"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
Minato sighed and closed his eyes. "What I am about to say is highly confidential."
A Hyuuga, an Uchiha, and Kakashi stood uncomfortably.
"Where to begin…" Minato paused. "Uchiha Akane is dead. Sometime before she defected from Konoha ranks, she had a child with a Konoha shinobi. It is believed this child is still in her organization's base and because the father is still a loyal Konoha shinobi and to his plea to retrieve the child, I have requested that you three go and retrieve his child," Minato said. He pulled out a map and rolled it out on his desk.
"Now, here is where our intel has located their base, close to the border of the Land of Wind and Amegakure," Minato pointed on the map. "It will take you about three days to reach that point. I don't want this to be a fight with this organization, seeing how it is full of dangerous nuke-nin. This is simply a retrieval mission. However, if you are confronted, try to maintain the child's safety and your own."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the three said dully.
"You are dismissed," Minato said. They walked out and as the door clicked closed, Minato sighed. He felt his blood boil in anger and his heart drop in sorrow. Akane was probably one of his most promising students and to hear that she had died of a disease after sacrificing so much, he wanted to bring her back and tell her she didn't have to try so hard and she didn't have to throw her whole life away. If he had been Hokage then, he would've stopped the Uchiha and she wouldn't have suffered.
Standing, Minato walked out of his office.
"I'm going home early," Minato said to his assistant. She nodded and filled out some more papers.
Flopping down onto the couch, Minato sighed.
"What's wrong?" Kushina handed him a cup of tea.
"Akane is dead and her child is in the base of her organization on the border of Suna and Ame," Minato said. "I wish none of this had happened."
Kushina nodded, remembering Mikoto. Her and Mikoto had been best of friends in the Academy and fought alongside each other in the Third Shinobi World War. Kushina had been crushed to learn that someone she considered to be a daughter had murdered her best friend.
"Me too," Kushina said. For a few minutes they sat in silence, not knowing how to continue talking about people they had cared for.
"Who did you summon?" Kushina asked softly.
"Kakashi, Itachi, and a Hyuuga Branch member who volunteered, Hideki. I think they might make a good group for this kind of thing; Kakashi does ninjutsu, Itachi does genjutsu and Hideki does taijutsu. I hope that they won't be killed. After all, the Akatsuki is full of nuke nin," Minato sipped his tea.
Leaving the village before anyone could ask, the small team of three left a few minutes after being briefed for their mission. As they began their journey to a place where a dear friend had spent her remaining years there, it began to rain.
Kakashi looked at the sky and almost didn't know how to feel. She had loved him, sacrificed everything for the village, and died without a kindness in her dying breaths. His chest felt tight and he wanted to cry. Remembering whom he was with, he abandoned that thought. He'd probably consider it when they found the child. Of course, not finding them, or not being able to get them wasn't an option. It was either they get the child or they died trying.
The three of them traveled in silence until the faint light from the sun that glowed from behind the clouds was no more. In nightfall it was raining even harder.
"You'd think we were already in Ame," Hideki said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah," Itachi answered. Hideki followed his gaze to Kakashi, who was looking at the clouds with a distant look.
"What's his problem?" Hideki whispered, getting closer to Itachi. But like that prevented the Copy Ninja from hearing him. On the other hand, it wasn't like he cared.
"I don't know," Itachi said.
"Since you're her brother, I thought it would be the closest thing to the real thing. I'd always liked her…even though she was rough around the edges and didn't like social things. So, I'm jealous of whoever was the father…" Hideki sighed. "Who do you think it is?"
"Akane didn't really talk to me about that kind of thing. She never really showed feelings for someone outright, even if she did like someone. But, if she did like someone, I doubt she'd tell me. We were too busy in the Uchiha Compound," Itachi said.
Morning came. No birds chirped to alert the ninja of the dawn. There was no rustle in the wind. It was still with the small, almost inaudible tap of drops of water coming down from the leaves. Itachi opened his eyes and saw Kakashi still in the same position, still looking out into the distance. Standing, the Uchiha surveyed the Copy Ninja.
"Morning, Kakashi-senpai," Itachi said. Kakashi nodded slightly and glanced at the Hyuuga, who was rubbing his eyes. After a moment, they began their journey again.
As they passed through forests and the occasional stream of water or stretch of desert or marsh, it was in silence. Itachi and Kakashi could tell it was grating on the Hyuuga's mind. It was only a matter of time until…
"Kakashi, what do you think of Akane?" Hideki asked. Kakashi suddenly couldn't find any words. Internally sighing, Kakashi carefully picked his words.
"I suppose she's simply a nuke-nin. I didn't really think much of her, either in a good light or bad," Kakashi answered.
Hideki frowned. He didn't expect that answer to be so plain but then hard to continue on with. Sighing, Hideki yielded to the silence the two Sharingan ninja presented.
Finally.
Stopping a few hundred feet away from the entrance, the three Konoha nin sensed for any chakra and Itachi looked for anyone who could be concealing their chakra. Meanwhile, Hideki did a headcount of how many were in the base. They were lucky; there were only a few people in the base at the time. Glancing at one another, they jumped to land in front of the entrance.
"How do we enter?" Hideki asked. He scanned it with his Byakugan but to no avail. Before Itachi could explain what type of seal it was, the huge boulder blocking it began to open.
As faint sunlight began to trickle into the area behind the boulder, a person was seen, the person having opened the boulder on the other side.
"Who are you?" the person asked. The three Konoha nin recognized him. To be honest, it's never good if you recognize them because then the opposite holds true. It would prove to be a more difficult and bloodier battle then.
"Oh…you're her brother," the blonde man sighed. "And…"
Itachi prepared to weave seals.
"THE ONE THAT KILLED HER!" Deidara yelled and flung clay at Itachi. Itachi began to slowly lead Deidara away, to which Deidara hadn't noticed. Itachi decided he was too focused on her death to pay attention to something so critical.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Hideki snuck into the base. Hideki led the way with his Byakugan, having already located the child.
Running down the halls and making an innumerable amount of turns down barely lit hallways. They stopped at a hallway that led into darkness.
"Let's go," Hideki urged and Kakashi followed. Hideki reached for the handle to open the door and to both of their surprises, nothing came out or attacked them. It was a simple room mildly lit. Cautiously stepping in, the two ninja held their breath.
A cry pierced the still air. Then two. Kakashi froze. No way…
Hideki turned around and saw a woman standing in the doorway.
"They are of no concern to me. Take them if you want," the woman said simply. "And if you don't leave in the next ten minutes, I will explode this entire base."
Kakashi couldn't believe this nuke-nin was so calm about enemy nin entering their base and taking possible future assets. Shaking off the thought, he turned to the child, no, children. Taking a step forward, then another, Kakashi found himself moving towards perhaps the last living human who held half of Akane's…everything. From her personality to her legacy to her sorrows and, if Kakashi saw right, her black hair. Taking the children into his arms the same way he did almost sixteen years ago, he felt both sorrow and something akin to excitement.
"Kakashi-san, look at this," Hideki held up a paper. Kakashi glanced at it and shrugged. Handing Hideki the children, Kakashi took all of the scrolls and papers and sealed them into a scroll. Looking around, he found more scrolls tucked away. We've got maybe seven minutes left…
For the rest of the time, Kakashi and a clone looked around with Hideki's Byakugan for more scrolls or anything else that signified she'd lived besides those she'd sent to the grave as both a loyal Konoha nin and a nuke-nin.
"I think we've got the rest of them. Is there anything else you'd like to take?" Hideki asked. Glancing around, Kakashi found a small closet. Opening it, he saw a cloak with red clouds and a necklace. Slipping the necklace into his pocket, he sighed.
"Let's go before we end up being in the middle of an explosion," Kakashi said. Nodding, Hideki led the way out of the base. When they'd reached the sunlight, Hideki handed the children back to Kakashi and quickly found Itachi, who didn't look hurt at all. A bit of dirt smudged his face.
"What of the nuke-nin?" Kakashi asked.
"Dead. Where is the child?"
"Children," Kakashi corrected. Itachi turned to look at Kakashi and his eyes widened.
"Let's get back. I'm sure these children are hungry," Itachi gave a small smile.
Three Konoha nin came racing into the village. One stopped to greet the gatekeepers while the other two raced to the hospital.
The children were admitted into the infant ward and Kakashi and Itachi went to the Hokage's office. As they walked, a slight breeze washed over them, swaying their hair and lifting a few leaves into the wind. Kakashi looked at the setting sun and for once, he felt like he was finally walking a path that would lead to something not filled with regrets. Closing his visible eye, Kakashi sighed. Is this what being fulfilled feels like? If it is, Akane, I won't fail you. Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to them.
"…mission was a success," Itachi said. Kakashi opened his eye to see Minato with a slight smile.
"Anything else?" Minato asked.
"Yes. It was twins," Itachi said. "We don't know the girl's name, so I suppose Akane had left it up to Kakashi-senpai to decide."
"Yeah. You can go, Itachi. Sasuke has been released from the hospital. I'm sure he's waiting for you," Minato said. As the door closed, Kakashi took another glance at his sensei. Minato still kept those kind eyes on his face.
"I didn't dismiss you because to finalize their paperwork, I need a name. What is the girl's name?" Minato asked. Kakashi paused.
"I'd been thinking about that. I had sealed all of Akane's papers and scrolls and I'd read them over. She had outlined a few names but I suppose in her last breath she couldn't tell Sasuke what the child's name would be. I suppose it could be…" Kakashi looked at the ceiling. "Emiko."
"Smiling child?" Minato asked, slightly shocked.
"I can only imagine the smile she had when she saw them for the first time. I want her daughter to embody the smile I'd missed. I'd only seen Akane smile a few times, but when she did, it was like the atmosphere somehow lightened," Kakashi explained. "I'm going to see if I can bring them home."
"Wait," Minato said sharply. Kakashi turned around.
"You don't know anything about raising children. That's why…" Minato paused. "Come in."
A woman with bright red hair gave a cheery smile and dragged Kakashi out of the room.
"Keisuke!"
Kakashi grabbed the six year old and gave a scathing look.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To wherever mom is!" the boy yelled back, keeping back tears. Emiko narrowed her eyes and sighed.
"Keisuke-nii, mom is dead. I don't know why you insist on thinking we have one. She died giving birth to us, remember?" Emiko asked.
"Shut up! Everyone at the Academy has one! Why is so bad to look for mine? I know I've got one!" Keisuke wiggled out of Kakashi's grasp to get into Emiko's face.
"She's dead! There's no point in looking for her if she's dead! All you'll find is a grave!" Emiko yelled, tears forming in her eyes. Kakashi, for once despite Kushina's help, didn't know how to deal with this. I'll stop them before they kill each other…
"You want to find her and any denial I get is a lie!" Keisuke yelled. Emiko flinched and looked away.
"Dad, where is mom?" Emiko asked quietly, her voice breaking.
"Your mother, huh?" Kakashi looked up at the ceiling. "Let's take a walk. I've got some things to tell you two. I suppose you're old enough."
Confused, the two children followed their father to a Training Ground, one that hadn't been restored, specially on Hokage's orders.
"Why are we so far?" Emiko asked. Kakashi shook his head and sat down as the children followed suit.
"Tell me, who do you think your mother is?" Kakashi asked.
"Some normal lady," Keisuke answered on impulse.
"That isn't entirely the case. Your mother was Uchiha Akane," Kakashi said, trying not to choke on her name, having not passed through his lips for six years.
"W-what? The nuke-nin?" Emiko asked. "I don't understand…"
"Until she was 21, she was a loyal Konoha nin. Then, she murdered her entire clan. After that, she left the village, leaving only three Uchiha alive, two being her brothers. Three years later, she died. I've kept you unfairly from the truth. I'm sorry," Kakashi said.
"So…she didn't die giving birth to us?" Keisuke asked. Kakashi shook his head. "And…tell us what she was like."
"Actually, I think I'd only be able to tell you a small part of her personality. He would probably be a better person to ask," Kakashi gestured to a person behind them.
"So these are her children?" a small smile curved around the words. Kakashi nodded.
"Who are you?" Keisuke asked.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. Nee-chan's younger brother," Sasuke smiled and began to tell them about their late mother.
"Ah, there you are," Itachi said. "Oh, these must be Keisuke and Emiko," Itachi glanced at Kakashi, who nodded.
"Are you Uchiha Itachi?" Emiko asked.
"You're just as sharp as she was," Itachi smiled.
Emiko smiled.
"And have just a precious smile as she did," Itachi said.
"Did you want to take them into the Uchiha Compound?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah. With this information, I think it would be best for them to be trained with their clan jutsu. It'll get them closer to their mother, I suppose," Itachi sighed. Kakashi eye-smiled.
So then it was that Hatake Keisuke and Hatake Emiko grew into powerful shinobi, living in their mother's shadow, unbeknownst to anyone else, even when they did unlock their Sharingan. Keisuke had his father's unmistakable silver hair while Emiko had her mother's silky black hair.
Hatake Kakashi finally felt like he'd done the right things in his life. Looking back, he was glad he'd met Akane. If he hadn't, he might've been an empty shell with no one left to care for. If I were to die now, I'd have no regrets. Well, I'd have one regret. That would be that I wasn't there to see Akane's last moments and to tell her that everything would be alright.
He was finally feeling like everything was going to turn out okay. My heart…is warm. Thank you, Akane, for saving me.
A/N Last chapter! Sudden, huh? I don't know if I should continue in a sequel… So anyway, I'm glad I got to nearly a hundred reviews! Thank you all for the support!
Review Replies~
Karkatsbabe – Yeah. If you watch the last bit of the Sasuke and Itachi vs Kabuto battle where Itachi's spirit is going away, he looks like Fugaku. Just watch the last part and you'll see. I don't know if it's just me or not…
speedslasher – Heh, no. This is the last chapter and if I even do a sequel, I probably won't be focusing on Naruto.
KoreanKid – Oh well. Not really Naruto-centric. Thanks for the consistently kind reviews!
Reign Of Sorrow – Yep! I can't tell if you liked this twist or not though…
darkhuntressxir – Yes. I'm not going to go into detail about when Akane and Kakashi…well…yeah.
So…sequel?