"It can't all be sorrow. After all, what is grief if not love persevering?"

- Vision

-

"My lord, you summoned me?"

"Are the preparations made?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Then it's time for us to make a move. Inform Kakuzu that we'll be taking the Hidden Waterfall's Jinchuriki first."

<>

It was heartbreaking how little of Sakura's possessions remained. Sakura took the two average sized boxes from the Uchiha police with the most blank expression that Kakashi had ever seen on her. Kakashi picked up the second cardboard box without thinking about it. He knew that Sakura could carry these heavy boxes with one pinky if she felt like it but he felt like he should, anyway. Maybe this would show her that he was willing to help her take the weight off her shoulders. Sakura didn't start a fight with him because she was far too tired to.

Kakashi would've preferred his student chastising him about how it was the twenty-first century, and things are changing, and Sakura should be allowed to carry her own boxes. Sakura didn't do that.

Kakashi knew, now, why Sakura had chosen to stay with him instead of with Lady Kushina or Lady Mikoto. Sakura had been staying at his house for a week, now, and Kakashi had never once seen her this quiet. It wasn't that she was sad. She hadn't cried once in his sight since the first time. She hadn't cried at night, either, because Kakashi had excellent hearing and no matter how late he stayed up, he had never heard his student cry. But she was numb, and quiet, and almost empty of the former vitality that used to run through her veins and explode out to everyone she loved. She was robbed of her youth, and her joy. And she was tired. Kakashi knew it. But Sakura didn't seem to care about that, instead doing everything that she used to do.

He held Team 7 meet ups three times in that one week that Sakura had been staying with him, and Sakura went to every single one of them. Kakashi had expressly told her that it was okay to stay home and rest, but she hadn't listened. Sakura bought groceries yesterday, on Saturday, and she'd cleaned his apartment on Tuesday and Thursday.

She had been acting disturbingly normal, she'd just been more quiet, speaking only of informative things, or important subjects. When she was around Naruto and Sasuke, her brothers in arms and best friends, she was her usual, charming, talkative self. She forced a jovial spark into her eyes around them, and Sasuke and Naruto just seemed relieved that their friend was okay.

But when she came back to the house with Kakashi, she quieted down. It was like she let down a barrier, and allowed Kakashi to see her true self, because oddly enough it was only after she returned to Kakashi's home that her eye bags were visible, and she shut up about trivial things. Her eyes reminded Kakashi of dead leaves.

Kakashi desperately wanted to help his student, but he knew from experience that the only thing that would help was time. No amount of therapists, no amount of 'talking it out' with strangers would take the pain away. Sometimes talking it out with friends and family helped, but that had to be done willingly. He wanted to tell his male students that their friend was suffering, but it wasn't his truth to tell. Sakura would tell Naruto and Sasuke when she felt up to it, but until then, Kakashi decided that he would be a silent support.

Today was the day that Lady Kushina threw a little party to celebrate Minato Namikaze's return to the workforce. Minato had been forced into an extra two weeks of bed rest, much to his irritation, and had even taken to doing his paperwork in his bed. To the irritation of the nurses. When the Hokage was finally let out of his prison two days ago, he got straight to work in his office.

Kushina had barely managed to convince him to take a break from his work to join them in this party. Most of Minato's friends were invited, including Kakashi and Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked up, blinking in surprise. He found his pink haired student knocking on Kakashi's open door respectfully. Kakashi was laying on his bed above the covers, staring out his window, lost in thought.

Kakashi sat up on his bed, nodding for her to come in. "What's up, squirt?"

"What time do you want to go to Kushina's thing?" Sakura asked, stepping inside and sitting on her sensei's rocking chair, leaning her feet up on the comfortable bed.

"I don't know. Kushina said to be there by 4:00, but I bet everyone will start showing up by 3:00." Kakashi crossed his arms thoughtfully. "Why? Weren't Naruto and Sasuke going to pick you up?"

"I told them not to." Sakura shrugged, avoiding Kakashi's eyes. "I wanted to go with you."

That's code for, I'm not quite ready to be friendly and social yet, and I just need some time to get my game face on, and I trust you to not judge me or tell anyone while I do so.

Kakashi nodded. "Fair enough. I know how annoying those two can be. I'd be happy to escort my favorite female student to Kushina's shindig whatever-the-fuck."

Which in their language was code for, I understand and I'm here for you.

"Of course, that's why I turned them down, but they're so lame compared to my favorite white haired male sensei."

Thank you.

"Tell you what, pinkie pie, how about we go at 4:00, just to recharge our social batteries? I'm pretty sure Obito is going to be there, and honestly I don't think could take any more of his complaints before we get to eat. I honestly might snap and shove his head into Mikoto's famous apple strudel." Kakashi groaned, pleased that his excuse brought a smile to Sakura's face, however small it was.

"Sounds good to me, sensei." Sakura stood up, sighing. "Well, I'll leave you to it, I've got dishes to do."

Dishes? Kakashi sighed deeply. He had told her that he could do those after they had eaten, but he could tell that Sakura hadn't really thought that he would do them. Damn, I guess I've got to actually start keeping up my own home, or my depressed housemate might start doing it, and I can't have that.

It was absurd, really, the consequences that came with getting old for the second time. Kakashi cringed at even the thought.

Oh! His eyes rested on the now vacant rocking chair, a little bit of motion still tipping the chair forward and back. She vanished into thin air.

Crap. Kakashi sighed, rubbing his temples. I'm a terrible guardian. Whoever thought it was a good idea to put me in charge of children should be put in an asylum.

Oh wait, lol, the 3rd Hokage's dead, actually.

It's fine, he was batshit enough to go to an afterlife shrink, I bet.

Somewhere, Hiruzen Sarutobi was turning in his grave.

-

Sakura didn't hate these things, she told herself as she got ready for a party she didn't want to go to. I'm going through a rough patch. A rough patch where I'm tired all the time, and I don't want to do the things that would normally make me happy.

Sakura looked at herself in the mirror, before realizing her her favorite shirt was a little bit baggy on her now, for some reason. Sakura pulled at it, shifted it so her collarbone wasn't sticking out, and then donned a vest over it, for good measure. Sakura would love to pretend Kakashi's drier was the problem, sag-ifying her clothes, but she knew that the problem was her loss of appetite.

I'm turning into a skeleton. Sakura thought, before a chill went down her spine and she remembered basic anatomy. Wait, I already am a skeleton, just trapped inside a meat suit.

What the fuck kind of thought was that?

Sakura speed walked out of her room, because being alone with her thoughts was badbadbadbad. As she walked down the hall, hands in her pockets, she marveled at her own mind. Her room, huh? That wasn't quite right, yet. Her room in Kakashi's house that wasn't burnt down by a giant snake with her parents inside.

Was Sakura supposed to be sad about that? Sometimes Sakura felt sad, but mostly it was hard to tell underneath all that nothing. She'd moved past the loss stage and into the nothingness incredibly quickly.

It wasn't that she wasn't feeling the pain, it was just muted. Like too many channels were running in her brain and she had to mute some to keep herself sane. That was one of the muted channels. As of now, the channels blasting at full volume were Be Normal, Smile Often, Breathe Sometimes, Act Normal Act Normal ActNormal- Am I Hungry? Not Really, Remember Basic Things like Walking Talking and Breathing.

Sakura shuddered at the idea of delving into her own clearly neglected trauma, and slipped her shoes on. They had been tossed carelessly onto the shoe mat.

SAKURA HARUNO. A very angry Mebuki Haruno shouted from the corner of her mind. How many times do I have to tell you to put your shoes away NEATLY.

"Sakura, ready to go?" Kakashi asked, appearing beside her like a specter in one of those cringey plays. He was wearing his usual attire minus his Jonin vest, tucking his book lovingly into his weapons pouch that he never went anywhere without.

Sakura blinked rapidly, dismissing the memory and giving Kakashi a neat little simper. Smile Often. "Of course."

"Okay, let's hit the road then." Kakashi said, but Sakura knew that Kakashi could tell how tired she was.

-

"Naruto!"

Naruto groaned. "Hey Sai, what's up?" Sai was different. Kushina had basically adopted him and his brother Shin when they were babies, and Kushina had rescued them from their Murder Shack in the woods. Since then, the two of them looked up to Kushina. Shin hadn't wanted to live with them, to Naruto's dismay, and insisted on supporting his brother by his own means.

And Shin did. He was a very good shinobi, and had taken the Chunin exams the year before. He was getting ready to take the Jonin exams, since he was already taking mostly B or A level missions and making killings on them. Naruto would've been more concerned about little Shin all alone in the world, but Shin was a survivor. He'd finally gotten treatment for his sickness, and had plans to survive for a long time, for his little brother's sake.

Of course Kushina and Minato helped out where they could, but Shin generally wanted to go it alone with Sai, who had decided that the life of a shinobi wasn't for him.

Sai had become a baker. A good one. But he had also become a good artist. Sai now worked at a bakery decorating cakes, and made an impressive wage for a twelve year old, given his considerable talent. Naruto loved Sai's cakes, and he loved that Sai was enjoying his life.

But the sight of Sai's sparkling teeth as he smiled when decorating one of his cakes was enough to make Naruto achingly miss his friend- the one who died for them in the war. The Sai with the hilarious fake smiles, and natural comedic timing- the one that couldn't read social cues, and called Naruto 'dickless'. Somehow, the loss still felt raw, even after twelve years of this new life.

Naruto shook himself out of his stupor. Sai had been talking happily about a layered cake he'd decorated yesterday, and how Shin would be back from his long mission tomorrow, and would be seeing his girlfriend. Here, Sai wiggled his eyebrows, an amused beam stuck on his face.

"That's great, Sai." Naruto grinned. "I can't wait to see him again."

"Naruto!" Someone called. Naruto's head spun to find them, and saw Sakura staring at him with a grin, from beside a weary looking Kakashi.

"Sorry, Sai, you know how Sakura is." Naruto said, patting his friend on the arm. "I'll talk to you later."

"See you, Naruto!" Sai chuckled supportively.

Naruto walked over to his sensei, giving the white haired man his signature 1000 watt smile and hugging his pink haired friend.

"How are you doing, sis?" He asked her, resting his chin on her head gently.

Sakura smiled. "I'm doing great, Naruto, really." She pulled away and nudged Kakashi. "Sensei's been a great help."

"How many times do I have to tell you that
I'm not your teacher anymore?" Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, have you seen your dad anywhere?"

Naruto looked into the room. There were a lot of people in there, all friends of the family, gathered to celebrate the return of the Hokage. Minato was in the kitchen, laughing with his old master Jiraiya. Naruto pointed Kakashi to him, and Kakashi followed his finger.

"What's up with him?" Naruto asked Sakura, lips pressing together tightly.

"I dunno, but look, there's Sasuke!"

Sasuke was standing stiffly beside his brother, and Ino was chatting with him amicably. She still had a massive crush on him and absolutely loved talking him out of his mind, which Naruto loved teasing his friend about.

It didn't take any intervention from them for Ino to peel herself away from the Uchiha brothers, however, because Ino (ever naturally empathetic) zeroed in on Sakura and she left Sasuke without a second thought.

The blonde girl shoved Naruto aside, wrapping her arms around Sakura. Sakura relaxed into the hug, and Ino whispered some stuff Naruto couldn't quite hear into Sakura's ear. Sakura nodded a couple times, and blinked rapidly, and when Ino pulled away she kissed Sakura on the cheek.

"I love you," Ino said. "You know you can always talk to me."

"I love you," Sakura replied, nodding. Ino walked off, Shikamaru calling her.

Naruto's brows furrowed. Sakura had always put up a brilliant smile around him, and the smile was back now, but if Ino was comforting her, maybe she wasn't as well off as she pretended to be? This interaction made Naruto worried. Ino had always been naturally empathetic. Her dad and her clan were the most competent psychoanalysts that the village had, and Ino was a little bit of a prodigy in natural empathy. Ino could tell when someone was lying just from the direction of their eyes.

She would make an incredible addition to the T&I unit someday, even though the thought of that happening always killed Sakura's smile. Naruto and Sasuke never liked bringing that up around her. 

Speaking of Sasuke, he walked up behind Ino.

"What was that about?" He asked casually, which told Naruto that Sasuke had come to the exact same conclusion that he had. Meaning Naruto wasn't crazy.

Sakura gave no indication that anything was wrong. "Oh, Ino was just updating me on my friend Karin. Apparently Karin has been staying with Ino's family, because she doesn't want to go back. She was thanking me for convincing her to stay." Sakura lied flawlessly, but fooled no one. Karin was actually staying with Ino's family, but there was no way that had been what they were talking about.

"Cool, 'ttebayo!" Naruto plastered a big smile on his own face. "C'mon, guys, you've gotta come say hi to my dad. That's the condition for the free food."

—

The party was going well, Sasuke thought. Sakura had seemed fine, although he wasn't convinced. Even Naruto had seemed a little weirded out by her behavior. Her parents had just died, and yet Sakura had seemed so composed for the past week. Kakashi said that she was doing his chores.

Am I a bad friend? He wondered, looking at Sakura. Her eyes sparkled with life and mirth, and it just seemed a little artificial. Not that Sasuke had ever seen her fake smile before the past few days. Sakura was usually an open book. Oh yeah. I'm a terrible friend.

Cool.

Sasuke put that on the list of Reasons Why Sasuke Uchiha Deserves Nothing that he kept nice and neat and alphabetized in his brain.

Talking to all of those people had been nice, though. Sasuke wasn't very social, but this event seemed to be going okay.

Everyone was gathered in the dining room, getting ready to sit down, when Kakashi whispered something to Minato and Shikamaru, and the two of them slipped out of the room. Minato followed close behind, and closed the door to the living room behind him.

Naruto had noticed this too, and tapped Sasuke. The two of the slipped away while Sakura was chatting with Hinata, and Sasuke carefully and quietly opened the door, poking his head through. Naruto followed suit.

Naruto and Sasuke peered into the living room, where Minato, Fugaku, Shikaku, and Kakashi were talking to an ANBU member that was hanging off the window. They couldn't see the expressions on their faces, but the ANBU member stopped talking and stared at Sasuke and Naruto, making the men turn and stare at them too. Naruto and Sasuke blushed, turning and catching up to Sakura.

Hey Sakura, we might have a problem...

Huh? What problem?

Kakashi, the Hokage, Shikaku, and otou-sama are talking to an ANBU member.

Have we tried getting ahold of Kakashi?

He's not answering, 'ttebayo!

I guess we just ask him later, then.

Hm. Sasuke said in the chat. He was displeased, but he took a seat next to Naruto at the smaller table that had been dubbed the 'kids' table'. Sakura sat on Naruto's other side.

Naruto looked around the table, relaxing finally. It had been such a long time since he had really hung out with his friends. "We have got to get together more often." He complained to Shikamaru, who was sitting beside Hinata, across the table from him.

Shikamaru agreed silently, nodding his head in approval. "Our parents always go out to eat together on Fridays, what if we tried something like that?"

"You mean we get together?" Sakura asked, a happy smile on her face at the idea.

"Like a group spar," Neji suggested from Hinata's other side, almost directly across from Sasuke. "We could train together for, say, two hours on Saturday mornings."

"I like that!" Kiba announced, still chewing his food. Ino winced in disgust, and slapped him. "What?!" He asked exasperatedly.

"Chew with your mouth closed!" Ino insisted, crossing her arms. "Sakura, trade me spots!" She said to her friend, who was sitting beside her.

Sakura scoffed. "You think I'm much better? I'm sitting next to Naruto!"

"Hey!" Naruto protested, thoroughly offended. Sasuke smirked into his rice, exchanging mildly amused looks with Neji and Shikamaru. Hinata looked ready to protest weakly, and Sasuke knew from the way Sakura was sneaking glances at Hinata that Sakura was waiting for it.

"At least you two aren't sitting next to Choji." Shino, on Sasuke's other side, muttered to himself, making Sasuke snort.

Sakura and Ino both somehow heard and gave him nasty glares across Naruto and Kiba. Shino threw up his hands in exasperation, and Shikamaru ran a hand through his hair, laughing quietly. Shin and Sai exchanged quiet laughs from in between Neji and Choji, respectively.

They were all a little closer than they had been in their past life, because Kushina Uzumaki was an extrovert and had EVERYONE over to dinner at least once every two months. Shin and Sai were like family to Kushina, so they were also over often. They lived in an apartment, alone, but Kushina stopped in to take care of them all the time. She'd even started teaching Sai some complicated seals, which he was picking up quickly, due to his natural artistic ability.

The door to the living room slid open, and Kakashi, Minato, Shikaku, and Sasuke's father stepped inside, grim looks on their faces.

"Excuse me," Minato announced before he found his seat. "If all the Council members could join me in the living room after we eat, that would be amazing." He said, voice wavering a little. No one noticed that but Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. And Kushina, who gave him a concerned look. "The children can find something else to do." He sat down beside his wife, Fugaku giving him a matching worried look.

"Anyway," Ino said, to continue the conversation. "You guys were saying Saturday in the mornings? That sounds good for me, unless we're on missions."

"Obviously we wouldn't come if we're on missions." Neji chided, continuing to pose suggestions.

Dad seemed really worried...

What do you think happened?

I'm more concerned that Kakashi isn't telling us about it.

That's true, he does always tell us what's going on.

Something's giving me a bad feeling.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, then at Kakashi, who was talking with Tenzo and Obito as if nothing had happened. Shisui and Itachi were giving him looks, like they knew what he was doing, but then again, so did everyone else. Naruto bit his lip, concerned. He knew Kakashi felt their eyes on him, but he wasn't even making eye contact. He was shutting them out, because he didn't want to talk to them, to explain.

Guys, logically, what would Kakashi want to keep a secret from us?

Nothing, that's the whole point of team work-

That's a good limiting factor, Naruto. Now we can narrow down some ideas.

Look, I appreciate how genius you kids are, and I know all three of you are impatient, but I need you to calm down. I'll explain later, if Minato-sensei doesn't. It does affect you three.

Look who's finally not ignoring us!

Oh, man up, Naruto. You'll get the cold shoulder sometimes, that's life.

Not life for us, Kakashi-sensei, we're supposed to always act as a united front, and work together. We swore that a long time ago.

And I would tell you three everything right now, but it's not the time. I don't even know how I feel about it. Wait and see. Besides, I gotta focus on Kushina's chicken.

Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead in irritation, looking back at his food. There was a way to ignore the mental group chat, or to limit it to one or two people. Typically, the person ignored it when they were asleep, but one way is to close your eyes and put a block in. It was easily removed, and helpful for when Naruto went on one of his menma ramen tirades, but not helpful when Kakashi had some tea to spill that he wasn't giving up right away. To have a one on one conversation with someone, they found they just needed to concentrate and focus on the one person. The same went with two people. Like when he and Kakashi and Sakura needed to plan Naruto's birthday or some shit.

It occured, occasionally, to Sasuke that he, Sakura, Naruto and Kakashi were actually really lucky to have this gift. Not everyone could just communicate to their best friends so easily. But it was also a curse, too, because sometimes Naruto accidentally sent some of his thoughts via mental group chat, and oddly enough, they were all a little scarred by those instances. They typically interrupted him before his musings about ramen got too far, but...

After the dinner, everyone was extremely full, and the kids were shoved outside. In the dark. Where it was actually pretty cold. Naruto glared at the doors that Shikamaru's mother had shoved them through. Why couldn't Kakashi just keep them inside and tell them what was going on?

"How about we play a game?" Shisui proposed. (He and Itachi had gotten kicked out too, much to their irritation. Tenzo got to stay because he was older).

"What game?" Ino groaned, collapsing in one of the lawn chairs. "I don't think I'll be able to move for a month!"

"A ninja game." Shisui said, and all of the younger kids gathered around him and his best friend. Naruto looked at Sasuke in interest, but his best friend just rolled his eyes, like he knew exactly what was coming. Naruto looked back at Shisui, not taking Sasuke's emo attitude personally. "When we were inducted into the ANBU, they had an initiation game that they always played with the newbies- it was like a ritual."

"The ANBU is basically a cult." Itachi deadpanned, wicked smirk on his face. Naruto shrugged, looking at Sasuke with a knowing grin. Sasuke returned it, before looking back at his brother and Shisui.

"Anyway, they have this game they like to play called Chimamire no ōkami, where one person goes and hides in the forest, and the others go out and try to find them. There's a base. If someone sees the wolf, or the ōkami, they have to shout Chimamire no ōkami, so the others know, then they all run back to the base. The Ōkami has to tag as many people as they can. The people they tag are also it. If the wolf tags you before you see him or her, you cannot warn the others. No dōjutsu are allowed in this game. The last person to get tagged wins."

"It's pretty dark out," Shikamaru noticed, gesturing around them. The others looked around, but none seemed overly bothered except Choji.

"That will be to the wolf's advantage." Itachi pointed out. "The person who gets tagged first has to be the wolf in the next round."

Sasuke grinned. This game was new- he'd never played it before, and he was enjoying the idea of hunting down his friends one by one. "Sounds fun. Where's the base?"

Itachi and Shisui exchanged glances. "That tree." They pointed to a large tree that blocked their vision into Naruto's backyard.

"Who's the wolf?" Shikamaru spoke up in interest.

Shushi and Itachi hummed. Shisui nodded. "We can be it, but you guys had better be fast and silent, or this will be like picking fish from a barrel."

They were playing that game competitively until two AM, which was when people started heading home. When Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke left, they exchanged glances with Naruto that indicated that for them, the night wasn't over.

—-

Naruto and Sasuke convened at Kakashi's apartment at 4 AM, and he dragged them inside. Sakura had made them all hot cocoa and was sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket.

"What happened?" Naruto asked immediately. Kakashi shushed him, before looking around his apartment. He allowed his chakra to flow through the apartment, trying to flush out anyone who might be spying on them.

When no one came out, Kakashi dragged the three of them into his room, locked the door, and sat on the floor. Sasuke and Naruto gave each other weirded out looks, but Sakura didn't waste any time and just plopped on the floor beside him. "Naruto is in imminent danger." Kakashi said quietly.

Sakura's face went pale. "What do you mean?"

"What the hell is all this about, 'ttebayo?!" Naruto jumped up, crossing his arms and looking down at Kakashi in irritation.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sasuke glared. "Kakashi's trying to explain." He turned to his sensei. "Elaborate."

"This morning, we received word that the Jinchuriki of the Hidden Waterfall Village has been taken." Kakashi said, staring at the floor in thought.

"Fuu?" Naruto asked, looking mildly anguished. He'd met the enthusiastic girl- the jinchuriki of the Seven Tails, Chōmei- in his past life. This felt like a wound. "We need to go find her!" He said immediately. "If they collect all the other Jinchuriki, all they need then is Old Man Eight-o's tentacles, and those brothers that swallowed Kurama's chakra that one time!"

"They won't collect the other Jinchuriki." Kakashi said, keeping his cool even in this stressful situation. "Look, all we need to do is keep our heads. Just focus."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "How are we going to stop them from taking all nine of them? There are Ten Akatsuki members, hypothetically, and only four of us."

"We can enlist help from Minato." Kakashi told him, crossing his arms in irritation. "What if we get more missions to leave the village?"

"Would we keep the 'one of us has to stay here' thing?" Naruto asked, his eyes squinting dramatically and his mouth folding into a scowl the way he always does. "Because that's bullshit, 'ttebayo."

"We would all go, though that policy is about one of us being here to defend the village during a potentially world ending event." Kakashi commented, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes, thinking about all the accidents that could happen during their absence.

"Sure but what are the odds that some villain is gonna get bored during the week we're away?" Naruto reasoned, glaring at Kakashi. "Of all times, that would be stupid."

Kakashi's lips thinned. "What one thing didn't happen while we were out of the village looking for Tsunade?" He asked, looking at each of his students.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he remembered immediately what Kakashi was talking about. "We weren't visited by the Akatsuki."

"Now, we should make an educated guess when that's going to happen."

Sasuke's mouth went dry. "Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Kakashi agreed.

<>

After getting thoroughly killed by Shisui and Itachi in their little game, everyone promised to challenge them to a rematch at some later date with more practice under their belt.

Naruto dragged himself out of bed early that morning, stumbling down the stairs and into the kitchen first thing. Kushina was making tea for herself, while Minato was making coffee for him and Naruto. Naruto stopped and stared at them both, momentary surprise making its way across his features. For a second, he'd forgotten that his parents were alive. His heart thudded painfully, and his breathing became shallow as he watched his father and mother interact. Minato poked Kushina in the side, making the redhead laugh and slap him in the shoulder.

They turned at the same time when they noticed him at the door, smiling widely. "Good morning!" Kushina exclaimed, before she saw that Naruto was frozen. "Hey, are you okay?"

Naruto nodded, extending a hand and leaning hard on his wall. He'd almost lost his dad again. The reality was just now hitting him- if Minato had died, they wouldn't have this family dynamic anymore. It would be like losing a leg. His stuttering breaths turned into shaky sobs, tears streaming down his face and down his neck.

Kushina and Minato pounced on him immediately, Kushina wrapping the boy into her arms and bundling him to her chest, resting her chin on the top of Naruto's head. Minato curled around them both, looking at Naruto with worried blue eyes.

"Baby, are you okay?" Kushina asked, squeezing him tightly.

"Y-Yeah..." Naruto hiccuped, closing his eyes and burying his face into his mom's neck. His hand reached out and hooked around his father's neck, and he brought them both closer. "Please, mom... dad... promise me you guys won't ever die..." Naruto choked a sob.

Minato and Kushina exchanged worried glances, and Kushina only held her son tighter.

"Naruto, you know more than anyone why we can't promise you that." Minato said quietly, resting his hand comfortingly in the blonde's head. "We're shinobi, son. We chose this, and we knew it was dangerous going into it."

Naruto inhaled desperate gulps of air. Of course he understood- like Minato said, he knew better than anyone why they couldn't promise that. He wished they could promise him that... he wished his family was normal. But he had ended up with important, strong ninja parents, and he wouldn't trade them for any others in the world, even if doing so would save him heartache. Naruto calmed down, focusing on Minato's steadying hand, and Kushina's warm hug. How had he functioned without his parents in his last life? If he had this, and then lost it right away, he didn't know what he'd do. He almost understood Sasuke's actions from their past life.

"I know..." Naruto's voice broke. He wished he hadn't had a meltdown in front of them- now they'd feel guilty. "I'm proud of you guys..." he admitted quietly, hoping that would tide them over.

"We love you, Naruto. More than anything." Kushina whispered into his ear, gripping her little boy tightly. He was growing up so fast, and she was almost scared.

"Your mother is right." Minato agreed, running his hand on Naruto's scalp comfortingly. "You  know we'd do anything for you." Naruto was the only one who knew just how far his parents would go for him. Minato and Kushina had given up chances at a normal life so that Naruto could one day be strong. Turning him into a Jinchuriki ended up being the best decision they'd ever made.

"I love you guys too." More than they would ever know.

<>

The merchant carried his wares on his back, mumbling to himself. "Stupid brat- can't even do the most simple tasks." He muttered, complaining about his back as he walked. He crossed into the village, identifying himself, and allowing a Hyūga to check his back with his freaky eyes. He didn't even complain when they stopped him again on the way in, to check his wares, before sending him along.

But when he rammed face first into a black and red coat, he grumbled. "Oi! Watch where you're going, jerk."

"Hmmmmm." The sound of a something rough slapping the pavement made a merchant startle. "Hey there." A rough, edgy voice said, full of bloodlust. "Where can a guy find something to eat around here?"

The merchant was confused for a moment, and so he looked up at the person he'd run into. Standing before him was the biggest man he had ever seen- probably 6,5. He was wearing a long, dark cloak, with red clouds spaced evenly across the fabric. On his head, was a hat with multiple dangling strings hanging off of it, so the merchant couldn't really get the greatest look at the man's face. But one thing the merchant noticed immediately was his teeth. They were sharp. Predatory. Like a shark's. On the man's back, was a large object, probably a weapon. The handle was hanging up near the top of the man's shoulders, providing easy access. Standing beside him, was a man who looked just as odd, if not more. There were bandages covering what was visible of his head beneath his hat. But he, too, had a large sword-like object hanging off his back.

"Kisame," the large man's companion sighed, standing beside the man. "You're supposed to not draw attention to us, you idiot."

The shark like man scowled. "This dude rammed into me, and he didn't even apologize!" He complained with a drawl, like he didn't even really care. "I'm just trying to get some food off him in return."

"You ran into him?" The second man asked, clucking his tongue at the merchant and crossing his arms over his chest. "That was unwise, sir."

"I didn't mean to," the merchant protested, a little of his bruised ego flaring up. "He ran into me."

The tall, blue man rolled his eyes underneath his hat. "Listen here, buddy. As far as I'm concerned, you ran into me. Do you want to fight it out? Because we could fight it out." The man, apparently named Kisame's eyes glittered dangerously, and the merchant felt a thrill of fear run down his spine. This man seemed to ooze bloodlust. It was terrifying. The merchant knew immediately, with innate certainty, that this man could probably gut him, effortlessly.

"Kisame." The man's partner said. "Focus on why we're here."

"Ah yes." Kisame's eyes glittered more. "The Kyūbi boy. Where did they say he lived again?"

The merchant's eyes widened. The Kyūbi child was the son of the fourth Hokage, last he checked. And if that was the case then these men were here to take him, either to bribe his father, or to use the Kyūbi inside the boy. Neither option was good.

"I have no clue, Kisame." The second man replied, looking around the village and sighing, before turning back to the merchant who was too afraid to turn and run away. "Oi, do you know where the fourth Hokage lives?"

"No," the merchant replied stubbornly, deciding to try to be noble.

"Look, man. You can try to be all macho and manly, but when the torture starts, I'll have you screaming like a baby." Kisame chuckled darkly, radiating bloodlust that let the merchant know that this man absolutely meant what he had just said. "So, what'll it be, pops?"

The merchant bit the inside of his cheeks, shaking in fear. "If I tell you, you'll let me live?"

Kisame threw his head back and laughed. "Of course."

The merchant opened his mouth.