Kiba growled low in the back of his throat glaring from Obito to Akari. He saw from the hesitation in her eyes that she was seriously against the offer she'd just been given. However, he also knew that it was impossible to choose one over the other. Obito was forcing her hand on this. Her body shivered as her hands clutched into fists at her sides. Giving birth to Dai had changed something inside the woman, he couldn't tell what exactly, but it had. She was rougher; more accustomed to the shifting and pull of everyday life. Obito smirked shrugging throwing a hand up in the air laughing.
"It's your choice you know. You can either have your lover or your son. Take some time to think on it if you ne…"
"You can't have Dai." She said so softly that Kiba thought he hadn't heard it.
"You don't want to think a little more on that?" Obito asked narrowing his eyes on her. "If you refuse to take Sasuke back everyone in that camp behind you will want retribution." He warned.
"Then I'll take my son and I'll leave. My decision is my son." She stated again raising her voice. Their eyes met and Kiba took the lapse to slip into the shadow of night and towards the camp.
"I hope you understand what you're doing girl." Akari took a deep breath.
"Go fuck yourself." She spat back with as much venom as she could muster.
Naruto was lividly flipping out by the fire up to an hour after Obito had left. Sakura sighed and touched his arm and he shifted staring at her with pain in his eyes. Behind her he caught sight of Akari. He wanted to rage at her. He wanted to scream and yell and cuss at the woman who'd just condemned Sasuke to being held captive by their old enemy. But…he couldn't. She was sitting with her back against a tree holding her head staring at the ground. She hadn't said a word since she and Kiba had explained what had happened. She had just sat there staring dead at the grass below her feet. The flamingo took the moment to wrap her arms around the blonde hugging him close. She glanced up at him seeing the way the tears were forming in the back of his eyes. He tried to hide them by shaking his head and sniffling but she reached up wiping them away with her gloved hands.
"We will bring him back…but first Naruto…we have to help take care of her and Dai." He pursed his lips putting his forehead against hers closing his eyes.
"That boy doesn't deserve this." He whispered. "I'll go talk to her."
"Yeah, don't try that." Shikamaru sighed walking over with his hands in his pockets. "I tried a little while ago and didn't even get her to look up. The best thing would be to get her home and to her son." He shrugged tiredly.
"I hate seeing her like that." Sakura whispered biting her lip. "We shouldn't leave her alone when we get back. One of us needs to stay each night." She decided taking Naruto's hand.
"No matter what she'll know we stand behind her." Shikamaru confirmed nodding his head.
Kakashi was surprised the next morning around dawn when Dai started making little noises from his crib. The man yawned stretching slowly before getting up and walking from the couch into the bedroom to see the baby. He leaned over the edge of the crib as the sun's gentle rays cast a soft glow over the boy's dark hair. His eyes weren't open but his hands were reaching up for someone he knew would come. Kakashi picked him up and snuggled the not so tiny boy against his chest. Tiny fingers wrapped around the hanging hair at the nape of his neck. He couldn't help but smile and think sadly of how this should have been what he'd been able to do with Akari. This child was one of the most precious things he had ever witnessed aside from the day he'd learned he had a daughter. Dai made a small sound against the older man's chest before he started to cry. Right, food; Kakashi thought. It had been so long since he'd worked with a baby that sometimes he forgot just how quickly their needs changed. He'd just gone from security to food in three seconds. He probably also needed changed. He sighed running a hand down his face as he walked back towards the kitchen to make a bottle.
"Kakashi sensei…" there was a knock to the front door and he vaguely, through his sleep slurred mind, that it was Naruto.
"Come in kid. Can't get the door. Hands are full." He spoke above the crying from Dai as he finished mixing the food for the boy.
"I had to get back here before the group because I wanted to give you a heads up." The blonde looked wary and exhausted which automatically snapped him into warning mode.
"What went wrong?" he asked blinking quickly letting Dai feed from the bottle.
"Obito caught us before we found him." Naruto sighed rubbing at his eyes which looked red with dark circles under them.
"And?" his teacher prompted.
"And he made her choose." Kakashi flet his blood turn to ice. He fought to make sure he didn't grip the baby tighter and instead held him closer for safety.
"Between what?" he ventured to ask.
"Sasuke or Dai…he's had Sasuke this whole time. Akari chose Dai…they're on their way back but I wanted to warn you. She hasn't spoken to anyone since she told us what happened…Sakura thinks it's a good idea for one of us, as well as you, to stay here every night with her." It was a good idea. However, he couldn't help the horror that was building up inside him. His daughter was probably broken. He couldn't honestly imagine what she felt like; being asked to choose between your fiancé or your son…
"How bad is she?" he rocked the baby in his arms tilting the bottle back so that he could get all the food he wanted.
"She's a wreck. Like I said, she won't talk. If I were you I would hand Dai over the second she walks in." the old man set the bottle on the counter when Dai was done.
"This will all be very delicate. We have to be very careful how we work with her from here on out."
"She's really going to need you at her back Kakashi-sensei." Naruto put his hand gently on the Dai's arm.
"I'm not going anywhere." He locked eyes with his student.
"And I promise I'll be here for this kiddo too." He would not let his best friend's son go without knowing how loved he would be in this village. No matter how long it took to get Sasuke back, until that time came, this baby would never go without having someone there for him. It wouldn't fill the void if Sasuke never made it back, Naruto had a hard time admitting that as a possibility, but he hoped it would allow the boy to still know love. He remembered when a person had told him that the Uchiha's had known how to love the most and that's why they hated so strongly because they wanted to protect what they loved…he felt that for the first time he was beginning to understand what they had meant.
