The Gift of the Moon [Naruto]

Sasunaru

One week has passed since that eventful day. Luckily, I was not held accountable for my aid to the Hyuga revolution. Cause clan matter are internal and the council can only get involved if the Head Clan allows it, Hinata did not. Kami bless that girl. Word spread quickly not only about the Hyuga matter but also about my new status in the village. Wherever I went I was called princess, as Senju princess. The council even forced me to take on that last name, even though I did not want to. The village needed it, to strengthen it's image toward the other villages. Fortunately they allowed me to keep Kaguya too.

Konoha was a mess this whole week. The civilian council was furious about all the decisions taken without their say, they even dared to barge into a ninja council meeting once and act as if they were part of it. It would be an understatement to say that Jiji was mad. He fired every single one of them and spent the rest of the meeting deciding who would form the new civilian council. Normally Jiji wouldn't take such drastic measures so suddenly, he was all for second chances, but he already had enough on his plate to deal with snobby assholes like them. Not to mention he had been informed, by Ero-senin, that same morning that Itachi had killed Orochimaru and his assistant Kabuto.

The rest of the civilians simply needed someone to blame for all of the mess, like always. I hated that stupid coping mechanism of theirs but for once I was happy it was directed to the right people: the Elders. Not to mention the tremendous guilt they felt for mistreating 'Naruto' all those years and killing him after only being another victim of Danzo's schemes. Naruto's tomb has never looked better: clean, filled with flowers and even some ramen. It brought tears to me eyes. I even heard that they were planning on everyone pinching in and having a statue created on his honor: the Kyubi being mounted by a little boy with whiskers. Naruto was finally being viewed as a hero for being the jailer of the bijou, just like father had wanted it from the start.

As for the rescued Root members they all went through the un-brainwash procedure and returned to their families. Luckily all adults still had living familiars, unluckily all the children were orphans with no one tu turn to. They loved the Senju compound and seemed to adapt fast, but I could see how much struggle this was really taking from them. The good thing was that they had programmed a mandatory session with a psychologist twice a week for half a year and then only once a week for a year. Also, the civilians finally learned from their mistakes and started treating the victims as such. They flooded the Senju compound with presents for the orphans: food, clothes, flowers, even toys!

I even got Sai's brother to get himself checked out by a good doctor. They found out he is very sick but with the right treatment he will be as good as new and might even start the Academy not this year, but the next one. The bad news is that Danzo's money did not cover it, not with so many other orphans needing it. So I pinched in and gifted them with enough money, from my S-class bounties, to cover for the whole treatment and the medications. They were so happy with me, especially since I had also named Sai. They promised me that as soon as Shin got better they would join the Academy together. It still brought a smile to my face every time I recall their true honest smiles. I made a mental note to present them to Yamato-taichou, maybe then they can be a real family and help each other heal.

I was kind of surprised to hear about Kakashi-sensei taking over Danzo's place as head of the Anbu. Then again Kakashi-sensei is one of the best shinobi in Konoha, no one was better suited for that place. However, who would now be our sensei. I also could not decide if it was a good change or a bad one. I love Kakashi-sensei and he will always be my sensei, but he was a horrible sensei. Sasuke and Hinata will grow better under someone else's tutelage.

With all the mess going around slipping into the morgue and taking out Shisui's eye and the eyes of Sasuke's father. I had Kurama help me out identifying them. I had to keep them just in case Sasuke ever awakened his mangekyou. I can't have him going blind on me. It was so easy that I wondered how Konoha was still standing after so much betrayal. Then I laughed to myself, not believing that I even once doubted the will of fire.

Sending the eye and a note to Ame was much harder, Anbu were constantly on patrol. Konoha could not be left unguarded in such a delicate situation. But no one once thought of stoping a fox running wildly in the forest. After all, who in Konoha would ever have fox summons?

I sighed tiredly, as I entered the Namizake mansion. This has been such a long week, all I wanted was to head towards the mansion's library, rest and read some Uzumaki seal theory. I thanked my father for the intelligent idea of copying every single sealing material, scroll, theory and book left from the Uzumaki after the fall of the Whirlpool Village. The advantages of being married to the Uzumaki princess. Though that title now belongs to Karin and the title of Whirlpool prince to Nagato.

I was so deep in though that I did not notice Sasuke waiting for me at the living room. The three of us hadn't seen much of each other since the Hyuga revolution. Hinata had enough on her plate after the take over, Sasuke with dealing with the truth of the masacre and I with stealing the sharingan eyes and treating the Root orphans.

"Sasuke!" I screeched surprised "What the heck are you doing her?!"

"Oh, so I finally was able to surprise miss sensor?" he mocked me, chuckling slightly- though I felt no meanness in his tone.

"As if!" I snapped back offended "I simply was not paying attention"

"You should. Especially on times like this" he scolded me, expression serious "The village in pending on a thin line and anyone could have tried attacking Konoha's new princess"

"Watch it Uchiha, you almost sound worried" I joked, gazing away. I could not look at him directly, not when he acted like the Sasuke that used to kiss all my worries away and make it all better.

"Well, I am" he replied. I snapped my head towards him, surprised by the honest answer "You know, all the time I was at the Hyuga compound I couldn't stop hating you" I flinched at his words "How could you send me off when you could be facing death or worse. Worry and impotency ate me alive, I never once wanted to feel like that. But then I realized that once we become real ninjas this will keep happening. For the sake of the mission we would have to split up and trust the other to come out of difficult situations on their own. As you said this is no longer child's play at the Academy but real fucking life. And all I could think about is how you could have died and I... and I would have lost another person dear to me without them knowing what I really think"

I sucked a deep breath, trying desperately not to hope too much and afterwards be disillusioned. He might be talking about seeing me as a best friend.

"I thought that love was a distraction, something that would stray me from my path of vengeance. But revenge was taken away from me... no, I walked away from it. I do not regret that, the debt to my family has been paid and now my brother can return to the village like the hero he is. But what did I have left in life when my dreams were stripped away? If I had been asked that a couple of months back I would have answered nothing. But today I can calmly answer: a team... and the plans of a future family" my heart began to beat like there was no tomorrow at his earnest expression "And I can't imagine that future without you by my side" silent tears began to roll down my cheeks, he uncharacteristically smiled gently at me as he whipped them away with his thumbs "Don't ever expect me to be this corny in the future, this will be a one time thing. But there is no one out there who can stand next to me as an equal and keep me on my toes. What I am trying to ask..."

"Yes, you corny teme. The answer is yes" I cut him off with a beaming smile "I will be your girlfriend, hell I will be the mother of your children if you ask me nicely" I said teasingly "This is the most I've ever heard you talk, you know?"

"Shut up dobe" he growled, but the smile on his face and the arms around my waist were a dead giveaway.

"Make me" I dared, breathlessly as I waited for what I've desires for a year now.

"Oh, I will" he sassed me back, before smashing his lips into mine.

And oh, he did.