Where We Stand (ILYBD Sequel Series)

As Much, If Not More

Chapter 1

Cries filled the early morning air. Cries that sounded nothing like those human infants normally made. No these were animalistic, resembling that of growls and whimpers. And there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"Shhh... Shh..... Don't cry... Please..." He all but begged, rocking the cradle with his foot, while he attempted to rock one of the three kits in his only arm. The girl was the quietest of the three, probably because she had her favorite person rocking her, but that didn't stop her cries of hunger. "Sakura will be right back... Just stop crying..."

"Oi Teme, need a hand?" The Uchiha looked up to see his blonde haired teammate, and couldn't help but scowl at dope's choice of words. They could both use a hand.

"I need two." He growled, looking down at Mio and trying to sooth her at the same time. Bad idea, she thought the drop in his tone was meant for her and only cried louder.

Seeing the raven was slowly descending to madness, Naruto went over to the crib and picked up the louder of the two boys, the red head. In fact the Itachi look alike was almost silent when his brother was removed from the bed. His voice dropping to a low gurgling growl.

Zero on the other hand began to hiss at the blonde, out of the three he was the one that despised human contact the most. He didn't even like cuddling with Hiro, his own brother.

"Alright kiddies I'm here!" Sakura couldn't have chosen a better time to come, three bottles held precariously in her hands.

It was then they were met with another problem, neither raven or blonde could hold the bottle for the kyuubi in their hold. She sighed, going to the ginger kit first and positioning her bottle so it rested against Sasuke's chest, keeping the nub in her hungry mouth. She then did the same with Zero's bottle, leaning it against Naruto.

Pleased churs met their ears as the half demons began sucking on their bottles. Finally, Sakura went to the final kitsune, lifting him up into her arms. He latched onto the bottle the moment it was in range, directing it to his mouth.

The pink haired kunoichi couldn't help but smile down at him. "That wasn't so bad, now was it boys?" She asked, looking at her teammates.

Both men had murderous looks across their faces. They were almost tempted to show her just how bad it was, but the sudden whimpers coming from the kits in their hold made them drop the frowns.

"When are those prosthetic arms going to be ready again?" Naruto whined. He felt like the arms Tsunade was crafting from the first hokage's DNA were taking forever to make.

Sakura gave him a sympathetic glance, she could only imagine how bothersome it was for the two men to have to live with only one arm. "Just a few more days. She's working as fast as she can." She promised, gently rocking Hiro in her arms.

Naruto wasn't the only one getting impatient, Sasuke was just as eager to get his arm back. With only one they were left with very few of their jutsu and could only do so much when it came to helping Sakura with the kits or even taking care of themselves. They could hardly even dress themselves.

He scowled at the though, glancing at his stub of an arm. It was completely covered by the long sleeves of his shirt, but still noticeable. He should have realized Mio had finished her milk, before he scowled, as she began to whimper. None of the kits liked to see frowns on any of the people around them.

Sasuke quickly dropped his frown, not wanting to deal with the whimpering, it made him wince every time she let such a noise rise in her throat. It reminded him of the time Yuna had been attacked by those villagers and every step she'd taken had forced her to release a similar sound.