Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sasuke had just woken up. Trapped in a genjutsu that felt like a lifetime of torture amplified, reminding him of the worst day of his life.

His clan’s slaughter.

He first saw the hospital ceiling. Grayish blue and he was surrounded by both natural and artificial light. For a brief moment, he felt the warmth of a hand on his forehead before it was pulled away.

“Sasuke!”

“Sasuke-kun…”

The Uchiha sat up, still out of sorts with himself. His body ached from weeks of lack of use, but he made no noise to indicate his stiffness. He had a dazed expression on his face, expected from someone who was just waking up.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura shouted and wrapped her arms around the boy, sobbing happily that he was awake.

“Sasuke you-“ Naruto cut himself off when he realized that Sakura was crying for him and how much she loved him. He, at one time, had a crush on Sakura. Since becoming her teammate, that feeling of what he thought was romantic love diminished over time.

A soft tugging on his jacket snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked down and saw a smiley baby girl with dark blonde hair and black onyx eyes that shined beautifully in the light. She was wearing a yellow top with blue pants and had a pink ribbon headband wrapped around her head. In the past, many people have mistaken Ai for a boy, so he liked having ribbons on her to clarify that Ai was female. She was suckling on a pink pacifier. Naruto held his baby daughter close. He’d almost forgotten she was there. He’d been running around all day and they’d only just returned to the village recently. It was evident by the fact was Shizune was holding a baby boy around the same age as Ai. The boy was named Tsuko and he was Tsunade’s son. From what Naruto understood, Tsunade was too old for a young child but still got pregnant anyways after getting way too drunk, so Shizune is his primary caretaker, as evident by how he was holding onto her. The boy wore a jinbei that was teal green as it matched his mother’s kimono. His hair was so light blonde that it looked white, and he had Tsunade’s eye shape and eye color but he also had little red marks on the corner of his eyes that sorta resembled someone else he knew. Naruto didn’t mind him as Ai had a playmate now and that made him happy.

Naruto cleared his throat and remembered that Tsunade had other people to heal. He headed for the door and began to gesture, “come on, you’re not done!”

While Naruto stayed around to see Kakashi get healed, he had to run along and couldn’t stay for Rock Lee to be healed. The boy carried his daughter through the village. Only recently had he been able to carry her about without needing to be in a transformation jutsu. He had stopped after the Third Hokage’s death. No one has bothered him or his daughter about it and he was finally at a point where people didn’t outright hate him anymore.

He even ran into Iruka-sensei and was treated to a bowl of ramen while Ai played with a bowl of noodles and munched on them happily as they were soft enough for her to eat.

Overall, Naruto was finally happy with things and he didn’t think anything could ruin it.

The night was late as Tsunade was studying. She was looking to improve Rock Lee’s odds of his surgery being successful when she was searching through some old documents. In the Hokage’s desk, under a lock that was pitifully easy to break, did a file exist. She picked it up and saw a few papers fly out. The woman rolled her eyes as she leaned down and picked it up and saw a photo of Itachi Uchiha fly out. Her eyes widen as he picked up the photo. It was an older photo, back when he was an ANBU. He was too young to have been an ANBU Black Op, and as she picked up more papers, she saw the name Ai Uzumaki on documents.

‘Naruto’s daughter?’ Tsunade asked herself and began looking through the papers.

The first paper she saw was a birth certificate.

Name: Uzumaki Ai

Date of Birth: September 1st XXX

Location: Konoha (Home Birth)

Birth Mother: Uzumaki Naruto

Birth Father: Uchiha Sasuke

Tsunade’s eyes widen when she saw the birth father’s name. Naruto never one mentioned that Sasuke was the father of his daughter. The story she was told by Jiraiya was that he had been sexually assaulted. Was that the case? She began shuffling through the papers and saw that Itachi’s photo had been attached to a file that contained his genetic results. Every ANBU had their DNA put into their shinobi database systems for security purposes. So whoever did the DNA test found Itachi as a genetic match for Naruto’s child?

She picked up another page. Showing genetic testing.

Biological Mother testing sample: Uzumaki Naruto. The subject is found to have a 50% genetic match to child Uzumaki Ai. 100% mother likelihood.

Biological Father testing sample: Uchiha Itachi. The subject is found to have a 25% genetic match to Uzumaki Ai. Fatherhood is inconclusive.

Tsunade’s eyes narrowed at that 25% of the DNA match. Her mind began reeling. If Itachi was a partial match, then would Sasuke be a full match? It seemed her old sensei thought that as his signature was signed on the birth certificate.

Tsunade moved to look at more documents and saw an investigation of Naruto’s assault. It began when Naruto was brought into the hospital after a home birth at the age of 11. Her heart ached for the boy. She saw him as a son. Funny since she did have a son who was around his daughter’s age. She read more. “Uzumaki Naruto has shown signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. While the Third Hokage interrogated the subject under hypnotism jutsu, he began thrashing about and crying hysterically. Hypnosis jutsu revealed the subject’s mind block of the event. No additional information is given at this time.”

Tsunade sighed. It wasn’t much to go off on but she could see if this claim of the Third Hokage is legitimate.

And she knew she could do it quickly as Sasuke was in the hospital.

“Naruto, you’re being summoned,” it was a Kakashi who had come by and told him. Naruto was in the middle of making breakfast while feeding Ai with a shadow clone. He was confused but shrugged, “okay I’ll drop Ai at Daycare then,” he said.

“Actually, she wants you to bring Ai. It involves her,” Kakashi said.

Naruto was baffled. “What? Why does she want to see Ai?”

“I don’t know but you have to bring her. Now come on, we don’t want to keep Tsunade-sama waiting,” Kakashi said.

Naruto grumbled as he hadn’t eaten breakfast and Ai was just finishing hers. The clone began burping the baby until a loud belch was heard. “Dang Ai! You really let them huh,” Naruto laughed, as did his baby. She laughed when she heard Naruto laugh or saw him smile. Kakashi went over and offered to take the baby while he finished getting ready. Naruto nodded and once Ai was handed to Kakashi, the clone disappeared. Kakashi smiled at the baby, but Ai couldn’t see his smile. She did reach up and tried to grab his mask, but Kakashi knew how to keep her at a distance without being disrespectful. He cradled Ai and tickled her belly, making her giggle in his hold. She was Kakashi’s special girl after all.

Naruto finished getting ready and be followed Kakashi out of the apartment and headed for the Hokage’s office.

“I’m telling you I feel fine. Can I go now?” Sasuke said as Tsunade was giving him a physical exam.

“Don’t be silly. You were under a power genjutsu for weeks and I need to make sure you’re healthy enough to return to the field,” she said as she held a small flashlight. “Follow my finger,” she said she began moving it while keeping the light in Sasuke’s eyes.

Sasuke followed the finger as it moved up and down and left and right.

“Perfect!” She said and wrote that down.

“Couldn’t a nurse do this exam?” Sasuke asked.

“We’re short-staffed all around and they have other patients,” Tsunade said and held out a tongue depressor, “okay open your mouth for me,” she instructed and Sasuke obeyed. And while his mouth was open, she pulled out a long white scrapper and began scrapping the back of Sasuke’s throat. He gagged a bit. “Sorry about that. Your voice sounded a little hoarse so I wanted to test you to see if you catch a virus,” she said but that wasn’t true. She needed his DNA for testing. She would also keep the wooden tongue depressor.

“You could have warned me,” Sasuke stated.

“You’re right, I apologize,” she said and began testing a variety of things like Sasuke’s reflexes and a general exam.

“Okay you’re a bit stiff so I want you to stay another day to make sure you’re muscles haven’t atrophied,” she said and marked it down in his file.

“I feel fine! I just need to walk around. I’m stiff from being in bed all day,” Sasuke said as he stretched his arms and felt his joints crack.

“That is most likely the case but better to be safe than sorry,” she gave him a fake smile. “Once your test results come back, you’ll be out of the hospital in no time,” she said and sealed up things with his DNA.

Sasuke looked annoyed but he would stay in the hospital. Tsunade got up and said, “just rest while you can Sasuke,” she began heading out of the room. As she did, Sakura was about to knock. “Tsunade-sama?” Sakura asked and then bowed. “Thank you again for healing Sasuke.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s my job as a healer to heal people,” she said as she held the samples. Sakura noticed them as well and Tsunade merely walked away with them. The pink-haired girl wondered why she had samples taken.

Sakura looked into the hospital room to see Sasuke still in bed. “Sasuke-kun, how are you feeling?” Sakura asked and closed the door behind her.

Sasuke didn’t want to talk to her. Or to anyone. Not with his mind still thinking about Itachi and how he was after Naruto. He would never forget that moment.

…

…

…

Sasuke had been running to different hotels and after so many misses, he’d thought he had gotten a hit. Only to be sadly mistaken. But he never gave up and he knew he only had one last hotel in this area to check.

It had to have Naruto!

He had to warn him about his brother going after him!

Sasuke didn’t even greet the lady at the front desk. He just ran through and began running up flights of stairs. His heart was racing! He was running against the clock! He had to be there before Itachi! He wouldn’t let Itachi have his best friend! He’d already hurt Naruto once before! Never again!

Sasuke stopped when he began hearing voices and he stopped at a corner.

"I can't believe that the Kyuubi is in this little runt," the shark man spoke to Naruto. Sasuke saw Itachi there as well and how he was looking down at Naruto. The blonde looked terrified. Sasuke could empathize with the trauma Itachi had caused.

"Let's take a walk," Itachi said. Naruto seemed to be under the man's control and walked out of the hotel room, eye contact never breaking.

"Hey, Itachi. It'll be a pain if this kid tries to make a run for it. Maybe I oughta chop off a leg," Kisame said as he grabbed his sword, ready to do the deed pleasurably. "just in case." Naruto reacted only a bit, gasping lightly and his eyes widen slightly.

"No need, we already have collateral," Itachi said, and his eyes moved to the hotel room. He broke eye contact with Naruto and walked inside the hotel room.

Naruto turned and screamed, “ NO! STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Naruto charged in, but Kisame grabbed his jacket and threw him against the wall.

Sasuke was confused but his heart sank with realization. Naruto had brought his daughter with him.

Itachi walked out, "you've taken such good care of her, despite your age," Itachi said and looked back at Naruto. "She seems well-fed…not mistreated either, this makes me happy," Itachi cooed in his monotone voice. Naruto's eyes widen with a look only traumatized people would understand. Kisame looked at his partner and said, "it's not like you to be all parental Itachi."

"Well, I am her father," Itachi said as he cradled the infant, making the baby coo a bit in her slumber.

Naruto's worse fear was coming true. He began to breathe heavily and was seeing spots. "No…she's not…she's mine…she's all mine , " Naruto said as panic rose within him. Itachi looked at Naruto and said, "she's my child…don't you remember our night together Naruto?" Itachi said and just so he couldn't bring up any more details, Naruto lowered his head. "Please…I'll go with you…just don't hurt her. Don't hurt my baby."

Itachi nodded, "make sure he doesn't get away," Itachi said to Kisame walked to Naruto , and was about to draw his sword out to make sure Naruto couldn't run away.

Naruto was frozen, but when he looked over for a fraction of a second, he saw his child waking up in Itachi's arms. She began to whimper, and Naruto just moved instantly. It felt like slow motion, but Naruto had gone to get his child, but he was thrown back once more.

Sasuke moved, revealing himself and he stood angrily at his brother. So he raped Naruto. He just confessed to it!

"It's been a while Sasuke," Itachi said, not turning his back to the younger Uchiha who had just arrived.

Sasuke grew angry and formed a Chidori in his arms. “It’s just as you said , brother. I’ve fostered my hatred of you.” He began to charge as Itachi, who was still holding Ai. His eyes widen. "SASUKE DON'T!"

Sasuke was stopped by Itachi so easily that it seemed surreal. Itachi held Ai in his left arm and Sasuke's wrist in his right. The electricity died down. Sasuke looked at Ai, and his eyes went back to Itachi. All he could feel is hatred for him. Itachi was truly evil.

Sasuke's wrist was snapped, and he fell to the ground. Itachi looked down at the girl in his arms and saw her eyes. He was nearly surprised by how much she looked like her brother. He didn't look fazed, “she bares quite the resemblance to us, Uchihas I mean,” Itachi said. Sasuke stood up on shaky legs.

It was when Jiraiya had made his presence known by protecting Naruto with a toad summoning that he looked away from the infant.

After some minor bickering between Naruto and Jiraiya, Kisame was too focused on Jiraiya and Naruto made a run for his child. Naruto wrapped his arms around his child, which Itachi let him have, and Naruto shielded her.

Sasuke went in for another charge, but Itachi’s kicked him against the wall.

“SASUKE NO!” Naruto shouted.

“Just back off! This fight is mine!” Sasuke said as he sat against the wall, the corner of his mouth leaking blood. Itachi came over as Sasuke stood up once more, and got beaten up once more.

As his brother held him against the wall by his neck, Sasuke remembered his words. “ You’re still too weak, you haven’t mustered enough hatred,” Itachi leaned in and whispered, “and you never will.”

That was the last time thing he remembered before the Infinite Tsukuyomi was placed on him and he knew was the pain of loss all over again.

Ai sat in Naruto’s lap as Tsunade was swapping her cheek. It was a painless thing but the easier Ai was to handle, the better. Naruto was still confused as to why Tsunade was doing this. “Is Ai okay? Her last physical was only a few months ago and she was fine.”

“This isn’t a physical Naruto,” Tsunade said as she soon got her samples and sealed them. She turned to Shizune and said, “take these samples to the lab immediately, and as soon as you get the results, get me immediately,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am!” Shizune said and grabbed the samples and hurried out.

Naruto frowned, “is something wrong with Ai? If there is, please tell me! I need to know!”

Tsunade sighed and stood up as she had been kneeling in front of Naruto. Ai just smiled and looked as though she didn’t have a care in the world, as most babies should. “Naruto, I was going through some files and I came across your daughter’s file,” she began and opened it. “I’m looking into her lineage because we may be able to capture your rapist,” Tsunade said.

Naruto’s eyes widened and he held his daughter closer. His chest was heavy and he began to remember Itachi from the last time he saw him. “It’s…her father is Itachi, Sasuke’s brother. He admitted to the assault,” Naruto said.

“The first DNA test says otherwise,” Tsunade commented.

“What first DNA test?” Naruto asked.

It only just occurred that perhaps the first test was done in secret. Naruto wouldn’t have any idea. “According to this file, you were brought in after giving birth unassisted at home. Your daughter was born 30 weeks premature and required immediate medical attention. As a protocol for this sort of case, we took some of her DNA and compared it to samples provided by Konoha Shinobi.” Tsunade explained. “Basically, someone was looking for whoever assaulted you.”

“O-oh. I knew the Third Hokage was looking into that but it just sorta stopped after a while. I thought maybe he forgot about it,” Naruto said.

“That isn’t the case. He found who the father was. We’re now confirming the name,” Tsunade said.

Naruto frowned deeper. “Wait! So if Itachi didn’t do it. Who did? What does that mean for Ai?” Naruto asked with a freaked-out expression.

He was about to have a panic attack and Tsunade could see it. Naruto got up and began to head for the door. Ai was on his hip and he tried to run but Tsunade got in front of him and stopped him.

Tsunade opened the door and was glad she asked Kakashi to wait outside. “I need your help, Naruto’s having a panic attack,” she said as she was able to grab a hold of him as he was trying to run for it. Kakashi jumped inside and the door was closed again. Tsunade knelt and began looking at Naruto. “Naruto, it’s okay. You’re okay,” she said. “I need you to breath me with me,” she said. “Deep breath in,” she said and instructed him. Naruto wasn’t paying attention as his eyes darted around the room, clearly trying to focus but his mind was filled with anxiety and dread.

Tsunade began again, making sure Naruto was paying attention this time. She tapped his face and his eyes focused on her. As Naruto took a deep breath in…and out…Kakashi reached down and swiped Ai from Naruto’s arms. The blonde reached for her back as though she was a favorite toy that was snatched away, but Kakashi began helping him with breathing as well. Naruto took several more deep breaths and it helped him a bit, but he was still anxious. “Concentrate on your breathing. Stay in the present,” Tsunade instructed. Naruto felt a little out of place and silly, but his mouth felt with all these heavy breathing exercises.

Breathe in through the nose…out through the mouth.

Naruto was helped to sit down slowly and Tsunade remained before him. Kakashi’s stood by with Ai in his arms. Tsunade thought Naruto was easing his breathing on his own, but as she was about to check him, his weight fell forward. She caught him easily and she saw that he had passed out. His breathing was a little heavy still, but she laid him on her couch and began examining him with her ninjutsu. His chakra levels were spiked from his panic attack and it would take an hour or so for his body to calm down. So she would let him rest. “I’ll have the results soon enough. If you don’t mind, can you watch over Ai in the meantime?” Tsunade asked.

“Yes. Of course,” Kakashi said. “I fear I must ask. Who do you suspect is Ai’s biological father,” Kakashi asked.

She shook her head, “I'm hoping beyond hope that I'm wrong on this, but when it comes to making bets, I always miss my mark. I fear for the worse,” Tsunade said.

Naruto opened his eyes to see the familiar trails of his seal. He was standing before the Kyuubi’s cage and saw the demon inside. “I know what brings you here, and it’s not for me,” the fox said.

“You…you know who assaulted me last year, didn’t you?” Naruto asked.

“I don’t know his name other than Uchiha. His Sharingan was beyond advanced. But I can help you unveil who it was,” he said. Suddenly beside Naruto was a red door with black commas designs circling it, spinning slowly as though it was a clock. Naruto touched the knock but chains spiked around it.

Naruto took a few steps back and stumbled onto his bottom, crawling away.

“What’s the matter? Scared?” The fox asked.

Naruto turned to look at it, but he kept quiet. “I have to do this. It’s for my baby,” he said and took hold of the knob once more and as though it was easy, he opened the door. Chains broke and walked into the memory.

…

…

…

Naruto found himself in the same training field that he always used to train in . It was private and out of the way so it was perfect. It was lightly laced with snow from the day’s earlier flurries. He had been busy throwing kunai in an attempt to practice and better his aim. He just couldn’t hit the target. 

And then a stray kunai was thrown and it hit the target.

In the past, Naruto had been confused, but now he was scared. He was scared to look. He knew what he would see but he didn’t want to admit it. He turned his heel to see a tall man in a brown torn-up poncho and light grey pants. He also wore bandages over his ankles and had a blue sash wrapped around his head. What was most memorable about this stranger to the blond was his eyes. He had one red eye and a purple eye. 

Naruto’s voice quivered as he remembered his words. “Hey , Mister! That was a wicked throw! You got the target and made it look easy! Can you show me how you did that?!”

Naruto wasn’t able to move freely, but he was the one who had approached the man. In the pale moonlight, a shocking resemblance struck him.

This man wasn’t Itachi…they looked similar but there was a difference.

Silently, the man activated his Sharingan and Naruto looked into his eyes and see little commas start to spin in a circle. Naruto soon felt dizzy and as he was falling back, he was caught by the man. 

As Naruto was closing his eyes, he thought he heard the man say something in a whisper. 

“Dobe, please forgive me.”

Dobe? Only one person ever called him that…

Naruto woke up to tears running down his face. He woke up with a massive migraine and a feeling of grief washed over him. He covered his eyes with his hand and sat up on the couch.

Tsunade, Shizune , and Kakashi were in the office, having just gotten the results back. The blonde woman walked over and sat beside Naruto, “there there, you’re okay, Shh,” she said and Naruto kept sobbing.

Shizune spoke, “we have Ai’s DNA results back.” She said. “We know who her biological father is.”

“Shizune,” Kakashi stepped forward. “Maybe let him calm down first.”

“Sasuke,” Naruto spoke his name. It felt almost cursed to say now. Kakashi’s eyes widen and he couldn’t believe Naruto said his name. “It was Sasuke…I remember everything now,” Naruto looked at his sensei and felt so weak. His chest felt tight again and it felt like he was reliving the assault.

Tsunade hugged Naruto and let him cry on her shoulder. She immediately turned to Kakashi. “I want Sasuke behind bars for what he did,” she said. 

Naruto’s eyes widen and he looked at the woman. “Wait, don’t do that!”

“He needs to be punished,” Tsunade said and looked at Kakashi. The gray-haired ninja understood. He would need an official order. Tsunade went to her desk and Naruto followed her. “Stop! Please don’t do this!”

“Naruto, if you have something to say, say it now. Because if this wasn’t an assault, maybe just two boys fooling around, then I can understand-“

“He was transformed as an adult when it happened. An older version of him,” Naruto said.

Tsunade nodded, “well the DNA test isn’t lying. Sasuke is Ai’s biological father. We need to bring him in for questioning.”

Naruto couldn’t argue with that, and that’s why he stayed quiet as Tsunade wrote up an official arrest warrant for Sasuke. Kakashi took the order and left soon after handing the sleeping infant to Shizune. Naruto walked over to the young woman and picked Ai from her arms. “So what now?” Naruto asked.

“I need you to make an official statement,” she said. She pulled out a pen and a few papers. “State what you remember and be honest. I don’t think you would ever lie but I have to say that. We’re going to file an official charge against Sasuke.”

“I thought we were just going to question him,” Naruto asked, looking panicked .

“We have more than enough evidence to convict Sasuke. As a ward of the village, you don’t get a say in what happens next. You’re still a minor and we need to punish him for assaulting you,” Tsunade said.

“But I don’t want him punished!” Naruto shouted. “I know…I know what he did was wrong, but he’s still…he’s still my best friend.”

“Best friends don’t rape each other Naruto,” Tsunade said. “For now, you shouldn’t have any more contact with him. I’ll assign a new team member for your team and we can move forward.”

Naruto’s world was spinning too fast for him. His last year and a half spun around him and he felt overwhelmed. It was not a surprise when Naruto collapsed to the ground, but what surprised Tsunade was the legs shaking and the far-out look in Naruto’s eyes. Tsunade jumped to tend to him, but he was seizing. She instantly picked him up. “I’m taking him to the hospital! He needs immediate medical attention,” Shizune nodded and followed after her, carrying Ai along the way.

Sakura was still visiting with Sasuke, just trying to keep him company. The sun was setting and it was getting close to visiting hours being over. She stood up as Sasuke was laying down, unable to socialize with Sakura. He would rather be alone but she was insistent on staying. “Well , it’s getting late Sasuke. I need to head home now, but I promise to be back tomorrow. What is your favorite snack? I can bring it by as a treat,” Sakura said.

“Don’t bother,” Sasuke said.

Sakura frowned, “okay then, well, goodni-“ she was cut off when Kakashi opened the door and saw Sakura. He didn’t want to do this in front of her. Behind him were two members of the ANBU Black Ops and they passed her.

Sasuke sat up in confusion. Why were his sensei and the ANBU Black Ops doing here? Before he could even ask, Kakashi went to his bedside and pulled Sasuke out of bed. “Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Uchiha Sasuke, you’re under arrest for sexual assault of a minor,” Kakashi said as he held Sasuke’s arms back and cuffed his hands with chakra locking limiters.

“WHAT?! I never assaulted anyone!” Sasuke shouted.

“You have the right to remain silent. I’d advise you to take it,” Kakashi said as he pushed Sasuke forward and handed him to the ANBU for booking.

Sakura was petrified by what was happening. Sasuke couldn’t have assaulted anyone! He’s been in the hospital! “Kakashi-sensei, you’re making a mistake!” Sakura shouted. “Sasuke’s been here the entire time!”

“This isn’t a recent crime Sakura,” Kakashi said. The man looked absolutely broken under his mask. These were his students. Naruto. Sasuke. Sakura. And this would actually break them apart.

Sakura grew angry. “Who’s doing this?! Sasuke is innocent! He would never assault anyone!”

Kakashi couldn’t say more. This made him gag. He turned to Sakura. “Go home. I’ll talk to you whenever I can but you won’t be sent out of missions for a while,” Kakashi said grimly.

He left the room in a puff of smoke and Sasuke was forcibly taken away.

Sakura hurried out of the hospital, and as she was leaving, Tsunade was rushing inside with Naruto in her arms. “I need a stretcher now! This boy is going through shock!” Tsunade shouted and the medical team hurried to obey Tsunade-sama. Sakura only saw a moment of Naruto being laid down on the gurney before being pushed to another room.

Shizune rushed into the hospital not long after Tsunade went in.

“WHAT IS GOING ON TODAY?!” Sakura screamed in horror.

Chapter Text

“For the millionth time, I never sexually assaulted anyone!” Sasuke desperately shouted as he was in an interrogation room. The young Uchiha was taken to the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force and was treated like a common criminal. Morino Ibiki was sitting across the table from Sasuke looking unamused. Tsunade had informed them of the situation and their job was to extract a confession and information out of him.

Sasuke remembered this man from the first Chunin Exam where he led the written exam portion. Sasuke gritted his teeth and felt shocks course through his body once more, taking his breath away. He was still in chakra binds and his chakra flared up with rage.

Ibiki stared at the Uchiha kid. Something about this interrogation didn’t sit right with him. Tsunade-sama had said this kid had sexually assaulted Uzumaki Naruto before they were genin. Ibiki remembered that day when the Third Hokage had made that announcement to the shinobi personnel and the line of questioning of certain individuals. There hadn’t been a lead and all the DNA that was tested didn’t match.

Until now. Ibiki held a copy of the results in his hands. He had met some sick people in his line of work. But this was also a child. Sasuke was 13 years old — did he really do this? The kid looked exhausted and distraught. No one could blame him. He had been going through shocks for hours now, trying to proclaim his innocence. He hadn’t even begun the interrogation.

“DNA evidence says otherwise Uchiha,” Ibiki spoke after a while. “Now, listen, I get it, boys get curious around puberty,” Ibiki began. He honestly wanted to throw the kid a bone. “Sometimes things happen and they go too far. Is that what happened between you and Uzumaki Naruto?”

Sasuke paled indefinitely hearing Naruto’s name. His chest grew heavy, “is Naruto…saying…I assaulted him?” Sasuke said quietly, looking at Ibiki with horror.

Ibiki stared hard at the raven-haired boy, “he didn’t need to. DNA doesn’t lie,” he said and threw the papers in front of Sasuke. The boy took a look and his stomach flipped.

“This is a DNA test taken earlier today by Tsunade-sama. She found documented evidence of your connection with Naruto’s infant daughter,” Ibiki stated coldly. “You’re a father, congratulations,” he said dully.

Sasuke had his entire world flipped upside down. He began shaking his head negatively. “No! My brother Itachi said he was her father. He had assaulted Naruto! I never touched him!”

“So Itachi was your accomplice?” Ibiki asked. “Interesting for a man who slaughtered his entire clan would help you rebuild it.”

Sasuke turned his head and vomited. He couldn’t handle this. “I never assaulted Naruto! I’m not the father to his kid!”

Ibiki stood up, “Yes, you are! Genetically that baby is yours and we’re going to make sure you never see the light of day again for hurting that boy!”

Sasuke stared hard at the man before him. He didn’t know how to prove his innocence and he knows he didn’t assault Naruto. He looked back down at the evidence laid out before him. His mind was racing.

He had a daughter.

He has a daughter.

Uzumaki Ai is an Uchiha descendant.

Ai was his child.

Sasuke thought back to his time with the girl. He had kept a distance since she wasn’t his responsibility. She was just Naruto’s baby after all. Small and goofy looking.

Those onyx-colored eyes of hers…were from him?! “ she bares quite the resemblance to us, Uchihas I mean,” Itachi had said.

Sasuke shook at those words his brother had said. “I…have a…daughter,” Sasuke said as he was coming to terms with that fact of life. Tears ran down his face. He…had a family…with Naruto. His throat tightened and he let out a sob.

“Yes, you do. Do you confess to your involvement in sexually assaulting Naruto?” Ibiki asked.

Sasuke shook his head no. “I swear I never touched him like that, but if someone used my DNA to make that baby…then I’ll accept her as my child…and I request to be in her life as her father.”

Ibiki’s eyes widen and he slammed his hand down on the table. “You will not be in that girl’s life! You’re a criminal Uchiha!”

“I NEVER DID ANYTHING!” Sasuke shouted. As he did, more shocks from his limitators shook his being and he collapsed onto the floor, jolting and shaking. Sasuke drooled uncontrollably and his vision was fading in and out. Ibiki walked around the table and stared down at the Uchiha. “Your crimes will reveal themselves sooner or later. They always do,” those were the last words Sasuke heard before his world went dark.

“He’s hyperventilating again.”

“Quick oxygen.”

“He needs sedatives to control his chakra spikes!”

“Naruto? Can you hear me?”

The voices sounded so distant and the boy couldn’t bare to answer them. He felt so disconnected from everything and he was lost. It felt like he was floating in a dark voice and was slowly sinking.

Breathing was hard to do, and yet he didn’t care.

But then it suddenly became easier and he found himself gasping for air.

Naruto became more aware of his body. He was feeling pain. He felt pricks in his hand and something attached to his chest. Some part of him wanted to wake up and fight off whoever was hurting him, but a warmth soon covered his being like a blanket and he returned to the void.

…

…

…

“Naruto had a heart attack,” Tsunade said to Kakashi. The jonin froze when he heard that. Tsunade looked exhausted. She had to do emergency surgery on the boy and while nothing was physically blocking his heart and it was healthy, his levels of stress were so high that it caused an attack. “To be more specific, he had Takotsubo Syndrome,” Tsunade clarified.

“Broken heart syndrome?” Kakashi questioned. “I knew Naruto and Sasuke had a bond but I never imagined it was so deep it would cause this,” he said.

“I think the news of what was going to happen struck him hard. He also seemed to remember the assault on him so that added to that stress,” Tsunade said. They both looked over and saw Naruto laying in the hospital bed, an EKG machine hooked up to him and a tube sending oxygen down his mouth was placed. His hand had a few IVs in there to provide fluids and sedatives. He would be out for a while.

“In terms of Ai’s guardianship, while Naruto is in the hospital, I hope you don’t mind taking on that responsibility,” Tsunade said. “If you can’t, I can make other accommodations.”

“I’m sorry but I’m not in the right mindset to be watching a baby,” Kakashi said. “I love the girl but right now, someone needs to watch over Naruto,” he said.

Tsunade nodded. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll keep her under my care. I have a full-time nanny who watches my boy, and I’m sure adding the girl won’t be much different,” Tsunade said. She looked at the window and saw the sun rising. It had been a longer night than she realized. “Please get some rest Kakashi.”

“And you do the same Tsunade-sama,” Kakashi said as she walked out of the door. The man stayed and pulled a chair next to the unconscious boy. He would need to inform Iruka of this. He knew how much the man worried about the boy.

And Sakura…

He would tell her about Naruto being in the hospital but not about Sasuke. He still had a few hours to worry about that. It was much too early to get people riled up. Kakashi’s reached over and patted Naruto’s head, heading the hissing noises the tube made to indicate Naruto was breathing. “Just rest Naruto,” Kakashi said softly.

The boy just remained unconscious and unaware of the world around him.

Sakura couldn’t sleep. She just sat quietly in her bed as she worried about Sasuke. Why was he always targeted? Why had Kakashi arrested him with the ANBU? She didn’t know anymore. She hugged her knees and just stared at the photo of her with her team.

And now she felt her heartbreak. They may not be a team anymore.

Sasuke…

Kakashi-sensei…

Naruto…

And why? Because someone accused Sasuke of hurting a child! It was an outrageous accusation! Sasuke wouldn’t hurt a kid! He was also a kid! They were kids! She shook her head. No! She refused to accept this.

Sakura got up, little realizing that it was morning and that she was still wearing the same clothes as she did the day before. The girl hurried out of her room and hurried down the stairs, ignoring her parents as she slipped on her sandals at the front door. She grabbed the knob and as soon as she opened it, she saw Kakashi who was about to start knocking.

“Oh, Sakura. I’m glad you’re up. I wanted to speak with you,” he said.

Sakura nodded in understanding.

After a quick goodbye to her parents, Sakura left with Kakashi.

“Sensei, where are you taking me?” Sakura asked.

“To the hospital,” Kakashi answered.

“But why? Sasuke isn't there anymore. You arrested him!” Sakura said loudly. Kakashi stopped and said, “keep your voice down. No one else knows about that,” he informed her. Sakura stepped in front of him. “I won’t take another step until you tell me what is going on!” She said.

Kakashi stared at his student and knew how stubborn she was when it came to Sasuke. He put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s more complicated than you know. I was going to take you to the hospital to visit Naruto.”

Sakura’s eyes widen. “Naruto’s in the hospital? But why? He’s fine!”

“No. He had a heart attack last night,” Kakashi informed.

Sakura’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “A…heart attack?” She asked. Kakashi nodded. “As I said, it’s complicated to explain. I thought you would like to visit him. He’s unconscious still but he had emergency surgery last night.”

Sakura shoved Kakashi’s hand away. “What does Naruto having a heart attack have anything to do with Sasuke being arrested?” She demanded.

“He had the heart attack in response to the news,” Kakashi informed.

Sakura gripped her chest and began crying. “Why did you arrest him sensei? He’s innocent,” the girl cried.

Kakashi couldn’t answer that question, but he could say, “when he wakes up, perhaps Naruto can tell you.”

Sakura went deathly quiet after that.

“I will say this, the kid does have a complex,” Inoichi spoke as he took a drag from a cigarette. Yamanaka Inoichi was head of the intelligence department and due to the sensitive nature of the interrogatee, he evaluated Sasuke’s mind reading session. The kid was unconscious from his earlier bout of electrical shocks from his limitators.

Inoichi was speaking with Ibiki after Sasuke was sent back to his cell. “His mind is completely engrossed was avenging his slaughtered clan. I know he was under the Infinite Tsukoyumi for weeks and that hasn’t helped his mental state. This interrogation didn’t help matters either,” the older blonde spoke as he took a long drag and blew out smoke.

“So what did you find? Any memory of the assault?” Ibiki asked.

Inoichi shook his head, “not the act. Either he completely wiped it from his mind, which is hard to do on your own, or Sasuke is being set up. My money is on the latter.”

“But the tests showed a genetic match. He is that baby’s father,” Ibiki said.

“Nothing indicated an assault to him or that he assaulted his teammate. His head is mostly filled with that traumatic slaughtering of his family. It plays on a loop in his head. I’d say we should be worried about him leaving the village than him being a sexual predator,” Inoichi spoke honestly.

“How do you know he would leave the village?” Ibiki asked.

“I saw Orochimaru in his head,” the man said. Ibiki paused but Inoichi continued, “He’s lured him and he’s a few steps from crossing a dangerous line. If we don’t do something, Sasuke will become a traitor to the village.”

“So he didn’t assault his teammate and yet he’s a father,” Ibiki said. “And he wants to leave the village.”

“Yep. We can’t keep him here if he hasn’t committed a crime.”

“Tsunade-sama is not going to be happy to hear this,” Ibiki said.

Inoichi threw away the remaining bud from his cigarette and he pulled out another one, ready to start smoking but he stopped himself. “Sasuke was in the same class as my daughter. She has a crush on him,” he said. “They’re just…they’re kids.”

“Naruto was a younger kid when he became a parent,” Ibiki added.

“And that sickens me,” Inoichi said. “He’s a kid! The jinchuriki of the Kyuubi but still a kid. I remember when he used to pull pranks around the village,” he said and groaned. “It’s heartbreaking to know a kid was put into that position. I think about that and I go ‘I’m glad it wasn’t my daughter’ but then I just get sad because I know that kid never had protection.”

“If the world was a perfect place, all kids would have loving parents with no wars …and we would be out of a job.” He said.

Inoichi put his cigarette back in the box. “It’s early and we pulled an all-nighter. I’m going home.”

Ibiki stood silently after Inoichi left the area. He sighed and headed to the break room where there were bunks for overnight missions and late night. He would crash there.

But that would be after he makes his report to the new Hokage.

Sakura stared down at Naruto’s unconscious form. He was unmoved since Kakashi had last seen him. He was stable. That was good. What wasn’t good was that he was in this position.

Kakashi stood beside Sakura quietly and after a few moments, they saw Naruto’s fingers twitch and his heart rate increase. At a surprising moment, Naruto’s eyes opened and a look of panic was on his face. He sat up in surprise, tugging some wires connected to him off him. He began gagging and pulled off the tube that had been helping him breathe. He coughed heavily a bit.

“Naruto!” Kakashi moved in front of Sakura and began patting his back, trying to soothe him. He put a hand on his chest, feeling the tightness of his skin. “What happened?” Naruto asked.

“You had a heart attack,” Kakashi answered in a gentle tone. “Your panic attack was so massive that it caused your heart muscles to contract,” he said and once Naruto’s coughs settled, Kakashi eased him back down. Naruto kept a hand on him. “Sa…Sasuke? Where-?” Naruto looked around and his eyes fell on Sakura. Her eyes were building with tears.

Kakashi moved into his line of sight, “don’t think about him right now. Think about yourself. You need rest,” Kakashi coaxed.

A few medical personnel came in and Kakashi had to hold them off for a moment. He looked back at Naruto. “You’re going to let the medical team take care of you now. Your body is recovering.”

Kakashi gestured for them to come in closer. Naruto shook his head. “No! I can’t! I’m fine! I have to save Sasuke!” Naruto tried to sit up, but he was struggling against the doctor and nurses. That was until he was injected with a powerful sedative and his body went rigid before collapsing and finally relaxing. They worked on getting the monitors back on his body and changed the IV bags.

Sakura just watched as she couldn’t do anything else.

Chapter Text

“And you’re sure this is accurate information?” Tsunade asked.

“Positive. While we don’t think Sasuke assaulted Naruto, we believe he may be a flight risk,” Ibiki said. “Sasuke has the motivation to leave after this and we need to make sure he doesn’t.”

Tsunade bit the tip of her thumb. She knew she couldn’t keep Sasuke detained without good reason and yet there was an investigation going on. She pondered to herself. Tsunade knew she was opening a can of worms when she reopened the investigation, and while she got her answers, it only led to another issue.

Plus there was Naruto to think about. He had fought hard to keep Sasuke out of trouble that it crushed his heart, almost literally. Plus there was a baby involved.

She stood up and said, “keep Sasuke detained. While this evidence shows that he didn’t commit the act, the new evidence of him becoming a possible traitor is something to keep him holding for a bit.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ibiki said, turned, and left the office.

Tsunade sat back down and sighed, tempted to grab her sake bottle and chug it down, but she stopped herself. She still had to study for Rock Lee’s surgery.

So she went back to work…

Sasuke sat in a small cell with chakra-resistant bands on his wrists. They weren’t chained together but he couldn’t perform any jutsus without shocking himself to death.

The cell was private and away from other prisoners so no one knew he was here except for those who imprisoned him.

Including his own sensei. That one hurt the most. He had trusted Kakashi but now he didn’t think he could look at the man the same way again.

All because Naruto’s brat was his?!

Sasuke wanted to deny it, but even before all of this, Sasuke felt some kind of a connection with that kid. She was a babbling baby and yet she was his.

His and Naruto’s.

Naruto bared through it all alone. Secret Pregnancy, being a student, being hated…would he have been brave enough to do something like that?

The more he thought about it, the more he accepted it. Ai was his child. She was an Uchiha and not through Itachi — through him.

Sasuke meekly let himself smile. His clan could be revived. She was the start of it. His daughter…Uzu “No, Uchiha Ai sounds better,” he said to himself. He would raise her as the proud Uchiha she was meant to be Naruto be damned! That was his daughter now and he would make sure she knew the Uchiha ways! 

But with Itachi still around, Sasuke knew his daughter wouldn’t be safe.

And he needed to be stronger to defeat him.

He felt his shoulder pulse, or rather, the curse mark. He placed a hand on his shoulder, surprised to even feel the curse mark as his chakra was being suppressed. It made him remember who gave him that mark and the power he promised.

He would need to go to Orochimaru…but how?

Sakura didn’t stay in the hospital. She couldn’t bare to look at Naruto. She remembered how pale and clammy he looked, and how he was devastated when their eyes met. Naruto was so worried about Sasuke, as was she, but she didn’t know just how much Naruto cared about him.

Sakura stood at the small red bridge where Team Seven would always meet. It almost feels nostalgic now. She just stared at the water, at her reflection. Her mind still wrapping around the situation.

Sasuke was arrested, and Naruto was in the hospital.

“Hey! Sakura!”

The pink-haired girl turned her head as she saw Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru approaching her. Ino ran forward and said, “we were wondering if you wanted to join us for some lunch!” Ino said. “We’re willing to wait for Sasuke and Naruto as well.”

Sakura shook her head, her grimaced expression finally taking notice.

“Yeesh, what’s wrong with you?” Ino asked directly.

“I have a lot on my mind. You guys just go ahead with me. Sasuke…” she paused and felt her tears begin to build. “…and Naruto…they…they won’t be able to join either,” she said and her tears fell.

Team 10 watched as Sakura was barely holding it together, but as she was breaking down, Ino went up to her and Sakura wrapped her arms around her.

Shikamaru stepped in, “so where are Sasuke and Naruto?”

Sakura looked at new Chunin, “Naruto’s in the hospital…he…he had a heart attack!” She cried.

Everyone’s eyes widen. Shikamaru was stunned, “a heart attack? But…how? I mean he always eats ramen but he's still really young to be having something so serious,” Shikamaru said and paled at the memory when he and Choji found Naruto after he had literally given birth to his child.

Choji gripped his chip bag a little closer.

“Naruto was distressed. Something happened and I…I can’t talk about it!” Sakura said with more tears.

Ino held her friend a little tighter. “Why can’t you talk about it?”

“Kakashi-sensei told me not to. I can only say Naruto is in the hospital. He doesn’t look good either,” Sakura said.

“We should go visit him,” Choji suggested. “I’m sure he would like the company.”

Sakura shook her head, “it’s…it’s too soon for guests. It was hard seeing him all hooked up to those wires like that. It was worse than when Sasuke was in the hospital.”

Each member of Team 10 have each other a strained expression as Sakura continued to cry. Eventually, Ino began walking Sakura home. Shikamaru and Choji gave each other a look and they began walking to the hospital.

Naruto was their friend and they knew he would like their company.

Steps in the hospital corridor seemed to echo as Neji and Rock Lee walked the halls. Neji walked beside his teammate but he wasn’t there just to visit Lee in his time of need. In his arms, Neji carried a one-year-old boy who had brown hair and matching white eyes as Neji. The boy held onto Neji, trying to climb up and grab hold of his long hair, but Neji expertly knew how to keep the boy’s tiny hands away. The baby was wearing a traditional beige-color jinbei with the Hyuga crest on his back.

“I heard Tsunade-sama is working to improve your chances of surgery,” Neji spoke.

“Yes. She’s working hard for my sake,” Lee said and looked at the boy in Neji’s arms. He gave a weak smile, “how is Young Senji doing today? Did his check-up go well?” He asked.

Neji looked a little comfortable, “he’s hitting most of his milestones, though he isn’t up to where he should be in terms of talking,” Neji said. It was his way of saying “Senji doesn’t call me Dad.”

Rock Lee could sympathize in terms of being behind his peers. Still, Senji was young and he had the power of youth on his side. “He’s not even a year old. I think you’re worried over nothing.”

Neji stared at Lee, “he’s 15 months old.”

Lee paused and cleared his throat. “Well anyways, I stand by what I said, you have nothing to worry about. Senji will talk when he wants to, and then you’ll be regretting that when he’ll be loud,” Lee tried to joke, but Neji stared harder at his comrade. It was the kind of look a parent gave their child to tell them to “be quiet” without actually being angry.

Lee felt Neji’s subtle “mom vibes” and decided to shut up after that.

As they walked toward the exit, they passed the receptionist desk where Iruka was standing in sheer panic. “Where is Naruto’s room?!”

That made the boys stop and turn their heads. Naruto was in the hospital?

The nurse behind the desk looked a little uncomfortable. “Sir, can you please calm down?”

Iruka did try to calm down, “you’re right, I apologize. It’s just, I need to know if it was true that Uzumaki Naruto has been admitted.”

The nurse pulled up her list and nodded, “yes. Naruto has been admitted to the hospital. He’s in room 308 but sir please be respectful, he’s still recovering from a delicate procedure,” the nurse said.

Iruka thanked the nurse and as he turned, he saw his former students Neji and Lee. “Oh, hello boys.”

“Are you here to visit Naruto?!” Lee asked. He owed the boy for helping bring Tsunade back to the village.

Neji held his son and said, “we overheard you saying you're here to see him.”

Iruka nodded. “Yeah. If you want, you can come with me and see him. I don’t know what happened but I was told it was something serious,” Iruka said. Kakashi had told him “Naruto is in the hospital” and Iruka ran over so fast and left Kakashi in the dust without finishing his explanation.

“May we come with you to visit him?” Lee asked.

Iruka blinked but smiled, “I’m sure Naruto would appreciate the company,” he said and Iruka soon led Lee and Neji to Naruto’s hospital room.

As they walked, Iruka could help but notice the baby in Neji’s arms. Iruka smiled, “so are you watching over a little cousin?” He directed the question at the Hyuga.

“This is my son,” Neji stated.

Iruka fought the urge to look surprised but much like Naruto, Neji was way too young to have a son. So he merely asked, “so what’s the little guy’s name?”

“Senji,” Neji answered.

“Naruto also has a child around his age, maybe Senji and Ai could be friends,” Iruka said with a smile.

“Oh Yes! Little Ai-chan!” Lee said. He remembered seeing her a few days ago with Naruto when Tsunade was brought to him. Naruto was carrying her around. He’d only seen glimpses of the infant but she was cute if he remembered correctly.

Neji looked down at his son and said, “perhaps it is time for Senji to interact with other children around his age.” The Hyuga had kept the boy hidden at the Hyuga estate due to the nature of his conception and the shame of being raped by a main branch family member.

Neji did not like talking about it for obvious reasons…or the fact that he’d intersex which he swore to take that secret to the grave.

They were in front of Naruto’s door soon enough and after a few knocks, Iruka opened the door. Though Iruka was surprised to Shikamaru and Choji were already in the room.

“Hi guys!” Choji said as he munched on a bag of potato chips.

“Shikamaru? Choji? Are you boys here to visit Naruto as well?” Iruka asked.

“Yeah. Sakura told us he was in the hospital because of a sudden heart attack,” Shikamaru said.

“Heart attack?!” Iruka repeated in horror. He had no idea it was this serious! He hurried over to Naruto’s bedside and watched the boy sleep. His heart was steady for the moment but Iruka was concerned about Naruto’s breathing. He had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth but he was still breathing heavily a bit.

Neji and Lee were just as shocked as Iruka, but they held back their shock when they saw the older man freak out. Instead, Neji used his byakugan and took a look at Naruto’s chakra. He could see how Naruto’s chakra around his heart was tight and seemed to have a hold of his organ. While having a chakra network around the heart was normal, this one was tightly wrapped and it was responding to high chakra spikes, causing what appears to be “heart attacks.”

“His chakra network is wound up tight around his heart,” Neji said. “He would need a specialist who could unwind the network. It’s too much and stress would make it worse,” Neji said.

“Poor Naruto. How did this happen?” Lee asked.

“I’ve heard of stories of people who go through great stress and grief that their bodies begin to fight within itself. The charka around his heart is responding to his emotional state,” Neji said.

Everyone’s eyes widen. “So you’re saying he’s causing this?” Shikamaru asked.

“Unknowingly,” Neji clarified. “Whatever caused him this much stress has to be big. Does anyone know if something happened to him recently?” Neji asked.

Everyone shook their heads no. For many of them, this was the first time they’d seen him since he returned to the village.

While the group began to theorize what may have caused this to happen, Naruto quietly opened his eyes. He was hearing people talk and the only one who noticed was Shikamaru. The boy smiled, “welcome back to the world of the living.”

Everyone turned and gathered around Naruto’s bed.

“Naruto! I’m so glad you're awake!” Iruka said.

The boy sat up, despite the stunned looks of his friends. He was stunned to see them, but he wasn’t in the best of moods. His eyes were half open and he seemed lethargic. He looked at Iruka.

“How are you feeling Naruto?” Iruka asked.

Naruto shook his head, “I’m fine,” he said and began to remove his blanket in an attempt to get out of bed. He was wearing a hospital gown and had everything attached to him, including a catheter. He groaned, “how long was I knocked out?”

“We don’t know, we only heard you were admitted to the hospital today,” Choji answered.

Iruka stood firm, “you need to stay in bed,” he said and as Iruka reached for him, Naruto smacked his hand away. Everyone was quiet but Naruto soon began to break down. “I’m sorry…Iruka-sensei, I’m so sorry,” he said and began crying. “Sasuke’s in jail because of me!” He cried.

Now that was a shock of news no one knew about.

“What?! Sasuke is in jail?!” Rock Lee asked in astonishment.

“Naruto, why is he in jail? And why do you blame yourself?” Iruka asked gently.

Naruto’s breathing began to get erratic. He clutched his chest. It felt as though his entire body was rejecting the truth.

His heart monitor began to pick up his beating and make a sound. Whatever happened needed to be said. It was going to kill Naruto if he didn’t say it!

Iruka got in front of him, “Naruto,” Iruka began and touched his cheek. “You’re here. You’re safe. Whatever Sasuke did, you’re not to blame.”

Naruto’s eyes darted to Iruka, and he forgot about everyone else in the room. “Sasuke…is Ai’s father,” he said with a surprisingly calm voice.

“WHAT?!” Iruka shouted in pure horror. Everyone else was just as stunned!

“Naruto, how do you know that?” Iruka asked.

Naruto’s energy dropped instantly, he slouched forward, still holding onto his scrub close to his heart. “There was a…test…Granny Tsu-“ Naruto’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the bed. His heart monitor made a noise that stunned everyone.

His heart stopped beating.

Neji used his byakugan again, revealing his chakra was squeezing his heart so hard that it made it stop beating. Neji thought on his feet and saw that Naruto’s chakra network was going crazy. He handed his son to Shikamaru and he went to work. Part of his training as a Hyuga clan member was understanding the chakra network. If he pressed certain points, he could make them stop working.

And Neji was a prodigy who owed Naruto a debt.

The Hyuga member began pressing in chakra points near Naruto’s heart to loosen them up, and he was beginning to see the evidence of his work by the heart monitor and Naruto’s visible reactions. The chakra around his lungs was also getting tight and with a few skilled jabs, he loosened them up.

It was a temporary fix. Naruto would need chakra surgery to fix his insides.

Neji finished just before the medical personnel came in. He turned to them and said, “had I not been here, he would have died of a crushed heart by his own chakra network,” Neji said as he deactivated his byakugan and went to pick up his son again, who had no idea what was going on.

The medical team went to work examining Naruto everyone was shoved out of the room.

and that was when they saw Ino and Sakura standing there were a flower in their hand and mortified expressions on their faces.

“Sasuke…raped Naruto?” Ino asked.

Sakura growled. “No! No way! I know Sasuke! He would never do such a thing! Naruto is a liar!”

Everyone knew Sakura was in the wrong. They all took a step back as Iruka glared at her. Everyone was pissed and no one would stand for this slander.

“Sakura. How dare you accuse Naruto of lying, especially about this,” Iruka said.

“Yeah. He wouldn’t lie, not when it comes to something like this. His kid’s involved.” Shikamaru said.

“Oh you mean like when he hid the fact he was pregnant in the first place? And didn’t tell anyone about it,” Sakura said.

“Keeping a secret and lying are two different things,” Neji spoke.

Sakura looked at Neji, and then noticed the kid, and said, “so you’re just like him then? A freak who got pregnant as a kid?”

“Careful Sakura,” Neji spoke coldly, “I don’t think you want to start a fight with me, because you’ll lose.”

“You threatening me Mr. Mommy?” She asked. “I know you have the byakugan and could see my chakra points, but can you even fight with a baby hanging off your chest?”

Neji’s eyes snapped to the byakugan quickly. It took everyone in Shikamaru and Choji’s ability to hold him back. The ruckus was loud and as Neji was held back, Sakura was held by Ino.

Lee mostly just looked uncomfortable as he couldn’t step in and stop this.

Iruka stepped on. “Enough! This is a hospital!” He said and turned to Sakura, “you need to leave, right now,” he said.

Sakura scoffed, “fine. I’m not siding with a liar. Sasuke is innocent and once that is revealed, you will all know Uzumaki Naruto is a liar!” She said and hurried out of the hospital room, dropping her white Lily flower and stepping on it as she left.

Everyone just stood around and knew they wouldn’t be welcomed back into the room. They also needed to process the news they just heard as well.

Iruka remained and he groaned, hating everything about this mess. He mostly hated how much it was hurting Naruto so much. He hoped the boy could recover from this. He couldn’t handle it if Naruto died.

He would break.

Chapter Text

“Surgery?” Iruka asked with a scared expression.

He and Kakashi were brought to Naruto’s hospital room. It’s been more than a day since Iruka first saw Naruto in the hospital and Tsunade was just informing the two adults in Naruto’s life about the operation. Iruka was holding Ai in his lap, and the girl innocently was sitting with the occasional giggle. She had no idea what was going on as the adults spoke seriously around her.

Tsunade nodded grimly. “It’ll be a chakra operation. A delicate one considering what organs are being affected,” she said. “I’m going to reset his chakra network and work to remove the excess stress from around his heart and lungs,” she said.

Kakashi reached over and held Iruka’s hand. That was a dangerous operation. Resetting a chakra network was akin to nearly stopping all organs from functioning and restarting them safely was like jumpstarting the heart to begin beating again.

“This type of surgery is dangerous, right?” Iruka asked.

Tsunade nodded. “I believe Naruto is strong enough for it, but it is still a delicate process, even for expert hands such as mine.” She said and pushed a document to them. “Naruto will need a lot of care post-operation. He won’t be able to use any of his chakra for weeks and he will experience some weakness in his body. However, like with many operations, there is the possibility of death,” she said. “I hate talking about this, but if Naruto dies, we will need a new jinchuriki,” Tsunade spoke.

Iruka and Kakashi paled. They uneasily looked at the child in their arms. Iruka began shaking his head no. “No way. Not Ai. Naruto would never approve of this,” he said.

“She’s the only one who’s able to handle the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto was pregnant with her and thus was nursed with that same chakra during his pregnancy. It’s evident by the whisker cheeks on her face,” Tsunade said.

Iruka began crying. “Not Ai! Anyone but her! She’s just a baby! She doesn’t deserve to have that monster inside of her!”

Kakashi helped ease his secret love and held him in a hug. “We won’t love her any less if she became a jinchuriki,” he eased. It didn’t help the distraught man from crying hopelessly.

Tsunade stood up, “I won’t let Naruto die in surgery!” She stated. “I am not some hack. Naruto will survive and he will be okay afterward. This will not kill him!”

Iruka nodded a bit, but he held Ai close to him and patted her head gently. He saw the baby as though she was his, or something similar to a grandfather, and he wouldn’t let her suffer the way her mother suffered in childhood.

She looked over and saw her dad laying in bed and she began to reach out to him. “Na-na! Na-Na!” That was her way of saying “Naruto” and “Mama.” The men looked at the unconscious boy and silently began praying for this operation to be a success. Not just for AI’s sake, but because they loved the boy who fought so hard for what he has now.

“When will the surgery take place?” Kakashi asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Tsunade said. “I hope Rock Lee minds that I have to put his surgery on hold for a while. I can’t exactly be ready for his immediately after this operation,” she said. “I hope you two will be there and bring Ai.”

Iruka felt his heart clutch. He nodded obediently. “Yes, Tsunade-sama.”

The woman took a glance at Naruto and soon she left the room. Iruka let out his breath and felt his heart race. He looked at the blonde. Naruto had bared so much over the years and now this…

Kakashi gently eased Ai out of Iruka’s hold and laid her down beside Naruto. The boy was waking up and he felt the weight of the baby being laid beside his head. He turned and saw his baby girl’s black eyes and dark blonde hair. She began to giggle, revealing two small teeth at the bottom of her mouth. Naruto weakly smiled, turning his body and holding her close with his right arm. “Hi baby girl, you doing okay?” He asked softly. “Daddy hasn’t been feeling too good but you make him feel much better,” he said. “Can I get a kiss?” He asked. Ai seemed to understand a bit and she crawled toward him and lunged at her “Nana’s” head and kissed him. Naruto smiled wider. He pulled her back a bit and held her close, “you’re such a good girl.” He rubbed her back soothingly and watched as her eyes instantly dropped down. The girl curled close to Naruto and then began humming a song to her.

Iruka and Kakashi watched as they hoped for the best. Those two Uzumakis deserved the entire world.

As they soon left the hospital, Iruka carrying Ai and Kakashi walking beside them, they were approached by Ibiki. “Kakashi,” the man spoke as he approached. In a dark long coat. “Can I speak with you privately?”

Kakashi turned to Iruka, “it’s okay, please go on home,” he said and patted Ai’s head. “Goodnight Ai-chan,” Kakashi said and the girl smiled in response. Iruka nodded to Kakashi and gave a small bow of respect to Ibiki before he began heading home, taking the infant with him.

Kakashi turned to Ibiki and they headed to the intelligence department…

…

…

…

“So Sasuke is cleared of all charges?” Kakashi asked.

“Of the assault? Yes, however, there is a new concern with him,” Ibiki said as he was escorting Kakashi to Sasuke’s cell. “We believe he has a high probability to leave the village.”

Kakashi’s eye widen. He knew instantly what Ibiki was referring to — his desire for revenge was strong. Orochimaru had successfully planted a seed of desire within Sasuke. The curse mark was just enough to make the boy crave more of his power.

“So what’s the plan then? Keep him locked up until he swears undying loyalty to Konoha?” Kakashi asked bitterly.

“No. Tsunade-sama purposed a home arrest solution with chakra monitors locked in his ankles,” Ibiki said. “You’re his sensei so the duty of supervision would end up going to you,” he said.

Kakashi hated this. “So you’re releasing him under my care?”

“Not yet. I’m letting you see him so that we can get a feel of how he reacts. Ever since the interrogation, he’s been quiet, but the few times he spoke, he kept saying some interesting things,” Ibiki said.

“Like what?”

“Like how he was going to raise his daughter.”

Kakashi stopped walking. He hadn’t been expecting that.

“He keeps calling her Uchiha Ai to himself. He seems fully committed to taking her. If he leaves the village and takes her with him, I can’t imagine what sort of life she would have.”

Kakashi felt his body stiffen. It didn’t feel like he was visiting his student anymore. It felt like he was visiting a predator. His blood ran cold at the thought of Sasuke taking away Ai. Naruto would go ballistic, possibly enough to lose control of the Kyuubi and go on a rampage.

They stopped before a cell and once Ibiki used his chakra signature to open the door, Kakashi’s peered inside. Sasuke sat against the wall, holding his arms around himself with his head down. The Uchiha remained still until he heard Kakashi step inside. “So you’re finally here to see me?” Sasuke said coldly. After all, this was the man who had betrayed his trust by arresting him.

Kakashi stood firm. “I know your Uzumaki Ai’s father,” he said and knelt to Sasuke’s eye level, “and I also know you didn’t assault Naruto. Someone used your DNA and hurt him. I want to apologize for assuming the worse in you.”

Sasuke gritted his teeth and barked, “you people didn’t believe me! I said I never assaulted him!”

“Naruto is convinced you did. Someone took your form and assaulted him,” Kakashi said.

Sasuke smirked, “speaking of Mommy-Dearest, where is he? I have the right to give him a piece of my mind for getting me arrested.”

“Naruto is in the hospital because he was so panicked by the news of you and his daughter being related. It’s serious Sasuke. Naruto had a heart attack. Tomorrow he’s going on for surgery,” Kakashi said.

That surprised the Uchiha. Surgery? Heart attack?

Kakashi continued, “not that you believe me, but Naruto never wanted this to happen to you. He was convinced you were innocent and he was right. However, you and he are forever connected to a child.”

“My daughter,” Sasuke spat at him. “She shouldn’t be living with Naruto! I should be raising her! She’s an Uchiha!”

“You took care of her once when Naruto was too injured and sick to do it himself. Naruto’s been with her since before she was born!” Kakashi said. “You don’t get to just jump in and pick and choose to be a parent whenever you want. Being a parent is a commitment,” Kakashi stated. “I’m sure Naruto would like to make some arrangements with you in terms of her care, but you don’t get to barge in and demand she be yours. That’s not how this works.”

“Like you would know. You’re not a parent!” Sasuke shouted. Kakashi held back the urge to smack Sasuke out cold. Not only did he care about Ai, but he also cared about his students as though they were his flesh and blood — Sasuke still included. The boy felt shocks course through his body and he let out a painful scream. When it finished, Sasuke remained still, only twitching a bit, “ever since I laid eyes on that baby…I felt this…connection to her,” Sasuke coughed out. “I thought it was because she was Naruto’s child, but she’s mine. She’ll have the sharingan one day and do you think you’ll be able to teach her how to properly use it?”

The possibility of Ai having the sharingan wasn’t even a thought that occurred to Kakashi. Now it made sense why someone would combine Naruto’s and Sasuke’s DNA.

Ai could become a powerful shinobi.

Kakashi stood upright and looked down at Sasuke. “If you want even a chance to be in Ai’s life, you have to go through me. If Naruto permits you visitation once he’s recovered, we can go from there. For now, you’ll be under house arrest,” Kakashi spoke.

“House arrest?” Sasuke asked and watched as Kakashi pulled out a photo from his vest. He always kept it close. He showed it to Sasuke. His eyes widened.

It was of Naruto holding a younger Ai. He had the goofiest smile on his face and Ai merely looked at the camera with curiosity. She appeared to be six-seven months old and they were standing outside of the academy. “This was of the day Naruto graduated from the academy. Iruka took a quick picture of them and gave me a copy.” Kakashi said. “You have pictures with Ai. You can have a life with your daughter. You just have to give up your desire for revenge.”

Sasuke struggled with that. Give up his revenge? He looked horrified. No! He needed to kill Itachi! Sasuke began shaking his head.

“Let it go. You gotta forget about revenge,” Kakashi reiterated.

“What?”

“Believe me. I’ve met plenty of guys who feel the way you do, trust me, for those who follow the path of revenge, it never ends well. And if you want to be in your daughter’s life, like you say you do, you have to give it up.”

Sasuke looked bothered. All he’s fought for, his goal was to kill his brother. But he had another dream…to restore his clan.

Ai was the start of that restoration.

Kakashi handed him the photo and Sasuke reached out for it, and as soon as he did, he stared at it longingly.

He felt an ache in his heart. He gridded his teeth at the thought of giving up his goals for revenge…but maybe he didn’t have to.

Sasuke looked up at Kakashi, “I want my daughter to have a better life than I did. Making sure she's safe from monsters like him will be my job as a father,” Sasuke said and tossed the photo toward Kakashi. “Killing Itachi won’t just be revenge for my clan, but an assurance that Naruto and Ai will be safe from the Akatsuki,” Sasuke said.

Kakashi’s eye widen as Sasuke stood up shakingly. His shoulder was pulsing and the seal that normally would have held back his curse mark wasn’t working. Sasuke’s chakra binders snapped off and flaming marks appeared on his face and arm. His sharingan activated and a third comma was added. “I’m taking my child out of this village and away from weak people like you.”

Kakashi had never seen this power from a cursed mark before. He knew it was powerful but never this strong! Sasuke began making signs for a fireball jutsu and Kakashi had to think quickly. He turned and he moved Ibiki out of the way. The flames that erupted from Sasuke’s mouth weren’t the typical common fire, but a powerful purple flame infused with the power of the cursed mark. Sasuke looked down when he was finished and saw the discarded photo that had completely burned off Naruto’s half of the image, and a corner of the picture was still on fire. Sasuke extinguished the flame easily and just saw the image of his child.

His child.

“You’ll be with me soon enough…my daughter.”

Sasuke walked out of the cell and knew he had to hurry. Alarms were already going off and Kakashi and Ibiki had flames covering their bodies they were trying to extinguish.

Kakashi failed Sasuke once again.

It was a late call…

“Uzumaki Naruto has gone into heart failure. We have to operate on him now.”

Tsunade led the operation, and it was a difficult one. It was more than just slicing the skin and removing blockages — she wished that were the case. No. It was worse.

Naruto was crushed by his own chakra. She began working on shutting off his chakra network. Her fingers were as delicate and precise as a scalpel and her skill as a healer were not yet matched. She had to essentially slice the restraints around his heart. Had she been a Hyuga, it would have made the process much easier to handle, but she could sense his distressed chakra pulsing in his body.

Slice…snip…keep his heart beating…

When the chakra network was almost completely shut off, Tsunade had been two hours deep into the surgery. Still, she worked. This wasn’t the first time she’d fixed his heart either…the bet for his necklace…

“The bet…I won.” Naruto had said as she was healing the muscles around his heart not too long ago.

She began disconnecting the strings of chakra wrapped around his heart. Not visible to the human eye, but Tsunade could sense them. Even with his chakra turned off, she could feel the strings as though they were tightly wrapped wires around the organ. She had to slice them out and let them disintegrate and work quickly to mend the correct chakra strings together — an even more delicate process.

It took several hours to make sure the chakra network would reconnect and to ensure that Naruto would be able to perform jutsus. Anyone can live without using their chakra, but to be a shinobi — no, to be Hokage, Naruto would need his chakra.

And she made sure his dream would become a reality.

That night was filled with dread as Iruka was going to bed. He couldn’t sleep. Kakashi should have returned sooner and Naruto was going to have surgery in the morning.

He and Kakashi did have separate apartments as their relationship wasn’t open to the public. Kakashi wanted to keep it on a low profile and Iruka wasn’t one for sharing his personal life.

They were happy. That was all that mattered.

Looked over to see Ai standing in her crib, making cooing noises. Iruka sat up and smiled, “no Ai, it’s bedtime,” he said as he got up and walked to her. Though as he did that, he suddenly felt his limbs restrained. He looked down as thick spider webs held him in place. He struggled. “What the?!”

“We’ll take her from here,” it was an unfamiliar voice as a strange man came in through the window. Iruka had never seen this man, but he recognized the headband.

An Oto ninja.

He was dark-skinned and had six arms and as he picked up the baby, he cradled her with the top set and looked at the other. “Like taking candy from a baby.”

“Or rather, like taking a baby from their weak guardian.”

“Bastard! Leave her alone!” Iruka shouted as he tried to escape, building chakra in his hands. The man smirked and jumped out the window and began running. He hopped from rooftop to rooftop with the baby in his arms. The girl didn’t feel safe and she began crying. This was a stranger and she didn’t like this. The man ignored her cries and they were soon outside of the village, where he met with four other people.

“You’re late Kidomaru,” the only woman in the group said.

“I had to make sure the precious cargo was safe. Damn brat began screaming her head off,” Kidomaru said as he held the baby out by her orange onesie and the girl continued to cry.

One of the people walked over and offered his hands out. Kidomaru lowered the baby and handed her to the guy. Ai sniffled and someone wiped her tears. “Shh, Shh,” he held her close to his chest and began soothing the girl. She began to hiccup and the one who was holding her smirked. “That’s it, such a good girl. My little daughter,” Sasuke spoke.

He turned to the four Oto ninjas. “Thank you for bringing me my child. I could never leave the village without her.” He saw the four ninjas bowing before him.

“Of course Sasuke-sama. Forgive us for our earlier rudeness. We hope this eases your anger with us,” the man with white hair and another head spoke.

Sasuke walked past them, not saying anything. He just held his daughter and stood on an edge of a cliff that looked over the village. “Say goodbye to Konoha Ai, because you’re never going to see it again.”

Chapter Text

6:46 AM.

The light of the operating room shut off and Tsunade slumped out. The surgery lasted longer than six hours. She was exhausted, but proud. She had saved Naruto once again and he would be able to recover.

Now it was her turn to rest.

BANG!

“TSUNADE-SAMA! We have an emergency!” A medical-nin shouted as he ran to her. The man was covered in blood and the woman shot daggers at the man. “Someone better is dying. I just finished a complicated surgery.”

“The intelligence corp was blown up and we have many who are injured,” the medic shouted.

“WHAT?!” Tsunade jumped up and ran to the emergency room department, where she saw many shinobis with serious but not fatal injuries. Many were being treated but her eyes went directly to Ibiki who was among the worse conditions. His body was scorched. “Ibiki! What happened?!” She asked.

He opened an eye, “the Uchiha kid…he’d…he’s used fire jutsu against us.”

“Sasuke? Where is he now?!”

“He’d escaped and began attacking everyone. It was like…something out of a horror story…he was a monster,” Ibiki groaned and was soon taken to the burn wards. Tsunade noticed that those burns were not normal.

What she wasn’t expecting was seeing Kakashi almost completely burned up. His body skin was so burnt that his flesh bled through the open wound and was crisped. He wasn’t even to stay conscious.

She stepped in to help heal his body. His was the worse. “I need several bags of painkillers yesterday!” She shouted and her hands began glowing a green color to begin treating Kakashi.

Iruka managed to free himself from the spider web and he immediately went to report to the Hokage. He hated himself for having his guard down! He could and would never forgive himself for this!

Iruka ran into the Hokage’s office and saw no one was around. The office was empty. The fact that it was left unlocked meant there had to be an emergency. He closed the door and began hurrying to the next place he could think to check — the hospital!

Iruka had never run as fast as he could in his entire life. He barged into the hospital and saw the remains of the people who were injured by the intelligent corp. Iruka ran to reception. “Is Tsunade-sama here? I have an emergency I need to report to her!”

“Sir, the Hokage is working on emergency patients. It will have to wait-“

“A BABY’S LIFE IS AT STAKE! THERE IS NO TIME!” Iruka shouted and turned to run but was stopped.

“Sir! Please! Tsunade-sama is busy! She can’t-“

Tsunade came out after finishing most of Kakashi’s healing. When she saw Iruka, her blood ran cold. “Oh what fresh hell is this?!”

“Tsunade-sama! Ai has been kidnapped by an enemy ninja!”

“YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!”

“So not only are we dealing with Sasuke leaving the village but we’re also dealing with a kidnapping,” Shikamaru recapped what Tsunade just explained.

“Yes. It’s crucial you round up a team and get them back,” the Hokage said. “We don’t have any higher ranked ninjas to send. Kakashi is out of commission otherwise I’d send him with you lot.”

“I still can’t believe Sasuke would do such a thing,” Shikamaru said. “I hate to ask this since time is of the essence but how is Naruto handling the news?”

“Naruto hasn’t woken up from surgery. His heart almost completely collapsed and was being strangled by his chakra. He won’t be able to go out into the field for a while,” Tsunade answered. “In any case, I need you to round up a team of genins who can go on the missions and you have an hour to do it. Remember, the more time we waste, the more time Sasuke has to escape with Ai.”

“Right,” Shikamaru nodded and soon headed out. As soon as Shikamaru was out, Tsunade, in frustration, knocked everythingoff her desk. She had a feeling she failed everyone. She sunk and hated herself. She regretted even opening that damn file! If she hadn’t, would everything be better? Would Sasuke have left the village if he hadn’t been incarcerated? She didn’t know.

All she could do was hope it wasn’t too late to save that child.

‘We were too late .’ Shikamaru thought as he sat in the hospital as his best friend and other comrades were being patched up. The chunin began running through what had happened, but he ultimately failed.

He failed his first mission.

He failed Naruto.

He failed Naruto’s child.

And he failed his teammates.

He sat across Temari, who along with her brothers, was able to help recover them from their fights.

But Sasuke got away. He wasn’t even there to see what had happened to Naruto’s baby.

Shikamaru’s mind went back to the day he’d discovered Naruto had given birth. How weak he was and how small his baby had been. She was a premature baby — of course, she had been small.

Still is small. A little runt almost.

He’d remember how the adults around him had told him that they were proud of him for his actions after the baby was born. He only thought of the obvious back then: take Naruto and the newborn to the hospital.

He wished it had been easy to get her back as it had back then.

The sound of heavy and slow footsteps suddenly entered his field of hearing and he turned to see the one person who he couldn’t bare to look in the eye right now — Naruto.

He was pale, nearly deathly so, and he was dragging an IV pole with him. His body was drenched in sweat, and his lips parted a bit as he took heavy breaths.

“Naruto! You should be in bed,” it was Iruka was had been running after him, but Naruto was ignoring everything he was saying.

“Shikamaru,” Naruto in a low tone. “Did…Sasuke…?

The chunin’s throat tightened up. This was going to be hard, but he had to speak. And as soon as he tried, he felt himself break down into tears. “I’m sorry! I failed!” He said. “I couldn’t bring back your daughter. Sasuke…that bastard took her!”

The sound of metal clashing to the ground didn’t echo as loudly as the sound of Naruto’s heart breaking. The blonde just stood there, looking into nothing, but he felt the world crush around him like his heart was being choked again. Maybe his body was trying to tell him something. Something about how his baby, his little Ai, was in danger?

Naruto felt something snap inside of him.

Someone touched his shoulder, and with the reflexes of a skilled fighter, Naruto grabbed whoever touched him and threw them over his shoulder, and slammed them to the ground.

Everyone was shocked. Naruto’s eyes glow red and demonic, and his chakra was flaring, or rather, Kyuubi’s red chakra was flaring.

The person who he threw, Iruka, didn’t fight back. Naruto got on top of him and he was ready to throw a punch. No one could get close to him and yet…

Naruto didn’t strike Iruka. He punched the ground next to him, purposefully missing him.

Iruka was scared, said as Naruto was in a demonic state, but he would accept it if Naruto killed him. He knew he didn’t deserve to live as he had failed him the most.

“Naruto, it’s okay,” Iruka said. “Take out your anger on me. I failed you.”

Naruto wanted to. He wanted to be mad. To blame others but as a parent, he blamed himself. And Naruto broke down. He sob loudly and clutched his chest, feeling the pain of loss.

His baby girl…

His best friend…

Something shifted in Naruto at that moment. He finally understood…he understood what pain Sasuke had been in. Yes, Naruto had been alone for a long time, but then he had his baby. His only blood relation. He grew her inside his body, nurtured and loved her — still does. He would always love his baby.

As for Sasuke…there was no love for him anymore.

“I’ll kill him,” Naruto growled, as he calmed down. As the red chakra was fading, Naruto collapsed on his side and off Iruka, looking lost. Iruka got up instantly and knelt beside the boy as he was crashing. Naruto continued to speak. “I'll get stronger…and I’ll bring Ai home…and then…I’ll kill him for taking my baby…” Naruto whispered and shut his eyes.

His heart: broken.