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Description
Life As A Fox
Chapter 11: Reunion Of The Rookie Nine

Notes: “Talking”
‘Thoughts’
[‘Demon Thoughts’]
[Demon/Summon Speech]
JUTSU (description)

She had been doing her rounds at the hospital when she was summoned. She, at first, thought it was about what happened with Naruto and Hinata after they left with two unknown Nin. She remembered how badly beat up they were from the surprise attack on them by the cloud shinobi. What had surprised her more was that she was called in to act as an escort for a shinobi on parole. This bummed her out, but she knew that if she denied the job, her sensei would pull rank on her. Sakura had just stepped into her sensei’s office.

The entire room had turned to who had been selected to be Sasuke’s escort. To everyone’s surprise, but Tsunade, Sakura had just stepped in. As she walked to her sensei’s she saw that Naruto and Hinata were in there, safe and sound, holding each other’s hand. This caught her completely off guard, as she stood there, with her mouth gaping open in surprise. Naruto, getting annoyed with the look he was getting finally spoke up.

Naruto: “What? Do I have something on my face or something?” He reached up and began to wipe his chin with his free hand. Hinata merely giggled at her lover’s antics with a small blush on her face.

Sakura: “BAKA, why are you holding Hinata’s hand?” She pointed at their hands that were still holding each other. Hinata was the one to speak up first.

Hinata: “Well, why shouldn’t he be holding my hand?” she put her finger up to her chin as though she was wondering about Sakura’s statement. “I mean I am his girlfriend after all. So there’s nothing wrong with us holding hands. Or is there?”

Anko: “I don’t know what you’re getting all worked up about Sakura. I mean, so what if they’re holding hands.’

Sakura: “That’s not what I meant, I’m just surprised that Hinata finally managed to catch him.” She had regained her composure. She knew that Hinata had always been in love with the boy. “So when did the too of you get together?”

Tsunade: “Ahem,” this got everyone’s attention. They all knew that they were supposed to be there on business, not pleasure, “before you get into any of those details, you have a mission to get to Sakura.”

Sakura: “Oh, sorry sensei.” She bowed an apology. She did not want to anger her sensei; she had seen how others had ended up after they angered the slug sage.

???(Kitsune): “YIP!” Everyone but Naruto and Hinata had jumped in surprise as the little fox made his presence known to everyone in the room. He happily jumped onto Hinata’s shoulder and sat on her shoulder while he rubbed his head against her cheek. This caused the girl to giggle.

Naruto: “And just where have you been hiding Kitsune?” he had a very annoyed look on his face, even though there was a sign of relief in his voice, as he picked up the little fox to look him in the eyes. Naruto knew that he could take care of himself, but knowing the little guy. He might’ve gotten into a little bit of trouble while he was gone.

Kitsune: “Yip, yip yip yip ip yip ip yi yip. (Well, I kinda got hungry after seeing Chihiro, so I went and got a snack.)” All everyone heard was a little fox yipping at Naruto, that is, all except Naruto and Hinata. They both understood every word that had come out of the fox’s mouth.

Hinata: “You still should’ve at least come back to tell us you were okay. We were worried that you might’ve gotten hurt.” Everyone looked at Hinata as though she had just said something very embarrassing. She noticed this and looked back at them questionably. “What?”

Tsunade: “How did you know what Kitsune was saying?”

Naruto: “Let’s just say that the two of us have a lot more in common than we thought we had.” He knew the real reason why she had understood the fox language. It was thanks to Shichubi, Kyubi’s mate. “But can we drop the subject for know, me and Hina-chan need to go see what we can salvage from what’s left of our apartments.”

Tsunade: “Oh, right. You two may leave, but I want to talk to you two later. I have some private business to discuss with the two of you. And here’s the address for your new apartment, luckily it’s a two room” She handed the piece of paper to Hinata, knowing full well that Naruto might end up loosing it.

Naruto: “'kay, see ya later oba-chan.” The two disappeared in a puff of smoke before Tsunade could say anything to him.

Kakashi: “And with that, the two of us take our leave.” The Hatake couple took their respective bow and took their leave.

Tsunade: “I’ll get Naruto later for that. Anyways, back to the task at hand,” her attention turned back to Sakura, who apparently, still hadn’t noticed that Sasuke and Sakuya were in the room, “Sakura, you are to be an escort to a missing-nin that has rejoined Konoha. You will be living with him and his daughter until his parole is over.”

Sakura: “You mean I have to live with the guy?” she was utterly annoyed with the thought of having to live with a parolee. “Fine, so when will I meet him?”

Tsunade: “Well, if had been paying attention to your surroundings you would’ve of noticed that the two of them are in this office.” She had to stifle a laugh as her apprentice got a surprised look on her face as she turned to see Sasuke holding a little girl in his arms.

Sasuke: “Hey, Sakura, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it.” He sounded completely nervous.

- - - - -(What’s left of our young couple’s apartments)- - - - -

Naruto hadn’t realized just how bad the damage to their apartments was until he saw it himself. Part of his ceiling was collapsed; there was a huge hole where the window was supposed to be; the bedroom was completely scorched; his kitchen was in pieces, and most of his ramen was lost in a small fire that had spread into his room; and to top it all off, part of his floor had collapsed and fallen into Hinata’s apartment. Her apartment on the other hand had a partially collapsed ceiling; a partially burned bedroom; and a broken window,

Naruto: “Now that I’ve seen just how messed up our apartments are, it is no wonder that Tsunade was so worried.” He had begun to look for anything that might be salvaged from his apartment while Hinata searched her own. “So is there anything you can save down there Hina-chan?” He knew that she owned many things that were very valuable to her, mainly because a few of those things had once belonged to her mother.

Hinata: “Well, a majority of things are damaged, a few are beyond repair,” Naruto felt a surge of guilt course through him, “but luckily all of my most valuable possessions are safe and sound. It’s a good thing that I kept them in a safe place.”

Naruto: “That’s good to hear.” He felt nothing but relief as he heard her say that.

Hinata: “How ‘bout you? There anything you can find?” she knew that he had very few possessions that were very dear to him.

Naruto: “A few,” he let out a quick laugh as he continued his search.

Hinata: “What so funny?”

Naruto: “It’s funny that, for once in my life, I have very few valuable possessions that could get damaged.” Hinata could tell by the tone of his voice that he was both glad and depressed. But then something he whispered to himself caught her attention, “At least ‘that’s’ still safe and sound.”

Hinata activated her Byakugan to see what he was talking about. All she saw was a photo album held in his hands. She saw tears falling down his face. She could tell that the album meant a lot to him. She deactivated her Byakugan as she gathered the last of her things into her briefcases. She made her way up to his apartment. When she entered he had just wiped his tears away and quickly put the album in his backpack. She could tell that it was something that he wanted to keep secret so she didn’t ask anything about it. When she looked at his belongings, she noticed that he only had his mission backpack filled with his belongings.

Naruto: “It looks like I’m gonna have to buy a new clothes.” He had his patented grin on his face.

Hinata: “How come?”

Naruto: “Most of my clothes were sorta burned in the fire.” He got up and scratched the back of his head. “I only got three sets of clothes now.”

Hinata: “Well, I guess we can just go shopping for new clothes,” she gave him a wink, “and I can think of other things we could wear.” She had said the last part in a sultry voice that caused Naruto to get a blush that would put one of her own to shame as he stood there too stunned to say anything. She gave him a quick kiss to snap him out of his trance. “And just what were you thinking of, mm?”

Naruto: “I’d r-r-rather n-n-not say, ehehe,” he became a stuttering mess when he came to. She knew exactly what he was thinking from the look on his face. “Anyway, shouldn’t we get going to our new apartment?” She blushed when she heard him say ‘our apartment’. They both got the last of their things and left. Naruto took Hinata’s briefcases so she could walk freely. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to thank him.

- - - - -(With Sakura, Sasuke, and Sakuya)- - - - -

Sakura was definitely surprised to see Sasuke standing in her sensei’s office, but even more surprised when she realized the father and daughter she was going to escort turned out to be Sasuke and the girl that was hiding behind him. Her jaw had dropped to the straight to the floor. He had definitely changed over the years, and she had as well. She had a tough time believing the girl was his daughter, but once the girl called her an ‘annoying, scary, pink haired lady’ did she believe it.

They were walking down the street to the old Uchiha compound. Sasuke was surprised to see that a large number of the villagers were happy to see him back, while others tensed up and shot glares at him.

Sasuke: ‘I guess this must be what Naruto had to go through when he was young.’ He was beginning to reminisce about the past when a green blur pasted Sasuke and stopped in front of Sakura. The man wore a chunin vest over his green jumpsuit; the man’s hair was long and tied back in a ponytail by a small pink ribbon. When the man looked up it took Sasuke by surprise. It was none other than Lee.

- - - - - -(With our young lovers)- - - - -

The two of them had just arrived at their new apartment. It was at least twice the size of their old ones and was definitely more spacious. It had two bedrooms had a walk-in closet that connected the two; the same could be said about the bathroom. Both rooms had queen-sized beds with clean white sheets. The living room was spacious and had a large couch, a mid-size couch and a lazy boy chair. It also had a large TV with a large variety of movies to choose from. From what Hinata could tell, most were romance. The kitchen was stocked with the basic necessities; fruit, milk, juice, vegetables, you know, the usual. The one thing that was missing from the kitchen, to Naruto’s disappointment, was ramen. The two stood in amazement at the apartment. And they both had the same exact thoughts.

NaruHina: ‘I bet she had this planned the whole time.’ Naruto began to place their stuff in their rooms while Hinata took a closer look at the place. She went to the large window in the living room. It led to a large balcony that connected one of the rooms to the living room. The view was amazing; you could easily see a huge amount of the village. She stood at the edge of the balcony enjoying the view. That was when Naruto put his arms around her and kissed her.

Naruto: “Who would’ve thought that the very same day we get together, we start living together.” The way his voice sounded made her get a blush on her face. “And even after everything that happened this morning.”

Hinata: “Yeah,” she felt the same way he did. “The day had been extremely strange. First the cloud-nin attack, then we confess to each other, we find out about each other’s secret, and now here we are.” She turned around to wrap her arms around his neck. “The two of us living together in the same apartment. I couldn’t be any happier.”

Naruto: “I feel the same. It has been a strange day, but we certainly have something good that came out of it.” He smiled at her as she nodded in agreement. “Right now, I’d say we should go out shopping for clothes tomorrow, but it’s too early to turn in.”

Hinata: “Then let’s go. Kitsune, you keep an eye on the place ‘til we come back, ‘k?” She turned to the little fox that was lying on one of the couches.

Kitsune: “Sure thing!”

Naruto: “And if everything’s in one piece, I’ll make your favorite dinner.” The little fox jumped for joy as the couple left.

- - - - -(Back with the parolee^^)- - - - -

Lee: “Sakura-chan, you’re looking as beautiful as ever today.” Sasuke was surprised to hear him speak as though he had never met his sensei, Guy. What shocked him even more was Sakura walking up to him and giving him a kiss on the lips. Sakuya had to pull on his hair to keep from sliding off his shoulders.

Sasuke: “Ow! That hurt Sakuya-chan.”

Sakuya: “I’m sorry daddy, but I nearly fell off when you let go.”

Lee had then noticed who was accompanying his girlfriend. It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, the village traitor. Sakura had told him that they had to cancel their dates for a while, because she had to escort a parolee and his daughter around. When he had asked if she knew the person she told him that she wasn’t given any names.

Lee: “So this is the parolee you were talking about on the phone.” She nodded she saw a worried look on his face. She knew that she meant the world to him. He would go to any lengths to keep her happy, which unfortunately ended up with him making a complete embarrassment of himself sometimes. That was what attracted her the most, his willingness to do anything for her, no matter the consequence.

Sakura: “Don’t worry Lee, with all the training I got from Tsunade-sensei and training with you, I’m more than ready to take him on in a moments notice.” She knew that it wouldn’t really keep him from glaring at Sasuke, but at least it calmed him down some.

Lee: “Alright, but I’d feel better if I tagged along. Just in case.” He gave a small wink at her, which caused her to blush. He knew just how to convince her as she nodded. “So just what have you been up to these past few years Uchiha. It seems you’ve been busy trying to revive your clan.” He looked at Sakuya who was riding horsy on his shoulders.

Sasuke: “You leave her out of this,” he glared at Lee.

- - - -(Down the road)- - - -

Ino and Shikamaru were looking for Chouji and their sensei, Asuma. Both of them knew where Chouji would be; at an all you can eat buffet stuffing his face. While Asuma was probably with Kurenai, doing who know what. But the team knew that the two of them had been seeing each other for quite some time. Shikamaru, however, wanted to stop searching for the two, since he already had a pretty good idea of where to find them. That was when Ino spotted something that took her by surprise.

Ino: “No way,”

Shikamaru: “Huh? What is it now?” he looked up towards the direction she was facing. His eyes widened in amazement at what he saw. He wasn’t the only one, Ino’s mouth had dropped to the floor. It was Naruto and Hinata holding hands. The couple had seen them.

Naruto: “Hey Shikamaru,” he got no response. “Hellooo, anybody home?” he waved his hand in front of his face to try to snap him out of whatever had overcome him. Ino was the first one to recover. She instantly turned to Hinata.

Ino: “Oh my god Hinata! How long have you two been dating?’ she was hungry for some gossip. She was expecting Hinata to respond, but to her surprise, it was Naruto that did.

Naruto: “I think it’s been a few hours,” he turned to his love, “right Hinata?”

Hinata: “I think so, although.” She put a face that made it look like she was in deep thought, “I wouldn’t really say that we’ve been together. Especially with everything that happened this morning.” Ino was surprised to hear the girl speak without a single stutter in her voice.

Chouji: “What happened this morning?” he had just come out of the restaurant from where he was eating.

Shikamaru: “I told you he was in there Ino,” he turned to look at the girl, “looks like I win the be. Now cough up.”

Ino: “Fine,” she reached into her wallet and handed him 100 ryo and turned back to Hinata, “So what happened this morning?”

They told the three what had happened after Hinata left her apartment. They even told them about the Akatsuki attack, but they didn’t tell them about Shichubi. Everyone knew they were after the nine-tailed fox that was sealed in Naruto, but still saw him as the same old goofball. They left out other parts too, like the fact that the two of them were living together.

Ino: “So you’re telling us that Sasuke’s back, and he has A THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER?!” she was completely shocked, “I don’t believe it, I mean, wouldn’t he be like, seventeen years old?”

Hinata: “I didn’t believe it at first either, but he definitely has a daughter now.”

Chouji: “Uh, Ino,”

Ino: “What?” he turned to look at the man who was pointing down the road. She turned and saw Sakura with Lee walking with none other than an older looking Sasuke Uchiha with a little girl riding his shoulders. “I don’t believe it.”

Shikamaru: “Is that really him?” he was at a loss for words as he watched the Uchiha holding a small girl on his shoulders. Chouji had dropped the bag of chips that he had begun eating and just stood with his mouth hanging open.

Naruto: “There’s only one way to find out Shikamaru?” he had an evil fox grin on his face as he came up with a plan. “HEY! SASUKE!”

Sasuke turned to see who had called him, and he saw Naruto calling him over. Sakura and Lee had also heard him and followed the Uchiha. It was just by luck that Shino, Kiba and Akamaru had heard Naruto as well. They came over to see how the two were doing after they heard from their sensei of what had occurred at their apartments. When Sasuke arrived, everyone went silent, that is, everyone except Akamaru, who was wagging his tail like crazy from the attention his ears were receiving from Sakuya.

Kiba: “Uh, who the brat?” he asked just to break the silence that was driving him crazy.

Sasuke: “That would be my daughter, Sakuya.” He said it as though it didn’t really matter, but for everyone who didn’t already know or who still had trouble believing it just stood there wide eyed.

Everyone (Except Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Sasuke): “WHAT?!” Akamaru jumped up in surprise from everyone’s sudden scream, and sent Sakuya falling on her butt. The girl immediately began to cry. Sasuke merely walked up to her and picked her up to try to calm her down.

Sasuke: “There, there, he didn’t mean to scare you.” He began humming to calm her down. After a little while, she was fast asleep in his arms.

Ino: “So she really is your daughter after all.” She was looking at the small girl who was sleeping soundly in Sasuke’s arms. “Can you tell us who the mother is?”

Sasuke: “I think it’s time to take her home,” he turned to leave, as though to avoid the question.

Sakura: “Hey wait up! Don’t forget that you can’t go anywhere without an escort!” She ran after him with Lee following close behind. “Sorry guys, see ya later.”

Shikamaru: “Well, looks like the revival of the Uchiha clan has already begun.”

Ino: “That reminds me,” she turned to look at Hinata and Naruto, “If both of your apartments were damaged and had to be quarantined, where are you guys staying?” Everyone that was still present turn to look at the two.

Naruto: “Well, Oba-chan was looking for apartments,” he was nervously scratching the back of his head, “and she was only able to find one.”

Kiba: “Okay, so that clears up where Hinata is living, but what about you Naruto?” at this, Naruto had a huge sweat drop appear on his head.

Hinata: “Well, since the two of us are a couple now, we decided to live together. This way we could pay less for rent and be close to each other.”

Kiba: “WHAT?!” this had obviously disturbed him greatly.

- - - - -(Elsewhere)- - - - -

Pain: “Lady Chihiro!” he was in a slight panic.

Chihiro: “What’s wrong?”

Pain: “It appears that ‘they’ have begun to move. Should I gather my squads to intercept?”

Chihiro: “How long do we have before they arrive?”

Sara: “We have about four days.”

Chihiro: “Howl, send a message to Fox and inform him of what ‘s going on, and tell him we need an answer in two days.”

Pain: “HAI!” with this he disappeared.

Chihiro: “Liz, you will stay here and assist me in contacting the rest of the nine,”

Sara: “You don’t mean?”

Chihiro: “Yes, I think it’s about time that they meet each other in person before the battle.”

Sara: “HAI!” she immediately got into a meditation stance and began to send the message.

Chihiro: “I just hope that Fox and Cat have a favorable decision.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Preview
Chapter 13: The Rest of the Ten Beasts

???: “So, I guess it’s time to open it.”

???: “Will I see you again?”

???: “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to come back.” The young man stepped into the portal and disappeared from his world.

Description
Life As A Fox
Chapter 11: Reunion Of The Rookie Nine

Notes: “Talking”
‘Thoughts’
[‘Demon Thoughts’]
[Demon/Summon Speech]
JUTSU (description)

She had been doing her rounds at the hospital when she was summoned. She, at first, thought it was about what happened with Naruto and Hinata after they left with two unknown Nin. She remembered how badly beat up they were from the surprise attack on them by the cloud shinobi. What had surprised her more was that she was called in to act as an escort for a shinobi on parole. This bummed her out, but she knew that if she denied the job, her sensei would pull rank on her. Sakura had just stepped into her sensei’s office.

The entire room had turned to who had been selected to be Sasuke’s escort. To everyone’s surprise, but Tsunade, Sakura had just stepped in. As she walked to her sensei’s she saw that Naruto and Hinata were in there, safe and sound, holding each other’s hand. This caught her completely off guard, as she stood there, with her mouth gaping open in surprise. Naruto, getting annoyed with the look he was getting finally spoke up.

Naruto: “What? Do I have something on my face or something?” He reached up and began to wipe his chin with his free hand. Hinata merely giggled at her lover’s antics with a small blush on her face.

Sakura: “BAKA, why are you holding Hinata’s hand?” She pointed at their hands that were still holding each other. Hinata was the one to speak up first.

Hinata: “Well, why shouldn’t he be holding my hand?” she put her finger up to her chin as though she was wondering about Sakura’s statement. “I mean I am his girlfriend after all. So there’s nothing wrong with us holding hands. Or is there?”

Anko: “I don’t know what you’re getting all worked up about Sakura. I mean, so what if they’re holding hands.’

Sakura: “That’s not what I meant, I’m just surprised that Hinata finally managed to catch him.” She had regained her composure. She knew that Hinata had always been in love with the boy. “So when did the too of you get together?”

Tsunade: “Ahem,” this got everyone’s attention. They all knew that they were supposed to be there on business, not pleasure, “before you get into any of those details, you have a mission to get to Sakura.”

Sakura: “Oh, sorry sensei.” She bowed an apology. She did not want to anger her sensei; she had seen how others had ended up after they angered the slug sage.

???(Kitsune): “YIP!” Everyone but Naruto and Hinata had jumped in surprise as the little fox made his presence known to everyone in the room. He happily jumped onto Hinata’s shoulder and sat on her shoulder while he rubbed his head against her cheek. This caused the girl to giggle.

Naruto: “And just where have you been hiding Kitsune?” he had a very annoyed look on his face, even though there was a sign of relief in his voice, as he picked up the little fox to look him in the eyes. Naruto knew that he could take care of himself, but knowing the little guy. He might’ve gotten into a little bit of trouble while he was gone.

Kitsune: “Yip, yip yip yip ip yip ip yi yip. (Well, I kinda got hungry after seeing Chihiro, so I went and got a snack.)” All everyone heard was a little fox yipping at Naruto, that is, all except Naruto and Hinata. They both understood every word that had come out of the fox’s mouth.

Hinata: “You still should’ve at least come back to tell us you were okay. We were worried that you might’ve gotten hurt.” Everyone looked at Hinata as though she had just said something very embarrassing. She noticed this and looked back at them questionably. “What?”

Tsunade: “How did you know what Kitsune was saying?”

Naruto: “Let’s just say that the two of us have a lot more in common than we thought we had.” He knew the real reason why she had understood the fox language. It was thanks to Shichubi, Kyubi’s mate. “But can we drop the subject for know, me and Hina-chan need to go see what we can salvage from what’s left of our apartments.”

Tsunade: “Oh, right. You two may leave, but I want to talk to you two later. I have some private business to discuss with the two of you. And here’s the address for your new apartment, luckily it’s a two room” She handed the piece of paper to Hinata, knowing full well that Naruto might end up loosing it.

Naruto: “'kay, see ya later oba-chan.” The two disappeared in a puff of smoke before Tsunade could say anything to him.

Kakashi: “And with that, the two of us take our leave.” The Hatake couple took their respective bow and took their leave.

Tsunade: “I’ll get Naruto later for that. Anyways, back to the task at hand,” her attention turned back to Sakura, who apparently, still hadn’t noticed that Sasuke and Sakuya were in the room, “Sakura, you are to be an escort to a missing-nin that has rejoined Konoha. You will be living with him and his daughter until his parole is over.”

Sakura: “You mean I have to live with the guy?” she was utterly annoyed with the thought of having to live with a parolee. “Fine, so when will I meet him?”

Tsunade: “Well, if had been paying attention to your surroundings you would’ve of noticed that the two of them are in this office.” She had to stifle a laugh as her apprentice got a surprised look on her face as she turned to see Sasuke holding a little girl in his arms.

Sasuke: “Hey, Sakura, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it.” He sounded completely nervous.

- - - - -(What’s left of our young couple’s apartments)- - - - -

Naruto hadn’t realized just how bad the damage to their apartments was until he saw it himself. Part of his ceiling was collapsed; there was a huge hole where the window was supposed to be; the bedroom was completely scorched; his kitchen was in pieces, and most of his ramen was lost in a small fire that had spread into his room; and to top it all off, part of his floor had collapsed and fallen into Hinata’s apartment. Her apartment on the other hand had a partially collapsed ceiling; a partially burned bedroom; and a broken window,

Naruto: “Now that I’ve seen just how messed up our apartments are, it is no wonder that Tsunade was so worried.” He had begun to look for anything that might be salvaged from his apartment while Hinata searched her own. “So is there anything you can save down there Hina-chan?” He knew that she owned many things that were very valuable to her, mainly because a few of those things had once belonged to her mother.

Hinata: “Well, a majority of things are damaged, a few are beyond repair,” Naruto felt a surge of guilt course through him, “but luckily all of my most valuable possessions are safe and sound. It’s a good thing that I kept them in a safe place.”

Naruto: “That’s good to hear.” He felt nothing but relief as he heard her say that.

Hinata: “How ‘bout you? There anything you can find?” she knew that he had very few possessions that were very dear to him.

Naruto: “A few,” he let out a quick laugh as he continued his search.

Hinata: “What so funny?”

Naruto: “It’s funny that, for once in my life, I have very few valuable possessions that could get damaged.” Hinata could tell by the tone of his voice that he was both glad and depressed. But then something he whispered to himself caught her attention, “At least ‘that’s’ still safe and sound.”

Hinata activated her Byakugan to see what he was talking about. All she saw was a photo album held in his hands. She saw tears falling down his face. She could tell that the album meant a lot to him. She deactivated her Byakugan as she gathered the last of her things into her briefcases. She made her way up to his apartment. When she entered he had just wiped his tears away and quickly put the album in his backpack. She could tell that it was something that he wanted to keep secret so she didn’t ask anything about it. When she looked at his belongings, she noticed that he only had his mission backpack filled with his belongings.

Naruto: “It looks like I’m gonna have to buy a new clothes.” He had his patented grin on his face.

Hinata: “How come?”

Naruto: “Most of my clothes were sorta burned in the fire.” He got up and scratched the back of his head. “I only got three sets of clothes now.”

Hinata: “Well, I guess we can just go shopping for new clothes,” she gave him a wink, “and I can think of other things we could wear.” She had said the last part in a sultry voice that caused Naruto to get a blush that would put one of her own to shame as he stood there too stunned to say anything. She gave him a quick kiss to snap him out of his trance. “And just what were you thinking of, mm?”

Naruto: “I’d r-r-rather n-n-not say, ehehe,” he became a stuttering mess when he came to. She knew exactly what he was thinking from the look on his face. “Anyway, shouldn’t we get going to our new apartment?” She blushed when she heard him say ‘our apartment’. They both got the last of their things and left. Naruto took Hinata’s briefcases so she could walk freely. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to thank him.

- - - - -(With Sakura, Sasuke, and Sakuya)- - - - -

Sakura was definitely surprised to see Sasuke standing in her sensei’s office, but even more surprised when she realized the father and daughter she was going to escort turned out to be Sasuke and the girl that was hiding behind him. Her jaw had dropped to the straight to the floor. He had definitely changed over the years, and she had as well. She had a tough time believing the girl was his daughter, but once the girl called her an ‘annoying, scary, pink haired lady’ did she believe it.

They were walking down the street to the old Uchiha compound. Sasuke was surprised to see that a large number of the villagers were happy to see him back, while others tensed up and shot glares at him.

Sasuke: ‘I guess this must be what Naruto had to go through when he was young.’ He was beginning to reminisce about the past when a green blur pasted Sasuke and stopped in front of Sakura. The man wore a chunin vest over his green jumpsuit; the man’s hair was long and tied back in a ponytail by a small pink ribbon. When the man looked up it took Sasuke by surprise. It was none other than Lee.

- - - - - -(With our young lovers)- - - - -

The two of them had just arrived at their new apartment. It was at least twice the size of their old ones and was definitely more spacious. It had two bedrooms had a walk-in closet that connected the two; the same could be said about the bathroom. Both rooms had queen-sized beds with clean white sheets. The living room was spacious and had a large couch, a mid-size couch and a lazy boy chair. It also had a large TV with a large variety of movies to choose from. From what Hinata could tell, most were romance. The kitchen was stocked with the basic necessities; fruit, milk, juice, vegetables, you know, the usual. The one thing that was missing from the kitchen, to Naruto’s disappointment, was ramen. The two stood in amazement at the apartment. And they both had the same exact thoughts.

NaruHina: ‘I bet she had this planned the whole time.’ Naruto began to place their stuff in their rooms while Hinata took a closer look at the place. She went to the large window in the living room. It led to a large balcony that connected one of the rooms to the living room. The view was amazing; you could easily see a huge amount of the village. She stood at the edge of the balcony enjoying the view. That was when Naruto put his arms around her and kissed her.

Naruto: “Who would’ve thought that the very same day we get together, we start living together.” The way his voice sounded made her get a blush on her face. “And even after everything that happened this morning.”

Hinata: “Yeah,” she felt the same way he did. “The day had been extremely strange. First the cloud-nin attack, then we confess to each other, we find out about each other’s secret, and now here we are.” She turned around to wrap her arms around his neck. “The two of us living together in the same apartment. I couldn’t be any happier.”

Naruto: “I feel the same. It has been a strange day, but we certainly have something good that came out of it.” He smiled at her as she nodded in agreement. “Right now, I’d say we should go out shopping for clothes tomorrow, but it’s too early to turn in.”

Hinata: “Then let’s go. Kitsune, you keep an eye on the place ‘til we come back, ‘k?” She turned to the little fox that was lying on one of the couches.

Kitsune: “Sure thing!”

Naruto: “And if everything’s in one piece, I’ll make your favorite dinner.” The little fox jumped for joy as the couple left.

- - - - -(Back with the parolee^^)- - - - -

Lee: “Sakura-chan, you’re looking as beautiful as ever today.” Sasuke was surprised to hear him speak as though he had never met his sensei, Guy. What shocked him even more was Sakura walking up to him and giving him a kiss on the lips. Sakuya had to pull on his hair to keep from sliding off his shoulders.

Sasuke: “Ow! That hurt Sakuya-chan.”

Sakuya: “I’m sorry daddy, but I nearly fell off when you let go.”

Lee had then noticed who was accompanying his girlfriend. It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha, the village traitor. Sakura had told him that they had to cancel their dates for a while, because she had to escort a parolee and his daughter around. When he had asked if she knew the person she told him that she wasn’t given any names.

Lee: “So this is the parolee you were talking about on the phone.” She nodded she saw a worried look on his face. She knew that she meant the world to him. He would go to any lengths to keep her happy, which unfortunately ended up with him making a complete embarrassment of himself sometimes. That was what attracted her the most, his willingness to do anything for her, no matter the consequence.

Sakura: “Don’t worry Lee, with all the training I got from Tsunade-sensei and training with you, I’m more than ready to take him on in a moments notice.” She knew that it wouldn’t really keep him from glaring at Sasuke, but at least it calmed him down some.

Lee: “Alright, but I’d feel better if I tagged along. Just in case.” He gave a small wink at her, which caused her to blush. He knew just how to convince her as she nodded. “So just what have you been up to these past few years Uchiha. It seems you’ve been busy trying to revive your clan.” He looked at Sakuya who was riding horsy on his shoulders.

Sasuke: “You leave her out of this,” he glared at Lee.

- - - -(Down the road)- - - -

Ino and Shikamaru were looking for Chouji and their sensei, Asuma. Both of them knew where Chouji would be; at an all you can eat buffet stuffing his face. While Asuma was probably with Kurenai, doing who know what. But the team knew that the two of them had been seeing each other for quite some time. Shikamaru, however, wanted to stop searching for the two, since he already had a pretty good idea of where to find them. That was when Ino spotted something that took her by surprise.

Ino: “No way,”

Shikamaru: “Huh? What is it now?” he looked up towards the direction she was facing. His eyes widened in amazement at what he saw. He wasn’t the only one, Ino’s mouth had dropped to the floor. It was Naruto and Hinata holding hands. The couple had seen them.

Naruto: “Hey Shikamaru,” he got no response. “Hellooo, anybody home?” he waved his hand in front of his face to try to snap him out of whatever had overcome him. Ino was the first one to recover. She instantly turned to Hinata.

Ino: “Oh my god Hinata! How long have you two been dating?’ she was hungry for some gossip. She was expecting Hinata to respond, but to her surprise, it was Naruto that did.

Naruto: “I think it’s been a few hours,” he turned to his love, “right Hinata?”

Hinata: “I think so, although.” She put a face that made it look like she was in deep thought, “I wouldn’t really say that we’ve been together. Especially with everything that happened this morning.” Ino was surprised to hear the girl speak without a single stutter in her voice.

Chouji: “What happened this morning?” he had just come out of the restaurant from where he was eating.

Shikamaru: “I told you he was in there Ino,” he turned to look at the girl, “looks like I win the be. Now cough up.”

Ino: “Fine,” she reached into her wallet and handed him 100 ryo and turned back to Hinata, “So what happened this morning?”

They told the three what had happened after Hinata left her apartment. They even told them about the Akatsuki attack, but they didn’t tell them about Shichubi. Everyone knew they were after the nine-tailed fox that was sealed in Naruto, but still saw him as the same old goofball. They left out other parts too, like the fact that the two of them were living together.

Ino: “So you’re telling us that Sasuke’s back, and he has A THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER?!” she was completely shocked, “I don’t believe it, I mean, wouldn’t he be like, seventeen years old?”

Hinata: “I didn’t believe it at first either, but he definitely has a daughter now.”

Chouji: “Uh, Ino,”

Ino: “What?” he turned to look at the man who was pointing down the road. She turned and saw Sakura with Lee walking with none other than an older looking Sasuke Uchiha with a little girl riding his shoulders. “I don’t believe it.”

Shikamaru: “Is that really him?” he was at a loss for words as he watched the Uchiha holding a small girl on his shoulders. Chouji had dropped the bag of chips that he had begun eating and just stood with his mouth hanging open.

Naruto: “There’s only one way to find out Shikamaru?” he had an evil fox grin on his face as he came up with a plan. “HEY! SASUKE!”

Sasuke turned to see who had called him, and he saw Naruto calling him over. Sakura and Lee had also heard him and followed the Uchiha. It was just by luck that Shino, Kiba and Akamaru had heard Naruto as well. They came over to see how the two were doing after they heard from their sensei of what had occurred at their apartments. When Sasuke arrived, everyone went silent, that is, everyone except Akamaru, who was wagging his tail like crazy from the attention his ears were receiving from Sakuya.

Kiba: “Uh, who the brat?” he asked just to break the silence that was driving him crazy.

Sasuke: “That would be my daughter, Sakuya.” He said it as though it didn’t really matter, but for everyone who didn’t already know or who still had trouble believing it just stood there wide eyed.

Everyone (Except Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Sasuke): “WHAT?!” Akamaru jumped up in surprise from everyone’s sudden scream, and sent Sakuya falling on her butt. The girl immediately began to cry. Sasuke merely walked up to her and picked her up to try to calm her down.

Sasuke: “There, there, he didn’t mean to scare you.” He began humming to calm her down. After a little while, she was fast asleep in his arms.

Ino: “So she really is your daughter after all.” She was looking at the small girl who was sleeping soundly in Sasuke’s arms. “Can you tell us who the mother is?”

Sasuke: “I think it’s time to take her home,” he turned to leave, as though to avoid the question.

Sakura: “Hey wait up! Don’t forget that you can’t go anywhere without an escort!” She ran after him with Lee following close behind. “Sorry guys, see ya later.”

Shikamaru: “Well, looks like the revival of the Uchiha clan has already begun.”

Ino: “That reminds me,” she turned to look at Hinata and Naruto, “If both of your apartments were damaged and had to be quarantined, where are you guys staying?” Everyone that was still present turn to look at the two.

Naruto: “Well, Oba-chan was looking for apartments,” he was nervously scratching the back of his head, “and she was only able to find one.”

Kiba: “Okay, so that clears up where Hinata is living, but what about you Naruto?” at this, Naruto had a huge sweat drop appear on his head.

Hinata: “Well, since the two of us are a couple now, we decided to live together. This way we could pay less for rent and be close to each other.”

Kiba: “WHAT?!” this had obviously disturbed him greatly.

- - - - -(Elsewhere)- - - - -

Pain: “Lady Chihiro!” he was in a slight panic.

Chihiro: “What’s wrong?”

Pain: “It appears that ‘they’ have begun to move. Should I gather my squads to intercept?”

Chihiro: “How long do we have before they arrive?”

Sara: “We have about four days.”

Chihiro: “Howl, send a message to Fox and inform him of what ‘s going on, and tell him we need an answer in two days.”

Pain: “HAI!” with this he disappeared.

Chihiro: “Liz, you will stay here and assist me in contacting the rest of the nine,”

Sara: “You don’t mean?”

Chihiro: “Yes, I think it’s about time that they meet each other in person before the battle.”

Sara: “HAI!” she immediately got into a meditation stance and began to send the message.

Chihiro: “I just hope that Fox and Cat have a favorable decision.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Preview
Chapter 13: The Rest of the Ten Beasts

???: “So, I guess it’s time to open it.”

???: “Will I see you again?”

???: “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to come back.” The young man stepped into the portal and disappeared from his world.