Chapter 10: Of Many Discussions

Her ANBU had promised to visit her tomorrow, so Naruto was unsurprised when the dark-haired teen gracefully jumped through the window, balancing two boxes in his arms. For their second face-to-face meeting, he wasn't wearing shinobi garb, and the blonde took a moment to admire Itachi Uchiha dressed as a civilian. The dark navy blue shirt and black pants were plain, but still managed to hint at the well-defined muscles that the Uzumaki knew were there.

'Wait, didn't I promise to stop thinking of him like that?!' Naruto thought, panicked, 'Ugh, not even five minutes in, and I've already failed that promise.'

Oblivious to the blonde mentally berating herself, the Uchiha took a seat by the hospital bed, and handed her one of the boxes. "My mother thought you would like something home cooked for breakfast. I hope you don't mind tamagoyaki and nori."

"Er, no, this is great," Naruto started fiddling with the bento box clasps. It opened to a neatly-arranged, delicious-looking breakfast, that made the girl's mouth water. There were even cute little rice balls nestled into sculpted seaweed, like tiny oysters. "Thank your mother for me?"

Itachi inclined his head forward in affirmation, and opened his own breakfast. His companion's rich blue eyes fastened on the long, tapered fingers, quickly undoing the restraints, and unbinding his chopsticks. Even though his hands were mostly used for killing, they handled the delicate pieces of wood with such gentleness… Naruto paused.

'When you start thinking that someone's fingers are attractive, then you know that you're a pervert,' the blonde decided, resigned, 'I am a terrible, terrible person.'

"Naruto, is there something wrong? Aren't you hungry?" Itachi's voice drew her attention from his hands, to the mouth that had just swallowed its first bite, to ink-tone eyes filled with confusion. The Uzumaki's face only gained a brighter hue, as she tried to understand why she felt so embarrassed around her first friend.

"It's fine! I needed a minute to- eh- appreciate your mom's work!" the blonde chuckled nervously, poking at the perfectly spherical rice balls, "It's really artistic! I'm inspired to make little oysters for my own bento box now. Not that I want to steal your mom's idea, or anything! It's definitely hers, but I would like to use it, once or twice. Only I wouldn't want anyone else to have the chance to steal it either. Because Shino and Hinata share my bento sometimes, and, while they wouldn't steal it either, Hinata's clan is full of jerks. Or maybe that was just her asshole cousin?"

At this point, Naruto needed to take another breath, and realized that she had sounded like an idiot. "So, yeah… Your mom's a great cook!"

"Thank you," Itachi replied politely, and then took another bite. Naruto followed his actions, and, for few minutes, there was nothing other than two people quietly eating their breakfast. Despite her frustration over the situation, the Uzumaki had to admit that this was an excellent breakfast. Mikoto Uchiha definitely knew what she was doing in the kitchen.

Naruto was almost beginning to relax, when Itachi Uchiha chose to throw a wrench into her thoughts again.

"Are you angry with me?" the dark-haired boy asked softly, making the Uzumaki start.

"Why would you think that?" the blonde-haired girl was astonished. Unfortunately, her shock was read differently by the Uchiha.

"You didn't answer my question before," Itachi answered, putting his chopsticks down, "You've also been far quieter than I thought you would be, and you're avoiding my eyes. The deliberate misdirection of my identity must have hurt you, and I understand that you were too shocked by the events of our previous meeting, to express that anger. I believe that you haven't taken the recent revelations well."

"What?" Naruto stared at him, blankly.

"I would understand if you wanted to end our friendship," Itachi continued, a frown crossing his face, "I will regret it, but I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable in any way."

"What?" was all that the Uzumaki could parrot.

The dark-haired boy's lips upturned in a sad smile. "I hope that you'll enjoy this meal, Naruto."

Seeing that the teen- her ANBU- was about to stand up, and most likely walk out of her life, had the blonde girl reacting on instinct. "Dammit, sit back down!"

Her shriek caused Itachi to pause, and receive the full effects of Naruto's irritated glare. "You- you- you can't just make those assumptions about me! I didn't- because you- in my head- and those hands- I panicked, okay?! Because you're older, and from a clan, and really smart, and that other boy said- not that I am, because you're my friend, and I really, really like you, as a friend… don't move!"

Itachi Uchiha was probably staring at her like she'd lost her mind, but the Uzumaki was too busy rifling through her bedside table to notice.

'Bless Shino and his academic little heart,' Naruto considered fondly, extracting her notebook and a pen. She quickly scribbled a message down, and then handed it over to her pen pal. The blonde refused to look in his direction whilst doing so, and missed the faint smile on Itachi's face.

'Why didn't you tell me that you were Itachi Uchiha?'

'The main reason is because I'm not supposed to share my ANBU identity with clients. After your protective detail disbanded, I realized that I also liked having a friend who didn't know who I was. There are many people who seek my friendship due to my position in life, but I knew that you couldn't have been one of them, because you didn't know that I was the Uchiha Heir.'

'Is this a good time to mention that I don't think you're a stuck-up pretty boy anymore? I am sorry about that.'

'You're forgiven. It was rather refreshing to meet someone that didn't want befriend me, even when they knew who I was.'

'So it wasn't because you were ashamed to be seen with me, in public?'

'Not at all. I would be glad to spend time with you, publicly or otherwise. You may not want to be seen with me, though.'

Naruto's eyebrows rose sharply as she read those words, and then she sent the teen a puzzled look. Itachi beckoned back for the notebook, and then turned to a new page.

'Our previous interactions were not as discrete as I'd assumed. Several people have observed them, and made the presumption that we are romantically involved. Publicly meeting together will fuel their rumors. I am not particularly affected by them, but you may have some added difficulties.'

The blonde's eyes widened dramatically when the notebook was handed back to her. She would have liked nothing more than to be able to simply stare at the slanted handwriting for the next few minutes, but knew that Itachi was waiting for a response. The blonde peeked at his intent expression, and then wrote her answer down.

'What kind of difficulties?'

'Because I can't imagine why any girl would be upset if everyone thought they were in a relationship with a cute, older boy,' Naruto mentally added, 'Only I'm not supposed to think about him like that, because we're friends. And good friends don't fantasize about other friends. Probably.'

She could have sworn that Itachi Uchiha was hesitating, before he made his reply.

'As a clan heir, there will be more gravity placed on any romantic relationships that I enter, as compared to a normal crush. You will be judged in relation to the Uchiha Clan, and to me, and there are people who may not be kind to you, due to their aspirations for my social position.'

Naruto read the note. Once. Twice. A third… oh, that made much more sense. 'Fangirls?'

When the blonde girl handed the note over, a cheeky grin was present on her face. When the dark-haired boy read it, a grimace crossed his. Itachi nodded.

'I should warn you that my family is benefiting politically from an association with you.'

Blonde hair fell to the right, as the Uzumaki cocked her head to the side. She considered the words.

'I don't care if people hate or love our friendship, and I don't care if they make up any rumors about me. If they get too annoying, then I'll be able to prank them back. You're my friend, and I want to get to know you outside of our notes.'

Naruto received a small, but brilliantly sincere, smile for her words, and Itachi was left to wonder why the blonde's face was crimson red again, as she accepted his next message.

'Would you like to practice the Great Fireball jutsu when you're discharged from the hospital?'

The blonde was so excited by the possibility of more ninjutsu, that she didn't bother to write her answer down. "Yes! But… I haven't mastered the water-walking technique yet…"

"You've made enough progress for me to continue with the lessons. Although, we will have to communicate verbally…" Itachi teased.

"Hey! I can talk normally too," Naruto pouted, meeting his ink-tone eyes. There were still nervous butterflies in her stomach, but she attributed them to potential shinobi training now. "Will you have the time to train me though? Teme- er, Sasuke's always complaining about how busy you are."

"Please don't let my presence interfere with your unusual relationship with my brother," Itachi offered, the brief amusement in his expression draining away. All of a sudden, Naruto could see the exhaustion and grief in the teen's dark eyes. "I have more than enough time to teach you. My ANBU activities have been… temporarily halted."

Naruto studied his reaction, and then reached out a tentative hand. The dark-haired teen didn't move away, so the blonde let it rest on his arm. "What happened?"

"A team member died in a post-mission ambush," Itachi told her, "And it was my fault."

"If you killed another ninja, then you would be running away from Hunter Nin right now, and not talking to me," the Uzumaki told him.

The teen shook his head. "I may not have thrown the kunai at him, but the enemy that I was supposed to have killed, did. I made the mistake of assuming that the threat had already been neutralized, and one of the ANBU on my team died as a result."

Naruto frowned, as she heard those words. She hadn't been trained to counsel shinobi, but the flaw in this reasoning seemed obvious to her. "Itachi, it sounds like you were attacked by a team of shinobi after your team had finished the mission, and were already tired. You all fought, and the person that you were fighting had been injured to the point of death. So you relaxed your guard, and he or she managed to launch a surprise blow on your teammate, right?"

The Uchiha nodded, and she pressed on. "Did you push your teammate in front of the attack? No? Then, if you didn't attack your teammate yourself, push him into the firing row, or purposefully let the enemy live, then how is this your fault? Your friend's death sounds like a tragic mistake, but not one that can be blamed on anyone other than the enemy nin that killed him."

"I knew that stomach wounds were slow to bleed out," the dark-haired teen argued softly.

"Medical estimates aren't made in the middle of a fight, Itachi," the Uzumaki replied, face taking on a green tinge at the picture, "And I doubt there's ever a clear-cut standard for how long it would take for any stomach wound to bleed out. I'm not a professional, and I can't judge your mission experience like your teammates can, but I don't think you're responsible for that man's death. You're too good of a person to kill a teammate."

Seeing the doubt on the boy's face, Naruto sighed. "Okay, I can see that you're still not convinced. I think you should talk to your other teammates. They would agree with me on this."

The Uchiha's expression softened. "Naruto, I can't leave you alone in the hospital-"

"Yes, you can," Naruto interrupted firmly, "Ojii-san is going to visit me soon, anyway, and Shino and Hinata promised to come over after school. You need to go talk with your teammates."

The hesitation on his features only made the Uzumaki more determined. "Please, Itachi?"

The pleading look in her rich blue eyes, finally resulted in a wary nod. "I suppose that I do need to check up on the others. Will you promise to behave yourself when I'm gone? Follow all of the doctor's orders? Finish the food that they give you? Not stress yourself by moving unnecessarily or-"

"Yes, yes, I'll be fine," Naruto assured, listening to several more admonishments and warnings from her surprisingly overprotective ANBU friend, before she managed to shoo him away. Once, she was sure that the Uchiha had left, the blonde snatched her notebook up again, and flipped through the pages. So her parents had been politically important people, had they…?

"Hiashi was right!" Inoichi declared, sitting in the bar stool and gesturing for a drink. His best friends, and fellow clan heads, Chouza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara, looked at him curiously.

"Right about what?" Chouza asked, knowing that Shikaku was too lazy to start the questioning.

"Fugaku's son is definitely courting Minato's daughter," Inoichi explained.

"Can't believe one of Hiashi's wild theories are true," the Nara contributed, head propped on the table.

"Not all of his theories were crazy," the blonde man defended.

Shikaku's eyebrow rose. "What about when he claimed that the Hyuuga were related to the Sage of Six Paths? Or that the Kurama Clan descended from a cult that worshipped the Kyuubi? And there was that time when he swore that Fugaku Uchiha set the hospital lobby on fire when we were teens."

"Okay, so some of them are a little far-fetched," Inoichi allowed, " But I saw this one with my own eyes! The Uchiha rushed to her bedside right after a mission, and I swear he showed genuine emotion. He even saved from the jutsu. Remember the coma? Itachi used a self-made, S-ranked genjutsu to bring her out of it."

Chouza whistled. "Now that sounds damn impressive."

"Has he given it a name yet?" Aoba Yamashiro called out, one of the many ninja at the bar to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Inoichi shrugged, and took a swill of his drink. "He said 'Tsukuyomi' once, before activating it, but I'm not sure if that's the name, he'll go with. Still, I'm glad that he was able to use it, to get that little girl out of her coma. I'm sure the jutsu has a lot of potential when dealing with psychological scarring. It broadcasts a mental avatar of the person using the technique, and, as far as I can tell, lets the user implement their own settings in the victim's mind."

"Can that jutsu be taught to others?" Ibiki Morino asked, interested.

"I think that only Itachi could use it," the Yamanaka shook his head, "Itachi developed it for his eyes only, and at thirteen too… Fugaku's going to be absolutely insufferable."

"It's the graduated-the-Academy-at-seven situation all over again," Chouza groaned.

"And Fugaku won't be the only one either," Shikaku sighed, raising his voice, "Oi! Hiashi, get over here. It turns out that you were right."

"Naturally," the Hyuuga replied indifferently, raising one dark eyebrow as he drew closer, "In what matter, have I proven myself correct today?"

"Fugaku's son has definite feelings of the Uzumaki girl," Chouza answered, cheerfully. "Take a seat, Hiashi, and tell us how you first learned of it. Bartender, bring a cup for this good man!"

"It's far too early to drink right now," Hiashi sniffed. Nevertheless, he accepted the sake, and began to share his observant discovery of his political rival's machinations. After a quick summary, he moved on to the latest news, delivered by Hinata's complaints.

"And, according to my trusted source, Fugaku's son intends to share an Uchiha coming-of-age ceremony with the Uzumaki girl," Hiashi informed, "They also intend to deny the courtship rumors, for Naruto's protection. As someone who has dealt with them myself, I approve of young Itachi's distrust of fangirls…"

When Naruto returned to her mindscape, her first thought was that her counterpart had definitely been busy. The previously empty forest now echoed with the sounds of young, red-eyed woodland creatures moving over the land. The strangely independent shadows were even more plentiful than before, and the brisk chill of a dark wisp running over her feet, suggested that they were gaining substance too. Fruits and berries glittered like jewels among the trees, snow brushed down onto the eastern part of the forest, and a deep lake had formed at the center of her meadow.

"Yami," Naruto called out, reaching for one of the orange-gold flowers at the banks, "Where are you?"

"Here!" the red-eyed mirror-image nearly caused her to jump in shock, as her head popped out of the lake, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why?" the Uzumaki asked, before the petals abruptly burst into fire, "Ah! Ow! What the hell?"

"No clue," Yami swam forward, and pulled herself out of the lake. Her form was entirely dry. "Did the Old Geezer tell you about Mom?"

"Ojii-san promised to send someone," Naruto replied, overlooking the disrespect, as she smiled at the memory of her conversation with the Sandaime, "Have you learned anything about our father?"

"Blonde, blue-eyed, not a Yamanaka, not a civilian, important, and lots of chakra," her mirror-image counted off, "That narrows the list down… assuming he wasn't a foreign nin, or anything. I know the Old Geezer promised to tell us when we became Genin, but we're not going to listen, are we?"

"I promised him that I wouldn't search for our father's identity, and I don't want to break that promise," Naruto said slowly, "However, I will take any hints that are dropped in front of me, and if you want to think it through, here…"

'There is something really disconcerting with seeing yourself grin evilly,' the blonde decided, as her counterpart rubbed her hands together. Her thoughts bounced forward to the girl, and Naruto received a stuck-out tongue in reply.

"We'll talk about the pretty boy after your first lesson," Yami stated, already knowing about the Uzumaki's reluctance, "I don't know how time passes here, so we'll have to be quick. There are two things I want to talk about. First, what do you think about the lake?"

Naruto blinked at the non-sequitur. "Er, it looks nice?"

"Yes, it does," the red-eyed girl agreed, "But it's full of those awful memories that you pulled out of me. They're like tiny piranha fish, that'll attack you, if you don't know the proper routes. Don't go swimming without me, okay?"

Naruto shuddered. "Why would I want to go swimming at all?"

"Because there's something down there, that you need to see," Yami answered, confidently taking a step into the water, "Don't bother holding your breath."

"I- I don't know," the Uzumaki looked at the water, warily. She didn't want anything to do with those horrible memories.

Her mirror-image looked back, and held a hand out. "I know I'm not a cute, older boy, but… will you follow me?"

Naruto's pale-gold skin flushed red. "Hey!" she yelped, ignoring the hand and wading in, "You're part of me, so you like him too!"

"I'm not the one you need to confess to, Naruto," Yami sing-songed, before ducking her head underwater. She avoided the splash that the Uzumaki tried to send her, which caused the blonde to huff in exasperation, and duck under too.

'Whoa,' was Naruto's first thought. The lake was crystal clear, making her think that she was swimming through a rich blue sky, and appeared endless. Her first instinct was to hold her breath, but when the blonde experimentally clenched her throat, and opened her mouth, no water rushed in. Instead, she was able to breathe, as easily as though she was on land, and kicked her legs forward to propel her.

'Hey!' This lake didn't have nearly as much resistance as real water, and Naruto's first kick propelled her several feet forward. Then a hand encircled her ankle, and if Yami's golden hair wasn't shrouding her face like a whisper-thin halo, Naruto would have panicked. The next few minutes were spent slowly following after Yami, and trying to get the hang of the water, before they could truly swim. As the currents moved her along, the Uzumaki observed the lake. She couldn't see any piranha, but there were jellyfish, sea horses, turtles, stingrays, and even a crimson shark.

'Is that a vault door on the bottom?' Naruto thought, once her feet landed on the sandy floor of the lake. In front of her was a giant, chained door, laid down on the sand, and with a deadbolt across. Made of dark bronze and with every inch inscribed with black squiggles or iron locks. 'I can see why Yami wanted to show this to me.'

She looked over to her counterpart, and the red-eyed girl pointed to the surface. Naruto followed behind, relieved to have her head break through the surface of the lake. While the trip wasn't too bad, there was a certain foreboding feeling that the vault door gave off.

"You didn't try to open that door, did you?" Naruto questioned, bringing herself to shore.

Yami snorted. "Do you really think I'm as reckless as you are?"

"So you failed?"

"Badly. Do you know who put that giant seal work in us?"

"Well, it's not like we have an Uzumaki for a parent or anything…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that's the most likely answer. But there's just something… weird about that door. It creeps me out."

Naruto nodded. It creeped her out too.

Then a bright smile crossed Yami's face. "So I figure we should get pretty boy here, and make another run of it!"

"You're definitely not as reckless as I am," Naruto deadpanned, "You're worse."

"You just don't want the disappointed parent routine from Shino and Hinata again."

"That too," the blonde girl allowed, knowing the futility of lying to herself. The Inner Mirrors of Reflection jutsu had been remarkably beneficial in that aspect, at least. "Can you teach me about the chakra chains now?"

Yami's iridescent eyes glittered with anticipation, as she sat across from Naruto. "The first thing you have to know is that these chains are a part of us. We don't make them; they form naturally as our chakra reserves grow. Right now, you only have four of them inside of you, and you need to learn how to draw it out. They're there, but you need to give them shape."

"I want you to close your eyes, and look inside of yourself. There's chakra there, just as there are in all living things. Part of that chakra will be different. It'll feel… thicker, I guess, and move more slowly than the normal chakra. Before you can shape the chakra, you need to identify and draw it out…"

"I'm surprised to see you here, Hiruko," the sibilant voice of the yellow-eyed shinobi echoed against the iron-latticed walls of the Akatsuki Compound, "Haven't you been avoiding me? I confess myself hurt that one of my oldest of friends would not even notify me of their continued existence."

"I haven't bothered speaking to you, Orochimaru, because there's nothing to say," the white-haired man replied, in a soft monotone. "Shouldn't you be out on a mission with Sasori?"

"Leader-sama decided that a civilian assassination didn't need two S-ranked ninja," Orochimaru explained, "I did not mind. This gives me more time to spend on my research, after all."

Hiruko was indifferent. "Your bastardisation of my Chimera Technique?"

The Snake Sannin's eyes gleamed. "Yes, that was a rather brilliant jutsu. My own would assume the forms of other individuals, rather than assimilate their own into my body though. I was particularly impressed by the second matrix, that stole the lifeforce of the victims. Ingenious."

"It can't be used to transfer dojutsu, Orochimaru," Hiruko pointed out, "It won't bring you those Sharingan that you so desire. Now why are you here?"

"The Chimera Technique is still a good basis for my own jutsu though," Orochimaru disagreed, "Not that this is relevant right now. And why would I need a reason to be here? Can't I simply want to talk to the only other Konoha missing-nin, who my sensei drove out of the village?"

Hiruko's mouth twisted. "With your help, you should add."

The dark-haired man waved the accusation away. "True, but I was not as… enlightened, as I am now. You could even say that you inspired me to pursue my own research. Certainly your samples of the Shodaime's DNA were integral to prolonging the first specimens… ah, I seem to have hit upon a sore spot. Are you still stinging from that rejection?"

The other man's training was too ingrained for his hands to flex, but pinkish-red eyes funneled into the reflective gold of the Snake Sannin. "I have no interest in your games right now. Leave."

"Kukuku, if that is what you wish," Orochimaru chuckled, lengthening his stride, "Perhaps we shall have another chat soon, Hiruko?"

He didn't receive an answer, as the white-haired man, in the form of a young teen, turned towards his own room. Only when hidden by the ironwork and secrecy seals of his walls, did Hiruko allow his lips to fall downwards in a frown. The minimal reaction that he had shown in front of that blasted snake was unacceptable, but an unfortunate consequence due to the composure lost within the Akatsuki.

'But how could I not be angry when I see Sumiko's brat almost every week?' the white-haired man thought. He had been surprised to find that the public leader of this secretive organization had the same chakra signature as Sumiko Uzumaki, but it had been too late to back out then. Mostly because he needed Akatsuki's resources and information for his own plans.

Hiruko supposed that it was only Sumiko's brat and his blue-haired whore that actually believed that tripe about capturing all of the jinchuuriki and demanding international peace. Of the others, Kakuzu was only interested in the money, Orochimaru in resources and protection from Konoha, and Sasori in opportunities to expand his spy network. Hidan cared for nothing but his god, and Hiruko himself wanted Tsukiko's granddaughter.

Tsukiko. Even after all of these years, her silver-pale hair and reddish-brown eyes easily came to mind. Hiruko had met her as a genin, on a mission to the now-destroyed Land of Whirlpool, and fell in love with the beautiful and light-hearted girl. The memories that he had of talking and laughing with her on the beaches and canalside stands of Uzushio were the happiest of his life. She had chosen him, as a no-name genin of no particular talent, as her best friend. They looked similar enough that Tsukiko even teased him of being her brother, but Hiruko had wanted more. So much more.

'Not that her family would have accepted me,' Hiruko thought scornfully, 'Not for the daughter of the Nidaime. Not when Hisoka was there to court her.'

Of all of the individuals in the world, it was Hisoka Uzumaki that Hiruko despised the most. The man was born with every gift that Hiroku lacked- a noble clan name, a powerful bloodline, and a talent for charming women. Certainly, Tsukiko had found him charming; had lit up with every gift and compliment. Hiruko had been forced to watch, helplessly, as the red-haired second son of the Uzumaki Clan Head stole the heart of the woman, that he had loved. A woman that would have been better off with him too, since Hiruko would have taken her away from the Sacking of Uzushiogakure.

'I wouldn't have made her change either,' the man bitterly added, recalling Tsukiko's withdrawal from the Uzushio Shinobi Forces, after her marriage, and her more restrained manner, after Hisoka came.

Hiruko had tried to convince Tsukiko to reject the man, but all his efforts had resulted in, was a chasm forming between the childhood friends. The two began to drift away, with their lives in separate villages and their work preceding the second war. Hiruko had used the excuse of village tensions to skip her wedding, and the rising threat of Amegakure to skip her daughter's birth. He had no interest in meeting Tsukiko's little girl, not when she had Hisoka's crimson hair, violet eyes, and chakra chains.

'Then Tsukiko died, and Kushina became the final testament to her mother's life,' Hiruko's eyes closed, as he remembered those darker days, 'I was a missing-nin by then, but I could still follow her life from afar. To think that they would make Tsukiko's child a jinchuuriki… or that she would marry a no-name boy of her own…'

Hiruko had silently tipped his hat off to Minato Namikaze, for accomplishing with Kushina Uzumaki, what he could not do with Tsukiko Senju. In a strange parallel of the story, Minato and Kushina had a daughter of their own, that shared little to nothing of either Hisoka or Tsukiko's features. They had died, and Hiruko had planned to leave Naruto Uzumaki to her own life, when he was approached by a strange masked man.

'I may hate Hisoka, but I could never let Tsukiko's line die off,' the white-haired man acknowledged, 'I'll work with Akatsuki for now, and even support their plan, if they can keep the jinchuuriki alive, post-Bijuu extraction. Then I'll steal Tsukiko's granddaughter away, and continue my own plans.'

Hiruko had always intended to acquire immortality and conquer the shinobi world. After achieving the first part of his goal, his thoughts had strayed to the loneliness of his future. He had never wanted to share power, and the Afterlife that was not a realm that Hiruko would intrude in, but… his appearance remained eternally youthful. And Tsukiko had a granddaughter that bore no physical traces of Hisoka's blood. He had intended to spare the child's life anyway, but perhaps he could offer Naruto Uzumaki more than just her life.

"Then I'm not working today!" Ino screamed back, stomping up the stairs. The platinum-blonde girl made sure to jump on the second-stair from the top, as that was one of the creakiest ones, and slam her door shut, before throwing herself on the bed. How dare her parents ground her?!

'This is all that baka's fault!' Ino growled, feeling her temper rise up. She grabbed one of the plush pillows on her bed, and threw it against the wall. There was a soft plopping sound, as it bounced back to the carpet, and that was soon followed by a harder, and more satisfying, thunk of her clock.

"Ino Yamanaka, stop throwing your things!" Kimiko's strident voice called from below, "Destroying them will only add to your punishment!"

The platinum-blonde tossed another pillow at the door in response, and then buried her head into the bed, to muffle a frustrated scream. Her sharply manicured fingers- because Sasuke-kun would only like a lady with delicate hands- ripped into the violet-patterned bedspread. Ino screamed again.

'I hate her! I hate her! I hate her!' the Yamanaka jumped off of her bed, and ran to her bookcase. 'How could she be stupid enough to even use that jutsu? How could she mess it up that badly? How could Daddy blame me for the baka's mistakes?'

Shreds of papers surrounded the young girl, before Ino threw the remainder of the book at the door too. Her foot grinded the papers to the floor, and then, because that didn't cool the anger simmering within her, the platinum-blonde girl kicked the wall. Once. Twice. A third time, and even more.

'Grounded for a month, no trips or visits with friends, no allowance, extra training, and apologizing to the baka.' Bile rose in the girl's throat, as she considered the ramifications to her social life and pursuit of Sasuke. 'Sure, the baka fell into a coma for a little while, but what was the big deal? Daddy fixed her up quickly enough, and no one's talking about punishing her for using Yamanaka techniques.'

No, all of their anger for that was directed at Ino herself. At least three of her clansman had visited the house, just to lecture the Yamanaka heiress, and Kimiko Yamanaka had allowed them to. Her mother! Her mother, who absolutely hated sharing Ino's discipline with anyone else, even her oft-forgiving husband. Not that Inoichi Yamanaka had been in a very forgiving mood, when he ripped into her for entering deals in bad faith and risking clan secrets.

'Maybe I shouldn't have given her the Inner Reflections technique, but it's not like I expected it to work,' Ino thought, stomping her foot, 'The baka must have missed a hand sign or two, to even get that jutsu to work. It's not like she has the Yamanaka advantage to lower the chakra cost to her.'

Nevertheless, the baka's strange, semi-successful use of the technique was not the issue. Ino was furious about the punishment levied on her, and knew exactly who to blame for it. Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Naruto Uzumaki all helped get her in trouble, but the first two were clan heirs. The last one wasn't, and Ino would be able to work her frustrations out on her.

'Though Daddy did say that the baka was being courted by Sasuke-kun's brother. That's absurd, of course, because why would an Uchiha be interested in a no-name orphan, like her?' Ino reflected, 'Still, just in case it is true, I should be a little more discrete in my revenge…'

Omake:

(Thanks for the idea for Itachi's nickname! It'll be Kage no Ryuujin, for the great sea dragon that was an ancestor of the Japanese imperial dynasty. In this story, the dragon will also be the guardian spirit deity of the Land of Whirlpools, and a minor subplot for Naruto's ancestry.)

Chiaki Komatsu was a relatively young nurse to be assigned to the birth of the Uchiha heir, but she had been picked for valid reasons. The plain-faced brunette had extensive experience as a midwife for the noblewomen of the Daimyo's court, acted with dignity around people of power, and possessed a natural talent for soothing expectant mothers. Since Naruto Namikaze-Uchiha was about to give birth for the first time, her superiors had thought that Chiaki's calming influence might be necessary.

And it was. For everyone but the expectant mother apparently.

"Keep hold of my hand; don't worry, you'll be fine; we'll have several doctors on standby," Itachi Uchiha frantically rearranged the pillows, "Childbirth is a perfectly natural event- maybe I should bring another midwife in-"

"A grandchild, a grandchild, I'm going to have a grandchild," a dark-haired woman sung under her breath, as she politely bustled around and collected all of the flowers and balloons, "Naruto-chan, where do you want me to put this?"

"Itachi, I'll be fine," the blonde woman snatched his hands away from her blankets, and clasped them in her own. Despite the clammy tint to her skin, Naruto Namikaze-Uchiha looked radiant, as she smiled at her husband. "Kurama promised to reinforce the seal and heal any internal scarring. Mikoto, can you put them by the window? And I fully trust- er, Komatsu-san?- to take care of me."

"Well, I don't trust a civilian to be taking care of this," a handsome young man complained from the side of the bed, "Sure you don't want me to get a medic-nin, Naruto? I can even ask- ow! Hyuuga!"

"Get the fuck out of my way, Sasuke!" Hinata Hyuuga growled, before assuming a sweet smile, "Now, Naruto-chan, remember to take deep breaths, and don't worry about crushing Itachi's hand. He needs to suffer during the childbirth process too, after all."

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Hinata-chan," Naruto sweat dropped, before getting a stroke of inspiration. "You know what would really help me though? If someone could go check on Ero-jiji. I think he's started celebrating early, and now he's in a drunken stupor. It's worrying me."

"I'm still collecting wagers people!" one messy-haired Uchiha shouted, "We have 12-15 odds on the baby being a boy, 18-6 of blue eyes, 4-11 of Itachi fainting sometime during the childbirth-"

"I can't believe that baka is stressing you, today of all days!" the Hyuuga was utterly indignant, "Don't worry, Naruto-chan! I'll go and straighten him out."

"I should probably go with her, and keep Jiraiya-san's tenketsu safe," Shino muttered, rubbing at his eyes, and grinning tearfully at the blonde, "We'll be right back, Naruto. I want you to listen to everything that the midwife says."

"After all of these years, you would think that I could do that, without having to be told," the bewhiskered woman grinned, "I'll be good."

"Why are all of these people here?" Fugaku Uchiha complained, "This is a private Uchiha birth."

"The baby will be a Namikaze and Uzumaki, too," another voice answered cheerfully, and Chiaki's attention was drawn to a masked, silver-haired man on the window sill, "Hello, Naruto-chan! Sorry, I'm late. I found mysterious instructions on my grocery list, which led me on a wild cat chase, that got interrupted by a fallen cabbage cart-"

"We don't care, Kakashi-sempai," Itachi interrupted, his frazzled nerves displayed in the brief lapse of courtesy, "Kindly move from the window sill, so that the others can enter."

It was then that Chiaki's eyes started bugging out, when not one, or two, or three, but almost a full dozen shinobi and kunoichi jumped through the fifth-story window. They handed their gifts over to the dark-haired woman, as men and women of all clans and facial features began to mill around the spacious (but rapidly diminishing in space) hospital room. The brunette woman could even see other individuals hanging around the other buildings outside, that couldn't enter due to the limited room.

When she saw two men with bowl cuts, bushy eyebrows, and tight green jumpsuits, literally kickflip their way in though, Chiaki reached her limit.

"Okay, that's enough!" the brunette nurse said forcefully. When no one's attention turned to her, she withdrew the whistle that all medical professionals were given, and blew it. The piercing noise made her the focus of attention, especially of several pairs of spinning red eyes, and that almost made the nurse shrink back. Then she remembered that she was Chiaki Komatsu, and this was her damn job!

"Naruto-san will be going into contractions soon," her voice minutely trembled, but she squared her shoulders and forged on. "I will only allow two other people in the room during this process. Uchiha-san is allowed to stay, as her husband, but I suggest that the rest of you decide the other choice amongst yourself. OUTSIDE! Because I need to rearrange the necessary equipment!"

The brunette nurse watched with some astonishment as, with minimal grumbling and dirty looks, the vastly more powerful shinobi and kunoichi followed her orders. When the room was finally cleared, she hurried forward, and visually scanned the laying blonde woman.

"That was kind of awesome, Chiaki-san!" Naruto complimented, making the brunette flush red.

"Indeed," her husband added, "Very impressive, Komatsu-san."

"I-It was nothing," Chiaki replied, fumbling with the wires, as she caught the woman's stunning eyes and the man's handsome smile. The nurse had heard about the couple's charisma, but this was the first time that she had garnered such attention from two of the world's most powerful ninja.

'They're going to have such a beautiful baby,' the young woman thought, inwardly giggling. As she arranged the machine, the nurse was ignorant of the argument brewing outside.

"My first grandchild is being born, and I will be there to see him or her brought to the world!"

"I actually have some experience as a medic. I can be of greater assistance to Naruto then Sasuke."

"Of course, I should be the one in there. Aniki needs someone to support him."

"What does Itachi need support for? Naruto-chan is the one giving birth, so I should be there for her!"

"My Mangekyou Sharingan could subdue the Kyuubi if it becomes necessary…"

"Kurama won't be doing anything! You couldn't think of any better excuses to be there, Kakashi?"

"You're drunk, Jiraiya-san. You're not able to help anyone right now, much less Naruto."

"'M notsh drunk. An' her godfath'r needs to be there, in case, in case- to keep Itashi from doing anyshing bad!"

"You do understand that Naruto giving birth means that my son has already slept with her?"

"Why do you sound so smug about that, Fugaku?"

"Ugh, this is all so troublesome. I can't believe you dragged me here, Choji."

The one voice that wasn't involved in the shouting match was a certain messy-haired teen, that had stepped a few meters away from the arguing ninja. Discretely bringing his hands together, Shisui formed the hand seals for a Kage Bunshin, and then handed his Bunshin some barrier seals.

"Everyone calm down!" the Bunshin's voice rose above the din, and drew the group's attention, as Shisui snuck back into the room. "This is not a day for infighting and arguments! Two good friends of ours- Naruto and Itachi- are going to have their firstborn in a matter of hours, and we should be celebrating that! This couple values everyone here, and, if only one of us will be allowed into the room, then we can't make our decision for selfish reasons! We must be noble! We must be honourable! We must be selfless! We must choose the person that will be the most helpful to them, because, and let's be honest, Itachi really needs the support!"

"Shisui, what are you doing with those sealing tags?" Mikoto asked suspiciously, as the teen posted the papers to the door.

Shisui ignored her. "And I think we can all agree that the right person for the job is the baby Uchiha's future godfather. So, goodbye!"

Then the Bunshin dispelled itself. A moment later, and sixteen kunai hit the wall behind it.