Homecomings
Ino was called into the hospital late one night. She just fell asleep when there was a loud knock at her door.
"Anko Mitarashi wants you now! She won't let anyone else touch her!" A young female orderly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway.
"What's going on?" She sleepily yawned and rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. Her faded yellow night shirt was too small, but Ino didn't want to give it up just yet so it rode over her belly bump. Her mismatching blue night pants dragged as she was taken barefoot to the hospital.
Maternity Ward was in an uproar when she entered. "Come on! Hurry!" Nurse Kiki shoved her down the hallway to a screaming room. Anko was sitting up, snakes all around her cussing up a storm.
"What's going on?" Ino yelled. Two nurses were cowering in a corner with two snakes keeping them fenced in.
"They're trying to kill me! That's what! Ino give me something for this pain!" Anko screamed loudly, her black hair fell in wild disarray around her face.
"We can't give her anymore!" Nurse Kiki protested and then ducked as a bedpan was thrown at her head.
"Shut the fuck up bitch! You're holding out on me!" Anko gritted her teeth, her head falling back as another contraction hit her.
"They're getting closer! Its time to deliver them!" Doctor Sato slipped some gloves on. He was the same doctor that was overseeing her own pregnancy. A short fat man with a round pancake face and goatee. "Ino perhaps something to calm her down?" He didn't seem as frightened as the rest of the people in the room. Matter of fact he was actually grinning.
"I'm not pushing until that fucker Kakashi is here! Kakashiiiiii!" Ino covered her ears. Even Anko's snakes seemed to wince at the noise. Ino quickly dug her nails into Anko's arm and pumped her special pain reducing chakra into her. She could feel it drain rapidly from her coils. Anko's breathing quieted and she took a shaking breath of relief.
"I knew they were holding off on the good stuff." Anko lazily murmured. There was a tap on the window and the two cowering nursed both looked up. Kakashi was crouched on the window seal.
"Anko, you snakes." Ino yawned again.
"Aww poor babies. Come back now." She cooed almost drunkenly. How much is she taking from me? Ino wondered and began to retract her chakra output but Anko grabbed a fist full of her hair.
"Don't even think about it blondie." She hissed dangerously, her eyes narrowing.
"Okay." Ino squeaked and let her chakra resume its previous output. Anko relaxed again and let go of her hair. Ino rubbed her scalp with a glare making a mental note not to try that again.
"Finally you big moron!" Nurse Kiki let Kakashi in.
"I heard her loving shrieks two blocks away." He hummed merrily and took his place by Anko's bed. Anko grabbed his hand and Kakashi almost fell to his knees in pain as she squeezed it.
"You're late you asshole!" Kakashi let out a shaky laugh.
"No wonder Kama has such a colorful vocabulary." Ino muttered dryly.
"Ready?" Doctor Sato chuckled. Ino's ears burned when the delivery was over. Anko didn't leave out a single bad word in Ino's opinion. Two squealing silver haired boys were being cleaned when Ino finally opened her eyes. Anko finally let her go and the blonde staggered to a chair. She was tired—Anko was like a pain reducer addict! And all that blood and water and yucky grey stuff made her want to throw up. It was the first time she actually witnessed a birth and the prospect had her even more frightened.
"Traumatized?" Anko grinned at her and Ino numbly nodded her head.
"Look how cute they are! Aww they look like me!" Kakashi fawned over the now silent twins. One of the nursed helped Kakashi bring the two bundles to a glowing and exhausted Anko. She held one of the boys, counting each one of his little pink fingers.
"Sons are cool and all but I want a girl next time." Anko kissed the top of the baby's head.
"Next time? Weren't you screaming at me that I could never touch you again or I quote, 'will be castrated with a dull rusted kunai'?" Kakashi then clutched his baby close to him when Anko skewered him with a glare.
"We are going to keep trying until I get my daughter." She spoke through clenched teeth. One of the babies sneezed and her death glower folded into a softer one as she looked down at the wide-eyed infant in her arms. Then they both shared a look. One that made Ino clear out of the room to give them time alone.
Kama was in the waiting room. Ino smiled down at the masked boy who wore blue pjs with little toy looking scythes on them.
"Congratulations! You're a big brother." Ino shook his hand. Kama's grey eyes lightened.
"I am? When can I see them?"
"Right now. Your mom and dad are in that room." She pointed and the boy ran to the door.
"Are you ready for that?" Doctor Sato grinned up at her. Ino paled.
"God I hope I am."
XOXO
Ino was back to her original duties because she begged the Hokage to let her out of Maternity Ward. After that chaotic night with Anko, she wanted to distance herself from that place. She was surprised when she met with her last patient.
"When did you gat back?" Ino asked Sasuke as she healed some of his shallow abrasions.
"This afternoon." He grumbled wearily. He didn't seem worse for wear, only sporting a few scrapes and bruises. He didn't really need to be here.
"What kind of mission did you have?" She raised a brow as she took a pen from behind her ear to write a few things down.
"Nothing big." He pulled his shirt back on and ran a hand through his hair.
"Seems like it." She murmured and sat on an orange stool next to his bed. Wincing Ino rubbed her lower back and stiff neck. She needed to cut down on her ten hour shifts like the Hokage told her to.
"How was your vacation?" His tone indicated that he knew the real reason behind her trip to Wave Country.
"Good." She chirped. The information she gathered was given to the ANBU and they were running down lead as they spoke. The whole investigation was taking longer than usual which only proved that the elusive Tama and Kuro were always a few steps ahead of everyone. It confused her because it was only these two scrolls that they took. Whatever summons were sealed must be pretty important. Did they want them just because they were powerful or did they want them because it was a piece of a bigger puzzle?
Well whichever it was, Ino thought as she sighed and stood, she would get to the bottom of it once the kid was born. Speaking of which…
"Can you stick around a little while longer?" She asked him.
"For what?" He slid from the bed to stand.
"I have an appointment in fifteen minutes. Hinata tells me that by this time the bean has grown arms and legs." She grinned. Sasuke's black eyes dropped to her belly.
"Are you sure? You don't even look that big."
Ino was astounded. "What? Are you blind? I'm huge!" She exclaimed lifting her pale purple peasant style shirt to show him her bulge. How could he not see it?
"That little bump?" He drawled and trailed a finger down her hairline to her bellybutton. She suppressed a shiver and jerked her shirt down.
"It's not little." She moodily muttered and looked at the clock. "You missed the bean's first pictures so you better come to this one."
"If it's quick. I haven't slept for two and half days." He yawned and Ino's hot temper fled into concern.
"Do you need something?" She asked and took out a prescription pad.
"No." He grunted. "I've experienced your sedative jutsus first hand. Remember?" He dryly mocked. Ino rolled her eyes and fluttered a dismissive hand.
"But you had a goodnight sleep didn't you?" She smirked with a twinkle in her eyes.
Sasuke snorted lightly. "It was only part of the reason I slept so well." Ino fought a blush.
"Are you coming?" She forced herself to keep eye contact before she turned to leave the room. She caught that knowing expression on his face, coal black hair falling into his onyx eyes. Since when do I find them so intriguing? Ino wondered, familiar butterflies fluttering inside. But they were. Everything about him was one big puzzle that made her want to solve it and she hated puzzles. No matter how intimate they were, some things always seemed to escape her. They floated out of her reach. But what was the fun in knowing everything? Ino thought brightly, scattering her mind free.
"I said I would." They left the room, up two flights of stairs into Maternity Ward. After giving Nurse Myu her files, she proceeded down the hall.
The doctor was waiting for them, fiddling with the instruments and monitors. When he glanced their way Ino stiffened.
"Doctor Ito? Where is Doctor Sato?" She tried to sound pleasant but there was just something about Doctor Ito that bothered her. Just like the day she met him.
"He was called away." The young doctor politely smiled and motioned to the bed. After getting comfortable Ino raised her shirt. Some warm gooey lubrication was squeezed on her swollen stomach. "Okay. Right there." After a little searching a fuzzy black and white image appeared on a widescreen monitor.
Ino's wariness disappeared as she gazed up at the image. She could see its profile perfectly. The little bean was looking more and more like a baby now. She wasn't the only one mesmerized by the image. Sasuke was and so was the doctor.
"So that's the new Uchiha." The doctor murmured pressing the wand harder into her stomach. "Do you want to know what it is?" His interest was chilling. He was completely focused on the image.
"No."
"Yes."
Ino sighed. "You don't want to be surprised?" She innocently asked. Sasuke looked from the image to her.
"You don't want to know?" He shot back. Ino stuck out her tongue childishly.
"Watch your tone Mr. Grumpy. No I don't want to know. It's better if it was a surprise." She whined. She would annoy him until she got her way Ino vowed. Since he was tired, she won in the end. They left with Ino grinning as she folded the ultrasound picture and parted ways.
She hummed happily as she walked through the flower shop and up the stairs to her old house. She needed to open the windows for air circulation and pee.
The door was unlocked. Did she forget to lock up yesterday? Ino frowned and took a shuriken from her pocket. Cautiously she twisted the knob. The television was on and clothes were sprinkled over the once pristine living room. With an irritated sigh she replaced her small weapon and began picking up the wrinkled clothes.
"Ino! I missed you so much!" Inoichi Yamanaka raced from his room and picked her up. She groaned as he practically squeezed the life out of her.
"When did you get back?" She wheezed, pushing herself away from him to catch her bearings.
"Two hours ago. I brought you some stuff." He excitedly said and began fumbling through his dirty duffle bag throwing more clothes over his shoulders as he searched. Ino caught the flying missiles and piled them together. She would have to do his laundry later. As her father searched Ino studied him. He was a lot darker and his dirt blonde hair had been bleached by the sun.
"Ah here it is." His bronzed face lit up in delight. In his hands were two things. A package wrapped in brown paper and string and a box. Ino grinned greedily—a jewelry box. She snatched that one first and tore to top off.
"Daddy!" She squealed her eyes wide in awe. Nestled in the red velvet box were gorgeous tear shaped diamond earrings. She flung her arms around his neck and gave him a loud smacking kiss on his weathered cheek.
"Ino! It feels like you gained some weight." He tickled her sided. Ino felt like her laugh was forced as she avoided her father's eyes and focused on her new earrings. "Here. I don't know why I got this for you. Be careful." He instructed seriously as he gave her the brown package. She gently laid her earrings on the back of the couch and took it from his outstretched hand. The string fell away as she pulled it. There was a clear package of green and blue seeds and a sea-green glass bottle with an elaborate cork.
"Be careful." Her father hissed again as she tugged at the cork. "It's a special poison called Ninja's Wolfbane."
"Poison?" Ino stiffened. Ever since Grass Country, she had been very wary of such things.
"I got it from this crazy old man in Tea Country. He gave me these seeds and said that they were the last of its kind. I have no use for it so I figured you can have it."
Ino eyed the bottle in her hands. "What happened if someone is poisoned by it?"
Her father shrugged. "He told me that it drains the chakra from the body every time they perform a jutsu and once that's gone it feeds off of the body's cellular energy."
"Is there an antidote?"
"Not that I know of. Perhaps Sakura can make one." He took the seed package from her. "Let's find something to put this in. Don't want any accidents. Oh what's this?" He bent over and picked something up from the floor. Ino gasped her hands digging into her pockets. It fell out! Her father unraveled the accordion folds. His thin eyebrows arched to the top of his head in surprise.
"I was waiting until you got back to tell you." Ino finally said after a prolonged silence fell between them.
"So…how far along are you?" He was unnaturally quiet and Ino didn't know what to make of it.
"Five and a half months." She took the ultrasound picture from his hands to look at it once more.
"I guess I was gone longer than expected. Oh baby! I'm so happy!" He blubbered and enveloped her in a bone breaking hug again. "I was getting worried that you would never give me any grandchildren! That you would die as a dried up old prune!"
Ino moaned and struggled free. "Don't start with that." She commanded with a stern finger pock in the shoulder.
"So tell me, who is the lucky guy? Do I know him? Is it Shikamaru?" He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
"Shikam—why do people think it's always him?" She fumed with an angry frown.
"So it's not him? Then who?"
Ino hesitated. He was not going to like her answer." Uhh—Sasuke Uchiha?" She offered with an innocent smile. He was totally expressionless. Well what did she expect? She knew her father disliked him ever since he left the village.
"What? How the hell did that happen?" He exploded, his tan face beaming red with rage. "Sasuke Uchiha, Ino?! Are you crazy? He betrayed the village…was with that bastard Mandra Uchiha when he tried to start a war! You slept with him? What the hell was going though that thick head of yours? Of all the possible men it had to be him?"
Ino patiently waited for him to finish. She understood why her father reacted the way he did and she wasn't going to defend Sasuke because he did do all those things. He was still making amends and knew that it would take some time for the older generation to trust him. Deep down, despite her attraction, she was still withholding judgment on him as well.
"What's done is done and no, I'm not going to discuss my sex life with you."
"Baby, do you know what you have done? You could be ostracized from the village!" He ran a distressed hand though his tangled hair. "And the baby will have a hell of a time trying to fit in because people will look at it and be reminded of the Uchiha's sins."
"Will you do that dad?" Ino shot at him ad hand on her hip. Her father was taken back.
"Ino…"
"Dad if that happened then I'll find a way to deal with it. But it'll be harder if you're not going to be supportive." The very thought made Ino sick to her stomach and so very sad.
"Ino, you're my daughter. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to have to 'deal with it'." He gently touched her shoulder.
"Daddy I made my choice. I understand, really I do but I don't think it'll be as bad as you say." She sighed.
"Why is that?"
"Because when I think of everything you said I'm reminded of Naruto." She smiled softly.
"That's different. He didn't do anything wrong."
"But the village treated him bad anyway. Now he's going to be out next Hokage and the people recognize who he really is and not his history."
"It wasn't easy. He had to prove himself over and over." Her father pointed out.
"I know. Do you think this one can do it?" She put a hand to her belly. "Can you trust me to be there to help it? I know Sasuke isn't a saint, but I've given him a chance. I'm not saying you have to, but you should give your grandchild a chance to prove itself."
Her father was silent. He turned from her and placed the poison in the nearby counter. "Do I have to be nice to the betrayer?" He mumbled in a low tone. Ino found herself chuckling.
"Of course not." She said and he looked back to her with an evil smile. "But it would make me happy if you tried." His shoulders slumped in defeat and he shuffled to her, pulling her into his arms.
"Aww baby, I would do anything to make you happy." Ino closed her eyes, inhaled his spicy cologne. She felt like a little girl again, warm and safe. "Being a parent is hard work but I think you be a good mom." His chest vibrated against her cheek as he spoke.
"Will I be better than her?" She asked in a frightened whisper, sudden tears stinging her eyes.
"You already are." He whispered back in her hair…