"Kaa-chan, kaa-chan!" Gaara scrambled off of Kakashi's arms as soon as they appeared in the hokage's office. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the honorific.
"Hello Gaara-chan!" Natsu greeted the young boy. "Did you sleep well?" she managed to keep them both upright after he launched himself at her.
"Hai!" the boy nodded enthusiastically. "Tou-chan is very comfy!" he said proudly. Natsu froze at the words.
"Tou-chan?"
"Hai, kaa-chan is with tou-chan," Gaara explained. "So tou-chan is tou-chan." Hinata giggled at the way he explained it. Sasuke smirked at the Copy Nin who was rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Okay then," Natsu said. "Where's Mari-chan?" she looked around in the room to find the sandy blonde girl on hiding behind Yukimaru. She was peering up at Kakashi and then looking at Natsu guiltily. "Temari, what are you doing there?"
"Natsu-sama, I believe Temari-chan has something to tell you," the fox nudged the girl towards her mother with his tails.
"No, I don't!" she protested loudly.
"Temari, what is it?" Natsu asked as she beckoned to the girl.
"Kaa-chan..." the sandy blonde walked to her mother slowly, unsure of what she wanted to say. "Can I call Inu-san... tou-chan too?"
"Do you want to?" Natsu asked her, receiving a nod in response. "Then why don't you?"
"I don't know if he likes it," she mumbled in her mother's embrace. "But Gaara-chan and Kuro-kun call him tou-chan so I wanna do it too." Hinata smiled at the scene while Sasuke and the aged Hokage did the same.
"We'll talk about it later okay?" Natsu told the girl who nodded happily at her.
"Right," Sasuke said. "I think we're forgetting why we're here."
"I think so too," Natsu said. "Ne, Mari-chan I want you to go play I spy with Uncle Sasu."
"Really?" Natsu nodded at the girl. Temari scrambled to her uncle, sitting on his lap.
"I'll go first Mari-chan," Sasuke told the girl in his lap. Hinata giggled at the cuteness displayed in front of her. "I spy with my little eyes... something green."
Temari looked around the room, searching for the object his uncle saw. "Is it in this room?"
"Yes."
"Do I know what it is?"
"Yes."
"Does Gaara-chan have it too?"
"Maybe..."
"Uncle Sasu~" Temari whined, jade orbs clashing with ruby. Suddenly, the tomoes spun and Temari was taken into her mindscape with Sasuke. "Uncle Sasu, where are we?"
"We're in your mind, Mari-chan," Sasuke answered, holding the little girl's hand as they began to explore.
"What are we doing here?"
"We're looking for fluffy."
"Why?"
"No more questions for now Mari-chan," Sasuke said as he picked up the little blonde.
"Who dares come here!" a booming voice sounded just ahead of them.
"Shukaku?" Sasuke called out as he followed the voice.
"Who are you?" the voice was strangely gentle as they asked.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha," he answered as he came up to the bars where the one-tailed raccoon dog was jailed. There were webs of cracks through the seal and the bars themselves looked rusty, as if they could break at any second.
"I see," the large demon said. "And what do you need of me?"
"I just wanted to ask if the sealing did anything to you," Sasuke asked.
"The faulty seal that the insane Third Kazekage put on me broke my already impaired mind. I'm sure Kyuubi has told her jailor that I was slightly crazy but not to the point of hurting others."
"How do you know that?"
"Even though I am sealed in here, I am aware of the outside world," Shukaku said. "It shouldn't be possible for sealed beings like me but because the pups' seals are weak, I can see everything they see and feel everything they feel."
"So you see them as your own too?"
"It's difficult not to see them in that light especially since it's what they really are," Shukaku replied. "I know I should be resentful towards them for keeping me here but I can't do that because I saw and felt how they were treated just for being my cage."
"If you're here then that must mean that the broken part of your mind is in Gaara?"
"Hai, if you could just call on to Kyuu-chan I can tell her what to do," the male demon said.
"How do we get you out of here?"
"There's a seal on the pup's neck that looks like me," Sasuke looked at the area said. "It's a summoning seal."
"How come you've never been out of Temari's mindscape before?"
"Whenever they would lose control I carefully kept the chakra away from that spot," Shukaku said. "Gaara has the same one behind his right ear."
"Is it safe to summon Gaara's Shukaku?"
"We'll see after I talk to Kyuu-chan."
"Alright," Sasuke turned his attention to the blonde he was holding. "Mari-chan say goodbye to Shukaku."
"Bye Shu-kun!"
"I'll see you outside pup." The demon waved a lazy tail at the girl.
Only a minute had passed since Sasuke entered Temari's mind and he returned. The raven was trying to catch his breath, panting from the exertion of using such a draining technique. Temari was already out, snoring softly.
"What just happened?" Kakashi asked. Out of all the people in the room, he was the only one who didn't know what they were doing. Natsu moved to stand next to her fiancé with Gaara on her hip.
"Sasu-nii used the Tsukuyomi to go into Temari's mindscape and talk to the Shukaku," Natsu relayed.
"Natsu," Sasuke called to his younger sister as soon as he caught his breath. "Shukaku said to call onto Kyuubi so he can talk to her about the twins' seals." The blonde nodded at her brother's instructions.
She handed over Gaara to Kakashi, did the necessary hand signs and called out, "Kuchiyose no jutsu: Kyuubi no Kitsune!" a familiar woman appeared in front of them, her fiery red hair cascading down her back, red-slitted eyes narrowed slightly in confusion her kimono slightly open to reveal silky smooth skin.
"Natsu?"
"Kyuu-chan, it's time to talk to Shukaku," Hinata answered as she cradled her boyfriend's head. Sasuke had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"Alright," Kyuubi said. "Natsu, I need you to look at the back of Temari's neck." Natsu did as she was told after giving Gaara to Kakashi. "Do you see the mark there?" the blue eyed blonde nodded. "I need you to channel my chakra there."
"Okay." She focused red chakra on her fingertip. "How much?"
"About half a tail's worth," Kyuubi replied. Natsu touched the mark Kyuubi's chakra carefully measured to what she's been instructed.
When the smoke cleared, there was a handsome man standing in the room. He had auburn hair, his kimono the color of the sand and his eyes were golden with a strange diamond in them. There was a moment of silence as he surveyed every occupant in the room.
"Shu-kun," Kyuubi muttered her ruby eyes slightly glazed with unshed tears.
"Kyuu-chan," Shukaku said. "How have you been?"
"I've been..." the room stood still in shock as the ten thousand year old woman broke down in a fit of sobs. The golden eyed, auburn haired man approached the crying woman and encased her in a comforting hug.
"We'll talk later," Shukaku said. "For now, we need to find out what happened to the other part of me that was sealed into Gaara." Kyuubi nodded afraid to speak and Shukaku turned his attention to the silver haired ninja. "You there, you are the copy nin correct?"
"Hai."
"You're the one my pups see as their father," Shukaku said calmly his eyes boring into the lone onyx orb revealed. Kakashi felt like he was being interrogated, no it was different. He had the strangest need to tell him everything. "I can see why." As soon as it came, the feeling was gone and the brown-haired man was simply looking at him intently. "I need you to go into Gaara's mind and look for the Shukaku in him."
"Why me?"
"The Uchiha is out of commission," Shukaku shrugged. "I don't know of anyone else who can do this without getting hurt. You do have a mature Sharingan, don't you?"
"I do but, I'm not an Uchiha. I don't know the technique Sasuke used on Temari."
"That's not a problem," Shukaku replied then turned his attention back to Kyuubi. "Will you?"
"You want me to do that?"
"How else can we continue?"
"But..."
"You very well know that it would take him a full night's rest before he replenishes enough power to do the technique again."
"Fine." Kyuubi conceded. "Kakashi come here." Said ninja followed the order. He gave Gaara to Kankuro and walked towards the woman. Natsu, Hinata and Sarutobi watched curiously. "Remove your hitaite."
"What?"
"Just do it!"
"Fine..." Kyuubi bit her thumb beads of blood appearing on the surface of the skin. She swiped the bloody finger across the man's Sharingan eye. Kakashi's hand clutched at his eye when he felt the flash of pain. It was gone as soon as it had come. He removed his hand and stared around the room. The constant tug of chakra was gone from his left eye.
"Now, activate your Sharingan," Shukaku ordered.
"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked. "I can't deactivate my Sharingan so how is it possible to activate it?"
"Just channel chakra into your eye." The one tailed bijuu snapped.
"Kyuu-chan?" Natsu called to the woman. "Did you?"
"Yes." Natsu ran to her and captured her in a happy embrace.
"Thank you!"
"You know I didn't need to do that," Kyuubi said. "It would've happened when you mated with him." Natsu looked indignantly at her. "Hn."
"Excuse me Kyuubi-san," Sarutobi interrupted the conversation. "What exactly did you do?"
"I enhanced his Sharingan," Kyuubi said casually.
"Impossible," Kakashi breathed. He lost all strength and his knees crumbled. He landed on his backside, sitting on the floor, looking suspiciously at the bijuus.
"And yet I did it," red eyes narrowed at the copy nin. "You forget, I was the one from whence it came from."
"Gaara-chan," Natsu called to the redhead who was in his brother's arms. Gaara ran towards his kneeling mother. "Look at tou-chan's eyes." she told him. "Do you see anything different?"
"No," Gaara peered up at his 'father's' eyes. They were black but there really wasn't anything different. "There's nothing there kaa-chan," Gaara turned to look up at his mother.
"Oh?" she feigned ignorance as she gave Kakashi an almost imperceptible nod. "Then how about now?" she urged the boy to look at the silver haired man. Teal met mismatched eyes and they were both sucked into the younger's mind.
"Tou-chan where are we?" Gaara asked the man who was carrying him.
"I think we're in your mind."
"What are we doing here?"
"We're looking for him," he told the boy.
"No!" Gaara said. "I'm scared of him!"
"But tou-chan's with you, right?"
"B-b-b-but..."
"I'm hurt Gaara-chan," Kakashi gave his 'son' the most hurt look he could conceive. "You have no faith in tou-chan."
"I do!" Gaara protested. "I'm just scared."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Kakashi froze as he was blasted with killer intent and a massive amount of chakra.
"Hahaha! You cannot protect him! He is weak therefore he should die so I can be free!"Shukaku's voice boomed around them. Kakashi couldn't hold the jutsu with the amount of chakra being sent to him. "Leave! You have no place here!" and then he was cast out. Kakashi collapsed as soon as the connection broke.
"What happened?" Natsu asked worriedly as she looked over her father and son. "Gaara's Shukaku is too far gone. We haven't even seen him before he cast us out." Gaara began to leak chakra, the power slowly rising in intensity. Kakashi clutched the boy tighter in hopes that he could stop it.
"Natsu, we have to go!" Kyuubi's voice was full of urgency.
"But..."
"There's no time to waste!" Kyuubi said. "Grab the twins, we need to get to the den. Now!" Natsu hadn't heard Kyuubi as panicked as she sounded before. She plucked Gaara from Kakashi's arms and rushed across the room towards Sasuke, Hinata and Temari.
"Hina-chan, take care of them for me," Natsu said as she picked up the blonde girl.
"Let's go, we don't have much time!" Kyuubi shouted. Natsu went to the two bijuus.
"We'll be back." Natsu's last words before the group disappeared.
It's been two weeks since Natsu had gone with Kyuubi, Shukaku and the twins and Kakashi was worried. Hinata and Sasuke were at his apartment watching over Kankuro while he gathered his thoughts. He'd been distracted lately, unable to go on missions and function properly. He'd been given a month off, a break he badly needed. He knew he should be the one taking care of Kankuro but it seemed as if the boy understood. He was startled when he felt a familiar chakra running towards him.
"Kakashi-sama," Yukimaru greeted formally. "I have a message from Natsu-sama." He handed the still dazed shinobi a scroll. "I'm afraid I cannot wait for your response, I have other matters to attend to." Yukimaru was about to leave when he heard Kakashi's soft voice.
"Are they alright?"
"Yes, they're fine," the blue-furred fox said. "They also want you to know that they'll be back soon. The rest will be in the scroll. I suggest you gather the others before you open it."
"Thank you," Kakashi said gratefully. "Please take care of them."
"Hai!" and then he sped off. Kakashi stared at the scroll in his hand thoughtfully he briefly wondered what it said until he remembered Yukimaru's words. "I suggest you gather the others before you open it."
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
"What can I do for Kakashi?" the brown pug named Pakkun asked.
"Go to my apartment," he ordered. "Tell Hinata and Sasuke to meet me in the hokage's office and bring Kankuro with them."
"Okay." The dog ran off to do what he was told as Kakashi shunshined to the tower. He knocked on the Hokage's door and received a muffled reply. He opened the door to find the old man on his table with stacks of paperwork surrounding him.
"Kakashi, what can I do for you?" the aged leader was jovial even though he looked so exhausted.
"I have a message from Natsu Hokage-sama," the brief widening of the old man's eyes was the only indication of surprise. Before he could react there was a flash of lightning and there stood Sasuke and Hinata with Kankuro in between them.
"What happened?" Sasuke asked immediately.
"Yukimaru came and brought me this," he raised the scroll slightly.
"Tou-chan, can I see that?" Kankuro asked. Kakashi held it out to him and the brown-haired boy took it from his father's clutches. "It has a blood seal on it."
"How do you know?" Kakashi asked the boy.
"It's the same one she used to send us in Suna," Kankuro replied. "The seal can only be opened by me." He took a kunai from his pouch and cut his thumb. Swiping it across the seal, he smiled at the adults went it dissolved and the scroll rolled open in his hands. "Should I?" he received nods in response so he began reading.
Jii-jii,
I'm sorry if we disappeared like that. It was necessary for Gaara's and the rest of the village's survival. His seal finally broke and the resulting backlash of chakra would've wiped out everything within a ten mile radius. We're in Makai, or the demon dimension. Shukaku and Kyuubi brought us here so we could train using their powers. Gaara's been out for the whole week after we resealed the part of Shukaku that was in him. He's fine now but we can't go back home yet because he loses control far too easily. I know what a headache this would be but we won't come back until we finish our training. Shu and Kyuu think we'll be ready for the genin exams that will happen in another year.
Again, I'm sorry for making you worry but we have to do this. Don't worry, I'll send more messages once things settle down a bit more.
Hina-nee & Sasu-nii,
I hope you've been taking care of my boys. I know Kakashi and he will worry his head off. Aniki, would you please continue training Kankuro? I want him to be on par with the twins by the time we return so that we could form an assault team. He would be the support, mid and long-range attacker while the twins would be the strike force.
Hina-nee, remember what Kyuu said? When your time comes, you need to do something about it. It's unavoidable but be careful because you can easily get pregnant. We don't want that yet, now do we? Take care of aniki would you?
Sasu-nii, kyuu says to go through the memories you gained from when your Sharingan matured to the three tomoe. It would help when Hina-nee's time comes. Watch Kakashi, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I want him to still be alive and in one piece when I return okay?
Kankuro,
Kuro-kun, I'm sorry that we didn't take you. It wasn't quite planned but we wouldn't have been able to take you into Makai even if we did. Continue your training, don't stop doing the exercises I gave you and listen to everything your uncle tells you to do. Also take care of tou-chan ne? I love you and I hope you would be stronger when we come back. Temari says hi, Gaara would too but he's still asleep. Just take care, please? I don't want to have to worry about you too.
Kashi-kun,
I love you Kashi-kun. Please, stop moping as I'm sure that's what you will be doing when Yukimaru finds you. I told him to go to the memorial stone because I know you'll be there. I don't want you to worry about us. Kyuubi and Shukaku will take care of us. If I'm correct, jii-jii gave you a month off. I'd been begging him to do that because I'd wanted to spend time with you. Even so, make use of that time. Rest, take a vacation, train Kankuro just don't do anymore missions. Get to know our eldest.
I want to see you at your best when I return because I assure you that you will be trying hard to keep up with me and the twins. Also remember that when I return, there's a job waiting to be done. It's one that only you and I could do, maybe we'll have to take some time off to do it. I love you, don't forget that. By the way, Temari says to tell tou-chan that she misses you and she wants to sleep on you too like Gaara did.
I'll be sending another message soon okay? Wait for me.
Natsu Suki Uzumaki Hatake
Kakashi stood in the middle of the room, apparently the center of attention. Hinata and Sasuke were smirking at him while Sarutobi looked at him with a perverted smile. He could vaguely hear the way Natsu would giggle at the reactions of the occupants of the room.
"Ne tou-chan?" Kankuro broke the uncomfortable silence. "What did kaa-chan mean when she said you had a job to do?" they couldn't help it. The adults laughed at the innocent question while Kankuro stared all around him in confusion. "What?"
Life was good.
AN: So, how was it? tell me please. i need more reviews. the more the reviews, the quicker the updates would be. Thanks!
Allie :)
