamaru held out for him. The strong liquid burned down his throat and he could feel tears come to life in his eyes but he blinked them away. He nodded a thank you to the tall jounin before looking at the Hokage as she put her healing techniques to use on Anko.

"Will she be ok?" asked Iruka and felt relieved when Tsunade nodded absently.

"What happened Iruka-sensei?" asked Shikamaru

"I was getting ready to make supper w-when there was a very weak knock on m-my door," began Iruka as the whole thing was replayed inside his head. "I was not sure if I heard it at first, but then I got a feeling that someone was outside a-and I went to l-look. She was just leaning against t-the door so she fell right on top of m-me. She was bleeding everywhere. Oh… God…. I thought she was going to die on me… A-and… And she keeps mumbling about the others, saying things like t-they're dead… Dead…"

Iruka was shaking again and Tsunade frowned. The Chuunin was loosing it and she made an almost invisible nod towards Shikamaru who saw it and acknowledged it. He reached into his pocket and found a small needle and before Iruka could see what was happening he lay limp in Shikamaru's arms. The jounin carried the teacher to his bedroom and placed him on the bed. Shikamaru had learned about certain points on your body that could put a man to sleep within a second. It did come in handy from time to time.

"Thank you, Shikamaru-kun. He was about to loose it there. But I'm more concerned about the rest of the team, what do you think could've happened?" asked Tsunade as she removed her hands from Anko's now healed body.

"They were caught and Anko was the only one that was able to get away. But what I really don't know was how she was able to get here with those wounds; the village of Mist is at least a daytrip away. She must have some help of sort to get here in that condition," said Shikamaru with a frown and held out his hand to Tsunade and helped her get up on her feet.

"I agree with you Shika, but what's more important, we need to get an attack- and rescue team together right now," said Tsunade and could feel a small comfort in the fact that he still held her hand even though she was standing up. "Can you get a team ready within an hour?"

"That will be a bit troublesome, but I think I can manage to do that hime," said Shikamaru and gave her hand a reaffirming squeeze. He smiled a bit when she returned the squeeze.

"Alright then, get the team ready and when you have the ones you need, come back here, hopefully Anko will have awakened by then," said Tsunade. She thanked the heavens that she had someone like Shikamaru at her side at the moment. This was really bad, a situation she had not foreseen when she sent the team out to take care of the mist's brewing ideas of attacking them.

With a flash he was gone and Tsunade was left alone to watch over two sleeping figures. She wondered a bit why Iruka had been so upset, he would know better that things like this could happen, so why had he been breaking apart? 'Unless someone on the team was one of his precious ones…' a voice said deep inside her head and her eyes widened a bit as she looked over the scar faced teacher. But who? Could he have a thing for Anko perhaps? No, Iruka didn't seem to be the type that would want a woman like Anko, so some of the others? Ibiki? No, he was more like Anko's type of guy. Gai? Yeah, that hyper jounin could easily pass as a man that loved another man, but still, it was not Iruka's type, so that left Kakashi… 'Kakashi, are you Iruka's loved one then?' She heard a moan from Anko and she lost her trail of thought and headed over to the couch and kneeled down next to the explosive woman.

"Anko-san, Anko-san, can you hear me?" asked Tsunade as she put her palm against Anko's pale face. "Anko-san, I need you to wake up. I need to know what happened to your team."

"H-Hokage?" came the weak reply.

"Yes, Anko-san, please… tell me."

Shikamaru knew exactly who to pick for this mission as he headed back to the restaurant. He found Ino dancing around with Choji, she almost looked like a doll inside his former team-mate's arms. He headed over to them and asked them to find the others. They didn't need anything else, they knew who the others were. Soon almost the whole gang was gathered, except Neji and Temari.

"Kazekage-sama, where are your sister and Hinata-san, your cousin?" asked Shikamaru as he scanned over the dance-floor. His eyes came back and saw Hinata blush furiously as she nodded towards a smaller corridor leading away from the dance floor.

Shikamaru wasted no time on thinking about to why Hinata looked as if she had dipped her face in red paint, but he understood it just seconds later when he interrupted Neji and Temari doing something very intimate.

"Neji-san," breathed Shikamaru as he noticed that Neji's pants lay in disarray around his feet. "We are called by Hokage-sama, get dressed…. And you too Temari-san."

And with that Shikamaru spun around and almost ran out of the hallway, his cheeks flaming red but he forced the blush down as he came up to the others. He gave Neji and Temari two minutes to join them and the two came along, looking very much embarrassed.

"Follow me, please," he said and headed back to Iruka's apartment.

Tsunade was glad that Shikamaru, even though he was lazy, could be quite efficient from time to time. Because in front of her now was a large group of young people, she knew that they all had been to the restaurant for the dance.

"Thank you for coming," she said as she rose to her feet. "We have a large trouble on our hands. A few days ago I sent Anko-san here together with Gai-san, Kakashi-san and Ibiki-san on a mission. They were to take out key figures within the Mist society and if possible, they would assassinate a member from the Akatsuki, a certain person named Kisame."

A shrug went through the group as this name came over her lips. Kisame was not to be toyed with. They had heard about the shark-faced man from their leaders and others. His weapon, the Samehade, a sword of some sort that looked more like a furry pole than anything was feared amongst many of them. The Samehade sword was something that you should be very careful with and around.

"What Anko-san have been able to tell me, I suspect that the rest of the group are not dead, I hope they are not dead. Severely wounded yes, but not dead. More likely they have been hurt in such ways that they will not be able to stand up and fight back. So what I need from you is to go to the Hidden village of the Mist and rescue them. Use what ever force you need to do so. And bring our friends back!"

A choked sound from the sofa made Tsunade turn around and saw Anko trying to sit up. She was there and helped the jounin a bit. "Anko-san, you shouldn't…"

"Uchiha-san, Naruto-kun, they're in danger," whispered Anko with rough voice. "The bastards are after our boys, they'll will attack in order to k-kidnap them."

'When hell freezes over…!' was Tsunade's first thought as she heard this. But she had to accept the fact that Naruto and Sasuke was in danger. Did the Akatsuki know that the fox vessel was carrying life? She really hoped that it was not the case, but she couldn't be too sure. She needed someone to protect Sasuke and Naruto. It was now she realize that was two persons missing in the group.

"Where are Aburame-san and Inuzuka-san?" asked Tsunade as she looked over the team.

"Probably resting," said Shikamaru.

"Well, call them, we need them."

Shikamaru nodded and everyone was amazed that their leader could get Shikamaru to do just about anything without him complaining that it was too troublesome.

"I want Inuzuka and Temari-san to watch over Naruto and Sasuke. The rest of you will follow Shikamaru's orders and bring back our men. Hinata-san, you will go to, your medical skills are very much needed. And you will take Shizune-san with you too," ordered Tsunade and looked over the group. "Kazekage-sama, I count on you to go with them, your abilities are much needed."

"Of course Hokage-sama," answered Gaara and nodded as his hand tightened a bit around Hinata's hand. He did not like the fact that his precious desert flower was going to come with them on this mission, but he knew that Hinata couldn't go against her leader's orders. And he knew from her stories about her evolvement from being a Chuunin to a Jounin had given her much training and according to Neji (through his sister's mouth), Hinata was very capable of handling herself in battle. But still, he turned his head to look at her and his stomach began to move around. He had not been worried about much in his life, but this was not sitting well with him.

"Thank you for your support, Kazekage-sama," said Tsunade as she put a glass of water against Anko's lips. "I will accompany Temari-san and Inuzuka-san back to Naruto's apartment and we will take Umino-san with us. Keep in contact every 30 minutes until you reach the village and then, Hinata-san, you will be the one in charge of information. You will be the one that calls us every 5 minutes of what's going on. Am I clear??!!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they all answered with one voice.

"Good, dismissed."

Shikamaru waited until everyone had left when he grabbed hold of Tsunade's shirt and pulled her up from the sofa. His dark grey eyes shimmered with unleashed emotions and Tsunade found her self feeling a bit dizzy. And the second later he put his other arm around her waist and pushed her up against his body and he caught her lips in a searing kiss. A kiss that lasted just a few seconds and then he let her go.

"S-Shikamaru…?" she whispered a bit shocked over his behaviour.

"In case I don't make it back – I can at least tell the gods that I got to kiss the most beautiful woman on earth," he answered her with thick voice and disappeared.

Temari had seen everything from the place she was standing, in the door way to the kitchen. She was pretty sure that Shikamaru had not seen her standing there and she could feel warmth flow inside her veins as she watched the emotional Jounin kiss his leader. 'And here I thought you didn't have it in you to act up…. You are beginning to act like Naruto – very surprising,' she thought with a tender smile playing on her lips. She stood there, all still, until Shikamaru had left and then she took a step up and smirked when the Hokage blushed before turning her attention towards the chuckling Anko.

"Hokage-sama, you naughty woman… he's virgin meat you know!"

"Shut up and go back to sleep, you depraved woman," growled Tsunade as she picked up the weakened jounin in her arms and turned around to face the blonde wind-using sand-nin. "Temari-san, pick up Umino-san, and follow me, please."

Temari nodded and moved towards the bedroom where she suspected that the gentle Chuunin was resting. And surely enough, she saw him lie there on the bed and she hauled him up over her shoulder and followed the Hokage out of the apartment.

"Tsunade-sama, how is it possible that the Akatsuki can gain allies within the Hidden village of Mist?" asked Temari as they rushed towards Naruto's home.

"Kisame comes from that village," growled the blonde leader as she gently landed on the steps to the apartment building that housed her favourite kitsune-boy. "They have had a growing need for revenge ever since Kakashi and team 7 was headed towards the Wave-country. They were hired to stop them, and when that couldn't be done, the gang-leader asked another Mist-ninja to stop them at all cost. His name was Zabuza, the Demon Zabuza. But Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were able to stop them and they were the ones that made a tiny village connect a bridge to the rest of the world."

"When was this?"

"I was told it was seven years ago, it was before I became the leader of Konoha. And it was before the Chuunin-exams."

"B-But that meant…???"

"Yes, it was before they were actually able to carry out an A-class mission, but they did it. And Naruto was very much a key-person in that mission. According to Kakashi-san, Naruto was able to protect Sasuke and himself with a force that was unheard of from such a young boy. Of course, my guesses is that you already know about Naruto's special condition?"

"Yes, he carries the spirit of a demon inside him, my brother told me," said Temari as she saw Tsunade knock on the very normal looking door to an apartment.

"That is correct, and somehow during that very special mission, the fox demon he carries within him came loose and protected what she thought was her and her little "kit's" precious one. Naruto protected Sasuke with a power that none of us can comprehend, not really. And during the years to come, he came to an understanding with his "guest" and he have been a very reliable source of power ever since," continued Tsunade and waited for someone to answer the door. She growled darkly when she felt the sexual energy flow around her and she just knew she was stepping right into a very tender moment between her little boy and the Uchiha. 'He'll have my head for sure…'

Temari backed away when a wave of sinister chakra burst through the door and the walls surrounding it. And the second later the door was opened and the were met by the eyes of the Sharingan.

"Uchiha-san, it's an emergency, please let us enter," said Tsunade without waving for a moment.

"Tsunade-hime? What are you d-doing here… Anko-san? She's hurt?" asked the stunned young man as he pushed the door open so his leader could enter the small apartment. The dark look in his Hokage's hazel brown eyes told him that this was serious business.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun. Where's Naruto?" asked Tsunade the moment she stepped inside and found her way over to the sofa and put down the still very woozy Anko down.

"He's right here," came a voice and she looked up and saw her little boy put on a shirt, but she smiled as she saw the little bump on his stomach but she mentally shook her head and went down right to business. But she didn't come further until Naruto let out a shout of horror and surprise.

"IRUKA-tousan!!!"

"Don't worry Naruto-san, he's not harmed in anyway, he's just sleeping. But where can I put him down, he's rather heavy," mumbled Temari as she was faced with Naruto's worry and possible wrath.

He showed her into the bedroom and she gently placed the scar faced man on to the bed. She pulled up the covers over his legs and refused to breathe in the sexual scent in the air. It was practically oozing from the bedrooms every little corner. She remembered herself that this was boys in their late teens, they had hormones and they had the time to explore them. 'Unlike me at the moment…'

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto. We have trouble on our hands. Umino-san called Shikamaru around an hour ago and we went there and found Anko-san heavily wounded in his sofa. Anko have told us that Kakashi-san, Gai-san and Ibiki-san are dead, but I refuse to believe that it's true. I think they are being held hostage by the Hidden village of the Mist. They're just unable to do anything about it at the moment. Shikamaru-kun together with a team are going to the Mist's as we speak, to rescue them."

"Naruto-kun…" Anko's voice penetrated the dazed mind of the fox-boy and his blue eyes were diverted to the loudmouthed jounin, the very same woman he once could have imagined was his own mother, said his name. He hurried over to her and sat down next to her.

"Anko-san?" Naruto said to show that he had heard her voice.

"Akatsuki is after you and Uchiha-san. They want your powers, they want your combined powers. I don't know what that means, but they want the both of you. Protect yourself…"

"Anko-san…??!! ANKO-SAN!!" yelled Naruto as the woman lost her consciousness again.

"It's no use Naruto, she's asleep," said Sasuke as he took hold of Naruto's right hand and pulled him away and into his own arms instead. He didn't like what the woman just had growled out in on of her clear moments. "Tsunade-sama, is it true?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. Your brother's gang is after you, Naruto and your child," said Tsunade.

"Child??" came the surprised voice of Temari.

Naruto blushed darkly and hid his face in Sasuke's neck and Sasuke's voice confirmed it. "Yes, Naruto are carrying my child."

"H-How… t-that's just not possible.." stuttered Temari as the information was fed to her.

"No, not normally… no. But Naruto is not the normal boy either. He's the carrier of the Kyuubi and she has given Sasuke-kun a chance to restore his clan by making Naruto's body able to carry a child even if Naruto is a man," Tsunade said.

"Never mind that right now – what about my bastard brother and his band of evil culprits???" snarled Sasuke as his arms went around Naruto to protect him from anything that was threatening his blonde lover and the "mother" of his child.

"It seems as if Kisame has been busy in order to get on the Mist's good side again. He wants his old village to form a force in order to attack Konoha. Shikamaru-kun's surveillance told us this much. I sent Kakashi along with Anko here and Gai and Ibiki to make sure that the threat from the Mist's were nullified. But it failed. Now another team is headed towards the Mist's in order to get them back in one piece," said Tsunade with a dark voice.

"B-but why is Iruka-tousan sleeping?" asked Naruto and Tsunade smiled inwardly.

'That boy are so strong and yet so innocent from time to time…' she thought and walked over to hug the two boys. But this was also the moment she could get her suspicions confirmed.

"Say Naruto… did Umino-san have a special bond with.. Kakashi-san?" she asked.

Sasuke nodded and Naruto shimmered a bit. "Yes, Iruka-sensei was loved by Kakashi-sensei and they were a couple," said Sasuke as he watched his leader's eyes intently.

"No wonder the guy passed out then…" came Temari's voice as she slumped down on a chair in the kitchen. They followed her voice and they saw her look a little more than worried. "WHAT??" the sand nin growled irritated.

"Coffee or tea, Temari-san?" asked Sasuke as he saw the worry in her dark blue eyes.

"Coffee please, thank you Sasuke-kun…."

"Naruto, you knew of Umino-san and Kakashi-san?" asked Tsunade when she and Naruto was left alone in the living room.

"Yes, I don't know how far they have come, not really. But I know that Kakashi is one of Iruka-tousan's precious persons," said Naruto truthfully as his cerulean blue eyes moved towards the bedroom where his "father" was sleeping.

"Shikamaru put him to sleep just needles against certain acupuncture-points, Umino-san will be awake soon," said Tsunade when she saw the worry in Naruto's blue eyes. "Umino-san was about to break and I ordered Shikamaru-kun to do something about it. So let him sleep, he'll be awake in a couple of hours. But until then, we must find a way to protect you and Sasuke-kun. Right now we are waiting for Inuzuka, Kiba, to show up. I've ordered him to be here with us to protect you and Sasuke."

Tsunade saw that Naruto was about to protest when her voice was silenced by Iruka's rather harsh one. "Naruto… do as she says… please,"

"Iruka-tousan!!" Naruto moved like the lightning towards the bed and grabbed hold or Iruka's hands.

"Naruto…. Please… make sure that you are protected. I don't want you to be hurt…" whispered the Chuunin-teacher softly as his brown eyes sought out a pair of sky blue ones. "Once I get out of this daze I will be here too. I want to protect you Naruto. I want you to have that neither you nor I had in the past – a family. Let Sasuke, Temari and Kiba… and if I just could…." Iruka grunted as he sat up in bed and then he came up on his feet and pulled a kunai from his weapon-pocket. "I will protect you too, son…."

"Iruka-tousan???" Naruto's blue eyes were about to burst it dams as Iruka said this.

"As long as this Chuunin-teacher can breathe- he will protect you and your little one with his very life. That's a promise from your "father", Naruto," said Iruka as his other hand came up and brushed over a whiskered cheek.

A loud knock on the door was the key that the emotional wave was broken and in came Inuzuka, Kiba and a large white dog.

"Inuzuka, Kiba and Akamaru – reporting in for duty," the tattooed man hollered out.

Shikamaru made it towards the Hokage-tower and handled out communicators to the team. One to each and every one that was with him on this mission.

Hyuuga Neji,
Hyuuga, Hinata
Sabaku no Gaara
Sabaku no Kankurou
Tenten
Akimichi, Choji
Yamanaka, Ino
Aburame, Shino
Rock, Lee
and Shizune

He tested the line between them a couple of times and got positive answers from all of them. "Alright – let's move out then!!" ordered the laziest ninja in Konoha.

21

"So it was Kakashi sensei's largest ninja-dog that brought you to the village and to Iruka-tousan?" asked Naruto as he held out a cup of tea to Anko. The loudmouthed jounin-woman nodded in return, she had awoken after one hour of sleep.

"Otherwise I would have not managed to get here in time and warn you," said Anko as she took the cup of tea. She looked at the blonde boy, there was something about him that didn't quite fit into her beliefs about the number one surprising ninja. He looked more… softer, and he almost seemed to glow with a strength that came from a source deep within him. And when the blonde boy sat down on Sasuke's lap, she could see raven haired boy gently put his arms around his lover. 'So cute…' she smiled inwardly.

"Tsunade-hime, do you think that they can be rescued?" asked Sasuke with dark voice as his black eyes turned towards the woman with the Herculean strength.

"Of course, have faith in your friends, they are a unit that surpasses many teams," answered Tsunade and knew she was telling the truth. She believed in Shikamaru and the others abilities. But she was a little surprised by the fact that Sasuke didn't seem to want to go with the team, there were a chance for him to revenge his family's death.

And as if Sasuke read her mind he just sneered a bit. "Itachi can go suck shit for all I care, but if he tries to lay a hand on Naruto or my baby I will send him to the deepest pits of hell," he said and his hold around the fox-vessel tightened a bit.

Anko's eyes widened a bit and began to look around the apartment before blurting out, joined by Kiba's strong voice. "What baby?!"

Tsunade sighed and grabbed Anko by the arm and took her aside to explain, she sent a nod towards Kiba and Akamaru to follow them. They looked so confused that she gathered that they had no idea about Naruto's remarkable condition either.

Temari and Iruka paled as the apartment echoed with shouts and protests about what was natural or not. Kiba being the one that were loudest of the two. Naruto and Sasuke just chuckled softly and Sasuke put his nose into Naruto's neck and breathed in his scent. His lover had a scent around him that made the Sharingan-user want to throw everybody out of their home and go back to bed. But then the face of his homicidal brother came into his mind and Sasuke felt his stomach tie itself into knots again. 'Why couldn't the bastard just keep his fairy ass out of our lives? Why come after Naruto and our baby?' he wanted to growl but settled with a choked hmpf instead. He got a curious look from Naruto but Sasuke just shook his head and mouthed later to the blonde "mother-to-be".

A call came through the radio that Kiba brought with him and Tsunade practically threw herself over the dog-boy.

Shikamaru had brought the team half way to the place where their teachers were being held. 'Please, be alive… please,' prayed the jounin as he stopped for a few minutes. They needed to catch their breaths a bit before they continued. They had travelled a long way in very short time thanks to the use of chakra under their feet.

The team was grateful for the short refuge and they saw their leader call the Hokage to report in. The yells on the other and made their spirit go up a bit, especially when they all heard Anko's voice holler through the phone. She was healed and ready to protect their village. She was obnoxious and loud, but what a great woman she was. Shikamaru told his beloved Hokage that they had gotten half way to the hidden village of Mist and that it would take them around one and half our with the use of chakra boosts. Tsunade ordered them all to take it slower; they needed to have their strengths and chakra for the upcoming battle.

"Be careful…" it was the last thing Shikamaru heard before they closed the line.

Two minutes later they were on their way again.

Two and a half hour later they had reached the outer borders of the hidden village of the Mists. Neji and Hinata pointed out where the guards where standing and Shikamaru ordered Ino to take over their bodies. She had gotten very good over the years and could now control the minds of seven to eight people at the same time and this without having to leave her own body. Tenten and Lee knocked out four of them, making sure that they wouldn't wake up for a very long time, but Kankurou and Gaara had no qualms, they just killed the four others guards. Ino took a deep breath and Choji was there for her and put a supporting arm around her waist.

"You alright Ino-chan?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and smiled reassuringly to him. 'Ino, you should really bet your money on this guy. I don't think you can get hold of any better than this, he's a real jack-pot,' her heart whispered to her mind and she agreed fully to that statement. Once this was over she would pay more attention to her former team-mate.

In front of them they saw Shikamaru hand over the phone to Hinata who nodded quietly. She stepped away a bit and made a call. The call didn't last longer than a few seconds, but they all could see the sand that was swirling around her. Shizune, the older medic-nin smiled as she watched Gaara making sure that nothing could harm the shy Hyuuga-heiress.

"Neji-san, see if you can locate them," ordered Shikamaru and Neji nodded and activated his Byakugan again.

As he searched for the special chakra-patterns that belonged to their teachers he noticed that there were many sources of powerful chakras in the area. They were in for a rough battle and he told Shikamaru about this.

"That's so troublesome," sighed the always so lazy jounin and frowned.

"They are located very strategically around the village. No matter how we do, we will encounter at least one of them," said Neji and adjusted his bandages on his right arm a little bit better, in the corner of his eyes he could see Lee do the same, but the thick browed young man loosened them up instead of tightening them. "And I can not see our sensei's chakra's anywhere. But see that large mountain over there? There are caves in it. There might be a chance that they have been taken inside one of those. My Byakugan can not see through solid rock, not that far in anyway."

Shikamaru frowned. This was getting worse for every minute. He got a report from Tenten telling him that she had noticed many traps along a hundred metre line. They were quite obvious, but she also said that they could hide other ones that were very difficult to detect.

"Hinata-san, Gaara-sama, Kankurou-san and Tenten-san, you are one team, you will be the ones that goes in last. But first… Gaara-sama, I have heard from Lee-san that you have a way of using the sand as a tidal wave?" asked Shikamaru as his head turned towards the Kazekage.

"Yes, that is correct," answered Gaara.

"Is it possible for you to guide that thing through the houses instead of knocking everything down?"

"Yes."

"Good, then you will do that first of all before we head inside. Then you'll wait until last. Hinata-san, you will be going last as well, you need to take as little action as possible, you are responsible for the connection to Hokage-sama."

"I understand Shikamaru-kun," said Hinata and nodded her head in response.

"Kankurou-san, Tenten-san, you'll be responsible for making sure that there are nobody behind us to stab us in the back so to speak. I don't care if you kill them or just knock them out. Gaara-sama, if there a possibility for you to shield us with your sand, please do so."

Gaara nodded again. He had a developed quite a few new techniques, both offensive and defensive ones, it would not pose any major trouble for him to do as he was asked. He saw Hinata come up to stand next to him and her hand shyly sought out his. He could almost smell her anxiety and he hated the fact that she had to be here with them. She was not the one for battle, but he couldn't ask her to go against her leader. But he would die in order to protect her. He gave her hand a soft squeeze, silently telling her that he was there for her.

"I will go in first after the sand wave together with Neji-san and Shizune-san. I can dismiss around ten people at the time with my Kagemane no Jutsu. Neji-san's techniques and ultimate defence will knock out many as well. Shizune-san, I know that you are quite skilled with your poisonous needles, they can reach far so take out targets that we can not see or get to."

The older woman nodded as she began to check her weapons one last time, making sure that nothing would be at fault once they engaged in battle.

"Choji, Ino, Shino-san and Lee-san, you'll be the middle team. If we in the first team head dead on, you'll spread out a little bit more. Choji, if possible can you double your body size and wipe out those that Shizune-san have not seen or been able to take out?"

"Of course Shikamaru," said Choji and reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a smaller bag of potato chips. He held it out a bit for everyone to have a taste, but very few took up on his offer. Ino however, grabbed herself a lot and stuffed into her mouth. Choji smiled gently, she was nervous.

"Shino-san, you let your bugs have a feast tonight. The chakra around here should be enough for them to last them a life time and more. Eat them useless."

Shino nodded as he put his hands in his pockets and looked through black shades. His kikai-bugs were very anxious about something, but they were not afraid. They rather looked forward to a good fight especially now after hearing what Shikamaru just said.

"Lee-san, take off the weights and do what you do best – hand to hand combat."

"All for Gai-sensei!!" Lee put his hands up into the air.

"SHHHHH!!" everyone hushed him down and the taijutsu-boy blushed and let his hands fall down to his sides again. But then he remembered Shikamaru's orders and he removed the weights around his ankles and shins.

Shikamaru looked over the group. "Everybody ready?"

They all nodded in agreement. Shikamaru looked Hinata. "Give Hokage-sama one more call before the attack."

Iruka could barely sit still as Tsunade got the last call from the team. The Hokage told them that they couldn't locate Kakashi and his team, but that was probably because they were hold prisoner deep inside a cave. Hinata said she would call back within five minutes again, giving a report on the first stage of the attack. 'Kakashi… love… please be ok… you can't die on me. Not now… Not now when I've found you,' he silently cried. He jumped a bit when he felt Anko's warm hand on his shoulder.

"It's Kakashi-san… right?" she asked quietly.

Iruka nodded. "Don't worry, I was rather out of it when I came in, but I don't think that neither of them are dead. And Ibiki-kun, well, that bastard is too damn stubborn to die, he doesn't know how. And Gai-san, if Kakashi-san is still alive, then so is Gai," said Anko reassuringly.

"Anko-san is right, tousan," said Naruto softly as he walked over to his "father". "Kakashi-sensei will come back to you, alive. I'm sure of it." And the others joined in Naruto's words.

Iruka smiled weakly and nodded. But he still had this thing that was played over and over inside his head. Anko's words as she fell into his arms. It was really upsetting his heart, not to mentioning his stomach.

Kiba and Akamaru growled and everyone was up on their feet, weapons of choice raised in front of them. "Someone's coming," whispered Kiba and his nose twitched.

A voice came through the window. "Ohh, so many beautiful women we have here today…. OUCH!!" The man was whacked over the head by a giant fan and he tumbled into the room, nose first.

"JIRAIYA!! You pervert!!!" shouted Tsunade and grabbed hold of the sennin's white hair and pulled him up. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Aj, aj, aj, that hurt, why did you do that for?" whined the perverted frog hermit and he heard a laugh from the other side of the room and he saw his apprentice stand there with an arm over his stomach and the other hand over his mouth. The little brat was laughing his head off.

"I didn't do anything, it was Temari-san that caught you off guard."

Jiraiya looked up and saw the smirking blonde woman. She was every bit of trouble just as Tsunade and just as cocky as his former team-mate. But being the pervert that he was, he licked his lips, his hands reaching to grab hold of one of those ripe fruits that so generous were offered to him….. Then everything became dark.

"Ero-sennin will never change," chuckled Naruto and leaned into Sasuke's strong embrace.

The little charade that his former teacher had displayed had lightened up the atmosphere, but just a tiny, tiny bit. As the silence fell again over them, the creeping tension and anxiety washed in like a tidal wave.

Hinatas P.O.V.

Gaara stepped up in front of us all. He stood there, feet far apart and I saw his hands move in secret seals. He whispered with venomous voice Ryuusa Bakuryu Desert Avalanche. And then a wall of sand began to grow in front of him. I could see the power of his technique flow around him. The sheer amount of chakra that this nin jutsu was consuming was beyond me. As the wall of sand had risen high above the forest floor, he made another seal and sent the sand forward with devastating effect.

The stone wall that surrounded the Mist-village was pushed down by the force of the sand. It practically exploded and the parts were consumed by the sand and followed its deadly path through the village. I heard screams and shouts. The alarm was off and I could see shadows jump up onto the roofs. I activated my Byakugan to see through the dust the sand created. And then mists began to surround the Mist-ninjas. This was their concealing technique but with the Byakugan, it was no problem for me to see the flows of chakra that flowed inside the human body.

As the sand settled inside every alley, every pathway through out the village, Gaara kneeled and put his hand onto the sand covered ground. I heard him whisper again Sabaku Taiso Desert Requiem. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I saw the shock-waves that moved through the sand. Dear Gods, my chosen one had such power that it began to frighten me. I could see grains of glittering sand flow around my body and I remembered the exams that took place so many years ago. I had seen Gaara crush a whole team with out even as much as a blink. But that was then; he was not the same person as he was back then. But I still feared this dark side of his and I hoped that after this – I hoped that I would never see it again.

"It is done," he said quietly and rose to his feet. He didn't turn around to look at me, but I could see in his posture that he was afraid to face me. And something inside me wanted to assure him that I still wanted him. I stepped up to him and put my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest, holding him tight. "Hinata??" his voice choked out my name.

"Come, let's go, remember the plan," said Shikamaru and took Neji-niisan and Shizune-san with him to clear the second path.

Gaara put a finger under my chin and lifted up my head a bit. "Never fear me, Hinata." With that he placed a soft kiss on my forehead and then he untangled himself from my embrace. I felt a bit brushed off, but then again – this was not the time for cuddling. This was war.

I stayed behind and made a call to Hokage-sama, telling them that the battle now was on.

Shikamaru grabbed hold of five Mist-ninjas with his shadow and with a technique he had perfected over the years, he strangled them. He wondered for a short moment if he just should render them unconscious, but then again… No, this would be a lesson for the remaining Mists that they shouldn't mess with Konoha ever again. Joining forces with the Akatsuki was unforgivable. With a light pressure, Shikamaru squeezed the life out of the five ninjas he had in his grip. In the corner of his eyes he could see men fall from the roof tops, from the trees and he knew that Shizune was doing what she had been told. On the far left he heard Neji's voice call out Kaiten followed by painful cries.

Shikamaru's adrenaline began to burn inside him and he rushed forward, attacking three more unsuspecting nins in his shadow. He didn't have to have Neji's 360 degree sight to know that his plan was working. The rumble behind him was a sound that told him that Choji had used his jutsu to double his body size and then a body came flying through the dark air.

But it was going a bit too easy. The strong ones that Neji had seen didn't seem to want to show up, and that was not something the lazy jounin liked. That thought alone made shivers run down his spine, but at the moment he had to concentrate to get to the caves. If they only could reach them and find their teachers, they could be healed and hopefully help out in the fight.

Lee and Shino worked very well together; in fact everyone looked as if they had done this a thousand times before. Not a single mistake had been done so far. The buzzing of the kikai-bugs were everywhere, they flew through the thick mist that now lay around them all, they didn't need sight, they went on how the chakra felt around an enemy ninja and concentrated on that, leaving a trail of unconscious bodies behind.

Lee was having a blast. He practically danced his way forward. His powerful kicks and punches were enough to turn off the light of the most skilled ones in the Mists. He got a few cuts from one ninja that showered him with needles from an umbrella. But just after he had kicked the life out of that person, Hinata was there and healed his bruises. He smiled thankfully and took off with high speed towards his next targets.

Ino smirked evilly as she managed to get four ninjas to cut each others throats. Oh, the little mind mixing kunoichi had a devilish side to her. She enjoyed the look on their faces as they moved towards each other with weapons raised in their hands.

"This is the end boys," she chirped happily and saw them slice off the other's throat. They fell to the ground, dead. She began humming and skipped off to find someone else to play her mind games with.

Choji had watched his female friend act all madman-like and he guessed that it was that time of the month for her. And when Ino had that, you shouldn't draw her anger. That could prove to be very fateful. 'But she has gotten much better since our Chuunin-days…' he thought absently as he back handed a poor fellow, sending him flying through the air.

Tenten and Kankurou proved to be the perfection of a two-man team. Perhaps it was their quarrels earlier that had given them enough knowledge on how the other worked that it made them work so good together? Kankurou's two puppets along with Tenten's almost endless source of producing weapons from her scrolls, took out a large numbers of Mist-ninjas. They didn't need a blood line skill like the Hyuuga's Byakugan. No, sheer instinct along with intuition made them the perfect team.

Gaara was with them all the time. With the help of his sand, he could be with them all, shielding them if it was necessary. He tried not to kill anybody, knowing that Hinata hated killing, but there were moments that he had no choice but to end the enemy's life. Hinata fought as well, using her Gentle Fist style and she was none to gentle about it either. She could take a life if she was forced to do it and she did – several times, but Gaara could see that it didn't sit well with her.

They all converged as they closed in on the mountain. Tenten discarded the two guards standing outside a cave that seemed to go down under the mountain. They all looked at each other and Shikamaru nodded towards Hinata. "You and Gaara-sama stay out here and cover our backs. Lee-san, you'll be the messenger if anything goes wrong inside the cave. You're the fastest of us all, you'll run back here and report to Gaara-sama and Hinata-san." The order was crystal clear and Lee nodded in confirmation.

"Good, now wish us luck!!" said Shikamaru and everyone except Hinata and Gaara descended down into the cave mouth.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sent a prayer to the heavens above that everything would be ok with the team. Hinata had just reported that they had wiped out the ninjas in the Mist-village and now everyone except her and Gaara, was heading into the mountain. But just before they ended their conversation, Sasuke asked to have a word with the shy girl.

"Hinata-san?"

"Sasuke-kun?" came her soft reply.

"If you end up meeting my bastard brother, kill him. Don't hesitate, Hinata-san, just kill him!!"

"If the possibility is given, I will heed your wish, Sasuke-kun," answered Hinata and she knew that it was a promise of a life time.

"Good, that bastard will never be able to lay a hand on my Naruto or our baby…" Sasuke almost choked on the words as fear began to well up inside him.

"Uchiha, fear not. The victory shall be ours. Uzumaki are safe," it was Gaara's dark voice that pierced through Sasuke's fears and he nodded into the phone as if the Kazekage was able to see that.

The line disconnected.

Tsunade put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and made him give the phone back to her. "Don't worry Sasuke. Believe in our friends. If they have managed to get through a whole village of ninjas of different ranks, I'm sure they'll be able to get through the rest without much trouble," she said.

"And pipsqueak is one of the strongest ninjas we know," said Naruto and saw Temari smile a bit. Kiba looked just confused and Naruto went about to explain it to the dog-boy.

Temari, Anko and Tsunade went into the kitchen. Jiraiya was still out cold and Tsunade just knew that she needed something stronger. "Hey, brats, do you have anything stronger than sodas here or what??" shouted Anko and silently agreed with her leader about that stronger thingy.

Naruto nodded and followed the women into the kitchen and pointed towards the cabinet over the fridge. Temari, being the tallest of the women rose to her toes and opened the locker and picked down a few bottles of alcohol. Tsunade read the label and raised an eyebrow and then she looked at her "son". "Whisky and vodka… Naruto.. where did you get these?" she asked and eyed the blonde suspiciously.

"Wouldn't you like to know baba," smiled Naruto and turned his back and went back to his lover. He could feel Sasuke's need to have him close and he was not going to deny Sasuke anything at this point.

Anko found them some glasses and she put them on the table and Tsunade filled them up with vodka. They raised their glasses and mumbled a blessing for their comrades before gulping down the burning liquid.

"Can a poor Chuunin-teacher have some of that too?" came Iruka's thick voice and Anko reached for another glass and poured some vodka into it and gave it to the trembling man. "Thanks…" he mumbled before following the suit and swallowed it all in one sweep. He let out a sigh and put down the glass.

A muffled voice disturbed them and saw Jiraiya wake up from his "coma". The peace in the place was coming to an end.

"Jo-chan… Jo-chan… where did she go?" the old sennin growled as he rubbed the back of his head, he was sporting a huge, hairy bump.

"Ero-sennin, you picked the wrong woman to chase after," scolded Naruto with a smile. "Temari-san is already taken and even if she was single, she wouldn't want to have anything to do with you anyway. You're just old and perverted!!"

"Shut up you juvenile delinquent," snarled the sennin.

Sasuke was just about to have a nervous breakdown. He hated waiting. This was even worse than waiting for Tsunade's results of Naruto's first examination, the day they got the knowledge of Naruto's special condition. The knowledge that Itachi and his band of merry assholes were after his precious fox was enough to send the Uchiha into a panicking state of mind.

Naruto could feel it and Kyuubi could feel it. 'Kit, you need to calm him down. He's about to shatter,' the fox whispered inside Naruto's head and the blonde nodded invisible. He grabbed hold of Sasuke's hand and muttered out an excuse to the others and then he pulled the raven-haired boy into the bathroom. He locked the door behind them and he gently forced Sasuke to sit down on the toilet.

"Sasuke…. Koibito… calm down. You need to calm down," whispered Naruto as he kneeled in front of Sasuke. But his lover refused to listen to reason. 'Fuck, he's too far gone… Kyuubi… what shall I do?' he silently asked his fox.

'Let me speak to him, I think he'll need reassurance that you and your baby are going to be safe even if the mission fails,' answered the vixen with her dark, purring voice.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes and relaxed and let the nine tailed fox come forth. His blue eyes turned red and the whisker-marks on his face became more prominent.

"Uchiha-san, listen to me and listen very carefully," she began as she put Naruto's hands on Sasuke's face, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Your mate is safe here. Nothing will happen to him or your little kit. You are both safe here. Your brother can not touch you. I will make sure to protect Naruto and your child too. And as long as this demon spirit breaths nothing will ever be able to hurt him. Believe in me, believe in Naruto…."

"K-Kyuubi-kaasan?" Yes, Sasuke was lost in his worries and somehow he had come to see the fox as a motherly figure. Not that he ever thought she would find out about it.

The fox-spirit smiled widely and she wiped away the tears that spilled from his black eyes. "Don't worry kit; everything will be fine, you'll see. Just let Naruto comfort you and don't be afraid to accept the others help. Young one, you have a long way to walk, but your love will be with you and no sooner than you think, there will be a little kit that takes up all your time. You will not have time for worries…"

"Kyuubi-kaasan…, thank you…" whispered Sasuke thickly and accepted the arms that went around his waist and he pushed his nose into Naruto's sun-kissed hair. "Thank you…"

Kyuubi let the control back to Naruto and he was thankful for her help. She had managed to calm his lover down a bit and he nuzzled his face into Sasuke's stomach. He could feel Sasuke's hands wander down his back, gently massaging his muscles.

"You heard?" mumbled Sasuke into Naruto's hair.

"Yeah…"

"I'm sorry, Naruto… I didn't mean for you to worry so much… and that kaasan-thing…?"

"Fuck, Sasuke… you're talking to the guy that sees that old hag in our kitchen as my mommy and our old sensei as my father… I'm not judging you…" said Naruto and lifted his head a bit and smiled at Sasuke.

Sasuke took a deep breath and dragged his finger through those blonde locks on top of Naruto's head. He placed a soft kiss on his lover's lips. A kiss that soon grew more and more passionate. Sasuke tried to calm down but when he felt Naruto's finger on his growing bulge he couldn't help but growl lustfully.

"N-Naruto… d-don't.."

"Please, Sasuke… I want this," whispered Naruto as he pulled down the zipper of Sasuke's pants and with a few swift movements he had freed the pulsating flesh. "And you need this, trust me Sasuke."

Sasuke bit his lower lip as Naruto's mouth closed around the sensitive tip of his erection. The applied suction of that very mouth was enough to turn Sasuke's world up side down. Every thought of his lunatic brother was sucked away, literary.

Naruto moaned just knowing that he was the one that gave Sasuke this pleasure. He ran his tongue down the vein that went along underside the hot shaft, down to the base where he gently licked the skin that connected to his balls and then back up again. He let his tongue play around on the crone before taking as much as he could of Sasuke into his mouth. And as he had reached bottom in his throat, he began to hum lightly.

Sasuke fisted his hands in Naruto's hair when he felt the vibrations stimulate his every nerve ending in his shaft. Even though Naruto had blown him at the restaurant where anyone could have seen them, and even though he had made hot steamy sex with his lover just before Tsunade and Temari showed up on their doorstep carrying both Anko and Iruka in their arms… Even after all that… Sasuke couldn't hold back, he thrust his shaft into Naruto's warm and wet mouth, trying to go as far down his throat as possible without choking the blonde. But it felt so good.

"N-Naruto.." he harshly cried out in lust.

"Mmmm," was his moaning answer. Naruto winced a bit as Sasuke grabbed hold of his hair, but he ignored the pain, knowing that Sasuke needed this release. He could feel that the Uchiha was going to come any moment now and he gently began to massage his balls, teasing his lover to tip over the edge.

Sasuke threw his head back and flooded Naruto's mouth with his hot cum. He could feel Naruto swallow his seed and that sent tremors of passionate emotions up his spine. He opened his eyes just as Naruto removed his mouth from his aching shaft and got hit in the face with one last spurt of seed. The pale avenger could feel a blush come to life in his face and he tried to find something to wipe the white stains away from his lover's face.

"S-sorry.." he mumbled and found a towel and cleaned off the traces off his release from Naruto's face.

"Why are you sorry, Sasuke? I said that I wanted it," smiled Naruto as he rose up and stole a kiss from the embarrassed Uchiha. "You taste good plus you needed it."

"Naruto… I love you," said Sasuke and returned the gentle kiss.

"Kiba, what are you doing?" asked Tsunade when she saw the Inuzuka and his dog hang out the window.

"Needed fresh air," growled Kiba and inhaled fresh, non-cum-scented air. He was going to kill Sasuke, or surely he would cut off the Uchiha's balls. This was just too grouse for his standards!

22

He had fallen for it again. That damn bloodline skill would be the death of him this time. Mangekyo Sharingan. He had looked into those swirling pools of blood and lost it again. Kakashi would never forgive himself for this mistake. Now he was chained against the damp cave wall. The coldness was seeping through his clothes and he cursed silently again. He was blindfolded and helpless like a new born kitten.

He could hear someone breathing not far from him, but he didn't know who it was. Kakashi tried to remember what happened and the figments of his memory told him that he had managed to summon his dogs to get Anko out of there before she died. That woman didn't know when to run away. 'And neither did I apparently…' Images of a certain scar faced dolphin crossed through his head and it made Kakashi feel even worse. He had promised Iruka that he would return and here he was, sitting on a cold cave floor, getting his ass wet and he couldn't do a thing about it. 'Iruka will have my head if I ever get out of this mess….'

Kakashi sighed and leaned back his throbbing head. He had taken several blows to his body and the Mangekyo Sharingan had made his mind believe that he had been gutted several times and then got his knees smashed to pieces. It would take him several days before he was back to normal again, and that was if he was not subjected to it again. It was one nasty skill to own. He had the Sharingan, but not that highly evolved one.

He strained his ears a bit, trying to figure out what was going on around him. But the only thing he heard was that soft sound of someone breathing. For now he could only wait and hope that Anko made it back to Konoha and tell the Hokage about their capture. His hope, his light, his Iruka. For Iruka, Kakashi would go through hell and back again. No matter how much pain that weasel put him through, Kakashi would survive if only for a few minutes with his Iruka. 'My beloved Iruka, I'm so sorry… I must be worrying now… But don't worry too much, I'll come home again and then… and then I will train harder so that I won't end up in a mess like this again. That's a promise Iruka.'

Kakashi was a bit surprised as he felt his spirit rise at the thought of seeing Iruka again and a new source of energy flowed through his veins. Somehow he was beginning to understand on how Naruto could go on fighting even if it looked as if he would loose. The boy found his strength and stamina in the knowledge that he was protecting something that was precious to him. And that was a new experience to the scarecrow, a good experience. He basked in the memories he had with the Chuunin-teacher and smiled under his mask. As soon as he had a little more strength he would try and break free from his bonds and find Gai and Ibiki.

Shikamaru could feel the hairs in the back of his neck stand on end when he saw cloaked figures in front of him. He stood face to face with the man known as Kisame. His long and strange looking sword made Shikamaru want to turn around and run out of the cave as fast as he was able. Shikamaru might be a lazy ninja, but he was not a coward.

"Kisame-san, deal with these brats, I'm going to Konoha and see if I can't find my little brother and his pet fox," said the man that was an older version of Sasuke.

'That must be Uchiha, Itachi,' thought Shikamaru as he watched the blue faced man smirk evilly and nod. Itachi disappeared and Shikamaru could only hope that Gaara was able to protect Hinata and himself from that monster.

"So which one of you brats wants to die first?" asked Kisame as he made a sweep with his Samehade.

"Shikamaru-kun, let me handle this one. You should go on and see if you can find Gai-sensei and the others," said Lee and stepped forward, his fists raised in front of him, his black eyes had a stern grip on the intimidating blue ninja.

"Lee…." whispered Ino as she stepped up to him.

"Don't worry Ino-san, he can not harm me, I will be alright. Just go and save the others!!"

The determination in the young taijutsu-user's voice made them all nod in agreement and as Lee got ready to fight the blue bastard, they slipped away. Neji came up behind Shikamaru and whispered in his ear. They were two more to worry about. Shikamaru nodded and asked Neji to keep a look out for them.

Kisame growled when the boy with the bowl-cut hair stopped his attempt to cut off the intruders. He raised his sword and made a sweep at him. But there was something strange about the brat, he didn't seem to be effected by Samehade's ability to "shave" off people's chakra.

"Your fight is with me Kisame-san, please, don't underestimate me," said Lee as he ducked for the sword but he could feel it brush off a bit of his hair. He retaliated with a low kick towards the shark's leg.

"Who are you?" asked Kisame when he made an evasive move to avoid the kick.

"My name is Rock Lee and you have captured my beloved sensei and for that I can not forgive you." 'For you Gai-sensei I will go through fire. Be proud of me sensei….'

Kisame felt rage bubbling inside him. This boy though he could take him on did he? Well, Kisame just had to put the boy in his place and kick his little green ass to kingdom come. 'I'll kill him.'

But to kill him would mean Kisame had to have a chance to strike at the polite speaking youth and that was not an easy task. Not when said boy had set his mind on something. But the boy was just too fast and the kicks and strikes he got on Kisame really hurt and the blue faced man began to feel a slight panic. This was not supposed to happen. How was it possible that a man, a mere child was able to take him on and why did his sword have no effect on the boy? Because nobody could be this fast or this strong if he didn't use any chakra… right?

Lee could see that he was confusing his opponent and smirked lightly. Let him believe that Lee used chakra. That sword had no effect, no more than the usual broom would have anyway. It was bad that they were in a cave or else he could open the first gate of the Lotus, but inside here it could bring down the entire mountain on them. But he didn't have to hold back. He could both hear and feel the bones in the blue faced man's arm as he tried to block one of Lee's kicks. Lee was certain that the shark was depending heavily on his chakra-shaving sword and now when it didn't have any effect on his opponent, he didn't know how to tackle the situation.

As Lee saw the outcome of the fight he couldn't help but smile wickedly. He gathered power in his fist and looked into pea-eyes. "And here I thought that a member from the legendary Akatsuki would put up more of a challenge for me, but I was mistaking. This is the end."

Kisame's eyes widened and then his face was smashed and a loud crack echoed between the cave walls. The world was freed from the shark, his neck had been broken.

Lee brushed his hands in a typical "all in a good day's work"-style. "Time to find the others. I can't hear anything so there can not be any fights…."

Outside the cave Hinata was feeling restless. Gaara could feel it too but he didn't show it, he just stood there with his back resting against the mountain wall, waiting for some kind of happening or something that could tell them what was going on inside the cave. He looked at Hinata and saw her do something with her eyes.

"Hinata-san… what are you doing?" he quietly asked and walked up to her.

"I have a feeling that it will be the two of us that encounters Itachi-san, and from what I have learned that man possesses one rather unpleasant genjutsu. I want to be prepared for it," said Hinata as she tilted her head back and inserted something in her white eyes. She blinked a few times and turned her head towards Gaara.

He couldn't see anything different about her eyes and it confused him. But if Hinata didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't press her on the matter.

"Gaara-sama, I want you to follow my instructions if it comes down to Itachi-san. During our exams you used some form of an eye to help you with the answers, correct?"

"Correct, Hinata-san."

"I want you to use it and keep your eyes closed if we meet Itachi-san. Do not open your eyes or you might be trapped. But keep your spirit alert and when I do this sign, aim small grains of sand towards his eyes. His eyes are his weak spot," said Hinata. She had read a lot about her distant relatives and their advanced ability.

"I understand Hinata-san, but what about you, will you not be exposed to his ability?" asked Gaara as he reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him. He saw a gentle smirk on her lips and suddenly he realized that she couldn't see him. Although her eyes looked just like they always had, she had done something that made her "blind".

"I will be fine, Gaara-sama," she said with a smile and felt his arm go around her waist and pull her up close. She could feel sand move over exposed neck, almost as if it was caressing her, making sure that she was ok. It confused her a bit.

And as if Gaara had read her mind… "Shukaku likes you I think," he said as he put his nose against her skin and breathed in her adrenaline-spiked scent. "She wanted your blood at first, but I think she has changed her mind and accepted you as a worthy mate to her "son"."

"Tell Shukaku-sama that I will do my best to be worthy as your mate," whispered Hinata and blushed as her arms went around his neck and hugged him tightly. "And if she can not accept me, too bad for her – because I will not give you up."

Gaara could hear Shukaku chuckle at the shy kunoichi's statement. 'I don't regret accepting her… she's a strong female.' Gaara agreed with that. Hinata may not look like it, she may not act like it, but she was strong. She could even rival Naruto in that compartment. He thanked the gods that he had met Hinata that morning when he followed Naruto and Sasuke. The jealousy he had felt towards their happiness had been replaced with a happiness of his very own.

But their little time was interrupted by a voice that held an ocean of venom and menace.

"Now isn't this nice. Cousin, I see that you have found a boyfriend. I must admit, I never thought that you ever were going to be able to find anyone."

Gaara growled as he turned towards the voice, but heeding Hinata's words and kept his eyes closed.

"GAI-SENSEI!!!"

"LEE!!!"

"GAI-SENSEI!!!"

"LEE!!!"

"Oh, shut up you two!!"

Kakashi frowned, what the heck was going on? He strained his ears in order to figure out what was happening in the neighbouring cave-room. It seemed as if Gai was free and Rock Lee was with the rescuing squad. And both were scolded by the weapon's master Tenten. He recognized Shikamaru's voice and that had to be Shizune-san talking. And who the hell was talking about cabbage?

"Tenten, come on, we don't want to hang around here for long. God knows how much that cabbage-head will smell once he begins to decompose."

SMACK!!!

"Itaiii… why did you do that for?"

"Don't disrespect the dead, you clown-faced ape!!"

"But Tenten-chaaan," came the wailing voice.

"Arrrhg!!"

"Shut up and kiss me woman!!"

'I'm confused now…,' thought Kakashi as he listened in on the conversation. He heard someone come close and the voice was familiar.

"Kakashi-sensei, you are ok?" asked Neji as he kneeled next to the copy ninja and removed the blind fold from him.

"Yes, I have a few broken ribs I think and my body still thinks that I've been gutted and got my knees smashed, but other then that, I'm alright," said Kakashi and blinked a few times to get used to the dusky light in the cave-room.

"Good, Shizune-san will take a look at you and help you with your wounds and damages," said Neji.

"How's the others, Anko-san, did she make it?" asked Kakashi and let out a moan as the warmth of someone's healing hands was placed on his bruised ribs.

"Yes, Anko-san made it. Your dogs took her to Iruka-sensei and it was he that alerted the village about your predicament," said Neji as he stretched up. "Gai-sensei and Ibiki-san are ok, bruised like you, but they will live."

"Thank the gods for that," said Kakashi and took a deep and painful breath.

"You had your lover quite upset, Iruka-sensei had to be sedated for a while," said Shizune as she healed the scarecrow.

"Ehh?"

"Don't worry; he'll be alright when he sees you again."

"Tell me who you have defeated to get here!" ordered Kakashi.

"Uchiha, Itachi got away but the others have been eliminated," said Neji truthfully.

"Kisame?"

"Lee broke his neck."

"Lee? Rock Lee killed Kisame?" asked Kakashi doubtfully.

"Yes, I have not heard the whole story yet, but it seems that Kisame couldn't use his sword against Lee and thus he lost the fight. That shark trusted his chakra-swallowing sword too much."

Another argument between Tenten and Kankurou erupted and Kakashi watched as the puppet-master grabbed the little kunoichi and hugged her tightly before sucking face with her.

"What's happening here?" he asked the Hyuuga-prodigy.

"They are in love," answered Shizune instead of Neji. "According to Tsunade-sama, they have been fighting like that since they met. Not to worry. What we should worry about is that other asshole – Itachi. He's still on the loose."

"Help me up and we'll go and look for him," said Kakashi and held out his right hand and Neji helped him up on his feet.

"Lee!!!"

"Gai-sensei!!"

"Shut up!!!"

'Well, the victory seems to be ours anyway…," thought Kakashi with a light smile as he heard the voices from the other cave-room.

"Hyuuga-san, you have grown since I last saw you," said Itachi as his eyes began to swirl with his blood red Sharingan-wheel.

"And you have not lost your confidence," answered Hinata and turned her eyes towards Itachi.

"You have moved from one demon-vessel to another I see, you have a thing for demon-vessels little cousin?"

"I don't care about demons, I care about the persons that have sacrificed their lives in order to protect others," said Hinata and tightened her hold on Gaara's hand. "And you have threatened people that are very precious to me and that will not be forgiven, Itachi-san."

"Polite as always little cousin? Rest assure, I will give your lover and your precious one a swift death."

"You will not lay a hand on them."

Itachi laughed and focused his eyes on those pearly depths and let the Sharingan wheels swirl.

But it was useless, the little Hyuuga-woman just smiled at him, she wasn't affected at all by his Mangekyo Sharingan. Suddenly he could feel sand in his eyes and tears began to well up. The pain of sand brushing over his eye-bulbs was enough for the older Uchiha to loose his grip on the ultimate form of his bloodline skill. His hands came up to rub the sand away from his eyes but it was then he heard Hinata's voice, her cold and uncaring voice. And from the seconds that he still had in his life gave him a few last thoughts. His young cousin had changed. She had grown a spine. 'Who would've known…? And I made a mistake…'

"Kill him, Gaara-sama!!"

Gaara didn't need another confirmation. His sand swallowed the leader of the Akatsuki and then he put his hand out and made a crushing sign. Hinata could hear him whisper the words Sabaku Sousou Desert Funeral. Blood splattered around them, chunks of Uchiha-flesh tainted the mountain wall and the ground around them.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "That's what you get for trusting one skill alone, Itachi-san."

Silence entered the area as the sand moved back into the gourd on Gaara's back. Shukaku's blood thirst had been filled at the moment. The racoon-spirit had gotten her fill for the day. Uchiha's blood had been a very tasty one and she had Hinata-san to thank for it. 'She's a good female son, take good care of her…' whispered the demon as she pulled back into the gourd on Gaara's back.

"Hinata-san… how…?" asked Gaara as he watched Hinata fish out a small container from her pocket.

"I just knew that I someday would go up against Itachi, don't ask me how I knew it, I just did and for that knowledge alone I carried these fake lenses with me. They are formed to look like my eyes, but they shield off anything that genjutsu can provide, including the Mangekyo Sharingan. I'll be blind while using them, but together with a partner, you can fool the lot of the enemy," said Hinata as she put her finger into her eyes and picked out the lenses and put them into the small container.

"HINATA-SAMA!!" Neji's voice shattered the thick tension that was lingering around the Kazekage and his chosen one.

"Neji-niisan, you are alright!!" whispered Hinata and tears began to form in her eyes. More people exited from the cave-mouth… "You are all alright… I'm glad…"

"HINATA!!!" Gaara's voice broke through the haze she now entered.

"Just let me… I'm not used to all…. to all this death…" mumbled Hinata and fell forward into Gaara's arms.

"HINATA!!"

"Kazekage-sama… take care of my cousin," said Neji as he scanned with his Byakugan over Hinata's fallen form. "She's just a bit out of it, she'll be alright in a few hours."

"The mission?" asked Gaara and cradled Hinata's limp form in his arms.

"Completed with out any losses. Can you reach the phone, we need to call the Hokage," said Neji and saw the sand nin reach into one of Hinata's pockets and retrieve the phone.

Shikamaru accepted the phone and he called his beloved leader.

"THEY DID IT!! THEY DID IT!!" yelled Tsunade and dropped the phone on the table in front of her. She began to dance a little victory dance and never noticed Kiba grabbing the discarded phone.

"Shino… is Shino there?" asked Kiba and heard Shikamaru call for the bug-using ninja.

"Kiba… ?" came Shino's calm voice over the line.

"Shino… you ok?"

"Yes, I am unharmed," said Shino and if you had been there you would have seen the soft smile that lingered on his lips. But he hid it behind his high collared jacket. "It's nice to hear your voice again… Kiba-kun…"

"Come back and save me from this place – it stinks," mumbled Kiba as his heart settled down while hearing the voice of his beloved boyfriend. "It really, really stinks…"

"Let me talk to Kakashi-san!!" Iruka's voice broke through and Shino handed over the phone to the masked ninja.

"Iruka-sensei wishes to speak to you," said Shino as he saw Kakashi's visible eye widened a bit.

Kakashi could hear the frantic voice of his lover and he smiled a bit before answering the phone. "Iruka-kun?"

"You bastard pervert!! Do you have any idea how much you made me worry??!!" Iruka yelled into his ear. "I thought…. I thought I lost you!"

"Iruka-kun… I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to worry… "

"Bastard… I love you… you almost broke my heart," cried Iruka and the copy nin could hear the emotions behind those words.

'Iruka-chan… you were my light, my strength… it was you that gave me hope…' Kakashi wanted to tell Iruka this but he couldn't, there were too many people around him at the moment. He had to wait and told Iruka to give the phone back to the Hokage just as he gave the phone to Shikamaru.

A few soft spoken words was exchanged before Shikamaru closed the line and looked over his team. They had made it. They had saved their fellow leaf-nin and that was enough to give him another raise. He smiled as his eyes turned towards the sky, the morning sun penetrated the fog and he just knew that everything was going to be ok.

Tsunade informed the others that the mission had been a complete success. All they had to do know was to wait until their comrades returned. She moved over to Sasuke and Naruto, her light brown eyes glittered with both victory and sadness.

"Sasuke-kun…. you are now the sole heir to the Uchiha-bloodline," she said as she put her hand upon the raven haired boy's shoulder.

"Itachi is dead?" asked Naruto as he put his arms around Sasuke.

"Yes, Hinata-san and the Kazekage killed him."

"Good," was Sasuke's only response.

"He was your brother…" she pointed out.

"No, the day he killed our family he lost that title," said Sasuke. "And I'm glad that he's dead. If they had not killed him – I would have if he would have tried on putting his filthy hands on Naruto or our baby."

'One threat down…. and one to go…' thought Tsunade as she saw a pink haired young woman in her mind. Sakura had yet to recover from her madness. She was still locked up in the Hokage-tower's basement. As long as she remained in this lunatic state she would be a threat to Naruto and Sasuke.