This is an AU, could be related to my Night Flowers saga, but the truth is it's an alternate of that. It includes Hanaru, Itachi's beloved wife, as well as their son Ren who was born in my other series, the Uchiha oneshots. He returns home following a tragic mission, but with a new addition that has nowhere else to go. Read and find out...
Oneshot contains character death, so you've been warned. Grab a Kleenex box. When you're done, reviews appreciated (no flames allowed).
The main OC (Hana-chan) belongs to me and my friend while Itachi and the others belong to none other than their rightful owner.
It had to be urgent if he was called away from home.
He was a Jounin Academy instructor now, retired ANBU captain, and a husband and father of a precious three-year-old waiting at home for him. He had only smaller missions such as being a bodyguard, rare as that was now. He settled on peaceful assignments that were refreshing and didn't involve blood being spilled by his hands or his opponent.
But this time, he was summoned without a moment's hesitation. The Sixth Hokage's ANBU wanted him because it bordered on a personal nature. He understood, a cold terror creeping into his heart. When he told his wife that afternoon he was leaving, she was about to ask him where he was going when he firmly insisted she not ask. "The ANBU insist that I meet with them," was all he could tell her. She just nodded, worry in her eyes. She always did have the tendency beforehand; it worsened when they found out she was pregnant, which had him having the receiving end of her tantrums and fusses over the tiniest things.
Several months of post-partum depression made pregnancy hormones child's play.
Their son, Ren, was the newest pride of the Uchiha since he was the firstborn of Itachi, the next heir. Coming in time to see the precious bundle in his wife's arms was the greatest joy of his life. Marrying Hanaru was one, then their son born was another level. Such contentment was often fought for, and sometimes in the end, you wonder if it was worth it. In Itachi's case, after a lifetime of answering to others, he was all too willing to leave ANBU - if in the beginning, it was Hanaru's original idea. For her to have to always wait for him, to raise their boy alone, and for Ren to continually ask where his father was only to grow bitter and resentful at his absence was something Itachi would NOT bear to live with...and his inevitable death would have been the final straw.
His overuse of his Mangekyo Sharingan and near blindness, resulting in him and Sasuke trading eyes, was his wife's decision to threaten his manhood if he didn't leave the Black Ops which had been his father's choice for him from the start.
However, he received the summons from the Hokage that two bodies were brought back, and he had to bear witness in secrecy until the announcement was made public.
The site happened to be none other than along the border of Konoha going into Rain territory - the original site of the Akatsuki. The members were long-gone or in prison, but there were rogue ninja there hiding out and ambushed his brother's team - which also happened to have none other than his pregnant wife as the medic aiding with the relief ever since Amegakure selected a new leader that would usher a brand new, hopeful era after the Akatsuki fell. But there were still some who wanted to remain with the old ways and had been expelled for it when they did not cooperate. These rogues took to attacking and stealing from others who went anywhere near their territory.
Now Sasuke and Sakura's team were ravaged. Very few of them stood a chance. Although his brother did give it all, except at the last minute, the threat proved too great that he ended up using Amaterasu not only to defeat the enemy after they obliterated his entire unit - but it took himself in the mix. Sakura had tried to flee since she was pregnant and had also done everything she could to try and heal her comrades, but they were already gone. She should never have been out there in the first place, but the times should have been peaceful after the last great war which should have been the end of all wars. It was like Sakura to still try and show she was a capable Shinobi who could still care for her allies as well as her and Sasuke's unborn child at the same time. He told his brother Itachi that his stubborn as hell wife hated being cooped in the house all day. She was supposed to be on leave until the child was born...Sakura, you're even more foolish than my brother.
It seemed these rogues weren't ordinary Shinobi after all. Which meant that they called for more investigation, and whether or not there were others like them still in the small village.
Hinata Hyuuga had also been with them as the other great set of eyes, and she was the only one to make it with Sakura barely clinging to life. At this rate, the baby was also in mortal danger that an emergency C-section had been performed. It was then when it was over that the mother voiced her regret coming out in her condition like this, and with her husband dead, she would end up orphaning their child whom she'd gotten to hold only for a few moments before she died moments after naming her.
Itachi was there when the surgery was performed, and he'd helped. Hinata wasn't even a doctor, but her Byakugan detected every part of the anatomy as she helped Sakura into her stupor while she and Itachi worked with Shizune and the others who arrived as backup to rescue the baby from its dying mother's womb.
A sense of joy and grief - a bittersweet concoction - washed inside him as he held the little girl close to him. Sarada Uchiha was her name, and she was born on the last day of March, the very same day her parents gave their lives.
Hinata's cheeks were shining with tears, Shizune unable to stop her crying, when it was just the three of them, and the baby was being tended to in the hospital room. The body of his sister-in-law was taken for the autopsy, whilst his brother's was no longer present. Not even for a proper burial ceremony in the family grounds.
Sasuke and Sakura were all taken off during what was supposed to merely be a relief effort without known danger reported, and these Shinobi appear out of the mist to take away the very people we love most - all except Hyuuga-chan and the little one left behind.
Sarada's future was to be determined, but Itachi would not let her be raised by the wrong people. His parents would have no trouble taking in their granddaughter, but they wouldn't live long enough either, therefore leaving her an orphan once more. Which left him and his wife to claim legal guardianship. All of which had to be taken up with the Hokage.
It wouldn't take long for the grief to reach the ears of everyone who knew, loved, and fought alongside Sasuke and Sakura over the years. The one who would be most devastated was Naruto, the best friend of these two exceptional Shinobi and human beings.
Granted permission to take the newborn Sarada home when it was found that she was perfectly healthy after only a day of being born, Itachi made the decision to tell his wife himself. Besides the fact they would be the ones to raise their niece, she'd wanted to one day have another child.
When he arrived at the house by the water, the wind was whispering in the sweet tree blossoms. Overhead, a little white-eyed mejiro chased after another, telling him it was mating season. Chuckling, he started towards the front door which was framed by bamboo stalks and succulents in the rocks. Cradling the sleeping baby in his arms, Itachi announced he was home, as soon as he rounded the kitchen to see Hanaru at the sink washing some dishes. "I had your dinner ready in the microwave," she told him, not turning around. "The kid is still in his room."
"Good, because I have something urgent to share with you, koishii." He had to keep his low as to not wake the little one, which made his love frown as she turned around to look at him, and then her attention fell to the precious bundle in his arms.
"Itachi, where -"
They were at the small table in no time. Itachi carefully adjusted the crook of his elbow and pulled the blanket down to expose the innocent face and tufts of black hair. Tiny nostrils flared as she breathed in through her nose. "Our niece," he said softly.
"Itachi," Hanaru whispered, pupils dilated at the delicate creature who yawned a little and blinked once before turning to snuggle deeper into her uncle's arms. "Sasuke and Sakura -?" She hesitated then and there, wanting to shake off the grim thought, but he hated to disappoint her. He only nodded, and then she bowed her head, only he saw the shine in her eyes. A hand came up to rub them, her body shaking a little. "What happened, that you can tell me?"
Sighing, Itachi told her everything - and he meant everything. When he was finished, she was wiping her face with some tissues from the kitchen counter.
"Hence, once the final papers will be drawn, she can be part of our family," he told her with a small smile, though his heart ached at the loss of his brother and Sakura. "If you still wish for another child - if it's not your own," he added, knowing how sensitive this could be for a woman. But she leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"Are you kidding, honey? I would never turn away our own little niece." She looked down just as the baby grunted and started to wake up to see the face of her aunt for the first time. Wide onyx eyes looked up between them with wonder, and tiny, chubby hands reached about and grasped nothing in particular. "Oh, hi, little girl. I'm your Aunt Hanaru, the one who loves your Uncle Itachi here," she cooed, leaning down to gently rub the small forehead with the pads of her fingers, making the child coo and try to grab those fingers.
"Aw, that's gonna happen now? You both gonna pay so much attention to her and forget all about me!"
There stood none other than their three-year-old look-alike of himself but with his mother's vivid crystalline irises. His little hands were on his hips as he pouted so much like his Uncle Sasuke used to. He is jealous...he was enjoying being an only child, and now he knows someone else - his own cousin - coming in to live with us. "How much have you heard, hn?" Itachi asked the little boy as he padded into the area on tiny bare feet, standing on tip-toe to get a better look at the baby.
Ren's nose wrinkled. "What happened to Uncle Sasuke and Aunt Sakura? Isn't she theirs?" He was too young to know how the relationship between man and woman worked, but he did hear enough to understand - but he missed the most important. Sighing, Itachi decided - with the permission from Hanaru's eyes - to tell their son.
"She is, but I'm sorry to say, my son, they're not going to come back. So, this little girl is going to be living with us from now on."
Hanaru laughed softly and picked the boy up, sitting him on her lap, his back against her chest. "Her name is Sarada, sweetheart," she told him, kissing the back of his head.
The baby looked over at her cousin curiously, then broke out into a toothless smile, cooing and reaching for him, which he relented and let his bigger but still small hand be taken into. He started in shock, staring at Sarada's face and then her little hand around his finger...before he, too, smiled at her as if experiencing a change of heart. Itachi couldn't be more proud of his son.
The sight took him back to when his brother was born, when he took his big brother's finger into his tiny, strong grasp. We'll protect her, otouto, Sakura. Meanwhile, some cherry blossom petals washed past the kitchen window and the two birds continued to chirp and chase each other.