Genma yawned and stretched while wondering why his bed felt so hard and stiff.
"You awake now? Huh? Are you awake now? Zumo say wake you up, but you already awake right?"
The voice sounded uncertain and wary. And really, really young.
Genma's dark eyes popped open as he suddenly realized that he'd not been having a nightmare. He could very possibly be the father of three children.
Staring at him was the youngster who'd been screaming like a banshee last night. Her green eyes looked cautious and she looked ready to run away at the slightest sound. They'd spent a considerable amount of time calming her down last night, or was that this morning? Genma turned toward the window to judge the light streaming in.
Only to be met with a squirt of water into his face. "HEY!"
The little girl immediately drew back in fear, her little lips trembling as she hugged her doll to her chest. Tears welled up in her large, expressive eyes.
Genma groaned and opened his mouth to apologize when the little boy squirted him in the face again with what looked like a plastic toy duck. "Oi! Stop that!" The shinobi sat up fast and stared at the two year old, who stared right back at him.
The little girl began crying and rushed from the room as Genma sighed and ran an agitated hand through his messy bed-head.
Izumo came through to the living room, frowning sharply as he carried the little girl in his arms. "Kichi? See? He's okay, he's not mad at you." He pinned Genma with a furious look. "He's happy to see you." He stressed the words heavily.
Catching the not very subtle hint, Genma sighed and nodded. "I am happy to see you, Kichi." He was glad that Izumo had said her name, because for the life of him he couldn't remember. Last night was basically a giant blur in his mind.
The little boy tried to squirt him again, but it appeared like the toy duck was running out of ammunition as only a small trail of water dribbled from the hole in the beak this time. The boy threw the duck in frustration and gave a grunt that sounded alarmingly familiar to Genma. He was almost sure that was the sound that HE usually made when frustrated by electric gizmos.
Not willing to face what that might mean, as in possible instant fatherhood, Genma turned his back on the boy to face Izumo. Kichi was clinging, draped over the other man's chest and currently had her thumb in her mouth.
"So. You told the kids to wake me with water in my face?" Genma groused.
Izumo shrugged without remorse. "Be glad. Kotetsu wanted Tomo to play 'drums' on your head instead. With my way there was less chance of head trauma."
o.O.o.O.o.O
"So. Inuzuka Hana, huh?" Kotetsu shot the newly engaged man an unreadable look as he heated up some frozen waffles.
Genma sighed and collapsed into the kitchen chair looking beyond merely haggard. "Hell of a night." He groaned.
"100 yen." Kotetsu yawned and plated the waffles, adding a small fork.
"Fuck you." Genma snarled and watched as his roommate put the waffle plate down on the table.
"Fuk! Fuk!" Kichi ran up, skirting around Genma with a wary look, and grabbed the top waffle and ran back into the living room.
"300 yen now since she repeated the word." Kotetsu said angrily and held up the remaining waffle as Tomo ran up and started reaching for it, jumping and grunting as he whined for the food. The shinobi smiled at him and lowered the waffle down, then pulled it back up as the small fingers nearly made contact. "Say please."
"Eeeee!" The boy said and grinned cheesily.
Kotetsu laughed and let the toddler have the waffle. The boy echoed the laugh and ran from the room saying something incredibly unintelligible and jumbled together. "He grunts like you do."
Genma hunched his shoulders and shook his head in denial. "It's not certain that I'm the ...."
The other ninja pinned him with a hot glare. "Do you have any REAL doubts?" He asked point-blank.
Feeling cornered, Genma sneered and looked away from the other man's gaze. "This can't be happening." He temporized, not answering the question asked.
Kotetsu relented slightly and took a deep breath, putting his hands in his pockets. "The Inuzuka will stick." He offered the words comfortingly.
Genma sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "She looked uncertain when she left."
"Anyone would be uncertain, it's a lot to take in."
The senbon chewing ninja shrugged. "So she goes off to take time to understand all of this. I wish I had that option."
Kotetsu grew angry again, not even sure why. "Look. It's sudden and it's fucking hard. I get that. Three instant kids? But Izumo and I explained it to you last night. The mother isn't trying to ruin your life, she's trying to save three lives! And not her own. She was willing to die to protect these children. And you won't even face the fucking fact that your a father? You're a mother-fucking coward, Genma."
Genma opened and closed his mouth, but had no come-back. There was nothing to say to that. Weakly he sighed. "I count 300 yen in that little speech of yours."
Kotetsu blinked and shook his head, walking from the room without a word.
Somehow that just made Genma feel a thousand times worse.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Ino shut the door behind her and looked over at Shikamaru who was currently sitting in a chair, reading. "Having fun?" She said with a distinct edge in her voice.
The shadow-user sneered. "Never thought I'd get bored like this."
"But you can lie around, sleep whenever you want, read whatever you want. Do nothing. It's a perfect mission for your lazy ass." The blonde gave him a nasty glance.
Shikamaru gave her a lingering look and read beneath the surface anger. "That Mist shinobi really gives you the creeps, doesn't he?"
Ino shuddered. "He looks at me like a fly that he wants to pluck the wings off of."
"Uh huh." Shikamaru nodded, looking lazy and bored while his mind raced with plans and scenarios. This man, Toya, was dangerous. And they knew that he'd nearly killed his own genin team just to get into the Leaf hospital. Which was why he himself was now bored playing bait for the Mist shinobi in question, pretending to be the mysterious patient that was now at Genma's apartment.
"He's just freaky." Ino blew off the moment and gave a tired smile. "And I'm worried about how my patient is faring. None of those boys knows a thing about medical ninjutu."
"They're jounin, not boys." Shikamaru said almost absently. His mind not on the current conversation, but rather on the strange shinobi who seemed to be stalking Ino as much as the mysterious woman. There was something off about that guy.
o.O.o.O.o.O
"You can't do this to me! You just can't!" Genma looked horrified as he stared wild eyed at his two roommates. The two roommates that were leaving!
Izumo nudged Kotetsu absently, not looking in Genma's direction. "I'm just impressed that he didn't curse."
"He's too in shock. Give it a moment." Kotetsu said deadpan.
"You two fucking idiots! Stop worrying about my mother-fucking language and help me!" Genma looked desperate.
Kotetsu shot Izumo a telling look as the second man shrugged. "You were right. When we get back we need to make sure he puts money in the box. He's growing quite a tab."
"Is Zumo a fuk-ing id-ot? Is he? Huh? What that? Huh? What that? What a fuk-ing id-ot? Do you know? You know, right? You know what it mean, right? Is Zumo a fuk-ing id-ot?"
Genma closed his eyes, feeling nauseated. "Damn it! Don't leave me." He whined pathetically.
Kotetsu gave him an unsmiling look and handed him the sleeping baby Meimei as Kichi drew in a shocked breath. "That a bad word! You say bad word, you no supposed to say that! Bad G'ma! Bad! You need to sit in corner and tink!"
"Tink?" Genma asked in resignation.
Izumo shrugged. "Think."
With great reluctance, and with an impending sense of doom, Genma took the infant from his roommate. Awkwardly he tried to mirror the stance Kotetsu had used to hold the baby. "See? I'm not good at this." He tried one last tactic. "I don't know what to do."
Izumo shook his head ruthlessly. "Neither did we. Learn."
Nearly gagging on his own bile, Genma watched as Kotetsu and Izumo left him alone.
All alone.
One of the twins whined behind him and he turned, finding himself the object of little Kichi's stare. Her changeable eyes hovering somewhere between blue and green as she watched him.
"Where Zumo?" She demanded, stamping one foot to emphasize her seriousness. "Where Zumo? Where Kotsu?"
Genma coughed, not sure how to answer her. "They abandoned me." His voice sounded raspy.
Kichi's eyes narrowed and suddenly Genma felt like a prey animal. "Why they go? They go cuz you bad, right? You bad and they go? Huh? Right? Cuz you bad and say bad words? You need to sit in corner and tink!"
"I'm not bad." He defended himself weakly.
Kichi watched him a moment longer and then turned her back on him and instead walked toward the bedrooms. Genma sighed in relief and waited. Nothing happened.
It was completely quiet.
Slowly, his muscles started to relax. He looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. Meimei. Yeah, that was the infant's name. Leaning in he sniffed her. Clean and powdery. Sweet.
Genma's stomach started to settle. "This isn't so bad." He whispered as he gave the sleeping child a tentative smile, albeit a small one. "Those two guys are idiots. Making it sound like they've been through so much. This is fine. No big deal."
The infant didn't respond. In fact, the entire apartment was quiet. In control.
Genma took a fortifying breath. "No big deal."
o.O.o.O.o.O
"Why are you two drinking so early?"
Izumo shifted over and made room for Anko and Iruka, and immediately the kunoichi shook the bottle of sake and frowned. "You're nearly empty." She signaled for a fresh bottle.
Kotetsu grinned. "Complete freedom." He said with deliberate vagueness as Izumo nodded in agreement.
"Tzzt." Anko made a buzzing noise and waved a hand in front of her face, dismissing them. "Never mind that. The game of the day is ...."
"Kurenai had her baby." Iruka grinned, spoiling Anko's moment. She shot him a hard glare, which he calmly ignored.
Izumo smiled, it took a courageous man to ignore Anko. And people thought that Iruzka was soft somehow since he dealt with kids all day? Not even a full week with three kids had taught him that it took MORE effort and strength to deal with kids, not less.
"As I was trying to say, we're taking wagers on what Kurenai will name the new baby." Anko said with a greedy little half-grin.
Kotetsu paid for the new bottle of sake as it was delivered to the table and poured a cup for both he and Izumo and deftly kept it out of Anko's reach as she made a move for it. "No bet." He said coolly. "Too many variables."
Anko frowned sharply as Iruka laughed. "See, I told you no one would take you up on the wager." He looked over at Kotetsu and Izumo. "Kurenai had a little boy, by the way."
The two ninja lifted their sake cups in a silent salute.
o.O.o.O.o.O
"DUCE!"
Genma stared at little Tomo in supreme exasperation. "I've given you juice!" He looked balefully at the three glasses of juice on the table. Apple, grape, and cranberry. Each time the boy had slapped at the cups, spilling some of the sticky contents.
"DUCE! DUCE!" Tomo wailed, arching his back and screaming his displeasure. Tears ran down his red cheeks.
Genma sighed and turned to stare into the icebox. Those three varieties were the only types of juice in the whole apartment. What did the boy want? Sake? The idea floated in his head for an outrageous moment, but he dismissed it for stupidity. Sighing again, his eyes settled on one lone container of soda pop. That wasn't nearly as outrageous as sake. Didn't kids drink soda?
"DUCE!" The imperious demand had him hunching his shoulder and reaching for the orange fizzy stuff. He poured some in a small cup and handed it to the boy.
Tomo stared at it a moment, then shook his head.
Genma took a sip quickly. "See? It's good." He lied, not being a fan of too sweet sodas.
Tomo took the cup and took a sip. Then another. He smiled. Genma smiled. See? Parenting wasn't so hard. He stopped as there was a sudden knock on the door.
His eyes narrowed as he considered his options. Their apartment was under surveillance, he knew that much from his roommates. And while he had no intentions of instant fatherhood, that didn't mean that he'd let anyone waltz in to hurt the children. So. Whomever was knocking on his front door, those watching had let pass.
Cautiously he opened the door and then nearly fell down in the sudden onslaught.
"Well? How did it go?!" Genma struggled to breathe as he tried in vain to pull his mother's arms from around his neck. "Did she say yes? Well did she?"
"Do we have to do this on the front porch?" A burly former shinobi with a heavy beard and a bald head said calmly.
"Mom, stop it!" Genma protested weakly as he fought a losing battle and finally succumbed to the gut wrenching hug from his mother.
Shiranui Kudo and Naora came in while his mother gushed over him, kissing his cheeks and his father stood there stoically. Watching.
"Well? You awful child, tell me did Hana say yes or no?"
Kudo shut the door behind him and shook his head. "Give the boy room to breathe or you'll never get your answer." Genma looked like his mother, slender and lithe while his father was stocky and built like a mountain. With a beard.
Genma stared at his father and fingered his own hairless chin. "What's with the beard, Dad?"
Shiranui Naora sighed heavily and shot a glare at her taciturn husband. "I make one little crack about him losing his hair and THIS is what he grows. He's ...he's ...." Her dark expressive eyes grew wide as she watched a small two-year old run into the room and tug on Genma's pants leg.
"More duce peas!" Tomo grinned up at Genma and danced back and forth on his little feet as he held up his empty cup.
Genma gave a weak smile and held up one finger toward his parents and took the juice cup into the kitchen as his curious parents followed, staring. He poured the cup full of orange fizzy drink and the boy grinned and took the cup, running back toward the bedrooms.
"Who?" Naora gawked, then her mouth firmed. "Izumo or Kotetsu? And they'd have better done well by the poor boy's mother!" Her expression looked decidedly sour.
Genma hesitated and his eyes met those of his usually silent father. Kudo narrowed his eyes on his son and he knew he had no choice. "His name is Tomo. And ..." The words nearly choked him. "He's mine."
Shiranui Naora swayed on her feet, her arm going out to catch her balance. Her husband steadied her as she nearly fainted.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Anko giggled as Ebisou shook his head at her. "Any excuse to drink, is that it?"
Kotetsu grinned as he looked around the small but growing party. Anko and Iruka were still there, but they'd been joined by Aoba, Yugao and Ebisou now. It seemed everyone was eager to toast Kurenai's new son.
Izumo shook his head. "I don't see how Kurenai can possibly do it all on her own. Kids are hard."
"How would you know?" Ebisou said snottily, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. "You and your roommates are womanizers, not parents."
Izumo took umbrage to the remark and opened his mouth to respond when he caught Kotetsu's warning look. He nodded and shut his mouth. The kids were still a necessary secret.
Anko missed the byplay between the two men as she poured herself a fresh cup of sake. "Kurenai is an organizer. She's had her apartment baby-proofed almost from the moment that she found out about the baby."
Kotetsu laughed. "Baby-proofed?"
"Poor bachelor." Yugao sneered lightly as she took a sip from her own cup. "Baby-proof. Things to keep the baby safe in her apartment."
Both Kotetsu and Izumo stiffened slightly. Was there something that they'd missed?
"Baby-proof locks on everything, that kind of thing. My sister had to go through it last year." Aoba grinned happily sloshed.
Kotetsu nodded, relieved. They'd already learned that they needed to keep the door locked. "So a baby can't slip outside." He said sagely.
Yugao shook her head as she teased him. "That, but also on all the cabinets and stuff so the baby can't get into cleansers and stuff. Poisonous."
Izumo paled. He looked at his roommate and tried to will his heartbeat to slow back down. They'd not done anything like that!
"There's more to baby-proofing a place than that." Anko shook her head. "Kurenai roped me into helping. There were baby gates to keep the kid from rooms with things that could hurt him. Weapons, detergents, whatever."
"Baby gates?" Kotetsu felt lightheaded.
"And these plastic thingies to put into the electrical sockets, protect the kid from sticking anything metal in the slots." Anko frowned at her empty cup until Aoba helpfully refilled it for her.
Izumo's voice sounded weak even to himself. "Kids wouldn't do something like that, would they?"
Iruka shook his head sadly. "Kids will do anything. They have no clue that they shouldn't, and if you tell them no about anything ....THAT becomes the thing they want to do the most."
"I need to run." Kotetsu stood up suddenly and made a run for the door. "I forgot that I made a date with Hanako later."
Aoba stared after the swiftly departing shinobi. He looked puzzled. "But ...I thought he and Hanako broke up?"
Izumo forced a laugh as he stood up. "He's had too much to drink, must have forgotten that they've broken up. I'd better go stop him from doing something stupid ...like making up with her."
Yugao paused and stared at the now empty chairs. "That was strange."
Anko grinned and nabbed the bottle of sake the two men had left behind. "Their loss!"
o.O.o.O.o.O
Naora sat on the couch looking pale as she fanned herself. "Three of them?"
Kudo sighed and gave his son a long, measured look that Genma couldn't bring himself to meet.
"I had no idea." He winced as his father grunted like he didn't buy that answer.
"Wait. Does Hana know?" His mother looked horrified.
Genma blushed slightly. "Yeah, she knows. She didn't run." He sighed. "Yet."
"Did she ....?" His mother stopped, unable to complete the sentence.
"She said yes, mom."
Shiranui Naora smiled wanly as Kudo shook his head. "Son ..." She started, then stopped as Kichi ran into the room.
The little girl stopped cold and stared at the newcomers dressed all in yellow and with her long brunette hair looking tangled. Genma winced. If Kichi was frightened of him, then she'd be terrified of his father.
Kudo was a big bruiser of a man who'd only retired a few years ago due to a bad knee. In his day he'd been known as a stone cold killer. An assassin and former member of ANBU. One look from his eyes had made grown men pee in their pants. Children were known to cross the street to avoid him. He was not known for being warm, or even nice. Genma waited for the screaming and crying.
Instead Kichi took her thumb out of her mouth and started asking questions. "Who you? Huh? I Kichi." She announced with a crooked smile. "Tomo in trouble cuz he bad. You know Tomo? He bad, but Kichi good."
Naora smiled and sighed. "She sounds like my sister."
Genma didn't say that Kichi sounded just like her, not his aunt. He knew better.
"Come here baby." His mother crooned.
But Kichi stared up at Kudo, then grinned and held up her doll. "This Miyu."
Stiffly Kudo knelt down, moving awkwardly to accommodate his knee which would never bend fully again. He looked into Kichi's changeable eyes and did the unthinkable. The big tough man fell completely in love. He smiled at her.
Kichi didn't scream or run, she patted his beard and giggled. "You have hair on you face. Did you know that? Huh? You know you have hair on you face? Kotsu and Zumo not have hair on their face. Why you have hair? Huh? You funny."
"Oh, what a darling!" Naora blinked back sudden tears as they welled up in her eyes.
"I'm Genma's father." Kudo answered the toddler in a deep rumbling voice.
Kichi leaned in conspiratorially. "G'ma bad. He vewy bad. Did you know? He say bad word and not go to corner. He not go. That bad. Right? That bad."
Kudo nodded. "He's very bad." He agreed.
Genma rolled his eyes as his mother stood up. "Oh! So where is the mother? How did they get here? Where have they been? WHO is the mother?"
"You sound like Kichi." Genma muttered.
"Wait until I tell your aunt and un ....." Naora's eyes went wide as she found her son's hand over her mouth. His father glared at him.
Genma shook his head. "Don't say the word u...n...c....l...e." He spelled. "And you can't tell anyone."
Kudo looked at his son and raised one eyebrow in question.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Izumo caught up with Kotetsu and pulled him to a stop. "Wait."
Kotetsu shook off the restraining arm. He still looked pale. "Baby proofing. We didn't DO that!"
"I know." Izumo winced. "But nothing bad happened. We're fine. And now we know. A bit of research and we can make the apartment completely safe." He paused and shook his head. "Listen to me, I'm talking like the kids will be staying."
Kotetsu felt sick to his stomach. "What makes you think that they won't? Their mother is still in a fucking coma!"
Izumo nodded. "But once Hana and Genma married, if the kids stay ...they'll move in with them. We'll have our place back again." He ignored the bile bubbling in his own gut. "That'll be a good thing, right?"
Pausing, Kotetsu looked away.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Kudo growled low and mean as Kichi played at his feet, fixing Miyu's hair.
Naora looked shocked and without anything to say, a veritable first. "My goodness." She repeated for the hundredth time. Utterly appalled that anyone would want to kill children. "I ...I ...I'll be back in a moment." She got up and basically ran into Genma's bedroom to see the mystery woman for herself.
Kudo met his son's eyes. "Mist." He said the one word like it was a curse.
Genma nodded. "I'm in a mess, Dad."
The elder Shiranui looked down at a smiling Kichi as she handed him her doll. Genma watched in awe as his no-nonsense father took the ginger-haired baby and agreed that her hair was 'pretty'. This wasn't the same man who'd raised him!
Kudo's huge mitt of a hand rested awkwardly but gently on Kichi's little head as he patted her. "What happens next?" He asked gruffly.
Genma shook his head. "Kill the son of a bitch."
"Watch your mouth." The bigger man snapped, then smiled at the startled Kichi who was staring up at him. "Genma's bad again." He told her.
Kichi smiled and nodded. "He vewy bad. So Tomo. Tomo bad too. Do you know Tomo? He bad. And sticky."
Genma stilled. Sticky? He had a sudden vision of orange fizzy drink. He closed his eyes in a sickening feeling of doom. He turned toward the back bedroom and stopped. His mother was in the hallway, her eyes twinkling as she held little Meimei who was awake and cooing at her.
Naora smiled and handed her son the baby. "Lovely. She needs to be changed though."
"Changed?" Genma really felt sick now. "Mom? Can't you ...."
His mother smiled and gestured to Kudo. "If what you say is all true, then we can't be seen over here too much. Don't want to raise suspicion that the children are here. So, no ...the best thing I can do for you all is to act like they're not here."
"Mom?" Genma was ready to beg.
Kudo looked reluctant, but he stood and waved goodbye to Kichi.
Kichi frowned. "You come back? You coming back?"
"As soon as it's safe." Genma's mother told her.
The little girl smiled.
"Mom?" Genma now sounded desperate.
His parents stopped at the door to the apartment. The Shiranui matriarch patted her only son's cheek and smiled. "Get rid of the threat and I'll be glad to help. But you need to bond with your children, and you can't do that if I do all the work for you."
"Yes I can!" Genma promised, looking frightened. "I'll bond with them later, but I need you now!"
Naora shook her head solemnly. "You need to learn how to take care of your children. You made them. That was the easy part."
Kudo grunted in agreement.
"Now. Little Meimei needs changing." She smiled at him and winked. "And Tomo is as bad as Kichi promised. There's orange soda everywhere back there. EVERYWHERE."
Genma groaned in utter despair and dread.
o.O.o.O.o.O
Poor, poor Genma! His pain is my joy at the moment! As always, REVIEWS would be greatly appreciated!