Pairing: Sasuke x Mizukage
Spoilers: Story is set after the war, but I don't address how the series ended. I've started this story from after the Madara fight with the Allied shinobi. Basically the Kagura arc didn't occur, or anything beyond that. There's a certain character who died in the Canon that I have chosen to revive as well. I can only think of one pairing that will actually be Canon.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I'd have a pile of money but one wicked headache from all the fan's demands. So no, I don't own Naruto, but I do own some sanity, of which I'm equally proud of.
Chapter 1: Water, fire and sunrise
It was a cold night. The snow curled itself into a fetal position and fell from the clouds. The land of Iron hadn't been changed by time. Isolated and covered in a blanket of white, the samurai run nation was a peaceful place.
They didn't operate like the hidden villages of the great shinobi lands. They were straight-forward, no-fuss individuals. They settled arguments in duels, as proper customs dictated, with strict rules.
The ninjas always preferred being elusive, using cloak and dagger methods. They functioned as mercenaries with expertise in stealth missions. They were people who, despite all words, resolved things through trickery. Their codes were fallible. The samurai held strongly to tradition, and logic was the commander of their disputes.
The samurai made sure to keep out of the wars waged by the shinobi, and had for the most part, with the exception of the Fourth Great Ninja War many years ago. Since then, the only contact with the ninja nations were strictly business. They didn't attend celebrations extended to them or make friends with any of the ninja clans.
The land of Iron had a central town which held many shinobi guests, staying there when on errands or negotiations on behalf of the kages.
It was to the little town south in the land of Iron, a quiet place with beautiful wooden cabins, functioning as inns. They were built in many rows. They had bathhouses in the great cluster, as well as little shops in neighborhood. The majority of the residents were civilians, so there was not a lot of unnecessary commotion.
An interesting guest was staying in one of the inns at this very moment. An infamous figure. A shinobi. A man whose reputation and history was well known to the samurai. A figure who had once caused a large disruption on their borders, many years ago during the Kage Summit.
In the Land of Irons' small civilian town, a flash lit up the twilight. It could be seen through the window of one of the inns.
Inside there were two identical twin girls with brunette hair in the living room. A girl with plump cheeks and bright ebony eyes was bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Daddy did you see that!" She shrieked. She had reddish brown hair, with curls that swirled at the ends around her cheeks. She broke out into a toothy smile. The child was about five.
Her twin stood beside her, but in a less enthused state.
The latter girl's form was slighter, her face unusually drained of expression for a child her age. She didn't have the restless jitter to her eyes that constituted childhood and naiveté.
It brought to mind a gorilla in a zoo. Those creatures peered at you with something akin to intelligence in their gazes, which gave one a feeling that they could comprehend things on a level that surpassed common animals.
In that way, this child was like that ape, a child whose eyes were not like a mere child. One who held herself in a manner uncharacteristic to a five or six year old.
It was only a moment, only in a glance, but there was something detectable about her that signified she had a curious history, despite being on this earth for a mere five years.
Her eyes were obscured by brown bangs, but the way the muscles on her mouth twitched, the movement of her lips, the gesture of her hands at her sides in fists, along with the stance of her feet all hinted at a sense of precision and awareness.
Her hair was short but plentiful and spilled to form a curtain around her face and over her eyes.
The exuberant twin turned to her more serious counterpart. The girls nodded toward one another with a secret smile then turned expectantly toward a tall figure who emerged from another room and into the slightly darkened living room.
"I'm watching, go ahead." The deep voice of a man answered, prompting the twins to demonstrate.
Small chubby hands formed hand seals and the children cried in unison "Fire Style; mini fire ball justu!"
Flames gushed from their mouths and gathered in the fireplace, a raging spiral of fire settling on the logs inside.
The man stretched out his bared arms and scooped the two girls into his chest. Long ebony hair swept from his shoulders and covered the face of the smaller girl as he held them tightly in a hug.
The twins on either sides of their father held in the tight embrace, had fading blemishes around their chins, sure indications that they had been practicing their fire technique for some time.
There was a sheen of oil lightly coated there, the remnants of a balm to prevent serious burns and to help them endure the heat when their chakra formed the flames.
Memories of his own experiences pooled in their father's mind as he held them.
"Daddy!" The twin with the chubbier cheeks shrieked, flailing in his embrace. She erupted into giggles, an easily excitable child. Where the thinner, more observant twin had reservations the former didn't, and displayed her emotions readily. She was an open book.
But she could feel her sister's thoughts a breath away. "*Ai wants to tell you something." She informed their father.
The man pulled back, pausing to look at the reserved child, who was caught in his straight, wild locks. She was silently trying to extract the strands from her mouth and nose. She jumped down from his arms.
"There is something I want to show you. I've practiced." There was a somber twitch to her lips.
The raven haired man raised an eyebrow? A flicker of amusement. "Something else? You developed on your own?"
Without reply the quiet child backed away from the fireplace to the end of the room.
"Daddy, *Aoi, please move." She beckoned with her small hands.
The father turned his face toward the remaining twin in his arms, the fire cracking in the logs lit up his features to reveal a man somewhere in his early-thirties with the palest complexion one had ever seen.
He had a red eye and a purple eye, the latter shone with prominent swirls. The red eye, the sharingan, was the tell-tale sign of an Uchiha.
"What are you two planning?" The man questioned with an upward twitch to his lips. "I hope you don't cause any trouble." He raised an eyebrow, glancing between the girls.
Ai gave him a measured, blank look. Aoi giggled fiercely and answered for the both of them. "Yep, you'll have to call old man Yamato!" She made a gesture of an explosion with her hands, hitting her father's cheek lightly. "ka-boom!"
The long raven haired man shut his eyes, folding them into a smile. He pushed off on his foot and landed smoothly at the edge of the room, his kid still in his arms, effectively clearing a path for Ai.
Straight brown locks shifted as a gust of chakra flew from her mouth, her hands making rapid signs. "Water release; water dragon bullet!"
A giant burst of rapid water shot through the air, hitting the walls of the front door.
The fair ebony-haired man nearly dropped the girl in his arms, his mouth a thin line, caught between shock and fast forming anger.
The wooden walls had splintered under the attack, reduced to a block of rumble. They practically stood outside now, the inn now exposed to the elements.
Ai was breathing hard. Her small body shaking, but there was the presence of unbending will in her, even if her chakra was drained.
The wind fluttered Ai's bangs upwards, revealing purple hued eyes with concentric circles. They were widened in shock at the scene in front of her. An expression of contriteness, plain before the curtain of hair settled back.
The man in charge of management who handed them new room keys, didn't blink. Shinobi always caused some kind of damage when they stayed. He enjoyed overcharging them for this reason, at least now they'd actually have thoroughly deserved it.
The ebony haired man with the children was a ninja. The old man could tell, and an awfully familiar one at that. The old man reached into under the desk and pulled out the guy's forms.
"Uchiha Sasuke." He read slowly.
He gasped, readjusted his reading glasses and squinted again.
His eyes couldn't be that bad.
The 33-year old Uchiha was changing in the bedroom while the twins were having a sandwich in the kitchen.
He peeled his wet shirt off, his long black hair scooping up into his shirt momentarily. There was a dark ugly wound on his abdomen that snaked around his side, its dark color and size contrasted with his stunning alabaster skin. Although it looked like it had healed some time ago, it was obvious that it must have been a frightful injury during it's time, it was a deep gash, as if he whatever sliced into him could have cut him cleanly in half, if it had been given the chance.
Sasuke pulled on a long black-sleeved shirt and white pants. He was looking in one of the drawers for a scarf.
His two kids emerged at the door peeking in.
Sasuke turned to face them with an unreadable expression. He turned to Ai. He had an image of her performing those signs creating a water jutsu as effortlessly as if she were the Second Hokage himself or more importantly…someone else.
A stab of pain shot through the pale-faced Uchiha.
Aoi was bending down to pick up her fallen cookie and shoving it into her mouth.
Ai was standing still next to her sister.
"Don't use that water style again." Sasuke stated coldly, his eyes narrowing, an emotion teetered on the fringes of his countenance. A wave of anger?
Ai looked back defiantly, but with some hurt look hanging there.
The clock ticked.
"All you have to say is okay."
Silence.
Aoi, who was wiping crumbs off her mouth onto the carpet, blinked and froze at the exchange.
Not again.
Sasuke knew that Ai was the impossible one he didn't understand. She was the one most like him. The look on her face reminded him of the kid he was in his genin days, but on a five year old it was unsettling.
Ai had a very concentrated look on her face. Its intensity made her look several years older. It was clear from the thin press of her lips that she had something to say that she was holding back.
First in her class, and a brilliant child. Ai was more like a female version of Sasuke's brother, Itachi. She posed questions that most six year olds didn't think of. She understood situations and expressions with a clarity that even an eight year old could barely fathom. Her father may have pretended not to notice, but there was one conversation she longed to have—the only one that was forbidden from their house.
It always made Sasuke angry.
He stood up, addressing Aoi, shaking off his bad mood. "Go clean up and then I'll make you guys some porridge." He ruffled the cheerful twin's hair and stood up, turning his back to them.
Ai was staring at the floor.
"We're going to be leaving soon. I don't want to be late. The next day or two there will be a lot I have to get done. The Tsuchiikage will be expecting us when we go to-"
"Why can't we go home?" Ai spoke up, interrupting.
The atmosphere tensed with that single, simple comment from the clear, authoritative voice of Ai.
Sasuke ignored her, walking to pull something out from under the bed. A suitcase. "You girls have never met the Tsuchikage, and I need you to behave properly for him. We'll be staying for two weeks there, so no running off again to explore. I'll begin your training in the afternoon, as usual. We need to stop on the way to the village hidden in the stones. I need to replace your shuriken holsters. Sasuke frowned, trying to remember something.
"Why do we move around so much? Why can't we talk-" Ai continued scrunching up her face as if she might cry, then took a deep breath, slipping a cold mask over her features.
Aoi scooted to her sister and pulled at her sleeve, silently pleading. She understood enough to know that daddy and Ai were going to fight again.
"Why can't we talk about Mom—"
A smack resonated through the room.
Sasuke breathed hard, a furious expression across his face. He stood towering over his daughter.
She held her cheek, but didn't cry.
In his mid-thirties he looked more like Madara, the founder of the Uchiha clan, except for his straight locks, he could be him in physical appearance. The resemblance was more pronounced when he was angry.
As he was now.
Sasuke fell to his knees with regret, and reached for Ai, trapping her in a fierce hug. He bit his lip hard in frustration, eyes closed, cursing himself for his loss of temper.
Ai stared off in the distance, a faint tear streaking down her coldly composed face. She didn't lift her arms to hold her father, she just hung them limply.
The girls rarely saw their father turn any hostility or negative feelings toward them. He was a perfect father to them. Sasuke showered them with more love than anyone in his life could ever believe he was capable of. They were his leg and his arm. He lived for them.
All of their young lives, they hadn't known their father could be anything but gentle, anything but patient, whether instructing them in a new jutsu or cooking for them. He was generous in his praises and affectionate towards them.
But when it comes to an Uchiha, there is a prerequisite to acting out of character and behaving in a state incensed with anger, and that was in the case of loss—loss of love.
An Uchihas' greatest weakness and strength was both in their immense capacity to love, but when that love turned to hate and anger, it always tested the boundaries of right and wrong.
It was midnight, the girls were asleep. Sasuke opened the doors to their bedroom. There was frost on his nose. He had been outside to calm down. The Uchiha strode forward into the room, his long black hair sweeping behind him in wild, errant strands. The powerful shinobi climbed into bed between his sleeping children and held them in his arms.
His eyes were still the black inferno that characterized him, but a breathtaking tenderness had taken residence in their depths. Anger or malignant intent normally made an Uchiha look that much more devastatingly beautiful, in a way which one could appreciate even while being on the receiving end of it. Though who could have guessed that an affectionate expression on an Uchiha resulted in an infinitely more heartrending beauty?
A shuddering breath fell from Ai's mouth, the child snuggled closer to her father, mistaking him for a pillow. The raven brushed back his daughter's bangs, contemplative.
The wind howled outside slapping at the windows. The room was filled with what sounded like a soft chant. A prayer? It was their father repeating a single word, over and over, and over again.
"Aishiteru." I love you.
The sun pooled her morning light and spilled over three beautiful forms. Two children who looked like kids out of a fairytale, startlingly attractive and ethereal, lay asleep. It was like snow white cherubs times two. The characteristic Uchiha paleness manifested itself in the white limbs splayed across the blankets.
Sasuke's eyes were tamed by sleep, his long angular face maintained the epitome of handsome, even in slumber. He had his arms around the twins. Aoi and Ai, were side by side, crushed toward their protector.
Two hours after the sun's arrival, Ai rose languidly from her position. Looking through her usual curtain of brunette hair. She looked down at her sister and father sleeping beside her. A few minutes passed before she could throw sleep off completely.
She slid off the bed and walked toward the bedroom door, leaving the room. Ai shut it behind her, small fingers working to make no noise.
She padded to the kitchen, opened the fridge and took a brownie on a plate from within, then moved to the drapes over the large window in the main room, and sat behind them. In a crouch, she peered at the softly falling snow while slowly taking measured bites of her treat. She loved sweets.
When she had been sitting in almost meditative silence for twenty or so minutes, she felt her father's chakra flare up in alarm, and then fade gently to a low flicker. Daddy was awake, and he had discovered her absence.
A few minutes later the curtains were drawn back and a red and purple eye stared down at Ai.
This was her usual spot at home. Her father found her without needing to try to find her chakra signature.
Sasuke crouched down, he lay something in his lap that he had carried with him. Ai raised her chin to face her him.
"Did I wake you?" She asked. Sasuke nodded, he pulled a sweater from his lap, slipping her arms into them. "I felt your chakra vanish. You're getting good at learning to suppress it. But you know, you can't hide from me." The once over-arrogant Uchiha stated, teasingly at the end.
"I did it with no reason. I didn't mean to. It happened." Ai shrugged a shoulder. "Sometimes I'm thinking hard and concentrate and I want to be alone and I do it."
"Hn."
They both turned toward the window, simultaneously sensing something. It was a rabbit darting across the snow, leaving tiny footprints along its path.
The two Uchihas contemplatively stared out into the great whiteness. Alike in their comfort in silence, neither spoke for a couple of minutes.
"Did you eat yet?" Sasuke asked, breaking the quiet, his voice still a little raspy from slumber.
"I had this." Ai pulled the plate from her other side, on the floor, and presented it. Her tiny child hands barely holding the plate up.
"That's all? Come on. I'll make you breakfast." The raven rose fluidly, his hand on his daughter's head, cradling it against his leg as they walked together.
When they reached the kitchen, Ai climbed onto a stool, to seat herself at the breakfast table. Sasuke was busy opening cabinets, and gathering out ingredients. He reached down to extract a large pan from a drawer under the oven.
Ai spoke up, her arms on the counter. "Daddy. I-" She wasn't good at making apologizes. They embarrassed her.
The ebony-haired man paused, placed the cutting board and the onion in his hands onto the counter and took one step toward his child, tapping her gently on the forehead with two fingers.
"I'm sorry too. Ai."
14 years earlier
The sunrise looked like a bleeding gash on the horizon. The clouds gathered terrified, in bundles across the sky, as far from the red welt as they could get.
Up ahead the border of Konoha didn't have a gate anymore, it would need to be rebuilt. A large army of shinobi, wary and merry marched toward those gates, which was not but a small distance away.
The Konoha shinobi had varying degrees of injuries. The most critical were in the back platoon, carried in gurneys, aided by the medical nins. The front rows had the ones who could walk without crying out in pain, but all of them shared a collective look of relief. The wave of white hair belonging to a one eyed-nonchalant ninja could be spotted in the crowd. Kakashi led a small group, marching along side Guy Sensei and Sai. There were a number of palanquins present in the large crowd of ninjas, drawn by ox carts.
The war was finally over. After weeks away in foreign lands, attending burials, tending to the wounded, and participating in the second largest summit since the Allied Shinobi Forced gathered, they were finally coming home. The Kages were all alive and well, and after ensuring their continued alliance to one another, and their nations, everyone was eager to start the journey home so they could rest, mourn their fallen, tie up any loose ends, and most importantly celebrate with their families and friends waiting at home with them.
The Former rookies were somewhere near the front row, war-torn but with brave faces. Team 7 marched ahead of the rest, huddled together, holding each other up.
A blonde boy with whisker-marked cheeks, and vibrant azure eyes groaned in pain.
He was supported on the right by a boy with short raven hair and intense ebony eyes, and on the left by a girl with pink hair. The two boys seemed to have a contest of who looked more beaten up. A change of clothes and a few days rest didn't make their appearance any better. They had fading bruises and marks all over their arms and face.
Naruto spoke first his sharp, gravelly voice, punctured the quiet as they trudged on.
"Oh, man. I really could use some ramen, right now." He complained. A scowl formed on his face. "What in the hell was that crap Gaara gave us to eat. Remind me to never go to Suna if I'm hungry."
Sakura shook her head at him. Her pink hair was bit longer, and in a unruly mess. "Oh Naruto…how can you think about food right now? Seriously. Geez. I just want a hot shower." Sakura looked older dressed in her Konoha vest and pants, and had an almost accomplished air about her.
The kunoichi with the unnatural hued hair had the appearance of an incredibly intelligent girl and that behind her wide forehead and green eyes, she could think up a storm. She was sharp and attractive, but when she spoke in the presence of a certain dark-haired ninja, she ruined her image, coming off as undignified and brainless.
She had that damn impulse again. Sakura was aware of her tendencies, but couldn't break herself from it. She kept falling back into her habit, now ingrained in her as it were, and she reverted to the 13 year fan girl the moment she laid eyes on him.
She was speaking now.
"Sasuke-kun. Do you need me to come to that side—I'm sure Naruto doesn't need any more support." She paused ready to push the blonde away at a moment's notice, on the ebony-haired boy's command.
"What?! Hey, No fair Sakura-chan…! I'm gonna fall over if move!" Naruto wore a petulant expression, ready to go into full pout mood. He might have mastered the kyuubi mode, but he had mastered the art of pouting earlier.
Naruto looked older, more mature, stronger and wiser—but he could still whine like a five-year old at a moment's notice.
Sakura ignored him, craning her head toward Sasuke.
She had survived a lot, and proved to both herself and fellow comrades of her resilience during the war. But still, she couldn't hold back practically batting her lashes at Sasuke in this way. She chided herself inwardly. Every time she opened her mouth to say something normal, Sasuke's name in a really whiny voice would come out.
She would watch Naruto with a appreciative smile one second and want to compliment him for all he had done for her-and instead an insult or demeaning phrase would pop out of her lips before she could stop it from emerging.
Damn it. She widened her smile in frustration and called Sasuke's name again.
Sassssuke-kuuuun.
The sound was shrill and whiny and hit the walls of Sasuke's ears with force. How did she manage to make her voice annoying? He had survived the war, but this made him wish Madara had done away with him. Almost.
Her annoying voice might have been a special ninjutsu.
Sasuke looked at both his teammates. No matter how long he was apart from them, or how strong they got, they never changed.
Stupid fools.
His Adonis' face smirked. "Sakura-" He addressed, turning his face toward her.
Naruto faced him to listen.
Sakura perked up. "Yes Sasuke-kun?"
"—Shut up. You guys are both just..Usuratonkachi."
His hair fell over his eyes for a moment, as he lowered his head briefly.
Before Naruto could protest at the raven boy's rudeness and Sakura could look thoroughly crushed, Sasuke fixed them with a gaze that released the tension on his eyebrows. The lines on his forehead smoothed out, his lips turned upward in a smile.
It was radiant, and silencing.
He held their gazes. There was genuine gratitude in Sasuke's eyes.
Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke in shock, eyes wide, mouth open.
They were bewitched.
The Uchihas' black strands ticked his cheeks as the wind stirred it into his face.
He removed his arm from around his teammate and walked on ahead. The two remaining friends were struck dumb and stood frozen, arm in arm.
Team 8 bumped into them at their sudden stop.
Hinata broke the silence.
"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" She questioned softly.
She had been listening to Kiba's long winded story and was distracted by Shino's sulking. She didn't witness the exchange between team 7. She just saw Sasuke walking ahead of them.
Naruto and Sakura smiled at each other, and laughed happily.
Hinata beamed at them, pleased they were getting along with no problems.
Sasuke had reached the gate first, and stepped over the mess of it. He made a regal figure in the lead.
The sight of their old friend, willingly striding into the village hidden in the leaves, their home, was more beautiful than the blushing sunset that stretched out. They didn't notice it at all.
They had witnessed their own heavenly sight after all.
It was imprinted onto their eyelids, and with goonie smiles plastered on their faces, they proceeded after their friend.
Home sweet home, here they come.
Notes on some names:
*Ai= Ay=love
*Aoi= Ah-o-ee =blue
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