Chapter 21

The atmosphere in the room was a bit awkward, Jiraiya admitted to himself. He was currently sitting with his legs crossed on a tatami mat, a small table was in front of him and seated on the other side in a seiza position was the blond haired beauty, Yasaka.

He tried not to linger his gaze long on her, his eyes flickering to her and then some random point on the one of the walls around them while reinforcing the fact that this woman was his godson's girlfriend. No, soon to be wife, even. He really was curious as to how that happened.

Neither spoke a word with another, the only sound in the room being that of Yasaka occasionally sipping tea from the small cup on the table before her while waiting for the last person to join them. One was put in front of him as well but he hadn't touched it yet.

Naruto had offered to feed their daughter and put her to sleep somewhere in the palace that was their home. Their home was truly beautiful and certainly held similarities with a daimyo's palace even if he's never been inside of one. It was quite rare to see as well as a large majority of the buildings he had seen and come across were built with stone and had a much more simple design in this world.

Seriously, how did he come to end up living here? Who was this fiancee of his? He didn't miss the way everyone acted towards them when he was being led here. He also didn't miss the way she said 'my territory' upon being introduced.

Time continued to pass. By how much? Jiraiya did not know because he hadn't bothered to count and there was no clock in the room anywhere. It couldn't be too long, however.

He straightened and his ears twitched as Jiraiya heard someone approaching. To his surprise, Yasaka too turned her head towards the door and her lips morphing into a soft smile as it slid open and the person they had been waiting for arrived.

''Hey,'' Naruto greeted as he slid the door closed behind him. He walked to where Yasaka was seated where he lowered himself so he too was now sitting cross legged. He leaned his head to Yasaka as the couple shared a quick kiss and he whispered something in her ear.

Jiraiya didn't manage to catch what was being said, only seeing Yasaka nod her head with a small smile on her face.

''So,'' Naruto began as Yasaka took the opportunity to pour him a small cup of tea which he silently thanked her for. ''Where do we even start?''

''What about everything you've been up to since arriving here? The last time I saw you, you were a loudmouthed kid that had more brawn than brain. But now, not only are you getting married, you even have a daughter! Not even your parents were as young as you are when were expecting you.''

Naruto hummed. ''I guess that would be a good start. Though, before that I'm warning you that you better have a good explanation. Not only for the fact that I'm your godson, but also that you are more than familiar regarding who my parents are, despite claiming you didn't even with me asking several times.''

''Of course.'' Jiraiya answered quickly as he felt Yasaka's eyes on him. The beautiful woman didn't appear happy hearing that he had blatantly lied to the person she loved, especially not with Naruto telling her how that was something he craved to know. Be it a name or that even if they loved him.

''Well, it began when I woke up in a hospital bed here in Kyoto. Turns out, falling out of the sky into an empty field is quite unusual and warrants attention. It was there that I first met Yasaka as she personally came to find out who and what I was. And let me tell you, when she entered and I laid my eyes on her, I was immediately enraptured by her as she was the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. She still is, of course but honestly, looking back I think that's what love at first sight is supposed to be. I felt an immediate connection to her, something I never experienced before.'' Naruto's lips curved into a small smile as he was reminiscing, his eyes flickering down when Yasaka's hand came to rest on his own and she intertwined their fingers together, a gesture Jiraiya took note of.

''That's how our relationship began. Yasaka even allowed me to stay here in her palace without me giving anything back. We spent hours talking to each other, she helped me understand about this world while I'd tell her about the one I was from. Slowly it evolved and I began helping her with small tasks here and there. My feelings continued to grow, my heart would beat rapidly when I was around her though, it may come as a surprise but it wasn't me that initiated the next step.'' He scratched his cheek while out of the corner of his eyes he saw Yasaka smiling softly. ''I had really come to like her but didn't dare to ask her out. She told me about the many people that had tried to do so and then the fact that I'm rather young I just never had the guts to take the next step.

''Really?!'' Jiraiya looked at the woman beside his godson who nodded.

''Yes, as days passed living together and getting to know who Naruto Uzumaki is as a person it wasn't hard to see that he had developed feelings for me. I developed them too. It was hard not to once you come to understand the type of person he is. Selfless, warm and kind, he's unlike the many that had tried to get my attention before him as I could tell it was genuine and not for some other reason. However, even with dropping a few hints here and there, nothing came to it and I could see the hesitation sometimes as if he wanted to ask me something but refrained from doing so. So I took matters in my own hand and pretty much told him that we were going out later, no ifs and buts. And I've not once regretted my choice of doing so.''

''I see.'' Jiraiya mused while looking at the two. 'Minato, Kushina, if only you could see your son right now.'

''Oh! What about your daughter, Kunou if I remember correctly. How did that come to be as Naruto couldn't have been gone for that long, right.''

''Ah, well,'' Naruto scratched his cheek. ''Neither Yasaka nor I planned for her to get pregnant. Don't get me wrong, we both absolutely adore Kunou and have no regrets but we hadn't been an official couple for that long when she found out so it was quite the shock. I guess there always was a chance but to think it would happen this early in our relationship was unexpected and blamed on the fact that we had trouble keeping our hands off another.''

'Lucky brat..' Jiraiya cursed in his mind as Naruto continued.

''So yeah, I wasn't all that worried when she first revealed it to me. In fact, I felt happy that my dream to have a family of my own was now complete with the woman I've come to love. It wasn't until Yasaka was three months in that the fact that I was going to be a father really hit me. As young as I am and without having grown up with parents of my own there was a real fear that I would screw things up. Thankfully I had Yasaka to reassure me that I wasn't alone in this and that we were doing this together. Just more reasons I love her.'' He lifted her hand that still had the fingers intertwined with his own and pressed it against his lips.

''I think that's enough about us. Now, how about you tell me about my parents you claimed you didn't know of?''

Jiraiya sent him an awkward smile as he nodded. The expression his godson sported that he better not hide a thing and since he was in a whole new world and his godson being his best hope and finding any others that may be around Jiraiya did exactly as asked of him.

An unspecified amount of time later, the door of the room they had been in opened as Naruto was the first to walk out, an unreadable expression on his face.

Walking out after him was a concerned Yasaka with Jiraiya behind her, the former turning around to speak. ''Jiraiya-san, I think it would be wise if you don't follow after him while I make sure he's okay. Please wait in front and I'll have someone lead you to a hotel you can stay.''

Jiraiya looked like he was about to argue from seeing the expression on Yasaka's face he relented as he nodded. ''...Alright. Just, make sure he's not going to do anything stupid.''

She nodded. ''Of course. There's no need to even ask.'' Having said that, Yasaka quickly moved to catch up with the man she loved. It took her a brief moment of focusing on his chakra, having lost sight of him due to the quick exchange of words she had with Naruto's old teacher.

She found him leaning in the doorway that led to their bedroom watching Kunou who was asleep in her crib. Turned out she cried a lot less whenever she slept in their room so they decided to let her sleep here, only moving her to a different room/location when she and Naruto decided to indulge in another.

''There you are.'' Naruto heard as he felt two arms wrap around him from behind along with two squishy mounds pressing against his back. ''I was worried after losing sight of you. Are you doing okay?''

Naruto closed his eyes and enjoyed her embrace before releasing a deep sigh. ''I, I honestly don't know, Yasaka-chan.'' Her heart ached as how broken he sounded and she tightened her arms around him. ''I've been lied to by the people I thought I could trust so many times now. First the man I used to look up to as a grandfather, then my teacher who personally knew my parents and now even my Godfather! I didn't even know I had one!''

Naruto briefly raised his voice before reminding himself that Kunou was asleep. ''I'm just really tired.. of everything.'' He mumbled in a voice barely above a whisper. Yasaka was softly rubbing his stomach from behind while softly pushing him towards their bed allowing him to drop himself onto it.

Yasaka joined him on the bed, positioned on her knees as she softly ran her fingers through his hair which despite its spiky appearance was rather soft to touch. After a minute or two she removed her fingers from his locks, he opened one eye in response only to see her give him a smile as she leaned down and pressed her lips to his cheek.

He closed his eyes again at the familiar sensation. The corner of his lips curving upwards before Yasaka moved away. Naruto was about to look at what she was doing when he felt a familiar weight settle on his upper thigh area. Now knowing what she was planning on doing and very grateful for it, he did help undo his yukata that would've prevented her hands from doing their magic.

Now ready, Naruto simply closed his eyes and calmed his breathing as he felt Yasaka begin her massage. Using chakra she heated up her hands, kneading and pushing on the knots she found and making sure to do his neck and arms too.

It had taken her around thirty minutes to complete the massage. Yasaka didn't mind giving him a massage, she actually kind of enjoyed giving them to him. Making sure her partner was relaxed. Not to mention the countless times he had massaged her when she had been pregnant with Kunou and she wasn't able to return the favour at the time.

Naruto had fallen asleep halfway through her massage and Yasaka carefully moved from her position on top of him. Laying herself down on the bed right beside him, orbs of molten gold staring at his sleeping face. She brought up her hand and softly caressed his cheek.

Today was her day off from her duties as faction leader and since Kunou was also asleep Yasaka allowed herself to join the two as she closed her eyes for a quick nap.

Sometime later Naruto woke up from his nap. His eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times to get used to the light before rolling onto his back with a groan. His body felt much looser, courtesy of his love's amazing massage.

He thought she'd be here in bed with him as he could swear he recalled her lying down with him. Was he imagining things? Her scent was still lingering in the sheets so he guessed that if she had, she woke up before him.

Giving another groan, a softer one this time, he regretfully got out of bed. As if realising this, Kunou immediately began to cry and Naruto wasted no time walking over to her crib and lifting her in his arms.

There wasn't any weird smell or anything so it couldn't be her diaper. Was she hungry? He looked at the clock hanging on the wall to see it had been around three hours since she had been fed so that was a possibility.

Either way, after lifting her in his arms he held his daughter close while softly rubbing her back as he planned to see Yasaka. Strangely enough her crying stopped when he held her close. ''Oh? Did you simply miss papa, Kunou?'' He said to her while kissing the top of her head. Still, with a now calmed down baby in his arms he went to look for Yasaka, crying or not she might still be hungry.

Naruto found Yasaka sitting on the patio overlooking the garden, he saw her fox ears twitch as a sign of being aware of his arrival. ''Hey Yasaka.'' He sat down beside her. In his arms, Kunou took note that her mother was near as she made babbling noises and reached out with her tiny arms.

The blonde vixen smiled as she turned to them, leaning in as Naruto met her mid-way in a soft and gentle kiss before looking down at Kunou. ''I think our little one has been missing you. She may also be hungry as she was crying when I woke up from the short nap. Thanks for the massage, by the way, I feel much better.''

''Of course dear, I could tell you needed it. Now, let me see if Kunou's as hungry as you thought she'd be.'' He gently handed her over as Yasaka leaned down and peppered Kunou's face with kisses who appeared to enjoy her mother's affection.

Naruto felt his heart warm at the sight as he slowly pulled his legs back up, Yasaka raised a single eyebrow before looking back at Kunou as he simply shifted himself so he was sitting behind her with her between his legs, her back to his chest and his arms around her midsection.

Yasaka gave a soft hum as she leaned into his embrace, loosening her kimono with one hand and directing Kunou to her now unveiled breast, the little one quickly latching onto her nipple.

As she fed Kunou, Naruto had begun to softly rub her belly while laying kisses atop of her head, her cute fox ears twitching whenever his lips would brush lightly against them. Her hair smelled nice as he rubbed his cheek against it, burying his face into it as she wore it in a low ponytail.

''Say Naru..'' Yasaka began softly, arousing a hum from him as he kept his face buried in her hair. ''What's the plan regarding Jiraiya?'' She felt him briefly stiffen and his arm tighten. ''I can order him to leave, if that's what you wish.''

A soft sigh left his lips as he removed his face from her hair, resting the side of his head against hers. ''I.. I'm not sure right now, Yasaka-chan. I think I'll decide on this tomorrow after a good night's sleep.''

''Okay Naru. If you want to talk about anything you know I'm always there for you, right?''

''Of course, Yasaka-chan.'' He moved his head and this time landed a kiss on her cheek. ''It's one of the reasons I love you so much!'' He rested the side of his face against her, cheek to cheek while he looked down at Kunou who appeared to be done feeding. He helped Yasaka as he moved part of her kimono so it was back to covering her breast.

''Want to head inside?'' He asked her after a moment of staying in this position. Yasaka gave a soft affirmative hum as Naruto got to his feet before helping her get up as well. ''You know, I'm kind of hungry too. Should I pick something up or will you be cooking.''

''I'll make us dinner. You just look after Kunou while I do that.''

''Of course. You don't even have to ask.'' The family of three made their way inside. Today has been quite eventful and not in a good way either and Naruto really didn't want to think about everything for longer than he had to. Spending time with Yasaka and Kunou was a good way to free his mind of those thoughts.

End Chapter.