I don't own Naruto, only this plot
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The fog has yet to disappear, but he knew the battle on the bridge was over. He couldn't see anything, but the stillness in the air and the soundless noise assured him that they had won.
Ibiki, the leader, had the team medic look over the injured men, while the others were tasked to scout for survivors. Tadashi Itsumo did not hear the order and instead leaned against a railing and looked up to the sky with tired eyes.
Tadashi Itsumo looked forward to returning home where the 3rd Hokage agreed to accept his resignation as an active ninja. It had taken him months to finally strike up a deal with the old man. He agreed to take up 10 consecutive class S missions in exchange for his resignation as a ninja. The old man was not keen on accepting the deal; Tadashi was only 17 years old (far too young for retirement), not to mention the fact that he had been one of the better ninjas to emerge from Konoha in recent years. However, after reminding the Hokage about the tragedy that had occurred, the old man finally agreed.
After the death of his pregnant fiancée, Yuki, six months ago, Tadashi's heart just was not the same. He spaced out a lot during missions, often thinking about what could have been had he listened to his fiancée and stayed at home. If he did, maybe he would have been there when she fell; maybe he would have been able to take her to the hospital to save her life and their child's. Maybe by now, he would have been a father.
"waaaaaahh! Uwaaahhhh!"
Tadashi's thoughts were interrupted by loud wailing. He looked up to see his team mates huddled around a spot to his left looking dumbstruck.
"What is it?" he asked
"It's a baby. Mitsu, here, moved the bandit's body and the crate, with the baby inside, fell open" replied Ibiki, gesturing to Mitsu, who had the decency to look sorry for the baby.
After hearing this, Tadashi's blood boiled. A baby? Who brings a baby into a battle? What kind of parenting is this? Had my baby survived, I wouldn't even let it out of the house for a year.
"uwaaahh! uhwaaah!"
Tadashi's silent complaints were cut short by the baby's cries. Though this time, it seems to be triggered by the incorrect way Mitsu was holding the baby.
"What are you doing?" shouted Tadashi, surprising not only his team mates but also himself. Tadashi was a silent man. He never shouted except in the heat of the moment during a battle. "You do not hold a baby that way! Support the head!" he continued, striding forward and taking the baby from the harassed looking ninja. He then proceeded to lay the baby along his folded arms, gently swaying back and forth.
And, as if on cue, the infant stopped crying and yawned drifting off to sleep.
The team looked on as the young man handled the baby with expertise. They all knew about him taking baby care classes as soon as he found out he was going to be a father. He had matured quite fast as well. "Preparing for fatherhood" he used to say. But they had abandoned the idea of ever seeing him carry a baby after what happened to his fiancée.
"You're a natural" said Ibiki. Everyone else on the team looked uncomfortable with his declaration. They had purposely avoided talking about children or fiancée's around Tadashi.
"oh come on!" Ibiki addressed the team "he's just turned 18! He's too young to give up on having a family. Technically, he was too young to have been an expecting father in the first place! If Yuki hadn't been his childhood friend, people would've been less forgiving about their condition and far less consoling about the tragedy."
It was true, but it wasn't as if Yuki's pregnancy was an accident, the young couple have been trying for months to conceive a child; the couple had said something about not wanting to be too old to be able to relate to your child when they become teenagers.
"hmm?" Tadashi wasn't even paying attention. He was captured by the baby's charm.
"What are you going to name it?" asked Ibiki.
"What do you mean?" replied Tadashi
"The way you look at that child… it seems you were thinking about it"
"No, I wasn't"
"Oh. Well you should anyway. Seems the parent was this man. He's dead now. That child is going to need a father. I'm sure you can adopt the child"
"Adopt a child from the battle field?"
"It's a rare phenomenon but not unheard of."
"Ridiculous! I would never—"
"Don't insult me. You've probably already planned out the first 5 years of that child's life while you were humming it a lullaby"
"No, I did—"
"Found out the gender yet?"
"Girl"
"Figured her name yet?"
"Akira, it means "clear, dawn" "
"Planned a welcoming party?"
"minimalist, just people from the team plus, the Hokage"
"1st birthday party?"
"picnic by the lake"
"First tooth party?"
"Chocolate chip ice creams for her and her nursery friends"
He banter went on and on as the rest of the team looked on. They would never say it out loud, but they agreed with Ibiki. There was something about the way Tadsahi held the baby that made them hope he was going to the adopt it.
"So it's settled! We are going to take the child with us back to the village, you will adopt it, and I expect to be the godfather" said Ibiki.
The team was hardly surprised by this proposal. Tadashi was close to Ibiki, having been trained by the head Intel ninja.
"Alright! Just slow down okay? I'm not sure yet. I may just leave her to the village's adoption program. Adopting seems weird. Besides, this does not replace the one I lost." Tadashi's voice cracked toward the end of his statement.
The team just stared in silence, not knowing what to say.
"Alright" said Ibiki "Everybody! Listen up, as soon as we finish cleaning up, we can head back"
The team followed the order and started to get to work. None of them saw the knowing smirk that played on Ibiki's face.
The village's adoption program? Humph! Yeah, right!
Meanwhile, Tadashi placed a kiss on the baby's forehead and whispered
"sleep tight, Akira."
