The Shadow's Fox

Chapter 19

Hey guys. Here's the next chapter. This one will kind of be boring for those that actually know the canon and characters because it's kind of an information chapter, but I feel like this is also necessary for the story. So, I hope you still enjoy it.

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It took about a week for Kurama to heal Naruto enough so that Naruto could make the journey back to Konoha. It only took them about a day, and Naruto was actually surprised at how close they were to the village. He was a bit surprised that no one had found him in the month that he was missing, but after Itachi explained that the barrier also made the cabin invisible, it all made sense.

Naruto beamed as they walked through the front gates of the village. "Man, it's good to be home again."

Shikamaru smiled and squeezed Naruto's hand. "Yeah, it is. I'm sure Shikadai will be glad to see you again. He actually took your disappearance harder than I did. I bet he'll be clinging to you even more now."

"I'm sure he'll want to be around his sister more," Naruto replied and looked down at the sleeping child in his arm.

"Naruto? Shikamaru?" they heard a man call out as they passed the gate.

"Hey, Izumo, Kotetsu," Naruto said as if he had never been gone.

The two men ran out of the guard station and up to the two. "Where have you two been? Everyone's been worried sick," Izumo asked.

"You had the baby?" Kotetsu asked.

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah. Meet Kairi." He held the girl out just a bit, removing his hand from Shikamaru's to make sure he didn't drop her.

"Wow, she looks a lot like you, but why does she have red hair?" Izumo asked.

"My mom had red hair. I guess I passed the gene onto her. You know, after meeting my mom's chakra, I've always wondered what I would look like with red hair."

"You'd look pretty weird. We're so used to you having your blonde hair," Kotetsu said.

Everyone laughed.

"You'd better get to Lady Tsunade's office and let her know you guys got away from Itachi," Kotetsu said.

"Yeah, Shikaku's been working like crazy to try and find you guys. I think he's spent more time at Tsunade's office than his own home at this point," Izumo said.

"We didn't get away. He let us go," Naruto said.

"Huh?" the two men asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Izumo cried out. "He's an akatsuki. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're not dead, Naruto, but..."

"It's a long story that I don't feel like explaining twice," Shikamaru said. "We've been traveling for a while and I'd like to get home."

"Right," Izumo said and the two men took a step back. "We're glad you guys are back."

"We're glad to be back," Naruto said as Shikamaru took his hand and pulled him away.

They made their way to the hokage's tower, but didn't rush, and got the ok to enter Tsunade's office. Shikaku looked at them wide-eyed before walking over and pulling both of their heads to his own. This surprised them a bit because Shikaku never really showed this type of affection before, at least not in public.

"Are you two ok?" the older Nara asked when he stepped back.

"Yeah, we're fine," Shikamaru said.

"Naruto, you had the baby?" Tsunade asked, eyes wide, as she walked up to them.