Chapter sixteen- Resolve

"Welcome to Konoha, Karino-san," he said.

"Thank you."

'The hokage seems to be a good man,' she thought and made her way to the hospital with the ninja that was assigned to her, to see if she was trustworthy or not.

The nurse nodded as the ninja explained to her what was going on. She understood that she was going to be living in the village from then on. She took a look at the ultrasound then turned to Nao.

She smiled softly at her and told her what she had observed.

"Your baby is healthy or should I say, babies," she said with a wink. "You'll be having twins. II bet they'll be strong ninjas one day."

Nao's eyes widened. She didn't expect twins, but she smiled. "I know they'll be."

She was then lead to her apartment which she loved immediately. It was not that small but cozy. The interior was just lovely.

Turning to the ninja who was supposed to observe her, she smiled.

"Can I ask you something?" she said.

The girl nodded. "By the way, the name's Inuzuka Kina. Nice to meet 'ya!" she said with a toothy grin.

"Tsugumi Karino. Nice to meet you too. Can you tell me about this village's history? I'd like to know more about it," she said, 'and to know what've missed,' she thought.

"Then, I know the perfect place!" she said cheerfully, dragging her to the Konoha Library.

Nao smiled as she got there with Kina. "Thank you."

"No problem. It's part of my job to welcome you here aside from the fact that I'll watch any suspicious move of yours," she said with a glint in her eyes that meant she was serious.

"I see," she said, following Kina to the section of the library where they kept the books which recorded the basic history of the village.

Looking at the cover at the book, she slowly flipped it open.

She didn't know what to feel at that time.

She was about to know what happened to the village after that attack.

Reading through the book, she had found out what had happened. Tears threatened to fall but she suppressed them. She didn't want to look suspicious.

She found out that she was announced as dead and the fact that Izuna died at that battle as well.

That was something she didn't expect.

When she was new to the village, Izuna was one of the nicest people there. He accepted her as his older brother's wife, and he was like a brother to her as well. They weren't that close, but they were good friends, so this fact bothered her a lot.

She had expected a lot to happen to him in his life, lots of good things. She could've introduced him to one of her good friends. He could've married a good woman, have children. That's what she expected. The fact that he died that day was something she didn't expect.

She grew worried. The fact that this disheartened her so much made her feel worried about Madara.

She had always been second to Izuna when it came to importance, and she accepted that. She also knew that she was important to her husband.

He lost both of them that day, and she knew that no one was there to support him now that they're gone.

Her predictions were right when she turned to the next page.

She found out that he became the bad guy to this story.

That broke her heart.

She wanted to be the one to support him, yet she was the one who left him.

She caused him to be like this. She was not by his side. If she was there, she questioned herself, would this have turned out differently? Would he have fulfilled his dream? If Izuna lived and she did not get attacked, could they have been happy?

She wanted to go back. She wanted to reverse time. Why did she even do this? She started to grow week and regret her decision. Why did this happen?

Suddenly, all negative thoughts disappeared when she felt something. A kick, she thought. Holding her stomach, she smiled. She remembered why. She would not regret her decision.

A newfound determination flowed through her as she closed her eyes, regaining her composure. She was not going to give up now and break down.

She would do what she survived to do.

She would raise their children to be good and strong njnjas.

That was her resolve.