Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes and sat up, one hand on his head while the other helped push him up. He looked around and saw that he was in a concrete room with absolutely no furniture in it. "Where am I?"

'I have no idea. Itachi took you out with his sharingan.'

Naruto was relieved to hear Kurama's voice. "Well, if I can hear you, that means the akatsuki haven't extracted you."

'If they had, you wouldn't have woken up.'

"True." He placed his hand on his stomach to try and calm Kairi down, who was moving like mad. "It's ok, Kairi. We're going to get out of this."

'The kit's distressed, but I don't exactly blame her. I'm uneasy too.'

"And that makes three," Naruto said as he looked around the room again. It was a small room, and there were no windows and only one door. It took him about three minutes to just get to his feet, but after he did, he wanted to sit back down. While he loved Kairi, he was really getting tired of not being able to move the way he used to.

He walked over to the door, but wasn't too surprised when he found it locked. He let out a frustrated sigh as he walked back over to the far wall, then stared down at the floor, debating if he really wanted to sit down again. In the end, he ended up back on the floor after he determined that he wasn't going anywhere so there was no point in staying up.

He placed his head back on the wall as he rubbed his stomach again. His face scrunched up in worry as he remembered the last words Itachi had said to him and a tear ran down his cheek. Did he really kill Shikamaru and Shikadai? He closed his eyes and prayed to whatever gods were out there that it wasn't true.

It felt like hours had passed when the door finally opened and Itachi walked in. "You're awake."

Naruto pushed himself closer to the wall, his breathing picking up. "What do you want with me?"

"I was instructed to capture you so that we could extract the nine tails from you," Itachi said in that same frustratingly calm voice.

Naruto glared at the man. "So why haven't you?"

Itachi moved his dark eyes down to Naruto's stomach, and Naruto wrapped his arm around it. "The life that is inside you. How is it possible?"

"How about you answer my question first?" Naruto snapped back.

Itachi looked back up at him and gave him a small smile. "Very well. I didn't bring you back to the rest of the group because I was curious about you. I wanted to know how it was possible for you, who's a male, to be pregnant."

'Don't say anything.'

'Wasn't planning on it.' Naruto continued to glare at the man. "So you're sparing me because of my child?"

"Not sparing, just delaying. Pain will want the tailed beast inside of you."

"And why do you care about my child?"

"I'm don't, really. Like I said, I was just curious. If you'd like, I could bring you to the others now, and have the nine tails extracted."

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Then answer my question. How is it possible that you are pregnant?"

Naruto chewed on his lip. Did he tell Itachi about his pregnancy, delaying getting brought to the others, or did he refuse and let Itachi take him to his and Kairi's death? "If I tell you," Naruto started, hoping that maybe this could be his chance, "will you spare my child?"

"What exactly are you asking?" Itachi asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I have about one and a half months left before she's born. Would you delay taking me to the others until then if I tell you how this was possible?"

Itachi thought about it for a moment. "Very well. If you tell me how it is possible for a male to conceive and carry a child, then I will delay handing you over."

Naruto felt relief wash over him. Not only would Kairi survive, but it also gave Jiraiya and, he hoped with everything he had, Shikamaru the chance to save him. "It's Ku... Uh, the nine tails' chakra. I made a deal with him and he somehow made it so that I could have a child, but he won't go into detail about how he actually does it."

"Sounds a little dangerous to me," Itachi replied as he walked over.

Naruto once again tried to push himself into the wall, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get away from Itachi in time. "What are you doing?" he asked when Itachi knelt down in front of him and reached out.

Itachi gently placed his hand on Naruto's stomach. "Aren't you afraid that the nine tails will try to get out when she's born? Perhaps this is the nine tails attempting to create his own body to escape."

Naruto's eyes went wide. 'Is that something you can do?'

Kurama growled. 'Of course not. The only thing you'd have to worry about, if I wanted to, is that when you give birth, the seal will weaken just like it did with your mother. I'd have the power to escape then, but I no longer wish to do that.'

Naruto smiled. "No. I'm not worried about that at all."

"Is that so?" Itachi said as he stood back up. "And why is that? Have you tamed the beast inside you?"

"Uh, kind of, I guess. We have an agreement with each other."

"I believe the eight tails' jinchuriki said something similar."

Panic rose up inside Naruto. "You guys already got your hands on him?"

"No. He managed to evade us, but Kisame did try to go after him. He thought he had the eight tails, but it turns out it was only a clone made from a piece of the eight tails' tentacle."

Naruto blinked. "Piece of his tentacle? You mean the eight tails actually got out of his jinchuriki?"

'If a jinchuriki agrees to it, then they and the tailed beast inside them can use a transformation that allows the tailed beast to emerge.'

'Why haven't you ever asked to do that?'

'I've had no reason to since you can summon me.'

"Are you speaking with the nine tails?"

Naruto looked up at him both shocked and afraid.

"That's twice now that you seem to get a trace-like look. You also seem to not need an answer to your question anymore."

This guy was good. His observation skills were on par with Shikamaru's. "Yeah. I can talk with the nine tails. It's how we came to an agreement."

"Interesting." Itachi knelt back down. "Tell me, could you and the nine tails take down the akatsuki?"

Naruto was both surprised and confused by that question. "What do you mean?"

Itachi stared at Naruto for a second before his eyes turned red.

Naruto couldn't look away quick enough, and he found himself standing in a large open area. The sky was blood red and looked like it was covered in clouds, and when he looked down, he was standing on what looked like an endless lake, or perhaps a better word for it was ocean. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere where no one else can hear us," Itachi replied. "What I'm about to tell you could cause trouble for both of us."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Ok?"

The area changed and they were suddenly back in the village, standing on the roof of a house in the dead of night. Screams and the smell of blood filled the air and Naruto cringed. "You remember hearing about the massacre of the Uchiha clan many years ago, don't you?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah," Naruto replied as he scanned the area. "I was young, but I remember hearing about it. I thought maybe Sasuke would be my friend after that since we were both alone."

"And did you become friends?"

Naruto turned back to the man, a scowl on his face. "No. The jerk just got worse. It's like he took his anger out on me."

"I see," Itachi said, disappointed. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"What does all this have to do with you asking me if the nine tails and I can take out the akatsuki?"

The scene changed a bit to show a figure, shadowed by the moon's light, crouched down on a tall structure. "I was the one that killed my entire clan."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "You killed your own family?"

"Yes. It was an order," Itachi replied. His face was still blank as if the memory didn't bother him at all.

"From the akatsuki?".

"No. From the hokage."

"The... hokage?"

"Yes. I was a double agent, sent to spy on the hokage by my father, but secretly spying on my father for the hokage. When I told the Third about the coup d'etat my father was planning, he asked me to take care of it. I only agreed if he agreed to spare my little brother and take care of him."

"So, you killed your whole clan because your father was planning a coup d'etat? Why not just kill your father?"

"My father was the clan leader, but he had many who were loyal to him. Simply killing my father would not have stopped the coup, in fact, it probably would have made his loyal men even more determined to follow through with it."

"But there were women and children who were innocent," Naruto said angrily.

Itachi sighed and the first hint of sadness appeared. "Yes, but what do you think would happen if I killed some but left others to live?"

Naruto thought about it for a second. "They'd probably want revenge for the ones that died, just like Sasuke did."

"Yes. The easiest solution was to kill everyone."

"Wait a minute. If you were following the hokage's orders, why did you desert and join the akatsuki?"

Itachi's face went back to that calm, blank look, and the scenery changed back to the red, empty area from before. "To be a spy. I was sent on a secret mission to join the akatsuki and try to take them down from the inside."

"And yet, you helped them kill seven jinchuriki, including trying to kill me."

"I had no choice. I have no way of taking down all the members of this group without getting killed myself. As for you, I never intended to let them kill you."

"You didn't?"

"No. When Pain attacked your village, I knew nothing about it. I was happy to hear that you were able to stop him, but I also knew that he would try again, which is why I asked him to let me take care of you."

"But Pain attacked over a year ago. Why are you waiting this long to come after me?"

"Pain turned his attention to the other jinchuriki, so that gave me time, but now he wants you and the eight tails. After I saw you in your current condition, I questioned whether it was you or not, but was also curious how it was possible for you to be this way, so I watched you for a couple weeks."

"How did you get past the sensory units?"

"I am originally from the Leaf, so I know how to bypass the security."

Well that made sense. "Does Tsunade know about you?"

"No. Only the Third knew about me. After he died, no one in the village knew what I truly was."

Naruto looked down before looking back up. "Pain won't be very happy when you don't bring me back with you."

"I'll tell him that the village caught me trying to take you, hid you away, and that it will take time for me to find out where they hid you."

"Will he believe that?" Naruto asked, not believing someone like Pain would believe that.

"I'll have Kisame back up my words."

"How?"

"My sharingan. It can manipulate memories. I'll make him forget about this place."

"Wait, so, why did you bring me here if you can just manipulate memories? Couldn't you just make anyone that overheard us forget?"

"Yes, but this way is easier for me. Manipulating memories is more difficult than you might think. I'm not a Yamanaka."

"Ok," he replied, not really understanding, but didn't care enough to question more. "So I can go back to the village?"

"No. You will remain here until your child is born."

Naruto frowned, then his face twisted in pain. "D-did you really kill Shikamaru and Shikadai?"

"No. I simply told you that to make you look at me. I had no idea where your husband and son were."

Naruto closed his eyes and let out a relieved breath. "Thank goodness." He opened his eyes again. "You have to let me tell them. He's going to be so worried about me."

Itachi shook his head. "I can't. If Pain finds out that you are still in the village, then he'll come after you himself again. You need to remain here where you will be safe."

"But if they think I'm gone or dead, then Pain will find out you did something with me after all."

"True." Itachi placed his hand on his chin and looked down in thought. "Perhaps I may need to change my story a bit."

"How?" Naruto asked, a bit nervous.

Itachi looked up at him. "I'll tell him that we managed to capture you, but you got away and hid yourself so that no one would find you."

Naruto wasn't too happy with that idea. "Either way will make Shikamaru worry about me."

"I'm sorry, but if you want to live and keep your child safe, then this is what we need to do."

'Kurama?'

'He makes a valid point. If you go back to the village, the akatsuki will try to get to you again. You do remember what happened last time this Pain guy attacked, don't you?'

The memory of Shikamaru lying still on the ground with blood pooling out from under him flashed through his mind. 'He might actually kill Shikamaru and Shikadai this time.'

'We should go with Itachi's plan. Shikamaru will forgive you when you return to him alive and with your child in your arms.'

Naruto furrowed his brow as he chewed on his lip.

"Have you talked it over with the nine tails?"

Naruto looked up at the man. "He thinks we should go with your plan."

"Good."

Naruto blinked as they returned to reality and saw Itachi's eyes go back to their dark color.

"Itachi, have you learned what you wanted to learn yet?"

Naruto looked over Itachi's shoulder and saw a large, blue, shark-like man standing in the door dressed in the same akatsuki robe as Itachi. This must have been Kisame.

"I've learned enough," Itachi said in that blank but calm voice as he stood up. "We should return to the others."

"I'll grab the kid," Kisame said as he started to walk past Itachi.

Itachi grabbed his arm. "No. We're leaving him here for now. Let's report in and then we'll come back for him."

Kisame looked at Itachi confused, but after Itachi's eyes switched back to red, the fish man just nodded and walked out the door.

"I've put a seal around this house so you can't leave, but you are welcome to whatever is in the house. I will come back to bring you more food and anything you may need in a couple weeks," Itachi said before he walked out.

Naruto struggled to get to his feet, then walked out the door, down the hall, and over to a window. He watched Itachi and Kisame disappear in the trees, then went over to the door. It opened easily, but when he tried to stick his hand out, it hit a barrier. He was really trapped here. He turned, closed the door, and looked around the room. It wasn't a big house from what he could see. The living room and kitchen were all one room, separated by a large island in the middle, and when he walked back down the hall, he saw that it only led to a bathroom, a bedroom with only a bed and dresser in it, and the concrete room. This was going to be his home for the next month or so.

He walked back to the living room and sat down on the old couch, which wasn't very comfortable, then turned his head to look out the window, a frown on his face. "Sorry, Shika," he said as he rubbed his stomach.

NNNNNNNNNN

One month had passed since Itachi had taken him from the village and brought him to this little house. He was going stir crazy not being able to leave the house, and he missed Shikamaru and Shikadai terribly. Itachi only came by once to bring him more food and supplies, and he knew the man would be coming back any day now to do the same.

"I really wish I knew how Shikamaru was doing," he said as he ran his hand over Kurama's small head. He had taken to summoning the fox in his smallest form just to have some company, but the fox could never stay too long without risking Kairi's life.

'I'm sure he's worried about you. They probably don't even know what happened to you, and your body isn't anywhere for them to find, so hopefully that means they'll think you're still alive.'

"Or just dead somewhere where they can't find me."

'Stop being so negative.'

"How can I not be? I was taken from my home, trapped in this small house, unable to leave, and I haven't seen my husband or son for a month. Not to mention that I'm supposed to somehow deliver Kairi on my own in about a month."

'If not sooner.'

"Please don't remind me," Naruto sighed out. "How the heck am I even supposed to have her in the first place? It's not like I have a hole to push her out of."

'You do, actually. The same hole that conceived her.'

Naruto paled. "You mean I'm essentially going to poop my daughter out?"

Kurama chuckled. 'Not the way I'd put it, but yeah. Your womb is connected to that passage.'

Naruto let out a frustrated groan and pushed himself off the couch.

'Where are you going?'

"I have to pee," Naruto called out. He heard a soft poof sound to signal Kurama's summoning was up before he rounded the corner to head to the bathroom.

When he got back to the living room, he saw Itachi closing the door behind him. "Finally, some company," Naruto groaned out.

Itachi gave him a small smile. "Bored?"

"Extremely!"

Itachi chuckled as he walked over to the island and pulled out a scroll. Several bags of food and other things appeared. "Sorry, but coming here to bring you these is dangerous enough."

"Please, I don't care who it is, just let somebody come see me," said as he helped Itachi put the groceries away.

"But you'd prefer your husband," Itachi said as he placed some food in the fridge.

"Of course I'd prefer him. I miss him like you wouldn't believe, but you made it very clear I can't tell him about this, so I'd take anyone at this point."

"I could bring him here, but he would be stuck here just like you, and it would only be him."

Naruto closed the cabinet he just put a few cans of soup in and turned to him, hope in his eyes. "Really?"

"You'd be ok with your son being alone in the village?"

Naruto bit his lip. "Well, he wouldn't be alone. He could stay with Shikaku and Yoshino, but..."

"Make your decision now, because I won't return until your child is to be born."

"That's another thing. Kairi could be born early, ya know. Tsunade even said so during the last check up I had. She said Kairi could be born anywhere up to two weeks before the actual due date."

Itachi thought about that for a moment. "Perhaps it would be best if you weren't alone."

"Please," Naruto begged.

"Very well. I'll bring someone to you within the next few days," Itachi said as he walked toward the door.

"Thank you!" Naruto cried out. He looked at the rest of the groceries and other stuff on the island then walked off after Itachi. He stopped at the door since he couldn't go out. "Will it be Shikamaru?"

Itachi looked back at him. "Is that who you want?"

"Yes," Naruto said without any hesitation. He would feel bad about Shikadai being alone, but he'd have Shikaku and Yoshino. "Just make sure Shikadai isn't alone when you take him."

"Alright. I'll bring your husband to you, but don't be surprised if he's a little beat up. He won't be happy to see me."

"Just don't hurt him too badly."

Itachi nodded then walked off.

Naruto had a wide smile on his face as he closed the door. He was finally going to see Shikamaru again. He walked back over to the kitchen and finished putting the food away, then took the other stuff to their appropriate places. He didn't feel like sitting around at the moment, so he decided to clean the place up a bit. He had let it get pretty messy since he was the only one there.

True to his word, Itachi came back a couple days later and dropped Shikamaru on the couch. Naruto rushed over to him and saw that Shikamaru was indeed banged up a bit, but none of the injuries looked serious. "What did you do to him?"

"He'll be fine. He should wake up soon."

Naruto looked up at him, a frown on his face. He didn't really believe Itachi, but the man hadn't lied to him yet. "And Shikadai?"

"I left him with his grandparents."

Naruto nodded and looked back down at his husband, running his hand down the side of his face. He was so glad to see him again. "Thank you." He heard a small noise and looked up to see that Itachi had left a small radio on the coffee table. "What's that for?"

"To let me know when you have the child," Itachi said, then turned to leave.

Naruto watched the man leave, but his attention went back to Shikamaru when he heard the man moan. He smiled. "Shika?"

Shikamaru turned his head and slowly opened his eyes. "N-Naruto?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Shikamaru's face scrunched up as if he were going to cry and reached up to pull the man's head down. "Where the heck have you been?"

Tears welled up in his eyes as he felt his cheek get wet from Shikamaru's tears. "I'm sorry, Shika. I didn't mean to worry you."

Shikamaru pushed the blonde away and sat up, helping Naruto stand up enough so he could sit next to him. "What do you mean?" He looked around. "Where are we?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it's a small house in the forest. I don't know how far we are from Konoha, but Itachi brought me here after he took me from the village."

"Itachi?" Shikamaru said as he whipped his head back around. "He took you from the village?"

"Yeah. He was also the one that was watching me for those two weeks."

Shikamaru frowned. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I should've been more..."

Naruto placed his finger on Shikamaru's lips and shook his head. "Don't. It's not your fault."

"How are you not... Why haven't they extracted Kurama from you?"

Naruto gave him a small smile. "You're never going to believe this, but Itachi's not actually a bad guy. He saw I was pregnant and brought me here because he was curious how it happened. It gave him an opening to save me."

Shikamaru frowned. "Save you? He took you from the village."

"He had to. If he didn't, then Pain would've tried to come after me again, or someone worse."

"Why are you defending him?"

"He's a spy, Shika."

Shikamaru's eyes went wide. "Spy? What are you talking about?"

"He told me the reasoning behind why he killed his clan and that it was an order given by Old Man Third. He left the village after that to spy on the akatsuki and try to take them down from the inside."

"You can't honestly believe him."

"I don't, not entirely anyway, but if he was really trying to help the akatsuki, why has he let me live here for the past month. He's even brought me food and other supplies."

Shikamaru looked over at the door. "Have you tried to leave?"

Naruto nodded. "He's got a barrier around the house. I can't get out, but he said no one else knows about this place, so it's the safest spot for me."

"You're his prisoner, Naruto," Shikamaru said as he looked back at the blonde.

"I know. Trust me, I don't like it either, but what else can I do? I can't do anything while I'm pregnant, and so far, no one other than Itachi has come by."

"Why'd he grab me?"

Naruto blushed. "I asked him to. I've been going mad just sitting here by myself. Kurama isn't the best talking companion, ya know."

'Watch it, brat.'

"I missed you, a lot, and I just wanted to see you again, but going back to the village was way too dangerous at this point. I hate that you had to leave Shikadai with your parents, but I just didn't want to be alone anymore." Tears had fallen down his face, and he rubbed at his eyes with his arm.

Shikamaru pulled Naruto into a hug.

"Please don't be mad," he begged as he wrapped his arms around his husband, relieved at finally having him here spreading through his body.

"I'm not mad, not at you at least."

Naruto smiled and buried his face in Shikamaru's shoulder, holding the man even tighter. After a few seconds, Shikamaru pushed him away enough so that he could kiss him. Naruto immediately closed his eyes and melted into the kiss, and he could feel his cock twitch. One month without any sex was another thing that drove Naruto mad, and he couldn't wait to get his husband into the bedroom.

NNNNNNNNNN

A few weeks passed, and Naruto was feeling a lot better than he had been. Now that Shikamaru was here, he didn't feel as anxious anymore. They passed the time by talking and having sex, and when they weren't doing any of that, Shikamaru tried to break the barrier around the house. He said that if they could get away, they could find someplace a little safer to wait things out.

Naruto had explained to Shikamaru what Itachi had planned, that after Kairi was born, they'd hang out here a little longer, and when he got his strength back, he would take the akatsuki down. Shikamaru was against this plan completely.

"Naruto, you can't be serious. You can't take down the entire akatsuki group by yourself. If you fail, then they'll have you and extract Kurama from you. You'd be dead."

"But it's the best chance we have of finally taking them down. Itachi would be on our side, and he said that he could make Kisame on our side too."

"Like that'll make a difference. It'll still be you against seven of the most powerful shinobi in the entire shinobi land."

Naruto frowned. "It wouldn't just be me. I told you, Itachi and Kisame would be on our side, and I'll have you too. If we can convince Tsunade to send more shinobi, then that's way more people. We can do this, Shika."

Shikamaru stared at him, then sighed. "It's way too risky."

"If we don't do this, then we will always be living in fear of them attacking us." He grabbed Shikamaru's hand. "I don't want to see you get hurt at their hands again. That about broke me. Losing you, Shikadai, and Kairi would kill me, Shika. I just want to make the world safe for our family."

Shikamaru put his free hand on the side of Naruto's face. "I want that too, but going up against the akatsuki without a plan is reckless."

"So you'll make us a plan. With you and your dad, we'll be unstoppable."

Shikamaru smiled. "We're not infallible, Naruto."

"Close enough," Naruto said with a smile of his own. "Please, Shika."

Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Alright. Once we get back to the village, we'll talk with Lady Tsunade and see what we can do, but don't hold your breath for it. Trusting Itachi is bad enough."

Naruto nodded and leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you."

"I haven't completely agreed to it yet."

"I know, but thanks for at least considering it." He gave his husband another peck on the lips, then went over to the kitchen to make lunch.

Halfway through making lunch, a sharp pain ran through his lower stomach and he let out a hiss.

Shikamaru looked up from the couch where he was reading one of the books that was in the house. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Naruto said as he rubbed his lower stomach. "I think I just moved wrong."

Shikamaru nodded and went back to his book.

Naruto went back to making the food, but had to stop again as another sharp pain hit him. 'Kurama, what's going on?'

'The kit's ready.'

Ready? What was he, an oven? "Shika," he called out as another pain shot through his body.

Shikamaru got up and ran over to him. "What? What's wrong?"

Another sharp pain hit him and he nearly doubled over. If Shikamaru hadn't been holding him, he would've been on the floor. "I-I think I'm in labor."

"Crap," Shikamaru said. He helped Naruto get to the bedroom and laid him down. "How are we supposed to do this?"

Naruto blushed. "Kurama said..." He hissed as another pain shot through him and he felt a weird pressure. "I-I'll push her out through my butt."

Both of Shikamaru's eyebrows went into his hairline. "Really?"

The pain was getting worse now, and the pressure he was feeling was really getting uncomfortable. "Shika!"

"Right, sorry," the man said. He helped Naruto get his pants and underwear off, then moved between the man's legs. "I've never done this before."

Naruto managed to get a smile out. "I didn't... know how to either when... Shikadai was born." Another pain shot through him and he cried out, and suddenly felt the need to push.

'Just think back to when you helped Temari. You have to push the kid out.'

Naruto's fists were clenched tight in the blanket below, his head pressed into the pillow, as he pushed with every wave of pain. It felt so weird to feel something that large trying to come out of him, and extremely painful. After several minutes of pushing and screaming, he finally relaxed as he felt Kairi leave his body.

Kairi screamed in gurgled cries as Shikamaru got up and ran out of the room, coming back a minute later with several towels. He wiped the baby down, did his best to clear out her airways, cut the umbilical cord with a kunai he grabbed from the weapon's pouch on the side table, and wrapped her in one of the clean towels. He smiled down at her, a tear falling from his eye, then looked up at Naruto. "She's beautiful." He moved over so that he could sit by Naruto, helping the blonde sit up a bit, then carefully put the baby in his husband's arms.

Naruto stared down at his daughter and pushed the towel away from her face a bit, as tears streamed down his face. She was finally here. His daughter, his flesh and blood, was finally in his arms. "Hi, Kairi."

Kairi blinked up at him and they saw her bright blue eyes. Naruto reached up and ran a finger up her cheek and into her very short red hair. "She has mom's hair."

Shikamaru kissed the side of his temple. "She looks a lot like you too."

He wasn't wrong. Kairi did look like him, only more feminine, and even had the same whisker marks as he did, only two instead of three, though he could see a bit of Shika in her face too. He leaned down and kissed Kairi's forehead. "I love you, Kairi."

They sat there for another minute just gazing at their new daughter, but then Shikamaru got up and cleaned the mess on the bed. Naruto had to push out the afterbirth, but he found that hardly took any effort at all, and Shikamaru took it and the bloodied towels out of the room. When he came back in with a chair, he helped Naruto move over to it so he could change the blanket and sheets.

As Shikamaru did all of that, he lifted his shirt enough so that Kairi could latch onto his nipple. Tsunade said that the reason his pecs felt weird was because the normally dormant mammary glands were active and producing milk. By the time Shikamaru helped him get back in the bed, Kairi had been satisfied enough to fall asleep.

"Kurama's chakra is healing you, right?"

Naruto nodded, his eyes barely open. "Yeah. I should be good in a while."

"Good," Shikamaru replied as he took Kairi from Naruto's arms and placed a gentle kiss on the blonde's forehead. "Get some rest."

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. "I love you, Shika."

"I love you too, Naruto."

When he opened his eyes again, it was dark out. How long was he asleep? He looked around, but didn't see his husband or daughter anywhere in the room. "Shika?"

It took a few minutes for Shikamaru to come through the door, Kairi in his arms. She was still wrapped in the towel. "Hey, how you feeling?"

"Better," Naruto said as he sat up, cringing a bit at the pain that still lingered. He held his arms out and Shikamaru smiled as he walked over and placed her in the blonde's arms. "Did you contact Itachi through the radio?"

Shikamaru frowned, but nodded. "He didn't respond."

"Maybe he can't," Naruto suggested as he smiled down at his daughter. She was so tiny.

"Well, let's hope he does soon. We need diapers and other things for her."

Naruto turned to look at him. "Maybe he's scared to face you," he teased.

"He better be. You don't know the month I had while you were gone."

"I can imagine," Naruto said as he laid his head back against the wall.

Shikamaru climbed onto the bed and sat down next to Naruto, putting his arm around Naruto's shoulder, and gave the blonde a kiss. "We'll also need a bassinet for her."

"I don't mind her sleeping with us."

"I don't either, but if he's going to keep us trapped here longer, we're going to want to have a place to put her while you're cooking or whatever."

Naruto smiled and turned his head towards him, not lifting it off the wall. "Or when we want to have sex?"

Shikamaru smiled. "That did cross my mind."

Naruto chuckled and moved his head to Shikamaru's shoulder.

Kairi stirred and her face scrunched up before she let out a small whimper.

"I think she's getting hungry again. She was fussing a bit earlier."

Naruto sighed and sat up enough to get his shirt up, then situated Kairi so she could latch on, before laying his head back on Shikamaru's shoulder. They sat there and talked while Kairi ate, but then tensed when they heard someone walking down the hall.

Shikamaru reached over Naruto and grabbed the kunai he placed there, but when Itachi appeared in the doorway, he lowered it, but didn't let go of it completely.

"I see you had the baby," Itachi said as he stared at the girl.

"Yeah. Now let us leave and go back to the village," Shikamaru said, a glare on his face.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. Pain has all the akatsuki members out looking for him," Itachi said, not looking away from the baby in Naruto's arms. He took a few steps forward, but stopped when Shikamaru sat up and raised the kunai again.

"Don't you dare come near them."

Itachi held up his hands and stepped back. "I only wanted to see her."

Naruto looked between the two men, then settled on Itachi. "What about the eight tails?"

Itachi lowered his arms and turned to look at Naruto. "He still evades our capture. Pain isn't happy about it at all."

"Do you know where he is?" Naruto asked. "We could use his help when we try to take down the akatsuki."

"We don't. He went into hiding not long after I brought you here. Apparently, the Raikage hid him away to keep him safe."

Shikamaru lowered the kunai again, but still didn't let it go. "We should've done the same."

"Shika," Naruto said, unhappy that his husband was being like this.

"No. Shikamaru is right," Itachi said. "If they had hidden you away somewhere, then you wouldn't be here, however, Pain would've destroyed your village looking for him. Thanks to the lie I told him, he hasn't touched your village."

"You need to let us go so we can coordinate with the hokage. We can't take them out with just you, me, and Shikamaru," Naruto said.

"I have already taken those measures. I sent Tsunade a letter explaining everything when I got your signal. I have set a time and place to meet up with her," Itachi said.

"They won't fall for a trap like that," Shikamaru said.

"I didn't put who it was from, just said that I knew where the two of you were. I will explain myself when I get there."

"Take one of us with you," Naruto suggested.

"No, Naruto. That would be..."

"Stupid," Naruto finished for him, a bit of a glare on the blonde's face at the insinuation. "Shika, if one of us was with him, they'd listen."

"They'd probably see us as a hostage that was brought to keep them in line," Shikamaru replied, looking back at the blonde, before turning back to Itachi. "The best way he can prove he's on our side is to let us go."

"Is that really all it would take for you to be convinced I'm on your side?" Itachi asked.

"It'll be a start, but I just don't mean one of us. All three of us leave," Shikamaru said, the glare still firm on his face.

The room was unbearably silent, and even Kairi was unsettled as she shifted in Naruto's arms, face scrunched up.

"Very well," Itachi finally said.

Shock crossed Shikamaru's face, and Naruto smiled. "Really? You'll let us go, just like that?" Naruto asked.

"I want to prove to you that I am not the enemy," Itachi said as he walked closer to the bed. He sat down on the end and sighed. "I am tired of this life, and want to return home. I want to find my foolish little brother and knock some sense into him before I drag him back home. I need to come clean about everything."

Naruto could tell that Shikamaru didn't trust him, and he honestly couldn't blame him. Itachi had been considered an enemy and rogue shinobi for over twelve years now. "I haven't regained my strength yet, and Kairi's going to need some things, can you get them for us?"

Itachi nodded and stood back up. "What all do you need?"

"Diapers and wipes, clothes, a bassinet, maybe a binky, and a blanket or two. Anything else you can think of? I don't think we'll need the bottles 'cause I kind of want to keep breastfeeding her," Naruto said as he turned to his husband.

Shikamaru shook his head. "No, but one thing you can do to start proving you're really letting us go is to take down the barrier around the house."

"Very well. I'll get the things you need and drop the barrier. You are not my prisoners," Itachi said as he left the room.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the man. "Then why was it up in the first place?"

"Probably to keep me from being tempted to go home," Naruto said. "Please just forget it, ok?"

Shikamaru sighed and got up. "Fine," he said, then walked out of the room.

Naruto sighed, sat back, and looked down at the little girl in his arms. "Your daddy worries too much."

Kairi seemed to smile, but he wasn't sure if it was because of what he said, or a dream she was having. He kissed her head and leaned back, closing his eyes once more.

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Well, there it is. Kairi's here.  I knew I had to get the akatsuki back in here, and really liked the idea of having Itachi do it this time. I always liked the idea that Itachi wasn't actually the bad guy and that he was just a spy and could be persuaded by Naruto. So let me know what you thought and I'll see you in the next chapter