It All Started With A Smell

Daughters

Inoichi's POV:

Choza and Shikaku often said they felt sorry for him for having a daughter. How were you meant to be a protective dad to a ninja? Being a regular father to a little girl was hard enough. What they never realised was he had two daughters. Both of them were strong, one of them overwhelmingly so. Even though one of them passed as a boy they were both beautiful, in personality and looks. And unfortunately for Inoichi, both his girls were surrounded by boys. Ino openly flirted with boys she liked. He wished she wouldn't but he admired her confidence. Luckily she no longer cared for Sasuke Uchiha. If she did, Inoichi would have to track down the little snot and beat him to a pulp. But that would also upset his other daughter. His other daughter, the one pushed him away to protect him at such a young age. Naruto was almost the complete opposite of Ino in the regards t boys. Naruto was oblivious to boys. She hadn't realised that boys had liked her when she was young. She hadn't realised for some time that the bartender, Varric, liked her. And honestly, Inoichi was fairly certain that she didn't consciously realise that Shikamaru loved her. He wasn't sure if Naruto even understood what romantic love was or how to recognise it.

He had been steeling himself for the moment when he would have to see his godson get his heart broken. But then he and Ino had ran down into the crater and seen Shikamaru cased in a ball of chakra. Ino was still young with her abilities so she couldn't use someone's chakra to get a glimpse into a person's mind like he could. The moment he touched the swirling chakra he had seen Shikamaru looking at Naruto seriously, telling her she wasn't a demon, Shikamaru laughing with Naruto over dinner, and surprisingly, a moment where Shikamaru kept pinching Naruto's arm and asking if she now hated him for it. Inoichi was sure that that moment would make more sense with context. But those memories weren't for him. They were some of Naruto's memories that made her most desperate to protect Shikamaru. They were some of her memories that summed up her relationship with Shikamaru. Inoichi was thankful that he didn't have to witness anything intimate. The closest thing to that was the last memory where Shikamaru commented about a date they had planned for when Naruto came back. Even if she didn't know what feelings she had for Shikamaru, she did know he was important to her and cared deeply for him.

Putting the box of blankets down for some Genins to sort, he looked around for one of his girls. He could see Ino cleaning cobwebs from doorways with Sai. Inoichi grumbled, wanting to pull them apart but figuring he has no real reason too. Instead he spotted Naruto giving some children a gentle push towards the temporary orphanage. With a small smile, Inoichi started to walk towards Naruto.

He stopped short when a woman in her late twenties- early thirties, and a man in his fifties can up to Naruto. The woman spoke to Naruto, looking at the blonde eagerly. Her words halted Inoichi's steps.

"Mr Uzumaki, sorry for my bluntness but I'd like to talk to you about the Children of Iron."

Inoichi had heard that title before, spoken mostly in whispers. He had always been curious about the Children of Iron but hadn't known who to ask about them. The few he had heard mention the group in a familiar way had been unwilling to explain or to talk about it with someone not in their organisation. He had no idea that Naruto was one or how she came to be one.

"You can just call me Naruto," The blonde stammered.

"Hi, I'm Masako, I'm a village historian, and this is my father, Gaku. Dad was the first Child of Iron."

Gaku huffed. "I was one of the first." He held out his hand to Naruto who shook it firmly. "It's a pleasure."

"You were the one who gave them their name." Masako smiled at her father before turning back to Naruto. "I have wanted to document the Children of Iron since my father first told me about you all. You all are a part of the village and you have been around for fifty years, and yet your story has never been told. I've done research and I've discovered that you were the last Child of Iron. I have a request, and obviously you can think it over. I want to write a book on the Children of iron from the point of view of the group. My father has agreed to write his experience and so have many others. I was hoping the last chapter of the book would be your story and if you agree I was thinking of getting you and dad to write the introduction."