Izumo put a cool damp washcloth on Kichi's head as the little girl protested, saying it felt "yucky". Helpless to know how to bring down a fever, or what might be causing it, he sat on the bed next to her. Kichi held up her hands and he pulled her into his lap, where she melted into him as boneless as her doll.
"Her fever's worse." Izumo muttered, looking up at Kotetsu who was still standing in the doorway holding baby MeiMei. Meanwhile, Tomo was curled up on the futon drinking his milk. It was times like this that were basically the only time the toddler was ever quiet while awake.
Kotetsu sighed. "We're going to have to bring someone in on this. I hate to say it, but we're screwed. Neither of us know anything about babies. Tomo could have been seriously injured when that fucking dresser fell over, did you see those brass lamps?"
"They could have crushed his skull." Izumo said, swallowing his own nausea at the visual of what could have happened to the boy. "That's another 100 yen by the way. And neither of us know squat about medicine except for punctures, poisons, and broken bones." He said, naming off the most common ninja injuries. Fevers were beyond their understanding except when dealing with battle wounds.
"Mitarashi is definitely not a good idea. I trust her at my back, but not with this." Kotetsu said, speaking of the spiky-haired kunoichi they often worked closely with.
Izumo frowned. "She'd be more clueless than either of us." He shook his head. Anko with a baby? Yeah, when the stars fell out of the sky maybe.
"Hanako would ask too many questions, and I don't trust her not to tell someone just to spite me." Kotetsu sighed, looking down at baby MeiMei, who was yawning. "I'm going to put her down, I think she'll sleep now."
Izumo watched as his roommate put the baby in the make-shift cradle, which was really one of Genma's dresser drawers. He smiled ruefully as he watched the usualy fearsome ninja make funny faces for the infant girl. "Shizune is a medical kunoichi."
"She's also the Hokage's assistant. She won't want to keep it from Tsunade, and she's a stickler for the rules." Kotetsu frowned, watching the baby squirm and then start to fall asleep. "She's fighting it, look her eyes get half-way closed, then she jerks them open again."
"Looks like MeiMei will be a bundle of energy like the other two." Izumo remarked quietly. "Hey go get me some water or something. I'm worried Kichi might be getting dehydrated with this fever."
"Good idea." Kotetsu noted, heading off to the kitchen.
Kichi reached up and pulled on Izumo's hair. "What de-hy-ated mean, huh Zumo? What it mean? It mean somfing bad? What it mean? Huh, Zumo? Zumo, what de-hy-ated mean?"
Izumo chuckled, knowing if he didn't respond she wouldn't give up. She'd just keep asking over and over again. He'd learned that little tidbit on the first day she'd arrived. "It means you need to drink something. You're too dry."
Kichi, blinked up at him with a small pout and flushed face. He wiped her hair out of her face with a frown. She was sweating too much. "I not dwy, see? See Zumo? I not dwy."
"Here." Kotetsu handed the glass to Izumo as it was too big for Kichi's little hands.
"Sweetheart? Here, drink this." Izumo held the glass to the girl's lips and she drank some, then shook her head, not wanting any more. "Please? Drink this and you'll feel better." He hoped.
Kotetsu smothered a grin and looked away. He didn't think it a good idea to point out to his roommate that this was the second time that Izumo had called Kichi 'sweetheart'. Then he frowned as he thought about the children. "We're getting attached."
"Like hell we are." Izumo said gently, his eyes never leaving Kichi as he encouraged her to finish off at least half the large glass of water. "We're just being our thorough selves, as with any mission. When Genma gets back, we fucking hand them over and go on with our lives."
"200 yen." Was the automatic response. Then Kotetsu growled lightly. "How about Kurenai?"
Izumo shrugged. "She's got a lot on her plate, with Asuma gone. And she's not a mother yet."
"She will be soon." Kotetsu said with a small grin, thinking about the heavily pregnant jounin. "If I know her, she's done a LOT of research. Kurenai never goes into any situation without knowing everything she can about it first."
"Point." Izumo said, looking up hopefully. "And she can keep a secret. Just look at how long she'd been seeing Asuma before anyone twigged to it."
Kotetsu nodded. "You know her better than I do, perhaps you should ask her to come over?"
Izumo thought about it a moment, then reluctantly shook his head. "No. You told the Hokage's office that I was sick with a bad cold. You're only taking personal time as far as they know, it won't raise any questions if you go out."
Grimacing, Kotetsu conceded the point. "You'll be stuck with all three until I get back."
Izumo nodded stoically, even as Kichi whimpered in his arms. He looked down at her flushed face, then up at his roommate. "Get going."
"MeiMei will sleep for a while and Tomo should nap now that he's had his milk." Kotetsu stated, then cringed as he heard a loud pitched squeal from the main room. He peeked down the hallway. "Scratch that, he's got his second wind."
"Just go. And hurry back." Izumo gritted his teeth as he gave a fake smile.
o.o.o.o.o
Kotetsu walked quickly, but didn't race through the village, lest he garner some unwanted questions. No need to look suspicious. He was half-way to Kurenai's residence when he walked by a strange group of shinobi, several of them looking to be young genin.
Pausing, he glanced back at the group. Though he no longer worked mainly at the Hokage tower since reaching full jounin status, he still thought he knew every would-be ninja. He and Izumo both had gone over the Academy files so often, they might as well have them memorized. And while that job wasn't his anymore, there should be no genin teams he wasn't familiar with at least.
"They're here for the chuunin exams." The sexy drawl made Kotetsu's hackles rise. He turned with a bad feeling, but kept his expression even.
"Hello Hanako." He said with false cheer.
"Hello Hanako?" The beautiful blond sneered at him. "Hello Hanako? Is that all you have to say to me?"
Kotetsu fought the urge to sigh, knowing that if he did she'd only launch into a louder and longer diatribe. "What do you want me to say?" He asked, hoping to cut this conversation short. He needed to get to Kurenai's, fast.
"Sorry would be good. Any kind of apology actually." She pursed her lips together in a mulish line. He looked at her stern expression, wondering if how he had ever thought her lips luscious? The two of them had been on-again and off-again for quite a while now. But with all that had been going on with the children, he was looking at her like she was a stranger. "First, you show up ten minutes late when you know that …."
The blond kunoichi was beautiful no doubt, but the plump lips covered a sharp tongue and the flashing slate-blue eyes he liked so much? They could cut a man down at a hundred paces for the slightest infraction, there were no peaceful moments with Hanako. He'd found that exciting, but that was a while ago. And while she had an undoubtedly nice figure, it just wasn't enough anymore. Right now, watching her as she listed all the things he should apologize for, he couldn't work up an appreciation for any of her qualities. Not a single one.
"And now you disappear on 'personal time' and don't call or leave a message? Like I'm supposed to wait for you and be available only when …"
"You're right." Kotetsu interrupted her. "You're right. You can do better. Now go find him." He told her rather abruptly, and for the first time, he really meant it.
Hanako caught her breath, something in his expression telling her that he wasn't playing around. That after this, they would never be 'on again'. "Kotetsu?"
"You're right." He told her, anxious to get on with his personal mission. "You don't need me. I'm not good for you."
The kunoichi noted his reluctance to stay, and she caught her breath, actually looking hurt. "You mean it. You fucking actually mean it this time. Is there someone new?"
He nodded, thinking of little MeiMei and wild Tomo along with a sweetly talkative Kichi. Then, finding himself suddenly in the dirt, he looked up at her furious face. The sharpness of the pain told him she might have broken something. But that was okay really, since she was now stalking off. A broken nose was a small price to pay for not having to listen to her screeching for an hour or so.
Rough laughter pulled him from his thoughts and a strong hand reached down to pull him up. He accepted the hand gratefully. Then blinked. He was looking into the face of a stranger.
The man was wearing a headband protector that announced him as a shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist. "She seems …spirited." The dark-haired man said, one side of his face nearly hidden with swirling tattoos.
Kotetsu nodded gratefully, though he was on his guard. The Mist village? They didn't usually take part in the chuunin exams. Until about ten years ago there had been rumors about the brutality of their exams, but as they didn't let strangers in, they remained only rumors. Those rumors had ceased really, but not the secrecy. "Thank you."
"Yaichiro." The man offered his name with a smile. Kotetsu offered his own name, though not his family name, and smiled back at the man. Hidden beneath their seeming civility, the two shinobi sized each other up. There was a current, something, underneath the surface that put Kotetsu on edge. This man was dangerous, he was sure. But then again, so was he.
"You might want to watch her. She didn't look too kindly as she left." Yaichiro nodded in the direction of the departed Hanako.
"She looked better when she arrived." Kotetsu said, noncommittally.
The man laughed, slapped the Leaf ninja on the back and went back to his genin group.
Shizune silently appeared beside him, also watching the Mist group. "If Hanako was your 'personal business', I think it's over now. If you're interested, we have several missions you could choose from."
Kotetsu grunted, then shook his head reluctantly. "No. It's not about Hanako."
The Hokage's assistant smiled, making it look like a casual conversation to any onlookers. "The Village Hidden in the Mist changed their minds about participating in the upcoming chuunin exams. We don't know why. It would be good to know what they want."
Kotetsu nodded. He too was curious. But he had three little ones waiting at home for him, plus a probably now desperate Izumo.
"If it's any consolation. She didn't break the nose." The medical nin informed him. "And I have the power to cut short your 'personal leave' time." Shizune said calmly.
Kotetsu sighed, knowing she was speaking the truth. The Hokage tower staff must be stretched thin, what with the unexpected arrival of the Mist ninja. It made him feel guilty. Damn Genma for putting him in this position!
"Just how sick is Izumo?" Shizune continued, ignoring Kotetsu's unhappy look.
"Sick." Kotetsu grunted. This was getting messy. Duty rivaled the need to keep Genma's secret.
"Where are you heading?" She asked, reluctantly stepping away so he could pass.
Not wanting to add another lie to his mounting pile of transgressions, Kotestu told her the truth. "I have to ask Kurenai some things."
Shizune's smile turned real as she chuckled. "You're out of luck, shinobi. Kurenai is in labor as we speak."
"Shit!" Kotetsu groused, gritting his teeth.
Surprised, Shizune studied him. "It's that important?"
"To me, yeah." Kotetsu answered in a round-about way. He glanced over at the Mist ninja once more. Maybe he could talk Izumo into watching the kids while he checked out their visitors.
"By the way, does the name Mizutoro Sumi mean anything to you?" Shizune asked, keeping her voice down.
Startled, Kotetsu snapped his head around to stare at her.
Shizune straightened up, narrowing her eyes on him. "Damn, it does mean something to you, doesn't it?"
Kotetsu shook his head. "Not here."
The Hokage's assistant nodded. "We need to talk. Some of our Mist visitors have been asking discretely around about this individual."
"Oh really?" Kotetsu murmured. What did that mean? Did the children's mother come from the Mist village? If so, did that mean the woman's family had tracked the children here to Konoha? Lightening quick, Kotetsu made a decision. He spoke in a casual voice to her. "Come back to the apartment with me. I think Izumo's cold is worse than I thought."
Shizune, bless her heart, didn't skip a beat. "We can't cure the cold, you know that. But I'll be glad to peek in on him." Her eyes though, were staring flat out at him. She knew there was more to the request.
The two walked off together, not unaware that they were being watched. Yaichiro of the Mist village cut his eyes away, after marking which way the duo had left. It was probably nothing. But …this Kotetsu had fought with his girlfriend, and lost. And yet he'd smelled faintly of baby powder. Was he a father, with children at home. Or had they located the missing children at long last? These small things didn't mean that this Kotetsu knew where those damned children were hidden, but Yaichiro was going to check him out anyway.
o.o.o.o.o
Kotetsu and Shizune didn't speak all the way back to the apartment. But he knew she could sense his tension. She was battle ready when he unlocked the door and ushered her inside.
Once in the apartment, he locked the door and then turned. Shizune was staring gape jawed at the place. Kotetsu followed her gaze and then groaned heavily.
"Did it snow in here?" The medical kunoichi asked, not even bothering to hide her grin.
A screech filled the apartment from somewhere down the hall. The sound of running feet preceded a nude Tomo as he ran through the main room to wrap his arms around Kotetsu's legs. The boy was covered from head to foot in powder. From the look of the apartment, it wasn't only himself he'd covered.
Shizune walked over to the table and shook her head in mute wonder at the drifts of white powder along the surface. It trailed over to the futon, and then to some large boxes and finally down the hallway.
Izumo came around the corner, looking furious. "You little hellion, get back in that bathroom."
"No baff! No baff!" Tomo squealed again and let go of Kotetsu to run around in circles happy as a lark. A nude lark.
Shizune smothered a laugh by pursing her lips hard, then she turned shining eyes on Kotetsu. "Personal time?"
He smiled wanly.
The Hokage's assistant watched as Izumo chased Tomo, finally catching the wriggling bundle of energy. "And a bad cold?"
Izumo stood there, watching the two of them as Tomo wriggled around and tried to launch himself from the man's arms. "I thought Kurenai?"
"She's in labor. And things have changed." Kotetsu said, his smile fading. "Someone is in town looking for Mizutoro Sumi."
"Someone?" Izumo's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Mist Village shinobi." Kotetsu said with a hard glint in his eye.
"Who is Mizutoro Sumi?" Shizune asked. "And what's with the boy?"
Izumo shook his head. "All good questions, but …you're a medic and we need you."
Shizune nodded and followed him, looking puzzled. At the door of Genma's room, she saw the flushed and feverish looking Kichi. Drawing in a sharp breath, she looked around the room and noted the sleeping infant in the dresser drawer.
Turning on the two hapless males, and the still wriggling toddler, she pinned them with a hard glare. "Start talking."
o.o.o.o.o
Well? Hope you liked it! The real Tomo did the thing with the powder this week. His mother sent me the pictures! LOL
