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Chapter Text

They didn’t have time to prepare.

Pain took over Konoha.

Chapter Text

A barrage of explosions hit Konoha. Kaboom! Boosh! Ba-Roomble! There was no rhyme or reason to the area’s hit. Voices in the distance talk about it only being one intruder, but that didn’t make sense of the violence.

There had to be more than one.

From what she could tell, a few were wreaking havoc to divert attention from the real attack. A group searching for the nine tails jinchuuriki. It was a much different tactic than what was used in one tail. They obviously didn’t know where Naruto was.

Because if they did, they wouldn't be here.

“Sakura! Are you alright?” Temari asked when she found the familiar face.

Sakura bypassed the question, “What's going on?!”

“The Akatsuki is attacking Konoha. They want Naruto!”

“The Akatsuki!?”

“I’m sure someone has already alerted the Hokage. The alarm should sound soon.”

As if on cue, the alarm screamed through the streets alerting villagers to go to the shelter and ninja to join the fight. Right above them was a speaker, now constantly wailing with red flashing lights.

“I can’t believe they’ve directly attacked us.”

Another wave of explosions went off in the distance, competing with the alarm. The loud noises made it hard to think, and even harder to act.

“You have to…” She was already familiar with the reality of an attack of this caliber, “It’s just like when they attacked Sunagakure. We have to stay in control.”

“You're right…” Sakura steadied her breath, looking for a route to take.

“Sakura, let's get to the hospital now. You have to heal the injured.” She readied her fan, “I’ll clear you a path.”

“Let’s go to Temari!”

Naruto took Menma to the Kazekage building to convince his husband to play hookey and have lunch with them. It was some national holiday or something, so the academy was closed. The office only had a skeleton crew of necessary employees. It’s not like Gaara would be missing a lot if he indulged Naruto.

“Love?” Naruto opened the door, “I would say your secretary let me in, but he’s not in today. Which begs the question, why are-

A slug appeared in the center of Gaara’s paperwork-filled desk, leaving a trail of goo in its path, “Konoha is in danger!”

“What?” Gaara looked away from his family.

“The Akatsuki!” her shrill voice penetrates the room, “The Akatsuki has attacked Konoha!”

“I have to go!” Naruto marched forward, ready to charge into the fight.

“You can’t-

“I must go.” Naruto knew what they were after, “I’m the target. I can’t let them-

“You're not going,” Gaara wouldn’t let him go, “alone.”

“You can’t come with me.” Naruto knew, “If they went to Konoha, they could still come here. Someone has to stay back to protect Menma. You're the only one I trus-

Gaara's sister was in Konoha, “Take Kankuro.”

“Isn’t he busy this week? We can’t just take him off-

“Take Kankuro.” Gaara wasn’t going to let Naruto win that fight, “If he thinks you need more shinobi, take them too. Temari will be your back up when you get there.”

“Okay, I’ll ask him…” Naruto glanced down to their child.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got Menma.” Gaara replied.

“Thank you.” Naruto almost forgot about the immediate danger, “Oh! Menma has a play date this week. You need to make sure his bag is packed. I’m not having Ryūsa’s mom think we don’t care for him. She’s the wife of that one councilman who already doesn't like me. I don’t want them to have another reason.”

“Okay.”

“Oh and on Tuesday, he has a doctor's appointment at 2. So you need to take him to that.”

“Okay.”

“And there’s-

Gaara cut him off, “Naruto, I have everything under control.”

“I know… its just-

“All on our calendar.” Gaara smiled, “he’s my child, too. I know his schedules and I know how to take care of him.”

“I know. It's just the first time I’ll be away from him.”

“You’ve got this Naruto. You’ll come back.” Gaara promised, “I’ve got our son.”

Konoha is protected by a spherical barrier that encompasses both the village itself and the air above it. It is set that anyone who tries to enter is detected immediately. Meaning the second Naruto stepped foot inside its rage, they were alerted.

“Where are we?” Naruto looks left, then right.

“We should be at the gates.” Kankuro said.

The forest is cast in a sea of fog. Nothing can be seen except the wall of misty white. Explosions in the distance, something’s not right. “Where's the enemy?!”

Naruto should be in Konoha by now… He is. It just isn’t Konoha any more, it's rubble. Slugs dripped out from the cracks in the earth to heal the wounded. The moans of the fallen call out to them. Naruto is too late.

This is all his fault.

“Good.” Pain stood in the middle of the chaos, “Now I don’t have to hunt you.”

“That's Naruto!” A far away voice announced his late entrance.

On cue, Naruto summoned his frogs. He was ready for this fight. He was ready for vengeance. Men in black and red clouded cloaks fell from the sky.

“All six together.” the frog said, “Tsunade!”

She appeared between Naruto and Pain, “I am the Fifth Hokage. How dare you trample my city. I will not forgive you.”

“You finally comprehend pain? I have no more need for you.” A twisted smile. “I seak-

“Me!” Naruto attacked the part of Pain that went after Tsunade. He could no longer stand back and wait. He was what Lord Jairya sacrificed so much for. “There is no need for Konoha's Hokage to bother herself with the likes of them… You should just sit back and sip some tea, granny.”

“Naruto…”

Tsunade and Pain said in unison, “Uzumaki Naruto.”

Naruto didn’t get married and mated to still be called Uzumaki, “This stops now! Kankuro, get gran to safety. I’m taking over from here.”

“Where’s my sister?” Kankuro appeared next to the Hokage, ready to ferry her off behind the barricades.

“Helping Sakura at the Hospital.”

He knew that was probably the best place for both of them, but not a good place to retreat to, “Okay.”

“Before we go, Naruto, you need to know that Pain is controlling these bodies through their Chakra Rods.” She said, “It's the weak point to their connection.”

“So those black things… are receivers?” Kankuro had a wicked smirk.

“It’s what our cypher corps said.” She threw a slug at Naruto, “Take Katsuyi with you, she has the rest of the intel you’ll need.”

The slug that brought them here slid into Naruto’s breast pocket, “I probably shouldn't bring this up… but, I’m able to sense everyone's chakra now. Is Kakashi-sensei on a mission away from this village?”

Silence.

Naruto was good at reading silence, “Okay.”

“Art of Summoning,” their enemy was tired of waiting.

Fuck.

A giant rhino charges forward. Naurto waited till the last second to grab its horn and fling it to the sky. That wasn't enough, beast after beast changes forward meeting the same fate.

Naruto shouted, “Keep the rest of the village out of this. I can’t worry about their safety!”

The two disappear to the otherside of the battlefield. Naruto trusted them to save everyone. Kankuro already had his puppets ready to defend from any shrapnel that went their way.

One of the fragments of Pain seps forward.

“Naruto! Ninjutus doesn't work against that one, he just absorbs it.” The slug let him know.

That’s an easy fix, he pulls back his fist for a punch. Naruto utilized the natural energy around him, it became a part of him. Twirling the fragment forward on impact.

“I see you’ve become a sage… Just like Jariya.”

Why would he bring up, “Pervy Sage?”

“He was also once my teacher. We are the same, learning under the same man… we ought to be able to understand each other. The peace he desir-

“Shut up!” A Rasengun shuriken held in the air, “What part of any of this is peaceful.”

“You just can't comprehend the true meaning of peace. Just allow yourself to be captured… Your death will end all of this.” Pain explained foolish notions of nothing.

“I said: Shut up!” The windmill shuriken flung forward with rage, slicing through Pain and all his stupid fucking words.

“Deidara was right. You don’t listen.”

Deidara… that was the one who hurt Gaara. It's like this man wants to die. He practically begs for death with each word, “Why do you keep talking?”

Rasengan Barrage!
Naruto's pupils spit open, the first sign of the fox. More and more loved ones die from Pain’s hand. Nothing seems to stop this force of nature.

“You finally comprehend Pain.”

The power of the ninetails spills from his body making shape of rage birth of hate. Because of the existence of love, its absence creates pain. Bones forming over the massive chakra of the beast inside Naruto.

“You finally hate me,” Pain gets a sick pleasure from that, “In the end, you will find my hatred is still greater than yours.”

Chapter Text

Naruto awoke next to Kyuubi. Red chakra slipped through the bars, threatening to break the cage. The seal held on the best it could, the beast was angry.

He wondered if he should end it all now. If he didn’t stop Pain in Konoha, he was sure to go to Suna. The only hope that Naruto still held onto was that Gaara was protecting their child.

Who knew what the Akatsuki planned to do with-

“The Fourth Hokage?!” Kyuubi screamed, “Come here! I’ll rip you to fucking shreds!”

The man Naruto had only seen carved into the mountain tops stood before his very eyes. The Fourth Hokage, the one who sealed this beast inside him to save the village. He smirked, “Heh, Not the best invitation, so… um, No thanks. Right, Naruto?”

“...” it registers, “Naruto… That's my- my name? How- How?”

“I am the one who named you.”

“What?!” There’s no way the Fourth Hokage named Naruto. The man died the same day that he was born. He couldn’t have had any time to name a random bab-

“Well, you're my son after all.”

“Your son?”

The mighty beast roared behind them.

Ignoring the gravity of this conversation, the nine tails just wanted freedom to tear the other man apart. He wanted vengeance for his current state. He paced around the small confines looking for a way to attack. Thick red chakra poured out in waves.

“You heard me, you're my son, Naruto.”

Naruto didn't know whether or not to laugh or cry. This man, the fourth, is his father. He picked laugher. Naruto laughed, as the caged beast screamed in rage.

The Fourth said, “You're right. That thing is just too ridiculous. Let's go somewhere quieter.”

In a flash they were transported to a new location, the void inside Naruto's mind. Laughter and tears met each other in an emotional symphony over Naruto's face. This couldn't be real. He must be dreaming.

“The Third didn't tell you much. Did he?”

If this was real… Naruto only had one chance to do this. He punched his would-be father in the stomach, “Why would you ever put the nine tails inside your own son! How could you put me through all of that?”

“Naruto, how old are you now?” The Fourth ignored his tears.

“Ei-Eight-Eighteen.” he managed to sniff out. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to yell. However tears kept taking over his face, twisting him into a pathetic being in front of his own father.

“Wow, already? Eighteen. It must have been hard for you… forgive me. Though, I suppose it's a little consultation for me to put on a fatherly face and apologize now… after putting you through all of that.”

“It's alright.” Naruto knew the alternative. The city would have been destroyed. Everything he grew to love would be nothing but ash if he wasn't the martyr. “I’m the Fourth Hokage’s kid. I’ll deal.”

The Fourths winced at his son's words.

“I sealed the nine tails chakra inside of you, because I trusted you would master his power. You are my son.” The fourth paused, “But also, there's another reason I went through this trouble. Eighteen years ago, the fox didn’t attack alone, there was someone behind his actions. A man who manipulated him and made him assault the village.”

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock, he always thought the fox acted alone. He was just a monster that needed to be trapped away. The beast was imprisoned for someone else's actions.

“For anyone to defeat him, they would need to have considerable strength. That's why you were chosen to hold this power. He’s going to attack again.”

That's all well and good, but “... Konoha is gone.”

“I saw.”

“Wait… You watched!?” Just like the fox.

“I know about Jiraiya too.” The man, no his father, didn't mention Sasuke. Or any other atrocity that had befallen his son over the years. He didn’t mention Naruto’s son or husband.

“What about my son?”

“You're married to the Kazekage.” He almost seemed disinterested. Like, yeah, there's a war going on, but he should care about his own grandson. “And you two have a child together.”

“What do you have to say about that?” Naruto didn’t know why he wanted some sort of approval from the man.

“It was an interesting development.”

An interesting development? His entire world changed. That’s all the best and worst thing to happen to Naruto was. An interesting development!

Naruto had half a mind to find the Kyuubi rip open the seal and let him get his revenge, but “Why now?”

“Naruto, we don’t have time for this.” He sighed.

“I think we do… Why now? After all these years? Why now?”

“Naruto.”

“No, dad, you don’t get to do this… Why step in now if you saw everything? Not any of the other times I almost died. When I was bleeding out on that river bank… Not when Sasu-Sasuke-

“I already apologized, we need to get to more-

“When Sasuke,” Naruto couldn't say it, “you saw?”

His mouth thined into a straight line, “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you do anything then?”

“Because I couldn’t.” The fourth explained, “I used all my chakra to seal a part of myself inside you to give you this message. I can’t do anything in this form.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Now we have to finish, before what little strength I have goes away.”

“Fine.” Naruto could let it go for now, it's not like the man was really here, “Was it Pain all those years ago, too?”

“No… Another member of the Akatsuki. The masked one.” The fourth sighed in relief.

An image of an orange mask swirled into Naruto's head.

“Back then, he saw right through all my moves. He's no ordinary ninja. I think he's the one using Pain.”

“You're wrong… Pain has its own motives.”

“He does. That's what the real user is using. Its a win wid for-

“He's being used!? And there's even a mastermind. Why is Konoha always the target?” Naruto yelled. Orochimaru, Sunagakure, the Akatsuki, everyone, they all have a grudge against the Leaf… What did they do so wrong for this to happen like that.

The Fourth paused, “As long as there exists a Ninja Culture in this world… there may never be peace and order. War is born when one tries to save something precious. So long as love exists, hate does as well. That hatred uses Ninja. Thus, as long as we have ninja culture, the monster known as hate will always give birth to new Pains. A battle against hatred, that's what ninja are. Each and every one of us battle that hatred.” The Fourth looked at his son, “You were given the quest to end this hatred.”

“I can't forgive Pain… I just can’t.” not after what he did to Jariya or the village or whatever he planned to do when he captured the ninetails.

“I know.”

“Lord Fourth,” father, “please tell me, what should I do?”

“You have to find that answer yourself.” What an asshole! They threw all of this on to a child… onto a baby. And they didn't even have the answer to the problem. They just passed it onto the next generation.

“You’re all so fucking selfish! How am I supposed to do that? I’m not smart! I’m not a great ninja! and-

A hand covers Naruto's head, “You’ll find the answer. I believe in you.”

“...”

The world faded away, he was no longer with the Fourth Hokage, but atop the crumbling ground. The seal blocking Kyuubi’s power felt stronger than ever. Naruto was on his own.

Thanks.

Chapter Text

Naruto ripped the rod from the dead body to sever its connection to its source. The corpse dropped to the ground, now lifeless. He had defeated most of the Pains, there was only one more left. Still in the back of his mind rang the truth, the real ones not among them.

“Kankuro!”

“Little busy!” He was dealing with the blow back of some of the summoned creatures.

Naruto bounced back to Kankuro’s position, “I need your opinion.”

He repeated, “Little. Busy.”

“These guys are basically puppets. But, like, more advanced and more dead-body like… If you were the one controlling them… where would you be?”

That made him stop, “What's the range?”

“We don’t know the full specs of their range,” the slug said, “but we imagine they have to be in the city limits.”

“Okay.” Kankuro did the same thing Gaara would do when he was thinking, his thumb and forefinger rested on his chin. Eyes scanned over some sort of map that must be visualized in his mind.

“Well?” Naruto asked.

“I’m thinking.” Kankuro said, “The rods connect him to its source, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay. I’m going to try something stupid… Keep me safe for the next couple of minutes.”

“Okay.” Naurto could do that.

Bright blue strands drop from Kankuro’s puppets and attach to the rod. Kankuro went into a meditative state focusing on the energy. Reaching out to the chakra that binds it to its host. Kankuro know’s one thing for sure… he's got to bring some of these back home with him.

In the cover of smoke, a clone skillfully took out the older Pain. Kankuro observed the chakra unbind itself from the connector ports on his body in real time. The snap pulled it far away from the village.

There's only one more in front of them. If they didn’t know the truth, it would be easy to assume this one was the leader. He was more caredfor than the others that fought along his undead ranks. Bright orange-red hair, a row of black rods mimicking piercings along his nose, and a missing nin headband.

Two clones continued forward to take him out.

Shinra Tensei Almighty Push.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Poof. Poof.

The slug informed them, “According to Choji, the minimum interval between that jutsu is about 5 seconds. Meaning you must strike then.”

“You are truly strong… this is the furthest we’ve ever had to go.” Pain complimented.

Banshoten’in! Universal Pull.

Woosh. The real Naruto was pulled into striking distance of one of the Pains. Who quickly restrained his arms against his back.

“This ends now.” The favored pain stepped forward, “Don’t worry I won't kill you. You’re my precious jinchuriki after all.”

Naruto smirked, “You think you can hurt me?! I’m in sage mode, you idiot! It's my tur-

His lifeforce started to drain. The Pain behind him is sucking out all the Senjutsu Chakra out of him. It didn’t take more than 5 seconds before Naruto was stripped of his sage mode.

In the weakened state, Naruto was shoved and pinned to the ground. Four black pillars kept him in place. He could feel the others chakra coursing through his bones.

Operation Capture the Nine Tails: Accomplished.

“Reinforcements?” Pain looked up from his prize.

Naruto screamed into the wind, “Kankuro! Don-

“I’m going to need your help!” Blue chakra strings attached themselves to each of the four pillars.

Weakening their hold just enough for Naruto’s own chakra to be free. He tried pulsing it out similarly to their opponents push technique. Naruto had only seen it in action a few times, but he thinks he understands it enough to replicate it.

It didn’t matter, as Pain stepped on the one holding his hand in place. Pushing it further into Nauto’s body. He wouldn’t be free any time soon.

Naruto could see deep into the void, there was a man behind everything pulling the strings. His theory was right. He could feel the chakra of his brother-in-law searching. They joined for a second.

“Pathetic.” Pain said.

Shinra Tensei Almighty Push.

Luckily for them Kankuro’s puppet strings were were still firmly affixed to the rods. The push pulled them out just enough for Naruto to be able to do the rest. One hand free.

Shadow Clone.
Rasengan Barrage!

Shinra Tensei Almighty Push.

One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Fi-

Slicing Whirlwinds.

Wind trapped Pain in a never ending vortex. Slicing his flesh from every direction. The blows knocked out the black rods embedded in his body, until the man returned a corpse.

Kankuro looked around for a glimpse of his sister. Only to see Naruto in the middle of all the dust. A small black fan in his hand.

“We did it.” Naruto said with a half smile.

Kankuro grinned, “Good. I found him!”

“Tell me where! I need to go there now.” Naruto ran up to his brother-in-law.

“You’re following me. You need reinforcements.”

“No,” Naruto knew he couldn’t risk anyone else, so many people have lost their lives protecting him, “I’m going alone.”

“The fuck you are.”

“Kankuro.”

“Naruto.”

They stared at each other longer than two people in the middle of a battlefield should ignore their opponent.

Kankuro caved first, “Do you want to tell Gaara why I let you go to the leader of the Akatsuki on your own?”

“If you can't, yeah.” Naruto knew Gaara would understand why he chose to go alone.

“That was rhetorical. I’m not letting you do this.”

“We have to stop him.”

“Yeah,” Kankuro emphasized, “We do.”

In the middle of the forest, far from the village was a tree made of paper. It was easy to mistake the paper amongst the trees. Closer inspection would show its opening. Two folded sheets peeled open to reveal the would-be mastermind of the Akatsuki.

A sickly man attached to a machine. It was unclear if it kept him alive or kept him closer to death. Deep red hair plastered against sickly pale skin. Lavender circles upon circles upon circles made two eyes that could stare into one's soul. He was more of a corpse than those he controlled.

Next to him, a caretaker of sorts. A beautiful woman dawned in a black cloak with red clouds. A white flower tucked into her dark hair. She was the creator of this hideout.

A vicious cycle of hatred will soon be set in motion. The Akasuki would soon fail their mission of breaking the cycle. For as long as there are shinobi, there will always be new pain.

“So the peacemaker comes tottering in,” a skeleton of a man said, “Konan, stay out of this.”

“But Nagato,” Konan said.

“You in the back are you the real Pain?” Naruto asked.

“Do you hate me?” his voice held a giddy excitement, “You're finally facing the object of your vendita.”

“Killing Nagato isn’t going to change the world. You’ll only get personal satisfaction.” Konan joined in.

“So?” Kankuro asked, “We’re shinobi, not moral high ground police. We have a job to do… and that's taking you out.”

Nagato ignored him, this was directed to Naruto, “There is nothing you can do… Your role should be to sacrifice yourself to me. Be a part of the peace I plan to construct.”

“I’m not joining you. I’m going to make my own peace.” Naruto announced his desire onto the world.

“Such a childish statement. How do you plan on creating peace?”

“Well…” Naruto hadn’t thought that far ahead, but “I want to hear your story.”

“Naruto! That’s the dumbest thing you could-

Naruto ignored Kankuro, shoving the rod from earlier into his stomach, “tell me of your pain. And I’ll tell you my plan, ya’ know?”

“Sure, I’ll tell you my pain.” Nagato chuckled darkly. This was all just a joke to him. A gag. Something to stall the time between now and the next fight.

Kankuro made a point to look at the woman, he now knows as Konan, as if to say ‘are you seeing what I’m seeing?’ She would shrug and wait beside her leader. Kankuro did the same, wondering what Naruto’s plan must be. There had to be a sign that both of them were waiting for.

Nagato’s Story.

It was a story of death and loss. The first experience of loss was during the ninja war. His parents' passing made him a war orphan. If it were not for his friends Yahiko, Konan and a dog, he would not have made it.

They were thick as thieves. Stealing what they needed to survive the harsh conditions they found themselves in. Eventually stumbling onto one Lord Jiraiya. Who against rational advice took time to mentor the group. Like Naruto, they were trained for three years under his guidance.

Their teacher told a story of the Sage of Six Paths. A monk who appeared in the middle of an unending war. He discovered the workings of chakra and taught it to the world. Ninjutus started out as teachings to help humans achieve peace, not the weapons they became.

Like Nagato, he possessed the Rinnegan. Which is what led Pervy Sage to think his student was the child of prophecy. The one who would bring peace and order.

Their first organization created under those ideals reached the Amegakure leader. They proposed a deal to start negotiations between the three warring nations. Their power would be used to ensure an agreement. Unfortunately things didn't go as planned.

Yahiko died.

Nagato’s second great pain. Baptized in the blood of his friend he realized the ideals he grew up with were nothing but silly words. If he wanted real change, Nagato would have to take matters into his own hands.

The peace that large nations had, was paid for by the sacrifices of the smaller lands they fought on. Smaller nations were merely casualties to those with power. Just by living people hurt others without even realizing it.

True peace could not exist in such a cursed world.

“Now that I’ve told you my tale.” he smirked, “How do you propose peace?”

“You might be right… I mean, like, I kinda think the same as you, ya’ know.”

Kankuro wondered what that rod must be doing to his brain, “Wha-

“I understand where you're coming from. Yet, I still hate you.”

“Then you want to settle things?” Nagato knew this would end in violence, as everything does.

“No. Pervy Sage believed in me and left me his quest. So I gotta believe in Pervy Sage’s belief. That’s my answer… And that’s why I can't kill you.”

“Naruto. We have to kill him. He’s literally trying to kill you.” Kankuro whisper-yelled at him. This didn’t seem like it was part of some great tricking the bad guy plan.

“Your friend has a point. If you don’t kill me… I’m going to kill you. That’s how the shinobi world works.” Nagato said.

“It doesn’t have to be.” Naruto said, “Our sensei had hope for a better world.”

“You want me to believe in Lord Jiraiya? Again? You saw what happened the first time. There is no such thing as true peace! Not as long as we live in this cursed world.”

“In that case, I’ll break the curse. If there is such a thing as peace I’ll find it. I’m not giving up.”

“... You… thats…”

“Nagato, what's the matter?” Konan asked.

“Those words!” Pain recognized them from stories long told.

“That's right. They’re from Pervy Sage's book… The same book my husband and I read to our son.”

“That book-

“Now that I’ve heard your story… I realized the back of the book, where he wrote about what inspired him… it was you, Nagato.”

“That could just be a coincidence.”

“I don’t think it is… I think you're supposed to be the main character.” If that is true, Naruto was named after the man standing in front of him.

Flashes of his mentor's writing went through Nagato's mind, “He wrote it when he was taking care of us.”

“Naruto, my name is a precious heirloom from Pervy Sage. My father read the same book you inspired, and chose my name because he wanted me to embody the ideals of that character. I plan on doing that.” Naruto remembered the photo sandwiched between the pages, ‘I can’t wait for you to meet him!’

“Why should I believe you… how can you vow you won't change?”

“Being a parent has made me wonder… what type of world do I want my son to grow up in.” Naruto said, “I don’t want him to grow up in a world full of pain. I’m not good with my words, like our sensei, so I can’t write a book. Any sequel must come from my life.”

“Many parents change when they have something precious they must protect.”

“Some do… but I want to be the change in this world that my son needs. I’ve already done a lot… but I know there's a lot more I have to do. I promise you, as long as I live, I will make this world a better place.”

Rather than live in pain, he wished he moved past the hardness. For a while Jairya had believed Nagato was the one to bring peace to the shinobi world. What's important is having faith, and believing it's possible.

Naruto’s words changed the other's heart, “You're right,” his arms pulled from the device with a sickening plop, “I had given up on our sensei’s way a long time ago… but I think I can believe in you, Naruto.”

Gedo.

Back in the village a creature emerged from the earth. Its mouth opened and green chakra vomited out in little balls. The souls returned to their bodies. Life returned to the village.

War inflicts pain on both sides. The more precious someone is, the harder it is to accept they might die. It's easier to convince yourself that they won't die. Easier to believe among those who have never experienced war. Today they were spared from that reality.

“I was still able to at least revive those I had killed in Konoha… Think of it as reparations.”

“You?”

“Wasteful death… eternal hatred… Pain that does not heal… that is what war is. These are things you are to face in the coming years.” he smiled, “The words in that book… and your life… The parallels. It's almost like it was set up by an actual god.” Nagato's last breath was used to share that, “I trust the world to you, Naruto.”

“You have their dreams now.” She twirled the paper into a bouquet of flowers, and handed them over.

“That’s all well and good, but we still need to take you in.” Kankuro prepared his puppet for capture. The clanking of wood would soon be her jail.

“Kankuro, let her go.” Naruto was sure of her words, “She’s telling the truth.”

He wasn’t having it, “That doesn’t matter. She's a crimi-

“Kankuro. Just go back to the village… Please.” Naruto said, “I’ll deal with her.”

Maybe it was seeing a literal miracle happen before his own eyes, but Kankuro didn’t put up much of a fight. He left shortly after making sure Naruto wasn’t a complete idiot.

The last pain they fought appeared before them. Konan wrapped him in a paper coffin alongside Nagato. Their bodies floated in the air with care as the tree that once stood tall fell apart.

“Was that?”

“Yahiko? Yes.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m leaving the Akatsuki. Without Nagato there’s no reason for me to be there…” She looked upon her friend's bodies with sadness, all the fight had left her.

“That’s probably for the best… I hope you can find peace.”

“Me too.”

Chapter Text

Remnants of the paper fell from the sky. Konan was long gone from this place, leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts. He wondered if he could live up to everything he promised Nagato. He hoped he could be the person their sensei had wanted him to be.

Naruto should have joined Kankuro back to the village, but there was something lingering in the back of his mind telling him to stay. A gut feeling? Divine intervention? His own stupidity? Who knows.

A figure made its way out of the shadows, “You’ve always been very interesting.”

There he was.

Again.

“Sasuke.” Naruto wondered how much fight he still had left in him, “What are you doing here?”

“I can’t visit my favorite omega?”

“No. You really can’t.” Naruto tried to put distance between them, “What do you want?”

“A conversation.” Sasuke was wearing his Akasuki cloak off the shoulders, to show off the outfit he wore with Orochimaru.

“I’m not falling for that again.”

“Fine…” Sasuke walked forward into the light, “You could start by telling me where our son is?”

Fuck.

“Dead.”

“Naruto. You're not a good liar.”

“It’s the truth. He died in the initial Pain attack. The explosion destroyed his daycare.”

“Tsk. Seeing as Pain committed suicide, and wasn’t ripped apart by the fox… maybe reconsider your answer.” He gestured to the space behind them where Nagato was minutes before.

“Fine. You got me. I left him with a family in a small village somewhere you’ll never find.”

“Naruto. Tell the truth.” the command grated on his ear drums.

But, “That won't work on me.”

“You really let that asshole claim you?”

“Yes.” Naruto readied his fan, it was a backup in case he exhausted all of his chakra, “I’m assuming you already know where my son is.”

“I do.”

“I’m not going to let you take me.”

“I’m not planning on it.” Sasuke appeared to be at full strength, but still hasn’t done anything.

Naruto realized, “You didn’t rat me out to the Akatsuki.”

“Why would I?” He said, still wearing their coat.

“You work for them.”

Sasuke let out a huff of air, “Don’t make me laugh. I don't work for anyone. I’m using them. The same way I used Orochimaru.”

The same way you use everyone, Naruto didn’t say, instead he said, “Okay.”

“They promised me if I helped them with the eight tails, they would help me destroy Konoha… but here Konoha is destroyed. Without my help. No one keeps their promises nowadays.” Sasuke sighed, “To be honest, I don’t care what you do any more.”

“If you don’t care what I do… I’m leaving. Goodby-

“Eh… Not just yet.” Sasuke placed a blade at Naruto's throat.

“Fuck you.”

“You don’t want to leave without your parting gift.” a heavy backpack was placed into Naruto's hand.

“What is it?”

“Forbidden scrolls from Konoha. I collected them when everyone else was distracted.” Sasuke had a look in his eyes that Naruto had to tell himself wasn’t kindness.

“You know I can’t take these.” The weight in his hand, he knew there was a lot.

“Even if they are on the sharingan?” Sasuke whispered into his ear, “Don’t you think our son should have all the tools he needs to succeed?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Well that's simple… As much as I hate that man has kidnapped my child. But… it's better than them being raised in Konoha. You know what the monsters around here are like.” It couldn't be that simple.

“Gaara didn- Whatever.” It was the closest thing to acceptance Naruto was going to get… not that he needed it from that bastard. “So what are you doing next?”

“I’ve got to talk to Madara… He’s got some explaining to do.” Sasuke looked out to the world, “When I’m done, I’ll come for you and little Menma.”

Naruto and Gaara would be ready for that, “Okay.”

Chapter Text

Naruto had to return to Konoha. He couldn't risk staying out here much longer now that he knew Sasuke was around. Even though the alpha had already left, who knew if he’d change his mind.

The exhaustion of the battle and emotional turmoil took a toil on Naruto’s body. Gripping the trees for balance became a necessity with each step. He knew he should rest now, recover some energy instead of pushing himself beyond his limits.

The tree’s felt like they were getting further and further apart. The rough texture of the bark grating against his palms. Greenish-yellow light flickering through the leaves. The world was spinning.

Before he could stop, Kakashi-sensei made an appearance, he’s really not dead, “Good job… You can rest now.”

The rest of the journey was much easier on his sensei's back. Naruto felt lighter than air. The occasional bounce off a branch kept time. Even though he knew it was gone, Naruto expected to see the gate.

It was a vast nothingness.

“Oi! You should have let me stay with you if you were this bad.” Kankuro was the first to greet him, it's how Naruto even knew where they were.

“Sorry… I thought I could-

“Naruto!” Sakura ran up to him next, “You idiot…”

Her voice wasn’t harsh. Filled with a type of knowing reverence. Sakura spent the entire time in the hospital watching as her fellow shinobi died. She did as much as she could, but there's only so long you can fight death. Watching them come back to life must have felt like the impossible.

“Hey, I thought I could do it.” Naruto was pulled into a hug.

“Thank you.”

Naruto smiled, transformed into a hero right in front of Konoha.

More and more people made it out of the rubble. Some faces he knew as friends. Others acquaintances. Most strangers. Surrounded by the village that once rejected him.

It was reminiscent of when Gaara returned from the dead. His village surrounded him with the same new found love. An appreciation of his strength and desire to protect them.

Hip-hip- Hooray!
Hip-hip- Hooray!
Hip-hip- Hooray!

The entire Leaf Village celebrated Naruto’s victory against Pain. This type of acceptance was something he begged for his entire life. It was just too much too late.

It felt hollow.

He’s glad he could help, but this wasn’t the same community Naruto had grown used to in Sunagakure. There he earned their acceptance with little actions each day.

Intermingling his life and daily rituals with others. Naruto would see the same people at the cafes he frequented with Gaara. Menma would play with the same children at the park. He had frequent meetings with the parents of the children he taught at the academy. His friends would hang out as often as possible.

It wasn’t the same here.

He still had friends here, obviously. There were many people he loved and cherished. That would never go away.

But Naruto looked around, and said, “I want to go home.”

“What do you mean?” Sakura looked confused.

“Home. Ya’ know, with my son,” Naruto reminded her, “and my husband.”

“Right,” She frowned. Both of her original team mates no longer resided in Konoha. Even with all her training with Tsunade she felt so behind. If Naruto didn't show up, the village wouldn't be here.

“I’m glad I was able to help.”

“Me, too, Naruto. Me, too.” She finally looked up at him, “Are yo-

“I’ll stay till the morning.”

Kankuro agreed, “That’s good with me.”

Konoha still had the best ramen. It still had most of his childhood friends. It still had memories of a life long past. Naruto could enjoy those. But it was no substitute for his real home, the one with his family.

Naruto didn’t know what to do with this backpack. He knew if he was found with it there would be nothing but problems for Suna… even worse implications.

Maybe that’s what Sasuke wanted.

He wanted to have Naruto revealed as a traitor. Ostracized him from his old community and his new one with one act. It would be easy to pin this on him. It’s the first time Naruto stole a forbidden scroll.

If what Sasuke said was true, and these were all scrolls on the sharingan. It would make obvious of Menma’s heritage.

Then of course Suna would be blamed for it all. Who knows what would happen with their treaties. He had to do something about this.

Naruto could just drop the bag somewhere and hope not to be seen. He could also just tell the truth, or a slightly edited version of the truth. He saw Sasuke, and while he couldn't capture him, Naruto was able to take this bag from him. That might do it.

“Kankuro,” would know what to do.

“Hah?”

“We need to talk.”

“Okay?” Kankuro figured, “You wanna stay the night? Recover a bit before going back home. Right?”

“I mean yeah, that too, but, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“What is it?”

“We can’t talk here.”

Kankuro nodded. Dark eyes dotted around the newly forming crowd searching for an exit. By himself he could easily weave his way through without getting noticed, with the hero of the village, that was a different story.

They wait a bit for the excitement to die down. The villagers were finally bored of singing Naruto’s praise and had to deal with the reality of the situation. They might not be dead, but they didn’t have homes.

Temporary structures had to be built. It was overseen by Nara Shikaku and Yamato. Nara took control of some of the many jonin, to gather the villagers and determine their needs. Yamato, with his wood style jutsu, helped with building the structures.

With all the distraction it was easy to slip away. They weren't needed for the rebuilding process. Kankuro led Naruto to the outskirts, but still within vague eyesight of the others.

In the privacy of the more abandoned part of the wreckage, Naruto admitted the truth, that “I saw Sasuke.”

“... What?” Kankuro wrecked his brain on if he might have seen that man too, “Where? When?”

“After I was done talking to Konan.”

“I knew we couldn’t trust her-

“She had left a long time before he came. Konan had nothing to do with it.” Naruto fiddled with the strap of the backpack, “Sasuke came alone.”

“You're still here… so I can assume he’s not with the Akatsuki any more?” Kankuro had a hopeful tone at the end.

“I don’t know… Sasuke’s pissed at the Akatsuki for not being included in all of this…”

Kankuro scoffed, “He always was a drama queen.”

“That’s not the issue… Sasuke gave me something… and I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Well, what is it?”

Naruto looked around then opened the bag just a bit, before immediately fastening it shut.

“What are those?” Kankuro immediately regretted this spot.

“What you think they are…” Naruto’s voice got uniquely quiet, “about the Uchiha.”

Kankuro's eyes widened for a split second, then he opened his puppet, “Put it in here.”

Naruto hesitated.

“Now.”

Naruto followed instructions that time.

“You can’t be found with them.” he said with gritted teeth.

“But what about you?”

Instead of answering the question, Kankuro said, “We leave first thing in the morning. You are going to mention to Lady Tsunade that you saw Sasuke later tonight. You did not talk to him.”

“Huh?”

“You didn’t talk to him. You saw him for a moment as you were heading back to Konoha. Your chakra was depleted, so you didn’t engage. Do you understand?”

“Um, yeah, okay.” Naruto nodded.

“Good.” Kankuro looked off to the distance, “I’m going to spend time with my sister, and keep a low profile. If I am not with you in the morning, leave without me.”

“I’m not going to leave withou-

“Yes you are.”

“No, you’re my-

“The Kazekage’s Omega, the mother of his child, is not going to be found with these.”

“You're his brother, it's just as bad.”

“No it's not. I’m the leader of the anti-terrorist group of our nation. Uchiha Sasuke is an enemy of Sunagakure.” Kankuro knew, “It doesn't look good if I’m found, but I have a better excuse. So, what's the plan?”

“We keep a low profile tonight.”

“No. I keep a low profile. You're the hero. Enjoy yourself, be seen, spend time with friends.”

“... Okay? So I get seen. Then I tell granny I saw Sasuke… but I didn’t talk to him.”

“Good. Then what.”

“We leave first thing in the morning.”

“And?”

“And if you're not there, I leave alone.”

“Good.”

Later that evening, the tents were all set up. It might not be much, but it was a home.

With all the destruction the clans were able to petition for more land. The Uchiha District was no longer a problem for expansion. Naruto was glad he took Menma to the Naka Shrine when he had the opportunity. The old men all argued around a table about where their new estates should be set up. It was a bit crass to do it so publicly.

The locations of certain government buildings, like the Hokage's Office, were fixed locations. Others could be reworked to fit the whims of the people in charge. Konoha had a long road ahead of them.

Naruto made his way to the Hokage’s tent. It was larger than the rest, made from an olive green canvas material. Tsunade would know what to do.

“Hey!” Naruto barged into the Hokage’s tent, “Where’s granny?”

Danzo responded, “Lady Tsunade is not with us-

“She’s not dead.” She can't be.

“If you would take some time to listen, you would know she had depleted her chakra in the battle.”

“I thought Pain brought everyone back.” Naruto tried to sense where she could be. If she was in the village, her chakra signature couldn’t be found.

“He did.”

“Then why isn’t she here?”

“She depleted her chakra. You need to actually hear what I’m saying.” Danzo sighed, “She is alive, however, she is currently in a coma. Which led me to take over her position until she wakes up.”

“She’s going to wake up right?” Naruto forgot why he was here in the first place.

“I am not a medical ninja.”

“Where’s Shizune? Or Sakura? Or-

“They say she should make a recovery.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?!”

Danzo sighed, “I tried to… Now that you know she is going to be fine. Is there anything I can do for the Kazekages omega?”

“Ummm…”

“Is your lodging not up to your standards? I’m sorry to disappoint. We weren't expecting guest.”

Naruto couldn't tell if that was supposed to be a joke or not, “Um, no, sorry. I just wanted to talk to granny. Before we left.”

“You're already leaving,” he cocked an eyebrow.

“I mean, in the morning, yeah.” Naruto leaned into being an omega, “My son has a doctor's appointment in a few days. I want to make sure I’m there for it.”

Naruto knows he can't trust this man with the truth, let alone the fabricated lie. He had been the one puppeteering Konoha’s council all these years. The one that prevented his original attempt to leave Konoha.

“Ah… right. How is your son?”

“Menma’s doing great… He looks more and more like Gaara every day.”

“Hm.” It was hard to discern the look on his face, “That’s not what I heard.”

“Huh? What did you hear?”

“I heard he looked like an Uzumaki.”

Menma did look more like Naruto than Gaara. Most people get distracted by the bright red hair that they tend to ignore the bright blue eyes, dark skin, and rounded face.

“I wouldn’t know… Hey! What does an Uzumaki look like?” Naruto knew only 3 Uzumaki's; they all but him seemed to share one distinctive trait, the red hair.

“Like you.” Danzo didn’t admit he knew.

Naruto chuckled, “Yeah, Menma does look a bit more like me. He’s got my eyes.”

“Your eyes?” The way he said that sent a chill down Naruto back.

“Yep! Bright and blue.” Naruto paused, as if this wasn’t something he had rehearsed, but a new thought, “Though, Gaara has light eyes too… and Temari’s are blue too… So I guess we wont ever know.”

“Ah… Right.”

Naruto couldn’t bring up Sasuke, but maybe, “Umm… oh, Do you know a Madara?”

“Madara?”

“Yeah.”

“The only Madara I know is Uchiha Madara… but he’s long dead.”

“Oh, then, it must not be him.” Naruto shrugged it off.

“Why?”

“The Akasuki mentioned reporting back to a Madara… I don’t know, I thought you would know.” Naruto glanced towards the exit, “Well, uh, anyways I guess I’ll get going back to the celebration. When granny wakes up, I don't know, maybe let her know I stopped by… or something.”

“I will.” Danzo waited for him to turn around before saying, “Oh, before you go.”

“Yeah,” Naruto glanced back over his shoulder.

“Could you tell your husband to contact me?”

“Sure.” he paused, “but, why?”

“We share mutual interest. I’d like to get his help on more of an international stage.”

“Yeah, okay.” Naruto shrugged.

“Thank you.” His smile held something wicked.

Naruto was relieved to finally exit the tent.

The energy from the battle kept on into the night. People moving from tent to tent. Campfires sprinkled throughout calling people to join in the community. If it wasn’t so depressing, it would be kind of nice.

“Oi! Oi!” as promised, Naruto made a show of himself, asking the first person he kind of recognized, “Do you know where Sakura is?”

They smiled, and told him she was last seen near the medical tents.

He smiled, said, “thanks,” and left.

As hollow as the praise was, it still felt nice to be recognized for something good for once. Naruto smiled and waved to people. With all eyes on him, he performed beautifully.

Finally, he arrived at the medical tent. It was slightly smaller than the Hokages, but there were off branches of it that made up for it. Each one must be its own wing or something.

Kankuro was already in the tent. He was annoying his sister with something if the look on her face meant anything. She folded her arms, knotted her brows, and had a tight frown.

Naruto overheard Kankuro’s conversation. It was a one sided fight about how Menma thought he was the greatest uncle in the world. How one day Menma would be a great puppet master like him. How their family was doing. Nothing serious. As he mentioned before, he was laying low.

Naruto didn’t expect to see Lady Tsunade in the middle laying on a futon with a scattering of medical equipment around her. She was the only patient in here, which suddenly made the entire tent feel too big.

“She used Katsuya’s jutsu to protect everyone. She’s been unconscious since then…” Sakura said over her sensei's body, “I don't know when she’ll wake up.”

“Granny…” Naruto frowned.

“She’ll be back to normal in no time.” Sakura promised.

“Yeah.” Naruto said, “She's strong like that.

They sat in silence for a bit.

Then they joined in their own creation of a conversation about nothingness. How her family was doing. How her studies were going. How Ino and Sai’s relationship was developing. Any topic that could distract them from the one patient in the room.

Naruto eventually said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Breaking my promise.” Naruto knew he could never bring Sasuke back… even if he was just here.

“It was a stupid promise.” Sakura changed the subject to something lighter, “How are they?” she clarified, “Your family?”

“They are doing good. Menma started talking recently.” Naruto smiled.

“Really?! What was his first word?”

Naruto sighed, “Dada.”

Chapter Text

Three days after they left, they had returned. The two of them looked tired but not injured. It was a relief to know that this mission was a success.

Gaara said, “Report?”

“We won. Pain is dead.” Kankuro spoke first.

“That’s good-

“The Akatsuki isn’t gone.” Naruto broke any hope of that possibility.

“I saw the leader die. With my own two eyes.” Kankuro pointed to his eyes as if that changed things.

“Yeah… Well, there was someone else pulling the strings. My dad told me.” And also, maybe another person.

Both Kankuro and Gaara asked, “Your dad?”

“Yeah… apparently he put a part of himself in the seal or something. I don’t know.” Naurto waved off the details, “He said there was someone else who was using Pain.”

“Did he tell you who?” Gaara wondered.

“No-

“Come on, Gaara. You can’t believe that.”

Naruto frowned.

“Stranger things have happened.” Gaara always had Naruto's back.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this when we were still out there?” Kankuro asked.

“It wasn’t relevant.” Naruto knew, “the guy wasn’t around.”

“That’s still something I should have known. We would have changed the route home.”

“They still think I live in Konoha.”

“How do you even know this?”

“Because they attacked Konoha.” Naruto wanted to tell Gaara he saw Sasuke, but didn’t feel like this was the right time to do so.

“You were wearing a Sunagakure headband.” Kankuro didn’t say idiot, but it was implied.

“If anyone thought you were with Konoha, they might not now.” Gaara agreed.

“... Okay. Yeah, I guess…” as much as he tried for a better time, he couldn’t hold it in, “I saw Sasuke.”

Kankuro was surprised how easy it was for Naruto to say that. He readied his puppet to reveal the spoils of war. They were lucky enough to escape Konoha without notice.

“Are you okay?” Gaara ran up to him, holding Naruto's face in his hands, looking for any signs of distress.

“I’m fine. Well…” Naruto placed his hands atop Gaaras, “I’m not fine, but I’m fine.”

“Okay…” it was better than the worst option.

“He gave me a gift.”

“Hm?” Gaara prepared himself for the worst.

Kankuro’s trusted puppet split in half, revealing the bag. It spilled open at least 30 different scrolls, all of different sizes and complexity, “They’re Forbidden Scrolls from Konoha.”

“Why did you keep them?” Gaara took a step back.

“They are all on the shariagan.” Naruto said.

Oh.

Sand blocked the windows and door. The Kazekage’s office had become a safe room in a matter of seconds. Naruto flinched, but didn’t react beyond that. He’s gotten better… and Sasuke didn’t make it worse.

Naruto continued, “He knows about our son… He talked about Menma like he’d seen him before.”

“I figured he would know about Menma. I would expect him to make an appearance if he had seen him.”

Sasuke’s actions have been nothing but a mystery. He completes his revenge, joins another terrorist group, commits a heinous offense, then doesn’t show his face for over a year, then in one week he’s captured a jinchuriki and visited Naruto. None of it added up. What more could this man be trying to do? The Akatsuki must have promised him something.

“I think when we went to the funeral… He had a picture of us. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay…” Gaara couldn’t blame Naruto for the funeral, especially since he was the one to push them to go.

“What did he say?”

“He said something about a Madara… I think that’s who’s leading the Akatsuki now.”

“Madara? Why does that name sound familiar?” Kankuro wondered.

“He was one of the founders of Konoha… but he should be dead now.” Although Naruto knows they have fought their fair share of corpses recently… it would only be one more to the list.

“So it's probably just someone using his name…” they could only hope.

“I don’t know.”

Gaara walked forward, a swipe of his hand revealed a hidden compartment in his office, “We can speculate later. Put them in here, I’ll review them later.”

“Shouldn’t we test if they are encrypted?” Kankuro brought up.

“We can do that later. They need to be hidden now.”

Naruto had returned home as soon as he was done with the debriefing. He took Menma out of all of his scheduled events for the day to spend time with his baby. It had only been a few days but he missed him.

Gaara had returned home a few hours ago. Naruto didn’t dare ask if he read the scrolls yet. He didn’t want to know, at least not tonight. They did their nightly routine as normal.

When Menma had fallen asleep, Naruto looked through their shelves for the book his sensei wrote. They had gone through so many books since Menma was born. There it was; The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi.

“He’s already read that one.” Gaara pointed out.

“I want to see it again.” Naruto flipped the pages open to find the photo still sandwiched in between.

They looked so happy… This woman must be his wife, he figured that out last time, but it was different now. Naruto doesn’t recognize her. She doesn’t look like anyone he might know, so he can't pinpoint her to any specific clan. Looking closer, she looks pregnant in the photo.

“Hm.” Gaara inspected his actions, questioning them.

“The Fourth Hokage, he’s my father…” Naruto said as if he didnt believe this himself.

His entire life he was a war orphan. That’s why it was okay that they did that to him. Nobody would care about what happened to an orphan. No parents would fight for his safety, but in reality it was his father who did this to him.

Gaara didn’t know what to say to this turn of events, “You do look a lot like him.”

“Ya’ know… he's the one that put this stupid fox in me.” he points to his stomach, “He’s the reason why everyone hates me.”

“Ah...” Gaara knew what that was like, “It’s awful, isn’t it?”

“Why? Why would he do that to me? I was just a baby… I was his son. He left me alone in this world. He said there was a greater purpose to everything, but -

Sobs.

He could take it before, the mission was more important than his feelings. Now he was in the safety of his home with the love of his life… Naruto cried.

“Nothing I will say will make this okay.” Gaara admitted, “You can cry as long as you need to.”

Naruto was always better at showing his emotions. His arms wrapped around his husband. He sobbed into the other's shoulder for what felt like forever.

Eventually saying, “Ya’ know… I always imagined what my father would say to me… ya’ know if he was alive.”

“I was like that with my mother.”

“... Right.” Naruto forgot how alike the two of them really were. It was comforting to know he wasn’t alone. “Have you ever wondered what you would tell Menma?”

Gaara made sure to ask, “If I died?”

“Yeah… I know it's morbid, or whatever, but I can’t stop thinking about it. If I die… if the Akasuki get me… what would Menma be left with to remember me by?”

Gaara didn’t want to think about it, “I would tell him stories about you.”

The way he had always wished his own father did. When Gaara’s mother died her name had been a taboo in their household. He’s not even sure he knows it. So stories were especially taboo.

All he had of her was a photo.

His uncle would-

“What would you tell him?” Naruto broke him from his thoughts.

“How you always light up every room… How your favorite food is ramen… Your favorite flower is sunflowers.” Gaara said, “How hard it is to grow them here.”

He smiled, “I think I would tell Menma how kind you are.”

“Kind?”

“Yeah… I’d tell him you were strong and kind. How when you think you rest your chin in between your fingers and scrunch up your face. I’d tell him how we met… Well… I don’t know. Maybe something different.”

“I always wondered how my parents met.” Gaara admitted. He would tell Menma how they met. Maybe clean it up a bit.

“Me too!”

“Sometimes I think the council must of set them up… but the way he acted, I know he loved her. Kankuro and Temari don't say much about it… but even they,” Gaara didn’t finish that thought, “I think they were too young when everything happened to really know anything anyways.”

“I’m sure they loved each other.”

“Still… why would he do that to someone he- Sorry… this is about you.”

“No… It’s okay. I’m just glad I’m not alone.”

“I’m glad I could be here for you.”

“Me too…” Naruto said, “Ya’ know, he was such a jerk.”

“Your dad?”

“Yeah… He saw everything.”

“Everything? What do you mean?”

“Apparently he could see everything that happened to me… and-

Gaara’s eyes widened, realizing what he meant, “Fuck.”

“Right?” Naruto chuckled, but it was deep and sad, not his usual laugh. “We’ll never be like them…” he hesitated, “right?”

Gaara doesn't, “Right.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Chapter Text

Dear Menma,

If you're reading this, I’m sorry. It means I wasn’t strong enough to make it back to you. I want you to know that everything I do is for our family, for you. I hope you can respect my decision, even if you might not understand it.

My name is Kazekage no Naruto, formerly Uzumaki Naruto. I was born in Konoha to Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. I put a photo in here so you know what they look like. They sent it to Gaara’s dad before I was born, isn’t that cool? It was in the same book we read to you, written by pervy sa- Lord Jaiarya, you didn’t get a chance to meet him. He would have loved you.

I was named after that same book per- Lord Jaiarya wrote… but you probably already know that. You were named after a dream I had. In the dream you were such a fine young man, you had all of the best traits of your father and none of my worst ones. You were a great ninja.

Anyways, my entire life, before marrying your father, I went under the Uzumaki Clan name. I didn’t know who my parents were. They sacrificed themselves to save Konoha. I hope we make it through this war, and you get to know who I am.

If not, I’m a ninja. I want to be a great ninja that everyone can respect. I also teach at the academy, I really like that. All the hard work is worth it to see all the kids learning important skills. I can’t wait to teach you everything - oh.

My signature move is the Rasengan. It was invented by my father, your grandfather. It’s a wind nature technique, that's like having a hurricane in the palm of your hand. It's great!

Steps of the Rasengan:
*Crude Drawings of the Steps*

If this is hard to follow, ask Konohamaru in Konoha to teach you. I taught him before I left. He’s a good kid. He’ll teach you some of my other jutsu too if you want!

Some people think my signature technique is the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but too many people know that one. So I don't. But I did learn it in one night all by myself! It shouldn’t be that hard. I think Kakashi-sensei knows that one if you're curious. Although, he knows all the jutsu, so he might be able to teach you a cooler one. You’ll probably end up learning a lot from him…

Your father will probably end up teaching you strategy and weapons and stuff. He’s really smart.

Treat your father right. I love that man with all of my heart. I love you both with all of my heart. I love him dearly. Wait, you can love two people with all of your heart. Don’t let anyone tell you there's a limit on love!

Anyways, treat him right. I know he can be hard to read sometimes, but he’s a very kind man. He feels things deeply. He’s just quiet. I think he thinks too much sometimes. But you probably have learned all of that by now… if you're able to read and all that.

If for some reason you lost both of us -

No. Know that we both love you. You are the most precious person in the world. You were loved so much. Your father used to talk to you when you were still in my stomach. He was so cheesy about it. He couldn’t wait to meet you. He takes care of you so well. Gaara's such a good dad.

I have many hopes for you. I hope you become a strong shinobi. Someone who can protect all that you love dearest. I hope you are the best parts of me and the best parts of Gaara.

Most of all I hope you are happy.

With all my love,
Your mom, Naruto
P.S. I also added a photo of your dad and me. It’s from when I moved to Suna.

Dear Menma,

If you're reading this, I am no longer with you. I have most likely died in battle, hopefully protecting you, your mother, our family, and Sunagakure. As Kazekage it is my duty to keep our village safe. One day it will become your duty as well.

Your uncle will give you a box of my current projects and promises when you are ready for them. I have made sure to keep them updated incase of this very situation. If you are not old enough to take over, do not trust that your uncle will try to maintain the same level of organization. Learn as much as you can as soon as you can.

If you follow in my footsteps, please remember it is easy to lose yourself in this job. Everyone will want something from you. It is easy to get lost in their demands. You must make sure you have time for yourself.

Naruto has been the one responsible for that task in our family. His presence reminds me I must come home, and not to spend every late night in the office. Before he moved here, I had spent most of my nights there.

We met during the Chunin Exam hosted at Konoha. I was foolish and didn’t realize how he would change my life, so I ignored him. Which only motivated him more to gain my attention. We then met on different sides of a battlefield, where I was forced to look at him, and him me. I was not always a good man. When he saw me for the person I was, he showed me kindness.

I hope you turn out like your mother. He is the best person I’ve ever met. Naruto's compassion for others and doing the right thing is what drives me forward through all of my decisions. I hope to one day become a man worthy of him.

I want you to know that I love you. You have always been loved. The moment I knew of your existence, my goal was to keep you safe and your mother happy.

I know you will become a good shinobi. You’ve already shown signs of it even at your young age. I am sad I will not be there to see it.

With warmest regards,
The Godaime Kazekage, Gaara

“You're so lame,” Naruto chuckled, reading over the last line, “With warmest regards, the Godaime Kazekage?”

Gaara read it over again, “Oh… I shouldn’t sign this message like that.”

“No,” Naruto shook his head, still laughing.

“I’m used to ending my letters that way.”

“I know, love. Trust me.” Naurto had gotten many a letter with the same signature when they lived in different villages.

“I’ll re-write it.” he reached for another piece of paper.

“Keep it.”

Hm.

“It's more you.” Naruto pointed to another part of the letter, “what’s that all about?”

“I have a box set up for Menma that has all of the important things he needs to know when he becomes Kazekage. Hopefully Kankuro will still be around to help guide him.”

Naruto never thought about it too much before, “How does the whole Kazekage thing work… I mean now that we have a kid?”

“Oh. Well, when I die, the role will automatically go to our child. If he’s considered not fit, Kankuro will more than likely take over until Menma is ready.”

“What about when we have more kids?” Naruto shifted a bit when he asked this.

“If we can make it until we have more kids, then it’s likely we will make it long enough for me to pick a successor.” Gaara smiled, “I will pick who I believe is the best fit. Train them for the role, until they are able to take over. I might even join the council afterwards.”

“You hate the council.”

“Yes, but it would help our child to have someone on the inside. It will also be a different council by then. Hopefully full of our friends.”

“Yeah… I guess when you put it that way it doesn't sound so bad.” Naruto smiled, “You really put a lot of thought in this?”

“When I died… I didn’t think anyone would care. I thought I was doing my duty to the village.” Gaara sighed, “Then I saw the way it affected you.”

“Oh.” Naruto was a mess after his passing.

“That’s when I created the plans for my funeral. I didn’t want to put that burden on another person.” He added, “When we had a child. I remembered my father’s funeral. He didn’t have anything planned, so my siblings and I had to figure everything out. Then, I took over as Kazekage, it was the same way.

“You did all of this, and never thought of writing a letter before?”

“I guess… It never crossed my mind.” Gaara was a practicable man.

Naruto chuckled.

Dearest Naruto,

If you're reading this, I am no longer with you. I have most likely died in battle, hopefully protecting you, our family, and Sunagakure. I’m sorry to have done this to you twice.

I know you have a tendency to fall apart in these situations. So I have ensured that everything is taken care of. My siblings will be checking up on you routinely. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help, they care for you like family.

Please do not live in greif for too long. I do not wish to cause you pain. You mean the world to me, and to know that I might be the reason that you cried breaks my heart.

I know our marriage has probably not been everything you hoped it would be, but it's been the best time of my life. I have no desire to imagine a world where you are not my husband. Like the sun, you had shined a light into my life, leading me away from darkness. It terrifies me to think of the man I could have been had I not met you.

I live every day striving to be the man you see me as.

With warmest regards,
The Godaime Kazekage, Gaara
With all of my love,
Gaara

Chapter Text

After the Pain attack they were finally able to get the attention of the other villages. It took no time at all to arrange. It was time to all talk about the biggest problem in the shinobi world.

In the Land of Iron there were three mountains formed of wolves. Snow stormed above their heads in a violent wind. It’s a neutral state for the shinobi villages. There was a long standing agreement that shinobi should not engage against them.

This was a land of samurai.

Which is what made it perfect for this meeting. No one would have a home field advantage. To ensure this, every village was expected to curtail excursions and unnecessary missions outside of their village.

It was his first Gokage Summit since Gaara had become Kazekage. He didn’t know what to expect.

“We have awaited your arrival, Lord Kazekage. I am the general of the Land of Iron. My name is Mifune.” An older man with a long mustache welcomed them.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. This is my husband, Naruto.” Gaara steps aside to reveal his spouse and their child. He didn’t want to risk leaving them at home. It put both the village and his family in danger.

“Hi,” Naruto waved shortly, trying to best maneuver their baby around his movement and many thick layers.

The man looked him up and down, smiled and said, “It is lovely to meet-

“Brr, it sure is cold here! It's like the polar opposite of the Land of Wind.” Kankuro ruined Naruto's entrance.

“Of course, step inside, we can make you some hot tea right away.”

They were the first to arrive.

They sat in the waiting area of the main room. It had a few scattered couches and chairs. No doubt set up for this very occasion.

A tray of tea was brought over to their entire family. Hot water with perfectly steeped leaves, honey, sugar cubes, and lemon wedges. It hit the spot. Warming their bodies from the inside out.

“The rest should be arriving shortly.”

“We’re in no rush.” Naruto said.

“Yes, the tea’s doing its job.” Kankuro rubbed just above his stomach to prove a point.

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Gaara added.

The person who served their tea left.

“So… If I’m the only one left… What's even the point of all of this? It's not like the other villages have a horse in the game.” Naruto wondered as he took a sip.

“Capturing the biju is only the first part of their plan.” Kankuro reminded him, “We still don't know what the Akatsuki wants to do with all that power.”

“Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Temari chimed in.

“Right now we can only assume that they need all nine to accomplish their goal. If we can get the others to agree in protecting you, we might be able to stall long enough to take the Akatsuki out.” Gaara said.

“Oh,” he looked around the empty room, “There’s not that many of them left right…” Naruto counts on his finger, “Pain, the other Pain, the girl who was with Pain, Itachi, Hidan, that other guy, Sasori, Deidara… We already took out like,” He counted his fingers, “Eight of them… who’s even left?”

Without hesitation, Gaara said, “Sasuke.”

“Right.”

“He also has a group… I think they call themselves Taki. Then there’s Kisame. You also mentioned a-” Instead of saying Madara, Kankuro said, “-nother person.”

“So, like, five people?”

“And eight Biju.”

“It doesn’t seem like they’re using them though.”

“Not yet, but we can’t rule them out.”

“Do you think we can get the other’s to agree?” Naruto asked.

“That’s the goal,” Gaara answered, “We have Konoha on our side. Danzo sent me a letter already mentioning what he’s willing to do. So it's a start.”

“Yeah! You just need to convey to the others that it's in their best interest.” Kankuro said.

“If it goes as planned, and we fight the Akatsuki for real,” Naruto asked the real question, “What do we do with Menma?”

“We…” This was something Gaara didn’t plan for. Both of them needed to be on the front lines. Gaara was the leader of a village. He couldn't abandon everyone who had faith in him to guide them through it. Naruto was probably one of the most powerful people in the world and one of the targets. It wasn’t as simple as, “need to figure that out.”

“Is there anyone we can spare?” Naruto asked.

“We need Temari and Kankuro. They’re important for maintaining the troops.”

They nod in agreement.

“We can’t take away Kakashi. Or the old lady. Or Sakura. Or anyone else I know from the leaf.”

“It complicates things.” If it were just the two of them, they could handle everything with relative ease, but their kid added another dimension to the question.

The next to arrive was an older man from Iwagakure. Maybe a little over 4 feet tall. He rode in on the back of one of his escorts, a larger man. He carried a specially designed backpack with a platform just for their leader. The other escort, a younger woman, helped him out of it.

They didn’t say hi, but they noted the family's presence.

The Tsuchikage's group sat across the room from them, quickly getting their own tray of tea. Decorated with many of the same pleasantries as their own. They wait quietly for the next group.

It doesn't take long.

The Mizukage’s next. Naruto notices her pretty red hair first. It was long with many layers that wildly flew past her hips. She seemed confident.

Her guards followed tightly behind her. They also do the same weird sign recognition, without speech before sitting in their own secluded area.

It's longer for the next guest. Their group had already finished the tray of tea. Now warmed up enough to remove a layer of coats. Gaara’s family was much looser and relaxed than when they first got here.

The Raikage is a man who takes up an entire room. Symbolically of course. Something about his presence demanded attention. He scanned left to right, and back again, landing on Naruto. He motioned for his guards to move forward, as he went to his own seat.

They were the only ones to come up to their family, “What do you know about Sasuke?”

“It's customary to say hello first,” Temari snarked.

Naruto chuckled.

Gaara looked away, he couldn’t be seen enjoying such a comment.

“Hello.” the man with white blonde hair frowned, “We heard you were his former team mate.”

Naruto looked over Gaara, almost to figure out what he could admit to, “Many years ago… yeah.”

It was a way to add distance to the situation. Yes, the Kazekages Omega was once teammates with a missing nin who graduated from one terrorist group to another. The very organization that this meeting is about. But it was years ago, and if any one asked, they weren't that close.

“He captured our teacher,” the man said as if he was accusing Naruto of this act.

“We heard,” Naruto looked away, “We’re sorry that happened.”

“What do you know about him?”

“What do you want to know?” Kankuro stepped in.

“Anything. Everything.”

“He was born in Konoha 19 years ago and decided to be an asshole ever since.” Naruto shrugged it off and focused on the child in his lap. It was another, more socially acceptable, way of fiddling with something.

“Why are you allowed to say that in front of Menma?” Kankuro asked.

Naruto blushed in embarrassment, but quickly added, “Because I’m his mother.”

“Not fair.”

“You push a-

“Is that all?” The conversation was brought back to Sasuke.

“Well, I’m going to need specifics on what you want to know.” Naruto calmed down, enough to answer the question.

“Whatever the bingo books won't tell us.”

Instead of talking about Sasuke, he asked, “You’re teacher… He’s the jinchuriki?”

“How’d you know?”

“He was taken by the Akaskui.” Naruto said, “If that’s the case, he might still be alive.”

“Really?! How do you know that?”

“Because we were the first to deal with this organization.” Gaara finally said something.

“Yeah,” Naruto frowned, and placed his hand over Gaara’s for comfort.

Gaara squeezed it back, “They capture jinchuriki alive so they can remove the tailed beast from us. It’s a long process.”

“So what do we do?!”

“That’s what this meeting is about.”

“No! You just told us there's a chance he could be alive.”

“Gaara,” Naruto pleaded.

“We don’t want to get your hopes up incas-

“If there's a chance we have to take it.”

“You need to use a sensory shinobi to find large chakra spikes. It takes days.” Gaara informed them. If they had read his letters they would already have known this. It's not polite to do an ‘I told you so,’ at this moment.

They nod and make their way back to the Raikage.

Naruto knew he couldn't ask for his own updates about Sasuke from them.

The Cloud wants Sasuke dead, and for good reason. Naruto couldn’t dare ask for a pardon either. Despite everything, Sasuke was still Menma’s biological father, and it was hard for Naruto to wrap his head around the man dying. He always saw the other as a constant pain that you just learn to live with.

“Thank you,” Gaara put a hand on his shoulder.

Naruto looked up at him, “For what?”

“I know it's hard for you.”

“What?”

Gaara looked at him knowingly.

“Yeah.” Naruto breathed out, “I know it's stupid. We can’t be making enemies now. He did another bad thing. He has to face his own consequences.”

“I’m proud of you.” Gaara admits.

“What? Have more faith in me. Did you expect me to lay at their feet and beg for his forgiveness?”

“No, of course not.” Gaara sat with him, “that would be silly.”

“Right? I’m not that good with public speaking.” It was an attempt to change the subject.

“I think you're pretty good, you teach an entire class. That’s public speaking.”

“They’re just kids, it doesn't count when they are kids.”

Lord Danzo, the Sixth Hokage Candidate, arrived at the main building long after everyone else. If he brought support they were hidden. Naruto instinctually tucked Menma closer to him.

“Lord Gaara.” He said, “It's a pleasure to see you. Thank you for helping me set this up.”

“I’m just happy to see the other villages take the Akatsuki seriously.”

“After the attack on Konoha, I believe they were forced too.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get there sooner.”

“Nonsense… you guys arrived just in time.” His eye shifted over, “Ah, I’m sorry, I can’t forget you, Naruto. Is that your son?”

“Yeah, this is Menma…” Naruto attempted to cover him more with the blanket.

But his head peaked out, blue eyes examined the intruder, then let out a guttural wail. It was heart wrenching. It pulled the most primal parts of fear from his parents. They had never heard this painful sound come from their child before.

Screaming! Shouting! Crying!

It felt like it would never end. Banging up against their eardrums like the march to war. Something inhuman was coming closer.

All of Gaara’s muscles stiffened, he used every bit of his strength to keep the sand in his gourd. It seized up angrily inside fighting to get out. If he was younger, the man in front of them would be dead.

Naruto cut the tension with a chuckle, and said, “Sorry, Menma’s cranky from the travel.”

“Of course… A lot of children are like that.” He was trying to get a better look, without making it obvious.

“Why don’t you take him to our room.” Gaara said, “Temari can help you set up.”

“Yeah… I’ll see you guys later.” Naruto didn’t run, but increased the pace of his step to as fast as he could go without making it obvious.

Temari followed close behind.

Chapter Text

“Place your Kage headpieces before you,” The neutral party starts, “The Gokage assemble here today.”

All five of them place their head pieces in front of them, kanji forward. They sit around a round wooden conference table, large enough to give each leader their own space. The room itself wasn’t too large or too small.

“I, Mifune, shall preside over these proceedings. Now let the Gokage Summit commence.”

“I’ll start,” Gaara was the first to speak, “listen up-”

Only to be immediately interrupted by the Tsuchikage, “My how the Gokage have changed. To be named Kage at such a young age is impressive, Lord Kazekage. Yet despite your fathers brillant guidance, he seems to not have taught you etiquette.”

“Probably one of the reasons I was chosen to be Kazekage.”

“Cheeky fella!” That got a laugh. People tend to laugh when Gaara tried to be serious.

“Lord Tsuchikage, please don't interrupt.” The Mitzukage said, “Lord Kazekage, please continue.”

“Thank you, I am a former jinchūriki. I have been captured by the Akatsuki. Had my Biju extracted, and I was almost killed. That is why I consider the Akatsuki a dangerous entity.”

“It's not because of your husband?” Danzo, strangely brought up. He knew not to trust the man, but in their correspondence leading up to this meeting Gaara assumed they would be on the same side for this conversation.

“Hm?”

“Uzumaki Naruto is a jinchūriki.”

“He’s not.”

“Don’t lie to the good people around this table. He is a jinchūriki. A valuable resource you too-

“No, he’s not an Uzumaki any more. We’ve been married for a little over a year now. I would appreciate it if you could respect the previous Hokages wishes of our union. Now, if I could continue?”

The table nods to hide a few smirks.

“I have applied to all of the Gokage for cooperation numerous times and have been routinely ignored. Except, of course, by the previous Hokage. After so many of the jinchūriki have already been taken, a combining of our forces now feels like it's too little too late.”

“Hmph, the Hidden Villages of the Five Great Nations cannot alert others that their jinchūriki have been taken.” Lord Tsuchikage looked at Gaara, “That’s an embarrassment. Covert missions are the norm! No one seeks aid from other lands when jinchūriki disappears.”

“Appearances. Status. Such outdated concepts.” Without aid Gaara wouldn’t be here. How many others have needlessly lost their lives to pride?

“Biju being taken -

“However-

“Enough with this nonsense!” The Raikage slams his fist down on the table, shattering it into millions of little pieces.

Everyone is forced to show their reinforcements. Kankuro and Temari immediately back up Gaara. The clacking of puppet joints meet the swift sound of wind. Sand waves between the-

Mifune said, “This is a place of discourse. Please refrain from such behavior.”

“Stand down, Foo, Torune.” The Hokage is first to pull back.

Followed by the Kazekakge, “Temari, Kankuro.”

Then the Mizukage. The Tsuchikage. And finally the Raikage.

Before standing up, “Leaf, Stone, Sand, Mist. The Akatsuki is composed of rouge–nin from your villages. That’s not all. All of your predecessors are the ones that actually utilized them.”

It takes money and effort to train accomplished shinobi within one's own Hidden Village. The Akatsuki make their living through warfare and are always on active duty. Furthermore, they accept military contracts for cheap money. And deliver superior results.

“Utilized?”

“I don't trust any of you. Originally I had no interest in discourse. The reason I joined you is to question your loyalties.”

“What do you mean, utilized?” Gaara asked again.

“You're the Kazekage, and you know nothing. Or did you forget about working with Orochimaru? Is the death of two Kages that meaningless to you?” The Raikage looks over to Danzo, ”It's also hard to dismiss the rumors that's part of a bigger plot.” Now to the Mizukage, “Let’s not forget about you. Care to dispel the rumors of where the Akatskui originate from?”

“No, I won't. The Akatsuki was in fact born of the Bloody Mist. And as you mentioned, that was my predecessor. Not me. I have been working to und-

“You sicken me! All of you.” He spits out.

“Watch your tone! It's because of you that the Akatsui exist. If you weren't building up your armies in the middle of our Era of Disarmament, we wouldn’t need to hire extra help! You dare blame us for defending ourselves.”

The Raikage’s voice raised, “How dare I? I outta-

“Before you all start arguing like a bunch of old women, I’d like to get to the point I wanted to make earlier.” The Hokage glanced around the room.

“What?!”

“The leader of the Akatsuki is Uchiha Madara.”

“Bullshit. He’s dead.”

“It's hard to imagine, but I got the information from a reliable source.”

“The source is my husband.” Gaara made sure to say.

“Well… he did bring it to my attention as well.”

“He heard one of the Akatsuki mention reporting back to a Madara. When he asked you about it, you said-

“There’s no use for you two to bicker.” The Raikage smirked, “I thought you two were supposed to be on the same side.”

“We-

“Let me say from my neutral state, The Akatsuki leader definitely knows how to bide his time. Waiting for the nations to stabilize, but still have memories of distrust. At this rate, he’ll probably target the Land of Iron. So I ask all of you for your expertise, how do we get rid of him?”

Gaara asked himself, what would Naruto do, “We need to form a United Shinobi Army of the five great villages.”

“A united army?” The Raikage couldn’t imagine teaming up with anyone in this room.

“A splendid proposition! We’re in a state of emergency, cooperation is key.” The Hokage backed up his idea.

“A standardized chain of command would be ideal. Who among you would be the most stable? The only remaining jinchūriki is that of Suna’s Nine Tails. I feel like how he is guided will be key. Which is why I believe the Hokage would be the best option.” the mediator suggested.

“The Hokage?! That man is known as the Shinobi of Darkness. You can't be serious about putting him in charge.” the Raikage shouted.

“Then who? You? You can not keep things under control at this meeting, and you're expected to be able to do so under pressure.” Mifune then pointed to Gaara, “The Kazekage is still too young and too close for such a venture. On the opposite end, Tsuchikage is too old, and has utilized the services of the Akatsuki too much to be trusted. The Mizukage is the leader of the Akastuki’s birthplace. The Hokage -

“Well hello there!” an Akatsuki member has shown his face, well his orange mask, in the neutral zone.

All of the previous shinobi had readied themselves for battle for the second time in an hour.

“What now?”

“Is he Akatsuki?”

Gaara confirmed, “He is.”

“Uchiha Sasuke has invaded this place, I wonder where he could be?” The man forewarned.

“Sasuke!” Gaara had a few very hard decisions to make. Does he leave or does he stay. His child wass nearby with Naruto, both were the targets of this mad man's desire.

“What is he doing here?!” Kankuro asked.

“That's the sharingan user who took down Haku and Zabuza!” One of the Mizukage’s guards rewrote history.

Raikage, somehow more volatile than the Kazekage on this matter, attacks the man in front of them, “Where is he?!”

“All right, I’ll give you a hint…” Before he could, the Raikage snapped his neck.

“You didn’t have to kill him, we could have interrogated him.” Mizukage reminds them.

“Trust me. They don’t talk.” Gaara said.

“Give the order to find Uchiha Sasuke. Issue a Number Two Battle Ready Alert.” The general says to his underlings.

“Number Two Battle Ready Alert. Search for the intruder known as Uchiha Sasuke.” was said into a mic, then echoed throughout the facility.

The Raikage has already gone on his own hunt. Smashing through the wall on his way to kill the missing-nin. Gaara followed after him with an eye made of sand. A part of him will be watching to see if he has mercy.

“Lord Ao. We would like to confirm whether the Hokages ocular jutsu is still engaged or not.” the man with the eyepatch said.

“Relax. I can only use it so many times in a day.” which is probably a lie, but if not they are to assume he’s already used it today.

“Like you can be trusted.”

“I can not believe the byakugan fell into others hands. A Hyuga turned traitor on his village.”

“I suppose you're planning my end now that I revealed your secret. That's not going to happen.”

“I will fight you myself if it comes to it.” The Mizukage defends her guard.

“Lord Hokage, the use of ninjutsu is prohibited in this room. You have lost trust. A shame, since I probably still would have chosen you if you didn't resort to such tactics. Your reasoning was not too far off from my own.” Mifune informed them.

“‘Maybe’ is not good enough. I will do whatever it takes to protect the ninja world.”

“Danzo, we can’t even trust what you say anymore. When you use such underhanded techniques at this sacred table. Then you talk about doing it for the greater good?” Tsuchikage pleads to him.

“Whether you trust me or not, results are all that matter.” The Hokage sounded like Gaara’s father, a man hell bent on more power for himself.

“If that is the state of the world… We have no future.” Gaara said, in his mind he thinks strongly of his love, “If we stop trying to understand each other, all that will remain is terror. Strategy that does not incorporate morality is something I no longer accept.”

Tsuchikage smiled, “You pose big concepts simply, but you're still green as ever. As your senior, I have no problem offering you any guidance. Ask me anything you’d like.”

“When did you forsake yourselves?” The youngest member of the room asked everyone.

The crowd of people all talk among themselves. Their petty little squabbles are tossed back and forth. It’s pointless to stay here.

Kankuro asked, “Gaara, what should we do? Naruto-

“Come with me,” Gaara readied his team to join the others, “The Raikage has found Sasuke.”

Chapter Text

Naruto had nothing he could do while his husband was in the meeting. He had to trust others to make the best decisions for their nation. To defend their family.

He felt useless.

Menma was playing in the snow, finally calmed from the earlier tantrum. It was unlike him to act that way… Sure he cried, but that was something of nightmares.

Bright eyes looked off in the distance and Menma giggled. Naruto looked in the same direction and saw nothing. Maybe a glimmer of sorts. He was still getting used to his own sensory abilities, but the seal on him strengthened, so his own power weakened along with the fox.

He seemed transfixed on a spot in the distance. Following an invisible thing back and forth, round and round. Whatever it was it was getting closer. Maybe the meeting was finally over.

“What's got your attention, little one?”

Menma giggled as a response.

Naruto didn’t expect a real response, he pondered, “maybe the samurai have interesting chakra.”

One of the passing samurai eyed him.

“He’s a sensory ninja.” They’ve finally confirmed it. It was a rare talent, especially in the Wind. Naruto imagined it must be rarer elsewhere. Because he added, “he can see chakra.”

That seemed to do it, because they muttered amongst themself and left him alone. No one seems to think he’s much of a threat when he’s around Menma. Naruto’s just an omega.

For the second time that day, Naruto shielded his son, “What are you doing here?!”

“Fuck,” Sasuke was still wore the black jacket with red clouds, “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Umm… You got that backwards. You're not supposed to be here.” Naruto looked around for someone to alert. They were alone.

“You should leave.”

“No. You should go.” Naruto stupidly tried to reach him, “Whatever you have planned you have to stop. If you stay here they will find you. You won’t get out of here alive.”

“Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” He just wanted this meeting to go smoothly.

“Then let me,” Sasuke took a long look at Menma in Naruto’s arms, “Fuck.”

Red spun into black, then back again.

The world turned to black and white. It was a replica of Naruto’s apartment, his old one, his old-old one. It was messy, with a twin size mattress, and a window that overlooked the forest. Menma wasn’t here, it was just the two of them.

“Did you read them?” Sasuke asked.

“We didn’t have time-

“We?”

“Yes, Sasuke, ‘we.’ Gaara and I.” Naruto paced around his old room, it was just as he remembered it, “We read some of it, but then this meeting was set up and we were interrupted.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Sasuke sighed, “So you know why I’m here.”

“No.” Naruto’s not a mind reader.

“I’m here for Danzo.”

“Couldn't you have done that any other time?!”

“I’m sorry getting revenge for what that man did to my clan isn’t convenient for you.”

“You're going to have to stop this revenge shit one day.” Naruto picked up the photo of team seven that sat on his night stand.

“That’s easy for you to say.”

“Has revenge ever made you happy?!” Naruto snapped, slamming the photo down, frame cracked.

“Why do you care?”

“It hasn’t? Right? Everytime you’ve achieved your goal, you realized your still fucking miserable. So then you make a new goal so you don’t have to think about it!”

“No… I just learned how deep this shit really went. Once Danzo is dead, I can finally find my peace.” The glass fixed itself, allowing Sasuke's reflection to take over his 12 year old form, “Madara let me know what he did, then I double checked it for myself with those forbidden scrolls.”

Naruto rolled his eyes, “Sasuke, you can’t work for them…”

“I already told you I’m no-

“Have you not thought about Menma once?! Because you're being controlled by a man who wants to take away Menma’s mother.”

“I’m so close to achieving my revenge.”

“Sasuke-

The world transformed again.

Naruto was in an examination room, by the look of it, they were still in Konoha. Faceless med-nins with scalpels cut through the flesh of dead bodies. There’s no sheet for respect.

A piles of corpses lay on the floor between the examination tables. Haphazardly tossed there to the point it was hard to tell if they had already been examined and thrown out, or if they were the next on the table.

When one of the faceless men gouges out the eyes, placing them into a preservation chamber, they then throw the body into the pile on the left. Picking up a new one from the one on the right. They start taking notes.

The pattern continued. Left - Right - Left -Right - Left - It went on for a while, then a younger Danzo entered the room. He had no bandages, just ambition.

“How are the specimens today?”

“We have learned a lot.”

“Are they ready for implantation?”

“Soon.”

The examination room in Konoha morphed into the private hospital set up in Sunagakre. Naruto laying on his back, legs spread open, Sakura in between them, she’s about to tell him he’s dilated enough to push.

The setting sun cast long shadows into the room through the window. He felt a squeeze in his right hand. Looking over expecting to see Gaara comforting him, instead it's Sasuke.

“You got this.” His voice overwrote his husbands.

The bastard was here.

“Naruto!” Sakura said firmly, “Focus, you're going to have to push soon.”

“Dobe,” Sasuke stole his attention again.

Dark eyes held the same kindness that teal ones once did. A soft smile, barely there, pulled him through. Sasuke looked proud.

Giving birth in the tsukuyomi was weird. It didn’t feel the same at all. The pain was like how he imagined birth would be like when he saw all those shitty movies years ago. Sasuke couldn't replicate things he didn’t understand.

Menma was placed in his arms, wrapped up in a dark blue blanket with the Uchiha symbol.

“He’s perfect.” Naruto smiled.

Sasuke agreed, “He is.”

“Congratulations,” Kakashi said, “Sasuke.”

Tears.
Tears of red.
A child's laughter.

Naruto collapsed on the ground, almost dropping Menma in the process. Heart racing, breath shortening, vision blurring. They were in danger.

Instead of reacting, his body purged all the food he ate earlier. A small puddle of vomit splashed on the floor in front of him. It was as if his body were trying to remove any essense of Sasuke that might still live inside him.

“Do you understand why I have to do this?”

“Sasu- vomit - ke”

The laughter turned into confusion, then concerned coo-ing.

Gaara and his siblings made it in time to find Sasuke about to burn the Raikage with infinite fire. He stood tall, ready to defend the other kage from the invader. Naruto held Menma tightly in his arms in the background. Confirming that Sasuke was here for them.

“Sand?!” the Raikage shouted.

Sasuke sighed, “This is-

With the command of his hand, sand twisted and pulled the Raikage out of danger.

“Kazekage!”
“Gaara of the Sand.”
“Love!”

They all said in unison.

Black flames separated each group from each other. Touching them would only ensure one's demise. They were flames from the pits of the underworld. Never satisfied no matter how much they consumed.

Right now the ones in its trap were the samurai. Their armor would only protect them for so long. It ate at the metal at record speeds. Temari’s wind style combined with Kankuro’s puppetry save the samurai from an untimely death.

“You samurai, stay back. This is shinobi business. There is no need for you to become casualties.”

“Thank you, Lord Kazekage.” One of them said before helping the others to their own safety.

The Raikage shouted, “Why did you stop him?! It's not going to make me forgive you!”

“If you had continued with your attack you would have been taken over by the flames.”

The Raikage and his group stopped the flames, by removing his arm and casting it aside. Then stopped the bleeding. One of their med-nins did their best to aid in the recovery. The soft hum of their efforts buzzed throughout the room.

Gaara finally had the ability to right the wrong he made years ago when he didn't kill Uchiha Sasuke.

The crunch of bone, the sweet release of blood, the screams of his enemy. He was about to scratch an itch that permeated the back of his skull. Infiltrating his ever waking thoughts, it wanted others to hurt as he had.

Revenge. For all the times Gaara couldn’t tell if Naruto was staring off in the distance daydreaming or stuck in a nightmare. For the fear that made Naruto rush his postpartum recovery past his body's true limits. For Naruto’s inability to be alone without fear of attack.

It would soon be his hands.

Gaara took a step forward, “I do want to thank you for coming today. It saves all of us the bother of finding you.”

“Heh.” Sasuke stood up off the ground, “You think you’re so cool.”

“Naruto, take Menma away.” He didn’t take his eyes off of the enemy.

“Gaara?” Naruto asked like he couldn’t recognize his own husband's voice… or maybe he did recognize it. He knew what the sharper cadence ment.

“This isn’t a safe place for-

“Your son?” Sasuke smirked, as if he was offering a pardon.

Naruto took a hesitant step forward, then back, “I’m not going to leave you-

“Now.” Sand swirled around them all angrily, like buzzing gnats flicking against their skin.

There was nowhere for Naruto to run. The only exit was through all the chaos that was Uchiha Sasuke. Flames grew higher, never stopping, never ending. Only consuming.

The hum of medical ninjutsu still played in the background.

Maybe Naruto could make it to the Raikage’s side. It's only about 10 feet away. It wasn't an escape, but it was a start. Fingers crossed.

Shadow Clone Jutsu

Three Naruto clones surrounded him. The real one held their child close, he was making a break for it. Naruto dashed through the flames to make it next to the Raikage's team. Sand followed his movements, doing its best to keep the fire at bay.

Still, Naruto wanted to fight, one of the clones said, “I’m not letting you do this alone.”

“Naruto!” Both Gaara and Sasuke shouted.

“I’m not here for you.” Sasuke said first.

“Surrender.”

That stopped him, “You think you're a match for me?!”

More sand rained from his gourd sloshing over the battlefield. Black flames try to reach anything they could touch. Only to be smothered by the sand. Gaara put out all the fires started by the wanted international criminal Uchiha Sasuke.

More flames joined in the dance.

“You blocked my attacks so well. I guess your defense is still going strong.”

Nothing.

The Raikage was still healing. One of his men joins in with subduing Sasuke. They just need a little longer for the Raikage to heal up enough to join the fight.

Sand Shower Barrage.
Cyclone Scythe Technique.
Gale Style Laser Circus.
Puppet Traid.
Shadow Clones.

Five powerful ninja all attack at once. Combining their strength for one final blow.

“But Gaara, I’ve got a defense that's better than yours.” Sasuke smirked.

Susano.

“That's the shield he used against me!” the Raikage said.

“That is the power of darkness?” Gaara asked.

“A power that only those who have awakened the mangekyo in both eyes can achieve.” A being who looks like death following him in the darkness. Sasuke smiled.

Gaara finally got a good look at his enemy, he sighed, “Your eyes are still like they were in the past.”

Flashes of their first meeting are in the front of his mind. When Gaara saw Team Seven he felt a kinship to Sasuke. They held the same eyes that could only focus on hatred.

“I have come to realize that vengeance would never fix my problems. They will not fix yours. It is not too late for you.” Gaara started to sound more like Naruto. Everything he had made Naruto promise not to say had fallen out of his own mouth like it was nothing. He should have never made Naruto promise to betray the one thing Gaara loved about him the most.

His heart.

“Oh big fucking words… if I were to return, what's there for me on your side?”

“Gaara, what are you doing? You know it's useless. He is a criminal, he's not you.” Kankuro reminded him.

Temari joined in, “Besides, he's just attacked the Gokage Summit. He’s now wanted internationally. There's no future for him now. And we can not make enemies.”

They were all right, but, “Sasuke, you are a lot like me. You’ve walked through the darkness. That's why even a tiny ray of light can-

“I’ve shut my eyes to the light a long time ago.”

“Do not let your personal matters interfere with being Kazekage.” His brother instructs him.

“Remember what he did to Naruto.” His sister chimes in.

A single tear fell, “Yeah.”

A ghost blade sliced the 5 pillars that held up the roof. Its collapse was imminent. Gaara showed them how powerful his defense truly was. The sand that had scattered throughout the room in the middle of the fight collected around them.

Sasuke left in the confusion.

“Where’s Sasuke!” The Raikage shouted as they made their way back to the meeting room.

“He’s gone.” Mifoon said.

An orange spiraled mask comes into view, then the man wearing it, then the man on his shoulder, “Don’t worry. You will have another chance.”

“Sasuke!” A woman with bright red hair yells.

“My name is Uchiha Madara, and I have a proposition for you.”

“That would be?” Before he could hear the man out, the Raikage attacked him.

The man disappeared then reappeared, “that was rude, you should listen to what I have to offer.”

“Calm down, Raikage, let's hear him out.”

“Haven’t you worked with him enough?”

The man disappeared and reappeared with the woman from before. The leader of the Akatsuki stands in front of them alone.

“Now that all the distractions are gone-

Gaara asked, “What's your plan with Sasuke?”

“I like to have spare parts, these eyes are quite rare… even more now that there's only three living Uchiha in the world.” Madara knew, “I’m sorry I missed the birth. As his relative, I should have been there.”

Gaara did his best not to react. He couldn’t let the rest of the Gokage know the truth about his son.

“A word to the wise, when you find Danzo, well what's left of him, you should grab some of his collection. It never hurts to have more than you need.”

“What is he talking about?” Kankuro spoke up, trying to cover for all of the sand shinobi there.

“Oh, when he hired me and Itachi to kill all the other Uchiha, he took a few ocular souvenirs. You’ll want back ups, because after a while they don't work so well.” He tapped the closed part of his mask.

The entire Gokage collective looked around for anyone showing signs of knowing of the third Uchiha. Each one looked more suspicious than the last. Gaara and his siblings knew the truth.

“Anyways, back to my real reason for being here. I’m giving you all the opportunity of a lifetime!” He raised both of his hands in the air, “Join me on my mission to create unity with Ninja World!”

A crashing sea of “What?!” filled the room. This man has no intention of creating a new world worth living in.

“I plan on ascending to Godhood soon. With of course the help of the remaining tailed beast, once you all graciously give them over to me. After that, I will create an Infinite Tsukuyomi, and you will all unify with me. Finally creating peace in the world.”

“The fuck are you going on about?!”
“Become one?!”
“Over my dead body.”

The masked man in front of them explains in detail his insane dream. How all of the tailed beast added up to one. How the sage of six paths is the one who stopped it. How he plans on using both to trap everyone in a dream land. Operation: Tsuki No Me

“That's insane! I’m not handing this world over to you!” The Raikage is the first to speak.

Then the Kazekage, “A peace like that is only an illusion. It is meaningless.”

Then the Mizukage, “So what does exist inside a genjutsu world?!”

Finally the Tsuchikage, “You know… Danzo mentioned something similar.”

“You, the Gokage, think you can do better than me?! You couldn't even agree to fight me together. And you want to believe that hope will guide you through! Hah!” Madara said, “Hope is pointless. Hand over the Eight and Nine Tails, or this will be the last great ninja war.”

“War?” Gaara asked.

“Eight Tails? You took Bee already!” The Raikage’s voice married hope and anger into one.

“Oh. You don't know? Oh that capture was a failure, he escaped.” Madara said.

“So he's just been playing hooky! When Bee is back I will show him the full extent of my wrath… but even then, I’ll never give him to you.” The Raikage said.

“You will not get Naruto either.” Gaara said, “I will not hand him over.”

“Nor will I? Raikage?”

“Fuck no. I’m not giving this asshole my brother or the blonde brat.”

“Me either.”

Madara got close and asked, “Are you sure about that? Because this is your last chance.”

“We will never abandon our hope.” Gaara said.

“Fine, I guess we’ll do it the hard way,” he sighed, “I hereby declare war on all of you. The Last Great Ninja War shall begin!” He disappeared in a vortex of orange.

“Now what?”

“Same plan as before. We form an Allied Shinobi Force." The Kazekage let them know, “It's our only chance of winning this.”

Chapter Text

Danzo was dead.

Uchiha Sasuke killed him.

The only thing that remains of this man is a jar with two twice stolen eyes, ‘for Menma.’

Chapter Text

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Umm… Yeah.” Naruto was sitting with only Menma to keep him company… and he wasn’t okay. He was in a light daze, half aware of his surroundings. Constantly looking at the door as if it would open, and someone worse would appear.

“You sure?” Gaara shouldn’t have left him after everything.

“What happened in there?” He ignored the question.

“Sasuke managed to escape with the help of the Akastuki, but he's internationally wanted now… more than before.”

Naruto shook his head, “He always manages to dig a deeper hole for himself.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. Gaara knew if Naruto wouldn’t answer the question about himself, he’d still answer, “How’s Menma?”

“He’s fine. I think the fight was more entertaining for him than scary. All that chakra smashing around, ya’ know.”

Menma did seem unaffected by the previous fight. Blissfully unaware of the tension that surrounds them. Too young to comprehend what the future holds.

“He’ll make a great shinobi one day.”

“He will.” Naruto's face held a complex expression of sadness and pride.

Gaara felt like he said something wrong.

“If Sasuke joined the Akatsuki, for real… I think we need to tell the other Kage the truth.”

Gaara looked at his son, “The truth?”

“It will be better coming from us.”

“We can’t risk that.”

“I overheard the Akatsuki guy talking a little. They know there's another Uchiha out there… They’re going to waste all their time in there wondering who it is, who’s betraying them… if they're under another genjutsu.” Naruto reasoned, “I think we have to. If we don't go to them with everything we’ve got, the whole truth, how do we expect them to trust our word?”

“What if they reject this union because of our child? It just started, and we need them.”

“They need us, too. Do you trust me?”

Gaara stayed silent for a second. Wondering if it really was worth the risk. If this went the wrong way, everything he worked for up to this point would be gone. His love, “I -

“Gaara?” Temari grabbed their attention, “It's starting soon.”

Gaara briefly glanced over to Naruto, he reached out his hand in his, “Are you ready?”

“No.” Naruto said, yet continued forward.

The meeting room was still empty besides the Neutral Party. The large hole in the wall sent a draft between them. Debris covers the rubble that was once the table. The glory of the place was lost in battle.

“General Mifune, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Naruto held Menma close to his chest.

“You are the Nine Tails?”

He nodded, “I’m Naruto, and this is our son, Menma.”

The man comes close enough to be in range of little hands. They grab onto the man’s long beard and yank down. It inspired an excited laughter in Menma.

“Oww!”

“Sorry about that!” Naruto laughed, “I should have warned you he’s still in the grabbing phase.”

A small amount of sand materialized in between them. Folding into the man's beard slowly slipping through his son's fingers, until it filled the baby's hands. Separating fingers and freeing the man. Menma pouted, looking like tears were on the horizon before the sand squished, causing a satisfied smile. He continued to play with his fathers ever morphing sand during their conversation.

“Once he grabs onto something he doesn't like to let go.” Gaara moved his fingers to manipulate the sand in pleasing shapes.

“It’s fine. I have seen many children in this stage and long beyond in my many years. I do ask, why are you here?”

“We figured it best to tell you first, as you are part of a Neutral Party. It’s about what was said in the meeting.” Gaara started.

“A lot of things were said. Care to narrow it down?”

“About the third Uchiha.” Naruto said.

“Ah, I’ve had my suspicions. Is this him?” The old man inspected the young boy in his mothers arms.

Naruto smiled, “Yes.”

“I suppose I won't have to worry about another sharingan situation with him.” His nerves seemed to settle a bit.

“No, you wont… I know it can be difficult to recover from. I’m sorry to hear you went through that.”

“I would not be where I am today if I were to let such matters affect me.”

“Right.”

“Naruto will be a part of our next discussion.” Gaara left no room for negotiation.

“That’s highly unorthodox.”

“He’s both a jinchuriki and has information that might be helpful to what just happened.”

He examined their family closely, “It might be important for them to remember what they are fighting for.”

Gaara allowed Naruto to sit in his chair, as he stood behind him. Temari and Kankuro next to him. His headpiece in front of them.

The first to rejoin is the Raikage, his support staff now visible behind him.

“What’s he doing here?” The Raikage pointed to Naruto.

“He’s got information on the Akatsuki. Considering recent events, I figured it best to include him.” Gaara said.

“I’m not going to hold back just because a child’s in the room.” He sat down, headpiece still on.

Without thinking, Naruto said, “I don’t expect you to.”

Tch.

The rest of the Kage returned without much fuss. Each noticing the omega that sit before them in their own ways. The Tsuchikage eyed him, and the baby, but said nothing. The Mizukage smiled. The Hokage never returned.

“We still have an issue. Who will be the leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces?” the Tsuchikage asked, “Are there any suitable among the rest of the Kages?”

Everyone looked around and waited.

Mifune finally said, “I think Lord Raikage would be best.”

“I thought you said the Raikage was unstable!” the Tsuchikage said.

“It appears that the eight tails is alive. Thus I feel like lord Raikage will remain calm. I jumped to hastily to my conclusions earlier. I apologize.”

“Mizukage, Kazekage are you alright with that?” the Tsuchikage asked.

“This is not the time to squabble. I will trust Lord Raikage.”

“Me too.” Gaara said.

“So great fence sitter, as the only one who's battled Madara before. Any intel you possess is critical.” The Riakage said, “You better cooperate.”

“You still like ordering people around, eh.”

“We don't have time to trust me. So you ought to squash any personal feelings you have and corporate.”

“Well I suppose it's better than losing the war.” the Tsuchikage said, “I support you too.”

Everyone sighed in relief.

“The Shinobi Allied force is here by Inaugurated, we all must inform our respected Daimyo.” The Tsuchikage reminded all of them that someone would have to authorize the funds for this war.

That was the first agreement.

“Now what?” the Mizukage said.

“Seems like my little brother is safe. We can not let ourselves be bullied by the Akatsuki any more!” His face was stirn, “We’ll knock them out in one blow.”

“What about Konoha?”

“After what just happened, we can’t trust Danzo.” The Raikage knew, “When Konoha finds out about this, his sanding will also become shaky. He must be deposed.”

“I’ll pass the news to a shinobi that I trust.” Gaara said.

“Who?” he eyed Naruto.

“Hatake Kakashi of the Sharingan.”

“The White Fangs son, eh?” Tsuchikage noted his lineage.

“Yeah… He was also my sensei.” Naruto mentioned.

“That is acceptable… At least he seemed more trustworthy than Danzo. I think I might have seen him on the way here. I assumed he was going to be with the Hokage… it appears not.”

Naruto wondered why Kakashi could be up to here. He thought that Konoha would be under similar no travel orders like Sunagakure. There must be a good reason they broke those.

Naruto didn’t think it mattered, because “Sasuke is going after Danzo. He’s going to kill him.”

“Why?”

“Because of everything Konoha did to the Uchiha.” Each word was slower than the last. Like he was telling a dirty secret that no one should know. Naruto didn’t understand why it felt like he should be ashamed, as if he was responsible for it.

“And you know this how?” The Raikage was on edge.

“When you saved me, thank you by the way, I don’t think I thanked you. So thank you… but yeah, Sasuke had me in a genjutsu. He showed me his plan.”

“Sasuke… He seems to have an obsession with you.”

“He does.” Gaara confirmed.

“Care to say why.” It wasn’t a question.

Gaara glanced over to the Neutral Party, who said, “As a reminder, we are all in alliance.”

That did not comfort anyone in the room. In fact, it put them all on edge. They had just declared war and one of their generals was about to drop a bomb.

“Everyone in this room needs to swear secrecy upon this matter.” Gaara had to trust his husband's intuition on this.

However he did not want to risk this information getting out of the room. There were no official representatives from Konoha here, so it would be safer to do this now. At least until they knew who their next Hokage was.

The Mizukage was first, “I and my people, will swear to secrecy.”

The Tsuchikage was next, “Sure. Why not, I and my people, swear to secrecy.”

Finally the Raikage, “Fine. We do the same.”

It was now or never, Naruto had to tell them, “I know you're all on edge right now… Wondering who the third Uchiha is. Since we are all allies here, it's finally safe to tell you. Our child, Menma, he has Uchiha Heritage.”

They are all trying to calculate Menma’s age right now. See where that puts Sunagakure into the tangled web of the Akatsuki. Naruto wanted to shield him from the scrutiny, but knew this was crucial to retaining their trust. The ones who got it realized it was approximately two years ago when the child was conceived.

“You were Sasuke’s teammate right?” The Raikage questioned his loyalty, “You told my men that.”

“Yes. I foolishly thought because of that I could reach him. Make him turn himself into Konoha.” Naruto took a deep breath in, “I was wrong.”

“You really thought he would listen to you?”

“I thought he was done with his stupid revenge plan… I didn’t know he was already a part of the Akatsuki.” Naruto never wanted to tell this story again, but he knew he had to, “My seal was more complex… they had to resort to a more creative solution to try to remove the Kyuubi from me. Sasuke he–

Gaara took over, he cut out all the unsavory bits, “As soon as Naruto was able, he escaped the Akatsuki. Our son was born a few months after that. If you remember, that’s when you all started hearing from me more.”

“You wait until after we form an alliance to tell us something like this, and you expect us to trust you?” The Raikage accused. “We’re supposed to-

“Lord Raikage, can I be honest with you?” Behind Naruto was Kankuro and Temari readinying their weapons. This wasn’t going to be a good message.

“We don’t have time for-

“You’re fucking stupid.”

“Naruto.” Temari trying to hide her smirk under the high neck of her dress.

“What gives you the right to say that?”

“Because Gaara has been sending you updates on the Akatsuki’s wearabouts for the last 4 years. I don't remember ever seeing you send a single message back.”

“Tsk. You can’t speak to me-

“Like you're an idiot? Yes I can.” Naruto said, hand over his heart, “we tried to help you for years… and you don’t listen. And now you dare act like we’re your enemy, still?”

“Sunagakure has hired Orochi-

Naruto knew, he didn’t care, “Gaara saved your life today.”

“Orochimaru-

“Is dead. And wasn’t a part of the Akatsuki when he attacked the Leaf Village.”

“You're just children. You know nothi-

“We knew your brother was in danger. Both of us have personally taken out several members of the Akatsuki already. It's why there's only a few left. If we had your help three years ago, the Akasuki would have been a memory long before your brother was ever a target.”

“Naruto, you’ve made your point.” Kankuro said.

Still, Naruto’s stupid mouth said, “No. We are telling you about our son's heritage so you don't have to worry about there being another Uchiha in this room. So we don’t continue this stupid infighting and backstabbing. That puts him in danger. You all know that. I came here to give you insight on them. So we could stop the Akasuki together. We are here to help you… stop acting like we’re your enemy. You are this Gokage’s leader, so please accept Sunagakure’s help.”

“Tch.” the Raikage said, starting to change his mind, “What do you know?”

“I don’t think they were here to capture me. Because I’m still here.” Naruto looked over to the Raikage, “They mentioned earlier, they didn’t take your brother?”

“Yes.”

“They probably are still after him… Like right now.” Naruto said, waving his hands to the wreckage, “This is probably a distraction or something.”

“Lord Raikage, we must search for Killer Bee right away!” his subordinate said.

“Agreed. Shee, send a message to the village and put together a search party for him now!”

“I can help.” Naruto didn’t want another jinchuriki to fall victim to them, “I’m a sensory ninja. You’ll need one to find large spikes in chakra.”

“Out of the Akatsuki we know, at least two are preoccupied with Dazno.” Gaara went over, “It's safe to assume that Madara is still assisting Sasuke. With both of them in pursuit, he’s most likely already dead.”

“Itachi had a teammate, ummm… fish-guy, I don’t think anyone killed him.”

They finally went over everything that they have collected over the years with the other Kages. Ensuring they had the most up to date knowledge on the institution they were up against.

“What do we do about the jinchuriki?”

“In order to stop Madara’s plan, we must keep the Eight and Nine Tails out of his clutches,” the Mizukage said.

“That's right!” her subordinate said.

“Yeah I can't even imagine the power Madara already has from the seven biju he has already captured. He must have some sort of trump card.” Tsuchikage said.

“He wouldn't have come here if he did.” his subordinate said.

“The allied shinobi focus must also plan to use the strength of the biju in battle… Agreed?”

“No. Absolutely not.” Gaara said, “This war is also to protect the two of them. I believe the reason why Madara is waging war with us is that in his weakened state it is difficult for him to capture the remaining biju with his limited numbers. Even if he were able to, the risks are too high. He’s hoping to lure the two of them out with this war.”

“I agree.” the Mizukage said.

“I concur. If you think about all the possibilities. We can't afford to parade the eight and nine tails in front of the enemy.” The Raikage admitted, “Besides, strategy is a foreign concept to my little brother. We could never predict what he would do.”

Naruto sat there quietly with a blush spreading across his face. He dare not draw attention to himself at the moment. He had already shown off a bit of his impulsiveness earlier.

“Unfortunately, the same could be said about Naruto.” Kankuro said.

“Very well, so the eight and nine tails will be considered under protective custody.” the Mizukage said.

“Allright.” Tsuchikage said.

“I’d like to offer my protection.” The Raikage said to Gaara, “The Lightning will take the Nine Tails to a hidden location deep within our borders. He and Bee will be protected there until after we deal with the Akatsuki.”

Chapter Text

They knew they had to do this.

It didn't mean they were looking forward to it. This would be their last night together until the war was over. Gaara was taking their son back to Sunagakure, and Naruto was leaving for Kumogakure in the morning.

Without Sisori the Akasuki would struggle navigating the Wind’s desert climate. They knew if Naruto wasn’t there they would have no reason to waste the resources to even attempt such a thing again.

It was the safest option for Menma.

He was almost hurt earlier that day when Sasuke attacked the Gokage meeting. He could have been killed. Neither of them would be able to live with himself if anything happened to their son.

Still, “I’m scared.”

“Me too.” It would be the first time they were away from each other in years.

“Are you sure you can handle Menma by yourself?” Naruto wanted him to say no, that he needed his omega by his side. He wanted any excuse to not go through with it. He was being selfish.

“I’m sure.” Gaara dried off his hair from their earlier shower, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.”

“How long do you think it will take?” Naruto paced around the room, like he was looking for something, but Gaara knew the truth.

“You heard the Raikage. We're doing a focused attack when they’re at their weakest. It should be only a few months, a year at most.”

“A year?”

“I doubt it will be that long.” Gaara back tracked, “Once we ensure funding from our Daimyo’s we can start mobilizing. It shouldn’t take that long.”

“We can still write letters?” he glanced out the window, darkness stared back. A snow storm was raging outside. Frost clung to the corners of the glass, creeping its way up to the center.

“No. That would jeopardize your position. The whole point of doing something this drastic is to ensure everyone's safety.” Gaara had to be the voice of reason.

“Right.” Naruto thought out loud, “I’m going to miss out on a lot of Menma's first.”

“I know… I’m sorry. But you need to be alive for everything else.”

It wasn’t, “Okay.”

Gaara sat on the edge of the bed, letting his body relax for a moment. Hands squeezed the soft sheets beneath him. He was vulnerable without his shield activated. With Naruto that was alright, he could finally feel the world surrounding him.

Unlike him, Naruto refused to relax. His motions like an everwinding string on the verge of a snap. Tension building in his muscles with each step he took.

“We're safe now,” Gaara reassured. They increased defenses after the attack. If anyone were to try something like that again so soon, they would be alerted with enough time to defend themselves.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Naruto stopped, “Yeah.”

“The storm will impede anyone's travel. Menma’s in the other room with Temari and Kankuro. And we are surrounded by allies.”

“I know that.”

Gaara didn’t hesitate, hands on either side of Naruto's waist, he pulled him forward. Knees on either side of Naruto’s legs. Arms wrapped around Naruto’s midsection as he rested his head right above the seal on his stomach.

Naruto returned the hug, as best he could while standing. His arms rest atop Gaara’s shoulders. Fingers fiddling with strands of red hair.

“I’m going to miss you.” Gaara said.

“Me too.”

Gaara’s worried Naruto might not be able to handle the cruelties of war. Naruto was naive sometimes. He liked to say that he understood everyone's pain. Because of that he thought he could understand their anger. Except, his hands were never dirtied by blood, not the way Gaara’s were.

Naruto had never killed anyone before. He was able to solve conflicts without having to resort to such measures. If Gaara had his way, Naruto would never learn what another person's life felt like dangling in their fingers. Tucking him away in a secret area in Kumogakure would prevent the war from taking a piece of Naruto’s heart.

Gaara finally understood what it meant to protect someone you loved. He would dirty his hands a million times over to keep his family safe. Risking waking the dark part of himself that clung to the corners of his mind.

Sasuke’s eyes earlier reminded him of how his own used to be. How he hoped to never be again. Blinded by the darkness, he couldn't see wrong from right. Naruto fought tooth and nail to bring Gaara to the light.

Would he do the same again after the war?

“Naruto,” Gaara looked up, “I think I have to apologize to you.”

“For what?” Naruto chuckled, as he playfully twirled Gaara’s hair.

“For forcing you to give up on your promises. I pushed your hand in that decision several times. I made it a requirement for our life. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You were right to.”

“I don’t think I was.” Gaara said, releasing their hug, to hold either side of his husband's face, “Naruto, I love that about you. I love how you're so caring of others. Yet, I made you close yourself off from that to only love me. I was being selfish.”

Naruto rested his cheeks in the other's hands, “You're rarely selfish.”

“That doesn't mean I can-

“Love,” Naruto took Gaara's hands in his own, “It’s fine. I needed that. It was a wake up call for me.”

“You were vulnerable and I took advantage of that, because I was scared.”

“I was stupid, and being controlled by my mark. I needed someone, I needed you, to remind me to take care of myself. Because you’re the only one I’d listen to with my brain all fucked up like that.”

“Aren’t you worried that I mess up your brain, too…”

Naruto laughed, “No.”

“But you hold my mark now.”

“So what? For the first million-billion years of our relationship I didn’t and I still managed to love you just fine.” Naruto's fingers trailed down the mark he gave to Gaara, “Do you think my mark messes your brain up?”

“No.” If anything since receiving the mark, Gaara’s vision has never been clearer.

“Exactly.” Naruto’s been so much better since receiving his new mark, but he doesnt credit the mental change to the bite, “Ya’ know, for someone so smart, you can be so stupid sometimes.”

“I guess. Yeah, I -

Gaara’s lips were stolen before the last words left them. A swipe of the tongue at his bottom lip, before a small nip. He demanded to be let in. Naruto took everything he could in their remaining time together.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” He plead in between breaths, “fuck me.”

Naruto was brave enough to be selfish. To grab ahold of the things he wanted in this world and never let go. That’s how he often pulled Gaara into a whirlwind of desire. He was right, their day was filled with talking, it was time for action.

Gaara didn’t want to think about anything anymore. He craved the carelessness of their bodies intertwined. He was here with the love of his life and they were safe. Moments like this don't last long.

He pulled Naruto onto the bed, back flush against the thick comforter. Thighs spread open, parting the towel that barely covered him. Gaara settled between them, stripping him of the last bit of privacy.

Pheromones weaved together in the space between them. Calling the alpha to his omega. Intermingling their wills into one. Their souls were that of summer, when the sun met the earth in fits of burning passion.

Gaara’s fingers trailed up tan thighs, still slightly damp from the shower. He brought his lips to Naruto’s pussy in his daily devotion ritual. His soul goal is to taste the sweet nectar of the gods splash across his tongue.

“Gaara, please, I-” Naruto gasped in between Gaara’s actions, pulling hair roughly in an attempt to get him to stop, “- I need you inside!”

A finger quickly filled the request. Naruto’s needy pussy sucked him in the knuckle. A squelching wet little mess welcomed his actions. They had just started and Naruto was already impatient.

“No-no-no. I need you. I need you now. Not just your fingers. Please.” He tried to pull Gaara’s hand away.

Gaara sat up, engorged shaft proudly at attention with him. His cock sat heavy between his legs. Sandwiching it between slicked up chubby little pussy lips. Sloshing the wettines around with its flushed head.

It was so welcoming, he slammed inside without thinking. Naruto's muscles spasmed around his cock. Squirting slick onto the bed sheets beneath them.

“Don’t stop.” Naruto bucked his hips through his orgasm, with a slightly pained expression.

Gaara stopped, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah- I’m,” his breath quickened with his sloppy little trust, “ah-lpha-ah-ah-please.”

Gaara should have prepared him better. Even at their quickest quickie, he tried to make sure he did something. Naruto was clearly hurt. He shouldn’t have-

“Gaara!” Naruto snapped him out of his own head. Spreading open his legs further to allow for easier access. He didn’t want this to end.

“You want this?” He asked, with a tentative half thrust.

“Yea-” Naruto moaned, unable to focus on anything beyond how full he is, “-ah!”

“Of course you do, omega.” Gaara trusted that if Naruto wanted him to stop he would say something. Naruto needed someone to take control, make the world safer for him.

Gaara held him by his waist, thumb rubbing into the side hip bone. Rocking his hips slowly to let Naruto get adjusted as best he could. He kept the controlled pace until the pained look completely disappeared from Naruto's face.

He’s fucked Naruto countless times, but he’s never allowed himself to take this kind of role before. He likes it more than wants to admit.

“You're doing so good for me.”

“Fuck-” Naruto exclamed, shocked at the clear arousal pulsating inside him. He threw his head back grasping at the sheets, before clawing his way up to Gaara's shoulders, squeezing tightly. Gaara took them into his own, twisting both of Naruto's wrists above his head.

Gaara was in control now. Holding him down and using him for his own desires. Naruto felt helplessly safe in the testing arms of his husband. He let himself unravel under the care of his love.

“Turn over.”

Naruto has never presented for Gaara before. His round ass bounced so beautifully with each trust. Gaara drowned himself in the pleasure of his omegas body. Tight velvety walls made a perfect home for his cock.

“Such a pretty thing.”

Gaara looked into blue eyes through the mirror over the bed. He was perfect. Tears percolated from the edges of long lashes. Mouth slightly agape, moans cut through with sharp breaths. Shuttering little omega wrapped around his cock. Gaara flipped him over, he wanted the real thing with nothing in between them.

Everything fell silent.

Time stilled as their foreheads pressed together. Eyes opened, peering into the other's soul. Noses tilted their faces ever so slightly. The two were so close their breath was one.

“I love you.” was uttered from both of their lips.

Gaara stole his lips once more. Consuming the very life that radiated off of his mate. Each thrust was more frantic than the last. He needed everything the other provided.

His knees rested at Gaara’s shoulders as he fucked into him as if it was their lastfirst time. Naruto could feel the pulsing of the cock inside of him. Knot catching on his entrance. Gaara was on the verge of cumming.

“You got this, omega.”

Naruto shutterd around him. That's all it took for a bulbous knot to finally lock them into place, spilling into Naruto’s womb.

His cock twitched occasionally in a feeble attempt to fill Naruto even more. It slowly softens while his knot stays firmly in place. It too shall soften in a few minutes.

The heat of their body met the chill of the air. Naruto was fucked out and perfect. Soft hazy eyes stare off into the distance just above Gaara’s head. Small panting breaths slowly brought him back to the world.

After a quick clean up the two joined their family in the main area of their joint suite. Temari sat on a couch as Kankuro and Menma were playing on the carpet. It was peaceful. So easy to forget all of the recent chaos surrounding them.

Menma was clearly starting to get cranky with his bedtime approaching. He held on to Kankuro’s fingers for dear life, as his uncle was getting him used to supporting his own weight. A pout written clearly on his face.

Temari eyed them, but didn’t say anything.

She didn’t have to, because Kankuro did it for her, “Took you guys long enough.”

“Sorry,” Naruto rubbed the back of his head, “We didn't mean to take so long.”

Temari said with a slight annoyance in her tone, “We get it, love birds.”

“Menma’s still too young for that.” Gaara pointed out.

“He’s right on time… I can read a book, too.” He continued his puppeteering of their son.

Gaara tried to get him to stop with, “We have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it's almost his bedtime. Unless you want him to be cranky during your trip?” Naruto added.

“He won't be cranky.”

“I’m trying to spare you from it. I’m not going to be the one who,” Naruto tried to make light of it, but it accidently backfired and hurt him more, “has to deal with it.”

“Kankuro,” Gaara said.

Naruto walked over to their son practicing to do the same. Kankuro let go at the last second, causing Menma to accidentally stumble into his first pseudo step. Before quickly being caught by Naruto.

“He did it!”

“He fell.”

“He took a step.”

“He tried to catch himself before you dropped him.”

“Don’t say ‘I dropped him.’ We’re on the carpet, it's a foot to the ground. He’s fine.” He picked him right back up to do it again.

“You let go of my son.”

“It's how they learn.”

Naruto had a realization, if he let this continue he would miss Menma’s first real step. He’d miss watching his son run around their home bumping into every child proof thing they owned. If Menma was like him, it wouldn't take long before he’d got into everything he could.

“Hey?” Gaara interrupted his thoughts, Naruto must have been gone for a while, because he asked “are you okay?”

“Yeah.” No.

“Blondie, why don't you join us, the movies’ almost over.”

“Yeah, I’ll hop over here, give you two the couch.” Kankuro moved over.

Before Naruto responded, Gaara led him down to the plush cushioned couch. The soft pillows conformed around his body like a glove. Menma was placed on his lap as Gaara joined him.

Gaara asked, pointing to the screen, “So what's happening?”

“This girl is always the bridesmaid, never a bride. She has a million ugly dresses.” Temari waited until the guy appeared on the screen, “He’s about to fumble her so hard.”

“You’ve seen it before?” Gaara rubbed comforting circles into Naruto’s side.

“No. Every rom-com has the same plot.”

“Yeah,” Naruto finally perked back in, “They all follow the same formula.”

“Then what's the point?”

“I guess… It's comforting to know it's all going to endwell.” Naruto sunk into his side.

“Ah, I-

“Shut up! He’s about to do something dumb.” Temari raised the volume of tv.

Tragedy happened. He fucked up big time. She fucked up, too. It didn’t matter. At the end, everything was okay. The girl was in her beautiful white dress, with all her friends standing beside her.

Chapter Text

Naruto had just finished dressing Menma for the day. He was in a blood orange padded jumper, and matching pants set. The thickest leather boots they make for babies. An adorable bright orange knit beanie. And a million other layers that couldn't be seen.

He wanted to add more protection for their son, but there was not much left he could do. This was it. After breakfast, they would depart for Sunagakure.

They didn’t speak much this morning. Afraid any one word would make this too real again. They rather pretend this was just a normal day for their family.

The door opened and three figures emerged.

“Karin?!” Naruto questioned. If it wasn’t for her company, he’d be concerned.

“You know her?” Sakura asked.

“Is she okay?”

“Who is it, Naruto?” Gaara wondered.

“That's the woman who let me go!” Naruto asked, figuring out the obvious, “She’s not under arrest, is she?”

“She is.” Kakashi said.

“We’ll take her.” Gaara said, “She was a part of the Gokage assault.”

“She’s under Konoha custody right now.”

“You don’t have the resources to handle her. Konoha is still recovering from the Pain Assault. What if we share everything we get.”

“I suppose that could work.” Kakashi was too tired to fight.

“What are you guys even doing here?” Naruto wondered.

Sakura looked to Kakashi-sensei, before looking down, “Konoha has a capture-kill order out on Uchiha Sasuke.”

It was too soon for them to have heard about what he did here. They must have been planning this for a while now. Naruto looked around, Sasuke wasn’t with them, “Failure?”

“Yeah…” Her eyes lost a spark they once held. Sakara clearly just survived a battle with the man. Whatever injuries they had she must have healed, but the evidence was in the clothing, torn and desheleveld.

“He was seen stealing forbidden scrolls from Root during the Pain Assault. It was the last straw for Konoha.” Sakura said, “Danzo authorized the mission before he left. It didn’t save him.”

“Huh. Naruto was right.” the Raikage said, “the brat was after the interim Hokage.”

“He was here?” Kakashi accused, “Why didn’t you go after him?”

“Had to secure one of the last jinchuriki’s safety. The Akasuki just declared war on all of us.”

Kakashi realized, “Konoha doesn’t have anyone to lead them.”

“That’s where you come in.” Gaara said.

“The kid vouched for you.” The Raikage added.

“Me?” Kakashi pointed to himself.

“I’ll update you on everything I can before you go. You can inform the necessary parties in Konoha.”

“Naruto, I need to talk to you…” Sakura whispered, “in private.”

“Umm,” Naruto looked around their surroundings, “Yeah… We can do that.”

He led them to a side room with a little bit of privacy. Menma never leaves his arms. Naruto wanted as much time with his son before he had to go.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she held out a jar with red eyes, ‘for Menma.’

Menma looked at them, they looked back. Bobbing up and down in whatever medical liquid that's keeping them alive. He’s not afraid, more playfully curious, chubby little arms reached out to them.

“We couldn’t tell anyone.” Naruto held him back.

“Bullshit! I’m not just anyone! I’m your friend.” She slammed the jar down, ripping the paper from it tucking it away in one of her many pockets.

“Konoha would have taken him away.” Naruto knew, “That’s why Kakashi-sensei and Yamato-sensei were there.”

“You could have still told me.” The jar went back to its original hiding place.

“I wasn’t going to risk my life.” He still wasn't sure about being so open with the Gokage, but lies always got him in trouble like this.

“Tch. Your life? Don't be dramatic. You like Konoha.”

“I do. It will always be my home… but my life is in Sunagakure.”

“I know but-

“Oi! Whatever you two are complaining about, get a move on. We’re about to depart!” The woman from the cloud village shouted.

“Give us a second!” Naruto said.

“You don’t have much time.” They wouldn’t leave him here, but they could definitely make the travel annoying for him.

“Sakura, you’re one of my oldest friends. You have to understand why I couldn't tell you.” He whispered.

“I know… I just wish you would have. Everything’s changing so fast.”

“I’m sorry…” Naruto had to ask, even though he knew, “How was he?”

“I don't think he’s with us any more.”

“Me either.”

“We’re going to have to take it seriously soon.”

Sasuke wasn’t their fault, but he was their responsibility.

“Yeah… It looks like he did a number on you guys.”

“He did. If Kakashi-sensei didn’t show up… I don't know what would have happened.”

“Hurry up! Something weird’s going on.” The woman yelled again.

“We’re almost done!”

“Why was that woman yelling at you?” Sakura noticed she wasn’t from either of their villages, “Where are you even going now?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“More secrets?”

“I don’t even know.” Naruto added, “I’m going to be leaving with the Cloud Village today. Give Gaara… that after we leave.”

“I can do that. We still have that prisoner transfer. And whatever meeting Gaara has to have with Kakashi-sensei now that he’s going to be… whatever he's going to be.”

“Tell him I'm sorry.”

“Who?”

“Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto chuckled, “We both know he never wanted that much responsibility.”

“He barely wanted us.” she joined in on the laughter.

“Can you blame him? We’ve been nothing but trouble since the start.”

“We really have.”

They joined back in the group after a bit more conversation. It seemed as if they were getting Kakashi up to speed. The woman badgering him from before wouldn't dare tell the Kazekage to ‘hurry up,’ but she wanted to.

“Love,” Naruto bounced up Menma, getting him ready for a transfer.

“Huh?” Gaara realized what was going on, “Oh, of course,” his arms were held out to secure their child. A soft kiss on the cheek.

“I’ve always been bad at this.” his weight awkwardly shifted from foot to foot.

“What?”

“Saying goodbye.”

Gaara knew, “I’ll see you next time.”

Naruto smiled.

“I think this will be the last of your struggles.” The sharkman said over his octopus prey.

“Sorry we’re late, Bee.”

“The Raikage! How did you?” Bee wondered.

“Thanks to you sharkman. Such a giant bubble of water was visible to the naked eye… and I could sense your chakra inside of it.” Naruto said.

“You oughtn’t recklessly absorb others' chakra… it's way too obvious.”

“Found out,” the man he assumes is Bee stood up, “After all.”

“Let's do it!” The Riakage said.

“Okay, bro!” Bee smiled.

Water Style Super Shark Bomb.
Double Lariat.

Two was too fast.

Kisame was defeated.

“How dare you wander off on your own!” The Raikage affectionately scolded his brother.

“Even ya’ non-dominant arm does me a lot of harm, sound the alarm!” Bee raised his hands in surrender.

Naruto laughed.

“Who’s the guy?” Bee pointed to him.

Naruto and the Raikage said at the same time.
“Hi, I’m Naruto. I’m like you. I’m a jinchuriki.”
“Kazekage’s Omega. He’s under our protection for now.”

“Tch. What does that have to with me?” Jerk.

“War’s started. I’m not letting you slack off anymore.”

“I haven't been slacking off.”

“You faked your own death! That’s the pinnacle of slacking off.”

A boat made its way to a solitary island that reminded Naruto of a dream he once had. The waves of the ocean crashed against the side, knocking them around. Mist made it hard to see where they were going.

It was awkward.

Bee didn’t seem to like Naruto much. It made sense… Naruto is the reason that he can’t play hooky any more.

“Get ready, we're about to prepare for landfall.”

The clouds part to reveal a jagged coastline of death. Bones impaled on rocky edges, clearly slammed against it by the waves. It was wrecked of rotten flesh picked apart by the crabs.

“This is paradise?” Naruto felt lied to.

“Well, it's closer to the Forest of Death where you're from.” the captain admitted, “but don’t worry. You don't mess with them, they won't mess with you.”

A loud splash came from the head of the ship. Long orange tentacles emerged from the water.

“Octopus!”

“He's a squid.” Bee said.

Okay. So Naruto lived in the desert for the last couple of years in his life. Before that, the middle of the forest. Maybe he’s not the best at identifying ocean life. It's not his fault.

Naruto started to count the legs of the beast. Bee cracked his neck side to side and did little stretches, as he stood up. He was getting ready to fight this thing!

“Squid go deviate! The rest I will abbreviate.” A real octopus emerged to fight the squid. The squid retreated back into the depths of the ocean.

“So cool, ya’ know!”

“Ya’ know?” Bee questioned, and reached for his handy-dandy notebook of rhymes, “We don’t show the world in the depths down below. Where we all go when there's where left to go. Will we clash or be a smash? Only time will show.”

“How do you do it?”

“I was writing that all trip… it wasn’t just off the dome.”

“No. Control your biju, Octo-pops?”

“I trained here of course!”

“Then you can train me.”

“I’m on vacation, ya’ fool.”

Like Konoha, Komogakure also had a barrier that notified them when anything approached. Which is why a man named Moto appeared, “You guys are late.”

Chapter Text

“This is it?” Naruto asked as they stood before a large waterfall.

“Yeah,” his guide Moto said, “This is the Waterfall of Truth.”

The waterfall was crystal clear rapidly gushing over the wall of sharpened rocks. The pool beneath it was serene and calm despite the angry water splashing atop it. A perfectly round patch of grass sat in front of nature's wonder. There was a type of magic flowing through the air.

“And you said this is where Bee learned to control the Biju?”

“No.” The Guide informed him.

“Huh?” Then what's the point of bringing him here?

“This is a supplementary step. Sit down here and close your eyes, Naruto. You’ll get it.”

“Okay,” Naruto doesn't think about it, he wants to get this training done as soon as possible. The jinjuriki immediately sits in the circle.

Naruto closed his eyes.

The sounds of nature took over his senses. The loud screaming of rushing water was the most prevalent. Then in the distance were the screams of birds and the songs of frogs. The leaves rustled in the wind between them.

It reminded him of his lesions with the toads. Naruto knew how to be one with nature. To feel the world's chakra fold into his own. Balance was something he was capable of within himself.

Since his arrival here, Naruto had gone back to old habits. Lying to himself was the most effective way of dealing with things he had no control over. ’One day, I’ll prove them wrong.’ ‘One day, I’ll be Hokage.’ ‘One day, Sasuke will return.’

‘One day, everything will be okay.’

Except, now he didn’t want to be Hokage, he didn’t know what he wanted to happen to Sasuke, and he already proved everyone wrong. Naruto still wanted everything to be okay. He wanted the war to be over. He wanted to stop being the reason for all the violence. He wanted to be back home with his family and friends.

Telling himself these things will happen stopped him from over analyzing everything that could go wrong. The fact his husband and son were a million miles away. He was the reason the five great nations had to go to war. The violence was just beginning.

“Do you think Menma has started walking yet?” a distant voice tried to distract him from inside the sounds of the endless waterfall.

“Hah? Why are you bringing that up now?” Naruto opened one eye, it was just him and this weird figure now. The others must have left in the middle of his meditation.

“I’m just wondering, he was already crawling before you left. With the way Kankuro’s going at it… It won't be long before you miss his first step.”

Naruto didn’t want to think about missing Menma’s milestones, “Stop it! I’m trying to train here.”

The shadowed figure smiled.

Naruto?

Naruto didn’t make any shadow clones, that he’s aware of, but there he is. Wow, Naruto is much more tired than he originally gave himself credit for. Being away from his family for even just a few weeks of travel had made him look like shit. The other Naruto looked back at him with a twisted grin and dark eyes.

“Who are you?”

“It's obvious, isn't it?” the twisted copy walks closer, “I'm you.”

It has to be a genjutsu.

“Huh? No you're not. Who’s casting you?” Naruto looked around to see if Sasuke was nearby. This would be strange even by his standards… but Naruto couldn’t put anything past him. “Sasuke. Stop this now.”

“I’m not Sasuke," the foul imitation chuckled, “I’m you. I am the one who lives in your heart.”

“What are you talking about? Stop lying. I don’t know you.”

“We’re at the Waterfall of Truth, dummy. I am your truth. I am you. The real you.”

“The real me?”

The loud rushing water around them faded into the background. Figures lost dimension and shape. Shadows lost form. Everything between them was light.

“I am the hatred inside of you. The dark part of you that whispers in the back of your mind. The only difference between us is that the Nine Tails likes me a lot more.” A beast within him enjoys the company of another beast within him. No matter.

“You…” Naruto knew that there was a darkness that lived inside of him. It's what connected him to people like Sasuke. It’s what he thought connected him to Gaara at first. The only difference between them is Naruto tried to suppress this part of him.

Except, as time went on, Naruto realized what connected him and Gaara wasn't hatred; it was love. The two of them loved with their whole hearts. It was overwhelming sometimes. They cared for so many things and wanted to be recognized for what they built, not what they destroyed.

Naruto was confident, “I’m not like you.”

“Yes you are. I’m not going to let you deny me like that.”

“I’m not stuck in my darkness.”

“Really? Then why do you pick such awful men?” He smirked, “Are you hoping that no one notices you're just as bad as them?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh! Don't get me wrong… I liked Gaara. Well the real Gaara, not whatever creature you have neutered back in Suna.”

“Don’t talk about him like that!” Naruto tapped into his anger.

“Come on,you know you're squandering his potential… you heard how he spoke to Sasuke… He was going to kill him. He’s still got the beast inside him.”

“He didn’t though. He offered mercy.”

“You really want that,” he eyed him up and down, “You want Sasuke to experience mercy… after everything he did to you?”

“I don’t know.” Naruto didn’t know what he wanted from the situation. He had only just recovered from his depressive episode recently. He just wanted to live his life.

“I don’t think that’s what you want. I think you wanted to see Gaara crush him… It would have been easy for him, ya’ know. One twitch of the pinky, and splat!” the fake jumped, “Sasuke would have been dead.”

“He’s not like that any-

“It’s cute you believe that.”

… Naruto had no choice, “fine.”

It was hard to tell who ran to strike first. They met in the middle of the battlefield with a twank! Strike after strike, neither would budge. Each declaring the other was fake with every hit.

They had the same strength.

“You can’t stop me.”

“Then I’ll just need backup.”

Shadow Clone Jutsu.

“Heh.”

Shadow Clone Jutsu.

“What?! Not fair. We made the same amount!”

“You get it.”

Poof.

Naruto woke back up in the real world.

“Are you okay, Naruto!?” Yamato ran to him first, “What happened?”

“I met my daker self. We were the same. Same strength. Same strategy. Same tricks. I thought the battle would never end.”

“You must defeat him or you won't be able to handle the Biju Powers.” His guide informed them.

“How?” Naruto was desperate to know.

“I don’t know.” His job was only to lead Naruto here.

“Octo-pops trained here, right? I can ask him…” Naruto realized, “He's not going to tell me.”

“He said you had to do it on your own.”

“Hey, Moto? Can you tell me more about him? Like, how did he grow up and stuff?” If he knew this he could see what might have helped the other jinjuriki pass this trial.

Moto told him of Bee’s past. It was very similar to Naruto’s own. Bee was feared by his villagers. Mistreated, even though everyone should have respected him with his brother being Raikage and all.

Their guide admitted to being like everyone else. He blamed Bee for things outside of his control

Like Naruto, he took it in stride. Bee was a cheerful kid. He knew what made the villagers hate him, so he switched it up and made it a badge of honor. He wanted to be the first Jinjriki to be Raikage to prove everyone wrong.

“That’s it!”

Naruto knew his own past. He knew Gaara’s past as well. Now he knew Bees. Life of a jinjuriki was hard. It was full of unnecessary pain.

Naruto never used to think this much about it.

Naruto sat in the circle.

Closed his eyes.

“Haven't you learned your lesson?” The shadow taunted. His presence never left the void. If there were bars here, it would remind Naruto of visiting Kyuubi.

“I think I have.” Naruto stood up, a field of flowers grew between them filling the void.

“You can't chase me out. I know you better than you know yourself.”

“Good, then you already know.”

“Know what?”

“What I just decided.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“Don’t act like you dont know.” Naruto smiled, joy so infexious the void between them continued to transform to a lush forest, “Just focus on me.”

“Fuck off.” His two fingers touch in a cross in front of his chest, about to perform the jutsu.

“Ya’ know… I used to hate this part of myself.” Naruto chuckled, “I mean, obviously, you know, you're me… but, like, not me…”

He stalled, “Get to the point.”

“Right! Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head.

Shadow Naruto rolled his eyes.

“Anyways, I think it's silly now. How could I look at my husband, who’s actually done some pretty horrible things, and think he’s the most wonderful man in the world… and think so lowly of you…” His hand gestured to the shadow, then himself, “I mean me.”

“Hah?! Make some sense.”

“I’m saying… It’s okay. It's okay that you feel like this.”

“I’m not going to fall for this. Sweet words designed to deceive you. People have been lying to us since we were a kid! The one thing you did right was getting out of there. I’m glad we left that shit hole.”

“Me, too.”

“You get it now?”

“Of course I do. I hated growing up there. I really did. It was so lonely. I didn’t even realize how bad I had it until moving to Suna.” Naruto said, “But, hating Konoha isn’t the right path. It’s too easy.”

“How can you say that? Hating Konoha is easy. It should be easy. They were always inventing stupid rules to make us outcast! Or don't you remember?”

“I remember. I remember when I was little becoming really good friends with Shikamaru and Choji in school… then one day, they stopped talking to me. I never knew what I did wrong. I kept trying to figure out what I did wrong. So I could fix it… It turns out I did nothing wrong, it was just their stupid parents.”

“The adults wanted you to be alone… No! They wanted us dead.”

Naruto knew, “They wanted their children safe.”

“We weren’t dangerous.”

“We are.”

“You're believing their lies, now?”

“No. I’m seeing the truth. You… Me… We… We are dangerous. If we get too angry, Kyuubi does come out. We’ve caused a lot of destruction because of our emotions.”

“The seal was stronger back then! No one ever saw that.” The shadow became more defensive.

If Naruto’s seal was weaker he would have ended up just like Gaara, without the familia support to keep his outburst in control. He was an angry child with angry desires that could never be fulfilled.

“I know.” Naruto said, “But it's still there. And even if it wasn’t, their children risked being outcast if they were known to be too friendly with us. You saw how people treated the Uchiha’s… and they actually did good for the community. That never mattered. They couldn’t risk their own children falling prey to the crowd.”

“So their cowardness justifies them treating a child like that?”

“No.”

“Then what's the point?!”

“The people who hated us had very complicated reasons for doing so. As easy as it is for us to judge them… They judged us… I think we need to understand their issues. Realize it's not as black and white as we once thought.”

“It should be. We were children. Not punching bags.”

“And hating them isn’t going to help us.”

“These are all big words… What if Menma-

“Menma has me, he has Gaara.”

“Two ‘monsters’ you know he’s going to be treated the same way you were.”

“We aren't seen as monsters any more.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes.”

“Does it matter?! Your shitty father was the most loved person in the village, and you were still abandoned! The village left you to rot in that apartment.” the darkest part of him knew, “If anything happened to you two, your child would-

“We have measures set up for that.”

“You really think that? Suna’s council is just as corrupt as Kono-

“Gaara wouldn’t let anything happen to Menma.” Naruto didn’t understand most of the stuff Gaara did, if he was being honest. Gaara spent many hours in his office crafting the ultimate protection plan for their child. He knew that Menma would be safe.

“You can see that it's injustice when it's someone else… why can’t you see that it's injustice when it's you?”

“I understand. I lived through it too. It was so hard to live through all of that.”

“It was so hard. So painful. I’m the only one who understands you.” sadness and anger mix into a beautifully painful expression.

Naruto stood front row for his shadow act of desperation, “No you’re not.”

“Fuck you. Yes I am. I am the only one who understands -

“We have Gaara… or did you forget about your husband?” Naruto walked forward, “There's also Bee, we don't know him that well, but he lived a similar life. Then there was that Nagato guy! Sakura was also bullied for a while, before she became a bully, then she got better. I think Kakashi-sensei has also gone through something, but he keeps to himself… Anyways, what I'm saying is, there’s so many people we have met who have experienced pain. Who can understand the hurt. Ones who want to be better. We’re not alone. Not any more.”

“Oh so now that you have someone, what am I to you now? A burden!?”

“No. I was strong because you existed. That’s how I got here today.”

“Tch.”

“You're the part of me that comes out when I need to know what’s wrong. When I need that extra strength to keep the ones I love safe. You give me guidance and strength.”

“So I’m usefu-

“I love you.” Naruto said, “I love you for all of the things you’ve done. I love you for what you are.”

The darkest part of himself was afraid, “What am I supposed to do now?”

“Easy.” Naruto hugged himself, “You need to be me! I mean you are me, but you need to be me-me.”

“Huh?”

“You can rest now. Everything’s going to be okay.” Naruto pulled himself together, “Thanks for everything.”

Black eyes turned to blue, the shadow became himself.

Naruto woke back up in the real world, laughing and smiling, “heh, heh.”

“It went well?!” Moto celebrated.

“It's too early to celebrate, ya’ fool!” Bee appeared out of no where… was he here this whole time?

Chapter Text

Naruto stood before the beast inside him. Tall bars separated the two of them, more alike than he wanted to admit. “We don’t have to fight, ya’ know.”

“No. I don’t want to fight you anymore.”

“I can’t. You know that.” Naruto patted his stomach, “Besides your safer in here.”

Footsteps splashed behind them, a kind woman with long red hair said his name, “Naruto…?”

“Huh? Where did you come from?! How do you know my name…” It can’t be.

It is. She looked just like the photo in Pervy Sage's book… but less pregnant.

Naruto hugged her, tears fell down his cheeks, “I’ve always wanted to meet you, ya’ know.”

“Yeah… sorry it took so long.”

“There's so much I want to ask ya, ma!”

“Ask away, but first,” She looked over to the beast, “We need to tame the nine tails.”

Chakra chains flew out from red hair to tie him down. The beast recognized the fear inside of him immediately, “It's Kushina!”

The cage became a space for just mother and son.

“Minato put some of my chakra in the seal… he knew you’d need some help one day- Are you paying attention?”

Naruto wasn’t, he smiled, “You're so pretty.”

“Well thank you. You have your fathers hair, but I'm sorry, you have my face.”

“Why? I got my good looks from you, right? I wish I got your hair. It's so awesome.”

“You're the second man that has praised my hair.”

“Yeah?” that doesn't seem right, it's such a pretty red color, “who was the first?”

“Your father.”

“Ohhh! Right!” Naruto laughed. It seems like he was just like his mom, but he must have had the same taste as his dad. Bright red hair. “Oh oh! How did you meet him, dad, ya’ know?”

“It's embarrassing.” She had the prettiest smile.

“I bet it's not that bad.”

“Back when I was in the academy, I had moved from another village to Konoha. So I didn’t know a lot about Konoha.”

Naruto realized, “... Just like me.”

“Huh? How so?”

“Oh right, I moved to a different village. I live in Suna now… I live with my alpha...” Naruto didn’t know if he wanted to tell his mom about being a parent. On one hand he wanted to gush about his own child. On the other, how do you tell your mom you have a kid she’ll never meet?

“You already have an alpha?” She looked him over, “but you're so young.”

“I’m nineteen, mom. Didn’t you say you met dad in grade school?”

Thinking about it. His mom didn’t look that much older than him. The Fourth Hokage died at age 24, so she should be around the same age. It's weird to think soon he's going to be older than his mom ever got to be.

“I guess… Is that where you met your alpha?”

“No.” But kinda right after, “You promised you’d tell me about how you and pa’ met. I’ll tell you my story later.”

“Humph,” Kushina seemed to be in a rock and a hard place, “Fine. My first impression of him… I thought he was a total flake.”

“Really?”

“The first day I moved we had to share in class what we wanted to be when we grew up. I didn’t want to be judged by everyone, so I said, ‘I’m going to be the first Omega Hokage.’”

“That’s my ma! You seem to be a lot like me.” Naruto said the exact same thing.

“It’s the other way around. You're like me.”

Naruto rolled his eyes, “And?”

“People thought I was pretty full of myself. They weren't wrong. It is kinda a weird thing to move to a village and immediately say you're going to be its Kage. But all the boys started to make fun of me.”

“But dad put an end to that right?”

“Nope! Guess again. Anyone who made fun of me, well, let's just say they didn't stand long.” She smiled, clenched her fist, and said, “That's how I got the new nickname, ‘The Red-Hot-Habanero!’”

“So what did pa’ want to be when he grew up?”

“Hokage. He wanted to be the greatest Hokage so everyone would respect him.”

Naruto was just like both of his parents, “To be respected by everyone... Huh.”

“Yeah… I mocked him the first time he said that.”

“What?! But he’s so strong.”

“Not when he was 7. He just seemed so undependable that I thought there'd be no way the village would let him lead. Until…”

“Yeah?”

“There was an incident. I used to hate my red hair, but since that day I started to love it.”

“What happened?”

“I have special chakra, and was kidnapped by the village of Kumogakure because of it. I couldn’t fight back, so I left a trail of my hair behind. I tried to do it carefully so the enemy wouldn't notice.” She looked down, “Konoha put together a search party, but they had a hard time finding me -

“Was that when!?”

“Yep! That's when Minato was the one who rescued me. He was the only one to notice my hair. He told me it was because my hair was so pretty. That day I knew… He would become a great ninja. He would make all my dreams come true, he changed me. That day was the day I fell in love with Minato.”

“That's amazing!”

“Yeah… it was. Was your love story as epic as mine?”

Naruto blushed, “Oh well…”

“You promised.”

“I don’t think so… My love story was more… boring. Honestly, I just kinda annoyed Gaara until he became my friend, and then eventually we started dating. It was nice, though.”

“Gaara? Is that his name?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s a nice name,” she added, “and you moved to Suna for him?”

It was now or never, “for my family.”

“Family?” She was just as dense as he was, “we don’t have any family in Suna.”

“My kid.” Naruto spelled it out for her, “Umm… I had a kid. It kinda pushed the moving date forward by a year or so.”

“I have a grandchild? And you’re,” she starts to count imaginary numbers on her fingers.

Naruto saved him the trouble, “I was 18.”

“You were still a kid. Did he knock you up? Is that why you’re-

“No-no! It’s not Gaara who did anything wrong.”

She wasn’t listening, “-because I’ll pulverize him for treating my child like-

“Ma’! It wasn’t Gaara’s fault. Gaara saved me.”

“Saved you? From what? His desire not to wear a condo-

“No! Ma’, not that. Like you I was… Kidnaped.” Fuck. Naruto didn’t want to tell his mom that. He only has a limited amount of time with her. He ruined it by telling her this.

“Oh…”

“Unlike you, I wasn’t found right away.”

“That's ter-

He shook his hands, trying to blow the problem away, “It's fine. You don’t need to worry, ma’.”

“I’m your mother. My job is to worry about you.”

“It happened years ago now. My life’s a lot better now. I promise.”

“You were still a baby.”

“No, I wasn’t. Ma’ I was 17, it's not a big deal.”

“Did you just settle for Gaara because you thought he was all that was there after that? Because I’ll have you know-”

“No. I didn’t settle for Gaara. We were already dating. He’s a good alpha.”

“So, what did happened?”

“You promise you won't freak out?”

“No.” At least she was honest.

“All right.” Naruto tried to think of the best truth, “Well, Gaara and I had dated for awhile. Gaara and I met at the Chunin Exam, then when I went training with Per-Jiraiya-

“Jiraiya? So he did take care of you. Thank god.”

“Yeah,” Kinda, “Anyways, I visited Gaara a lot between our travels. After like 2-3 years of that, he offered me a job teaching for a while. So we could see what it was like if I moved out there-”

“Why wouldn’t he move for you?”

Naruto sighed, “He’s the Kazekage. It’s kinda harder for him to move than it is for me.”

“The Kazekage?! How old is this alpha of yours?”

“He’s like a year older than me, Ma’. It’s not like that...” This was going to be harder than Naruto thought, “So I lived in Suna for a while… And I really liked it. Considered moving there all together when it was done. I had a few missions with the Per-Jiraiya, so I had to do that first. But I asked for some sort of mission I could do in Suna afterwards. Kankuro needed help with the Anti Terrorist Squad, so the plan was that I would help them.”

“Kankuro?”

“Gaara’s brother.”

“Okay,” His mother nodded.

“Ma’, can I just tell my story?”

“I’m sorry, I just don't know who these people are.”

“Right,” Naruto’s mom hasn’t really been around this entire time.

“I’ll do better. What happened with working with Gaara's brother?”

“As you can guess, things didn’t go as planned. Before I could return to Konoha I was kidnapped.”

“And Gaara rescued you?” She was hopeful they had the same story, even though she knows that’s not what happened.

“He tried. It was about 5-7 days before Gaara could really do anything. I wasn’t a citizen of Sunagakure, so Konoha had to send a formal request. Gaara had sent Kankuro out, but being a part of the anti terrorist group, he could only really go so far without the council's knowledge… Kankuro was on the North-Eastern borders waiting for the command. They had heard news that I was taken by the Akatsuki.”

“But you were found right?”

“By the time either village could do anything, the trail had been long gone.” it hurt Naruto to tell his mom this story, “They lost their informant when Itachi died-”

“Itachi? He died? Mitoko must be devastated.” his mother put her hand over her heart.

Oh. Right. She doesn't know. Naruto doesn't have time to tell her the history of the Uchiha Massacre. He doesn’t know how long her chakra will last. They’ve already gone off subject several times over at this point.

“Did Sasuke take it well? He was around your age… you should have gone to school with him.” Kushina said, just in case he didn’t know who she was talking about.

Naruto really didn’t have time for that whole can of worms either, “He had mixed feelings about it.”

“Ah… Well they were brothers. Family can be hard sometimes.”

That was an understatement, “But, I escaped.”

“That’s my boy.”

“It took three months. By that time I was already pregnant, and because of Kyuubi, there wasn’t much we could do about it.”

“Yeah,” She touched her stomach, “That damn fox can complicate some things.”

“Do you have any advice for me? Ya’ know, being a mom and all that.”

“Naruto.” Her voice shrank, “I don’t.”

“Huh?”

“I was a mom for less than an hour. If anything, you should be the one giving me advice.”

“Oh,” right.

“What advice would you give to a new mom?”

“Don’t listen to the doctors, it hurts like hell.”

She laughed, “it does. You had the fattest head. I thought I was going to di-

Before she could finish that thought, “So did Menma. I thought he was going to split me in half.”

“Menma. That’s my grandbaby?”

“Yeah, he's great. You would have loved him… I miss him so much.”

“Why aren't you with them now?”

“The war. I have to get stronger, remember?” Naruto’s mouth pierced to a line, “But don’t worry he’s with Gaara right now.”

“He’s keeping my grandbaby safe?”

“Yeah, he's good at that.”

“That's good. So was your father.”

“Yeah?”

“He kept me and you safe for as long as he could during the Kyuubi attack. The first Akatsuki attack really.” She smiled, “I’m glad you have someone like him in your corner.”

“Yeah…” while he still had the chance, Naruto asked, “Do you have any non-parenting advice for me?”

“Hmmm… Are you eating well?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you surrounded by people who love you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you happy?”

“Ma’ what is this- Yes.”

“Then I don't think there’s any advice I can give you. You seem to be doing just fine.”

Oh.

“Oh shit!” Her eyes widened, as she started to fade away, “I was supposed to teach you how to control the Kyuubi!”

“Its okay ma’-

Chapter Text

Naruto's eyes opened, “I got what I needed.”

Walking around after all of that felt surreal. Everystep forward felt like he was taking it in waist deep water. Resistance was built into the air to make even the smallest movement harder. All Naruto could think about was how much he wanted his alpha.

Nothing had felt real to Naruto since leaving Sunagakure. How could any of this be real without talking to Gaara at the end of the day. Gaara would make all these complicated feelings make sense. He was Naruto's better half. The one that knew how to do all the hard things.

Without him everything felt off.

He longed to call out his love’s name and hear his sleepy soft voice in return. The even tone and pacing lulluling away his insecurities. Gaara would say sweet words that made everything feel worth it.

They must have noticed something was off.

“I know this training can be a lot, but you have to give it all you got.” a man who wasn’t his alpha said.

“Why don’t we take a break for today?” Moto suggested.

“I can keep training.” Naruto insisted. He stumbled a bit getting up, focus going in and out.

“I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say this. Have you considered that you might be experiencing mate rejection?” The stupid idiot said.

“No, because I’m not.”

“Yeah, you are,” idiot.

“I’m not being rejected.”

“Your body thinks you are… It's been, what, a month since you’ve seen your mate?”

A month. “Not that long.”

“I knew this was a bad idea.”

“This wasn't a bad idea. And it can’t be mate rejection. I’ve experienced mate rejection before and it was nothing like this.” It felt like Naruto’s heart was being ripped out of his chest, “I’m just distracted.”

“You’ve been meditating all day, and you're distracted?”

“Yeah, I have other things on my mind right now.”

“What could possibly be more important than training? There's a war going on out there. We have to be ready for it.”

“Do you know what day it is?”

“December tenth?” Moto questioned himself.

“It's my son's birthday.”

“Shit.” Moto said.

Quickly followed by Octo-pops, “How old is he?”

“One.”

“Do you remember your first birthday?”

That wasn’t the point, but, “No.”

“Then it's not as big of a deal as you think it is.” Octo-pops said, “Come on, let's take a break.”

Naruto mindlessly followed them back to the apartment. He was no better than the walking dead. Hell, Pain’s revived puppets had more pep in their step than him.

Nobody got it.

Gaara would know what to say right now.

Gaara would say something like, ‘what was she like?’

Because he’d want to make sure it wasn’t a repeat of when Naurto met his dad.

Which of course Naruto would reply, ‘She was really pretty. She has this bright red hair like Menma.’ How, ‘I always liked red hair.’

Gaara would chuckle, and say ‘I know.’ In an effortlessly cool sort of way. Not an asshole sort of way. Then he’d gently steer Naruto back on track with something like, ‘what did she say to you?’

Naruto would tell him the truth, that ‘She tried to teach me about how to control the Kyuubi with this super cool ultra rare technique that only Uzumaki’s know… but then she forgot. She's kind of an air head.’

He’d smirk, but wouldn't say anything about the similarities between the two. Instead he’d say something like, ’It sounds like you had a good time anyway.’

Of course Naruto would say, ‘Yeah!’ But it would make him sad. He’d start to cry about it, because he knew that was the only time he’d ever spent with his own mother. If it wasn’t for the curse of being a jinchuruki and the Akatsuki’s stupid dream… He’d still have a mom.

Then he’d feel bad, because Gaara would never get to experience something like that. He never got to meet his mom. So Naurto shouldn’t be crying over this opportunity. It's just not fair to get this beautiful moment and cry about it.

But Gaara isn’t selfish like that.

He would let Naruto know, ‘It's okay to cry.’ Reminding Naruto before this year he didn’t even know who his parents were. He’s been given a lot of information in a short amount of time. So obviously Naruto would be overwhelmed with all of that.

Still there’d probably be a little moment of Gaara’s own desire to meet his mom peek out. He wouldn’t make a big deal about it, especially now. He’d probably just ask Naruto a lot of questions about his experience.

Maybe Menma would laugh or cry reminding them that he needs attention. They would smile at each other, knowing that at least their own child gets to know what it's like to have two loving parents. Gaara would pause one second before they got him, almost as if to say, ‘We’ll make it through this war.’ and the subtext would be for Menma.

Naruto cried alone on his pillow.

Chapter Text

A few months ago.

A wall of sharingan eyes watched the last of the Uchiha return. Bobbing in suspicious liquid, no true discernible gaze. This was their mausoleum; this was all that reminded of the once powerful Uchiha Clan.

In the safety of their hide out, Sasuke demanded the truth, “What the fuck was that?”

“You're revenge. Congratulations!” Madara said, “Danzo is dead.”

“No. Why was my son there?!”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly know that he’d be there.” Madara turned his back to Sasuke to face the wall of eyes head on. He walked over to them, filling the empty tanks with his new treasures. This would be the final resting place for them all.

“Really? Because you knew he wasn’t at Konoha when Pain destroyed it… or did you lie about that, too?” Sasuke knew this man was nothing but a liar.

“You can’t blame me for that, Sasuke, you lied first.”

“Tch. Like our relationship has ever been built on truth.”

“I believe it has. I’m the one who told you the truth about your brother. The truth about Konoha. The truth about -

“About what your going to do with the tailed beast? Ascend to godhood… Give me a break.”

“I’ve been trying to tell you the truth this whole time. You just refuse to listen. We’re going to make a better world.”

“A better world? That doesn't exist.”

“You're such a pessimist. It might not exist now, but we can make it exist.” He could never tell if this was all an act or if Madara truly believed that, and he didnt know which one was worse, “A world without pain. A world where you can live peacefully with your son… Depending on how this war works out, possibly even your omega. All that can be yours. I will give it to you.”

“Tch.” Sasuke could take what was his, he didn’t need this pathetic peace offering.

None of this felt right any more. When Sasuke closed his eyes, he’s brought back to the worst 72 hours of his life. His parents dismembered heads staring back at him. The glint of a sword held by his brother in the moonlight.

Killing Orochimaru didn’t fix that.
Killing Itachi didn’t fix that.
Killing Danzo didn’t fix that.

Sasuke wished when he closed his eyes he would see Naruto with his baby. Little snowflakes clung to ends of blonde hair. Frost consumed the land, taking the trees of its leaves. The small child bundled up in many layers who only saw its wonders for the first time.

Naruto was perfect.
He was always perfect.
He had always been perfect.

For some reason, Sasuke kept pushing away that perfection. That’s gotten him nowhere. Naruto might have been right, revenge hasn’t gotten him anywhere. His eyes still saw the same pain every time they shut.

“Come here,” Madara held something in his hands, “I have a gift for you.”

“What is it?”

“Itachi’s eyes. You forgot them. They should help clear your vision.”

Sasuke might be done with this man's antics, but he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. His vision has drastically declined since he gained the Mangekyo abilities. While his pride stopped him from taking his brothers eyes back then, his pride wasn't here now. He knew he needed them.

“Good,” the masked man's voice had a smile to the end of it.

Bandages covered Sasuke's eyes, protecting them as they healed. The procedure was faster than expected; very little blood or pain. Sasuke's own eyes went into the wall of his ancestors, only to be replaced with his brothers. He now saw the world with new eyes.

“You must rest, it takes a while to become accustomed to Mangekyo.” Madara asked, “Does it hurt?”

“They actually fit quite nicely.” Even with his eyes covered, Sasuke could feel the difference in power already. He had become stronger.

A stranger had entered their sacred place.

“Let's start with greetings, shall we, Tobi?” The man Sasuke knew well corrected himself, “or rather, I hear you're going by Madara these days.”

“I’m surprised you found us.” Madara said.

“You ought not underestimate me…”

“Kabuto.” Sasuke asked, “What are you doing here?”

The snake clapped his hands together, then slammed them on the ground. Five coffins ripped themselves out from the earth. As the lips popped off to reveal the former Akatsuki Members, Kabuto said “I come with a gift.”

“Edo Tensei Reanimation?” Madara asked.

“Yes! A forbidden jutsu once only known by the Third Hokage and Orochimaru. I, however, have perfected it. This is merely an example of my work.” He tapped on the coffins.

“Well, then-

“Please be at ease, I have not come here to fight.”

“What do you want?”

“To join you.”

“Join forces. What's in it for me?” Madara asked.

“You're starting a war, right? I’m offering you strength in battle.”

He paused for a second, “And in return?”

“Uchiha Menma.”

“... What are you plotting?” Sasuke asked, ready to rip the bandages from his eyes. If he were to do it now, at best he’d lengthen the time of his recovery, at worst he'd render his new eyes useless.

“Nothing in particular.” Kabuto said nonchalantly, “I merely desire a living young Uchiha. I need it for my research.”

“And if we refuse?” Madara asked.

Zwoop. Another coffin appeared and opened up in front of him. Sasuke couldn’t see into it in his current situation.

“Thats-

“You really think I’d approach you without a hidden move?” Kabuto said, “Don’t worry I haven't told anyone else.”

There was a pause in the air, before Madara started to laugh.

Kabuto wondered, “Did I say something funny?”

“You know… I never thought you'd become such a formidable vessel. Fighting with you now would only weaken my position. So why not, let's join forces.”

The lid slammed shut on the coffins, dragging themselves back down to the center of hell. The performance of strength was over. The two of them were now allies.

“Good, then lets-

“However,” Madara placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, to calm him, “I will only hand over Menma, after you have successfully completed your role in the war.”

Chapter Text

“I’ve always been bad at this.” Naruto shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to foot.

“What?”

“Saying goodbye.”

Gaara knew, “I’ll see you next time.”

Naruto smiled.

If they had any other option they would have taken it.

Gaara wished they had any other choice. He watched as his husband left with the other village’s Kage. The Raikage promised to keep the remaining jinchuriki safe. Gaara promised to keep Menma safe. Still it pained to watch Naruto leave.

“Lord Gaara.” The pink-haired kunoichi took out a medium sized cylindrical object out of her bag.

“Yes?”

Sakura handed Gaara the concealed container, “Naruto said to give it to you.”

“What is it?” He inspected the container as best he could, the glass was covered with a thick black paper to prevent anyone from looking inside. It was heavy, and there was a liquid sloshing inside.

Menma reached out for the container, doing little grabbing motions. Even if Gaara were to forget how potentially dangerous it was, it was far too big for a baby to hold responsibly. Still, he coo-ed and whined for it. Gaara held it in front of his face for a while to quiet his child. It worked for a while, but Menma kept trying to take off the protective paper on it.

The prisoner across the room watched them closely. She was fixated on the container. She adjusted her glasses and looked away once they locked eyes.

“A gift from Sasuke.”

“He gave it to you?”

“To him.” she pointed at Menma, and unfurled the note, “We found it on the coastline next to Danzo’s body. His arm riddled with holes.”

Sasuke has given a lot of interesting gifts lately. He didn’t come here to take Naruto or their son so that was a good sign, for now. Though the huge holes in the building still reminded him how unhinged the man truly is.

Menmna whined as Gaara tucked it away on his person. Whatever this gift is, it's best to keep it hidden. Neutral ground or not.

“Thank you, Ms. Haruno.”

“You're really going through with all this?”

“What choice do we have?”

“Yeah.” They had to make a lot of hard choices lately, “is he-

“Oi! We gotta get going, before we outstay our welcome.” Kankuro interrupted them.

“I’m sorry Ms. Haruno. It's time for us to go.”

“It’s fine… Take care of my-” She tried to think of her relationship to the child, there technically wasn’t one, “of Menma.”

“You have nothing to worry about.”

“Come on! This bit-” Kankuro changed his wording, “woman is starting to get annoying!”

“I’m just saying, you don’t have to tie me up. I said I'll go with you!” The wild red haired woman yelled.

“And I said, I’m not falling for that.”

“Tch. Ya’ know, I could escape these if I want.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Calm down you two.” Temari was trying to be the voice of reason.

Menma fussed in his cloth carrier. There were too many loud noises, and none of them were the familiar ones of his mother. Gaara scented his son, coating his milky pup scent in a protective earth one. It’s not the same as oranges, but it would have to do.

Kankuro was right not to trust that stranger.

Karin was aiding and abetting a wanted international criminal mere days ago. Only to be discarded once she out lasted her usefulness to Sasuke. There’s no saying that wasn’t a part of a larger overarching plot to gain their trust or even that she’d betray them if given the chance.

She looked at his son for a bit too long for comfort. Gaara tucked him away, and stared her down the same way he used to. His protective pheromones filled in the air, dominating the room. It was a threat, and he wouldn’t back down. Thankfully she did.

“We have to separate,” Gaara didn’t trust that woman near his son, “You two take her back to Sunagakure. We’ll take a different route.”

“Ye-yeah.” His brother wasn’t used to him behaving like that any more.

Neither was his sister. She didn’t say anything, trying to stay as small as possible. It was just how she used to act back then.

Fuck.

Gaara wanted to apologize to them, but he couldn't show weakness to their prisoner. They would understand.

In a smooth movement, he placed his Kage hat and robe atop Kankuro's puppet. They would pretend to be traveling with the Kazekage. Anyone who saw the trio would assume Naruto had their child.

His shield changed shape to cover his scar. The sand morphed more of his features to alter his identity. Their trip back home would be long, and it was best to blend in as much as possible.

“Come on, Menma, we’re heading home.”

A good while from their point of origin, they transported themselves through seasons. The cold icy snow melted to an intrusive dark cloud above their head. Threatening to fall at a moment's notice. In the distance a warm orange light beconded them forward.

A welcome reprieve from the word.

“Ah! It looks like you came just in time.” the older woman said as the rain pouring down mirrored her point.

Gaara nodded, “are there any rooms available?”

“You’re in luck. They should be done cleaning the last one in a few minutes. Why don’t you two go wait at the restaurant, while they get it ready.”

The restaurant was empty, just Gaara and a small group who sat in the corner, each had an eye on the exits. By the looks of a three man squad from the Wood. Their weapons were clunky hidden under a rain poncho. They were close-by the village, so they must be returning home.

Gaara paid them no mind. Doing his best to look like a simple traveler. He sat with his back towards them, to give them an air of confidence.

He unzipped Menma’s deep orange puffer coat, as the weather no longer required it. There were still several layers of protection from the cold underneath. His own coat followed suit. Now both resting on the chair next to him.

“He looks just like you.” the waitress said, carrying a high chair. In an interesting way she asked, “Is his momma joining soon?”

Gaara knew he was just ascribing more meaning to the action, but Menma looked around for his mother. Even he seemed perplexed as to why they had to split up the way they did. At this point, he was used to spending the day away from Naruto from time to time, so he didn’t make a fuss.

“He’s not with us.”

“Oh, that’s so sad.” She said with a slight smile.

“No, not like that,” Gaara made sure to say this loud enough for the people across the room to hear, “We’re going home to him now. Me and him were visiting my family up north.”

“Aren't there travel bans? There's some stupid ninja thing going on or something.”

He played dumb, “In the Land of Samurai? I thought shinobi weren’t allowed there.”

“You didn’t hear?”

“No.”

“All the Kage from the five nations showed up for some super private meeting. I think they are about to start another war.”

“We’re in a disarmament.”

“Yeah, so why else would they meet? I think they’re finally going to take out their Dynamo.”

Gaara laughed at that.

“I’m serious.”

“Why would they do that… It’s like biting the hand that feeds you.”

“Yeah, but they stopped getting fed a long time ago. They must be super hungry.” She wasn’t wrong.

“Maybe we should all be worried then.” As interesting as it is to hear locals' theories surrounding their day to day life, “I’m famished.”

“Oh right! What were you thinking of?” She giggled, twirling her deep chestnut hair.

Gaara ordered them each something from the menu. It came quickly. A warm plates filled with chicken and vegetables atop a bed of rice, and a small side of fruit specifically for his son. Gaara was much hungrier than he originally thought, still he had to feed Menma.

He took the knife on the table and began cutting up food for his son's plate into bite sized pieces. The berries were now even smaller than they arrived, blueberries half the size strawberries now an eighth of what they were. The fruit bowl was placed in front of Menma first. Chicken sliced thin next to matching vegetables were next.

Gaara’s usually stoic expression softened as he focused on his son in the highchair across from him. He babbled half words happily, they almost made sense, his language skills were improving by the day. No where near sentences, but a few sounds that mimicked words.

“Dadah.” Menma was getting impatient.

“I’m almost done,” Gaara didn’t enjoy baby talk, so he spoke to his child like everyone else. He pushed the bowl of fruit closer to Menma. Hopefully that will satisfy him long enough to get the rest done.

The group across the way were getting drunker by the minute. Their voices boomed throughout the empty restaurant. They became very comfortable in a short period of time.

Gaara ate his food, as his son made a mess of his own. Little hands fisted bits of chicken into his mouth. Berries and vegetables that didn’t make it in, smooshed onto his bib. He giggled as he felt the different textures of it all squash between his fingers. Menma was eating, and that was all that mattered.

“They're going to do another war again, I can feel it,” The Wood shinobi across the room was serious, “We have to be prepared.”

“Tch.” His comrade didn’t seem to care for it, she made a big thing about such a small nose.

It made sense they would hear about what happened, too. For as secret as shinobi villages might try to be, people always found out. This was a lot faster than he originally anticipated.

“I’d hate to be the poor bastard who’s land they decide to use for it.” the other guy chained in.

“We’re those poor bastards.” The leader of the group said.

She said, “Like hell.”

“We’re right between all of them.” He explained his reasoning.

“They’re going to do the Hidden Rain like last time. I heard their leader just died. It's unstable again. Easy peasy.” She recited the history of their wars.

“Yeah, they won't have any push back from their village.”

“Kumo is pissed. The Raikage’s brother was killed. It’s going to be us.” The leader didn’t back down, and worst of all, he was right.

“You're always like this.” She slammed down her drink, pouring more in her glass from the pitcher.

“Yeah you don’t have to think of the worst case scenario every time.”

“It what keeps us from being,” The leader caught eyes with Gaara in the mirrors reflection behind the bar, “The fuck are you doing?”

“Sorry, I don’t hear conversations like this often.” There was no use denying he was listening in on their conversation.

“And you didn't hear it now.”

Gaara didn’t want any trouble, “You're right. I’m sorry, I think it's time for him to go to bed anyway.”

The room got eerily quiet, as Gaara collected all of his son's stuff, he’d clean Menma off in the room. Each of the groups were watching eachother out of the corners of reflective surfaces. Windows, mirrors, glass. Whatever they could to keep the other in eyesight. No sudden movements were allowed.

Upon leaving Gaara heard the guy wishper, “Fuckers a little young to be a parent.”

“You think he’s a ninja?” His comrade asked.

“Probably.”

Gaara couldn’t stop moving now, without it becoming more obvious that he was still listening to them. It would be stupid of them to assume he stopped. They want him to know this.

“Looks like he’s just transporting some noble kid. Didn’t -

- alone -

The night passed without an incident. Menma slept through the night. Gaara did not. The men from the restaurant left the inn at 3 am on the dot. Hopefully their mission took them far away from here. Gaara and his son left first thing in the morning.

There was a day left on their journey.

As they went further south, the air became a thick mist weighing down his movements. Gaara sank into the cold wet earth with each step. Mud splashed up his pant legs making a miserable journey, even more miserable.

Sunlight barely broke through the canopy, shadows bounced around the forest. Distant birds sang a song of loss, as Menma coo’ed safely in his carrier. Too young to understand what was about to happen.

A consistent crunch of branches above let him know they were being followed. Three in total. They moved to surround them, then stopped.

Gaara stood at the edge of the clearing, then warned them, “I wouldn’t.”

Kunai zipped through the air, immediately blocked by sand. These weapons were childs play to the Ultimate Defense. Gaara didn’t have the luxury to mess around.

“Everything’s okay,” He tightened his grip around his son, feeling the warmth of his little body against his chest.

The three figures emerged from the misted shadows, each wore a different demon mask. These were the remnants of the masked Black Ops from the Land of Woods from before. Their leaders' eyes shining with intent.

“Sorry, we can’t let you leave, Lord Kazekage,” It was the man from the inn.

“You know who I am?”

“Of course.” He stepped forward, “It took me a minute, but I figured it out.”

“Then you know why you should give up.” Gaara didn’t want this to end up in a blood bath.

“Eh, I’m not too sure about that. You don’t look like you're in any condition to fight.” He motioned to the child, and a wall of sand blocked the space between them.

A wave of sand surged towards the enemy, knocking only one of them down. The other two disappeared into the branches above. They were like birds waiting for the strike.

A whirlpool of sand swirled around the father and son duo to protect them. Just in time too, the enemy rained an assortment of weapons onto them. Narrowly missing their own leader as well.

Sand tossed the weapons out of the ultimate defense. Leaving large spikes in their wake. Two crunches from above alerted him of their presence.

Sand Senbon.

Sharp needles made of sand propelled themselves out of the protective barrier towards the enemy. An array of sharp sand needles spiked out of their flesh.

As the enemy pulled the projectiles out of their bodies, it reshaped. Barbs now graced the end. Ripping through muscle and flesh in a bloody roar. They let go in pain, only for it to reshape again. Now a blob of collected sand atop their wrist and arms.

Sand Crush.

The enemies above were now rendered useless. They couldn’t hope to hold a weapon with crushed hands. That should stop their petty attempts to fight back now.

“I told you you shouldn’t…” Gaara said regretfully as sand squeezed around the others form.

“Before you do it… I was right?” His enemy knew he was a dead man, “You fuckers are about to start another war… Aren't you?”

“It shouldn’t matter to you.”

“Daaaa-dah.” The sand slacked, Gaara didn’t want to have to kill anyone in front of his son.

“You are! I fucking knew it. You're going to make a wasteland of my home! You fucking bast-

In an instant, the sand squeezed around all of the enemy's bodies. Blood pooled into the sand, the enemy was dead. His sand absorbed as much red viscous liquid it could.

Shukaku?

Shukaku no longer made residence inside his vessel. However, memories of the demon's actions lived in Gaara’s muscles. He couldn’t stop now. He had to make the bodies disappear. Exhausting more chakra he grinded their bones into dust.

“Everything will be okay,” Gaara whispered as he pressed a kiss into his son's forehead.

Chapter Text

The gates of Sunagakure were a welcoming sight. Gaara took the long way home to ensure they weren't followed. He didn’t want to risk another attack on the road. Menma fussed more than usual since he experienced what it's like to be a ninja.

“Lord Kazekage has returned!” One of the village guards greeted him.

“Did you receive Tobimarus' message?”

“Yes, Lord Gaara!”

“Any word from the Daimyo?”

“Yes. They’ve approved the alliance.”

“Good.”

The Dynamo understood the threat that brought to the world at large. Once Biju and Madara’s were mentioned in the same sentence they had to act fast.

Gaara settled into his office. He locked the door and blocked out the windows. He unfurled the black paper, and placed the container onto his desk. It was a medical device used to preserve body parts. Red eyes in foreign pale green liquid stare back at him.

A strange gift indeed.

It didn’t matter, Gaara had a lot of arrangements to make now that war was officially declared. Menma was placed into his crib for the time being. The travel home had wiped him out, but he still had a job to do.

Now was time to figure out the best place for this battle to take place. Analyzing their enemies' locations, The men he killed were right. The Mountain's Graveyard was their best bet. It's a region located between Takigakure and Otogakure, and the last known defensive position for the Akatsuki.

They would need to evacuate local areas to reduce the casualties as much as possible. Kumogakure had the advantage. They don't have to send their troops too far, and have an easy fall back position. It would be best to send resources now in case the war lasts longer than they think.

He was given a few real time updates from Karin’s interrogation. She has been forthright in giving as much information as she could. It's been very helpful, he almost regretted the way he acted when they left the Land of Iron.

Menma hadn’t stopped crying since they returned home. He had noticed the absence of his mother the moment he woke up. It was now everyone's problem.

Gaara held him close as he tried to comfort him. Rocking Mema back and forth slowly with little ‘everything’s okay’ mixed in. A protective alphan scent filled the air. The wailing became too much to bear. Nothing he did helped.

Blood.

“Call for a med-nin!” Gaara must have overlooked an injury from the attack on the Gokage summit. That was foolish of him. Ms. Haruno was right there, she could have looked him over. Made sure everything was okay.

No. It must have been the attack on the road. Gaara shouldn’t have hesitated to kill the wood shinobi. He knew they were following them for miles. His own inaction caused his child suffering.

Blood coated Menma’s face, origin unknown. No obvious injuries could be seen, it must be something internal. The shockwave from the building falling or even being pushed back from the enemy ninja. Nothing went past his ultimate defense.

Gaara didn’t know what to do. He comforted his child as med-nins filled his office. A part of him demanded to fight them. It wasn’t until he saw Ameno, a person he trusted, that he calmed down enough to let her close.

Still, it was a struggle to let Ameno remove Menma from his arms. She whipped off his face to try to get a better understanding of where the injury was coming from. It poured over his cheeks, from his eyes.

Menma was crying tears of blood.

When his eyes finally opened they were red as the blood flowing down his face. One black tome rounded his iris, like a lonely pinwheel. The child screamed as he took in more sensory input than he ever was supposed to.

That must be how the shiragan manifests. Gaara hoped that this was perfectly normal. He wished he could contact Naruto to ensure that it was. Ameno noted that his child’s vitals all came back fine and showed no signs of injury. Menma has merely manifested his emotional pain into the physical world.

That’s how Naruto described the sharingan once. Gaara wished he’d paid more attention to the conversation now. Instead of just imagining the other alpha dead.

Ameno seemed to catch on, because she asked, “Did Naruto tell you what to expect if this were to happen?”

“No. We thought he was too young to develop it.” They had scrolls, but they mentioned complex forbidden techniques. Nothing like, ‘So Your Baby Developed the Sharingan.’

“Is there anyone else you can contact?”

“I believe so.”

Lord Kakashi.

Gaara was adding another task to that man's plate. He was the only one in Konoha that Gaara trusted with this matter, and the only one who might know what to do. He’d send the request along with the war briefing about the location.

As Menma was taken to the infirmary with Ameno, Gaara decided to visit Kankuro. There wasn’t much he could do for his child in the hospital. Gaara feared he might become more of a hindrance there. He trusted Ameno to know what she was doing.

“Kankuro, I need you to stop everything you're doing!” Gaara ordered. He didn’t know what Kankuro could do to help, but he wanted family nearby.

“What’s happened to Naruto?” Kankuro asked.

“Huh? Nothing. Did you hear something?” All of Gaara’s fears of their separation boiled up in his stomach. Not only was he a bad father, he was an even worse alpha. Karin must of told him a plan of Naruto’s captur-

“No… that’s just the only thing you would make me stop everything for.”

Good. It was just Gaara’s paranoia.

“It's not about Naruto, Menma-

“Is the little man okay?”

“He hasn't stopped crying since Naruto left.”

“Shit… it's that bad?”

“We need help.”

“Let me see him.” Karin said, picking the remains of food out of her mouth.

“What can you do?”

“A hell of a lot more than whatever two-bit medical ninja you have here.”

“Can we trust her?” Gaara asked.

“I don-

“I’m right here. Yeah, you can trust me… asshole.” Karin’s demeanor is exactly how Gaara would imagine Naruto in the same predicament.

“If you do anything-

“I’m dead. I know. I worked with Orochimaru for years. That threat doesn't mean as much as you think it does.” She stretched her legs from the hours of sitting in the integration chair.

The shirangan lasted much longer than they originally thought it would. It's been two hours and has shown no signs of going away.

The doctor's office was cramped with all five of them in there. Menma sat on an examination bench, sporting a new outfit. A bright red spiral patterned shirt and khaki todlers's pants. The blood stained though the last one he wore. Ameno must have grabbed this backup outfit from his office.

“With his keke genkai active, he's exhausting a lot of chakra. Hopefully he passes out before it gets down to dangerous levels.” Ameno said.

“That’s not going to happen.” Karin said, briefly looking over the child.

“It’s a high level optical technique and he's a baby. It's bound to happen.”

“He’s an Uzumaki.”

“So?”

Karin laughed, “So? If your goal is to wait for him to ‘run out of chakra,’ we’ll be here till the end of time.”

“Why’s that?” Gaara wondered.

“You're married to an Uzumaki and you haven't realized yet? What kind of alpha are you?”

Hopefully, “a good one.”

“Apparently not. Haven't you noticed that Naruto doesn't seem to run out of chakra?”

“I always assumed that was due to the tailed beast.” Kankuro mentioned.

“No.” She folded her arms over her chest, “Our clan was only wiped out like 25 years ago. How did all of this knowledge get erased in that time?”

“Our clan?”

“Spare us the lecture, and tell us what's going on with the baby.” Ameno stepped in to control the situation.

“Fine. Look up the Uzumaki Clan when you get the chance.” Karin scoffed, then turned back to the baby, moving a pen back and forth in front of his face, “And while you're at it, Uchiha's. A one tomoe sharingan doesn’t take as much chakra as people think. He’s not casting any jutsu, so he’s just taking everything in.”

The red eyes looked back at Gaara, blissfully unaware of how powerful he’d just become. The one black tomoe spun around his iris like a child's pinwheel in the breeze. One day they would trap people in eternal hellscapes.In Sunagakure these eyes were that of the enemy. Uchiha did a lot of damage to the Sisori Cliffside in the Third Shinobi War… and every war before that.

Gaara was faced with his biggest fear, “He can cast genjutsu like this?”

“It's a possibility, but if a baby can trap you in a genjutsu, you deserve it.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay… so what do we do?”

“It's not hurting him. And he’s not going to die from using it. So you can just do nothing. His body is built to do this.”

“He’s just a baby.”

“Am I wrong, or did I hear stories about you killing people as just a baby?”

That was correct.

“So, grow up, and realize babies can do some crazy things. And you have a baby that can do some crazy things. He’s probably seeing things at double speed, so get him some quick moving enrichment or you’ll have a very bored, very powerful baby.” Karin explained.

“Double speed?”

“Yeah. With each added tomoe it increases the frame rates at which his eyes can receive and process information.”

“How do you know all of this?” Ameno asked.

Karin took it as a challenge to her authority, “Ummm… Because I’m better than you?”

Tsk. The usually calm woman was on the verge of snapping. Ameno has started to see Menma as a part of her own family. It makes sense with how often she and Naruto spent time together.

“Did I sit in an integration room for all these hours for nothing? I can’t believe I have to remind you that I worked for Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchicha! That’s how I know. Orochimaru was obsessed with that thing. Said it was the only way that he would survive the bullshit the Akatsuki was up to.”

“Which is?”

“In the interrogation notes.”

“We need to be prepared if they come here, ” Gaara said.

“I wouldn’t be worried about that.”

“Why not?”

“Like you predicted, no one's coming here if they don't have to.” Karin looked around the room as to say ‘it's not worth it,’ “And, the guy in charge wants a back up plan if this whole thing goes to shit. That’s little baby Menma, the last Uchiha.”

Not good, but “Good.”

“You care to tell us what’s going on?” Ameno asked.

“Go look at the integration notes. I told the face paint guy everything I know. I’m cooperating.”

“My name is Kanku-

“I don’t care.” Karin mused, “Ya’ know, if this is all it took for him to develop the sharingan… A few days without his mother… Menma must have had a really good life.”

“I like to think so.” Gaara said.

“It’s nice to see…” Karin glanced back over at the baby with red eyes, “He’s an Uzumaki.”

“Yes.” Gaara knew that Naruto had issues with the lack of connection with his own clan. She must have felt the same. The three of them are the last known remaining Uzumaki.

Kankuro said, “Well-

“Menma is an Uzumaki.” Gaara stared down his brother into submission, before returning his attention to Karin, “You're the one that allowed this to happen.”

“I didn’t want him growing up like- Nothing.”

“Like you?” Kankuro tried.

She paused, “Orochimaru wasn’t that bad of a guy.”

“Pfft,” Kakuro laughed.

“Don’t act better than me… You guys also worked with him.” Karin said, pointing at the idiot she let integrate her earlier, “He took pity on us when no one else would. I was just an orphan, my mom died, I thought I was next. Then he came, and he offered me something better.”

“That doesn’t make it-

“I’m not delusional. I know the way I was raised wasn’t the best. No one else should have to go through that… but it could have been worse for me. That’s all I’m saying.”

“We’re all trying to do our best here.” Gaara knew he was the last person to judge someone.

“I’ve done some fucked up shit. Really fucked up shit.”

“We all have.”

“I didn’t care who I hurt. All I wanted to do was ascend the ranks to make sure I wasn’t disposable.” She had worked her way up to be an irreplaceable asset to one of the worst men in history. Her hands were dirtier than most. Because of that she had more knowledge on human existence than most. Karin knew how to dissect people to their smallest parts, yet she still found herself under more powerful men.

“You did what you had to to survive.”

“You don’t know what I had to do.”

“I don’t have to. I know you want to change. I know you helped Naruto. I know you helped my son. And I know you're a good asset.”

“I’m the best.” She said confidently.