IMPORTANT A.N. The fic about Izumo and Kotetsu I was talking about turned out in TWO different fics I'm about to write (both have NO CONNECTION WITH THIS ONE!). One will show their way to becoming best friends (and more) and the other is an AU. My initial notes to both of them (well, part of the notes of course ;P) can be find in my Facebook account, like I promised ;) (Since I cannot seem to post a link here, go to my profile here, on FanFiction, to see link to my Facebook profile) - comment and enjoy :)))
Also, I hope you like this chapter the way I love your reviews ;P
Chapter Thirty Three - Rikka
"Well… It appears that this child was found by your husband, Iruka kun, in the ruins of a small village in the outskirts of the Fire country. The baby has no parents and no home to stay.", Tsunade said slowly and calmly, eyes not leaving Iruka's. "Seeing as the matter is delicate, I would never command you to take her home with you, but…"
"H-her?", Iruka asked with a shaky voice. Tsunade nodded slowly.
"It's a girl."
For a second, images of that little white dress he had seen in the baby shop, ran through Iruka's mind. A girl…
"D-do you mean we can… adopt her?", he asked. "It…it's all happening so fast…"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Let's see how things will go on. You might be a family, Iruka kun, but you are both men. Do you know how to take care of a baby?"
Another memory flashed through Iruka's head:
"I think I found the perfect room for the child!"
"It's in the eastern wing, Ru. Our bedroom is like in the other side of the house. How fast can you run when a baby cries and you're too dazed from sleep to make any hand seals?"
He caught Kakashi's eyes – confused, but full with want… begging.
"S-so… fast… but I can't… those eyes…"
"I'll learn.", Iruka quietly said.
Tsunade smiled, somehow pleased with this answer.
"I'll tell you what – take her home tonight. If you survive the night, she stays a few more days. If you survive the few days … I'll personally execute the documents."
"I-I… Ok, but… H-how old is she? What's her name? W-what do I feed her? Is she healthy or do I have to know …" ; "So fast! I don't know anything about children below 7 years old! A-and even then, it's only teaching them that I know!"
"Iruka…", Tsunade smiled, interrupting him. "She has no name or at least we don't know of one. She's a healthy 6 months old baby girl. You can feed her with apple and/or carrot puree."
"Right. Apples and carrots. Ok. Got it."
Iruka's rumble was interrupted by a very simple and in the same time – meaningful and overwhelming gesture – Kakashi put the baby in his arms.
Iruka gasped, surprised, grasping the baby tightly and in the same time gently. What was that thing with the head, hold the head, hold the head…! And then he actually looked at her.
"O-oh…"
She had dark, almost black eyes and just as dark hair, but her skin was pale. She looked small and fragile and… and… and she smiled.
Iruka felt the tears in his eyes, the mess in his head slowly clearing… The dress in that store, that teddy bear in Kakashi's old room, the rocking horse… his dreams, the kid with the bruised knees, the one, rushing in his embrace, the image of a small girl coming to kiss him to wake him up, the same girl he kissed on the little brow, sending her to school – they had a face now. A face with black eyes, surrounded by black hair… In one single perfect moment he wasn't just holding a baby, but…
"My baby…"
"…Fast….?"
He looked up in Kakashi's eyes and smiled, tears running down his cheeks; he saw wetness in Kakashi's visible eye too. Iruka hugged the child closer to himself and shrugged a little, voice small and fragile, when he uttered: "Our baby…"
With no other explanations, no preparations, no expectations… It was all clear in a heartbeat. Her heartbeat.
Iruka held the sleeping child in his arms, in their bed, softly humming. He lifted his gaze once again and smiled to Kakashi.
"She's asleep.", he said.
Kakashi only nodded, not trusting his voice; but now, at home with his love and without the mask, his face showed everything…
"You like what you see, don't you?", Iruka grinned, still slightly rocking the small child.
"You have no idea…", Kakashi choked out.
Iruka only smiled again, with understanding. Silence fell upon them once again.
"Thank you.", Kakashi suddenly said.
"Hm? What for?", Iruka asked, confused.
"You… didn't doubt me. You didn't ask how that child happened in my way back so conveniently, just after we argued over the subject. Thank you for not suspecting… for not asking… for… for accepting this all…"
Iruka only smiled again, sadness in his eyes now.
"You should have seen your face. You looked… so lost. It didn't even cross my mind you could have just picked her from an orphanage or something. I… saw you hadn't."
"… Do you want to see? What happened…"
"I don't need it. But if it will make you feel better, then yes – show me."
Kakashi reached out with shaking hands, placing them on Iruka's temples. The jutsu he had leant from his husband was now being done to Iruka himself.
(A.N. – music for the background - Trentemoller + Massive attack - Miss You (Teardrop Mix)
Kakashi was running back to Konoha. He was tired, both mentally and physically from his mission, and only wanted to come back and hug his Iruka… Nothing more, nothing more... Iruka could literally feel his loneliness, like a giant empty space within Kakashi, begging to be filled again, to be home again...
He sensed the smoke through Kakashi's nose, saw it through his eyes. It was a bit aside from their path…
"Taichou-!", one of the faceless ANBU members called.
"We're going to check that out!", Kakashi ordered.
Iruka gasped seeing the next scene. The green leaves of the forest were replaced by ashes and ruins of the former village. Smoke rose from the recently burned homes, the ash creaking under their shoes. Everything was either black or grey… dead… Everyone was dead, bodies were scattered – dead and burnt, blood everywhere… Iruka winced.
A wasteland. Once alive and now dead….
"Let's go, boys…", Kakashi's voice sounded hollow.
And then…
The tiniest cry. Kakashi froze and turned.
"Was that-?", an ANBU started, but Kakashi shushed them.
There it was again, a faint sound, small, but there… alive…
Kakashi started walking, then running, searching the baby…
He came to the ruins of a house. All that had remained of the once wooden house was a single small room, made from rocks – a closet, Iruka guessed. A woman's body, turned into charcoal was lying in front of the metal door… a mother, protecting her child…. Kakashi removed the body, as gentle as he could, and opened the door. And saw her. Alive….
Kakashi's hands were removed from Iruka's temples and they stared at each other again; Iruka's cheeks were stained with tears again.
"Oh, Kashi… I'm so sorry…", he said brokenly. Kakashi only shook his head.
"I've seen worse. .. She's alive. We have her now…"
Iruka nodded, forcing a smile again. "We have her."
Two days later…
Iruka burst into Tsunade's office, a baby sling wrapped around him, with a baby girl in a tiny white dress inside, drooling on his shirt (not that he noticed).
"I need a full list with suitable foods for Rikka, I can't feed my baby with apples and carrots only!", he demanded.
Tsunade blinked a few times, then smiled slowly.
"Rikka?", she asked softly, not missing the "my baby" part too. Iruka actually blushed a little.
"Yeah…Kakashi proposed it… he said it sounded kinda like Ruka… You know, "his Rikka and Ruka…"
"Ah…", Tsunade's grin grew wider. "I'll tell you what – drop by again tomorrow. I'll give you full instructions and you and Kakashi will sign the papers, ne?", she winked.
Iruka beamed. "Y-yeah…"
A.N. So? Tell me you're not disappointed! Still love me? Review and tell me!