Yume and Rei were about to go to bed early after a quite stressful Sunday when it knocked on the door. Yume groaned. “I swear, if this is another of your fanboys, I’m gonna crush some heads,” Rei promised from his futon.

Yume, who was closer to the door, got up and opened the door, only to get an armful of bags. “What the hell!?” she exclaimed, dropping the bags and noticing who it was. “Suri? Yoru?”

The oldest Uzumaki siblings smiled at her. “Hi Yu-chan,” they said in unison.

“What are you doing here?” Yume wasn’t too surprised to ask that. She was surprised though. No one but her parents and brother were supposed to be allowed to visit her.

Suri and Yoru walked in, nodded to Rei, who had gotten up and stood leaning against the door to the bathroom, a brow raised. “The Great Me, and Yoru, is here to give you a mission,” Suri said grinning. “Yoru, tell her.”

Yoru sighed and shook his head. “You see Yu-chan, Mom is due in about two weeks, and she really can’t handle Raito, Aki and Nagisa right now. As much as all of us are trying to help, we are in the middle of exams, so we really don’t have the time. And Dad has been put in the Council, against his will. He only accepted because he can help you from there. And that’s how you got this mission. Hopefully, it will help convince the others you are still loyal to us.”

“And what is the mission?”

Yoru made a face, while Suri grinned. “You’re gonna babysit Raito, Aki and Nagisa until the new babies are born,” she said cheerfully. “Ain’t it great?”

Yume’s jaw was at her knees, and even Rei looked chocked. “I can’t look after them!” Yume exclaimed. “I need to go to school! And club! And work! And…!”

“We, or the Council, have already spoken to the chairman of your school,” Yoru cut in. “You’re allowed to bring them with you to school, both for class and club activities. You’re job has also been informed, and your boss seemed kinda happy about it.”

Yume hung her head. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

This time, both twins grinned. “Nope.”

Yume sighed. “When are they coming here?”

“They are in the car,” Yoru said. “They fell asleep during the ride from the airport, and we didn’t want to carry them up before we had told you the situation.”

Yume sighed again. “Bring them up. Just let me fix them a sleeping place. They can all share a futon right? I only have one extra.”

“The boys can share,” Suri said while Yoru went to fetch their siblings. “But Nagisa is a bit scared; it’s the first time she sleeps away from home.”

Yume sighed for a third time. “She can sleep with me then.”

Suri leaned on the doorframe while Yume rolled put the spare futon, the one Sora used to sleep on, next to her own. “You’re taking this better than I thought you would,” the older girl said. “I had counted some screaming and Uchiha glaring into the equation.”

Yume shrugged as she took out three more pillows and two blankets. “They’re my cousins, my family. So is Hinata and I don’t want her to overwork herself, especially not now that she’s about to give birth.” She looked up at Suri, smiling. She looked more mature than Suri had ever seen her. “It’s the least I can do. Besides, this might give me some extra points with the Council.”

Suri laughed a little. “Why does it feel as if that’s the biggest reason?”

Yume shrugged one shoulder. “You know me.”

Suri’s face grew serious and she was about to say something, when Yoru came through the door, holding the boys in one hand and cradling a newly awakened Nagisa at his shoulder. “Where do I put them?” he asked in a low voice.

“Rai, Aki, you two are sleeping there,” Yume said and pointed at the futon. “Nagisa will sleep with me.” When Nagisa heard her name, she turned to Yume.

“Yume-Nee!” she said happily, though still tired.

“Hi sweetie!” Yume said smiling, holding her arms out. “You looking forward to this?” Nagisa shook her head. “Naw, why not?”

“G’nna miss Mommy an’ Daddy…”

“I know, I miss my mommy and daddy too.” Yume took her sleepy cousin in her arms. “But you know, you can call them anytime you want.”

“I can?” Nagisa sniffled, and Yume nodded.

“Of course you can. Now, how about going to bed?” Nagisa nodded, rested her head on Yume’s shoulder and fell asleep. Yume smiled as she put the little girl down on the futon and pulled the comforter over her.

She turned her head to speak to the boys, but they had already fallen asleep on the other futon, so instead, she turned to her older cousins. “Are you staying the night too?”

They shook their heads. “We’re leaving now that they’ve fallen asleep,” Yoru said. “It was nice seeing you Yu-chan.” Yume smiled, hugged her cousins and then they left.

“This is just great,” Rei muttered from his futon. “Now I have to babysit three more people.”

Yume laughed a little. “Don’t worry Rei-chan; I’ll take care of them.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel so much better.” Yume could feel how Rei rolled his eyes, but chose to ignore it as she lay down next to Nagisa and fell asleep.



The next morning, Yume woke up earlier than she really was supposed to by Nagisa crying. She sat up, cradling the girl in her arms. “Shh, what’s wrong sweetie?” she said softly while rocking the girl back and forth.

“I miss Mommy!” the girl cried, and Yume kissed her forehead.

“There, there Gisa-chan, everything will be fine. You and both your brothers are coming to school with me, won’t that be fun?” Nagisa stopped crying while Yume spoke and looked at her with big eyes.

“We’re going to a big kids’ school?” she asked and Yume nodded.

“Yes, yes you are. And I’m gonna be with you all the time, and we’re gonna have so much fun, okay?” Nagisa nodded and Yume put her back to bed as the little girl fell asleep.

Yume herself went up and began preparing breakfast. When she was done, she woke the three Uzumaki siblings up gently, before kicking Rei off his futon with a harsh “get up lazy-ass” and began dressing Nagisa. As soon as they had eaten breakfast, Yume asked Rei to drive them to school. He agreed since he understood how hard it would be for Yume to get there on time by herself with three kids in tow.

As they left the apartment, they met Haruhi and offered to give her a ride, and during this ride, Yume told her why her cousins were there. Haruhi just sighed and nodded. “Just let me know if you need any help.” Yume hugged her with a grateful smile.



Yume was a bit nervous when they arrived at the school. She knew her cousins had permission to be there, but still… none of the other students knew that. So a lot of people, that is to say everyone stared at them as they walked towards the main entrance. Yume carried a shy Nagisa on her arm, held Raito’s hand in her free one, and Aki held onto the skirt of her school uniform. “Yume-Nee, why is everyone staring at us?” he whispered shyly, hiding behind her a little.

Yume looked down on his and smiled. “Don’t worry Aki-chan, they’re just looking at you cuz you’re so cute.” Aki smiled back a little as they continued walking.

The first one to actually talk to Yume this morning was Tamaki. “Yume-kun,” he called out and she turned to him.

“Good morning Senpai.”

“Yes, good morning. Yume-kun, who are these children?” He looked at the siblings.

“They are my cousins,” Yume said as she got a better hold of Nagisa. “I gotta take care of them for a while. My aunt, their mother, is due in two weeks, so they’re living with me.” She didn’t have the energy to tell him it was more a trust mission from Konoha.

“Has the school approved of this?” Kyouya asked from behind Tamaki.

Yume frowned. “You really think I’m stupid enough to bring them if it hadn’t?” She looked at Kyouya and sighed. “Don’t answer that.”

Kyouya was about to say something, when Nagisa tapped Yume on the shoulder. “Yume-Nee, Yume-Nee?”

“What is it?” Yume smiled at her cousin, and the little one pointed at Tamaki.

“He looks like Daddy…” She blushed a little. “Is he my big brother?”

Yume did her best not to start laughing as Raito looked up at his sister. “No way!” he said. “The only brother we have who is blond is Kei-Nii!”

“That’s right Gisa-chan,” Aki said, a bit calmer than his brother. “He is not our brother.”

“Oh, okay.” Then Nagisa began flipping her legs a little, and Yume put her down. Aki took one of her hands while Raito looked around suspiciously. Yume giggled at them.

“Come on guys, we better get going.” She picked Nagisa up again and told the twins to keep up, so they took each other’s hands and followed their cousin. Yume turned her head. “Haruhi, you coming?”

“Yes!” Nagisa said smiling and waved. “Har’hi, Har’hi!”

Haruhi walked up to them, and Aki took her hand and smiled up at her. Raito let go of his brother and took her other hand. Yume laughed a little. “Looks who is Mr. Popular all of a sudden.” Haruhi sighed and they went to class.



Yume spoke to her homeroom teacher for a little while before entering the classroom, explaining a little why her cousins were there, and he said though he already knew; he thought it was very nice of her to tell him herself. Of course the three siblings would get a little time to introduce themselves to the class. Yume bowed before she went over to Haruhi and the children. She told Haruhi to go inside, while Yume and her cousins waited outside for the teacher to call them in.

When that time came, Yume let Nagisa walk inside on her own, holding Aki’s hand, while Yume herself walked behind them. Raito was the first one in the line, then Aki and next to and a little behind him was Nagisa. Yume walked in last and closed the door.

“Listen up class,” the teacher said. “Uchiha-san has something to tell you.”

Yume cleared her throat. “As you can see, I have my three youngest cousins with me. They are here because their mother, my aunt on my mother’s side, is due in two weeks, and there’s no one there to look after them, so they’re living with me. I’ll leave it to them to introduce themselves.” She looked down on her cousins and smiled. “Just tell them your names, they’re all very nice. I promise.”

Aki nodded and took a deep breath. “Good morning,” he said and bowed politely. “My name is Uzumaki Aki; this is my older twin Raito.” Raito smiled rather mischievously and bowed as well, after getting a hard look from Yume. “And this is our baby sister Nagisa,” Aki continued. She was still hiding behind him, so Yume knelt next to her.

“It’s okay Gisa-chan,” she said gently. “Come out and say hello.” Nagisa looked up at Aki, who smiled and nodded.

Nagisa took a step to the side. “Nice to meet you,” she said shyly and bowed a little. All the girls in the class awed at their cuteness, and Yume seated herself and her cousins. She was thankful that she sat next to the window. That way the kids could sit and look out when they got bored. And it was more room.



The two weeks passed rather peacefully, the siblings behaved and all was good. Until that phone call.

Yume was sitting in her apartment, it was the middle of the night and she was singing to Nagisa, who had woken up from a bad dream. Yume just made something up right then and hoped Nagisa would like it.

“A, you’re adorable.
B, you’re so beautiful.
C, you’re a cutie full of charms.
D, you’re a darling and,
E, you’re exciting and,
F, you’re a feather in my arms.

G, you look good to me.
H, you’re so heavenly.
I, you’re the one I idolize.
J, we’re like Jack and Jill.
K, you’re so kissable.
L is the love laughter in your eyes.

M, N, O, P, I could go on all day.
Q, R, S, T, alphabetically speaking, you’re okay.

U made my life complete.
V means you’re very sweet.
W, X, Y, Z
Its fun to wander through the alphabet with you,
To tell you what you mean to me.”

Apparently it worked, for Nagisa fell asleep in Yume’s arms, but as a result, Yume couldn’t sleep. In a way, it was good, since the phone started ringing soon after.

“Hello,” Yume answered in a hushed voice.

“Yume, it’s Naruto,” her uncle said happily.

Yume groaned a little. “Naruto, do you know what time it is?”

“Yes I know, I’m sorry, but I have news!”

“Oh?”

“The twins!”

“The twins?”

“The twins! They’re born!”

Yume nearly fell over. “Huh?! Wha-when? Boys or girls? Or both again?”

Naruto laughed a little at her enthusiasm. He had wished she’d react like this when the twins and Nagisa were born. “Two beautiful and healthy girls. They were born yesterday morning, but I haven’t had a chance to call before, and I didn’t want you to hear it from the kids.”

“Have you named them yet?”

“Yes. The oldest is called Chiasa and the other Umeko.”

“Those are very sweet names. Who thought of them?”

“Yoru did.” Yume couldn’t see it, but Naruto smiled. “Yume, think a little about Umeko’s name, whose is it very like?”

Yume thought for a little while then it hit her. “She’s named after me…” she whispered.

“Yes. Yoru said he wanted his youngest sister to become as strong, beautiful and nice as you. What else could Hinata and I do than to accept that name?”

“What about Chiasa?”

Naruto chuckled. “He said he just thought it was sweet, I agreed and that was that.”

Yume laughed. “It’s great Naruto! When are you coming to pick them up?”

“I’m on the train on my way over right now. Yoru and Keiichi are with me, so are your parents. We’re coming to the school tomorrow afternoon, after club hours. Don’t tell my babies, I want it to be a surprise. Oh yeah, we’re gonna stay in Tokyo for a little while, Sasuke has some business to attend to and all of us want to be with you.”

Yume smiled. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then; tell the others I said hi and that I look forward to it.”

“I will. Good night Yu-chan.”

“Good night Naruto.” They hung up, and now Yume fell asleep almost instantly.



The next day was rather uneventful, until it was almost over. Yume had asked Haruhi to look after her cousins for a few minutes while she headed out to see if Naruto and the others had arrived. Haruhi agreed of course, and Yume left.

And this is where everything happened.

Yume saw Yoru and Keiichi hurrying up to her, they hugged and she directed them to the clubroom where their siblings were. While the brothers headed that way, Yume was hugged by her parents. Naruto was walking leisurely behind them, talking in his cell phone. He waved to Yume and then turned his back to her.

That’s why he saw it. The sun reflecting in something that couldn’t be anything but the muzzle of a gun. He hung up and followed where the gun had to be directed and his eyes fell on a girl with long brown hair and two small buns on top of it. He didn’t know, but her name was Kurogano and was one of Yume’s classmates.

All Naruto saw was a girl about to get shot. So he started running.

He managed to push her away in the nick of time. At first she looked at him with frightened eyes, as if he was trying to hurt her, then Naruto fell to his knees. He had taken two bullets to the shoulder to save this, to him, unknown girl’s life.

At the sound of shots being fired, Sasuke and Natsumi had turned around instantly, and while Sasuke ran in the direction of where they came, Natsumi just stared wide-eyed as Naruto paled remarkable and stumbled forward a little before falling to his knees, his white t-shirt stained with blood. “No…” she whispered. “No, no, no… NARUTO!!!” Her whisper turned into a scream and she ran over to her brother.

Sasuke had turned his head at the sound of his wife’s scream and his mouth fell open slightly. He bashed the head of the gunman into the tree he’d been sitting in so he became unconscious then Sasuke tied his hands together using his tie. After that he hurried over to Natsumi who had laid Naruto down on his back and was cradling his upper body, tears streaming down her face. “Naruto,” she said in a panicky voice. “Why did you do that? You fucking idiot! You’re planning on leaving Hinata alone with nine kids? What kinda father are you?!” She was almost screaming, but Naruto was just smiling and, with some effort, raised his hand and put it on her cheek, wiping a tear away.

“Don’t worry Natchan,” he said in a weak voice. “I’ll be fine. Need to ask Sakura to get the bullets out though.”

Natsumi started crying for real when Naruto passed out. And of course, that’s when his children came to the scene. Thankfully, Yoru had enough presence to make sure Raito, Aki and Nagisa didn’t see anything. He managed to get them to the car without them seeing or even realizing Naruto was injured.

Someone had called an ambulance, so medics were already running from the gates. When the ambulance drivers had gotten Naruto up on the stretcher, Natsumi turned to Kurogano, who started screaming when she understood someone had wanted to shoot her.

Natsumi placed herself in front of her. “Quiet down girl,” she said in a hard voice. But Kurogano didn’t stop screaming, and Natsumi grabbed her shoulders, maybe a bit too hard. “Shut your mouth or, by God, I swear I’ll hit you.” The girl didn’t stop now either, and Natsumi let go of her shoulders. The next second her hand fell onto Kurogano’s cheek with a loud slap, and the girl finally silenced.

“Natsumi!” Sasuke exclaimed.

“Mom…” Yume was shocked. She had never seen her mother like this.

Natsumi hadn’t heard her husband or her daughter and looked into Kurogano’s eyes, a dark fire burning in her blue ones. “If my brother dies, know that I will hold you personally responsible about this. Not the gunman, not your family, you. And I will find you.” Then she turned around, got into the ambulance and accompanied Naruto to the hospital.

Since all of them were supposed to stay for a while, no one called Hinata. No use in worrying her unless it got very serious.



It didn’t get serious, and three days later, everyone sat on the train back to Konoha, Naruto with bandage over his shoulder. He was not too happy about telling Hinata, but he had to.

As soon as they got back to Konoha, Naruto hurried home, got the girls to leave the bedroom where Hinata was resting, the birth of the twins had been long and she still needed to get some rest. The sisters took Chiasa and Umeko with them, and so Naruto was alone with Hinata.

He sat down next to her on the bed and kissed her forehead. “Baby, there’s something I gotta tell you,” he said calmly. “About something that happened in Tokyo…”

Hinata’s eyes grew worried. “What’s wrong Naruto-kun? Are the kids okay?”

Naruto nodded. “They’re fine. This is about me…” He told Hinata about how he got shot saving that Kurogano girl, at the same time as Yoru told Suri and Hitomi, the twin boys and Nagisa were busy looking at the twin girls so they didn’t listen. No one thought they needed to know anyway.

Hinata’s eyes were rimmed with tears when Naruto finished his story, but she wasn’t crying. “Show me,” she said in a surprisingly firm voice.

“Hinata…”

“Naruto, show me!” Naruto was surprised; she very rarely left out the kun even now, so he did as she asked, turned around and took his button-shirt off, having some trouble getting it off because of his inability to move his left shoulder properly.

“The bullets didn’t hit anything vital,” he said as Hinata put her hand on his shoulder blade, just below where one of the bullets had hit.

“Did someone catch the person who shot you?”

Naruto nodded. “Sasuke did. Bashed his head to a tree then tied him up using his expensive silk tie.” He laughed a little. “I can’t believe he wasted it on me.”

Hinata, on the other hand, didn’t even smile. “This isn’t funny Naruto-kun,” she said in a shaky voice. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Naruto turned around and took Hinata’s face in his hands. “I didn’t want to worry you unless it was necessary. And it wasn’t, I’m fine.”

“I’m still worried!” She shook her head a little. “What if you would’ve died and I couldn’t even say goodbye? I was asleep when you left Konoha!”

“But I didn’t die!” Naruto kissed Hinata’s forehead. “Hinata… I’m going to see Sakura tomorrow and let her take a look at it too, she’s better than those people in Tokyo could ever wish to be. If she says I’m fine, will you stop worrying?”

Hinata nodded and took Naruto’s hands away from her cheeks, putting her hand on his cheek. “Welcome home, dear husband,” she said smiling.

“I’m home, dear wife,” he said, also smiling. Then he kissed her before taking his shirt on and calling their children back into the room. Suri and Hitomi looked at their father worriedly, but when they saw how happily he was smiling, they both felt their worry wash away. “Gimme my babies!” Naruto demanded. “I have yet to hug them!”

Suri laughed and handed her youngest sisters to Naruto. “Here you go Dad. Just be easy on the shoulder.”

Naruto smiled and kissed her forehead as he took Chiasa and Umeko and put them down on the bed after he’d kissed both their heads. “My little girls,” he whispered. “My beautiful little girls.” Umeko looked at her father with eyes blue as his and grabbed his finger, bringing it to her mouth. Naruto made her let go and stroke her and her sister over their fluffy blonde heads. The last twin couple of this family looked exactly like their father, and so, the family was complete.

Naruto looked around smiling. “Home sweet home.”