Mikoto's Wish
Mikoto Uchiha had always wanted to have a daughter. She just never expected to get one this way.
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Mikoto Uchiha had always wanted to have a daughter.
It was a mildly guilty desire of hers, because she had already been blessed with a dutiful, loving husband and two wonderful little boys. She was the Matriarch of a strong clan, had loyal friends, and was generally in possession of intelligent, amiable company. Asking for anything more seemed a selfish wanting on her part, and Mikoto didn't want to become one of those people who didn't cherish the blessings they had in their life.
For the most part, this desire was not at the forefront of her mind, and how could it be, with all that Mikoto had to do? She was an ambitious young woman, and had quickly risen through the military ranks, due to a combination of talent, hard work, and- in all honesty- the support of the Uchiha name. When Mikoto finally stepped down from her active Jounin rank, she was busy handling clan disputes, researching and writing village legislation, and raising her precocious firstborn, Itachi. By the time the third war ended, and Itachi had reached the age where she could work part-time, Mikoto had become pregnant with her second child. And while Sasuke was not the baby girl Mikoto had hoped he would be, the young mother couldn't love him any less than she did Itachi.
At that time, another distraction had presented itself in the panicking form of her best friend Kushina Uzumaki. The cheerful, vivacious redhead had finally consented to marry Minato last year- and thus, lost Mikoto a good 8,000 ryo for not holding out for another three months- and was soon to have a child of her own. Kushina felt all the bliss of pregnancy that an orphaned young woman who had always wanted a family and was soon to have one with a man she loved could feel, but that euphoria was also marked by terror. Mikoto didn't know what surprised her more- that her fearless friend was afraid of childbirth, or that the stubborn redhead would even admit to it.
Regardless, Mikoto threw herself into supporting Kushina's pregnancy with an enthusiasm that was more reminiscent of close sisters than anything else. She eagerly dragged the protesting Uzumaki to pregnancy meetups, tossed out the toad paraphernalia for Kushina's less creepy swallow summon toys, and packed bags of umeboshi for mission runs. In exchange for those efforts, she was thrilled to accept the title of 'godmother' to the future Uzumaki heir.
In the end, their mutual friends were hard-pressed to determine who was more excited for Kushina's future child: Mikoto or Minato.
After dragging Kushina to one of her mandatory doctors visits- the Uzumaki girl hated hospitals with a vengeance- Mikoto received startling news. Kushina was going to have a daughter! The dark-haired woman couldn't deny feeling a little envious, but was able to easily suppress that jealousy when she saw how happy Kushina was. The two celebrated long into the night- Minato was on a mission, and Fugaku had 'convinced' one of his subordinates to babysit- and Mikoto could take a moment of her busy life to simply relax. They couldn't have alcohol, for obvious reasons, but ice cream made a good substitute, and nothing could beat a night of laughter and reminisces among two old friends.
At one point, Mikoto remarked on how wonderful it would be if Sasuke and Naruto grew up as best friends. Kushina had countered that the best marriages were made between friends, and wouldn't it be even better if they became related in the future? The dark-haired woman had laughed that off, but momentarily chose to muse over the possibility. It was a mere afterthought, and Mikoto returned to teasing the redhead over her marriage to the girliest and flakiest guy in their Academy class.
Even more weeks passed, Kushina's delivery date arrived, and a day that should have been filled with celebration and wonder, became a night of blood and terror. Mikoto couldn't do more than briefly hug her baby boys- she didn't want to let them go- before she donned her flak jacket, and ran towards a sceptre of demonic energy. The Kyuubi wrought nearly half of the damage of the previous war, yet while losses were stretched over a decade then, Konoha lost almost 8% of its population overnight. Hundreds of shinobi died, even more civilians, and babies and the elderly were smothered under the weight of the Kyuubi's demonic energy.
Seeing the beast, standing twice as tall as the Hokage's Tower, with burning orange fire, eyes filled with hatred, and nine languidly swaying tails, Mikoto was filled with both horror and awe. This was the beast that Kushina had held back through ink and willpower alone? It was terrifying, and set Mikoto's entire world into flames. All of her attacks- and any ninjutsu used by any ninja- were utterly insignificant before this beast, and Mikoto could feel her own body crumble under the killing intent, the demonic chakra, the perfect clarity of knowing that she could do nothing. That the Kyuubi would tear her body apart, and not know or care that she was Jounin Mikoto Uchiha of Konohagakure, and that she had two little boys whose bodies would crumple like tissue paper before its claws.
Had Mikoto Uchiha been asked to recall her memories of the day, she would have little detail to impart. It all occurred so suddenly. At one moment the Kyuubi was there, and then in the next, a cheer had risen in the field, Minato Namikaze had flashed before them, and transported the fox away. The ground shook and air coiled into a solid weight against her back, before the Kyuubi was simply sucked down towards the yellow-haired human.
Mikoto hadn't bothered to wait for additional information. She used a series of reckless, barely executed Shunshin to reach the excavation bunkers, and when she was there, she grabbed her sons and refused to let go. Itachi clung fiercely to her body, the six-year-old's own trembling imperceptibly in her arms. That was how an exhausted Fugaku found them, and after checking that their genius son was asleep, he told her the Council news.
Konoha had its third jinchuuriki, and first official one, Naruto Uzumaki.
Mikoto's heart sank when she heard of Naruto's surname, and the news only worsened from there. They had chosen to announce the name of Konoha's savior- 'Minato's fault,' Mikoto thought decisively, 'Only he could be so naive.'- and the public reception hadn't been very positive. Minato and Kushina were both dead. Before she had died, Kushina had told ANBU that the Kyuubi was being controlled by a masked, unaffiliated ninja who claimed to be Uchiha Madara, but had a distinctly young chakra.
That had the positive side-effect of clearing the Uchiha Clan for the Kyuubi Attack, while also simultaneously triggering minor heart attacks among the Uchiha Elders that a rogue ninja was in possession of a Sharingan.
Fugaku had asked if Jiraiya was willing to take custody of his goddaughter and, upon receiving a negative answer, offered to do so instead. There was some reluctance over handing the jinchuuriki over to a clan that, according to Danzo, '-wasn't even capable of safeguarding their vaunted bloodline from enemy hands'. However, the Uchiha were cleared of suspicions for the Kyuubi Attack, and, as the godmother, Mikoto had the second closest claim to Naruto's custody.
That was why, two hours laters, Mikoto found herself standing, exhausted and injured, in front of the reinstated Sandaime Hokage. The old man handed over a carefully bundled newborn to the trembling woman, and, looking down at the blonde and blue-eyed Minato-copy that was all that was left of Kushina in this world, Mikoto resisted the urge to cry. Today had been horrific in almost every way possible, but there was a tiny life form in her arms that needed her to be strong. Despite everything that had happened, this little girl could bring a measure of comfort to the dark-haired woman, as she made a silent promise to the closest friend Mikoto ever had.
She would raise Naruto as her own daughter.
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I know this was originally intended to be a romance between Itachi and Naruto, but the chapter turned out to be more introspective than I'd expected, and I realized how creepy a romance between two people raised as siblings would be. Sure, they're not technically related, but Itachi has such a big brother complex, that the manner by which he'll treat Naruto isn't too difficult to guess. I'll keep this as a one-shot for now, and try to find a different plot for Itachi. I really, really want to write an Itachi x fem!Naruto pairing…