The Mark
August 17th, 12 years prior
Sasuke woke roughly in his lair as he'd just run through the unnamed country between the Land of Earth and Land of Wind to get into the outskirts of the Land of Rivers. The anbu of Iwagakure had chased him to Amegakure before they lost him, and he'd just kept running. On any normal circumstance, he would have gotten rid of them with the swipe of his hand, though now he was in a hurry. There was a rumor he had to put to rest, and he had until five today to make sure.
Grabbing his sword and his shirt, he quickly left his old hideout, yet not without laying a rose on his former colleagues' graves. He didn't want anyone to know, but Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu had made an impact on him in their final hours, one that he'd never forget. It was a small token for the rough treatment in their living days, but it was his way of apologizing.
Glancing up at the dawning sun, Sasuke calculated that he had an hour to make it to his location. Taking a swig of water from his canteen, he set out.
Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura awoke early. They had been invited to go to see Temari and Shikamaru's new boy in Sunagakure. They would be moving in a few months too, and wanted to celebrate Temari's approval to become a Konoha citizen. The sand siblings were also planning a surprise baby shower for Megami Tsuyayaka, Kankuro's girlfriend, and daughter of the famous movie star, Kaizo Tsuyayaka. It was rumored that Kankuro might propose too, so it was looking to be an amazing vacation for the three.
They would have gone sooner, but Hinata had just given birth, as well as Ino. Yet as soon as little Hiroko was cleared to travel, they had prepared for the journey. Using a twin travel stroller, Hinata and Sakura were able to take their children along with them. Since Hiroko was only two weeks old, she couldn't be separated from her mother for very long, and Sakura didn't trust too many people with her own daughter.
After a mishap affair nearly a year before, Sakura held in her hands the child of the villages' most loathed enemy, Sasuke Uchiha. Though she'd never spoken the name of the father, the whole village had figured it out and didn't respond well to the news. Sakura simply couldn't leave her anywhere without worrying whether or not Ruka would still be there when she came back. So in the end Sakura took her one-month-old with her.
The trio were already within the borders of the Land of Wind, and were already starting to feel the heat. Naruto was dressed in a white tank top and orange shorts, the sweat already apparent on his forehead. Hinata had thrown on a lavender t-shirt and light blue khakis. Sakura was sporting a red top and her dark blue shorts, her trademark circle on her back. The two little girls laying in the light green stroller sported only diapers, sun block, and little hand-fans tied to the sides of the carriage. They were all trying to beat the heat.
Naruto had decided that they'd walk until noon and recede into an inn at the next town. They'd stay there until sunset, where they'd walk in the cool breeze of night. It was a decent plan under the circumstances, though they all wished they could have carried on the night before. The heat had apparently gotten to Ruka, and she kept getting sick. After an hour of trying to quell her, they pitched camp and Sakura spent the rest of the night wiping down Ruka with a wet cloth.
Now they were behind schedule, and needed to trudge through the desert until they hit the next town before they were stuck in the desert when the temperature climbed into the hundreds. They only had until three to get there, but they wanted to be there by noon. That's why they didn't even bother changing, they just got up, took down the tent, and left.
Finally after an hour of walking, Naruto said, "Man, I'm bored. Anyone wanna play a game?"
"What the heck is there to play, knucklehead?" Sakura sighed.
"Eye-spy?" he offered.
"But there's nothing but rocks and a couple of shrubs," Sakura replied sourly. She looked to Hinata who was pushing the buggy. "You and I both know that Eye-spy goes horribly wrong as soon as he gets bored with it!"
"I'm not getting into this one," Hinata riposted.
"It's okay, Sakura's right. I'll admit, that did go bad last time," Naruto sheepishly chuckled.
"I don't think there's anything else to do, Naruto, so try to hold in there, 'kay?" Hinata asked, her soft gaze whispering, 'behave.'
"Alright, alright," he grumbled, understanding the message. He began looking around at the sparse scenery, trying to occupy himself. Though as soon as he began to daydream, a flicker caught his attention. As soon as he realized what it was, his eyes widened. "Uh - I spy a freaking arrow coming right at us!"
Akaji Gozen snarled in anger when his arrow missed it's target. He was sure that it would snag that man's arm. But the fact that that particular man had snapped the arrow midair proved he was no average traveler. Akaji needed food, so he'd planned on bargaining one of the children for it. The other would either be sold on the black market as a slave, or be his own. He thought it would be easy, though he'd come to learn that nothing was easy.
Wiping back his red locks, Akaji pulled the sword from it's hilt. He knew that he'd have to be quick if he wanted to grab the children. As the blonde man charged, Akaji prepared for the impact.
Sasuke sped through the desert, cloaked in mottled tans and reds to hide himself in the desert. He was ahead of schedule, and planned to be in the little town before his targets arrived. Once they were there, he'd easily be able to track them and discover the truth to the rumor. He kept telling himself it couldn't be true, that someone must have misheard the name. Yet still he couldn't shake the possibility of it's actuality.
As the village became a dot on the horizon, Sasuke paused to throw in his blue contacts and used some gel to slick back his hair. He had let a small stubble grow, giving him a rough look. Still, when he checked his reflection, he didn't look like himself, not with all the subtle changes. While most ninja took drastic measures, they were easily spotted fakes. Slight differences however, could be the best cover.
Sasuke reached the village at ten, and positioned himself on a bench with the entrance in sight. He lied in wait of his targets, and did so on pins and needles.
Naruto fought the red-headed soldier kunai to sword. The man hadn't said a word, and was keeping as much distance as he could despite his weapon's upper-hand. Sakura and Hinata had stayed back to protect the children, their kunais drawn. They had been going at it for an hour now, simple parries and lunges, not too much happening. So far the man seemed to think of Naruto as a simple voyager with good defensive skills, and he intended to keep it that way. If word got out to other thieves that the Hokage himself was traveling through unnatural territory, they wouldn't make it to Suna before the heat-wave.
Suddenly, the man made a jab at Naruto's stomach, only to feint and whirl around to slice his neck with the broadsword. Naruto ducked, and stabbed at the man's thigh, only to have the man's elbow slam down on his back. It stung, but wasn't bad. Still, the man knocked him to the ground, and Naruto had to roll in order to avoid the blade.
"Ah've had about enough o' this," the man growled in his deep and throaty voice. He brought his fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly. Five other men just as burly as he popped out from under rocks that were really made of paper. They all wore masks and carried various weapons from ball-and-chains, to hand-scythes. They lunged at Naruto, and he had to pull off a minor Shadow Clone defense. He was so busy attending to the newcomers, that he didn't notice the can that went flying towards the two girls.
Hinata saw it however, and took the carriage as far away from it as possible. When it landed and started spewing a grayish gas, she nodded to Sakura, and went off to help Naruto while Sakura watched the children. As soon as she was left alone, two more figures popped out of the smoke, two paper rocks strewn aside. Sakura began to wonder just how many of the rocks were real, and which were fakes.
She glanced toward her two friends in battle. They were surrounded, and Sakura knew she needed to help them soon. But the two thugs in front of her posed to be a problem. One was carrying a scythe, the other an axe. They swung at her with their weapons, forcing her away from the children to keep them from harm. Angry, she clocked one in the jaw, and he fell back with a hard thump. The other swung his axe towards her abdomen, though he missed and Sakura jumped onto it so she could kick his head. The Scythe-man had gotten up and was coming down on her head, when she dodged last minute. Scythe-man barely missed Axe-man, leaving Axe-man enraged.
Meanwhile, two other men had jumped up from the fray, while everyone else was distracted. They slipped over to the carriage and gently picked up the sleeping infants. They whistled to their colleagues, who pulled out more of the gas-cans.
Hinata realized what was going on and let out a cry of dismay along with Sakura. While the two mothers were distracted, the men they had stopped fighting dropped their cans and thrown gasmasks on. Naruto began running towards the men who had the children, but as soon as he was halfway there, his vision blurred and his feet stopped responding. The three travelers fell to their knees, grief striking them as they realized what was going on.
When they awok hours later, the sun had set. The men and children were long gone.
Sasuke leaped across the rooftops in the full moon's gleam, staying hidden from sight just behind the group moving silently below him. As his shadow danced on the stores across the dusty street, Sasuke slid his sword from its sheath. He hadn't used much of his stealth skills in a while, and if any of his targets below happened to see him -
"C'mon guys, this is the hotel," the blond said dully.
The other two stayed silent. Though Sasuke hadn't seen evidence of the truth he sought, he still needed to hear it from the horses mouth. So far, this had been the only time any of them had spoken, and it looked like they wouldn't be for a long time. Something had happened on the way into town, and Sasuke needed to know what. As he waited in the shadows watching the trio head into the inn and climb into their beds, Sasuke thought back to how he'd found out about this little rumor.
His new group of recruits had been there the nights he slept with his old teammate, the night he broke her will to kill him. It was a simple ruse that not only kept her in her place, but also allowed him to relieve tension. Though he knew his new followers mocked him for it, he realized they did not see the brilliance beneath the actions.
However, he'd sent Manako, his newest recruit, into Konoha for an update two months before. She acted as the perfect mole, and she was able to effectively spy on them while pretending to be one of their own. It was the night of her return that she'd delivered the harsh news.
With her short honey hair and Inuzuka tattoos and fangs, her golden eyes held more arrogance than his own. She had looked him straight in the eye and snarled. "There's something you should know about that stupid plan of yours."
"No," he had said. "You can tell me later. Right now I need to organize the army. You need to pack, we leave at dawn. And don't you dare speak against my ideas again unless I ask for advice."
"Something tells me you'll want to hear about this," she threw back, ignoring her place.
"You better go," Sasuke snarled back, standing so he'd look down at her. She was blocking the ladder to leave his underground lair, and he would kill her to get past. She was new, so he had no ties to her. It would be easy.
"No," Manako clucked, her eyes electrified. "That woman, Sakura-"
"Leave now, before I kill you," Sasuke hissed, putting a kunai to her neck. But she didn't back down.
"Sasuke, she's pregnant!" and there went the bomb.
"W-what?" he scoffed, his brain unwilling to process the information.
"She's eight months along. That's how long ago it was you slept with her. Looks like that night had more consequences than you thought," Manako watched as he had stumbled back into a chair.
After several moments he muttered, "That doesn't prove it's mine."
"There are rumors of it being yours, and she isn't denying it," she stared him in the eyes again, a surprising wisdom lying beneath the sparks.
"I need to find out for myself. I'll keep my ears open for any more about this rumor. Meanwhile, move the mercenaries into the Sound while I go to Iwagakure. We'll stay there and attack when the chuunin exams are held there. That gives us twelve years to refine our skills until then," Sasuke moved to climb the ladder. "Y'know. On the bright side, if that whelp really is mine, then that means I don't have to worry about the Uchiha clan dying with me. I can go full out in battle."
It was in Iwa that he had heard more about the rumors, and Manako had sent him the bird informing him about this little vacation that his former friends were having. But so far, to his relief, he'd seen no sign of an illegitimate spawn. As soon as the weight was lifted off of his shoulders, Sakura had stirred, and stared out the window, straight in his direction. His heart leapt when he thought he'd been spotted, but she showed no sign of seeing him. The shadows were working.
"I'm such a moron," she sighed. "I shouldn't have brought her out here."
Come on, say more, Sasuke willed, knowing he was close to confirmation. He just wanted to hear her say it.
"Sakura, we were both foolish," the indigo haired one Sasuke remembered from childhood crossed to stand by her, also awake.
"Yeah, but you couldn't prevent bringing Hiroko. I could have left Ruka if I hadn't been so distrusting," Sakura moaned.
"And you had every right to be. I was there when they were talking about removing her eyes. What would be so bad about a Sharingan user anyway? It's so stupid that the village thought she'd turn into her father," Hinata Hyuuga replied. There was the proof he needed, and it slapped him good.
"Now they don't have to worry. She's gone, and we can't do anything about it," Sakura mourned, lowering her head into her arms. Hinata rubbed her back softly.
"Hiroko's gone too. We'll just have to get through this together. And who knows? Maybe they'll come back to us, someday. We should try to get some sleep, Gaara should be here soon, once he get's Naruto's letter," the two women receded back into their room, drawing closed the curtains.
Sasuke started to breath again. It was true, he had sired a child, a little girl whom Sakura had called Ruka. But now she was missing, and Sasuke wouldn't have that. A brilliant idea struck him, one that he knew could work to his favor. He'd take the child as his own, and use her when the time came to take over the Sound.
Climbing up the tallest building, Sasuke glanced in all directions, trying to find a trace of thieves or thugs. He'd seen a few wandering the streets, but none of them held a child. Sasuke doubted that they would have pawned off a child so young, and was hoping to find-
There! Off to the side of the village. A group of caravans were parked in the distance, fires burning in the center of the carriages. If anywhere would have contained the thieves, it would be there. Sasuke knew it was irrational, as the children missing were probably in the town, but something pulled him there.
Going against everything he'd ever done, he took off towards the caravans at top speed, removing his contacts so he could activate his Sharingan. Once he arrived, he seen all of the mercenary soldiers were asleep. Keeping quiet, he glanced around to take note of everyone's chakra signatures. It was in one carriage that he seen five small figures. It must have been the children's home, and he crept inside to look at them all.
Two of them were obviously not his, as they were around the ages of two and three. The others were within the ranges of one and three months. One of them had black hair, the other, indigo. The last had hair so dark brown it nearly looked black. Being inexperienced with children, Sasuke couldn't fathom which one was the right age to be his. They also looked very similar to each other.
So, he recalled an old ninja technique that was used as a paternity test long before the scientific ones came out. Biting his thumb, Sasuke drew some of his blood and rubbed small amounts on each of the children's arms in the shape of the Uchiha's symbol. Making a few hand-signs, he whispered, "Blood technique: Blood Recognition!"
He watched as the blood rolled off the black haired child - the one he thought would actually be his. It also went away on the indigo haired one, though he'd already figured it was Naruto and Hinata's. The blood on the last child's arm sank in, and caused the skin to bubble up. Sasuke gazed down in wonder at this child whom the technique had proved to be his. She looked nothing like him, so much of her mother in her. This was the child who he knew would be his legacy.
Suddenly a voice called softly, "You aren't here to take my baby, are you?" It was the woman watching over the children, who was grasping her blanked to her chest, her dark hair falling onto her pillow.
"Yours has the black hair right?" she nodded. "Then, no. I just want my daughter back."
"Take her. In fact, take them both. I can't feed the two newest ones, not with so little food we have, I can hardly produce enough milk for little Kata."
"Fine, I know who her parents are. I'm sure they'd like to see her again."
"Thank you. I'll tell Akaji that they died. It wouldn't be unbelievable, the little brown-haired one's been sick all night."
"That's mine."
"I hope she gets better."
"Thank you."
Sasuke opened the window to the trio's room. He lowered the little one called Hiroko down onto the floor. He was about to leave with Ruka strapped to his back when he heard the noise. Glancing at the bed closest to him, he heard Sakura, the mother of his child, sobbing in her sleep.
He was about to go, when he heard her mutter, "Sasuke….. You've got a daughter….. Gone… no… don't go too… she's yours…. Out there, somewhere….. She'll be back someday…. Stay in the village…. She'll come back too…."
It was then Sasuke had a revelation. He hated it, but he knew he couldn't raise a child. He had no experience, and he only had plans of darkness for her path. He couldn't bring her into his world of hatred. If ever she sought the life of vengeance, then he'd be there. Otherwise, he'd stay out of her life completely.
Silently taking her out of the carrier he'd made, he laid her down onto the bed next to her mother. He'd placed the spare pillows on the bed around her like he remembered seeing one of the mothers do in the Uchiha compound. He glanced back at the mark on her arm, and realized it was his way of claiming her. She was his own, and he knew that the best thing for her was to keep out of it. He climbed out the window and into the moonlight.
Sakura awoke in the night after a nightmare. Rolling over, she tried to fall asleep again. That was until she heard the soft breathing next to her. Glancing down, she saw someone she thought she'd never see again. Holding back tears of joy, she rushed over to the window she had believed was closed. It was there that she found a figure standing in the moonlight, his entire body a shadow. But the light had caught the eyes of the man, illuminating them. Staring back at her was the Sharingan, but for once there was no hatred in them.
The figure disappeared quickly, though Sakura knew she hadn't imagined it. Still, she couldn't believe it. She picked up Hiroko from the floor, and held her close, moving to set her beside Ruka. As tears fell from her face, she cried, "Naruto, Hinata! They're back!"
The other two jumped out of their bed, and snatched up their daughter. They too began to sob, holding each other as a family. Sakura picked up her own daughter as Naruto and Hinata sank beside her, pulling her and Ruka into the hug. They were all one big family, and they were whole again.
