After the pain

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these infuriating characters.

I’m tiered of this particular day in the story so I am just going to get it over with, I warn you not to get your hopes up for another chapter this long.
Thank you to everyone who has been so patient with my reposting of this story and I hope it was worth the wait.

Church: Good to hear from you again. Yes well as for Naruto it was going to be a couple chapters before I was planning on spilling that fact, but what can I say I was pissed.
And as I said he is kind of stuck in a rut, more in next two chapters.

FireKitty: You are welcome.

Wraithguardstar: I laughed just so you know:) And thank you for continuing to read, now Temari will explain a few things in this chapter so I hope everything is a little clearer. And besides, she hasn’t been thinking straight since Naruto found her.

nonengel: Thanks, glad your still around.

Because I can: * Bows humbly * I am very honored that you found my scribbles worth
loosing sleep over. :)

Sean: Your welcome, thank you for leaving your thoughts.

It has been a long time coming, thanks to my new Beta Wharehouse hope you all enjoy.

FOURTY THREE FREEKING PAGES WORTH!!!!

HAPPY CANADA DAY EVERYBODY!!
* * * * * * * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN


Hinata hummed to herself as she reached the top of the long stair case and headed for the apartment that belonged to her dearest friend.

Arriving at the door she shifted the box of cakes along with several books into her left hand before knocking on the door.

The wooden barrier swung open and Hinata was surprised upon seeing who had opened it.

“Tsunade-Sama!”

Concern immediately followed on the heels of the unexpected sight of her mentor.

“Is Temari-san alright?”

The Hokage smiled but it did not reach her eyes.

“She is well; we were just asking our guest a few questions Hinata. Pleases come in, we were just leaving.”

With that the robed blonde stepped aside to allow Hinata into the apartment.
The byakugan user was barely able to hide the start she experienced when she saw the imposing form of the fully cloaked and masked ANBU captain standing just inside the room.

She wondered at their presence but the thought was pushed aside when her eyes landed on Temari who stood beside the living room couch.

The golden haired jounin was quite a sight, her hair hung around her in tangled disarray while the black kimono she wore made her look very pale.
But it was less her appearance then her demeanor that caught Hinata’s attention.
Temari’s silver eyes were bright with anger while her hands had a firm grip on the material at her thighs.

“We’ll be going now.” Tsunade announced, and the ANBU immediately walked past Hinata and out the door.
“Sorry for disturbing you Temari-san, and thank you again for your help.”

The Hokage bowed politely towards the Sand kunoichi before nodding to Hinata and walking out the door.

The click of the latch as the door closed echoed loudly in the quiet room as the two women eyed each other silently for a moment, Hinata being temporarily at a loss for words.

Finally Temari collapsed on the couch with a growl.

“What do you want?” She snapped irritably.

Used to dealing with less then cooperative patients the white eyed woman ignored the negative tone and proceeded to the kitchen area.

“I thought I would stop to see how you were doing and maybe have tea and a chat without the little ones around.” She answered in her most cheerful voice.

She quickly put water on the stove to boil, all the while watching Temari out of the corner of her eye.

The paleness of the Sand-nin’s face worried her, she looked to be under a lot of stress which was understandable considering what was happening to the woman but still it was a worry.

But none of her concerns or any of the curious questions she kept to herself showed on her face as she once again picked up her bundle and carried it into the living room and set it down on the coffee table.

“I brought some snacks as well as some reading material I thought you might be interested in.”

Smiling brilliantly she took a seat in the large arm chair across from the couch.

“So how are you feeling today?” She asked allowing some of the concern she felt show on her face.

Temari sighed as she sprawled out even more across the couch.

“Tired, last night was a little rough.”

Hinata nodded. “I’m not surprised, your body is trying to recover as well as adjust to all the changes it’s starting to go through.”
There was no reply but byakugan user didn’t miss the slight tensing of her companions’ body.

‘She appears to be in a bit of denial, not surprising but I think I was right in guessing that this baby wasn’t planned.

“So have you heard anything from Sana yet?” she asked trying to change the subject enough to put the other woman at ease.

“Not yet but I’m sure they will be here any time now.” Temari replied as she draped an arm over her eyes.

“I see; it will be good to see them again.” Hinata replied referring to Temari’s brothers.

Then deciding to do a little fishing she added.

“Will your other half be with them do you think?” So it wasn’t subtle, but the Hyuga had learned over the years that subtly could be very overrated.

Temari lifted her arm enough to give Hinata a weird look with just her right eye.

“My what?”

Hinata smiled. “Your other half, significant other, boyfriend, partner, fiancé take your pick.”

Temari’s body went as ridged as a board and her arm once again covered her eye as her head turned away.

All these movements were barely discernable to the untrained eye but Hinata was an expert on reading body language and all the movements combined worried her.

“I don’t have any one like that.” Temari finally confessed the Sand-nin’s voice was rough as though she was trying to hold back all emotion.

Alarm bells went off in Hinata’s head at that even though the words were what she had been sort of hoping to hear, the tone of voice they were spoken in was filled with to many negative emotions.

Silence fell for a time while the dark haired woman tried to figure out what that nagging thought in the back of her mind was.

The whistle on the kettle went off indicating that the water was boiling so she quickly went to make tea.
She had visited Naruto enough to know where everything was.
While she was pouring the water into a navy blue teapot Hinata was struck with a rather disturbing feeling as the nagging thought allowed itself to be deciphered.

Temari had been captured by enemy shinobi and according to what Hinata had found during the examination the day before her friend had been severely beaten and tortured as well as raped.

Hinata cringed inwardly at the direction her thoughts were taking, it was almost unheard of for a pregnancy to result from that do to the powerful birth control the shinobi medics had designed over the years.
But still… it was a possibility.

‘Should I ask? Or should I just wait and see if she says anything?’ She wondered.

Her teeth worried her bottom lip while she set all the tea things on a tray to take to the living room.

She knew that it really wasn’t any of her business, but she also got the feeling that Temari could use someone to talk too.
The Sand jounin had always appeared to be very self contained, a very strong and independent woman.

And knowing how busy she always was, trying to take care of her brother as well as keep up with them Hinata doubted that she had anyone to fall back on herself.
It was a basic female trait, take care of everyone else first, yourself last, if ever.

Sighing quietly she arranged the cups and the rest of the tea set to her liking the picked up the tray and carried it over to the coffee table.

Temari hadn’t moved from her earlier position of lying across the couch with her arm still covering her face.
She looked absolutely miserable as far a Hinata was concerned.
So the medic-nin decided to try to lighten the mood a bit before attempting any serious conversation.

“So here’s the tea, it will be ready very soon. Do you want to have snacks now or wait until its finished steeping?” She asked cheerfully.

“Not hungry.” Temari mumbled sullenly.

Hinata chuckled at her childish tone.
After settling the tray to her liking she picked up the box of treats and purposely plopped down on the edge of the couch, bumping the blonde’s hip in the process.

“You don’t have to be hungry for this stuff.” Hinata informed her. “This is pure indulgence food.”

A muttered grumble was her only answer so the black haired woman lifted the lid on the cardboard bakery box.

“Lets see.” Hinata made hemming and hawing noises designed specifically to spark interest. “We have butter tarts, chocolate chip cinnamon buns with icing….. Fudge brownies, Nanaimo bars, poky … all three flavors…… ooooooh apple and cherry Danish I don’t remember asking for those.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Temari’s arm lift slightly.

“Did you say chocolate chip cinnamon buns?” She asked.

“Mmm hmm they’re the baker’s specialty.” Hinata confirmed as she snagged a fudge brownie and took a bite, noisily savoring it.

“O ya, that is so good.” She purred.

Temari finally lowered her arm and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position.

“I’ve never heard of cinnamon buns with chocolate chips in them.” Her interest was obvious.

Hinata smiled and tipped the box in her direction.

“There is plenty to try.” She offered.

The Sand kunoichi hesitated for a moment longer before giving into the temptation and snagging one of the sticky sweet pastries.

Hinata hid her approving smile by leaning over to put the box back on the coffee table then snagging a napkin for each of them.

After accepting the offered paper Temari shifted so she was sitting properly on the couch, Hinata moved as well so the two were sitting side by side.
They ate in near silence with the only comments being about the food.

Finally Hinata nervously cleared her throat.

“Would you mind if I ask you a personal question Temari-san?” She asked.

Temari shrugged as she licked the sticky icing residue off her fingers.
Taking a deep breath Hinata watched her companion closely for her reaction to the next question.

“This baby wasn’t planned was it?” It was the most delicate way the pale eyed woman could think of to broach the subject.

To her surprise Temari laughed, it had a bitter quality to it but it was a laugh none the less.

“Not unless you consider getting knocked up after being violated planned.”

The words were barely spoken before the blonde clapped a hand over her mouth, as her horrified gaze snapped up to meet Hinata’s.

The medic-nins heart ached for her friend as she watched that shock in her silver eyes change to embarrassment before she pulled her knees up to her chin and buried her face in them before covering her head with her arms.

“Forget I said that.” The words were so muffled that Hinata barely heard them.

And unfortunately they did not surprise her, in her line of work she had come across similar situations.
It was never easy seeing a woman recovering from the trauma of being violated.

Reaching out Hinata placed her right hand on Temari’s back and started gently rubbing up and down her spine as she tried soothing the tense muscles beneath her fingers.

“It’s not your fault Temari,” She purposely dropped the formality. “You don’t own any of the blame for what happened too you.”

She was positive she heard a sniffle but when the light haired woman changed positions so that her chin rested on her knees her face showed no trace of tears.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She stated firmly her eyes staring off into space.

Again the response was not unexpected.
But Hinata wasn’t about to back down now that she knew what she was facing.

“I’m afraid you really do need to talk about it Temari, it will help.”

“How would you know?” Temari mumbled, it wasn’t really a question but the medic-nin answered it anyway.

“In my line of work I’ve helped a lot of woman in similar situations. Unfortunately one of the favorite methods of punishment or torture for women in our line of work is rape.”

Temari flinched at the use of the word but Hinata continued she knew the blonde would have to learn to deal with it sooner or later.

“Of course it’s not very often that a pregnancy results, the chakra enhanced birth control we use is seldom ineffective, your one of only two that I know about personally.”

At this Temari turned to look at Hinata with one eye brow raised in query.
Her question was not what the Hyuga expected.

“You use chakra enhanced birth control?”

Hinata sputtered, momentarily rendered speechless as her mouth opened but no words came out as she tried to follow the sudden shift in topic.
The medic in her wouldn’t let her return to the original topic until she clarified something.

“Sand medics don’t make their contraceptive potion with chakra?”

At that Temari shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never touched the stuff.”

“What!” Hinata’s voice came out as a strangled squeak and she was sure her eyes had to be as big as dinner plates.

“You’ve never used it, not ever?”

Another shrug.

“Why would I? I’ve never been in a relationship that required it.”

The black haired woman had to take a moment to remind her self that her companion was in fact three years her senior and not the thirteen year old cadet that her last question made her sound like.

She was having trouble finding the right words to respond that wouldn’t sound
A. Shocked or B. Outraged.
Ever the diplomat Hinata cleared her throat and hoped she wouldn’t offend her friend.

“In Konoha it is standard procedure for all kunoichi to be on a contraceptive while on active duty, unless of course she is trying to conceive.”

Hinata tried to force a smile and wasn’t having much luck. “I guess I assumed that other villages were the same.”

Temari seemed to be a lot more comfortable with this conversation because she folded her legs underneath her and reached into the bakery box to snag a strawberry poky stick and stuck it in her mouth before turning curious eyes to the still slightly stunned Hyuga.

“Why is it standard procedure? Just in case of capture?”

‘Could this conversation get any weirder?’ Hinata wondered as she slowly nodded.

“That and since the teams are mixed it’s just in case teenage hormones get out of hand you know.”

The blonde nodded still sucking on her poky.

“That would explain it then.”

“Explain what?” Hinata wasn’t sure exactly what Temari was talking about, and in light of the things she had just learned she didn’t want to take any chances of a misunderstanding.

“Why I probably wasn’t required to use it, I was on a team with my brothers and our Sensei would never have tried anything with Gaara around.”

A weak smile was Hinata’s only response for a moment at the relaxed way Temari dismissed the matter only a moment after mentioning that her jounin teacher could have been a problem if it hadn’t been for her then homicidal brother reminded the medic-nin of a teen who thought she knew everything.

“A lot of women find that they also need to use the birth control to help regulate their menstrual cycle so that chakra control doesn’t become a problem.” She finally informed the Sand ninja.

‘Listen to me, I sound like I’m in some kind of debate.’ Hinata groaned inwardly.

That thought was pushed aside when Temari chuckled, a real genuine chuckle, complete with sparkling eyes.

“You mean that some people’s periods interfere with chakra control?” She giggled at that.
“Go figure.” She hummed having taken a bite of poky.

“You don’t have that problem I take it.” Hinata murmured, as she wondered why the older woman had taken her words as if it was brand new information.

“Not at all, it’s the other way around actually.” Temari replied after swallowing her treat. “It’s the one thing I love about that time of month; it’s like a massive power boost.”

Hinata was floored she had never heard of someone’s menstrual period having that effect and she said as much to Temari.

“Interesting.” Was her only response.

Finally Hinata decided that she had been side tracked long enough, she felt that she really needed to speak to her friend more about her ordeal and now that she knew the truth, she wanted to see what the Sand kunoichi was planning to do about her pregnancy.

“I think we should get back to our original topic.” She told Temari gently.

The silver eyed woman’s face immediately lost all of its animation.

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

Hinata sighed. “And as I told you before, you really should at least once; it will help a lot with the healing process.”

“I’ve already talked about it once and that was more then enough.” Temari snapped as she tossed the half eaten poky stick onto the table.

Hinata was a little surprised.

“Naruto?” She asked simply.

The blonde nodded.”Naruto, he had to listen to all the gory details during one of my more hysteric moments.”

‘Well isn’t that interesting.’ The white eyed woman mused to herself. ‘It sounds like the two of them have been through a lot together the last little while. And they’re still talking to each other, that’s good.’

Aloud she said. “Well then why don’t we talk about your plans then?”

Again one golden brow raised in query.

“Plans?”

“About the baby, have you thought about what you’re going to do yet?”

Hinata would normally try to avoid all talk about terminating a pregnancy unless the mother’s life was at risk but in this case she knew it was something she had to bring up.
She had to make sure that Temari knew what all her options were.

Temari’s reaction to her question was much more dramatic then Hinata had expected it to be.
Her face immediately crumbled as she burst into tears before burying her face in her hands, doubled over and started to sob violently her flaxen hair fell forward around her shoulders concealing her face completely.

Quickly recovering from the shock of seeing the strong wind summoning kunoichi fell apart in under five seconds Hinata moved so she could pull the older woman into a comforting embrace.

Hinata lost all track of time as she let her companion cry until she had no tears left.
To the Hyuga’s relief once Temari managed to pull herself back together somewhat she was more willing to talk about the dilemma she found herself in.

Hinata first outlined the various options and the time she had to make the decision whether or not to terminate the pregnancy.
And then since Temari surprised her yet again by asking what to expect in the event she kept the child the Hyuga went into details about her own pregnancies as well as what it took to care for a child.

The talk quickly became more like a friendly conversation with the two women finally drinking the tea and enjoying the deserts Hinata had brought along.

It soon became apparent and when questioned, Temari did admit to having very little knowledge about childbirth as well as other things many women took for granted.

The Sand kunoichi revealed that after her mother died when she was four she had had very little contact with other women and that her training had been restricted to the same regimen as her brothers rather then that of other kunoichi.

She was a warrior, a weapon and that was the end of it.

After that revelation Hinata pulled out the package of books she had brought, mostly on pregnancy and nutrition the Hyuga felt that her friend would have a use for them no matter how she chose to handle her currant situation.

Once Hinata was satisfied that Temari had all the information that she could give and making sure the blonde was no longer as distressed as she had been earlier the medic decided to take her leave, she had children of her own to look after and she couldn’t make Temari’s decision for her.

“I should probably get going.”

She smiled as Temari voiced her disappointment.

“I’m still not sure what I’m going to do.” The Sand jounin admitted as she followed Hinata and got to her feet.

“Just promise me one thing.” Hinata said her voice serious. “Don’t have this child because you feel you have too,” White eyes caught and held silver. “A child deserves to have a home where they are loved and accepted unconditionally, not because it’s a duty.”

A long silence hung in the air before Temari finally nodded her understanding.

Hinata gave her arm a reassuring squeeze before heading for the door.
The Hyuga had just slipped on her sandals and was reaching for the door knob when Temari’s voice stopped her.

“Hinata, if I go to the hospital will you be the one who does it?”

The black haired woman felt her heart clench at the mere thought of performing an abortion.
She shook her head but didn’t turn around until she was certain her composure wouldn’t fall apart.

“I’m sorry; I will not perform that kind of procedure. I will go with you for support if you wish me too, but I can not take a life like that.”

Temari nodded her understanding and Hinata quickly took her leave.
She was exhausted, the whole afternoon had been very demanding emotionally and the gentle woman’s heart ached for her friend for having to face such a hard decision.

Now that she no longer needed to keep up the strong professional front she felt tears threaten to spill from her eyes.

She kept a quick pace as she headed home to the Aburame compound.
Her hand wrapped around the round wooden pendent that hung around her neck, unbeknownst to others the bead was hollow and contained a number of her husbands Kikaichu, it was so he could find her no matter where she was.
The tiny bugs could also alert their master if Hinata was in distress, which the pale woman currently was.

* * *

Inside one of the large indoor atriums of the main house Aburame Shino slowly got to his feet, his young son in his arms.

He and his father Shibi had been instructing the five year old Shani on how to communicate with her Kikaichu hive when he felt the swarm inside him react to the signals being sent by those his wife carried with her.

Hinata was upset, not in danger but in need of him none the less.
Setting Hashin on the ground next to his toys Shino turned to his father.

“Can you watch the children for a while?”

Aburame Shibi nodded not bothering to ask why, he had long since gotten used to the unique relationship his son and daughter-in-law had.
They always seemed to know when one needed the other and he never questioned their sometimes abrupt need for private time together.

Shino turned and headed for the front door not bothering to put on his dark glasses or oversized coat as he sensed that Hinata was just entering the compound gates.

He was waiting for her on the stoop when she came up the walk way. One look at her shimmering eyes and he opened his arms gathering her close as her arms wrapped around him as well.

As soon as she was in her husband’s warm embrace Hinata started to cry, there were times as a medic that the cases she dealt with affected her greatly and she was glad she had a strong shoulder to lean on in times like these.

Shino knew his wife often reacted strongly to her cases because she cared so much for the people under her charge.

And even if it resulted in the occasional break down the bug user wouldn’t have it any other way.
So he held her while his swarm made a low humming sound that reverberated through his body, the Kikaichu’s way of comforting her until she pulled back slightly to dry her eyes and gave him a small smile of thanks.

“Can you talk about it?” Shino asked gently as he tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ears.

Hinata’s sad smile told him it was confidential and she couldn’t actually tell him what was happening, he was relieved that at least she hadn’t lost a patient.
A death always hit her hard regardless of if she had known the person well or not.

“Where are the children?” She asked when she was satisfied that she didn’t look like a wreck.

“In the atrium with father.” Shino replied.

“I need to hold them.” She whispered.

Her husband nodded and keeping an arm wrapped around her he lead her inside the house.

* * * * * * *** * * * * * * ** ** * * * *

“Well, now that everything had been straightened out.” Tsunade turned to the ANBU captain who had just finished apologizing to Naruto. “I trust you will see to it that a suitable punishment is arranged.”

“You can count on it Hokage-Sama.” The bear masked man sent a hard look at his underling responsible for the false report.

Naruto managed to keep the smirk off his face but he couldn’t resist torturing the ass hole just a little bit.

“I warned you that involving Temari-san was stupid, you had better hope that her brother’s don’t find out.” The tone of voice the blonde used made it quite clear that he was thinking of doing just that.

The ANBU snorted, no one had to see his face to know that there was pure hatred written on it, his voice made it very clear.

“I couldn’t care less about your threats demon; you’re the one who should be paying for your crimes.”

Naruto was glad that Tsunade’s large desk was between them because it would have been extremely satisfying to punch the man in the face, but he knew that would only make things worse.
There was nothing he could do about the people who still hated him because of the demon he carried inside him.

Tsunade wasn’t nearly as forgiving as her protégé.

“Do you realize that you could have created an incident between us and our allies over your little revenge?” She growled as she got to her feet.
“It was bad enough that you falsified reports and accused one of the leaf’s most respected shinobi, but to also involve one of Sana’s diplomats in this is unforgivable.” Tsunade’s hazel eyes flashed dangerously as she spoke.

To her disbelief the ANBU shrugged carelessly. “I’ve waited years to end that things days of freedom,” He spat viciously. “It doesn’t matter to me who the whore was.”

Tsunade wasn’t the only one who was stunned silent by that speech, the tomb like silence was shattered by a deafening roar as Naruto launched himself over the wide desk.

Before anyone could blink the big blonde had his right hand wrapped around the masked man’s face and his forward momentum had carried them across the room where the ANBU was slammed into the wall with enough force to leave a dent in the plaster.

“No one calls Temari that.” He growled his blue eyes darkening in fury as his grip tightened until, with an eerie cracking sound the ANBU’s wooden mask shattered under the pressure.

The remnants fell to the floor leaving several cuts in their wake.

Naruto didn’t seem to notice, his palm covered the mans nose and mouth as he gripped his skull and slammed him into the wall again.

“Never!” Again the body connected with the barrier.

“Do you understand me?!” The wall cracked under the pressure of yet another collision.

“Shit!”
The Uchiha and Hyuga moved as one as they were finally shocked out of the momentary paralysis they had been trapped in.

Each one grabbed an arm and tried to remove their friend from the now unconscious man he still had in his grip.

“Naruto!” The Hokage screamed having found her voice after also being frozen in place over the shock of the fox boy’s actions.

Naruto however seemed oblivious to those around him.

“Release him at once!” She commanded

When it became obvious that he had no intention of allowing Sasuke to pry his fingers from his victim’s face Neji quickly reached over to help his partner.
With several touches of his fingers Naruto’s arm went numb having had all the chakra cut off as well as some of the nerve endings frozen which gave the Uchiha the chance to pry his now useless fingers off the unconscious ANBU.

Once his hold was finally released the captain was there to grab the limp body before it could hit the floor while Neji and Sasuke drug Naruto away from them.

Tsunade shouted for Shizune as she arrived to inspect to damage done to the injured man.

Naruto issued a warning growl, the deep rumbling sound vibrated not only through the big blonde but through the bodies of the two men who still held him in place.

“Leave him woman, he’s not injured only fainted like the coward he is.”

Tsunade cast an angry glance over her shoulder.
“You could have crushed his skull! I don’t care what came out of his mouth; that is NOT the way to punish him.”

Even as her underlings’ actions made her mad because of the possible consequences attached, a part of her was dancing with joy that he had so quickly and brutally jumped to that Sand kunoichi’s defense.

It looked like maybe her hopes for a match might just be on track for once.

“I should have killed him.” Naruto hissed, causing everyone present to glance at him to see if his eyes had changed color.
His voice had been so reminiscent of the days when Kyuubi made regular appearances that all of them expected to see red bleeding into the blue irises.

Sasuke and Neji especially found it very unsettling when they saw that that was not the case this time, when in fact there wasn’t even the slightest hint of the demon’s essence in Naruto’s immediate area.

“I think you should go for an early lunch break Naruto.” Tsunade told the young man as she focused her attention on examining the unconscious ABNU.

Naruto didn’t have to be told twice, despite the haze of rage clouding his vision there was still the logical part of him that knew that he couldn’t kill the man who now lay on the floor as much as he would enjoy doing just that.
If there hadn’t been any witnesses he was sure that he would have without a second thought.

Instead he held his numb arm out under Neji’s nose.

“Fix it.” He ordered.

The Hyuga raised a questioning eyebrow as his white eyes clashed with vivid blue for a moment before reaching up and carefully unblocked the nerves and chakra paths in the blonde’s right arm.

A non communal grunt was his only thanks as Naruto experimentally flexed his hand and arm.

It wasn’t until then that Neji realized that the bandages on his friend’s hands were just that, and not training wraps as he had first assumed.

‘Why would Uzumaki need bandages on his hands? I thought that the Kyuubi healed him almost instantly.’ Before he was able to voice the question however he found him self being drug off by a fist at the back of his collar.

A glance to his right told the Hyuga that Sasuke was in the same predicament.
Naruto had both of them by the collar and was dragging them out of the office.

“Naruto… What the hell….!” Sasuke shouted, only to have his words drowned out by a loud pop and a cloud of smoke.

A moment later both black haired men were stunned to find them selves in the training grounds.
As Naruto released his hold on them and stocked deeper into the forested area the two shared a shocked glance.
Neither one of them had ever had someone else teleport them anywhere, at least not while they were conscious.
And Naruto had somehow managed to do it without doing the hand signs.

Realizing that they were about to loose sight of him they quickly trotted after him.
It was obvious that they were there to spar, it was something the group of them did when someone was having a bad day.

Who ever was available would help them work out their stress.

And Naruto was definitely stressed.

* * * * * * *

Kyuubi quickly lost the smugness he had felt over the protective display his vessel had put on over the golden female.
The thoughts running through the humans head at the moment were murderous, and while the demon had no objections to going on a killing spree, he also knew that for Naruto to do such a thing would be disastrous.

He had learned that humans tended to frown upon such actions, and the last thing the kitsune wanted was for his host to get himself executed for taking out his frustrations on other human’s.

‘This wouldn’t be happening if you would deal with your “issues” as you call them you know.” He spoke aloud even though he was well aware that Naruto could no longer hear him.

It never ceased to amaze the kitsune how much thoughts especially suppressed ones affected his host.
After closer inspection of the whirl wind that was going through the blondes head he became slightly apprehensive about the coming fight, the two males following them would not be enough of a challenge to wear Naruto down to the point were he couldn’t move and therefore had no choice but to confront himself.

Kyuubi nodded sagely, the thought had been brewing in his keen mind for a while, it turned out that it was actually a good thing his power had been separated from his host, other wise the current situation would have been doomed to end with an unbeatable Naruto with unlimited reserves beating on any one who came near him to a bloody pulp.

But now the human had limits, his stamina and chakra level still was far above his piers but it did have a limit and he also no longer had the luxury of being healed almost instantly.

A smirk touched the demons lips, yes this was a good thing…. Probably.
The boy needed to learn to open up to those around him and in this case he would need that lesson literally beaten into him.

In hindsight the ancient creature realized that he probably shouldn’t have pretended to be his vessels conscience the last couple years after Naruto stopped talking to him.

It had prevented the blonde from seeking outside assistance.

The nails on one paw tapped out a thoughtful rhythm.

‘Perhaps blocking his unpleasant memories was also an ill advised action.’ He mused.

The disgusted sigh that left the kitsune was for once aimed at himself.

‘If I had made this many mistakes in my own life time I never would have lived long enough to get all nine of my tails, if only humans weren’t so difficult to figure out.’

The red & gold fox had to give himself a shake; he was starting to fall into the same thought patterns as his host.
It was times like this that he wondered who affected who more.

He was happily distracted how ever when he caught two more familiar scents in the air.

* * * * * *

Kakashi cringed as the sounds of bone hitting bone once again echoed through the trees.
The silver haired man was sitting up in a tree; his position was well hidden from the combatants below.

The jounin had sensed Naruto’s chakra in the training grounds while waiting for the boy at the Ramen stand so he had gone to investigate.

He had been too late to witness the fight with Kiba and Akamaru, when he arrived the Inuzuka was lying in a pile off to the side with the young man unconscious and the big white dog whining softly.

Kakashi shook his head, those two still had a hell of a rivalry with Naruto even if they ended up getting their asses kicked every time.

Sasuke and Neji had then taken the blonde on as a team and the scarecrow saw the wisdom of their plan as even from a distance he could feel the rage rolling off the fox vessel in waves.

‘How the hell can he still be in the same mood as he was three hours ago? Naruto never stays angry for this long.’

But what really concerned the copy-nin more then any thing was the fact that even now there seemed to be no sign of Kyuubi’s power in the boy’s chakra.
And so he sat watching as Naruto effectively stopped or avoided every attack the Uchiha and the Hyuga sent his way.

All three were at a stand off when Rock Lee arrived and was quickly drug into a bout with the blonde.

Kakashi watched in horrified fascination as the taijutsu match got started.

Blow after blow was exchanged as the other two men stepped back to watch.
Kakashi gently rubbed his bandaged right arm as he watched the two basically stand still and pound on each other.

The copy-nin had yet to go to the hospital, he had gotten to the doors earlier but only because Naruto had been with him as soon as his former student had left so did he.
He hated hospitals and unless he was too injured to protest or was drug into one he wasn’t going. His arm would heal in time.

Instead he had asked a few people if they had noticed anything odd in Naruto’s behavior in the last couple days.
The answers were all the same,
‘Unless you think him hovering around the blonde woman he’s been with lately is something, nothings different about him.’

After finding no clues that way the jounin had gone off to find himself a nice shaded spot to think.

He now had a theory, well two actually but he still needed some more information before any real conclusions could be made.
And this fight could just be the break he had been waiting for.

“You are always a challenge to me Naruto! Today had been a great day indeed!” Lee’s exuberant voice broke through Kakashi’s thoughts and he once again focused on the combatant’s below him.

Both Naruto and Lee were down on one knee breathing heavily.

“Has been? We’re not finished yet.” Naruto growled.

Lee chuckled. “But I am Sakura is expecting me and one should never keep a lady waiting.”

As one the two fighters straightened, one grinning while the other scowled.

“You do not appear to be in your usual good spirits Naruto.” Lee commented as he slid into sideways splits to stretch out his legs.
“What could be bothering you on such a beautiful day?”

“None of your business!” The blonde huffed between ragged breaths.

Kakashi took note of his slow recovery time and wondered if he was going to continue to fight, even in that condition.

The answer to the silver haired jonin came when Naruto turned towards Sasuke and Neji, presumably to continue their earlier spar, however he managed one step before his whole body seemed to buckle, and he ended up face first in the dirt.

“Naruto!” Lee exclaimed as he jumped back to his feet.

All three young men gathered around their fallen friend.
In an instant Kakashi stood with them as well.

“He is unconscious.” Neji announced quietly.

“I didn’t think I had landed a blow that would injure him.” Lee’s brows knitted in worry.

“You didn’t.” Kakashi stated, causing the white eyed Hyuga to nod in agreement.
“He simply ran out of chakra during your fight and used up his physical strength as well.”

“That’s impossible.” Sasuke protested. “With the Kyuubi’s power he’s supposed to have unlimited reserves.”

“Which brings up a question I would like to ask you Neji?” Kakashi said instead of replying.

The Hyuga lifted a questioning brow.

“When your byakugan was active, did you see any traces of the demon inside Naruto?”

Neji frowned. “Now that you ask, I don’t recall seeing it but we were not sparing for very long.”

“How about now?” Inquired the copy-nin.

Sasuke and Lee both wore rather puzzled expressions as the veins around Neji’s eyes stood out sharply as the byakugan was activated.
The long haired man carefully scanned every inch of his fallen friend’s body.

“You are right Kakashi-san, there is no trace of the kitsune anywhere in Naruto’s system.”

“But what could that mean?” The Uchiha asked as a rather somber mood descended over the group.

“I have no idea.” Kakashi replied.

* * * * * * * * *

“Well I have an idea.” Kyuubi growled in frustration. “It means he’s a stupid idiot!”

The demon was distracted from the rest of the conversation going on around his host’s body when he felt a slight ripple roll through the walls of his prison.

After a quick inspection the snarl on his face was replaced with a toothy grin.

“Well well well.” He chuckled.

A small almost invisible crack had formed in one wall of his cage.
Quickly the craftily fox set to work forcing some of his powerful chakra through it.
The crack widened under the pressure, not by much but enough to allow some of his power to once again seep into his hosts system.

“So you’re using chakra to keep the bars in place.” The vulpine grin became almost evil. “But if you use up all of it, what will hold me in place?”

The Kyuubi’s celebration was short lived however when it became evident that the crack was not going to get any bigger unless he blasted it full force.

He did consider it for a short time but then decided that the resulting explosion of power would more then likely be felt by too many people and Naruto would simply lock him up again.

So instead the fox decided that patience was better suited for this situation and he was rather interested to see what else his host would do when left to his own devises.

“But that doesn’t mean that I can’t heal him.”

With that he changed the tone of his power that was now flowing through the fissure.
With any luck a small amount of chakra flowing through the crack continuously would keep it open.
And eventually become wide enough to allow for communication.

* * ** * * * * * * * *

Kakashi left Naruto in Sasuke and Neji’s capable hands while Lee carried Kiba home.

The copy-nin needed to find someone to go over his suspicions with, and his former underlings were not what he had in mind.

One teleportation jutsu and one flight of stairs later found him in the Hokage’s outer office.

“Kakashi-san.” Shizune, Tsunade’s assistant looked up in surprise. “You were not scheduled for a mission today.” A light frown marred her face. “I don’t think.”

She furiously started sorting through the files in front of her.

Kakashi enjoyed getting the young woman worked up she was too funny when she was flustered. But today he had more serious things on his mind.

“I’m not here by appointment Shizune-san, I need to see the Hokage if she has a moment.”

The young woman blinked, it had been a long time since she had heard the legendary copy-nin speak so formally, usually he bordered on insubordinate.
And after the way Tsunade had gone into an angry tirade over his appearance in her kitchen only day’s before Shizune had not expected to see the tall shinobi for a while.

Her chocolate colored eyes dropped slightly as she got to her feet and for the first time she noticed his arm in a sling.

“Oh! You’re injured!” She exclaimed.

“Not really.” Kakashi waved her off.
“But I do need to speak with the Hokage.”

Shizune nodded and quickly went to open the door to the inner office.

“Follow me.”

The silver haired man did as he was told.

“Hokage-Sama, Hatake Kakashi to see you.”

The masked man fought back a smile at the grumbling that came from the beautiful blonde that sat behind her large desk.

Tsunade’s head jerked up, her mouth open to tell Shizune to kick the silver haired man out the door, but the sight of his tall form standing behind her assistant had her snapping her jaw closed.

Shizune beat a hasty retreat as soon as Tsunade acknowledged her visitors presence, but she left the door open just a crack so she could hear their conversation.

‘Tsunade must be rubbing off on me, I’ve become an eavesdropper.’ She thought to herself.

“What can I do for you Hatake?” Tsunade asked her face and voice now impassive.

“I need to speak to you about Naruto.” He stated simply.

Tsunade rolled her eyes.
‘Not again, I just managed to get everything straightened out with the ANBU.’

“Yes I know he’s not his usual self today.” She said aloud. “But then I can’t blame him after what happened.”

Kakashi perked up a bit at that, maybe this would answer some of the questions he had.

“What might that have been?”

The Godame sighed, “Well he seemed to be off a little this morning any way but then we had a slight problem with the next generation of demon haters falsifying a second report about Naruto and Temari-san.”

This was news to the scarecrow and not what he had been expecting to hear, not even close.

‘Naruto has been dealing with those kinds of people his whole life, why would he let it bother him now?’ He wondered.

And then even that didn’t explain why he had been in that bad mood first thing in the morning.
Tsunade told him of the confrontation with the ANBU as well as what had started the whole thing.

Kakashi was shocked. “I assume you spoke with Temari-san about the allegations.” He spoke quietly, he needed all the information he could get so he couldn’t afford to get the blonde Hokage angry…..yet.

“We did speak; she told the same story as Naruto but refused to say what had started their ‘argument’ for lack of a better word.” Tsunade huffed. “The girl flatly told me that it was no ones business but hers and got rather hostile over the whole issue.”

“The Sand siblings do tend to get that way from what I remember.” Kakashi remarked.

She nodded. “I know; Gaara can be infuriating at times the way he won’t talk any more then is necessary.”

The copy-nin decided to bite his tongue rather then point out that it was rather easy to irritate her no matter who it was she was dealing with.

‘I wonder if that’s what has Naruto tied up in knots today.’ He mused after a moment of digesting all the new information.

“What happened to you?” Tsunade’s voice interrupted that process.

Kakashi blinked several times as he tried to decide how to answer.

The Godame meanwhile was kicking herself for just having noticed the sling supporting the silver haired mans right arm.

‘All the crazy business with Naruto and Temari this morning has got me wound too tight.’ She decided as she got to her feet just as Kakashi waved a dismissive hand.

“This is nothing really Hokage, I just had a small accident this morning.”

The blonde woman rolled her eyes, the man really was the worst at coming up with excuses.

“Have you been to the hospital?” She asked as she rounded her desk.

“Oh it’s not that serious.” Kakashi stated even as he took a step back. “No need to bother a medic for no reason.”

Light brown eyes narrowed as he once again tried to brush her off.

“Let’s let a medic decide shall we.” She growled as she stocked up to him.

Kakashi really wanted to get the hell out of there at that point, he had gone home and after cutting off his usual shirt had found an over sized one that he slid over his damaged arm to hide the splints and bandages holding it in place.

It wasn’t that he hated hospitals themselves so much as the fact that medic-nin’s tended to give him the creeps.
He just didn’t like people who knew more about his body than he did.

“Stop right there mister.” Tsunade ordered.

It was then that Kakashi realized that he had in fact been backing away from her.

Muttering under her breath about elite babies when it came to check ups she reached his side and summoned her chakra, her lashes closed as she formed several seals then lifted both hands, palms facing the man in front of her.

Kakashi tensed as her chakra washed over him, even if it didn’t have any menace behind it her power was a little over whelming.
He watched as a scowl crossed her smooth features a moment before her eyes snapped open.

“A LITTLE accident?”

Kakashi chuckled rather nervously, but before he could say anything she was pushing him towards a chair.

“Shizune!”

The brunette woman instantly appeared at the door.

“Yes Tsunade?”

“I’m dealing with a medical issue at the moment; I don’t want any interruptions until I’m done.” The Hokage ordered.

“Of course.” Shizune was gone as quickly as she had come.

Kakashi was practically shoved into a chair, causing him to grit his teeth against the pain that shot up his arm at the jolt.
He wasn’t positive but he thought he heard her mutter something about egos and idiots.
He was glad the mask covered the grin that was threatening to make an appearance.

“Kunai.” Tsunade ordered holding out her hand.

“Why?” The scarecrow inquired, her demand had him nervous again.

“So I can cut through all the material that’s in my way.” Her tone of voice was that of one talking to a child.

“Can’t you leave it in place while you work?” He asked his voice sulky. “I wanted to keep this shirt.”

Tsunade rolled her eyes. “Your arm is shattered and you’re worried about a bloody shirt!”

“I like this shirt.” He stated stubbornly.

Instead of knocking him out and doing it her way, as tempting as that was Tsunade sighed heavily.

‘Stupid jounin, sometimes they have the dumbest priorities.’

Reaching down she unzipped his vest and after giving him a glare at the questioning look he gave her helped him slip it off his left arm.
It took some maneuvering but after removing the sling and taking turns supporting his injured limb the vest was off.

His baggy navy shirt came next.
It wasn’t until that garment had joined his vest on her desk that it dawned on Tsunade that she had a half naked scarecrow sitting in front of her.

Not that she should have noticed, she was a medic-nin and had seen countless people in various states of undress.

But this was different, maybe because it was Kakashi or maybe it was just because they were in her office instead of the hospital that made it different.

Her eyes strayed down his sculpted chest that was surprisingly tanned considering the amount of clothing he usually wore.
It was definitely Kakashi she decided as she tried to keep herself from drooling.
Which should have been ridiculous, she hadn’t looked at another man since her beloved Dan had died.

It was the stress, yup that was it!
The stress of the day had her trying to distract herself.

‘Focus Tsunade focus.’ She berated herself as she forced her eyes to inspect the cast on his arm and nothing else.

Kakashi smirked as he watched the trail the Godame’s brown eyes took before she directed her attention to his injury.
So maybe stripping in front of the woman hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.
His body obviously affected her.

‘Good to know.’ He chuckled to himself as he filed the information away for later use.

“So do you want to tell me how you managed to shatter your arm in three places?” Tsunade asked as she went to work piecing the bones back together.
They were already in relatively the right places but the swelling in the surrounding tissues had caused some problems.

Her words almost sounded more like a question then an order but the scarecrow knew better.
And seeing as he had wanted to talk to her about Naruto’s strange behavior he didn’t try any stalling tactic’s, he just acted like he was giving a report and quickly went through the mornings events as well as the results of the fight Naruto had with his friends only a short time ago.

Tsunade used the excuse that she was listening to what he had to say for the reason she was taking so long with his arm.

After hearing that Naruto had beat the snot out of Kiba (again) as well as used several other of his fellow jounin as punching bags, she told Kakashi in more detail what the boy had done to the ANBU, thus the reason she had kicked him out of the office.

“Personally I think he lost it because of what the idiot said about Temari-san.” Tsunade confided as she unwrapped the cast and splints from the copy-nin’s now mended arm.

“Could be.” The silver haired man agreed. “But tell me Tsunade, do you know the status of the Kyuubi?” He asked as he slowly flexed his hand and elbow.

His arm was still a little sore but usable.

“What do you mean by that?” The blonde woman asked as she placed her right palm in the center of his chest to prevent him from standing, while she had him there she might as well give him a more thorough check up she decided.

Especially after what he had said about his earlier morning bout with Naruto,
if the man had tried to brush off a shattered arm God only knew what other injuries he could be hiding.

It had nothing to do with wanting to keep him shirtless just a little longer.

Kakashi tried not to shiver when the warmth from her palm slowly started spreading through his body.

‘Now this kind of examination I could do more often.’ He decided as he felt his muscles start to relax as his right eye dropped slightly.

“What were you saying about Kyuubi?” Tsunade prodded with a smirk of her own.

The legendary healer had never actually worked on the scarecrow before, and she found it amazing just how sensitive he was to the chakra she was using to relax him for the examination.

“He’s gone.” Kakashi mumbled, trying to wake up enough to speak coherently.

“Gone? What do you mean gone?”

“There’s no sign of the demon.” Kakashi clarified giving his head a shake.
“This morning Naruto’s bloody hands didn’t heal and in his bout with Lee he ran out of chakra and collapsed, luckily the fight had ended or Lee could have really injured him.”

“That’s an oxymoron.” Tsunade stated. “The words Naruto and injured just don’t go together.”

Because he was sitting Kakashi actually had to tip his head back slightly to look her in the eye.

“But the fact remains that he is injured, the bandages on his hands were bloody after his fight with Lee, and Naruto is usually healed almost instantly.”

Tsunade frowned as she digested that information as she finished her examination.

“I haven’t noticed any change in his energy nor has he mentioned anything. But I’ll have a talk with him and see what’s going on.”

Kakashi nodded and made to stand but a hand on his shoulder held him in place.

“One more thing.”

Tsunade told him while the fingers of her free hand hooked onto his mask.
Before she could blink strong fingers wrapped around her wrist, effectively stopping the movement.

His black eye gave her a look that was part warning and part challenge.

“Your face is cut.” She told him even as she wondered why she was explaining herself to her patient.

“It’s fine.”

Was it her imagination or had his voice dropped an octave?

“Just leave it.” He ordered softly.

Now Tsunade never took orders and she sure as hell wasn’t backing down from the now clear challenge in his gaze.

“Shut up Kakashi.”

Stepping closer she used her free hand to jerk the cloth off his chin.

And then she just stared.

Beautiful was the only word she could think of to describe the silver haired shinobi’s face.
His finely sculpted features were flawless, even the hint of a scar that was barely peeking out from under his slanted head band did not distract from its perfection, however the angry red cut across his cheek did.

With a gentle touch she channeled healing chakra into her fingers and slowly traced them across the cut.
The wound quickly closed and soon there was nothing but a faint line remaining that would soon fade on its own leaving no trace of the damage.

“There all finished.” She murmured as her fingers slowly trailed down his cheek and jaw before leaving his face.

Kakashi smiled and her eyes were drawn to the seductive curve of his lips.

‘It should be illegal for a man to be this good looking.’ She decided.

“Thank you, how long before my arm is back to normal?” Kakashi asked.

He had to admit that he was enjoying himself.
He wondered absently if he could find a way to talk Tsunade into being his personal medic.

But the fact that she was standing between his legs with her well endowed chest at eye level while her soft perfume tickled his nose had him a little to distracted to really think about any thing else.

Tsunade wasn’t much better off, she had the urge to see if those lips tasted as good as they looked.

Luckily Kakashi’s question was enough to distract herself and she backed away from him to allow herself to regain her composer more then to think of an answer.

As soon as she moved away he got to his feet and retrieved his shirt which he immediately pulled over his head.

“The bones should be completely healed in about a week but I want you to take it easy for at least two if you can.” She was glad that her voice at least sounded normal, even if her brain was screaming that it was a crime to have that body covered up.

“I guess it depends on what kind of missions I get for that.” Kakashi replied as he tucked in his shirt then reached for his vest.

Tsunade could have slapped herself.

“Of coarse I’ll make sure you have the next two weeks off.” She assured him.

Kakashi smiled and since his mask still hung around his neck so she got a full view of it.

“I appreciate it Tsunade, but do you think there is any way I can get a little more time off?”

The Hokage blinked, the scarecrow never took time off.

“That’s an unusual request coming from you Kakashi.” She commented.

“Yes I know, but there is this project that I have wanted to work on for a while and have yet to find the time to devote to it.”

‘Okay, that is officially the weirdest thing that I have ever heard coming from this mans lips.’ Tsunade decided.

She mulled over his request for a moment, life in Konoha was quite quiet since both Orochimaru and Itachi had been killed.
But with the possible reemergence of the Akatsuki that could change.

“Tell you what Kakashi; take the time off to get yourself healed up.” She told him as he shrugged into his jounin vest and zipped it up.
“And then as long as we don’t get any missions that need your expertise, you can take as much time off as you need.”

Kakashi stopped and blinked at the petite blonde.
She was actually going to give him that much time off?

“Are you sure it won’t be a problem Hokage?”

His sudden return to formally addressing her for some reason annoyed Tsunade.

“It’s no problem, you have given a lot for Konoha so I don’t see why you can’t have all the time you need.” She held up a finger. “Provided you inform me if you are going to be out of Konoha for more then a day.”

Kakashi grinned, flashing his even white teeth before he leaned down and before Tsunade could react he surprised her by kissing her cheek.

“Thanks, you’re a doll.”

Then with a wink he pulled his mask up to once again cover his face, then without another word turned on his heel and walked out of the office whistling softly, leaving a stunned Tsunade behind him.

Kakashi was part way down the stairs when he heard his name screamed so loud that the walls shook.
With a chuckle he teleported away before a furious blonde could catch him and pound him into the ground.

Life could be so much fun sometimes, he really should have started having this kind of fun a long time ago he decided.

A moment later he reappeared outside a very familiar house.
Without bothering to knock he opened the door and walked in, as soon as he was inside he closed the door and kicked off his sandals.

“Iruka! I’m starved, what do you have to eat?” He called

As he headed down the hall towards the kitchen he pulled down his mask just as the dark haired chunin appeared in the door way ahead of him.

“You’re late Kakashi.” He growled.

Kakashi smirked. “Aren’t I always?”

Iruka rolled his eyes before disappearing back into the kitchen.

“There’s your usual late, then there’s LATE late, and you’re LATE!” He barked.

“Sorry, something came up.” The scarecrow apologized.

As he entered the kitchen he completely pulled off his mask and forehead protector before running his fingers through his hair and sitting down with his feet propped up on the table.

“So what’s the excuse this time?” The scar faced teacher demanded. “You know I took the day off for this outing.”

It was Kakashi who rolled his dual colored eyes at that.

“I tried to tell you that the weekend would have been better.” He defended. “And besides, this time I really was unavoidably detained.”

“And I’m the Hokage.” Iruka snorted before moving to the fridge where he started pulling out bento boxes as well as some fruit.

“Actually that’s where I just came from.” Kakashi informed his companion as he watched the younger man move around the kitchen.

“Came from?”

“The Hokage’s office, I was there until just now.”

Iruka gave him a suspicious look before disappearing behind the island counter.

“You said you had the day off today.”

“I did but a small incident came up and I had to talk to the Hokage about it, and while I was there she made me stay until she fixed a small injury I got sparing.”

The teachers head reappeared.

“How small is a small injury?”

But the silver haired man waved a hand at his question. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Kakashi.” Came the warning growl.

The scarecrow shivered at the sound, Iruka was obviously a little more pissed then he normally would be and unbeknownst to most people, an angry Iruka made a furious Tsunade look like a teddy bear.

“Fine.” The jonin grumbled. “A broken arm and a cut on the face.”

Iruka moved to the table bento boxes in hand.

“Get your feet off the table.”

The copy-nin immediately complied.

“You’re face looks normal.” He commented as the boxes where set on the table.

“She’s good.” Kakashi replied with a grin.

Iruka shook his head at the rather obvious comment as he went to make tea.

“High praise from you, you hate medic’s despite the fact that your former student is one.”

“Ya I know, but she can work me over any time.” The jounin chuckled.

Iruka’s brows went up at that.

“Now that sounds like a double meaning.”

Another chuckle was all that greeted that statement as Kakashi’s feet returned to the table top and he tipped his chair back on its rear legs.

“So let me get this straight.” Iruka said as he poured hot water into a tea pot. “You ‘broke your arm’ I’m guessing with Naruto or soon there after, then instead of going and getting it fixed and coming here so we could go on the trip we have been planning for three weeks, you procrastinate the day away, probably while sitting on your ass before going to see the Hokage to ‘TALK’ and then you finally got around to coming here.”

“That’s about it.” Kakashi confirmed with a nod.

“Bull shit! You just don’t want to take this trip like you promised you would.” The chunin stated picking up the tea tray.

Kakashi shrugged. “It was your idea.” Then he grinned. “You’re not jealous are you?” He asked, a teasing glint in his eye’s

“I thought I told you to get your feet off my table.” Iruka grunted.

Kakashi only leaned back farther as his grin got wider.
“You’re just pissed that instead of being here I was stripped to the waist while a beautiful woman had her hands all over me.”

“You’re nuts scarecrow, now move the feet.”

Iruka was now beside the table.

Kakashi’s eyes danced his grin turned to a taunting smirk.
“I kissed her you know, had to thank her some how.”

The silver haired jounin didn’t get a chance to continue his gloating or see the teacher’s reaction, but he felt it as his feet were suddenly kicked up into the air which sent both jounin and chair crashing over backwards.

“I told you to keep your feet off.” Iruka stated as he set down the tea tray then took a seat in another chair.

The scarecrow didn’t answer right away.
He had fallen on his right side and had automatically used his arm to try to break his fall.
The already sore limb was now throbbing again.
Rolling onto his feet he carefully cradled the aching limb against his side, suppressing a groan as he used a foot to right his chair so he could sit down again.

Iruka had been watching him closely and his eyes were now filled with concern.

“You really did injure yourself.”

“No shit Sherlock.” Kakashi snapped.

“Sorry, I was just looking forward to today.”

Opening the lunches he set one in front of Kakashi before pouring tea for both of them.

“So eat then we can get going, we’ll have to travel faster then we planned but we can still make it.”

“We’re not going any where.” The copy-nin stated bluntly as he slowly flexed his right arm.

“Why?” Iruka’s fingers started drumming on the table, a sure sign he was going to get irritated again.

“Because.” Kakashi said picking up his chop sticks and pointing them at the teacher. “You have to go have a talk with YOUR son.”

Fingers stopped in mid air as Iruka gave him a confused look.

“Naruto, What for?”

With a heavy sigh the silver haired man related the day’s events as he ate the excellent lunch the chunin had made.
Iruka mean while was too busy being shocked to touch his food.

“That doesn’t sound like Naruto.” He stated when the jounin was finished his tale. “You really think something’s up with Kyuubi?” He asked.

“It’s all I can come up with that makes sense.” Kakashi relied as he pushed his empty bento box aside. “The only other thing that I could come think of was woman trouble, you know Sabaku no Temari is staying with him.”

Iruka nodded. “He told me, but God knows he has had woman trouble before and he never acted like this.”

Kakashi agreed.

“Well I guess that’s that then, we’ll have to see if we can coordinate a day off next week.” Iruka commented as he got to his feet and took an arm load of dishes to the sink.

“I’ll go talk to Naruto.”

Kakashi decided to wait to say any thing about his extended time off.
Instead he leaned back in his chair again.

“Do you want to play some scrabble first?”

There was the sound of glass breaking as Iruka slammed the tea set into the sink.

“Scrabble! You come in here to tell me about a whole bunch of stuff I need to talk to Naruto about right away and NOW you want to play scrabble!”

The jounin shrugged. “Why not, another hour or so won’t hurt.”

The look Iruka gave him could have frozen a volcano.

“I am going to go see my boy.” He announced in an equally cold voice as he headed for the door.

“Why don’t you do the same, you haven’t gone to visit Sasuke and his family in a long time.”

“I saw him today.” Kakashi retorted.

Iruka was the only one who knew that the copy-nin saw his fellow Sharingan user as family.
The teacher stopped mid stride.

“Him, not his family. Now get you lazy ass out of my kitchen and go visit.”

An almost evil smirk curled the scar faced man’s lips.
“Consider it payment for wrecking my day.”

Kakashi shuddered.

“That is cruel and unusual punishment Iruka, those kids are holy terrors.”

The smile stayed on the chunin’s face.

“Enjoy, I’ll ask Obito how it went when I see him at school.”

Kakashi groaned and slowly got to his feet while pulling on his head gear then joined Iruka at the door.

“Have fun.” The dark haired man chuckled as he opened the door.

“You’re such a bitch sometimes.” Kakashi grumbled, which earned him a smack on the back of his head as he stepped outside.

* * * * *

Why couldn’t people just leave him alone? Naruto wondered as he settled him self down on the wide limb of a tree deep in the forest of death.

Just because he was having a bad day it seemed like every one had to stick their noses into his business.

He growled as he remembered the grilling he had gotten when he had woke up at the ramen stand with Neji and Sasuke waving a bowl of miso ramen under his nose.
The constant questions from the two had made him loose his appetite and he gave up trying to eat half way through his first bowl.

Then when he had gotten back to the office, Tsunade had been in a pretty bad mood herself, yelling something about an asshole she was going to kill.
Then she had lit into him and demanded to know what was wrong with him.
He had told her to mind her own business at which point she kicked him out of the building and told him not to come back until he had his head out of his ass.

“Look who’s talking.” Naruto grumbled now that he was alone.

After leaving the Hokage tower he had gone to his favorite brooding spot, on top of the Hokage monument.
There was no way in hell he was going home; he still hadn’t wanted to see his house guest at that point as it had still been early afternoon.

Naruto had started to calm down a bit when Iruka had showed up.
And after taking a seat next to him his former teacher who was now more of a father figure to him gently asked what was wrong.

It had been the first time in a very long while that Naruto had not been able to tell the chunin everything that was on his mind.

It hurt, Iruka understood him perhaps better then anyone but in this case he just couldn’t tell him the cause of his currant emotional state, partly because of promises made and partly because he didn’t want to think about what was really bothering him.

In the end Iruka had finally asked a question that he could answer and Naruto explained how he had sealed Kyuubi.
After that the rest of the conversation had consisted of answering all the questions that Kakashi had posed and the teacher passed on.
It was during that conversation that the blonde discovered that his split knuckles had in fact healed, thus making it apparent that not all of the effects of the Kyuubi were gone, merely lessened.

By the time Iruka took his leave, saying something about saving a jounin from torture, Naruto was feeling a little more relaxed even if he did feel a little guilty for all the still unanswered questions in his surrogate father’s eyes.

That was when Naruto had decided that the only place he could get any peace was in the forest of death, a place he personally found to be very relaxing.

So now he sat by himself surrounded by nothing but trees and the occasional animal but today he was anything but relaxed.
He was about to declare the day the worst of his life when the image of a navy haired woman flashed through his mind.

He cringed as other memories tried to surface as well and he forcefully pushed them away.

“Why me?” He groaned aloud as his head moved back to rest against the tree trunk behind him.

Closing his eyes he concentrated on nothing but the sound of his heart beat and the surrounding forest.

He must have fallen asleep because the next time he opened his eyes the sun was just starting to touch the horizon and he found that he was feeling a bit better then he had earlier.

‘Time to head home, I was rude to Temari this morning and I should apologize to her before she goes to bed.’

With that thought he got to his feet and stretched.
He had to admit that his bad day really had nothing to do with her, he had issues of his own and she just happened to set off some of them.
He knew it hadn’t been a good idea to let her stay with him.

With a shrug he teleported to the forest perimeter, that was his problem, he was just going to have to deal with it.
After all her brothers would no doubt be arriving soon to collect her, then he would have his house back to himself.

Naruto’s somewhat better mood lasted until he was facing the door to his apartment.

‘God I don’t want to go in there.’ He groaned silently as he stood there staring at his door until he realized how stupid he was being and finally entered the apartment.

“Temari?” He called quietly when he didn’t see her anywhere in the main living area.
He quickly checked the couch to be sure before heading towards the bedroom.

It too was empty eerily so, some of her new clothes were strewn across the room and considering the cleaning binge she had been on since she arrived the sight worried him.

He then noticed the light on under the closed bathroom door so he moved to it and knocked.

“Temari, are you in there?”

Again silence greeted his words.
Naruto tried to ignore the knot that was starting to form in his gut.

‘She wouldn’t fall asleep in the tub would she?’

He knocked again as he tried to push the thought away.
He was reaching for the door knob when Temari’s words from the night before echoed through his head.

‘I’d be better off dead!’
The words were accompanied by a flashing image of his bathroom painted red with blood.

Naruto panicked and the door was flung open to reveal……nothing.
The room was as empty as the rest of the house; only used towels decorated the side of the tub and floor.

The sight should have calmed him down, but the fact that his apartment was completely empty had him more worried then before.

‘I should have come back sooner.’ He cursed himself as he headed back into the kitchen, hoping that maybe she was there and he just hadn’t seen her.

The silence was starting to get suffocating as he scanned the room.

‘Where would she go?’

The balcony door was open like he had left it that morning.
A bakery box sat on the counter beside a tray of tea things.
He touched the porcelain pot and found it still slightly warm.

‘So she was here not to long ago, but where….?’ His eyes went wide. ‘The hospital, shit!’

The rest of the dialog running through his head as he headed for the balcony door is not printable. (Partly because I can’t come up with suitably colorful swear words)

He was already looking for any sign of the flaxen haired woman on the streets below as he hopped onto the railing.

“Oh! Naruto you startled me!”

The exclamation that came from his right caused him to spin around in surprise so fast that he lost his balance and toppled from his perch.
His right hand stopped his decent to the ground by catching onto the balcony ledge.

When he pulled him self up enough to peer through the railing he saw Temari sitting in his hammock, her eyes as big as saucers staring at him as she cradled a tea cup in her hands.

“Are you all right Naruto?’ She asked as he climbed back over the railing.

“Did you just get back? I didn’t hear you come in.”

‘Well that explains everything!’ Naruto’s inner voice snapped sarcastically, but he kept his mouth shut.

He was too busy looking her up and down.
She had a different feel about her then she had before, but he wasn’t sure why.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked, a little harsher then he meant too, but Temari didn’t seem to notice his tone.

“Relaxing, it’s nice out here.”

A grunt was his only reply as he reminded himself that he had planned on apologizing to the woman.
It wasn’t her fault that he had jumped to conclusions when he couldn’t find her.

He shifted uncomfortably, much like a child who was caught doing something bad as he tried to put all of the personal emotions aside and come up with a way to say he was sorry, something he was not very good at.

The kunoichi meanwhile was watching the setting sun, her whole being gave off a feeling of serenity and as he watched her he felt it wash over him as well.
It was like a balm to his taught and frazzled nerves.

Taking a deep calming breath he felt his body start to relax as he leaned back against the railing behind him.
After clearing his throat he finally spoke.

“Look Temari, I’m sorry for being such an ass this morning. I really didn’t mean to take my bad mood out on you.”

Silver eyes meet his and one corner of her mouth turned up slightly.

“Its all right, I know I’ve been more then a little trying since I got here.” Her smile got a little bigger. “But I hope to be less of a burden on you now that everything’s settled.”

Naruto blinked in confusion.

“Settled?” He started to tense up again.

“Yes, Hinata-Sama came by and we had a talk, went over all my options, you were right about thinking things through you know. It made me feel so much better going through it calmly and logically.”

Naruto felt his palms start to sweat.

“So you’re ready to make a decision then?” He questioned.

Her smile got bigger.

“Done, already made it.” She announced.

‘She sounds and looks so happy.’ The shinobi mused silently. ‘She must have already gone to the hospital. I haven’t seen her this calm since I found her.’

Even as those thoughts ran through his mind he felt his stomach drop.
He had a sneaking suspicion that he was going to be sick, dimly he noted that Temari was talking but her words didn’t register.

The sound of giggling refocused his attention back on the woman before him.
Temari was giggling and it even reached her eyes, the silver orbs sparkled with laughter.

“Can you imagine my brothers faces when I tell them?” She asked.

Naruto was at a loss as to what she was talking about.

“Tell them?”

She shook her head at him. “You weren’t listening were you?” She stated. “That I’m having a baby, and that they’re going to be uncles.”

Stunned doesn’t quite describe Naruto at this point.

“You mean you’re…..”

Temari nodded smiling.

“I’m keeping the baby.”

A bomb sight would be less chaotic then Naruto’s frame of mind at that point, he could only stare at her in disbelief.

* * * * * * *

Kyubi was doing back flips at the news.

* * * * * * * * **

Temari kept talking about how she had come to the decision, completely unaware of the fact that her companion wasn’t assimilating a word she said.

Finally as the light gold’s and pink’s of the setting sun faded to darker colors the Sand kunoichi realized just how late it was getting so she announced that she was going inside to make dinner.

Naruto simply nodded mutely and she guessed that the stunned expression he still wore was going to be very similar to how her siblings were going to look when she told them the news.

She really couldn’t blame him she was still a little shocked at her self as well.
But it was the only decision that didn’t tie her up in knots, in fact it warmed her to the core.

She, Sabaku no Temari was going to be a mother!

She suppressed the urge to dance around the kitchen.
The joy she felt was a far cry from the depression she had felt just that morning.
She had wanted children for years, even if she knew next to nothing about them.

As far as she was concerned now that she had had time to think about it, her situation as far as she could see was not that different from what it would have been if she had gotten pregnant after a one night stand, which of course would have been her only hope in hell of having a child.
Her brother’s aside, men just seemed to avoid her like the plague.

Temari shrugged those thoughts away however, it no longer mattered she didn’t need a man any longer, it was ironic that she could almost thank the assholes that captured her.

The Sand kunoichi wasn’t the best cook, she was limited to simple meals but she was in too good a mood to let that detour her.
Humming to herself she put on rice and chopped up ingredients for a simple stir fry.

While everything was cooking she realized that her hair was still a loose mess from the morning so she went in search of a brush.

On the way back from the bedroom she noticed that Naruto was still on the balcony, he was leaning over the railing with his forehead resting on her crossed arms, his face wasn’t visible and she wondered what he was thinking about, but then she recalled the reason for the Hokage’s visit earlier.

‘He’s probably just trying to unwind.’ She reasoned as she went back to watching the food.

*

The pair ate dinner in near silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
It wasn’t until Temari was clearing the able that she addressed him directly.

“Naruto, can I ask something of you?”

The big blonde nodded but he didn’t make eye contact with her.
Which made the Sand kunoichi a little nervous; wringing her hands she cleared her throat slightly before she continued.

“Would you perhaps consider being my baby’s Godfather?”

Naruto’s head jerked up startled. “What?”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated to or anything, I just want to have a good role model for my child.”

She laughed nervously.

“I just don’t think an emotionless sand slinger and a hentai puppet master are the best choices for the majority of the job.”

Temari could tell her friend was speechless so she hurried to assure him that she just wanted him to think about if.
But afterwards she got the impression that he wasn’t very happy about being asked, she thought about withdrawing the request but then decided that she was too tiered to explain why she had changed her mind and opted to wait until morning.

With a quiet goodnight she got ready for bed and for the first time since her arrival closed the bedroom door before crawling into bed.
She was asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow, content that she had made the right decision.

* * * * * *

Naruto’s night was plagued by reoccurring nightmares, which had him waking up screaming and dripping with sweat, until he finally gave up trying to sleep and moved into the apartment and onto the couch.

He didn’t want anyone to witness his night terrors.

* * ** *

Thirst and the need to pee woke Temari up sometime during the night; she didn’t bother to check the time.

On the way to the kitchen after visiting the bathroom she spotted Naruto sitting up on the couch, his head turned at her approach.

“I didn’t wake you up did I?” He asked softly.

“No, are you alright?” She replied. His face looked haggard in the dim light that came from the bedroom.

“Nightmares.” He muttered.

Temari understood all too well, their line of work had some nasty side effects at times.

“Would you like me to stay with you?” She asked. It was the least she could do after everything he had gone through with her in the last week.

“No, get some rest, I’ll be fine.” Came his reply.

Temari nodded her understanding and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before heading back towards the bedroom.

“Temari.”

His voice stopped her just as she reached the door way.
She turned as he got to his feet and moved so he could face her as well.

“Why would you want me to help raise your child?” He asked.

His voice was so quiet she wasn’t sure at first that she had heard him right.
But the somber look on his face told her that she had.

Before she could think of what to say he spoke again.

“What makes you think I’m good enough to help raise your child?”

His eyes dropped to the floor.

“I wasn’t good enough to raise my own.”

* * * * * * * * *

Summer is crazy so I have no idea when I will be able to update again, but reviews might help me speed it up a little. (Shameless I know XP )