~Chapter Eleven~
Two years have passed since Naruto died; the world still seems bleak and wrong without him. All of our tears have dried though our grief remains. Sasuke and I have recently been talking of moving away – it's just so hard to handle things here. Everyone still looks at us with sympathy – a thing no Uchiha can stand.
"I just can't sit around here anymore," I stood suddenly from my place on the couch and walked to the kitchen to find my brother. As I entered the room I realized he was on the phone; why hadn't I heard it ring?
"Yes he's here – I'll get him, just a moment." He looked up at me, surprise filling his face.
"Oh, hi Itachi. You have a phone call, I think it's Anko. Why would she be calling you? You haven't talked to her since graduation three years ago."
I nodded, wondering the same thing, and took the phone waiving him from the room. "Hello?"
"Hello Itachi. Sorry to bother you, I know we haven't spoken in awhile." Her voice was different then I remembered, older.
"No bother Anko, how have you been?" I was curious to see why after three years of silence she was calling me now.
"Well that's what I needed to talk to you about actually, but I'd like to do so in person. Would you mind if I came by the house?" she sounded strained and nervous.
"Sure, of course you can come by. Are you close?"
I heard her inhale deeply like a weight had been lifted. "I'll be there in ten minutes."
I stood there staring at the silent phone, obvious confusion on my face. What could she need to see me about? I moved quickly to the stairwell and yelled up to my brother, "Sasuke, Anko will be here in ten and needs to speak privately. Show her to my office!"
"'Kay!"
The indifference in his voice proved he would leave us in peace.
She'd walked into my office no more than five minutes prior though her heavy silent stare made it feel like an eternity. Finally I saw her lips part and she broke the silence.
"I know this is sudden; three years of no contact. Now, I have a secret to tell you and a favor to ask." She wouldn't look me in the eye.
"Anything, Anko. You know all you need to do is ask." The look on her face worried me.
"Well, do you remember the party we went to before graduation?"
"Yeah," a small grin played over my lips at the memory, "we were both trashed that night. I don't remember anything after the first twenty minutes."
"Yeah, we did drink allot, though you had allot more then I did. I do remember that night." Her eyes were worried.
"You told me you didn't." I was so confused; I could feel it in my face.
"About that."
"What?"
"Well, after a couple hours of drinking you and I got a little hot and heavy you could say." Her eyes dropped from my face straight to the floor, her cheeks flushed.
"We slept together?" I heard the shock break my voice. I saw her shoulders flinch slightly, like I had hit her.
"More than once that night actually." I heard the pride in her voice and knew instantly my reaction had hurt her. "Anyway, I didn't tell you before because you were finally finding your feet and everything was going so well for you." Her eyes remained on the floor.
"What do you mean you never told me? Never told me what?"
"Well..." the word barely brushed her lips when her eyes met mine and I knew she saw the recognition wash over my face.
"I got you – got you..." I couldn't form the words.
"I named her Nara. We'd talked about it once – about how you would name them after your brothers' friend if you ever had kids. You never did tell me why though."
"Nara..." I couldn't wipe the shock from my face.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner... I just –"
"How old?" my question caught me off guard, it came so suddenly. I have a daughter?
"She'll be four soon, on January 17th. I brought her photo album if you wanted to see her." She smiled as her fingers traced the corners of what I guessed was the album, on her lap.
"Th – thanks...um...so you said you had a favor to ask also?" I held out my hand for the album, which she placed on my palm. I wasn't trying to change the subject I was just completely out of things to say. How are people supposed to react to this?
"Yeah." Her eyes retreated back to the floor, "Would be willing to become a part of her life?"
"Are you moving back to town? Because if you are I can tell you right now I can't do that."
"Actually I was hoping you two would get along well enough that I could disappear for awhile. Don't get me wrong I love that girl more than anything in this world, I just can't take care of her anymore and I was hoping you could." For the first time since her arrival I noticed how pale she looked. There were dark purple bruises under her eyes and her skin was paler then mine. Her hair was thinner then I remembered and she wasn't covered in the usual layers of makeup.
"Anko – are you sick?" The only way I could ever imagine her giving up on anything was if she physically couldn't care for it anymore.
"I have to leave the country for awhile and I can't afford to take her with me, so I was hoping you could keep her until I get back." The way she avoided my question only proved its truth.
"How long will you be gone?" having a child in the picture would drastically change things.
"Not long I hope a month or two at the most." She sounded remorseful.
"Well Sasuke and I have been talking about moving to America in the next week or two so I don –"
"That's perfect! I had the choice to go either to Europe or America, and this way I could still see her!" her excited words cut me off. It seemed she was trying to force this child on me.
"Well, I'll talk with Sasuke about it and if you could bring her here to meet us –"again she cut me off.
"Actually she's already here. I left her in the car with my driver, though he's probably brought her in by now." I sighed; maybe having a child wouldn't be so bad?
"Okay, give me a moment to talk to my brother. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the living room." She followed me into the living room practically running me over as I stopped dead in my tracks. There, sitting in Narutos' favorite recliner was a small girl talking with Sasuke. She had shoulder length dirty blonde hair and enormous, cerulean blue eyes. Her clothes were brightly colored and obviously custom fitted; her blouse was unbuttoned and hanging over a pale pink tank top. Her skirt was the same shade of pink though it was covered in small purple and blue flowers. I couldn't help but stare, her pale skin and large smile matched Sasuke and I perfectly. She was definitely an Uchiha.
She looked up at the sound of my step and at seeing her mother got up and ran toward us, her smile widening. Before she reached her mother, who was still behind me, she stood not more than twelve inches from me and looked up slowly, taking me in. "Daddy?"
My heart melted instantly at her small voice. I knelt down to her, unable to speak, and placed my hands on her shoulders. "She's been looking at old photos and videos of you since she was old enough to sit up on her own." Ankos' voice was soft behind me.
I nodded, realizing Nara was the perfect name for this small child; she had his eyes. Her arms lifted slowly and wrapped themselves around my neck as I lifted her up. I looked back at Anko, nodded, then looked back at Sasuke, "We have an addition to the Uchiha family."
He smiled at me, "Are we still leaving?"
I nodded, "She's coming with us." I looked at Anko again, "They both are."
I apologize for the wait however the rest is coming! I plan to have the entire story posted before the end of today...
