The Naras took a few minutes to just hold each other, listening to the boy's sobs, shedding their own tears, then they all decided to head back to the last village they saw, even though they were all exhausted from traveling almost all day. Hinata had sealed Temari's body, and what pieces she could cather up, into a scroll so that they could hand it over to Tsunade when they got back. Shikamaru glared at the scroll when Hinata tried to hand it to him, and just asked her to hold onto it before he followed Naruto into the trees.

Shikadai refused to let anyone touch him, batting their hands away and turning his face into Naruto's chest. Not even Shikamaru could get the boy to look at him. Naruto could see the hurt in Shikamaru's eyes, but neither one said anything. The boy had been in that woman's hands for over a week. Who knew what she did or said to him, although, they did have an idea from hearing her comment in the forest.

They found a room with two beds, Ino and Hinata sharing a bed again, and even though Shikadai tried to push Shikamaru away, the two Naras slept with Shikadai snuggly between them. Shikadai woke up multiple times, crying and flailing, getting worse when Shikamaru tried to comfort the boy, and it took Naruto nearly ten minutes to calm the boy down enough to get back to sleep each time.

The next morning, Shikadai refused to eat anything. They let it slide, thinking the boy just wasn't hungry that morning, but when he also refused to eat anything for lunch or dinner, that's when they started to get concerned. Naruto begged Shikadai to eat something, but the boy just shook his head and buried his face in Naruto's shirt. They went to bed defeated and very worried.

The next day was no better as the boy still refused to eat anything that morning. By lunch time, Naruto could hear the boy's stomach growling, knowing the boy was probably starving. Thankfully when they stopped to eat for lunch, Naruto finally convinced the boy to eat, but it took Naruto crying for the boy to do so. He didn't eat much, but they were all just happy he finally ate something.

It took them three days to get back to the village at their slower pace, but Naruto was just relieved to see the village gates. This whole trip had been exhausting and emotionally draining. He was ready to go home, sleep, and for life to get back to normal, but he knew they needed to report to Tsunade first. He wasn't exactly looking forward to facing the blonde woman, as he had left the village without permission.

They got the ok to enter the office, and Shikamaru went in first, and just as he figured, Tsunade glared at him the moment her eyes landed on him, however, the glare didn't last long as her eyes quickly fell on the trembling boy in his arms. Shikadai had tensed and buried his face almost painfully in Naruto's chest the moment they stepped foot in the village.

"Is he alright?" Tsunade asked as she got up from her seat and walked up to the blonde.

Shikaku had been standing in front of the desk when they entered, and followed the hokage over to them.

"Not really," Naruto said sadly. "He's barely ate anything, won't let anyone touch him except me, and he hasn't said a word since we got him back, and when we got back to the village, he tensed up and has been shaking ever since."

"Not to mention the huge bruise on his face," Ino added.

Tsunade frowned and tried to turn the boy's head so she could look at the bruise, but the boy screamed and batted her hand away, turning his head even more away from the woman.

"Dai, please. Tsunade just wants to look at the bruise on your face," Naruto pleaded.

Shikadai shook his head, not looking up at his mother, and clenched his fists even more. The poor boy's fingers were turning white with how tight he was holding the shirt.

Shikaku walked up to the boy and grabbed his head, forcefully turning it so Tsunade could see his face.

"No! No!" Shikadai screamed and hit his grandfather's hands.

Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes as he watched the boy, struggling to keep the boy in his arms, and when he looked up at Shikaku, he could tell the man didn't want to do this.

Tsunade activated her medical jutsu and held her hand over the bruise, and slowly it started to disappear. It only took a minute to fully disappear, and when Shikaku released the boy, Shikadai smashed his face back in Naruto's chest, causing the blonde to let out an "oof."

"Looks like you're going to have your hands full with him for a while," Tsunade said sadly, then turned to Shikamaru. "Take some time to help him and relax."

"Thank you," Shikamaru said, the exhaustion coming through in his voice.

"Now," Tsunade said as she walked back to her desk, "what happened?"

Hinata was the one to step forward, explaining everything that happened after Naruto nearly bowled her over in the street, pulling the scroll that contained Temari's body from her weapon's pouch when she got to that part.

Tsunade took the scroll, a scowl on her face. "You do realize, killing her will make the sand even more angry with us than they already are. She was the daughter of the Kazekage."

"If what we heard from one of the teams out taking care of the invading sand teams was correct, we may not need to be as worried about that as you might think," Shikaku said.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked as he walked up beside his father.

Shikaku turned to his son. "While you four were chasing after Temari, we sent teams out to deal with the sand shinobi that were searching for her here in the Land of Fire. One team overheard a team talking about how they were ordered to kill her for deserting the village. They apparently already declared her a rogue shinobi."

"So we did them a favor," Ino said, stepping closer.

Shikaku crossed his arms and sighed. "You can say that, but I don't think it will deter them from trying to get their hands on Shikadai. The Kazekage was very clear that he thought of Shikadai as the next heir to the Kazekage title."

Naruto tightened his arms just a bit more around his son and frowned. "Why can't they find someone else to be the next Kazekage?"

"The sand have always chosen their Kazekage from bloodline, unlike us who chose our Hokage from who we think would best fill the position," Tsunade replied. "Shikadai is the grandson of the current Kazekage, so therefore, Shikadai would be a candidate for the title."

"But the Kazekage also had two sons," Shikamaru said, fists clenched at his side. "They could have their own kid. Temari's gone, so that should..."

"Temari being dead doesn't make Shikadai any less eligible," Tsunade interrupted. "But you have a point. The two sons, Gaara and Kankuro I believe, are perfectly capable of producing children themselves."

"Then they have no reason to come after Shikadai," Shikamaru said as he slammed his hand down on the desk.

Tsunade gave the man a small glare, and Shikamaru quickly took a step back. "With Temari dead, they may reconsider coming after him. I'll send her body to the Kazekage, after we've studied it of course, and also send an offer of a truce once more. As the only living parent, Shikamaru has every right to keep Shikadai."

This made Naruto relax just a bit, and he could see that Shikamaru was also relieved to hear it. He looked down at the boy with a smile, but when he saw the boy still burying his face in his shirt, the frown returned. He kissed the top of the boy's head and felt the boy shake just a bit more.

"For now, just focus on helping Shikadai get over this trauma. I'll let you guys know what happens," Tsunade said.

Everyone nodded and Tsunade dismissed them. Shikaku was the only one to stay behind, claiming he was going to help clean up the situation with the sand teams. Ino and Hinata said their goodbyes, wishing them luck with Shikadai and offering their help if they needed it. Shikamaru sighed as he walked alongside Naruto, hands in his pockets and eyes half closed.

Naruto reached over and pulled one of Shikamaru's hands free from the pocket and grasped it tight. Shikamaru gave him a small smile. "We're going to get through this," Naruto said.

"I know. It's just going to be a real drag."

They stopped by and let Yoshino know that Shikadai was back, but didn't stay long as the boy responded the same way he had to everyone else. The woman was in tears, but told them that if they needed anything, she'd be there.

As they got back pretty late in the day, the two adults just decided to turn in early. Naruto had to lay with Shikadai for a bit before the boy would fall asleep, but once the boy was asleep, he joined his husband in bed, curling up next to the man.

Shikamaru wrapped his arm around Naruto. "You ok?"

Naruto looked up at him. "I should be asking you that. I've seen the look on your face everytime Shikadai pushed you away."

Shikamaru frowned. "I'll be fine. I trust you to help him get back to normal."

"Shika, we'll both help him," Naruto said as he sat up a bit. "Avoiding him is the last thing you should do, trust me. If what we suspected is true, Temari probably filled his head with lies, more toward you than me, and if you do nothing, it's just going to get worse for him."

"What am I supposed to do? He won't even let me touch him, not to mention he won't look at me."

"He won't look at anyone," Naruto said sadly as he laid back down. "I couldn't get him to look at me at all today. He only looked at me when he begged me to stay with him when I put him to bed."

Shikamaru pulled Naruto closer to him and kissed the blonde's forehead. "We both figured that he would be worse than last time."

Naruto closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into Shikamaru's chest. "We won't be able to go to Inoichi this time, will we?"

"I don't think so. Not only is he dealing with what happened this time, but I'm sure the memories of last time came back to him too. Inoichi warned us they could if something like this happened again. But, I do think he's old enough to at least start to understand things."

Naruto smiled. "He is smart. Some of the things we've talked about the last few months makes me wonder if he's even smarter than you."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I guess we'll see when he gets older."

NNNNNNNNNN

The next few days were hard on both of them, as Shikadai really did try and push both of them away. The boy went back to refusing to eat, just laid in bed, and had many tantrums, lashing out at both of them when they got too close. It was as if they were the kidnappers and Shikadai was trying to rebel against them.

As Shikamaru walked out of Shikadai's room, sighing as he closed the door, Naruto heard Shikadai screaming as if someone was trying to kill him. Tears fell from his eyes and Shikamaru wrapped his arms around the blonde, kissing the blonde's temple, but he could feel a tear hitting his shoulder that wasn't his own.

"Why won't he talk to us? He knows he can," Naruto asked.

"Smart or not, he's still a kid. He doesn't know how to handle what he's feeling."

"We can't keep doing this, Shika."

"I know. Once he calms down, I'll try and get him to talk."

"But he won't, that's the problem. Whenever we try, he just gets upset and starts screaming."

Shikamaru was silent, which made Naruto even more worried. If he didn't know what to do, then how were they supposed to get through this. Shikamaru pulled him toward the stairs and they went down to the living room, sitting on the couch and just listening to Shikadai's tantrum through the floor. Naruto turned his face into Shikamaru's shoulder as the man tightened his arms, tears continuing to fall.

It was about an hour later when they finally decided that Shikadai had worn himself out as the noises from above them stopped. They went back up to the boy's room and peeked in the door to see the boy sitting on the floor, glaring at a stuffed animal Shikamaru had bought him a few weeks back.

"Shikadai?" Naruto asked as he walked in behind Shikamaru.

Shikadai crawled into the corner of the room and pulled his legs up to his chest, keeping his eyes toward the floor.

Naruto and Shikamaru walked over and knelt down in front of him. "Shikadai, will you please talk to us?" Naruto asked. "Please, just tell us what's wrong."

Shikadai tightened his arms around his legs. When Shikamaru tried to reach out to him, Shikadai frowned, smacked the man's hand away, and tried to crawl away, but Shikamaru grabbed his arm and pulled him toward them.

"No! Let go! No! No!" Shikadai cried out as tears fell from his eyes, his free hand pushing at Shikamaru's hand, which was still on his arm.

"Shikadai," Shikamaru said sternly. "Use your words. We can't help you if you don't talk to us."

"No! Daddy not help!"

Both adults' eyes went wide. At least it was something. "You can talk to me," Naruto offered as he reached out to the boy.

"No! Mommy and Daddy not help. Mommy and Daddy let mean lady take me. Daddy no find me."

Finally, they were getting somewhere. "We tried to find you," Naruto tried.

Shikadai looked up at them, lip quivering. "Daddy no find me. Daddy always find me, but he not find me. Mean lady say it because daddy not love me."

"That's not true," Shikamaru said, a sad look on his face. "I do love you. I love you and your mother more than anything in the world."

"Then why no find me?" Shikadai said, the tears falling again.

Shikamaru pulled the boy to him, and Naruto smiled a bit when the boy clung to him. "I tried. I tried so hard to find you."

Naruto placed his hand on the back of Shikadai's head. The boy had mentioned that Shikamaru always found him, so he must have been referring to the hide and seek games Shikamaru played with him to help the boy learn stealth. "Temari was just way too good at hiding you."

Shikadai niffed and looked up at Naruto. "Too good at hiding?"

"Yeah. She was really good at the game, and your daddy had a really hard time finding you because of it."

Shikadai looked up at Shikamaru. "Mean lady too good?"

"Yeah. She was better at hide and seek than I was. I'm sorry," Shikamaru replied.

Shikadai laid his head on Shikamaru's chest, his eyes drooping. "Mean lady say mommy not mommy. Said she mommy. Not want her as mommy."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru. "You think he'd understand?"

Shikamaru looked down at the boy. "We can try to explain it."

Naruto took a deep breath and looked the boy in the eyes. "Shikadai, do you remember how Mirai had to grow inside Kurenai's tommy for a while before she could come here?" Shikadai nodded. "Well, you grew inside of Temari's tommy before you came to me and your daddy."

Shikadai frowned and cocked his head, confusion clear on his face. "I come from mommy," he said and pointed at Naruto's stomach. "Like baby."

Naruto looked at him sadly. "No, baby, you didn't."

"Your mother found you when he helped Temari give birth to you," Shikamaru said. "You came from Temari, just like Mirai came from Kurenai."

Shikadai's lip quivered. "Mommy not mommy?"

Naruto reached over and pulled Shikadai to him, holding the boy tight. "I am your mommy, but you didn't come from me like your sister will."

"A mother isn't just someone who brings you into the world, Shikadai," Shikamaru said. "They are the one that cares for you, loves you, and is always there for you. Temari may have brought you into the world, but Naruto is the one that took care of you. He's the one that loves you and is always there for you."

Shikadai sniffed and looked up at his father. "Mommy mommy because he love me?"

"Yes. Exactly," Shikamaru said as he smiled at the boy.

Shikadai looked up at Naruto. "Mommy still mommy?"

Naruto kissed the top of his head. "Always and forever, baby."

Shikadai turned his head so he was looking at Shikamaru. "Daddy love me?"

Shikamaru smiled and placed his hand on the back of the boy's head. "Always and forever, little fawn."

Shikadai gave them a small smile, then closed his eyes, falling asleep in Naruto's arms.

It took a few weeks for Shikadai to go back to normal completely. Even though the situation between him and his parents was resolved, Shikadai was still terrified to leave the house or be around anyone that wasn't his parents. Shikaku and Yoshino came over to try and help get the boy used to being around people again, and at first he didn't respond well to it, but eventually he started acting normally around them again too.

After that, Kurenai came over with little Mirai. The boy did ok around Mirai, but Kurenai still made him scared. Once he was comfortable around them again, they tried taking him to the park. That one was a complete disaster as Shikadai nearly passed out from the hyperventilation he was causing himself, so they tried something a little less stressful. The Nara forest.

Shikadai still freaked out because of all the trees, but when all the boy saw was the deer, he relaxed. They did about a week of this, just letting the boy get used to being outside again, Shikaku and Yoshino sometimes joining them. After that, they did the back yard, and had Ino and Choji visit, then Hinata, then Kiba and Akamaru, and slowly the boy got more and more comfortable with being around people again.

Naruto stared at Shikadai as he ran around the yard chasing Akamaru. "I'm really glad he seems to be back to normal now," he said to Shikamaru, who was sitting next to him.

"Yeah. Seeing him the way he was was hard," Shikamaru replied. "Were you going to try the park again tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Naruto said as he rubbed his stomach. He was a little over four months along now, and he was actually surprised at how much his stomach had grown in the past month. He was starting to feel their daughter move a lot more now. Shikamaru still couldn't feel the movement, which bummed the guy out, but it wouldn't be too long before he could. "Kurenai agreed to come with us."

"I wish I could go too."

Naruto smiled. "You have a mission, so there's nothing you can do."

Shikamaru sighed and laid back on the ground, but Naruto continued to just sit there and watch their son. Kiba was now tickling the boy, and Shikadai was laughing loudly, which made Naruto's heart warm. He was so glad that his baby could laugh and smile again.

Shikadai finally escaped from Kiba's grasp and ran over, flopping down hard onto Shikamaru's stomach. Shikamaru let out a loud "oof" and Naruto covered his mouth to hide the laugh, even though Kiba didn't try to hide it at all.

Shikamaru glared at the Inuzuka as he sat up, rubbing at his stomach. Shikadai looked from Shikamaru's stomach to Naruto's. "Daddy has baby too?"

Kiba's laughter got even louder and Naruto couldn't hide the laugh this time as Shikamaru stared down at his son with wide eyes. "No, Dai. I'm the only one with the baby. You just hurt daddy when you hit his stomach," Naruto explained.

"Oh. Sorry, daddy," Shikadai said, then crawled over to Naruto and placed his hand on Naruto's stomach. It was the first time since Shikadai got back that the boy acknowledged the baby. "Why not come out yet?"

Naruto smiled and rubbed his hand down the back of the boy's head. "She's still growing. She's not ready to come out yet."

Shikadai blinked, then a wide smile crossed his face. "I have sister?" he asked loudly.

Naruto nodded and briefly wondered if the boy hadn't heard him say that a few weeks back. He really couldn't blame the boy since he was in a pretty emotional state that time.

Shikadai got up and jumped around. "I have sister. I have sister."

Shikamaru chuckled and put his arm around Naruto, placing his other hand on Naruto's stomach. "I think he's a little excited," he said, his lips right up against Naruto's ear, before he kissed the blonde's head. His eyes then went wide as he looked down at his hand. "I felt her."

Naruto smiled. He did feel the kick was a little harder than the others. "Looks like he's not the only excited one."

Shikamaru smiled and smashed his lips over Naruto's, but then they heard snickering. "Eww. Kissy face," Shikadai giggled out.

"Yeah, that's pretty gross you two," Kiba teased with a wide smile on his face. "Get a room."

Naruto stuck his tongue out, but he saw a smirk on Shikamaru's face. "You offering to watch Shikadai for us?" Shikamaru asked.

Kiba paled a bit. "Gah. No! I was only kidding."

Shikadai looked from his still smirking father to Kiba then over to Naruto. "Why Kiba watch me?"

Shikamaru chuckled. "Don't worry about it," he told the boy as he ruffled the boy's hair.

Shikadai pouted at his father, unhappy about the fact he was left out of the supposed joke. "Mommy, daddy be mean."

Naruto laughed as Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and he held out his hand. Shikadai quickly went over to his mother, and Naruto kissed the top of the boy's head. "It's an adult thing. You'll understand when you're older."

Shikadai crossed his arms and pouted again. Akamaru saved the day by coming up to the boy and licking his face. Shikadai laughed and pushed the dog's face away. "No, Akamaru. No kissy face me."

The three adults laughed. "Well, we should get going, Akamaru. We have that mission later today," Kiba said.

The three Naras said their goodbyes, then went into the house. Shikadai went over to his toys and pulled a few of the cars out, while Naruto and Shikamaru sat on the couch. Naruto looked down at his stomach as he rubbed it. "Hey, Shika?"

"Hmm?"

Naruto looked up at the man. "Why don't we come up with a name for her?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow. "Now? Isn't that something people usually do later on in the pregnancy?"

"I guess, but isn't that because they don't know what the gender is? We do, so why not decide now?"

"It would be a lot less troublesome." He put his arm around Naruto. "You have any names already picked out?"

Naruto blushed. "Umm, well, when I was younger, I always imagined having a daughter named Kairi."

"Really?"

Naruto nodded and looked down at his stomach. "I never imagined I would be the one to carry her, though. I always thought I'd find a girl and she would be the one to carry her." He looked back up at his husband, a wide smile on his face. "But this way is so much better."

Shikamaru smiled and kissed his forehead. "Then let's just call her Kairi."

"What? But aren't we supposed to both put suggestions out there and choose from those?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I thought about having kids when I was younger, a girl and then a boy, but I never really thought about it too much. I figured I'd just discuss it with my partner when the time came."

"Doesn't your clan have that tradition of adding Shika as a prefix to the kids' names?"

"Only for the first born," Shikamaru said with a smile. "After that, they don't really care, but if you want, we could always call her Shikairi."

Naruto looked back down at his stomach. "I think I like just Kairi better."

"Then it's settled. Her name's Kairi."

Naruto looked up and leaned forward to capture his husband's lips, giving the man a gentle kiss. "Sorry it's out of order."

Shikamaru looked at him confused. "What's out of order?"

Naruto chuckled. "You said you wanted a girl then a boy, but you got a boy then a girl."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but a smile crossed his face. "Troublesome blonde. You couldn't control that."

Naruto laid his head on Shikamaru's shoulder. "Kairi," he said under his breath as he rubbed his stomach again.

"Mommy, who Kairi?" Shikadai asked as he looked up at him.

Naruto sat up. "It's your baby sister's name."

Shikadai pushed Naruto's legs open and walked up and placed his face gently on Naruto's stomach, then wrapped his arms around it, placing a gentle kiss on Naruto's stomach. "Love you, Kairi."

Shikamaru reached over and placed his hand on the back of Shikadai's head as both adults smiled down at their son. "You're going to be a good big brother," Shikamaru said.

Shikadai beamed up at his father, Naruto's famous smile crossing the boy's face, then he turned, ran over and grabbed a couple of his cars, and brought them back over, running the small toys over Naruto's stomach. Naruto chuckled. "Well, I guess that's one way to play with her before she's born."

NNNNNNNNNN

Naruto walked down the street, one hand holding the groceries he bought, the other rubbing his giant stomach. He was about 7 months along now, and he was really starting to wonder if Kurama was wrong and there were actually two kids inside him. His feet were killing him all the time now, his back was constantly in pain, and over the last few weeks, his pecs had even started to feel weird.

'I'm not wrong, you brat. I would know if there was more than one kit.'

'Sorry, but this doesn't feel like just one kid. I'm bigger than Kurenai was when she had Mirai, and I still have two more months left.'

Kurama growled. 'Well, if you don't believe me, have that Hyuga girl confirm it.'

'I think I'll do that.'

Kurama humphed.

Naruto changed his direction and headed for the Hyuga compound. Her father didn't really like him coming around, but he didn't really care since Hinata told him he could come over any time. As he passed by the hot springs though, his eye caught someone standing by the fence. His eye twitched. "Pervy Sage!"

Jiraiya jumped and spun around. "Naruto. Hey kid, how ya been?" he said as he raised his hand and walked toward him.

Naruto crossed his arms over his large stomach, the bag of groceries hitting the side of his stomach. "Do you seriously have to do that every time you come to the village?"

"What? I'm just getting some research done." He smirked. "Unless you'd rather I do my research at your place?"

Naruto blushed and put his arms down. "No way!"

"I could really use the inspiration. I've gotten about half way through the first book of my new series."

Naruto groaned and turned around to walk away. "You're impossible, old man."

Jiraiya quickly fell into step beside the boy. "You've gotten a lot bigger since I last saw you."

Naruto gave him a blank look. "The last time I saw you was right after I got back from my honeymoon."

"Ah, that's the last time you saw me, but I've stopped by a time or two since then. Had to do some research on my favorite muses."

The blush on Naruto's face returned twice as red. "You freaking pervert! You can't just spy on us like that!"

Jiraiya laughed. "Thanks to the two of you, I've written some really great scenes. I think you're really going to like them."

Naruto let out a frustrated groan and sped up his pace, but Jiraiya stayed with him, so he slowed back down. There was no way he would be able to get away from the man in his condition.

"I heard what happened to Shikadai. I'm sorry."

Naruto looked over at the man, his face returning to normal. "It was hard, but we made it through it. I'm just glad that we don't have to worry about her anymore."

"I'm sure, but I bet you two aren't too happy that the leaf has reestablished the alliance with the sand."

Naruto frowned. "Well, as long as they don't try and take Shikadai away from us, or come anywhere near us, I don't really care. I don't want to be at war with them. I don't want Shikadai or Kairi to grow up in fear," he said as he rubbed his stomach.

"Ah, so her name is Kairi?"

Naruto looked down at his stomach and smiled. "Yeah. We decided to go ahead and figure out her name since mom told me we were having a girl."

"So, you met your mother's chakra?"

"Yeah. She appeared when I got really depressed during Shikadai's kidnapping. I'm really glad I got to meet her."

Jiraiya nodded and they continued walking in silence for a bit before he spoke up again. "You know about Gaara, right?"

Naruto bristled a bit. "Besides the fact he was one of the ones that raped Shikamaru?"

"He's also a jinchuriki like you."

"Yeah, I heard," Naruto said as he relaxed. He was conflicted by that news because on the one hand, he hated Gaara for what he did to Shikamaru, but on the other, he wished he could be friends with the man since he was like him. "What about him?"

"The akatsuki got a hold of him."

Naruto stopped and looked over at the man. "Is he..." While he hated the man, he didn't exactly want the guy dead.

"Yeah. I was searching around the Land of Wind trying to find some information on the group when I came across a sand team. They found his body. The one tail he housed was extracted."

Naruto swallowed and continued walking. "So they're not just after Kurama."

"No. Apparently they've already taken out the jinchuriki for all of the tailed beasts but yours and the eight tails. It's one of the reasons I came back this time, to warn you. They'll be coming for you again, and probably sooner than we hoped."

Naruto placed his hand on his stomach. "Does the jinchuriki die because the tailed beast is extracted?"

"Yeah. Once the tailed beast is sealed with the jinchuriki's body, they are one in the same. You take out the tailed beast, and you pretty much take out the jinchuriki too... Or so I've heard," Jiraiya said sadly.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya worriedly. "If they extract Kurama, they'll kill Kairi too, won't they?"

"Well, you said Kairi is only there because of Kurama, so I'd say it would. Not only that, but you'd be dead too, so..."

Naruto clenched his fist around the bag handles in his hand. "I won't let that happen."

"Neither will I, kid. I won't be leaving the village again until at least after she's born. I may need to leave afterwards to get more info on them, but I think I've gotten about all I can at this point."

Naruto smiled at the man. "Thanks."

Jiraiya smiled back at him and draped his arm around Naruto's shoulder. The two walked in silence until they reached the gate of the Hyuga compound. "What are we doing here?" Jiraiya asked, as he removed his arm.

Naruto smiled. "Oh. I wanted to ask Hinata if she could check something for me."

"Everything ok?" Jiraiya asked, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. I just wanted her to confirm that I'm only having Kairi and not twins."

"Ah. Alright. Well, I'd better report to Tsunade about what I've found on the akatsuki."

"Hey, you should stop by for dinner tonight," Naruto said as the man walked away.

"Sounds good," the man replied without turning around. "See ya then."

Naruto smiled, then turned and walked up to the main house and knocked. It took a minute for someone to answer, but after he did, Hinata showed up only a few minutes later. "Hey, Hinata."

"Hi. What's going on?" the girl replied with a smile.

"I was wondering if you could use your byakugan to confirm something for me."

"Sure. What am I looking for?"

"I just want to know if I really only have Kairi in here and not two kids."

Hinata chuckled. "You are bigger than Kurenai Sensei was."

"Exactly, but Kurama says there's only one. I trust him, but there's just no way I can be this big with only one, right?"

"Well, I have heard of that happening, but I can double check for you."

"Thanks."

Veins popped out around Hinata's eyes and she stared at Naruto's stomach for a few seconds. "I only see one child in there."

'Told you.'

Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox's comment. "Thanks, Hinata."

The girl's eyes went back to normal and she smiled. "Of course. Hey, are you doing anything tomorrow?"

"Not really. I might take Shikadai to the park, but other than that I didn't have anything planned. Shikamaru's on a mission for a few days, so it's just me and Dai, and Jiraiya if he decides to take one of the guest rooms."

"Oh, Lord Jiraiya's back in the village?"

"Yeah. Found him peeping at the hot springs again. Why were you asking?"

"Oh, right. I was wondering if you wanted me to come over and help you finish Kairi's room. You said you needed help finishing it, right?"

"Oh yeah. I completely forgot about that. We just have to finish the trees, and then Shikadai wanted something done to his room. I told him it would probably have to wait until his sister got her, but you know how stubborn he gets."

Hinata chuckled. "Yeah, he has always been a stubborn little boy. Did you get the paint yet? I can go get it and come over to help you finish it, if you want."

"That'd be great. All we need is the brown to finish the trunks. Shika wanted them a darker brown than the ones we already painted."

"Ok. I'll be sure to get the darker brown. Around noon ok?"

"Yeah, that'll be perfect. Thanks, Hinata."

"No problem. See you tomorrow."

Naruto raised his hand as he walked off. He got about halfway home when he suddenly froze and looked around. A slight chill ran up his spin as he felt like someone was watching him. 'Kurama, you feel that?'

'No. There are tons of shinobi in the village, Naruto, and you don't exactly look normal right now.'

Naruto frowned as he continued to scan the area, but the feeling he got was gone. He turned back and continued walking. 'That didn't exactly feel like just a random person watching me.'

'Stop being so paranoid. The sensory units upped their procedures so nothing like what happened when Shikadai was kidnapped could happen again. There's no way an enemy can get into the village without them knowing about it.'

Naruto sighed. 'Yeah. I guess you're right.' He looked around one last time before he pushed it out of his mind.

Over the next two weeks, Naruto was getting a little more worried. He had been constantly getting the feeling of being watched off and on every time he went out somewhere, and was starting to not even want to leave the house anymore. He mentioned it to Shikamaru and Jiraiya, who had taken one of the guest rooms so he was close to the blonde, and while they were both a little worried too, they assured him that they didn't find anyone around.

Naruto sighed as he sat on his couch. Shikamaru had taken Shikadai into the forest with Shikaku to start showing him how they took care of the deer. While Naruto thought Shikadai was still a little too young for that, Shikamaru reminded him that the boy was picking up on things a lot quicker than normal three year olds did.

He laid his head back against the couch and closed his eyes as he rubbed at his stomach. Kairi was moving around a lot today and it was making him a little unsettled. He wished that Jiraiya had stuck around, but the guy just had to go and do his "research."

'The kit's making me nervous too. Maybe you should head over to Yoshino's.'

Naruto frowned as he sat up. 'I thought you all told me there's nothing to worry about.'

'Better safe than sorry.'

Naruto sighed again. It took him a couple tries to get up, the weight of his stomach making it difficult to actually get up, but then made his way over to the main house. That cold feeling of being watched hit him hard as he walked, and he sped up his pace just a bit.

'Something's definitely wrong.'

Naruto panicked as he searched his surroundings, moving his feet even faster, then placed his hand on his stomach as he broke into a run. Running wasn't easy for him, but the adrenaline he was getting from his fear was helping. He saw the main house coming up and the fear went down just a bit, but before he could actually make it to the house, several black crows flew in front of him, making him stop.

The crows flew around him as if they were trying to keep him in place, some of them dive bombing him and scratching him, and he swung his arms around to keep them off him. "Stop it. Get away from me."

'Naruto, run!'

Naruto looked around again at Kurama's yell and his eyes landed on a man that looked very much like Sasuke, wearing the standard akatsuki black robe with red clouds. He took a step back. "Y-you're... Itachi."

"I am," the man said calmly as he walked forward.

Naruto saw the hint of red eyes and immediately turned his head. His heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing was heavy. 'Crap. What do I do?' He continued to back up as Itachi approached, then tried to run away, but the crows flew in front of him and cawed loudly.

He felt a hand on his arm turn him around and he tried to push it off, but the grip was too tight. "No! Let go!"

"You're Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of the nine tails, correct?" Itachi asked, his voice still that calm, smooth voice it was before.

Naruto turned to look at him, but quickly shut his eyes. He had to remember not to look the man in the eyes. "Get off of me!"

"How is it that you are a male, and yet, you carry a child within you?"

"That's none of your business! Let go!" the blonde yelled as he tried to yank his arm out of the man's grip again, keeping his eyes squeezed tight.

Itachi was silent for a moment. "I've killed your husband and son."

Naruto froze and his heart dropped into his stomach. He looked up at the man, completely forgetting that he wasn't supposed to, and as soon as blue eyes met red, everything went black.

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I hope you guy like this chapter. I struggled to figure out how to get Shikadai over his trauma. I do believe that he was old enough to finally understand a few things, but he is still a child. Do you think it worked? Let me know in a comment and I'll see you in the next chapter.