Blood In The Water: A Tenten Fan Fiction (#3 In Shifting Series)

Naruto

They were at the Ramen shop so long that Sarah realized that Naruto was going to be worried about her.  She had slightly different hours than she once had because of the boys, but she was never this late.  She cringed a little inside as well.  Not only was she late but she was going to be facing the music for bringing another one over from their world.  Naruto had specifically asked her to not do it again.  Not because she had brought anyone over that was a threat but because he was concerned as to how they would overall effect the future of the Leaf.  There was no question that the future that had been established was now way off course.

Just the marriages that produced children alone.  Her with Kakashi.  Melissa with Iruka.  Misti with Guy.  Who was to say that on down the road one of their ancestors would cause trouble?  Granted, Misti and Guy were only just now new parents.  Might Duy, named after Guy's father, was only a week old.  She smiled slightly, even when she was pregnant Misti had continued working out almost right up to delivery.  She was the fittest expecting mother ever in the history of the Leaf and she did not even look like she had just given birth.

"Sarah, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Anna suddenly said.  "You better get moving or Naruto will have a squad of ANBU looking for you."

Sarah grimaced and slapped her brother on the arm.  "Come on, let's go see Naruto."

Reno raised his brows but followed her as she started towards the Hokage building.  A few minutes later they were inside and outside his office.  Sarah looked at him.  "Wait here a minute..."

Sarah opened the door and peered around the corner.  Naruto looked up and a relieved expression crossed his features.  "Sarah!  I was just about to send someone looking for you!"

She came in and shut the door behind her.  "I'm sorry I'm late but... something happened."

Naruto's blue eyes slowly started to narrow on her, "What did you do?"

Sarah held her hands up, "Now I can explain..."

"You did it again didn't you," Naruto said while flopping back in his chair.  "Sarah, we discussed this!"

"I know, I know, I know... but this was different.  It's my brother.  He was about to be killed in our world and I just couldn't... I couldn't let him die when I could save him."

Naruto covered his face with his hand.  He then lowered his head to his desk before he finally lifted his head and looked at her.  "Last time, Sarah, last time."

"I swear, I won't ever do it again.  I promise!"

"You're lucky I love you Auntie," he muttered.  "Is he here?"

"Outside."

"Bring him in," Naruto said with a long sigh.  "I swear the Leaf is a refugee center for people from your world at this point."

Sarah grinned slightly at the words, relieved that he didn't explode like she had anticipated.  She went back to the door and waved Reno to come inside.  Naruto straightened up when Reno came in and she could tell that he was stunned at the size of her brother.

"Welcome to our world," Naruto said after a moment.  "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Hokage of the Leaf Village."

Reno smiled and gave him a slight bow.  "I'm Reno Klein.  I saw the show but I only watched it once so I'm a bit rusty on everything."

Naruto laughed, "That's actually a good thing.  Please sit down, tell me about yourself."

Sarah inched towards the door, "I'm going to do some quick sorting on the paperwork but when your done talking with him, could I possibly take the rest of the day off?"

"No problem, Sarah," Naruto said with a nod, however his expression said that he would be having a long talk with her the next day.

Sarah darted out of the room leaving Reno with Naruto.  Reno gave Naruto a weary smile.  "Please don't be too mad at her.  She's always been more like a second mom than a sister since she's so much older than I am.  I was in a very bad situation when she opened the portal for me."

Naruto sighed, "I'm just concerned about what will happen in the future for the Leaf."

"I understand," Reno nodded.  "So many variables to that.  Can I pose a thought though?  I don't know what kind of faith beliefs y'all have or anything but don't you think that a higher power of some sort might be allowing all this?  Perhaps for the betterment of the Leaf?"

Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Kakashi said something about that once.  He said that his father, who has long been passed, sent a message through Melissa when she was hovering between life and death.  That his father had 'arranged with a higher power' for Sarah to come here."

"I'm not a person that believes in consequences, sir," Reno said.  "The only one of the people that came here by Sarah's choice has been myself and Melissa.  From my understanding, our Mom came by an accident during Sissy's delivery.  Misti came here because Sissy was dying.  I would even say that my coming wasn't entirely her choice.  She had been having nightmares for weeks before she called me here."

Naruto steepled his fingers together, "I'll consider what you say.  Speaking of you, it is my understanding that you are a fighter with some skills?"

Reno grimaced, "I honestly don't want to do any fighting for a very long time if ever again.  I've seen enough death and blood to last me a lifetime or two.  I'm weary with war, blood, and death.  I want to do something constructive that I can do with my own two hands.  Creating, not destroying."

Naruto was surprised by the words.  It was a very different look to life than Sarah's.  She seemed to get a thrill the more she learned in her powers in fighting.  Yet her brother, he was worn out from fighting.  He could see it in his eyes.

"There is a lot of expansion currently going on in the village.  We have a whole new residential and commercial district going up behind the Hokage mountains.  They're making a train transit system that will go all around the village and the new districts.  There is a lot of work available through this if that is what you truly want to do."

"That sounds like just what I need," Reno said with a nod.

"How old are you, Reno?  You don't seem like you're much older than myself."

"I'm twenty-two," Reno responded.  "My sister was in her twenties when I was born."

"That's quite an age gap," Naruto said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, like I said, she's always been more like another mom or aunt to me than a sister," he chuckled.  "There were times people assumed she was my mom."

Naruto chuckled, "That's great, believe it!"

Sarah came back into the room.  "I got everything sorted out and back to Shikamaru."

Reno stepped forward and extended his hand to Naruto.  "Thank you, Naruto, for taking care of my sister all this time.  I appreciate it."

Naruto smiled, "I sometimes feel like she's been taking care of us.  You would not believe the mess this place was before she came on board."