Hey guys, I know everyone wants me to update my other stories, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head and had to put it down, plus I've been wanting to try my hand at a Naruto-fic for months now. So please forgive for creating a new story instead of focusing on the others, so I hope it's just as good.
Anyways, since there so many fem-Naruto and fem-Sasuke AUs (not that I have a problem with it) I thought I take the same idea but use a different character instead. I got the idea for this after reading 'The Fox's Kit' by SuperNeos2. So to make things clear, I do not own Naruto or any of the characters expect for any and all OCs I might throw in.
Kisame Hoshigaki was board. And a board shark-nin was never a good thing; that Itachi could speak of even with his little experience with the Kiri-Missing Nin. The leader had little missions that were actually fun and had a point to them had dwindled to an almost nonexistent number. On top of that, he had nothing else to do, no one would let him anywhere near the new recruits after his last incident with them, though to be fair, he had warned them of his temper and low-patience level, so Itachi had most teaching sessions while Sasori took over when he couldn't, unlike now. The puppet master himself was out getting his hands a new poison he discovered out in the Land of Snow and took Kakuzu with him, while Deidara spoke with Pain and Konan about Kami knew what, Zetsu was doing who knew what and Hidan doing some ritual, he didn't know (nor wanted to know) the details, leaving Kisame with no one to pester for amusement.
Thus, leading to where he was now. Catching some early sleep beneath a random tree in a glen just west of the base, sure this was going to mess with his schedule, but he figured he could afford it with his new jutsu. If things continued how they were, Kisame was pretty sure he was going to kill something soon.
His ear twitched suddenly at a sudden sound. It was soft, but not enough for him to miss. He, without opening his eyes, used a basic sonar technique to see what it could be. No ninja he knew of was stupid enough to purposely make a noise like that unless there was an ulterior motive, such as a trap.
What he got back wasn't something he expected. Nothing. No chakra signatures, no traces of traps, nothing. Not even faint chakra traces that someone had been there and simple avoided his technique. That wasn't right, even someone as young as a child would have had left something.
He shrugged, figuring he imagined it and stretched, deciding now was a good time to head back before Pain discovered he wasn't in the base. The last time someone spent too much time out without Pain knowing about it beforehand Kisame thought the guy was going to have a hernia. Guess he just loved things in the perfect order he was used to them being in, not that Kisame could blame him. Some people were just like that with certain things, Kisame knew he was when it came to his eating habits.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Kisame decided to walk back, if anything to further prolong the boredom that was awaiting him there. He was honestly starting to wonder if all this was worth capturing nine brats just so they can finally have a more peaceful era. As much as it would be nice to no longer have to constantly be looking over his shoulder, he knew if it was perfectly peaceful, he wouldn't be the only one that'd go crazy. As admirable and understandable as the goal was, it wasn't completely thought through. They were ninja, disharmony was how they thrived and made their living, taking that chaos and hostility from them would be…not a very smart thing to do, but he wasn't about to bring that up with Pain, he valued his head too much.
Kisame sighed through his nose, knowing if these thoughts kept up, he wasn't going to get any sleep period. Just as he ducked under an arch of lower branches a soft coo sounded through the almost eerie silence of the woods, causing Kisame to stumble forward from the sheer shock of the sudden sound. Very slowly as not to provoke a sudden attack (human or otherwise), Kisame carefully scanned the area; apart from the chirping and carefree singing of the evening birds and the occasion squirrel or chipmunk, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. In fact, it was just another day in Rain Country, just without the rain for once. Shrugging, he turned and started off again, figuring he just imagined it again, cursing the birds under his breath.
But then, two sounds were heard, louder this time and closer; a rattling sound and squeak, causing Kisame to jump from surprise and nearly topple forward had he not recover just as quick. He whirled around, Samehada gripped tight as he moved forward, ready to draw and defend, eyes quickly scanning for an enemy and mildly wondered how someone snuck up on him.
This time, he did find something, but it wasn't a person. There, nestled in the roots of a tree, was a wicker basket, the kind without a handle, little tuffs of fabric peeking over the edge. Kisame let out a shuddering sigh as he relaxed a little at the lack of danger, letting go of his death grip on Samehada's handle, only to tense up again when a light, innocent laugh erupted from said basket.
He felt his chest tighten, a feeling he hadn't felt since…
'No! Nope!' Kisame interrupted his own train of thought subconsciously, eyes still glued on the basket as he oh so slightly inched closer, 'Not going there!'
Swallowing once he was just a foot or so from the basket, he leaned in a little to peer inside, only to feel the color drain from his face, his heart stopping and legs get just the tiniest bit weak. For lying comfortably in the nest of pink and white blankets, clutching a rattle in tiny hands was a baby.
All Kisame could do at the moment was stare down at the tiny creature, unable to fully comprehend what he was looking at, at first, 'Is that a baby?' was the only thing that echoed around in his head as if it were a cave. When the realization set in, he jumped back, the sound of his feet hitting the ground grabbing the infant's attention as he shouted in shocked-alarm, "HOLY-SHIT KAMI, IT IS A BABY!"
The baby, oblivious to how the shark-nin was feeling, just slipped coo after coo, wiggling around in the blankets as the missing-nin once again scanned the area, this time also looking for clues to where the baby could've come from. Throwing caution to the wind, he called out for anyone to hear, "Hello? HELLO? Someone's left their baby over here! Anyone here?"
Unfortunately, the only reply he got was the continuing chirps of birds and flaps of wings as they flew away from the sound of his voice. This made him nervous and since no one was around, he had no need to hide it with his usual act.
Steeling his nerves, he knelt down in front of the basket, looking down at the baby, who kept wiggling around happily. "Where the hell did you come from?" He wondered aloud, scanning the basket for some sort of clue, a clan symbol, a village insignia, anything that could point to where the child's family could possibly be. But there was nothing, the blankets and basket was perfectly plain, no special decoration of any kind.
The baby just cooed pushing the rattle into its mouth, making Kisame sigh, "At least I know you aren't old enough to talk yet." Even the rattle was somewhat plain, being of average shape and a nice light blue in color with two white strips, one in the middle of the actual rattle and one down on the end of the handle. Along the top strip were little cute puppies and kittens.
"Nothing to tell me where you could've come from," Kisame mused as the baby continued to coo, "But you have to be from Rain Country, who goes to another nation just to dump a kid?"
The baby just continued to coo and giggle around the rattle, making Kisame face-palm as he realized something, "I'm reasoning logic with an infant…" An infant that he just now noticed had a deep tan, which had to natural, with a tiny wisp of brown hair atop its head and big, shiny, innocent dark brown eyes staring up at him. A pair of red triangles were the only thing unique about the child, one on each cheek, giving him the impress the kid belonged to some sort of ninja clan, again making him wonder who on earth dumped a potential ninja here of all places.
"At least I have a small clue to who your parents are," Kisame smiled slightly, despite the act he put up for the Atasuki, he did have a soft spot for kids. Abandoning the rattle, the baby ceased wiggling and held out its tiny hands towards him, cooing, "Dada."
Kisame froze instantly, unable to stop himself from falling back onto his ass. Kami, someone please tell him the kid didn't just call him 'dada' of all things. Kisame knew for an absolute certainty that he did not have any kids; sure, he got drunk quite a few times he actually allowed himself to have fun, but never that drunk.
"Okay…" He said slowly, shaking his head, "So you can talk, got anything else to say kid? Like, maybe where you're from?" Maybe the word was just a fluke.
But that hope was dashed when the baby just made grabbing motions at him, repeating, "Dada."
Kisame could stare once more. So the kid really did mean it, the kid really thought he was its dad. Was it possible it was because it was abandoned right after it was born, so it never knew its real parents? The thought made Kisame a little sick. But it sounded just about right, judging from the baby's alarmingly small size and (right now) one word vocabulary.
His small, round white eyes stared down into excited chocolate brown eyes as the baby continued to reach up to him, clearly wanting to be held. Kisame knew very well he couldn't just leave the child here, knowing exactly what animals lived in these woods, and even if an animal didn't kill it, it could just as well eat it after the exposure or starvation did the killing for them.
Making up his mind, Kisame leaned down slowly and carefully picked up the infant, taking a few blankets with it. The baby giggled happily at finally being held, before gurgling happily, "Papa."
'Make that a two word vocabulary,' Kisame corrected himself trying hard to keep the smile off his face as he said, trying not to sound too stern, "I'm not your dad, kid." He couldn't let the kid get attached to him, nor could he let himself get attached, especially when the real parents were out there somewhere.
But the baby didn't seem to get it and just cooed, "Papa."
"I'll find your dad," Kisame said stressing his next words, "Your real one."
The baby just insisted further, "Dada."
"Will you please stop calling me that!" Kisame finally lost his cool and snapped, his emotional scars from his much distance past beginning to burn, "I'm not your dad! I wouldn't know how to be it if I was!" His mind flashed back to his genin days, watching all those families with a painful longing in his heart, always coming home to a very empty house, "I never had one to show me how!" Tears that he had thought run dry a very long time ago started to trickle down his cheeks and Kisame couldn't bring himself to care.
The baby stopped giggling and cooing and began to cry, tears running down its cheeks, as if able to tell exactly how Kisame felt, tiny fists flailing around. Because of how small it was, Kisame had no idea how to tell how old it was, so for all he knew it probably could tell. But right now, that wasn't the important thing.
Kisame instantly felt panic fly from his heart to his head like a bee to a flower, "Ah, don't cry! Hey, don't cry!" He was really starting to feel like a kid again, only now he was starting to remember what it was like back at the rare academy on test day he forgot to study for.
Instincts kicking in, Kisame began to gently rock the child in his arms, lowering his voice as he said, "It's okay, look; daddy's here; don't cry," A watery smile found its way onto his face, surprised by how easy it was to pretend to be the kid's dad, "Daddy's here; you don't have to cry."
Apparently, it did the trick, because the sobs subsided and the giggles started once more, a smile re-appearing on the child's face as it cooed happily, "Dada!"
Kisame smiled once more, unable to deny the warmth that word filled him with and he held the infant close. However, the gesture caused something to slip out of the folds of the blankets and fall onto the ground with an audible cluck sound.
This caused Kisame blink in surprise and look down to see what it was. Lying on the ground was a necklace, too big for the infant, but just the right size for a child or adult to wear. A plain, but worn brown piece of leather of some sort had been threated through the gold clasp to make the necklace, while the matching gold pendant formed a sort of octagonal shape; staring up at him innocently atop the pendant was an engraved 'K' that was painted a lovely jade-green overtop a pair of white wings with black brair-designs. It seemed elaborate and fancy, but a trained eye and a well-knowledged brain could tell it was only worth so much, even on the black market it couldn't have been worth more then at least a thousand yen, which wasn't what it used to be nowadays, but it was clearly hand-made and a custom job.
Carefully adjusting his grip, he picked it up by the leather cord and felt the corners of lips quirk as he commented, "At least now I got an actual clue to where you came from." The baby just continued to giggle, gurgle and coo as he dangled it and reached out to try and touch the pendant, making him chuckle fondly moving it closer to for the infant to tap it lightly.
Kisame then sighed, wonder what to do now. He could always drop the child off at the orphanage, though he was fairly sure a snowball had a better chance surviving in hell then them taking the child, especially when it was him of all shinobi bringing it in. After all, the orphanage in Kiri didn't keep him after he started showing signs of being a promising shinobi, so who's to say would do the same if this child began to show signs of ninja skills? No one could, but it wasn't a risk Kisame was willing to take. There was no way he was telling Pain about this, mostly because he would just order him to give to the orphanage or kill it as currently held no value in his plan. Kisame couldn't just leave the baby here, being left in the woods and in a handle-less basket no less obviously meant to him that the parents probably didn't want it to being with.
A new idea left Kisame in deep thought. Could he raise it? Hell no was the only thing that kept coming to mind, no matter how he thought about it. Not only was he a shinobi, he was a missing-nin to boot. He had too many enemies that would gladly use the baby to get at him, plus he couldn't juggle the missions and caring for an infant all at once, especially when you add his duties to the Akatsuki into the mix. Plus, as violent and death-risking as it was, he loved his ninja life and wasn't ready to leave it yet, but he didn't want to leave the idea of keeping the kid alone, liking the way hearing those two words made him feel and wanting to keep holding it in his arms. Until he could think of how to sort this all out, the kid stayed with him.
But on that note, realization dawned on the shark-nin, "Wait a second..." He looked down at the now peaceful baby, who apparently needed a father's touch to sleep, head resting peacefully against his chest, "Are you a boy or a girl? And what am I suppose to call you?" He felt like slapping himself upon remembering who he was talking to and opted to simply checking himself after setting the necklace back in the basket.
He found nothing between the kids legs: it was a healthy baby girl.
"Hmmm..." He mused as the baby slept, "Now what to call you..." He thought hard on it, he honestly didn't know many female names that he honestly liked, looking back at the necklace he figured it was meant for her if they left it with her, meaning her actual name started with a 'K', "Can't call you Konan, for one thing it'd be too weird and it just doesn't suit you." The baby made no response, still sleeping.
There was no way he was naming her 'Kasumi'(1), its meaning brought up too many bad memories for several reasons, same with any other name that held some sort of water-related meaning. Couldn't even name her a feminized version of his name since it'd be way too weird. Which limited his choice in names.
"I guess I can call you...Kimiko(2)," Kisame decided and found he loved it, he smiled down at the newly christened Kimiko, who still slept peacefully on, "Because you're my beautiful little girl."
With a nod of satisfaction, he placed the necklace back in the basket before tucking it under his arm, planning to further examine it for anymore clues to Kimiko's real family and home, then headed back to the base. He knew he wasn't skilled enough to completely sneak in without getting caught, so he just hoped he could hide his new daughter and just pass the basket off as a little errand he had to run.
And I'm done, not bad if I do say so myself!
Before anyone complains (if they haven't already) I picked Kisame because well, I don't think the show put much depth into his more personal path, like how he got into the swordsmen in the first place and his childhood. Of course, I never watched the whole anime, so I could be wrong. So I just thought this would be a nice way to introduce that in a somewhat small way.
Plus, I live by my belief that no one is born evil, its the choices we make that shape who we become and if anything, ninjas are the best example of it. Besides, no one ninja is truly 100% evil, it just depends on one's perspective of their goal and their past, and the actions they've made to get to where they are, like Itachi for example. Plus, everyone wears masks, look at Kakashi! I kid, I kid, but seriously, everyone acts differently in public then they do at home, I know I do, so Kisame should be no different; who's to say he can't be a good father if he had ever become one?
(1): Kasumi is a Japanese name that means 'mist', I thought it be a big no-no name for a few obvious reasons.
(2): Kimiko is also a Japanese name that means 'valuable' or 'beautiful' child, I was honestly the only name I liked that started with 'K'.
On that note, think you can guess who the baby is? I'll give you a hint, its one of the original characters in the show, just...now a girl. Plus I think the name isn't so bad, tell me what you guys think. Also, who do you think should find out about her first? Tobi? Itachi? Maybe Deidara? Oh, I just can't decide!
Oh, well, let me know what you all think! Till next time!
P.S., if this chapter seems short to anyone, please let me know! Thanks!