Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Bundle Of Wonder . . . Or So I Hope ❯ Mission? Now? ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kent: Ok I got it here earlier than I thought!! Let's party!!

lol

Chapter 4:

Mission? Now?

Three hours. That is how much sleep Uzumaki Naruto got all night. Three hours, that's it. Said blonde looked in his lap at the infant sucking peacefully on a bottle of warm milk. According to Shizune, she should have slept for four hours before needing more food. To Naruto's dismay it was instead three hours and thirty-seven minutes.

After Kakashi had left Naruto laid down and began thinking of how everyone would react to seeing him with little Zaliya in his arms. He felt bad about lying to his sensei about Sakura. The real reason he didn't want her help was because she tended to get angry and violent at the drop of a hat and he didn't want to risk it. No matter how small that risk may be. He looked up when he heard knocking on his front door. It was still pretty early, about 5:30, and since people rarely came to his apartment he figured it was probably something important. He leaned over, grabbed a towel, and set it upon his shoulder before taking the bottle out of the infant's mouth and setting it on the side table. Carefully, he laid her head on the towel, stood up, and walked to the front door.

Naruto was surprised to open the door and see a man with scars on the side of his face and a high ponytail of dark brown hair on his doorstep.

"Nara-sama! What're you doin' here?" The man just looked at him and motioned him to follow. Naruto complied and began to pat Zaliya's back lightly in an attempt to make her burp. That small movement caught the man's eyes and he looked at him as though he had finally figured out a hard riddle. (Remember his talk with Tsunade in the 1st chapter.) After burping the infant, Naruto tossed the towel into a trash can right outside of a sushi restaurant, and continued following Shikamaru's father through town until they finally reached a large grocery store. By this time it had to be 6:15, at least Naruto figured. It was still too early for many of Konoha's citizens to be awake so he was surprised for the second time to hear his name being called. He looked over his shoulder and spotted a blond girl walking toward him, arm waving in greeting.

"Hey, Ino!" He called out to her smiling brightly.

"Naruto, what are yo-" she became silent once she noticed the once again sleeping infant he carried. "Kawaii!!" Naruto glared at the girl for her volume. "Oh, right. Sorry." She smiled sheepishly at him and looked at the baby again. "Can I hold it?"

"Her name is Zaliya, not it, and not now. She just went to sleep."

"Cherished one, how cute."

"Huh?"

"Her name, it means 'Cherished one'."

"It does? I didn't know that."

"What did you think it meant?"

This time Naruto looked embarrassed and mumbled his reply.

"What? I didn't hear you. Speak up a little would'ja."

"I said 'I named her that 'cause I thought it sounded cool." Ino glared at him briefly before softening her gaze.

"Well anyway, what are you doing here in the market? I thought Sakura said you guys had a mission today."

"No, Kakashi-sensei said it was in 600 hours."

"MORON!! That means 6 o'clock this morning! You were supposed to be there half an hour ago!" Her left eye began to twitch at his cluelessness.

"But I have to get food and diapers and-"

"I'll take care of it, now go!" She then leaned over and plucked the slumbering infant form Naruto's arms. "Here. My father got this a while back and I was planning on sharing it with Sakura but you'll need it." She reached into her skirt pocket, pulled out a small round piece of plastic, and pushed it into his ear. I have the other piece and will let you know if anything happens. If you need to talk to me just press the little button sticking out of it and speak. I'll hear you."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. Now GO!!" After saying that she bowed to her teammates father and stepped inside the store with Zaliya cradled gently in her arms.

"You heard the lady, you have a mission. So get to it." With his two cents said he walked away muttering about 'troublesome teenage drama' along the way.

Sighing dejectedly, Naruto dug his hands into his pockets and headed off toward the bridge. 'I wonder when Ino got back.' He sighed once more. Ino, Asuma, and Chouji had been on a C-Rank mission for the last ten months and were supposed to be back two weeks prior but had gotten behind schedule for unknown reasons. Sakura was worried sick when she found out Ino's team hadn't gotten back on schedule. They had put aside their differences to train and become strong together so they would no longer hold their teams back.

Before the blond realized it he had already made it to the bridge. Standing there already were his teammates. Upon catching sight of them he smiled brightly and waved his arm above his head in greeting. "Hey Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme!"

The girl with pink hair turned to him and placed her hands on her hips. "You're late, Naruto!"

"Yeah . . . Sorry about that Sakura-chan. I was . . . busy and got a little side tracked." He raised an arm and rubbed the back of his head in an apologetic gesture. Feeling someone's eyes boring into the back of his head, Naruto turned around making eye contact with the pale boy with the black hair. The boy's onyx eyes stared at him with suspicion. "What is it, Sasuke-teme?"

Turning away, Sasuke replied with a tense 'Hn'. Within moments a silver haired jounin appeared in a puff of smoke. Glancing over at Naruto, he narrowed his eye slightly. Giving the blond a look, he turned to the other two. "I need to talk to Naruto for a moment. When we get back I will brief the three of you on today's mission." He motioned for him to follow and walked a short distance away.

Once out of hearing distance Kakashi stopped and faced Naruto. "Where is Zaliya? Is she ok?" It was quite apparent at that moment that the silver haired jounin was already attached to the infant he held for only minutes.

"She's fine. Don't worry. Ino has her and is going shopping for me" Naruto answered. In response his sensei looked at him questioningly. Naruto shrugged. "I had no choice. She just grabbed her and stuck this thing in my ear. She said she'll talk to me through it if something happens."

Kakashi visibly relaxed and sighed. "Naruto, you're a father now. You need to make sure that you only leave her with people you trust completely not to harm her. You also need to be a good role model so please . . . try to eat healthier from now on." The jounin then turned and walked back in the direction they came from.

Naruto looked down at his feet thinking about what his sensei just said. 'He's right. Ramen is the best food ever but still it ain't the healthiest . . . Actually I'm not really sure how good for me it is . . . Well, I can't promise anything but I'll at least try. For Zaliya' Looking up at the morning sky he sighed and took off towards his comrades.

Kent: Ok that is all for this chapter!!

Poll Results:

Gaara- 69

Sasuke- 67

Gaara & Sasuke- 28

Neji- 26

Kiba- 18

Shikamaru- 21

Shino- 6

Itachi- 12

Kakashi- 23

Kent: Look I get my reviews from many different sites. Not only that but I get them from friends as well. Also some people do not want other people to read their reviews to me so they e-mail them to me. I know how to count and just because you counted differently does not mean that I am not correct. If I get any more reviews telling me what the `actual' score is the poll will be canceled.

Also SpaceQueenoftheWorld requested for me to write a side story for Kosuke and Nataku. If anyone else wants me to then I will. Just say the word. ^_^