Chichi - father

Hahaoya - mother

o.O.o

Chapter 7

Utako was so warm in his arms. She was a little bundle of sleepiness and he gently tugged the blanket around to cover her face. Zaku paused at the road, looked left and right, and crossed over. His breath misted in front of his face and he shaped his lips so it looked like he was exhaling cigarette smoke. Psh, as if he'd actually try smoking. He couldn't afford cigarettes and he didn't want to expose Utako to them anyway.

"Day two," he murmured. "What do you think about that? Do you even like Day-care?"

He really needed to stop speaking to her like she was a dog. Utako coughed and a bit of vomit speckled her lips. Wonderful… He tilted her on her side and a stream of liquid trickled onto the path. When the trickle finished, he wiped her face and rearranged her position in his arms. She'd be hungry in an hour now.

They arrived at the Day-care and Zaku manoeuvred past the noisy toddlers to the nursery section which was much quieter. Haku bent over one of the cribs with a bottle and looked up as Zaku entered.

"Good morning," she whispered. "How's the little one?"

"She vomited on the way here so she'll be hungry soon." Zaku laid Utako down and kissed her forehead. "Have a good day sweetie. I'll be back after school to pick you up." He waved farewell to Haku and made sure to sign the Nursery book before heading to school.

o.O.o

Dubstep instrumentals blared in Zaku's ears as he walked into his last class of the week: Humanities. After Humanities he had study and after that he would pick up Utako from Day-care and go to karate. Then spend the rest of the night relaxing after a tough week.

Dosu and Kin were already at the desk. They'd had a Numeracy lunchtime tutorial and Zaku had eaten alone for the first time that year, which actually felt kind of strange now that he thought about it.

Kin's mouth moved but no sounds came out. Zaku pulled out an earphone. "What?"

"I asked how your alone time was." She rolled her eyes.

"Absolutely gripping. I could eat my sandwich in peace." He put the earphone back in and noted that two of the new kids had earphones too.

That morning Iruka introduced the class to three new students – two boys and a girl. It enabled Zaku to put names to the faces of the three teenagers he'd bumped into the day before. The girl, Temari, was the oldest. Kankuro was the boy with brown hair and Gaara the redhead. Their last name was Sabaku and they were all… siblings? Kin had whispered that their chichi, Rasa Sabaku, was the head of Kohona's electrical plant and incredibly wealthy. His wife, Karura Sabaku, died in childbirth more than a decade ago and after she died, two of Rasa's affairs came forward with babies and dumped them on him. Gaara was rumoured to be the only legitimate child, while Temari and Kankuro were the results of numerous affairs that had ceased when Karura said she was pregnant. If all that was true, Rasa was a scoundrel.

Keeping in with the theme of group work, the three Sabaku siblings were put into a group and they sat behind Zaku, Dosu and Kin. They made everyone uncomfortable except for Naruto, who was sitting on the desk and attempting to talk to Gaara.

Zabuza swept into the room dramatically and everyone scrambled for their seats. Zaku switched off his iPod and tucked it into his hoodie pocket.

"Who are you?" Zabuza aimed his question at the Sabaku siblings.

"We're new," Temari said. Everyone glanced around, including Zaku, and he wondered if he could poke a pen through Kankuro's fleshy.

"That's enough staring," Zabuza snapped. The class spun to face him. "New kids, I'm afraid you're at a slight disadvantage. We've been studying the French Revolution over the last few weeks and today I'm assigning your first project."

"Figures, the worst teacher would chuck us serious work before the term is halfway over," Sakura hissed audibly.

"This project is due in the double on Tuesday and I expect it fully completed." Zabuza whipped a pile of paper from his suspicious-looking briefcase and threw it at a startled Shikamaru. The papers slowly circled the room and Zaku groaned at the contents. Zabuza wanted a full one-thousand word essay done by Tuesday? Even worse, an essay on what King Louis and Queen Marie-Antoinette did wrong and incited the revolution? Time to bring out that research on the guillotine…

Kin leant in close. "Hey Zaku, are you free this weekend?"

"Saturday morning. That's it."

She bit her lip. "What about this afternoon? I'm thinking you could both come over to mine and we could get this done quickly."

"Sounds good," Zaku replied.

"I'm game. Anything's better than going home."

Zaku hesitated. "I don't want to leave my sister at home… can I bring her?"

"Of course you can! I'll bet she's absolutely adorable."

Zaku thought about her dark eyes and chubby cheeks and smiled genuinely. "She is. Loud, but adorable."

Dosu almost laughed. "Wow, Zaku actually smiled. I really need to meet this Utako who can make Zaku smile…" He trailed off as Zabuza aimed a venomous glare at the trio. Zaku was quick to whip around and pay attention. No one wanted to invoke Zabuza's wrath.

"Now that I have everyone's attention, I'd like to bring your attention to the criteria of the project. One-thousand words by Tuesday and I want all of you to use at least five sources and correct Harvard-style referencing. Your Literacy teacher should have covered referencing. It's part of the syllabus." He was so matter-of-fact it was scary, but at least he was correct in assuming that Kakashi had taught them how to reference properly.

"This assignment makes me want to guillotine myself," Naruto hissed to Sasuke. The black-haired boy smirked and held out his fist, which Naruto bumped. It seemed that everyone was starting to get along now.

Zaku leant close to Kin. "I have karate right after school. I finish at four so I can be over after that."

"Sounds good." Kin scribbled her address on a piece of paper and slid it over. "It'll give Dosu and me more time to research and plan. You said you were good at writing so I trust you can use your writing skills for good."

"Sure." Zaku had a whole period of study after this which he was devoting to Iruka's Numeracy homework instead. He had no problem with Dosu and Kin finding all the sources and doing all the research. The boy settled back and returned his attention to Zabuza as he moved on from the assignment and began that class' topic: the Treaty of Versailles.

o.O.o

Zaku was out of his seat the second the bell rang. He grabbed his bag from under the library desk and scooped up his skateboard from where it rested by the door. Students tended to swarm around the school at this time and he wanted to get away before the main swarm arrived. He smoothly dropped his skateboard and jumped on top as it rolled forward. Dodging cars was easy work as he exited the school and skated along the paths to get back home and changed into his gi so he could get to karate on time.

He reached the Day-care in five minutes and tucked his skateboard under his arm before entering. The toddlers and children were all outside so it was much quieter. Zaku crossed to the sign-in book and marked that Utako had been picked up.

"-I'm sorry sweetheart."

The familiar voice sent chills down Zaku's spine. What the hell was his Humanities teacher doing at the Day-care?

"It's okay Zabuza. I know you don't like teacher-parent meetings."

"I'd hoped we could maybe go to the movies or something tonight but then Tsunade dumps the Inuzuka boy on me."

Scratch that, why the hell was his Humanities teacher talking about going on a date with Haku?

"You can't help what your boss says." There were footsteps and Haku exited the nursery door with Zabuza right behind him. The man and woman stopped and stared at Zaku. Zaku stared right back.

"Uh… hi." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm here for Utako."

"I'll get her for you." Haku touched Zabuza's arm and went back into the nursery. The Humanities teacher glared at his student.

"So what if I'm gay?" the man demanded suddenly. Zaku blinked.

"You're… gay? You mean Haku is… a guy?"

Zabuza stared dumbfounded. "Of course he's male. What the hell did you think he was, a woman?"

"Actually… hai." Haku made quite the convincing woman.

Girlish laughter sounded as Haku walked up with Utako in his arms. "Don't worry darling, I get that all the time. So much so that I don't bother correcting people anymore." He handed the baby over to Zaku. "She missed you today."

"Baba!" Her chubby arms flailed in an attempt to touch his face. Zaku smiled softly at her cheerful expression.

"Thanks Haku. I should get going now." He looked up at Zabuza and nodded awkwardly. "Zabuza."

"Have a safe trip home!" Haku called as Zaku left the Day-care.

o.O.o

That karate lesson focused on kicks. There was mae geri (front kick), yoko geri (side kick), mawashi geri (roundhouse kick) and bushido geri (back kick). Zaku mainly held the big punching/kicking bags while the children ran through all the kicks multiple times and he had to fight the urge to whack that one kid that constantly complained.

The hahaoya's doted on Utako the whole time. She was wide awake from her one o'clock nap and ready to play but Zaku was a bit busy disciplining other children. Thankfully she had other people to keep her company while he was in class.

"Whose baby is she?"

"She's adorable! I just want to take her home!"

"Someone just left her here."

"Shomeni, rei. Sensei-ni, rei."

"Arigato gozai masta."

"Utagani, rei."

"Arigato gozai masta."

After bowing to the front of the room, then to Jiraiya and then to the person beside him in line, Zaku stepped off the dojo mats and pushed his way through the doting hahaoya's. They gave him a few funny looks when he bent down and picked up Utako from the cardboard box he'd laid her in (for her own safety, he didn't want her wandering off).

Jiraiya bounded over. "Who is this? She's adorable! I didn't know you had a kid!"

Zaku yelped. "She's not my kid! She's my sister!" How could someone think that?! He was fourteen!

"Oh… I didn't know you had a sister."

"Hahaoya started working late so I have to take care of her." The lies came so easily. Maybe one day he would apologise, but not today. He had to be eighteen so he had legal claim as her guardian, that way the government couldn't take her away. "I have to meet up with some friends for an assignment so…"

"No problems! Oh, and next week I need a hand leading the four-thirty class. You game?"

"Sure." Zaku adjusted his grip on Utako. "See you next week." He waved goodbye to his eccentric sensei, slipped on his shoes and skated home while still wearing his gi and holding a baby. There was something seriously weird with that picture.

The first thing he did after getting home was putting a pot of water on boil. He then sat Utako on the bathroom floor with a teddy he'd stolen from the Day-care so she wouldn't run off while he had a thirty-second cold shower. She kept herself amused while he cleaned up and dressed in a fresh shirt. Sure, he put on the same hoodie and jeans he'd been wearing for the last week, but the shirt, undies and socks were fresh.

The pot water was warm and he stuck a plug into the bathroom sink before pouring it in and bathing Utako. She smelt good when he finished and he replaced her nappy and dressed her. The sink was cleaned and she was ready to go. He packed his school things and some dinner for Utako and glanced at his bedside table. The voucher for a free bowl at Ichiraku Ramen still sat there and he had half a mind to treat himself. After the week he'd had, ramen was sounding pretty good.

"Why not?" He sighed and tucked the voucher into his pocket. It was time to do this assignment.

o.O.o

Zaku used his thorough knowledge of the streets to find the address written on a scrap of paper. He felt very out-of-place in this neighbourhood with all those front porches, picket fences, green lawns and fancy cars. Utako wriggled in his arms and he stroked her chin softly.

"Almost there sweetie. I can see the street sign." Zaku skated around the corner and spotted the right house. It seemed way too big for three people to live in. He picked up his skateboard and left it beside the front door so he had a free hand to knock.

Kin answered. "Zaku! Come in. Dosu's already in my room." She ushered him up the stairs and into her room. It was surprisingly bare, with only minimum furniture, some music posters and a keyboard in the corner.

"Um…" The door shut behind him. "Is everything okay?"

"I just didn't want chichi seeing you. He freaked out when Dosu got here."

"Hey." Dosu waved from where he sat on the floor surrounded by books.

"I think it was the bandages." Kin shrugged and her eyes dropped to the bundle in Zaku's arms. "Is this the famous Utako?"

"Hai." Zaku held her out and swallowed. "Kin, Dosu, meet my sister. Utako, this is my group."

"Oh come on, you can say we're your friends." Kin rolled her eyes and held out her hand for Utako to grab. "She's adorable. I hope she won't be too distracting while we do this."

Zaku placed the bundle on Kin's bed. "She shouldn't be. I brought a toy for her to play with." He pulled a teddy from his schoolbag and neglected to mention that he'd stolen it from the Day-care. She grabbed it and gurgled happily.

Kin and Zaku sat down with Dosu. "We've got most of the research done," Dosu explained, "enough to write a strong thesis."

"Let's do this," Kin sighed.

First they decided on a thesis. Then the main points. Zaku cobbled together a rough introduction and outlined the body paragraphs. He then wrote out the first paragraph in twenty minutes and sat back while Kin inserted the correct references and updated the reference list at the end. They worked for another solid hour before Utako started getting fidgety.

"She's hungry." Zaku pulled her off the bed and cradled her. "I should head home soon."

"Okay." Dosu flipped through a booklet of information Zabuza had given them during their second week. "Do either of you know any good accounting software? My Business assignment requires me to do some calculations in a virtual environment and I need a good program."

Kin wiggled from her cross-legged position on the floor. "My uh… my chichi would have a program, I'm sure. I can ask if you want."

"Or you could take a peek on his computer."

"I'll do that. Don't kill each other while I'm gone." Kin left the room and closed the door behind her. Zaku twisted and checked that Utako was fine. She wriggled around Kin's pillows and she was beginning to drool.

"Dammit- Utako you can't drool on other peoples' things!" He pulled her into his lap and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. She instinctively grabbed his thumb and used it to pull herself up into a sitting position.

Dosu chuckled and pulled a pair of chunky old-fashioned headphones from his schoolbag and slung them around his neck. "She's cute. I can see why you've gotten nicer with her around."

Zaku's entire body relaxed as Utako snuggled against him. "I guess you can say it's been good being responsible for someone else, like I have someone else to think about other than myself and it's making me grow up and stop feeling sorry for myself. After all, she was abandoned too."

"Baba."

"Utako, this is Dosu. Dosu."

"Dasa!" She squealed and held her arms out to the bandaged boy. Dosu reached across and awkwardly patted her head.

"I guess I'm Dasa now. What does 'Baba' mean?"

"I think it's some form of 'brother'. She's smart if she knows I'm not her chichi."

The doorknob turned and Kin stepped inside. "He uses Xero." She shut the door behind her. "Does that help?"

Dosu nodded. "Hai, I've heard of the program but I haven't used it. I'll have to download it when I get home."

Kin sat down and ruffled Utako's hair. "Hey cutie. Zaku, what dojo to you go to?"

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"You said you do karate. What dojo? I've been meaning to study martial arts for a few years but the only dojo around is that stupidly expensive Uchiha one."

"Uh, the Chito-Ryu Karate-Do dojo run by Jiraiya Godaime. He's married to Tsunade, our principal. It's a good dojo I guess."

"It is." They both stared at Dosu. "I went there for about a year when I was seven or eight. Got to orange belt. Then hahaoya stopped paying for lessons and I can't afford it."

"So how expensive is it?"

"Three-hundred yen per lesson. It's cheap." Zaku shook his head in disbelief. "You're seriously thinking about it?"

"Chichi enrolled me in a three-month trial at the Jujitsu dojo across town, the one that the Uchiha own. Sasuke and Neji go there. Shino too I think. And maybe that Rock Lee kid? I'm not sure, but a lot of our classmates go there. I didn't like it because it didn't feel like karate."

"Jujitsu is a wannabe karate style. It's not even Japanese. I'll bet the Uchiha are just trying to make it a thing here because not many people know about it. You know, everyone knows that Tae-kwon Do is actually Korean so they couldn't open a Tae-kwon Do dojo. Jiraiya said that's why they went with Jujitsu and they rip off their students."

"Why do you do Chito-Ryu?"

Zaku smiled at that question. If his karate dojo wasn't any good he wouldn't've stuck with it for so long. "Chito-Ryu… it provides self-discipline. It teaches you to find balance with body, mind and spirit so you can be more peaceful with your everyday life. It promotes a healthier lifestyle and honestly I wish I could afford more than one class a week." He felt at ease talking about karate. It was one thing he had full confidence in.

Kin nodded. "I think I might check this dojo out. When do you normally go?"

"Friday at the three-thirty class." He remembered something that Jiraiya had said that could be helpful. "Um, next week I'm taking over the four-thirty class. If you did that one I could be around to give you a hand." Damn them for being so nice.

A slow smile stretched across Kin's face. "I like the sound of that."

Utako gave no warning and let out a huge wail. Zaku slapped his hand over her mouth. "She's hungry. I should take her home and feed her."

"I'm sure we can handle the conclusion." Kin nodded. She hesitated. "Um… Zaku… would you ever consider leaving Utako in someone else's care?"

"She goes to Day-care when I'm at school." He couldn't see where this was going.

"I um… my parents are pressuring me to get a job and I was thinking about becoming a nanny. Maybe I could take care of Utako when you need a break or something. You wouldn't have to pay!" She added the last part hastily.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Not right now anyway. I don't like being away from her." Zaku stood and shouldered his bag. "I'll see you on Monday."

Dosu smiled behind his bandages and waved. "Bye Zaku. It was nice meeting Utako."

"And Kin? You could become a nanny if you want. There's nothing stopping you." He shut the bedroom door behind him, took a deep breath and rushed down the stairs. An older woman (he assumed it was Kin's hahaoya) sat in the adjoining dining room and frowned at the boy holding a baby. No doubt Kin would be interrogated after Dosu left. Zaku grabbed his skateboard and moved onto the path, where he soothed Utako before skating to where he remembered Ichiraku Ramen to be.

As it was around seven o'clock on a Friday night, the shops were extremely busy. Zaku shouldered his skateboard and went the rest of the way on foot. Thankfully there were several spare seats at the ramen shop and he sat at the bench stool closest to the wall.

"Here we are sweetie." He zipped open his schoolbag and pulled out a small container of blended baby food and a spoon. Utako gurgled at the sight and stretched her hands towards the familiar container. Zaku chuckled at her enthusiasm, popped off the lid and spoon fed her.

"Hey Zaku, back again?"

"Hi Naruto." Zaku nodded at his classmate. Naruto was once again dressed in the white apron and hiding his hair under the chefs cap.

"Here to use your voucher?" Naruto leant against the bench and smiled.

"You guessed it." Zaku put the container on the bench and dug around his pocket for the paper. He withdrew it and handed it over to the blonde. "One Takayama ramen please."

Naruto's eyes drifted and locked on the baby. "Aw she's so cute! What's her name?"

"This is Utako. She's my sister." He went back to feeding her.

"I'll have your ramen in a moment."

Zaku continued feeding Utako until she was having difficulty eating all the food off the spoon. By that time the container was empty and he stuck it back in his bag. He looked up as Naruto walked over holding two bowls, noticing the blonde had ditched his apron and hat.

"You off work?" Zaku asked. He leant back so Naruto could place the ramen in front of him.

"Hai. Tuechi's daughter does the night shifts after I finish. Do you mind if I eat with you?"

"Not at all." Zaku dragged his bag off the stool beside him and dumped it on the floor. He readjusted his grip on Utako so he had a free hand to eat with. Naruto slid onto the stool and set down his own bowl of ramen.

"This is kind of my staple meal." Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and grabbed his chopsticks. "I can't afford much else and I don't have cooking time anyway." He glanced sideways at the dark-haired boy. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Sadly, I do." Zaku took a mouthful of noodles and rocked Utako gently. Her movements had slowed as her body devoted all its energy to digesting food. It was almost her bedtime anyway.

"What happened to your parents?" Naruto's careless tone put Zaku into defence mode.

"None of your business."

Naruto nearly choked on his ramen. "Wow, no need to be so mean about it. I know you live on your own too. It's pretty obvious."

Zaku lowered his hackles. "I wear the same shoes and hoodie every day. Don't think I haven't noticed you wear that ghastly orange jacket."

"It's not ghastly. It's super comfortable." The blonde grinned and slapped Zaku's shoulder. "So we're one and the same, huh?"

"I guess so." He rubbed Utako's arm with one hand and ate with the other.

"My parents were killed when I was a baby." Naruto's smile turned sad. "It was a totally random. There was a serial killer who had issues with his parents and he targeted happy couples. He was practicing killing and my parents were in the wrong place at the wrong time so he killed them. The police caught up with him not long after and put him in prison. I was only three."

His words humbled Zaku, though not by much. Naruto's parents didn't choose to leave him. "At least you know where they are. I never knew my chichi. Hahaoya abandoned me to fend for myself when I was ten. I don't know where they are or what they're doing. Your parents didn't have a choice. Mine did and they left me. A few weeks ago hahaoya dumped a baby on me claiming she couldn't take care of it herself."

Naruto placed a gentle hand on Zaku's back. "You're not that bad. So who knows the truth?"

"You, my neighbour, Kin and Dosu. My boss. You?"

"It's common knowledge what happened to my family. Maybe not as common as I thought but still…"

Zaku smirked. "I live under a rock." Utako was now fast asleep in his arms despite the hustle and bustle of the street.

"I didn't think there would be someone else at the school without parents. I guess you proved me wrong." Naruto held out his hand and Zaku had to drop his chopsticks so he could shake it.

"We don't have to be friends," Zaku said hesitantly. He'd be lying if he said he wanted to be best friends with Naruto. Friendly acquaintances, sure, but not friends. Two friends were difficult enough to handle and he didn't want a third.

"No problem. I don't blame you." Naruto raised his bowl and slurped up his broth. Zaku did the same, though with a bit less grace because he only had access to one hand. Talking with Dosu and Kin earlier in the week, and then with Naruto today… it was liberating. He'd begun to see something else in the world, something he'd only seen as a child.

Peace. Joy. Anticipation.

Happiness.

"I'm still new to the whole friend thing. Maybe later when I'm not so…"

"Socially awkward?"

"Hai, that." Despite himself, a grin found its way onto Zaku's face. Naruto chuckled and held his hand out for Zaku's empty bowl.

"I'll take it to the kitchen. Night, Zaku."

"Night Naruto. I'll see you on Monday."

"Monday it is."

There were no words to describe the boy that stood and carried the bowls to the ramen shop kitchen. Zaku shook his head. That Naruto was truly something. First Sasuke, and now he'd befriended Zaku. A boy like that brought out the best in people and Zaku appreciated the ability for what it was: kindness. And he'd once thought of Naruto as loud and annoying…

Zaku unzipped his jacket, placed Utako inside and closed the zipper around her so she would be protected. He shouldered his bag, collected his skateboard and skated home at last. Utako slept through the whole trip.

Once inside, he switched on the light and locked the door. Utako wiggled in his jacket and he unzipped it and brought her into the open. She was so peaceful when she slept. He moved through the apartment and laid her in her crib, where she gurgled and curled further into her blanket. Her nappy would definitely need changing in the morning.

"Goodnight sweetie." He kissed her forehead and tiptoed from the bedroom so he could brush his teeth. The smile would not leave his face.