For the next few weeks, Naruto and Shikamaru trained. Every night they'd come home sweaty and tired and would play with Hinari before bed. It was the third week in, one week until the finals when Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting in front of a sleeping Kabuto. 

"I got it!" Naruto exclaimed, her blue eyes glittering. She stood up and walked over to the table where scrolls were piled upon one another. She grabbed a scroll and unrolled it, taking notes and sketching ideas. After ten minutes of Shikamaru staring in confusion, Naruto unsealed a brush and ink.

"Naru? Did you figure out how to break Danzo's seal?"

"Mhm! Wake up Kabuto while I practice the seal. A single mistake and this will likely kill all of us."

Shikamaru gulped. Well, that was a lot of pressure now wasn't it? He woke up Kabuto who sat up and watched Naruto work. After another ten minutes, which actually felt like a hundred, Naruto walked over to Kabuto, pulling her hair up.

"Tongue." She ordered. The grey-haired medic opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out. "No matter how cold this feels, nasty it tastes, or uncomfortable it feels, do not move."

Kabuto nodded and Naruto set to work. It was hard to paint a seal on a tongue, potential interference of saliva, and the fact that tongues are small and that makes fine detail in a seal difficult. So the Uzumaki worked slowly and very, very carefully. It took six hours of total concentration and caution before the seal was complete. 

"Kai!" Naruto slapped a paralysis seal on Kabuto, so that he couldn't move and disrupt the seal. That didn't stop the agonizing pain in his eyes, causing them to glaze over. After another hour, Danzo's ROOT seal finally broke, and Naruto's seal dissolved. Naruto then set to work on releasing the chakra block, allowing the loyalty seal to dissolve. And finally, Naruto released the paralysis seal, catching the now unconscious medic.

"Zabuza! Haku!" She barked, and the two appeared in front of her. "Keep him company, let him adjust. get him food and drink. He's not eaten nor drank all day."

"Hai Naruto-chan." Haku said, smiling. Zabuza just huffed, grumbling something along the lines of, 'Stupid grey haired brat talking up my Haku.'

"Awe poor Zabu-chan is protective of his ward." Naruto teased, jumping out the window, Shikamaru right behind her, catching her when she stumbled. The Nara sighed.

"Troublesome Naru. That took a lot out of you. Go home and rest, I'll tell Hokage-sensei and Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto shot him a grateful look and flashed home, causing Anko to jump and drop Hinari's sippy cup. "Sonuva- Naruto Uzumaki! Don't do that!"

Hinari just giggled from her spot on the couch. "Mama!"

Naruto flopped onto the couch and curled around Hinari, falling asleep instantly. 

Shikamaru sighed as he left the Hokage tower. The Hokage had excused him from training for the week, mainly to spend time with Hinari and strategize for the final round. The Nara turned towards the Hot Springs and leapt off in search of his girlfriends perverted sensei. He had managed to avoid the Sannin, and now here he was, searching him out.

"Troublesome Naru." He murmured.

"You're the Nara brat right?"

"Mhm."

"What do you want? I'm researching."

"Like I give a rats ass. Naru wanted me to tell you she wouldn't be training for the rest of the week because she needs to rest up and prepare." Shikamaru yawned. He looked uncaring and lazy on the outside, but inside, he was ready to flee. He was not going up against Naruto's Sannin of a godfather.

"Oh? And why couldn't she come tell me herself?"

"Because, troublesome pervert, She is tired. She broke one of Danzo's seals this morning. Now if that's all, I'm going home."

Jiraiya just turned back to his 'research'.

"What a drag." The Nara took off, making a beeline for home. He wanted to see Hinari. Five minutes later, and he was on the other side of the village, opening the door to Naruto's apartment. 

"Hey Nara. Can I go? I have a date tonight and I can't miss it."

"A date? You?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. 

"Y-yes!" The Nara looked at Anko. She was sweating, fidgety, and blushing.

"Have fun. And don't scare him too bad." He deflected the kunai thrown at him.

"Brat! Thanks! Bye!" And she was gone. Shikamaru walked into the living room where he found a beautiful sight. Naruto was asleep on the couch, Hinari curled up against her chest, a handful of Naruto's red-blond hair in her hand. Shikamaru sighed and walked over to the two. He gently kissed Hinari's forehead and blushed slightly as he brushed his lips against Naruto's cheek.

He decided to go cook something for when Naruto and Hinari woke up. He started up the rice cooker and pulled out some beef and gravy. He rummaged around for the mini grill and put some coals in, using a minor Katon jutsu to light the coals. He shifted in thought, before grabbing a few eggs and frying them without busting the yolk.

"So, What are you doing in my goddaughter's house?"

Shikamaru jumped, and quickly caught the pan and the egg, though the yolk busted. He glared at the Sannin. "Troublesome." The Nara sighed, scrambling the egg and placing it on a plate, lightly salting it and sprinkling some cheese before starting another egg, placing the beef on the now ready grill.

He handed the plate to Jiraiya, "Eat that, Troublesome Sannin."

He ignored the stare boring into his back, opting to pay more attention to his cooking. He placed the egg on a plate and started another. 

"Gonna answer my question brat?"

"Keep your voice down, You'll wake Naru up. She's tired." Shikamaru flipped the beef, sprinkling a little garlic on the meat. The food would be ready to dish up after the meat finished cooking.

"Nara..." Jiraiya's voice held a tone of warning. Shikamaru sighed again.

"I'm Naruto's boyfriend. Now please, can I finish cooking? She hasn't eaten all day." 

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, but closed his mouth. Shikamaru quickly scooped rice into bowls and placed the beef on top of the fluffy rice. He placed an egg on top of the beef and used a skewer to poke the membrane holding the yolk back, allowing the yolk to run over the beef and into the rice. Shikamaru warmed up the gravy and poured it n a bowl, not knowing if Naruto wanted gravy with her rice.

He brushed past Jiraiya and ignored the Sannin as he followed the Nara. He walked over to the couch and knelt, shaking Naruto's shoulder. "Naru, wake up. You need to eat something before going back to sleep."

Naruto yawned and sat up, expertly cradling a groggy Hinari. "Dada." She mumbled, rubbing her eyes and yawning cutely.

Shikamaru took Hinari from Naruto and booped her nose, chuckling softly as her face scrunched up and she pouted. Naruto sat up and rubbed her head. She had fallen asleep with her hair up, and now her head ached. 

"Why is there a child and why is she calling a thirteen-year-old Nara her dad?" Jiraiya stared at the child in Shikamaru's arms. The only resemblance was her right eye, which was green, like the Nara's.

"Sensei." Naruto yawned. "That's my daughter, Hinari. I'll let you figure out the rest as I-" She stood, her face blank. "Go and eat. Shikamaru, if he's too dumb..." 

"I will. You go eat, today's been tiring." Shikamaru smiled and kissed her. She blushed and smiled at him gratefully. The Nara watched her walk to the kitchen, and turned to face a pissed off Jiraiya.

"Did you and her-"

"Hell no. We were eleven." Shikamaru sighed.

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "She was-"

"Yes, and don't pity her now that you know. She's stronger from it, and I've been there for her so don't bitch about me hurting her. I'd never. Now get your ass in the kitchen and eat."

Jiraiya just nodded, still and shock. 'After the shock wears off he's probably going to be pissed and is going to want to know if Mizuki is dead. Of course, he doesn't know it was Mizuki, but that's for later.'

Shikamaru made his way to the kitchen and sat down, bouncing Hinari on his knee. He picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of his food. He nearly sighed in relief. He didn't cook a lot and had feared it'd taste bad. He picked up a jar of baby food and began feeding a happy Hinari. 

"Shika, this is good! I didn't know you could cook." Naruto murmured. 

"Kaasan drilled a few things into me after she found out I was helping 'Rin'. Also, I've picked up some things from Choji." Shikamaru poured some gravy on his rice, taking a bite and chewing. It was kind of awkward, Jiraiya was numbly eating, not really there. He seemed to be thinking, probably mulling over suspects.

"Brat, Nara said something about breaking one of Danzo-teme's seals? Was it his tongue seal?"

Naruto nodded, standing to get seconds, tossing an egg in the pan. "Yeah, I took what you taught me and used my clones to study and master them in one day. That's why I kept asking for more material. After you gave me the Masters Scroll I decided to experiment. I took notes and can give them to you, but you need to destroy them after you memorize them. This morning, I got an idea and tested it. It worked, and now we should have a ROOT agent under our wing."

Shikamaru tossed the empty jar of baby food in the sink and handed HInari to Naruto. He left the apartment and went to the office, grabbing a folder and going back to the apartment. He handed the folder to Naruto. She opened it and pursed her lips.

"Anko-chan lives next to us, Haku and Zabuza live above us, One room is still in need of repairs, and the other two are empty. If we're going to be taking in a few more ROOT, I'm going to have to call someone to merge the last two to make into a place for the recovered kids. The older members will have to reintegrate and will likely end up in Anbu..."

"Maybe we can get Tazuna-san. He basically owes us." Shikamaru suggested. Naruto nodded and pulled out a scroll. She began writing and went to tuck it away to give to a runner later.

"Give it here. I'll have a toad find him and deliver it. The runners left yesterday and won't be back for two days."

Naruto handed him the scroll and watched him bite his thumb and form some hand seals before slamming his hand down on the ground. A puff of smoke and a toad the size of Hinari appeared. "Gamanue. I need you to find a..."

"Bridgebuilder."

"Bridgebuilder name Tazuna in-"

"The land of Waves."

"And give him this scroll."

The toad nodded. "Ok, Jiraiya." The frog swallowed the scroll and disappeared. Naruto thanked Jiraiya before yawning. Shikamaru led her to their bedroom and pulled out her brush, sitting down and pulling out her ponytail.  The two ignored Jiraiya's watchful eye and Shikamaru began to run the brush through Naruto's hair gently. 

"Thanks, Shika." Naruto murmured, nodding off as she tried to stay awake, however, the repetitive motions of the brush tugging on her hair lulled her to sleep. Shikamaru supported her and shifted her to where she laid on the bed. He tugged the covers out from under her, and gently lifted Hinari from her ams. He covered her up and brushed her bangs from her face. He cradled Hinari in his arms, smiling at her adorableness as she snuggled into his arms yawning cutely.

Shikamaru walked by Jiraiya who followed behind him closely. Shikamaru placed Hinari in her crib and tucked her in before heading to the kitchen to do the dishes, masterfully ignoring Jiraiya, who was basically his shadow at this point.

"Y'know, I've known her longer than you, interacted with her longer than you, and was there for her longer than you. You don't need to tail me or test me. If anything, you should be looking back at yourself. I was here, on that couch, when I heard her having a nightmare, reliving what happened to her. She barely remembered, having been mostly unconscious, but her imagination made up for what she didn't know. I was there to comfort her when you weren't. I was there to hold her hand when at eleven, she was forced to hold a physical transformation so that she wouldn't die in childbirth. I named our child, and we killed the monster that hurt her. Those two are the most precious thing to me, and I would die protecting them. But right now, I'm going to live for them and protect them until I can't anymore."

Jiraiya sighed. "I know, but if you ever hurt-"

"I won't. Not ever. I don't need you to warn me."

Jiraiya huffed. "Let me be the protective godfather. It's the least I can do right now."

"No. You are teaching Naruto, you came here and met her on your own time, saw her daughter and accepted her. You're already redeeming yourself in her book. Just keep being there. Protect her when I'm not around."

Jiraiya nodded gratefully. "So, who..."

"Mizuki. One of our sensei at the Academy. The night Naruto graduated we found out it was him and killed him, unlocking our bloodlines."

Jiraiya nodded and walked over to the couch. "Imma crash here. Go home kid."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I am home. I live here. After all, my girlfriend and daughter lives here."

"Damn Nara."

Shikamaru wandered into the bedroom again and took off his ninja gear. He brushed his hair and slipped into bed next to Naruto. He turned towards Naruto and drifted off to sleep.