Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Accidents Can Happen to You Too ❯ Confrontation with the Boss ( Chapter 3 )

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

"What the hell do you mean, they cloned Sasuke?" Naruto shouted at his squad leader as he read the scroll they recovered from the sound smuggling ring the other day. He was just getting over the shock of waking up between both two women for the first time in his life, and Shikamaru just had to spring this on him as they made their way to the Hokage's Tower.
"We didn't know until we decoded the scroll this morning that it was orders from Kabuto," Shikamaru explained, "And Tsunade-sama confirmed that the equipment in it which we weren’t able to recover would be enough to create a duplicate of either him or Itachi, if Orochimaru had Kabuto make him one. The text we deciphered so far referred to an Uchiha of their creation being old enough to warrant stealing the clan's documents regarding how to awaken a Sharingan, and oddly enough, some ancient texts regarding the Kyuubi, as well medical and bloodline records on Kakashi-san, you and Ino. Now why would that be?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he looked at Naruto, who could only gulp at the short gap in logic the genuis would have to cross.
"You're the father, aren't you? Ino is pregnant thanks to you, and Orochimaru wants to breed whatever troublesome bloodline you've passed on to her or Sakura with his mini-Sasuke to make a nearly unbeatable host for himself." The normally laid back and lazy Shikamaru was nearly quivering with barely suppressed anger at this point while Naruto meekly nodded as the two men reached the Tower to meet up with the other half of his team.


Kiba had just returned that morning from tracking down a missing stone nin; as part of his normal Anbu duties, he was occasionally called on to aid the Hunters, and those tended to be long term assignments. Tenten sat next to him, sharpening a kunai on her forearm guard.
"Sound, huh? Put up much of a fight this time?" he asked her.
"Nah, Orochimaru lost most of his elites in the second sound war against us, but one of those idiots mentioned they're bringing back the Sharingan, which got Kakashi-san almost ready to hunt down Kabuto himself if he dared to actually make one," she replied as Shikamaru huffed into the room, a far cry from his casual stroll, followed by an anxious looking Naruto.
'He knows,' she thought to herself.
"What happened to you Fox?" Kiba jeered.
"Shut up, Puppydog" Naruto retorted, knowing well that the hunter hated his codename, as Kiba took a swing at him, which he easily avoided.
"Knock it off!" Shikamaru shouted, his temper leaking out as killer intent, directed at one person in particular.


While they waited outside Tsunade's office, Naruto was beside himself.
Shikamaru knew, and would probably kill him the moment they were finished here, not to mention his mistakes were still putting people at risk, even people not even born yet. He turned to Tenten, who sat next to him. She had been smirking right up to the moment Shikamaru has shown up, and with her trump card half gone, she could only be sympathetic for the soon to be dead fox man as Shikamaru filled her in.
"Why would he need them when he almost has a Sharingan?" she asked, attempting to break the silence.
"Ino told me once her bloodline includes powerful psychics in the past. He could simply take jutsu from someone's mind if he so wanted," Shikamaru replied.
"And bred with Naruto's 'bloodline' and Sasuke's, Orochimaru would be nearly invincible as a warrior." Tsunade finished for him as they entered her chambers, one of them with a sense of impending doom as she inquired, "If they were looking up Sakura's medical history I would understand since you two are expecting, but why Yamanaka Ino's file instead?"
Seconds later, that sense of doom was confirmed by Shizune, who tended to the wounded Naruto, punched through the wall separating her office from Tsunade's once he unwisely answered her rhetorical question.
"Was this what you intended, Meatball?" he asked as Tenten went to his side and helped him stand upright, since he was too attempting to stay conscious to do so on his own. Tsunade's punches certainly didn’t betray her pushing sixty, he observed as he tenderly touched his latest near concussion.
"Not really. My plan was to tell Lee-kun, who would tell Neji, who reports to Gaara, who would tell Temari, who would tell both Shikamaru and Tsunade, who would tell Sakura and Hinata, who would tell Kiba and Shino," she explained in one long breath.
"Your way would've taken longer, I could've gotten away," he replied as Tsunade glared.
"I would send the Hunter-nins to drag you back by your favorite limb to answer for this. You’re getting married in a month, remember that?"
"I haven't forgotten for a second. It was after the ANBU party." he explained, unable to look his mother figure in the eye, “We were drunk, Tsunade-baba! I can't be held accountable for anything I do while drunk! You're a doctor; you should understand that better than anyone. This doesn't mean I love Sakura-chan any less, but I'm not going to shirk my responsibilities either, so I had to take Ino in, and we’re going to look after her since she got kicked out of her house because of me. I promised her I'd be there for her and the baby, and I’m not going to take back my word, it's my nindo!"

It sounded better in his head at least.

"I understand enough to consider you and Sakura the children I'll never have, and for you to do this to her, not to mention to Ino-san, while somewhat understandable, doesn’t mean I like it any more. If I hear a single rumor that you're a bad parent to either of these kids once they're born, I'm having you reassigned to man a watchtower in northern Ice Country for the rest of your natural life, you got that brat?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama." He mumbled, his ears bright red with shame.
"Good, now I have to speak to Naruto alone, Shikamaru, Tenten, Kiba. Please wait outside." The three brunettes bowed, and then stepped out as Tsunade wheeled on Naruto again.
"What exactly will your children inherit from Kyuubi?" She questioned, as she poured herself a fresh shot of Sake, and returned to behind her desk, staring down her subordinate.
"Everything I'm capable of. Regeneration, increased stamina and Chakra, and rarely one could be born with their own demon to call on, hopefully without Gaara’s former insanity. Kyuubi calls it 'my new bloodline.' Wait. Uh oh." he finished raising a finger in warning, as Naruto got that faraway look Tsunade recognized as consulting Kyuubi, while she took in what he told her so far. Her grandchildren would be born with demon powers too? It was a lot to take in, but then she didn't easily accept the village had sacrificed Naruto's childhood to entrap a demon at first, and she wouldn't let that happen again. Naruto shook out of her reverie when he refocused again with a look of sheer dread on his face.
"What?"
"Kyuubi just now mentioned that demons pass on knowledge through genetic memory, whatever that is, and because he passed on his genes along with mine, my kids could instinctively know some, maybe all of its powers and knowledge and be capable of using them."
Tsunade visibly paled at this as well.
"You mean that if Orochimaru gets his hands on either Sakura's or Ino's children by you, he could possibly gain all the powers and techniques of the Kyuubi, even the ones you can't use, in addition to the Sharingan? If he's looking up Kakashi's records too, he could possibly be planning to transplant the Sharingan as soon he's able to awaken it in his Uchiha duplicate, since your excessive Chakra would overcome the problem of never being able to shut it off."
Naruto nodded solemnly as Tsunade shouted for Shizune to summon the Anbu commander.
"Kakahi's going to like this even less than I. He never took on any students after your team 7 because he got too attached to you three. You had better hope he's not in the mood to Chidori your ass for this." She warned as she called the rest of his team back in.

Three hours later, the Copy Ninja nonchalantly strolled into the room, Icha Icha Paradise 10th Anniversary Edition in his hand. Tsunade was used to his tardiness; even if it drove her nuts, it worked somehow, since he still has the highest kill score ever since he retook command of the Anbu detachment at her request. Since he demoted himself to Elite Jounin, Konoha Anbu had been known as the Red Shirts of the Shinobi ranks, and while she didn't understand the reference, she did know that her so-called elite guards' casualty rates were considered a joke by most Village's standards until she convinced him, with Naruto's help, to take command once more. Not one of their operatives has failed an S-rank mission or died outside of major operations since.

"Kakashi, arrange protection for Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino at once," Tsunade ordered without delay.
"Both of them, Tsunade-sama?" Naruto once again silently cursed being surrounded by geniuses. It wouldn't take much, even if Tsunade didn't spill the beans.
"Yes, she's living with Sakura and Naruto. The message his squad intercepted almost spelled the whole thing out, and we still don't know how old it was, so its possible Kabuto has all the information he wants by now. Orochimaru's apparently bent on combining Naruto's offspring with the Sharingan to make the ultimate host for himself. Discrete protection, and step up the security for the wedding."
Kakashi tensed when Kabuto was mentioned. The traitorous imposter genin was the only one to ever make a fool of him and live.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," he replied as he turned around to glare at his former student. "Why is Ino-san living with you Naruto?"

Here comes that feeling of dread again...


"The whole room, Sakura-sensei?" Inuzuka Kegawa asked, a paintbrush in his hand. His teammates, Hasaki Tenko, and Yatara Neemu looked on as their sensei balanced three paint buckets on one finger.
"Yep!" Sakura ordered, "We're gonna dress this room up as a nursery before Ino-san gets home. I'll even make it D rank so you get paid for it, even though you're such nice kids who'd do it for free." And with that, she dropped the cans to land perfectly in front of each of her students.
"Ino-san? I thought you were the one who was pregnant," Tenko inquired, a look of confusion on her face, "Nee-chan told me you were."
"Tenten has a big mouth. I am, but so is Ino-chan, and she lives here now, so do a good job!" Sakura replied as she left her Team 8 to their task in what was once her room when she was a little girl. She daydreamed about raising a pink haired girl of her own as she made her way to the kitchen for some bananas and chili..
On her way, she passed by a picture of her parents hanging on the wall, and smiled sadly.
"You're getting the grandchild you always wanted, Mother. It's not the Uchiha I promised you when I was a lovesick idiot genin, but I love Naruto dearly, and I'm going to love this child as much as you loved me." she whispered to it, wishing she could be heard by the dead.
It was the last picture she kept out of her old life, all the others long since packed away so she could make it to the front door without bursting into tears at the memories.


Why does it always rain during funerals?
Sixteen-year-old Sakura thought to herself, as she looked at the overcast sky above, the rain washing away the tears of her weeping. It was still ashen as though remembering the fires, which had only been put out yesterday.
She squeezed Ino's hand tightly as Tsunade continued with the eulogy. It had been a year since Akatsuki had been defeated, but it involved Orochimaru's cherished vessel sacrificing himself to kill his brother, and the snake sennin was known for his long patience as well as his vindictiveness. Once again Konoha had paid the price for his vengeful tantrums, and this time with the aid of the Sand he was driven back just as he was once before, but not before Konoha was hurt dearly. Sakura had not been spared this time, as she laughed bitterly to herself that she could finally now identify with Naruto and Sasuke as Team 7 were now all orphans.
It was her turn to leave flowers. Even if she couldn't remember which coffins of those arrayed in front of her on the rooftop contained the cold bodies of her parents, and it wouldn't matter if she did. She was alone, and the ache deep within her might never disappear. As she returned to her place in the crowd, she felt a tugging of her sleeve and turned to see Ino with a pained smile. They had restarted their friendship the day Sasuke was laid to rest, and she had come to depend on the blond girl as a sister.
"They're proud of you, wherever they are," she volunteered, an arm around the shorter girl's shoulder, but the words were still hollow to Sakura, as Ino eventually joined the mourners filing out to give her a moment alone.
The oppressive air that had surrounded her until now had kept her on her feet now dissipated as she sank to her knees.
"You're gone, Sasuke-kun's gone, who do I have left?" she screamed to the dead and dreary sky, as she sobbed uncontrollably, while the rain beat down on her unmercifully. Her answer came in the form of comforting, strong arms, encircling her lithe body as she looked over to see Naruto, tight lipped in one of his trademark smiles which never failed to bring her spirits up a little, while his eyes betrayed that he felt just as raw inside as she did.
"You have me, Sakura-chan, and you always will," was all he had to say as she leaned into him and wept on his shoulder.
"Never die on me, Naruto-kun. You promised. I've got nothing else to live for. If you die I'm coming too," she choked out as she held on for dear life against the darkness.
"Same goes for you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled wistfully at the memory as she rested on the countertop on her elbows, a jar of pickles in one hand. They had their first kiss that night, and now over five years later, she could still feel it on her lips, the hint of forests and spring rain and the freedom only wild animals could know. He had saved her from herself that night, and though she had long since learned to stand on her own two feet again, she knew deep down she would always need him, and it made her love for him all that more potent because of it.
"Hey forehead!" she was shaken out of her daydreaming as Ino wrestled the pickle from Sakura's fingers.
"Yum..." she moaned in response, "Even if I wasn't pregnant, pickles are tasty. Daydreaming?"
"Thinking about Naruto the night of my parents' funeral."
"Oh...the night you fell for him? Can't believe you're still in love with him so long, I must be nuts to live here with you two lovebirds."
"Jealous?" Sakura teased.
"Please! He's a ramenhead." She declared quickly, although it seemed to Sakura that Ino was trying to get herself to believe it, but then again Naruto's such a sweetheart when he's not being an idiot, it seemed only natural that Ino, who seemed defensive toward him for so long would be a little taken after getting to know him a bit. They could probably be good friends if they ever spent some time alone together.
"He's not so bad once you're more used to his clumsiness. It grows on you til you forget you ever lived without it," she explained to the blond woman. Her apprehension from the night before was being ignored for the moment, making the irony all that greater.
"By the way, why was there smoke coming from my room?" Ino innocently asked all of a sudden.
"Neemu, paint is flammable!" Sakura called out behind her.
"Sorry Sakura-sensei," her team shouted back in unison.
"Kids..." she replied simply.


"I haven’t seen him so disappointed in me since the bell test," Naruto groaned as he waited for his ramen. Naruto’s punishment was for his whole squad to stand guard duty on the Hokage Tower. Stand being the operative word as Naruto spent all afternoon attached to the tower’s outer wall five stories up by his feet. After all these years, his punishments still took the form of tree climbing.
"You deserved it, moron, for being so clumsy you sleep with the one girl in town who still hates your guts," Kiba retorted as he paid for his bowl, while Naruto was on his tenth.
“You better treat her right, ” threatened Shikamaru, who had spent the entire day angry with him long enough for anger to get too troublesome to keep up for long, though he still seemed rather sore.
"Touchy, aren't we Shika-kun?" Temari teased from Shikamaru's other side after Kiba and Tenten left Ichiraku for their night patrol of the wall sentries.
"Shut up, she's like my sister. Team 10 was tightly-knit, Temari, and I've put up with her longest, so I look out for her, that's all."
"As you should, if you're a man!” she smirked as she kissed her husband, then turned her attention to Naruto.
"So, think of any names yet?"
"For what?"
"For the baby! Babies, really, if Ino lets you near hers."
"Gee, I haven't had time to think about names. Wait, why aren't you mad at me?" he asked the sandy haired woman as he dug into his bbq pork ramen.
"Disappointed that it wasn't me bonking you instead maybe, but I know what its like to fool around while drunk and get caught in the morning," she replied with a naughty glint in her eyes, "And I'm all for threesomes too. Me and the two of you, it's an old fantasy, but still yummy..." She daydreamed for a second while Shikamaru and Naruto exchanged glances of mutual disgust.
"Hey, it's nothing like that, it was an accident last night! She probably thought it was her bed!" He blurted. Realization at his blunder came with a crack as Shikamaru's chopsticks snapped and Temari giggled.
"Calm down Shika-kun, or I'd say you were jealous...and that makes me jealous." She warned with a glare, "She was in bed with you and Sakura?" she inquired before breaking into a fit of laughter again as Naruto nodded hesitantly.
"Hey hey, nothing happened, and nothing will! I love Sakura-chan untill the day I die and I'm not into polygamy or anything like that. It's still my fault though, and I'm gonna live with it by being there for Ino and the baby and giving them a home. She's family now I guess, and family takes care of each other,” Naruto explained.
"Told ya he's not an idiot when he starts thinking with his heart." Temari scolded as she jabbed Shikamaru in the middle of his body armor.
"I think that's great of you, Naruto, and Shikamaru's going to support it wholeheartedly, being your best man and all, so he can have his last dance with Ino. Just remember, Shika, I'm better in bed than she could possibly be, and if you ever want to be reminded of that, you'll leave it as friends for life. She's Naruto's now," she finished with a wink.
"Why not Gaara?" Naruto changed topics quickly as Shikamaru reddened at the thought. He had originally asked the Kazekage to do him the honor as his sworn brother in battle.
"Busy with negotiations with Hidden Cloud, and he's kinda paranoid about Ino. She gives him headaches; he describes it as 'Shukaku screams in agony'. He'll be pleased when I tell him he's going to be an uncle though." She explained as she got up and stuck Shikamaru with the bill before dragging him off, leaving Naruto to his thoughts as he wandered home himself

There were two women in his life now, and he loved Sakura-chan dearly. What about Ino? Did she feel anything for him? Did he feel anything for her?
He had long thought his resolve unshakable, as much as he thought he would never get along with the fellow blonde. He kept remembering the sight of the girl in his arms though, the way she smelled, the softness of her body contrasting with the suppleness of the muscles in her arms. The way she wrinkled her nose kind of cutely in her sleep...
Cutely?
Oh Kami, at this rate he was going to the special hell, where serial rapists and telemarketers ended up.
He loved Sakura-chan, there was a visceral feeling attached to that fact, a warm engrossing passion that tugged at his soul whenever she was near, constantly replaying that feeling in his chest he felt in their first kiss. Soft and fluttery, as though he caught a moth in his hand and won't let it go. She tasted of cherries and cinnamon that night. In contrast Ino was tingly, as though he had been holding a cat for a long time and his skin remembered the feeling of fur in his hands after he put her down. It wasn't love, not by a long shot, but it touched a corner of him, and he knew things would go to crap if he allowed it to touch more.

'But you did touch more, and you want to do so again.'
'Shut up.'
'You desire both females, they are in your pack, it is nothing wrong to have both.'
'It is for humans.'
'Mistresses are allowable if you're starting a clan to have a wide initial gene pool to safeguard inbreeding, much like your Hyuugas and Uchihas.'

Naruto was about to rebuke when he felt a familiar Chakra signature join him in the alley. He drew his blade in a smooth arc as a Rasengan bloomed in his other hand for both light and a second weapon.
"Kabuto," he whispered as he whirled around.
"Naruto-kun. It's been a while,” the medic nin calmly answered, as the blond man held the blade to his jugular.
"Not long enough, you traitorous bastard." Another voice called out as a second blade slid out of the darkness against the back of his spine, while Temari stepped into the light of the orb in Naruto’s hand to quickly cut off Kabuto’s kunai pouch with a smooth stroke, then stepped away, battlefan at the ready.
“You really should watch where you're going Naruto-kun, even we could tell he was tailing you.” she shot back sweetly at Naruto's bewilderment.
"Say what you will Nara, we have the Sharingan, and soon we will have his progeny," he sneered.
"Why not just take me?" Naruto questioned the white haired medic.
"As long as you carry It, Orochimaru cannot possess you safely. I can't say the same for Ino-san's offspring," he explained with a smirk
"Why not Sakura-chan?"
"Why take hers when there's yet another bloodline to harness for our own designs?" he spat as the shadows around them throbbed and shifted as more Chakra signatures bloomed to life around them.
Naruto responded silently, as his blade pulsed with a crimson glow, his anger barely in check as his eyes changed to match.

Sakura's team will be the only OCs in this story, other than nameless cannon fodder in the action chapters.
Kegawa - fur
Hasaki - edge of blade, my madeup last name for Tenten.
Neechan- (big sister)
Yatara Neemu - literally, name (picked) at random. Clan specializes in original fire jutsu, a replacement for the Uchiha clan's lost techniques.
Hope you like the character development in this one. I was going to make Shikamaru passive-agressive, but Naruto probably wouldn't appreciate it as much as barely controlled anger that he simply has to outlast. Hopefully I'm sticking to my T rating, since I made Temari a bit kinky and open, but then again I always pictured her with the most 'exotic' appetites out of Naruto's generation.
Also, finally got more of Sakura's perspective, though the irony in her good intentions might have the girls in the audience giggling a bit if I pulled it off right. Apologies for the delay, Fanfiction was in read-only this weekend, so I couldn't update faster.
Next Chapter: Naruto, Shikamaru, and Temari vs. Kabuto and his 'shadows.' What does he want?
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