Upon arrival home, Aceso was informed of a spy that infiltrated a village while they were gone. Now, she was back at the hospital completing the surgery. She walked out to see Kiba with Akamaru. The little guy seemed not to be doing so well.

"Can you take a look at Akamaru?" Kiba pleaded. "Something's wrong with him. Shino's bugs attacked him earlier as well." Aceso put a hand on Akamaru's head.

"Well, it's an infection of some sort...though I don't what it is," Aceso answered.

"You don't know?" Kiba asked in shock.

"My apologies Kiba and Akamaru," Aceso apologized. "I'm not an expert on infections on animals, but I'm sure if you took him to your sister Hana, she'd be able to help."

"I suppose," Kiba frowned before walking away. She felt bad not knowing how to help, she wished for Akamaru to get better. 

"Doctor Matsuba," a voice said. Aceso looked to see Sakura walking up to her. "We are doing training today, right?" 

"Not that I know of," Aceso denied. "I'm here all day."  

"I want to get stronger!" Sakura pleaded as she followed Aceso down the hall. "Please help train me!"

"Sakura, I can't today," Aceso denied.

"You invented another medicine," Sakura pointed out. "You made medicine that can restore a person's chakra network."

" I did it in a pinch and it took many trials," Aceso explained. "Still it wasn't even that good...Mizura."

"He wanted to show the damage of the star training, so he didn't put on any more medicine like you requested" Sakura recalled. 

"And it was wrong of me to do so," Aceso huffed. "He would have been in much better conditions if I just applied more of the medicine."

"Just let me help," Sakura pleaded.

"Maybe you should go to Lady Tsunade today," Aceso suggested.

"I am her student and yours as well," Sakura pointed out. "You're helping me become a medical ninja as much as she can."

"There is something she can teach you that I can't," Aceso reminded her. " I don't have Lady Tsunade's strength, but as her apprentice, I am positive she will teach you how to hound that massive strength." Aceso opened a door to an empty surgery room, Sakura shoved her inside, stepped in, and closed the door. "Sakura!"

"When you leave, someone else is going have to step up in the hospital," Sakura brought up. " And I want to be that person."

"And you will," Aceso assured.

"When you are sent out...and you are ever majorly hurt, I want to be the one to assist you," Sakura said. "I want to be the one who gets sent out while you are away. What happens if you get majorly hurt like last time? Who's going to heal you? A medical ninja can only heal themselves so much. What if Sasuke targets you again?" Aceso's eyes went wide, that wasn't supposed to get out.

"How did you know about that?" Aceso demanded.

"Lady Tsunade accidentally let it slip," Sakura answered. "While you are out there getting stronger, I want to get stronger as well...maybe if we all get stronger Sasuke will come back."

"You think so?" Aceso asked.

"Who knows," Sakura sighed softly as she leaned against the door. She lowered her head. "When you saw him again...how did you feel?"

"It was a mixture of anger and sadness," Aceso answered as she leaned against the table. "I am not sure if I did the right thing...not giving him medicine."

"What do you think would have happened if Lee didn't step in?" Sakura asked.

"Sasuke said he would kill me...but I don't think he would have," Aceso answered. "Mainly just knocked unconscious, so he can bring me back to Orochimaru, so I can make medicine."

"That would have been a problem," Sakura said. "We can't have you be taken just yet...or ever."

"If I was...you would come to find me right?" Aceso asked.

"With all the sensory ninjas I could find," Sakura answered. "I completed hated you when we first met....you were nice...but I was just so jealous at how Sasuke always paid attention to you...while I tried so hard to get him to like me back."

"I didn't return the feelings, Sasuke had for me," Aceso answered. "You had no reason to be jealous." She smiled a bit. "It's kind of funny."

"What is?" Sakura asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Naruto has a crush on you, you have a crush on Sasuke, Sasuke had or still has a crush on me," Aceso explained. " And I--"

"Have a crush on Rock Lee," Sakura finished with a smirk.

"Not so loud!" Aceso exclaimed as she leaped forward putting a hand over Sakura's mouth. "And how do you know?" Sakura pulled Aceso's handoff.

"It's so obvious," Sakura taunted.

"It is!" Aceso squeaked nervously.

"I mean you'd have to be stupid to not notice," Sakura taunted even more. 

"I'll train with you if you drop the subject," Aceso brought up.

"Never thought you'd offer today," Sakura smiled even more. 

*****
The next morning Aceso was called out of the building on an emergency. A couple of ninjas were attacked without warning while they were training. Aceso attended to others with a bunch of other medical ninja.

"What happened here?" Tsunade demanded as she arrived with Shizune.

"They were in the middle of training when they were attacked without warning," Shizune explained as two meds carried someone off.

"There must have been quite a few of them to inflict this much damage," Tsunade suspected. 

"No," Aceso denied as engulfed one of the injured. " In fact, there was only one assailant."

"What? One person did all this?" Tsunade demanded.

" Not exactly, milady," Shizune denied, she pointed at a tree with claw marks. "It was one animal." It was clear that Akamaru was the one to do the attacks. Back at the hospital, Aceso had her hands tied with all the injured ninja.

"Little Sister!" Naruto exclaimed as he busted into the room.

"Naruto!" Aceso exclaimed. " You shouldn't be in here!"

"I heard there was an attack last night," Naruto informed.

"Yes," Aceso answered. "According to the injured, it was Akamaru...Lady Tsunade ordered him to be detained."

"WHAT?!" Naruto growled as he slammed the door shut bolting out. Aceso sighed as she continued to work against time.

"Lady Aceso!" a nurse said as she barged into the room. "After this...you go help find an antidote for Akamaru."

"Right," Aceso agreed as the nurse walked out. She quickly finished up before going to help the medical corps find an antidote. She left the room with an antidote running into Sakura.

"Ready to train?" Sakura asked.

"Go find Lady Hana, Kiba's sister," Aceso ordered. "Have her come to the Hokage's office immediately."

"What for?" Sakura asked as Aceso hurried off.

"No time to explain!" Aceso exclaimed. She quickly made her way to Hokage's office.

"Are you sure this will work?" Tsunade asked.

"The medical team is not a hundred percent, sure...but it should," Aceso answered.

"Milady," Shizune began as she opened the door. " The leader of the Special Pursuit Corps is here."

"Enter," Tsunade allowed, Shizune stepped aside letting Hana inside. "This vial contains a serum, for Akamaru that medical corps came up with-" Lady Tsunade put the vial on the desk as Aceso stepped aside.

"But it's far from being a sure thing," Aceso cut her off. "In fact, there's a 50 percent chance it'll prove fatal. There's also risks that side effects could make Akamaru's condition even worse than it is now." Tsunade put a hand over Aceso's mouth.

"And if that should happen..."Tsunade began. "Well, you know what you have to do." Hana walked forward, pricking up the vial. 

"Lady Tsunade," a man said as he opened the door. "We've just received word from the first team of trackers, they reported that they've lost Kiba and Akamaru's trail."

"Milady?" Shizune asked. Tsunade nodded at Hana, and she took off. It was nightfall, nothing good could come from the night.

"I trust you know what to do," Tsunade said.

"Right," Aceso nodded before going back to the hospital. She grabbed equipment before Aceso headed out after Kiba and Akamaru out, she arrived just on time. Kiba was badly hurt, and she did immediate action. They brought him into the hospital, morning had come around. She was around Kiba and Akamaru's hospital bed with Tsunade, Naruto, and Hana.

" I don't know if he'd have made it if you and medical corps haven't arrived so quickly," Hana admitted.

"He was fortunate that Akamaru's attack missed any vital organs," Aceso explained. "By all rights, Kiba should've been..."

"Well, it's remarkable, really," Tsunade stated. "He's a very lucky guy." 

"You're wrong," Kiba's voice rang.

"Hey, you're awake!" Naruto cheered.

"It was more than luck that saved me from that attack," Kiba informed. "It was him. Akamaru missed on purpose." He turned his head to the side. " It was him. He used the last of his strength to shift the attack just enough. He fought the monster within him as hard as he could and he won."

"Pretty brave, Akamaru," Naruto smiled at the pup.

" He sure is," Kiba smiled in agreement. "Thanks, boy."

*******

A few days passed and Aceso was out in the village going to the fields when she saw Naruto crash into a fence, there was something latched onto his back.

"Wait. I don't understand, what did I do?" Naruto panicked as he picked his head up in a panic. 

"You just put your hands on me, didn't you?" Sakura growled.

"Hold up, Sakura," Aceso said as she got in between the two, holding a hand up. "He wouldn't have done it!"

" That's right! Course not," Naruto denied. " I wouldn't do that!"

"Don't side with him!" Sakura yelled as she held out needles. "How does that explain those grubby little paws sticking out of his armpits, huh?"

"Huh?" Aceso as both girls squatted in front of Naruto. "Wait, what the...?"

"Huh? Huh?" Naruto asked as he looked down to see the grubby little paws. "Aah! Man!"

"Check your back," Kiba advised as he appeared behind Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto asked as he looked back. " Aah! What the back is that thing?" It was a ball-shaped creature covered in light brown fur. Only its ears and face were not completely covered. It had a tuft of fur coming from the top of its face-covering its forehead, with whiskers popping out. 

"Onbu.Onbu," It sounded.

" Aah! What did that eagle eat?" Naruto panicked.

" There's some sort of creature on your back, you idiot!" Kiba broke it to him.

" What is it, a caterpillar?" Sakura asked.

" Ah! Get it off! Get it off!" Naruto demanded as he tried to get it off of him.

"Nah, it's not a bug, it's a little animal," Kiba denied as he grabbed the creature. He pulled, and the creature was not letting go.

"I think the little guy is pretty cute," Aceso smiled.

"The little guy doesn't wanna let go!" Kiba informed.

"Onbu. Onbu. Onbu..." the creature cried.

"Why does this happen to me?" Naruto groaned.

"Let's go to Lady Hokage, maybe she'll know what to do," Aceso suggested.

"I was right in the middle of training," Naruto cried. They went up to her office. Tonton and Akamaru both sniffed the creature.

" I don't suppose any of you have ever been told the Legend of the Onbaa?" Tsunade asked.

"Onbaa," Naruto repeated.

"Onbaa," Aceso repeated. She thought back to all the stories Kakashi and Gai told her when she was younger. "Nope, doesn't seem to ring a bell."

"It's not ringing any bells for me either," Naruto agreed.

"You're familiar with it, aren't you, Shizune?" Tsunade asked.

"Sorry," Shizune apologized. "But how old a story are we talking about here? Something out of folklore?" 

"Well, that's what I always figured," Tsunade admitted. " A long time ago, when I was still a little girl, I was told of a legend. The tale of a dangerous bear-like creature, known as an Onbaa, living in the mountains near our village. Then one day, that little idiot Jiraiya pledged to spend his summer break studying the creature and headed off into the woods like a loon."

"The Pervy Sage did?" Naruto asked.

"Yep," Tsunade confirmed.

"So did Pervy Sage ever find one of them or not?" Naruto asked.

"He returned to the village three days later and said he'd won through a Ring Out move," Tsunade answered. The little liar. She walked over to the pile of done reports, dusted them off, and looked through them. "Ah. There it is. Huh." She picked up a report before walking back over to them. She showed Naruto a drawing. The other kids all looked over his shoulder.

"What am I looking at?" Naruto asked as he grabbed it. "That's the worst handwriting I've ever seen."

"Oh, like you're one to talk," Aceso grunted.

Yeah, you dummy," Sakura agreed.

"Let's see, now," Naruto said as he flipped the cover. " Onbaa are big about 9' tall. When these frightening beasts get angry, no one can match them. But I beat one at wrestling." He flipped the page. " Are you kidding me? Onbaa children are carried piggyback. This is how they are raised." He yelled before looking back at the little guy on his back.

"I thought his little 'chronicle' was hogwash ripped from the pages of the legend," Tsunade admitted. " Although, seeing is believing I guess."

"That's great and all, but can we get back to my problem for a second here?" Naruto requested. "He's stuck to my back like glue."

"Oh, right. Well, let's see, according to legend, the Onasbaa's offspring consider the first thing they see as their mother, and will cling to that creature's back exclusively," Tsunade explained. "They supposedly ride around in this unusual fashion until they've reached full maturity.  But before that fateful day arrives, the two are never separated."

"I guess you're just gonna have to wait for it to grow up, Naruto," Sakura giggled.

"Oh, yeah, that's an awesome idea," Naruto remarked. "What the heck am I gonna do when this thing is a 9-foot tall behemoth?" Everyone was in complete horror and backed away from Naruto besides Aceso. " Oh, that's great you guys, thanks a lot for the support."

" Oh, relax, it's just a legend," Tsunade assured. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

" I don't find that very reassuring," Naruto argued.

"You are just going to have to play mother for a bit," Aceso stated.

"WHAT!?" Naruto exclaimed as he panicked. " I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A MOTHER! I CAN BARELY EVEN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO TAKE CARE OF ANOTHER!" 

"Onbu, Onbu," the Onbaa whimpered. Naruto stopped dancing around, he looked back groaning. They left the Hokage's office, waving Naruto off.

"Hang in their Naruto!" Sakura encouraged.

"We'll be on the sidelines cheering for you," Kiba added.

" Well, feel free to join me on the field. Argh!" Naruto snapped as he faced them. He then started back home. That night Aceso arrived back in her room to find Kakashi waiting for her with Pakkun.

"Dad?" Aceso asked.

"Is Naruto really carrying around a baby?" Kakashi asked.

"Sort of," Aceso answered as she sat beside Pakkun.

"It's either yes or no, so which is it, kid?" Pakkun asked as he climbed onto her lap.

"Well, it's of this legend that's in the mountains according to Master Jiraya," Aceso began to explain. "The Onbaa...and well a baby one has attached itself to Naruto...he's a mother as of right now."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Kakashi sighed. "Want to tell me more as we give Pakkun a bath?" He then summoned Shiba. "This one as well."

"I smell just fine!" Shiba barked. 

"I'll tell you everything Lady Tsunade told us," Aceso answered as she wrapped Pakkun in her arms and stood up.

****

The next day Aceso was on top of the Hokage building walking over to Tsunade, she was staring up at Naruto and Onbu. 

"What is it Lady Tsunade?" Aceso asked.

"He's bigger now and so quickly," Tsunade informed. "This is bad. What should we do? We can't keep him."

"I think he's cute," Aceso said.

"He's cute till he's 9-foot tall building crusher," Tsunade argued. "I'm gonna send Naruto out on a mission."

"A mission?" Aceso asked.

"Out in the mountains, so when the Onbaa lets go of Naruto it won't be destroying the village," Tsunade explained. Not too long after that Aceso was at the village gates with Shizune, Sakura, Lee, Kiba, Akamaru, Hinata, and Tsunade. Tsunade stood in the middle as everyone hid off to the side. Aceso was on the ground looking out, Lee was on top of her, and Sakura was on top of him.

" Come on, " Tsunade called to them. "Let's get back to work."  She headed deeper into the village. Everyone returned to work, while Aceso stood at the gates, staring at the direction Naruto headed off into.

"Come one Red Rose," Lee said as he grabbed her wrist. " We have some training to do."

" I understand that," Aceso said as she glanced back at him. " I'm just worried about Naruto."

"He's going to be fine," Lee assured. "He is Naruto after all." She looked back out. "Come on." He pulled her away from the gates and over to the training grounds. "Today we will start off with 1000 pushups."

" 1000!" Aceso exclaimed.

"If we can not do 1000 it will be 1000 sit-ups," Lee added. " If not a thousand sit-ups then a thousand skips, if not-"

"I think I get it," Aceso smiled as she put a hand over his mouth. As they did their pushups, Lee looked up falling into a trance as he looked at Aceso. She looked up at him. "What is it?"

" Oh, it's nothing," Lee denied as he looked away, his cheeks turned red.

A few days later, Naruto had returned and Aceso along with everyone else had a baby Onbaa on their backs. Eagles kept dropping them into the village, they were multiplying like bunnies.