A/N: For those of you wondering why Itachi leaves his kids in such a place, there are a few reasons:
1. It's isolated, so no one can get at his kids. That's the most important thing to him.
2. He doesn't spend time there, doesn't actually know his kids at all. When he does visit, it is a brief thing. He checks to see that all his kids are alive and well and that's about it.
3. He never thought about his home life, nor does he compare it to his kids' lives because he doesn't really think about his kids. Akatsuki lives in a cave. To him, where his kids are is fine.
Hope that answer's people's questions. Don't worry, someone we all know and like will be getting in his ass in a few chapters. I can't wait.
As always thank you for the great reviews! They make my day and keep me updating so quickly. Love y'all!
Chapter 43
I am a man. I am Uchiha Sasuke, 17, and I am a man. I'm 6'1", a respectable Chuunin, an excellent ninja. I am a man.
Sasuke told himself this every morning. He repeated the litany throughout the day whenever his pregnancy seemed to be driving him insane.
Words could not begin to express how difficult, how repulsive, how utterly and completely unwelcome his pregnancy and physical state was. He always avoided looking at his stomach. He acted like a man in every way possible. He said his little mantra many times a day. This morning was no different.
Sasuke leaned his hands heavily on the cracked porcelain of the small sink in his bathroom. He hung his head, trying to swallow the powerful urge to vomit. Losing the fight, he swung toward the toilet and emptied his stomach. His knees weakened as he heaved and heaved without relief. He knelt by the toilet, holding onto the seat as the spasms continued. The stuff came out of his nose, his eyes ran, and his throat and ribs ached…and still he threw up.
When the episode was over, he leaned his head on the seat, feeling the cold sweat that coated his brow. He rested a hand on his swollen stomach, wincing as the baby kicked strongly. Supposedly he was only four months but his stomach more accurately resembled the illustrations for seven months.
He and Naruto concluded that the pregnancy was definitely not normal.
As frightening as the rapid growth of the baby was, that was the least of the strangeness. Sasuke could sense it, sense its consciousness. He became aware shortly after they arrived in this charming little place Naruto called Camp Uchiha. He could only sense primitive emotions and feelings from it: hunger, fatigue, things like that, but the really interesting thing was how the baby reacted to the people around Sasuke.
Whenever Naruto was around, he sensed a mixture of love, contentment and something Sasuke identified as a weird, giddy excitement from the baby. Naruto knew all this, since Sasuke told him everything. Naruto spent each evening talking to the baby, telling it about the world, different things he'd done that day or just bizarre, random shit that often had Sasuke laughing hysterically. Sasuke would feel the baby respond and tell Naruto.
The baby also identified with each of his cousins. When Shouta was around, the baby seemed quiet and pleased. Juro and Yukio elicited somewhat the same reaction. They would take turns talking non-stop to Sasuke's stomach about a variety of things that Sasuke found intriguing. He sensed the baby listening and soaking up the information. With Masaru, Sasuke felt the baby commiserating in its small way with whatever pain kept the redhead boy so silent. The Three Harpies (Naruto's name for them; the girls seemed to like it. They called themselves Harpy One, Harpy Two and Harpy Three now) were the worst. They always got the baby excited and had it kicking and rolling in Sasuke until he wanted to rip the thing from his body. The only thing that brought him peace after they left was if he sang to it or if Hiroko came and spoke in her cheerful voice. Sumiko seemed to make the baby happy as did Hiroto. Their calm natures soothed it. Then there was Kaito.
Sasuke got a sharp sense of dislike and agitation from the baby whenever the kid was around. Kaito never spoke to Sasuke's stomach. He was always smiling and polite to Sasuke's face, but Sasuke knew the truth of him. He never believed a word the kid said. And the feeling that cramped his belly each time the boy was near said clearly: danger.
Naruto seemed to have forgiven him, though. Sasuke told Naruto to watch out for the bastard, but Naruto had quite a lot on his plate to be going on with.
He didn't actually rebuild the entire settlement. What he did was more like restructure it. He took apart two of the houses and used the materials to fix up the main house and the smaller one he'd chosen for him and Sasuke to live in. He got each of the kids involved in the strenuous work. Naruto told Sasuke that kids as wild as these were capable of working like demons and he was right. The big blond thought nothing of working the kids like slaves from sunup to sundown. He himself worked just as hard. The kids were dead tired at the end of the day and crawled to their beds in gratitude. Not even Kaito had energy for his usual fuckery. He didn't dare go against Naruto either, not since the one time he'd decided not to work. Naruto had made five clones and instructed them to take him down the side of the mountain. What the clones did to him, Sasuke never found out, but Kaito had not given Naruto any trouble since then.
The kids were busy with Naruto all day, and slept like rocks all night. The guardians suddenly had much less hassle on their plates and they all pretty much fell in love with Naruto. They ran to do his bidding. Sasuke would cook for them while they all worked or sit and watch the progress, putting his swollen feet up.
Once the houses were done, they looked almost new. The kids wanted to celebrate, saying they were done at last. Naruto had a rude awakening for them. He said they were going to re-route part of the mountain spring so it came to Camp Uchiha instead of them having to walk over a mile of dangerous mountain terrain for it. The new water supply was necessary. They needed unlimited water access, not the stingy rations they had to make do with each day. Naruto went to Juro and Yukio, the four-year-old engineering prodigies, and told them what he wanted: a modified irrigation system that led the water to the base of their plateau, where they would be building a kind of stone basin to collect it in. They two boys nodded thoughtfully and went off, their heads together. Sasuke had asked what Naruto thought two four–year-olds could do. Naruto told him to have faith in his family. Whatever they came up with would be better than what they currently had.
The two boys had delivered outstandingly. They showed Naruto their plans for the new waterway, as they called it, and Naruto got right to work with over a hundred clones. The kids all pitched in. The new water supply had been completed in three days.
"Now we can finally rest," Kaito had groaned as he sat down heavily.
"There's no such thing as rest when you live out here," Naruto told him sternly. "What kind of ninja are you?"
Kaito had looked at him in shock, then looked around the barely recognizable settlement. "There's nothing left to do!"
"There's training," Naruto said smugly.
And train them he did. He did a modified version of what he'd done with the exiles, helping the kids discover their strengths and weaknesses. He kept them at it the entire day, everyday. It seemed Masaru was a wind type like Naruto. The boy trailed after him like a second shadow. Naruto told the kids, in front of Kaito, that they were not obligated to put up with Kaito's bullying, but it was good practice for living in a dangerous situation. Such conditions were standard for every ninja. Kaito looked at his sibling's faces worriedly. They were looking at him without fear.
"So, from now on, I expect you all to act like the ninjas you are and fight back. No ninja worthy of the title would let another own them the way you've let Kaito own you. Matter of fact, lets have us a little contest," Naruto said cheerfully. "Everyone here, against Kaito. One at a time of course, unless you want to fight with one of your siblings. I don't encourage it, though. One on one is fair. Let's begin!"
Sasuke had sat and watched with the guardians and Shouta as each kid stepped up to Kaito and fought hard. Kaito fought back very well, but his confidence, his power over them, had been badly shaken. Naruto was slowly ruining his little empire. He became wilder and wilder as, one after another, his brothers and sisters beat him. They used the basic techniques and new strength Naruto had helped them discover. Sasuke was pleased and amazed to see that Kaito wasn't the only one with Sharingan. Hiroto and Sumiko both had it, as well as Kenta. Kenta had been a real surprise. The boy was very quiet, hardly ever talking, but he was clearly a tactician. He was strong, too, delivering a palm thrust to Kaito's chest that had the boy staggering several feet. Kenji had cheered hysterically.
Masaru had been the only defeat. Kaito took out his anger and frustration at losing to the others on him and beaten the boy soundly…but not before Masaru had managed a small, weak tornado from his hand that had blinded Kaito long enough for Masaru to place a certain insect in Kaito's collar. The bite had caused the boy's entire shoulder and half his arm to swell up and turn purple within the hour. By that time the Three Harpies, opting to fight together, had beat the living fuck out of Kaito. Sasuke had never seen such wild, screaming fury as those three girls exhibited. They had coordinated attacks and absolutely ruthless, merciless determination. Kaito gave up and collapsed. One of the guardians had tended his arm and administered an antidote to the insect bite.
Naruto had celebrated with them, telling them all how great they'd done, especially little Masaru. The redhead had a huge grin on his face beneath his spectacular black eye. His confidence had been carefully built and strengthened by Naruto. Sasuke watched as he rode Naruto's shoulders now while everyone cheered for him. Sasuke felt tears come to his eyes, watching his blond demon.
Naruto was great with the kids. He understood them. He had serious discussions with Sumiko, got down and dirty with Kenta and Kenji, read stories and made daisy chains with Hiroto and Hiroko. He had wild, loud, brawling play sessions with the Harpies. He helped them play pranks on the guardians or the other kids or just sang and skipped and generally hollered his lungs out with the rambunctious five-year-olds. He could sit quietly for hours listening to Masaru talk about bugs. And Shouta. Sasuke would see Naruto cuddling Shouta, telling him some unbelievable story that happened during their exile or from when his mom had been alive and he would feel his throat close up. Sasuke seemed to be really emotional these days.
Naruto dealt with Kaito as he would another man. He didn't tolerate bullshit from him and he pushed the boy hard. He made him work, take responsibility. Sasuke could see that Kaito hated Naruto with a passion, especially since his defeat at the hands of his siblings last month, but Naruto insisted it was normal boy stuff. True, Kaito was no longer able to pick on his siblings, since they fought back now, but Sasuke couldn't shake the idea that the kid was planning something. Naruto told him he was worrying needlessly.
They had a routine. They woke up a little before sunrise. Naruto would spend a few wonderful moments cuddling Sasuke in bed. Sometimes he entered him and just remained there, inside Sasuke's body, letting his cock pulse softly in his warm flesh. Sometimes he thrust slowly, languidly, trying not to hurt the baby or Sasuke. Generally, though, Sasuke was hardly ever in the mood for sex. Naruto would rest his big hand on Sasuke's stomach and feel the baby moving. Sasuke would feel the love from Naruto against his back, the love from the baby inside him and feel whole.
Then Naruto would kiss his shoulder, tell him he loved him and go, just as the sun was rising, to begin his daily training with the kids. He would train them until midday, ranging all over the mountainside and out behind God's back. Sasuke had no idea where they went but when Naruto brought them back, Shouta riding his shoulders, they looked ready to pass out. The guardians frequently went with them. At midday when they came back, Sasuke would have a huge meal waiting for them. The kids ate hungrily, as did Naruto. Shouta would then go into the house with Sasuke and they would take a nap together. Shouta snuggled against Sasuke's belly, something he didn't like, but didn't have the heart to tell the boy to stop doing. He didn't even like the boy in his bed, but Naruto said he needed the contact. Sasuke allowed it. Juro and Yukio would also go into the house with Sasuke. While Sasuke and Shouta napped, the two four-year-olds would be working on the project Naruto had set them: A bed for the baby. They worked diligently.
The rest of the kids went back out to train with Naruto for the rest of the afternoon. One of the guardians stayed behind to cook dinner for them each night when they came back at sundown. They would all eat, and then Naruto would let them spend an hour or two sitting in the living room of the main house, talking to Sasuke's stomach, or sharing with Sasuke all they'd done that day. Sasuke, not a person who liked kids, nonetheless loved these small eager children. They were his new family, blood. Something he never thought he'd have again after the massacre. They sat there, bonding each evening as the kids got to know their strange aunt/uncle. The exception was Kaito. Sasuke couldn't stand the fuck and Kaito clearly couldn't stand him. Afterwards, the kids all trooped exhaustedly to bed to get what sleep they could for the next day. Not a single one complained. They all loved Naruto more than life. Except Kaito
Then came Sasuke's favorite part of the day. Once the kids all went off to bed, he and Naruto would make their way across the small square to their own little house and have uninterrupted time together. These were the times Naruto spoke to the baby or to Sasuke. They would look at the pregnancy book and try and imagine why the baby was growing so fast. They speculated on what would happen when the baby was born, who would deliver it. The guardians knew nothing about birthing babies. The few pages in the book describing the event seemed woefully inadequate. Tonight Naruto voiced a new fear.
"It'll probably be soon, Sasuke. The way that baby is growing, I don't think it'll take nine months before it's ready to come out."
Sasuke nodded. He'd come to the same conclusion. "I wish Itachi was here. Maybe he could go get a doctor for me or…"
"No. Any doctor would probably feel the same way as those others and try to kill it."
"So I'm supposed to deliver this thing by myself? Are you crazy?!"
"No, not by yourself, just not with a doctor. Sasuke…the book said sometimes people die in childbirth…"
"Fuck that. I'm not dying as a woman."
"We need someone, though…"
Sasuke had no suggestion. "I can't believe Itachi left us here all this time. He said a few days and it's been 3 months. I really hate him, you know that?"
"I'm here," Naruto offered with a puppy dog look. He poked out his lower lip and blinked his eyes soulfully at Sasuke. Sasuke giggled. Naruto tackled him on the bed, rolling with him, careful of his big stomach.
"Do you know what it is?" Naruto asked suddenly.
"Mmm…I kind of get the impression it's a boy. Hey, you know what? I forgot to tell you, but the other night I woke up and found your Kyuubi chakra all over us both. It didn't even hurt. What was that about?"
Naruto settled next to Sasuke and looked at him. "I don't know. But one time Itachi woke me up and the same thing was happening. I've woken up a few times in the night since then and seen it, too. I think…I think Kyuubi is doing something to the baby, making it stronger or something. That's the impression I get from him anyways. He's really pleased with the baby."
"He is?" Sasuke asked in awe. "Do you think it'll be something like the Kyuubi? Oh, God…" Sasuke turned his head away from Naruto, looking at the wall as he envisioned a clawed fox ripping its way out of his body.
"Hey," Naruto said softly, turning Sasuke's face back to him. "I don't think it'll be like Kyuubi. You're forgetting Kyuubi is just chakra inside me. This is our kid and we're people. It'll be okay, Sasuke."
"What if it isn't," Sasuke whispered as he sat up. "What if it's some…thing…that we have to kill? I don't know if I can do it."
"Me either. But I'm not going to think about that unless I have to."
Sasuke looked at Naruto's encouraging face and tried to take heart from it. Naruto's hair had gotten long again. Naruto leaned in and kissed him on his lips softly. "I have an idea," the blond said.
"What," Sasuke asked.
"Your mom. She can come and be with you when you deliver. I could send one of the guardians to go get her-"
Sasuke threw his arms around Naruto's neck, squealing and biting Naruto's face in happiness. "That's a great idea! Yeah, send one of them for her. Oh, Naruto, that is the best idea I've heard from you, like, ever. Mom will make everything all better. She always does. Oh, my God, I feel all this tension leaving me! Why didn't you think of that sooner?"
Naruto grinned as he rubbed his cheek. Sasuke's teeth were still very sharp. "I don't know…just sort of came to me. So I'll tell one of the men to leave in the morning?"
"Yeah. How long do you think it'll take for him to get back with her?"
"Don't know. Weeks."
"Damn. Maybe it won't take that long," he said. Sasuke reached for a glass of water on the table beside his bed. It slipped from his excited hand and shattered on the floor. Sasuke cursed and threw his legs over the bedside to bend and pick up the pieces. Naruto came around the bed to help.
"Gyaah!" Sasuke hopped awkwardly on one foot as he sat back on the bed. A piece of glass the size of his thumb protruded from his heel. Naruto held Sasuke's foot as he gently pulled the glass out. He was just setting it aside when they both saw black chakra envelope Sasuke's foot.
"What…the…hell…" Naruto's eyes widened as the deep, heavily bleeding cut closed up. He rubbed his thumb across the blood that remained, but the cut was gone. His eyes shot to Sasuke's face.
Sasuke had watched in shock. He'd felt the chakra surge in the baby as it became aware of Sasuke's injury, then his foot had been swimming with it. He'd felt no pain at all once the chakra had coated his foot. His eyes met Naruto's.
"How long has that been going on," Naruto asked shakily. "And since when is your chakra black?!"
"That wasn't mine, it was the baby's…and I've never seen that happen."
"The baby has black chakra?" Naruto sat next to Sasuke on the bed, staring at him. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know…I guess," Sasuke said thoughtfully, "that if you mixed the purple chakra of the cursed seal and the Kyuubi chakra…threw in mine and yours…you'd come up with black, but…whoever heard of chakra mixing like that?"
"Whoever heard of two guys having a baby? Have you been injured before and the baby healed you?"
"No…I don't think so. Gimme your kunai, I want to see something."
Naruto handed over a kunai and watched as Sasuke made a small incision in his thumb. A wisp of black chakra leaked from the wound as his cut closed instantly. Sasuke looked at Naruto as the blond looked at him.
Sasuke flipped the kunai in his hand and stabbed himself in the leg as hard and deep as he could. Naruto yelled and snatched the weapon from him. Sasuke had felt a tiny prick of pain before the black chakra flooded out of the wound and healed it shut. He and Naruto both stared in amazement.
"Damn…" Naruto managed at last. "That is some incredible healing power the kid has. Do you think he can do it for himself?"
Sasuke had been concentrating on feeling the baby's reactions to what he'd done. He spoke now, not sure how he knew he was right, but convinced that he was. "I think the baby was doing it for himself. He considers me part of him. We're connected. I can't mold chakra at all anymore, he's completely taken over my chakra circulatory system, you know that. Any injury to me, he considers an injury to himself. In a way, he's right. Without my life, my support, he'd die."
Naruto rested his hand on Sasuke's round belly. "If this is what he can do at four months, inside of you, what's he going to be like when he's born?"
"I don't know. You worried?"
"A little."
"You shouldn't be, you know. You're going to be the best daddy in the world. I can tell."
"Actually, I think that title will go to you. Or did you think you'd be his mommy?"
"I can stab you with that kunai, too, you know."
Naruto grinned, then sobered. "Think the baby will like me?"
"He already loves you, you idiot."
Naruto smiled. Maybe Sasuke could feel everything from the baby, but Naruto couldn't. He would never say it out loud, but he was sometimes jealous of the connection Sasuke and the baby had. He jumped Sasuke now, smothering him with his body while Sasuke screamed in mock anger. They fell asleep shortly afterward, Naruto's arm curled around the gently moving stomach.
Naruto was as good as his word. He sent out Jun to go and fetch Mikoto from Konoha to Camp Uchiha the next day. When asked by Sasuke how long he thought the trip would take, the aged ninja estimated four weeks if he traveled like a demon. Sasuke urged him to travel like a demon, by all means.
The man left soon afterward, the kids all waving goodbye, except Kaito. Naruto took them on their daily training after that and Sasuke went into the house.
Sasuke sat in a chair tiredly. His back ached from carrying the heavy kid inside him. He reached for the pregnancy book and flipped to the back. He looked, as he looked everyday, at the illustrations for the birthing process. Labor sounded like it was going to be a real bitch. That wasn't the worst, though. The worst was looking at how the baby squeezed through the birth canal.
He pressed his legs together reflexively, imagining how much it was going to hurt. He really, really, really didn't want to have this baby. But he couldn't stand being pregnant, either. Just that morning he'd noticed some whitish-clear junk leaking from his breasts. Naruto had told him, once Sasuke had run to him and shown him, that his breasts were preparing to make milk for the baby. Naruto had had the gall to then ask if Sasuke would nurse the baby. Sasuke had punched him in the eye.
As if having the shitting things grow bigger wasn't bad enough, now he had them leaking. Would the indignities he suffered while carrying this thing never cease??? Sasuke looked down at his body in revulsion. He threw the book against the wall as he suddenly felt like throwing up. Again.
He barely made it to the bathroom. Once there, he vomited noisily, peeing himself in the process. When it was over, Sasuke was too weak to do anything but sit in his own cooling piss and cry bitter tears of disgust and misery.
The next four weeks were horrible. Sasuke's legs were too swollen for him to move around much. His back ached, he got leg cramps, he threw up, he had heartburn and the baby just grew and grew. He was five months and counting.
One evening, instead of Naruto coming into their house alone after the kids had spent an hour with him, Naruto walked in the door with someone next to him.
Uchiha Mikoto had arrived at last. She stopped on the threshold, Naruto towering behind her as she looked at her son sitting in the small living room. Sasuke looked at her and struggled up from the chair. He tried to run, but his legs couldn't manage it. Mikoto saw this, dropped her cloak and ran to her son with her arms outstretched.
Naruto watched Mikoto sobbing in her son's hair as Sasuke sank to the floor. She rocked him as he held her tightly. Sasuke's face was red but he didn't cry. He only buried his face in his mom's capable shoulder and inhaled the long-missed scent of her. Naruto closed the house door and went quietly to the spare room with Mikoto's bag to make sure it was ready for their house guest. He let Sasuke and his mom have their moment.
The kids had already gone up to bed and Naruto was just preparing to go to his own house when Jun had walked into the settlement with Mikoto in tow. They both looked like they'd traveled hard, but the first thing she'd said to Naruto was, "I'll kill you later for doing this to Sasuke. Take me to my son."
Naruto had hastened to obey and now she was out in the living room with him. Naruto could hear them talking softly as he put her things away. He didn't know what she meant about killing him, it wasn't like he and Sasuke had made the baby on purpose.
He found out what she meant the next morning.
Naruto was rudely awakened by a wooden stick crashing down onto his head. He woke up with a shout, trying to shield Sasuke. He needn't have bothered. The stick only came down on him. It fell again and again as Mikoto drilled him about how irresponsible he'd been.
She kept at him for almost an hour, yelling about how there was such a thing as safe sex and didn't he think having sex with a woman would result in a baby? What kind of idiot was he to think unprotected sex with a woman for days would have no consequences? She ranted about how Sasuke was suffering, how he would never be the same again, how fatherhood was a big responsibility that entailed sacrifices Naruto couldn't begin to imagine. She went on and on in this vein, declaring him and Sasuke too young and too wild to be parents despite their epic love for each other.
Naruto lay curled on the floor taking the blows in silence. He had an arm over his head to protect it, but other than that he didn't try to stop her. Sasuke stood on the bed and watched. The kids had come into the house wondering why their morning training hadn't started yet and now stood clustered at the bedroom doorway. The watched in wide-eyed amazement as the crazy woman beat the hell out of Uncle Naruto.
When Mikoto was done at last she threw the sturdy stick against the wall and marched out of the room. The kids parted hastily for her, then followed her down the short hall to watch as she stood looking around the living room. Sasuke quickly checked to see if Naruto was okay. Naruto brushed his hands aside and stormed out of the room, through the living room, past Mikoto and out of the house. He slammed the door behind him.
Sasuke flinched at the sound. He had to side with Naruto on this one. His mom had no idea what Naruto had been through these last months with him: He held Sasuke's head when he threw up in the middle of the night, rubbed his aching back, stretched his cramped legs, fed him, encouraged him daily to not give up when Sasuke wanted to do just that. Naruto was already making sacrifices. And how he was with the kids!
Sasuke went out into the living room to tell his mom that Naruto was not some callous, insensitive party in all this. He found her staring at the kids and the kids staring back at her. Maybe he would talk to her about Naruto later. For now he introduced his mother to her grandchildren. Mikoto's eyes brightened as she held her arms out to them.
The kids had heard about Granny Mikoto from both Sasuke and Naruto. All of them except Kaito flew to her, talking over each other, telling her their names. She hugged and kissed all of them, loving them already. She looked up at Kaito questioningly, but the boy only stared at her with hooded eyes.
"If you guys expect to have training today you'd best bring your asses out here right the hell now!"
The kids jumped at hearing Naruto's bellowing voice. They all promised to see Granny Mikoto later and ran outside. Kaito stared at her a moment longer before he followed his younger siblings.
Sasuke went to his mom and urged her to sit on the couch with him. She did. She listened as Sasuke told how Naruto had prevented the doctors in the Sand village from killing the baby outright. She listened as he told her how much Naruto had done for him during the pregnancy, how understanding he'd been throughout the whole thing.
"And it wasn't all his fault. I'm sure I could have released the technique the same night and Naruto would have been happy. I'm the one who held it as long as I did and kept forcing him to have sex with me." Mikoto watched her son silently. "And mom," Sasuke continued, "Naruto was ready to back me up if I wanted an abortion. I made the decision to keep it. Please don't be mad at him. Maybe we're too young, but there's no better father this baby could have than Naruto. I don't know anyone in the world who's a better person than he is."
Mikoto listened. When she spoke, her voice was quiet as she fondled Sasuke's long ponytail. "I just never wanted any of my children to suffer. Parenthood is something that should be done as an adult, when you know yourself and your partner and are ready to share the rest of your lives together. Not between two teenage kids who don't even know where they'll be next year."
"I know, mom. But Naruto and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together. I might not know myself completely, but I know him. I know my feelings for him. And I know his feelings for me. We might have been irresponsible, but we're doing the best we can now. Say you'll forgive him?"
"Oh, Sasuke. I'll try." She hugged him as he sat frowning at her. Then she got up and began cooking for him.
Sasuke shouldn't have worried. The guardians were aware of Mikoto-san's displeasure with Naruto. They spent the morning telling her what state the settlement and the kids had been in when Itachi arrived with Sasuke and Naruto. She listened in stunned silence as they told how Naruto had single-handedly rebuilt the place so that it was fit for humans, how he'd taken the wild kids in hand. She didn't interrupt as they told how dangerous Kaito had been and how Naruto had terrorized the kid into leaving his siblings alone, how the other kids now fought back if Kaito tried to mess with them. Masaru was talking now more than he ever had and Shouta was proving to be just as smart as Yukio and Juro. Naruto had changed their lives, they told her.
Mikoto walked up to Naruto at midday when he came back with the kids and tried to put her hand out to him to let him know she wanted to talk. Naruto stopped but didn't face her. He stared at the main house as he waited for her to say whatever she had to say. He tapped his foot.
Naruto jerked when he felt soft hands grab his face and pull it down for a soft kiss on the cheek. Naruto looked at her, surprise all over him.
"I'm sorry. I stand by what I told you this morning about this being the result of irresponsibility, but I'm sorry for thinking you were unfeeling and uncaring. Sasuke's right; you're doing a wonderful job and you will make a wonderful father." She patted his cheek.
Naruto watched as she went into the main house to eat the midday meal with her grandchildren. Sasuke came up beside him and took his hand. He led them to their own small house for some much-needed alone time.
The next weeks were better in a lot of ways. Mikoto fell into the routine easily. She spent the morning hours while the kids were training taking care of Sasuke. She took over the cooking duties and made the kids new clothes with material she'd sent Shin to the next country over for. They kids' old clothes were tattered rags. She made some for Naruto and Sasuke as well. Then she tended the guards. Mikoto and Botan seemed to eye each other a lot.
One thing Mikoto was still angry about, though, was the state Itachi had left his kids in. That he'd brought his brother, his pregnant brother, here and thought he'd be safe was unbelievable. Sasuke was safe wherever Naruto was. Other than that she felt sure that if Sasuke had been left here on his own with the kids as they'd been before Naruto had gotten to them, her son would be dead. She'd caught that little bastard Kaito trying to sneak some poisonous berries into Sasuke's food last week.
Mikoto had watched the boy. She'd heard what both Naruto and Sasuke had to say about the him, but decided to make up her own mind. What she saw was worse than even what Sasuke assumed.
There was no human feeling in the boy. Nothing good, anyway. All the ugliness of human nature resided in the boy, making him a dangerous individual. Mikoto heard the boy's history and felt sure that the root cause of his issues was Itachi. Itachi had likely heaped on the boy's head from a young age how he was the first new Uchiha blood in awhile, the dawn of a new generation. He'd set high expectations for the boy and then left him. Whenever Itachi came back to visit his kid, he usually brought a new sibling or two, diminishing Kaito's importance. He further damaged the boy by failing to praise him.
Naruto had dealt with the boy in the only way possible, considering the kid was a danger to his siblings, but that didn't mean Naruto's methods hadn't had their negative effect, too. Kaito felt he'd been ridiculed. Mikoto could almost see the hate intensifying in him, solidifying. She did not attempt to approach him, knowing he'd see it as weakness on her part. She didn't know if he could be saved from himself after nearly ten years of neglect, but she intended to try. For now she just observed him. He did not try to cross her or approach her. He was wary of her since seeing her hit Naruto and that suited her fine. She had her eye on him.
Rain clouds blew into the mountains one day when Mikoto had been with them for a month. Sasuke was six months pregnant and big as a house. Rain began sheeting down in freezing torrents soon after the kids had gone on their training session. The sky darkened so that it appeared to be night. Mikoto had given Sasuke breakfast, then left him to take his nap. Sasuke knew his mother thought no one knew, but he was well aware that she had gone to Botan as soon as his head touched the pillow. The grizzled ninja and his mom were having a steamy love affair.
Sasuke lay with a pillow between his thighs. Somehow it helped him get comfortable. He was dozing soundly when running feet woke him up some time later. Sasuke grunted as small wet hands shook him roughly, frantically.
"Hnnn." Sasuke tried to brush the hands away. He wanted sleep.
"Uncle Sasuke, get up, please! Uncle Naruto needs you!"
Sasuke came fully awake at the mention of Naruto's name. "Huh?"
Kaito stared at him with wide, scared eyes. His hair was soaked, dripping on Sasuke's arm, chilling him. "Uncle Naruto and the kids are stuck in this gorge, they need you to help!"
Sasuke's mind kicked into overdrive. "What are you talking about," he said harshly. He tried to sit up quickly and Kaito actually helped him. The boy pulled on his arms, getting him to his feet.
"What are you doing here? How come you were able to-"
"Uncle Naruto sent me to get help. A bolt of lightening struck the mountain…they're trapped! Hurry up!"
Sasuke was moving as fast as he could, shoving his feet into his sandals and throwing his cloak over himself. The thing didn't close over his huge stomach. He was starting to think clearly. "Why would Naruto send you to get me when I can barely move? If you're lying-"
"He didn't send me to get you specifically, he just sent me to get help. You're the only one here, so-"
"Where is everybody else," Sasuke asked as he stepped out into the driving rain. He had to shout. His tunic was plastered to his stomach in seconds. He was freezing. He felt the baby stir fitfully, giving off the same danger signals it always did whenever Kaito was around.
"They're already down there trying to help Uncle Naruto and the kids," Kaito shouted back.
Sasuke hesitated, looking at the main house. Wouldn't his mom have stopped by to tell him what was going on before she left? He started to go to the main house, but Kaito pulled on his arm.
"Hurry up! I think Shouta has a broken leg, we need to go help them!"
A huge crash of thunder vibrated through them and Sasuke let himself be pulled after Kaito. He couldn't move very well and his legs and feet were already starting to hurt. He slipped and slid in the mud, Kaito holding one hand, his other wrapped around the belly that unbalanced him so severely. Sasuke could barely see where he was going. He didn't know how he was expected to help Naruto and the others, but he was too worried about them to slow down.
Kaito led him down the narrow path that led off the mountain. Sasuke had been over it a few times, but not since he'd gotten so big. He followed Kaito slowly, gingerly, feeling his way carefully. The torrential rain made the footing treacherous, the handholds slippery. Visibility was scarcely two feet.
When Kaito veered off the path, Sasuke followed, not knowing where on the mountain they were or how far they'd come. He was shivering in the ice cold rain. His hands were numb, making holding onto the mountain even more difficult. He tried to shout at Kaito and ask him how much farther, but the boy seemed not to hear him. Lightning struck a mountain peak farther way and Sasuke watched the side of the mountain crumble, transfixed. He shook himself and hurried to catch up to Kaito's disappearing figure.
Kaito stopped on a narrow ledge around the side of their mountain. Sasuke had never been there before. He could see open space beyond it. He edged closer to Kaito, not liking the height or the way the howling wind blew him.
"Where are they?!" Sasuke shouted over the storm.
Kaito pointed down the side of the ledge. Sasuke eased away from the solid mountain behind him and peered over the side. There was nothing but a sheer drop of a couple thousand feet. A flash of lightning revealed jagged rocks at the bottom. Sasuke didn't see anyone. He was turning to ask Kaito to show him again when the baby gave an unmistakable warning inside Sasuke. Sasuke heeded it without question, but it was too late. Kaito had shoved him as hard as he could and Sasuke was flying out over the ledge, the wind catching him and flinging him impossibly high into the air, away from the mountain. He caught a glimpse of Kaito running back the way they'd come as he felt himself falling sharply.
Sasuke screamed, screamed…the ground was coming up fast, way too fast.
He felt the baby's terror and wrapped his arms around his stomach, knowing they were both about to die. Sasuke closed his eyes.
!!!Bad! BadBadBad! Big Fox Daddy, help me!!!
Naruto heard these thoughts in his head as he and the kids took shelter beneath an overhanging rock that jutted from the mountainside. He was wondering where Kaito had run off to when what felt like a red hot kunai pierced his brain and Kyuubi howled inside him. His eyes glazed over as images shot through him: Falling, Sasuke falling, tumbling through the air. Rain, thunder, lightning all around him.
Naruto came to himself and barked at the kids to follow him double time. Naruto flew up the mountain, his gaggle of students doing their best to keep up.
Sasuke felt the baby's terror and then he felt the baby's chakra flooding out of them both. A black cloud enveloped Sasuke. He could sense the baby trying to force his chakra to do something with Sasuke's body. Sasuke caught on and pulled on the strong black chakra, activating his curse seal and spreading his wings a hundred feet before the impact. The wind buffeted him and tossed him around so that he couldn't get it under his wings properly. The wings helped break the fall, but Sasuke still hit the rocks with bone-shattering force. He felt his spine snap as he'd twisted to try and protect his stomach. His head slammed into a rock and Sasuke knew no more for awhile.
!!!Owwies!!! Hurting! Broken! Papa! Fix!!!
Sasuke did not feel the black chakra setting his bones and mending them. Bone fragments and splinters extracted themselves from damaged internal organs and muscle tissue as the baby fixed him. His cracked skull healed even as the pouring rain washed the dark blood away from the flesh.
Sasuke remained unconscious as the storm raged overhead and blood leaked from between his legs.
