CHAPTER SEVEN
PART 1: MANIPULATION AND GARDENING
"I wan'na learn to swim," the dark haired girl shouted as she watched her older brother splash around in the small waves. The girl was using her bright yellow plastic bucket as a hat. She turned to give her white haired babysitter a pleading look making sure to jut out her bottom lip.
"You can learn later in the pool. I don't want to end up losing you to the current," Kakashi said sighing as he saw that she was yet again wearing her bucket as a helmet even after he had told her not to. "Your head's going to get stuck in there." She replied by sticking her tongue out at him before running off.
"Les go find she-sells," she shouted, "and stahfish and little cwabs and fishies!"
Itachi, having heard her exclamation, ran out of the water in her direction, but not after shooting the white haired boy a dark glare. Kakashi sweat dropped at the boy's antics. He had only just noticed Itachi's dislike towards him when they had made the first stop on their little sabbatical. He had been around the boy since he was born, but he had never acted that way towards him, he always seemed to admire and look up to him. It was not until after his sister came into the picture that his attitude towards him changed. Well if anything, he thought it was cute they he was a little overprotective of her, but the boy would be in hell when she grew up. He would have to deal with all the other boys trying to flirt with his little sister and win her affections. Kakashi gave a smirk. Not only was Itachi an Uchiha, he was already considered a prodigy and he had not even attended the Academy yet. Yes, Kakashi truly felt sorry for the idiot that fell in love with Uchiha Itachi's little sister.
"Kim, Kim," Kakashi yelled when he caught sight of the girl. Her bucket had fallen over her head as she was running and it refused to come off. The bucket not coming off was not the reason he was worried, it was the fact that she was to close the water for comfort. "I told you the bucket's not a helmet!"
By the time he reached the little girl she had tripped and fell into the water. He bent down and made her sit in the shallow waters that only reached up to her waist. He put his hands on the bucket and pulled. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. Sighing, he placed his hands on the bucket a third time and began to shake it. He shook harder when he noticed that her head was starting to slip out. With a final shake Kim's head slipped out of the yellow bucket. With a plop she landed back in the water with a grin on her face.
"Can we swim now," she asked cutely. Kakashi gave in and lifted the girl from the water, ignoring the other child's glare, and made his way to the beach house in the direction of the underground swimming pool.
When the trio walked past the front door they were ambushed by a purple blur. The purple blur turned out to be none other than Uchiha Mikoto. The woman had wrapped her arms around them and Kakashi squirmed to get out of the woman's hold. Once free he stumbled into Kushina who had one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen on her face, her smile was bigger than the one she had when Minato had proposed to her and then the one she wore on her wedding day. Before he could even react the red haired woman had thrown her arms around him.
Standing at the entranceway to the part of the house that opened up to the beach were Tsunade and Jiraiya. They were enjoying the little scene that played out before them.
Waggling his eyebrows suggestively, Jiraiya said, "You know Hime-"
"Don't even think about it," Tsunade growled raising a fist at the man in warning. She already knew what he was going to suggest something weird, and she really did not want to hear it.
"K-Kushina-san," Kakashi wheezed. "I can't breathe."
"We're pregnant," the two women exclaimed as they jumped up and down. "We're going to do La Mas together! Our baby boys will be best friends!"
"Kashi-kun is dying," Kim shouted seeing the boy's face turning blue before going limp. "I can fix him!" She jumped out of her mother's arms, pulled the one eyed boy out of the redhead's arms, and struggled to lay him on the floor. She pulled off his mask and began to shake him furiously. "I know what I'm doing; I'm a medic in training." She continued to shake the boy awake. "Wake up Kashi-teme!"
"What did you call me," Kakashi gasped out when the girl hit him on the chest.
"It's what that big meanie Genma calls you," she replied innocently. Kushina and Jiraiya had burst out laughing, Tsunade wore a smile on her face, Itachi had smirk, and Mikoto had a disapproving look.
"If he's mean to you then why would you call me something he calls me," Kakashi asked confused. When Kim had first met Genma she had been excited to meet another one of Kakashi's friends, but Genma was less than amused and took an immediate disliking towards her. The feeling was mutual, seeing as the Uchiha girl did not like him either.
"So Kim you want to be a medic," Tsunade said casually as she walked over with her arms crossed.
"Yes, but my Shishou-"She stopped talking not wanting to remember.
"Well I happen to be a medic-nin myself," Tsunade stated. She wore a proud smirk as she stated, "I was the one who came up with the medic-nin guidelines."
"You'we my wival now," the young Uchiha girl declared suddenly pointing a finger at the blonde Sannin. That was the moment Kakashi regretted letting Kim meet Gai, although she did not meet him directly, but from a distance. Gai was still in the dark of the girl's existence, and he planned to keep it that way.
"Really know brat. Well, when you're a full-fledged ninja come and find me," Tsunade offered. "Then we'll see if you're worthy enough to be my rival. Deal?"
"Deal," Kim stated.
The rest of the week came and went. Kim learned how to swim, Itachi glared at the young white haired Jonin, Kakashi played babysitter, Jiraiya kept trying to make the young Jonin a believer while peeping on the women, Mikoto and Kushina were making plans, and Tsunade was getting drunk and teaching the children how to play poker. Before they knew it, Tsunade broke off from the group, and the rest made their way back to the Hidden Leaf.
XxX
"Lover," Kushina shouted as she jumped through the window of the Hokage Tower. She managed to scare three Genin and their Jonin Sensei in the process. Turning a fierce glare on the quartet, she pointed a finger at the door and shout, "Get out!" which they obeyed and scrambled out of the office.
"Kushina," Minato gasped as the air was knocked out of him when his wife tackled him. He chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her. The redhead then settled herself into a more comfortable position on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, then placing a long sensual kiss upon his lips, which the blonde all too willingly returned.
"Call Fugaku," she yelled in his ear after their little session. "We have great, amazing, wonderful news, dattebane!"
"Call me for what," Fugaku said standing up from where he had been lazily lounging in a chair Minato had added in his office. His head snapped up to face the door when he heard it open.
"Daddy, Daddy we're going to get baby brothers," Itachi and Kim shouted as they raced over towards their father. Their father had frozen when his mind registered what they had shouted.
"Twins," the Head of the Uchiha Clan managed to get out. His wife shook her head and held up a single finger, which confused her husband.
"I'm pregnant," Kushina shouted with a blinding smile on her face. Minato Namikaze the Yondaime Hokage was at a loss for words. A smile soon broke out on his face and he picked his wife up from around her waist and spun her around. He stopped suddenly as a look of panic washed over his features.
"Ah! I'm sorry did I hurt you? Did I hurt the baby," he asked in fear.
"Minato you moron," his wife shouted as she hit him over the head. "I'm not going to break!"
"Where do babies come from," Kim questioned stopping the adults from celebrating.
"Where do they come from," Itachi asked looking at the adults. Kakashi on the other hand was smirking and trying to stifle a laugh at the turn of events.
"They come from the pumpkin patch," Kushina stated.
"They come from the tomato garden," Mikoto said at the same time as Kushina.
"How far along are you two," Fugaku asked changing the subject.
"Well Tsunade said that I was about five months along," the black haired woman answered.
Minato turned to Kushina who answered, "Two months."
"What about the thing we talked about," Fugaku asked looking down at his wife.
"She's ours," Mikoto whispered into his chest as she began to cry as he husband wrapped his arms around her. "Tsunade ran all the tests and she's biologically ours."
"How," was all Fugaku could get out. He stared at the dark haired girl. His little girl. His daughter.
"Jiraiya-sensei has an idea of who it might have been," said Mikoto in a breathy tone. "He said that he and Orochimaru had spotted someone suspicious fleeing the village the same night she was born while on watch duty." The woman then launched into detail. From the Nidaime's Edo Tenshi to their thoughts on why they would bring her back. She left no detail out no matter how little. She also wanted Kakashi to hear it just in case he ever came back for Kimi and they weren't there to protect her. "She's ours Fugaku. Everyone was able to see her resemblance to us. I knew I loved her the moment I saw her – well after I calmed down. I knew our connection went much deeper than that, and it does. She is really ours. It doesn't matter how she's alive or if Sensei's theory is correct, because all that matters is that she's here with us alive."
The two men were silent, not knowing what to say.
"So I didn't imagine it when she activated the Sharingan," Kakashi whispered not wanting either Kim or Itachi to hear. The four more experienced ninja stared at him. He looked at the floor. "I thought I was just imagining things. I mean… I thought I had imagined Obito for a second." He looked up at the four, and then looked back at the girl. "I'd promise to protect her, but coming from me it's all a lie and means nothing… even if I'm in ANBU."
"Kakashi-kun that's not true," Minato tried to say but the boy had jumped out the window.
"Kakashi is strong he'll get through it," Fugaku said shocking everyone in the room. He saw no point in holding a grudge against the boy. His daughter had a strange attachment to him, and his son looked up to him. Minato was his trusted friend and Kakashi was his student, he guessed he could trust the boy.
Kim was confused. First her mother tells her she is her daughter, but was she not already her daughter? Then Kakashi mumbled something she could not hear, and got sad before he jumped out of the window. And what's an ANBU?
While the adults were talking in hushed tones, Kim and Itachi silently snuck out of the office. The two walked down the hall, and then down the flight of stairs, although Kimi had a little trouble but she managed with her brother's help. They held hands as they walked down the streets in search of the missing white haired Jonin.
The Uchiha Siblings came across an odd couple. The woman had blonde hair and angry eyes that were directed at her husband. He husband had an odd hairstyle and his hair was a dull pink.
"Oh are you two lost," the woman asked crouching down to the children's level with some difficulty due to her enlarged midsection. The two dark haired children shook their heads. They were growing impatient when the woman continued to talk about nonsense. All they wanted to do was find Kakashi, but the woman just would not stop talking. "I'm Mebuki, what are your names?"
"I'm Itachi and this is my Imouto Kimi," the older of the two siblings replied. No matter how much they wanted to get away, their mother would have their heads on a silver platter if they were rude. Even when she was not around it was as if she could sense their rudeness, and then would punish them accordingly.
"Oh what lovely names," the woman gushed. She placed her hands gently on her inflated stomach. "I hope I can think of a nice name for my daughter. I only have about a month left before she gets here."
"Whewe do babies come fwom," the almost two year old asked tilting her head to the side innocently.
The adults appeared to be flustered by the young girl's question.
"Well you see," the man spoke nervously. His wife was giving him a look that said don't-you-dare-scar-these-children-with-your-lame-puns. "Babies come from the cherry blossom trees. When spring comes the flowers will bloom, and when the petals open there will be a new baby."
"We came fwom a flowew," Kim questioned not really believing it. First Shisui tells them that babies come from a giant white bird called a stork, and her Aunty Kushina told her they came from the pumpkin patch, then her mother said they came from the tomato garden. Now this man was telling her they came from cherry blossom trees!
"Ah! Well look at the time," Mebuki stated looking at her wrist. "I'm late for my check-up at the hospital. It was really nice meeting you two, but we must get going." With that the couple made their way in the opposite direction of the hospital. In the distance the two could hear shouts of, "Seriously? From a cherry blossom tree! Cherry blossoms! Kizashi, we should name her Sakura!"
"Baby brother and Sakuwa-chan will be bestests fwiends," Kim declared smartly hitting her fist in her open palm.
"Did you ask that question on purpose," Itachi asked his sister with wide eyes. She gave him a smile before innocently skipping away. "Imouto's good."
"Why won't they tell us whewe babies come fwom," the dark haired girl asked. Her brother shrugged.
"We can always ask Shisui," he said simply. "I ask him about things all the time. He even said he learned where babies came from when he snuck on a mission with Uncle Kagami."
The two then continued their search for the white haired Jonin. Their search ended when their parents found them.
XxX
Kakashi remained unseen for the next two weeks, and Kim had been the one to find him, while she was wandering around in the forested area of the Uchiha District after some of the other children in the clan had chased her off. He had been traveling through the outskirts of the village trying to remain unseen after returning from a mission. She had been lying in the center of a clearing, when he had broken through the surrounding trees. The white haired boy was surprised to see her there, and even more surprised to see her alone.
"What are you doing here," he called out to the little girl. She then lifted her arm up and pointed towards the sky.
"Watching the fluffy kitty," she said.
Kakashi shook his head and made his way over to her. Standing beside her he asked, "Why are you alone?"
"The othew kids wewe being mean, and I got lost. " She shrugged her shoulders as if other children being mean to her was nothing out of the ordinary. Kakashi crouched down.
"Why were they being mean," he asked. She shrugged her shoulders again because in all honesty she did not know why. "When did they start being mean to you?"
"The day aftew we got home," she replied.
Kakashi did not need to hear any more. The day they got back to the village from their little vacation, Fugaku had called a clan meeting. There were no secrets kept within the Uchiha Clan, and Kim's origins were not an exception, although no one had expected the clan to have negative reactions towards the girl. Some even suggested the girl should be executed, since they did not know if she was a possible threat. Most of the clan refused to accept her as a part of the Uchiha Clan and refused to be in the same room as her. However, they did allow her to use the clan name, so as not to raise questions, but her relations to the main family had to be kept a secret. The reaction had been even worse when they found out that the girl was the youngest in the history of the clan to activate the Sharingan. The amount of people who accepted Kim, well, he could count them on one hand; two, when her brother was born. The parents dislike towards the girl must have spread to the children.
"I wan'na make a gawden," Kim said suddenly as she jumped to her feet. "Will you help me?"
Kakashi did not know how she could smile even when it seemed like everyone hated her. She still smiled at everyone and was her usual cheerful self. She was either ignorant or was killing them with kindness. Then again the girl was like the second coming of Kushina and Mikoto so he assumed it was the latter.
"You don't make a garden. You plant and grow a garden," Kakashi corrected.
"Can we get a thing where the water goes-"She then proceeded to make hand gestures trying to explain what she wanted. She had seen a picture of it in one of her mother's gardening magazines.
"You mean a waterfall," Kakashi guessed.
"Yes!"
"How would we do that?"
"With youw jutsu!"
Kakashi was about to say no and begin a lecture about abusing jutsu, but then he looked into her wide eyes and found himself forming the hand seals for a rock wall. Why did Uchiha children have such big eyes? Was it so they can practice manipulating people before they learned to use their Sharingan? That had to be the reason. That or it was just her, because he could not see himself doing the same for Itachi. A few more earth jutsu and some water jutsu later, the waterfall was completed and Kakashi was exhausted.
"It's so pwetty," the two year old shouted as she stared at the magnificent sight. "Thank you, thank you, thanks you," she repeated over and over as she gave Kakashi the biggest hug she could muster. She released him from her grasp and stood up straight. "We need flowews!"
Kakashi groaned and considered drowning himself in the base of the waterfall, but was pulled out of his thoughts when Kim started to drag him along. Heaven forbid any of his former classmate seeing him being bossed around by a girl three times smaller than he was, and he had not been that tall to begin with. Oh how the mighty have fallen. The white haired boy soon found himself visiting the Yamanaka Flower Shop with an excited almost three year old. After she bought everything she wanted they headed back to the clearing.
While they were working on the garden, Kim had started to give Kakashi a single white carnation every day, much to his confusion, but he accepted them all the same. He would shake his head and then accept them. It reminded him of the time when she had distracted him during a spar and he had gotten hurt, and then to make him feel better she kissed him and gave him a carnation. He then learned that carnations are symbolic flowers from a book the girl had been trying, and failing, to read about flowers and their meanings. Carnations in general symbolize bonds of affection, health and energy, along with fascination and love. He knew known that the girl was fascinated by him for a reason he did not know and that their bond was a weird one. White carnations symbolize sweetness and loveliness, and also innocence and pure love. He knew she was kind even to those who shunned her, and she was innocent in every meaning of the word. The white carnation really was the perfect flower to represent the young female Uchiha.
Six weeks later on Kim's official third birthday in May, the two stood back with Mikoto, Fugaku, Itachi, Kushina, Minato, and Shisui and looked at their creation. Jiraiya had been there earlier, but he ran off after getting hit with inspiration and a patented Uchiha Glare by Fugaku.
The waterfall rested at the line of the trees. With the help of a few earth jutsu he had created a pile up of large stones and a medium sized crater that fanned out from underneath the rock pile. They had placed large gray stones around the edge of the base. With the help of a water jutsu and dumb luck, Kakashi had found an underground source of water and the waterfall came to life with clear blue water. On the opposite side of the rather large clearing Kim had planted her flower garden. The garden was nothing more than a crescent shaped patch of dirt fore she had wanted to plant seeds and watch them as they grew. She had planted an entire garden of white carnations. No matter how many times Kakashi had told her a flower garden would need more than one type of flower she persisted, and won in the end after she had started crying. Kim had decided that the clearing needed more trees, and planted baby cherry and apple trees, one of each on either sides of the crescent shaped garden.
With Kim's help Kakashi was able to deal with the loss of Rin, and she prevented him from going into a long period of depression like the one he had fallen into with the loss of Obito. The pain of losing a loved one never truly goes away, but she was able dull the ache and remind him that he still had other people to live for and that Rin would not have wanted him to stop living his life on account of her.
"Awww Kakashi-kun," Kushina cooed, "You helped your girlfriend do all this."
"Girlfriend," Fugaku sputtered shooting a hard glare at the young Hatake. Kushina and Mikoto snickered; Itachi smirked hoping for the worst, and Minato's face met the palm of his own hand. Kim was ignorant of the entire situation as she ate her slice of chocolate cake.
