TammyHybrid21: I have learned that romantic RP helps with learning about the development of relationships. Lol, credit goes to my IRL/RP BFF XD He is, but he's more confused about who his mom is, because Sasuke and Naruto never really kept any pictures (they made replicas of the Shodai's necklace instead). And he does have the same birthday! Lol. And I know, I'm sorry. I'm planning on rewriting/revising that part, unless I make things more feeliez to just add Owie Icing to the Hurt Cake. Timeline is confusing, but I'm just gonna stick with my theory that they were thirteen/twelve…makes things slightly easier for me in some aspect. Thanks for your review :3
Akirakun17: *gives you a bandaid* s'okay ;-; Thanks for your review :3
Guest: I like the story idea, too, lol. People just don't do their homework, I guess. I mean, the chance of a male hermaphordite becoming pregnant is one in a million, because the female parts are either active or inactive. Naruto, in the story, is half female half male; he has the hip bone of a female, a uterus and an opening. He has a cervical (mucus) plug and external os, along with a female urinary bladder. The female eggs in his uterus was always weak, so logically him being pregnant was…well, y'know. A small chance. And no. He won't. Not within the range of recently, at least. Am now done with my rant ^_^ Thanks for your review :3
Yukina T: Lol, thanks for your review :3
Recommended songs: Heaven's Lullaby by BigRicePiano (on YouTube) (or anything else piano-oriented).
Original word count: 3.1k~
Enjoy my _ :p
Chapter 1: Mommy & Daddy
The scroll still remained where it was: Rolled out and freshly painted on. Sasuke made it to seal Naruto's body away, as they had both agreed to seal one another's body away if either of them died. He honestly thought that it wouldn't happen, he made a vow to himself to keep Naruto alive and well after the dense perverted moron knocked some sense into his messed up Uchiha self.
He sighed when he heard Obito's soft and muffled cry. He was still on the bed, in the exact same spot…Sasuke spent an entire three hours just…crying, and then when he felt exhaustion creeping up on him—and when Obito seemed to have gotten fed up with being sandwiched in between Naruto's body and an angst-Sasuke—he sealed away Naruto's body as a way of preservation and burial.
He knew that Obito would be rather hungry by now. He did some research of his own whilst he had free time before the events of the tenth of February. So he wasn't all that clueless when it came to parenting and taking care of a newborn. But still. A child needed a mother at one point, whether they be male or female.
Another sigh later, and Sasuke was on his feet. He walked up to the side of the bed, scooping Obito up gently. He let the newborns chin rest on his shoulder. He glanced at the blanket; it was covered in goop. He cringed, his stomach lurching slightly as he turned around to get a newer baby blanket. He took it, draping it over Obito's back and walking out of the room into the kitchen.
The Uchiha created the bottle, heated it up and squirted some of the formula milk onto his hand. It was decently warm. He moved the chair so his back faced the window. He sat down, and started feeding the newborn.
But not even three minutes later, a knock on the door cut into the silent apartment. "It's open," Sasuke called quietly.
The door knob turned, and a woman with black hair in a sloppy braid stepped into the dining room, exiting the hallway. It was Hatake Katsu, the soon-to-be family doctor and paediatric teacher to the newly minted parent. Not to mention, Sakumo's younger half sister.
She wore the attire of a shinobi, subtracting the zori. She had shinobi pants, a shinobi jōnin shirt that all the chūnin and jōnin wore. The only difference was she didn't have the vest, and her headband was wrapped around her right wrist. She frowned, her dark eyes narrowing. "Where's the body at?"
Sasuke winced. "And hello to you to, Katsu."
She sighed, pulling herself up to a chair. She rubbed her gloved hands over her face. "Yes, hello. I'm sorry, Sasuke…" she muttered. "It's just harsh…the way he accepted the way he went out…"
A frown furrowed the Uchiha's brow, as did Obito's face scrunch up. A whine escaped his throat, and instantly Sasuke sat the child up to burp him. "You knew?" A grim nod was all he needed to instigate the activation of his "don't fuck with me" glare and Sharingan, making Katsu wince under the stare. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Hostility will scare the baby," Katsu murmured, her face looking ten years older than she already was. "And you can blame your idiot of a husband. He wanted to keep it a secret."
A moment later, just as the Hatake ninja predicted, Obito cried loudly as he sensed the hostility and uneasiness concerning his dead male mother. Sasuke sighed, cooing quietly and calming the child down. He wrapped Obito up in the blanket afterwords, holding the newborn in a comfortable position to let him sleep. He deactivated his Sharingan, looking back at Katsu—who had a fond expression. He frowned. "What?"
"I can tell," she said, "that you'll be a good father."
He paused, looking at the already-sleeping child in his arms. His expression saddened. "I don't think so…"
"And what makes you say that?" Katsu questioned.
"I'm a shinobi," Sasuke pointed out. "That should tell you more than enough."
"Any go-to people?"
"I…" His voice trailed off. There were many, indeed. But they were civilian, and he didn't really want civilians to raise his kid, not to discriminate or anything. He wanted a shinobi, or a veteran shinobi of some sort who was willing to raise a baby. Katsu was too busy, Sakumo had his own problems and…well, Minato and Kushina didn't have any problems. But they were strangers to him. However, they were Obito's grandparents; so why not? "I do, actually. But I've only met them once. They're related to Naruto in some way, I'm not sure…but they're very trustworthy."
"Any upcoming missions…?" she asked slowly, almost grimly.
A smile spread across the Uchiha's face, which creeped Katsu out, because according to Naruto, upon her many visits and bonding moments with him, he never smiled like he was as of then unless he had a big asset or plan up his sleeve—or anything devilish.
He replied with a simple, "Yes, lots," before indirectly chasing Katsu off with a glare and weird excuse by normal peoples standards.
Five months later…
Sasuke sighed.
The big day—the "Take Obito to Minato and Kushina" day.
Mission Do Something Productive.
He would come back eventually—he just had to do something first and foremost. It wasn't exactly the greatest decision for Obito, but in the long run, it would do something. The child was five months old, on the verge of six. The summer had been boiling hot as expected, and it annoyed both man and child to no end. Sasuke wasn't exactly used to the heat, and in the time of Naruto's pregnancy, he was mainly out on missions doing war-related stuff like the good little solider he was.
His eyes narrowed down at the piece of paper that held the note he was going to give to Minato and Kushina: "Ore wa makaseru nanji no yatsume"—"I trust you with the guy". He also gave Obito the necklace Naruto once wore—the Hokage's necklace. Or at least, a model of what it was. It had been destroyed by Kurama during Pain's attack, and for the sake of memories, they had made three copies of it, only it had their chakra in it, and not the Shodai's. Naruto had one, Sasuke has his and now Obito had his own.
So, yes, a small chunk of Naruto remained. Well, aside from the Kyūbi and Obito, of course.
He shifted the child in his arms, holding Obito with his arm wrapped around the five month olds stomach, and the five month old's back pressed against Sasuke's side. He grabbed the note, newly found determination rushing back into his veins. He sloppily folded the note, grabbing the baby bag for Obito—and a few other supplies, just stuffing them in said baby bag. He shifted the child in his arms again, having it so the boys face rested on the crane of his neck. He turned towards the window, carefully jumping out of the window in a blur.
The currently off-of-duty ANBU knew where to find his guardians. They both just so happened to be on the same long-term border patrol mission for six months, and they had arrived back a week ago.
Now Hiruzen was giving them a three month-long break. And then a small village leader gave him a long-term mission to keep Iwa and Kumo off their turf. It was predicted to last him five years, but he knew better. He had something else to do, and he wouldn't be back for a decade.
At least.
It made him frown sadly. He wouldn't be able to do very much about Team Minato's future. Well, unless he cut off a year to change things. But then he'd be gone again.
Troublesome, he thought bitterly. He heard Obito start to whine underneath the wind and the uncomfortable material of his ANBU outfit. He quickly calmed the child down, putting a blanket over his back and reaching all the way to the outskirts of the eastern section of Konoha, bordering the south where Minato and Kushina lived.
The house was already in view, and for a second, Sasuke felt the need to cry. But he quickly pushed it away. He looked around, noting that there were few people on the streets, and only one shinobi every quarter mile traveling to personal destination. He sighed, patting down Obito's hair and leaping onto a roof. He narrowed his eyes, seeing Minato's house not too far away from himself.
Sucking in a deep breath, he kissed Obito's crown and hid his chakra signature. He jumped down, sneaking past the window and putting the child on the doorstep. A baby bag followed, and pretty soon, he found himself staring at the childish face that vaguely reminded himself of Naruto—which was odd, because the newborn gained more traits from him than anything, whisker marks and spiked hair included. He sighed—again—and kissed Obito's forehead before knocking on the door and quickly retreating.
From a distance, he watched reluctantly as Kushina's head popped out, her face full of panic when she noticed Obito. Sasuke smiled softly, before turning and jumping away with so much unease and grief, that he felt the need to vomit out his heart.
Minato blinked, turning his head towards the door when he heard a knock on the door. He stopped chewing, looking at the clock and Kushina. She looked at the clock as well. "It's almost midnight," she said. "Who the hell knocks at midnight?"
"Could be…Jiraiya-sensei…?" he guessed flimsily, but he felt no chakra signature. "…Okay, never mind…"
Kushina rolled her eyes, and walked through the living room towards the door. She opened it up, but found no one.
And then they heard the baby coos.
Both shinobi froze and stared down at the bundle of blankets babbling in baby talk. It had black hair, pale skin and three cat-like whisker marks on each of its cheeks. Kushina's eyes widened. "Who the hell leaves a baby with strangers dattebane?!"
Minato didn't respond. He was still processing having a baby at his doorstep. He snapped out of his daze when Kushina picked him up, putting the child in her arms along with the bag. He blinked. "What are you doing?" he asked. "It could be a trap for all we know!"
"Oh shut it," she snapped, sitting on the couch. She put him down on his back next to her on the cushion, pulling out a note that was tucked into the blanket. Her brow ticked as she scanned it. "Minato."
He turned his head towards her.
"This…this brat right here," she gestured to the child, "this brat…has just been dumped on us."
The blonde blinked, standing up and walking towards the couch. He took the note, and read it out loud, "I trust you with the guy. The necklace will tell me that he is my son, Obito, when I return." His paled dramatically. "I didn't sign up for this…"
"Neither of us did, dattebane!"
The baby babbled, squirming his arms out of the swaddle and managing to grab Kushina's hair. The Uzumaki didn't take it away, though she sighed.
"Why the long face?" he asked.
"Well…" she mumbled, "…I know you're probably gonna want to give him up to the orphanage, but I think we should keep him."
Minato blinked. "Why? We aren't ready to be parents."
"I know, but still dattebane! His parent chose us!" she pointed out with a big toothy smile. "Deemed us worthy enough to raise a child, despite our age and status as shinobi."
The blonde blinked, his face twisting into an expression of contemplation. She has a point…
Kushina grinned. "I know that face," she said. "Alright, it's officially decided dattebane! We're gonna be parents!"
Minato looked dumbfounded. "What?"
He didn't get an answer. He was dragged out of the house along with their new apparent member.
Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his eyes. He glanced up at the ANBU who stood before him—Hachidori was his code name. His mask was a little bit brighter and colorful, a sign among the shinobi that he was a powerful, high-ranking ANBU. It somewhat resembled an ANBU bird mask, only the beak was smaller, and the design was bright green, blue, red and orange. "So Yajū is dead," he murmured.
Yajū was Hachidori's lover, and was the ANBU Commander until he took Taka under his wing to replace him about a year ago. Both have been in the ANBU for a good four years, Yajū retiring because of an internal wound that Hatake Katsu had concluded to be completely incapable of healing all the way. Yajū's real name was Naruto—Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde didn't want Kushina to know of his presence, though. Reasons were unclear.
The Sandaime straightened up when Hachidori nodded silently. He frowned sadly. "My sympathies," he said humbly. He paused thoughtfully, a thought stabbing him in the side and making his frown deepen. "You adopted recently, correct?"
"Yes, we did," Hachidori said. He sighed. "I take it the long term mission you're assigning me is going to hurt my son more than me." He didn't bother to question it; village goes first.
"It is," Hiruzen replied. "I'm sorry, but it's vital."
"It's understandable," the ANBU Captain grumbled. He sighed, putting his hand on his hip as he put most of his weight on his left foot. "It doesn't have to be done instantly, right?"
"The client wants it to happen before the year is up," the Sarutobi stated. He nodded to himself. "So, yes. You do have time. I take it you want to spend a few months with your kid before you leave, no?"
Hachidori nodded. "I do. I'm staying with Obito for the first five or six months before I leave." And be gone for a decade… he added bitterly. "Do I have your permission, sir?"
Hiruzen smiled, silently noting the name. "Permission granted," he said. "Do you have guardians in mind?"
"I do." The captain nodded. "Naruto picked Kushina and Minato-san."
The Sarutobi chuckled. "Figures," he said. "He chose good."
Hachidori nodded his agreement again.
"You are dismissed."
Then the captain was gone.
"Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen broke out of the memory, silently realizing that he was smiling. He glanced at the door, seeing his secretary's head poking into the office. "Yes…?" he drawled.
"Minato-san and Uzumaki-sama are here to see you," he said.
His smile widened. Well, it's been five months… he thought. "Let them in," he said.
The other man nodded, stepping away for a minute before the door opened again, Kushina and Minato walking in with Kushina carrying a baby with messy black hair and black eyes, whisker marks carved into his cheeks like natural tattoos. Minato was being dragged by Kushina, who had a big smile on her face.
"I'm guessing you want to take a maternal leave, Kushina-chan, no?" Hiruzen guessed.
Her grin widened, the presumed Obito cooing as he gave himself a knuckle sandwich. "Yup dattebane!"
Minato looked miserable at her enthusiasm, but he smiled brightly in spite of it.
He chuckled, pulling open a file drawer and pulling out a piece of paper. He put it on the desk, Kushina taking it and looking it over briefly. "Read the fine print, and sign it," he said lightly with an amused glint in his eyes.
Kushina took the paper a read it through, backing it away from her face as Obito tried to grab it with a slobbery uncoordinated hand. A few minutes later, she gave it to Minato, who grabbed a pen and signed it before handing it back to Hiruzen.
"Do you want an extra copy?" the Sandaime asked.
"No thanks."
"Yes. Please. For the love of all children, please."
Kushina rolled her eyes at Minato's exaggeration. Hiruzen chuckled, pulling out another paper and handing it to the blonde. The duo bowed before turning and taking their leave, Kushina babbling on about ramen and Minato sighing.
Hiruzen smiled. Tajū chose well, indeed.
Obito's eyes were calculating.
They have been for the five or so months he's been in the world. They just returned to innocence when people looked at him. The world was murky—so was his mind. Memories were jumbled up and happened non-chronically when remembered. He remembered dying saving Naruto and Kakashi from Kaguya, saying last words before turning to ash.
And then he woke up in a certain ball of warmth. Everything was eerily silent for a little while—a month, if his internal clock was correct—before muffled sounds echoed in his ears. The ones he heard the most were two men, with the woman coming weekly and one of the men leaving for a few days before returning.
He wasn't sure what was going on, so he tried to move many times. He could only move his arms and legs though. Each time he attempted a kick or punch, he would hear a protest and a soft poke. Sometimes a hand would press against the surface of the ball, eerily familiar laughter and conversing always following.
Often, when the man who was with him twenty-four-seven was alone, he'd sing. The lyrics were muffled, but he liked the melody. He found himself silently humming the tune in his head when he was put down for a nap for the first time after he was forced out of the ball of warmth.
He wondered why that happened; he never really understood anything. His body had instinctively cried, but it had only lasted for a few seconds. He had felt arms and blankets wrap around him briefly before he was handed over to another pair of arms.
The two men conversed briefly, the world descending into a comfortable silence for a few seconds. But then the voice he had hear for so long spoke, but it blocked out and muffled, but he had barely made out the words: "Give him a good life…he deserves it…I love you two."
The man who had been holding him stopped breathing and died, if the agonizing crying told him anything. It didn't stop for a good two hours before he felt hungry—so he whimpered a little, seeing as it was the only way he could communicate.
The next few months were just as confusing.
He saw grey and blobs of colors the first time he opened his eyes. And then after three or four months, he started seeing all of the basic colors along with everything in between. His hearing improved, becoming sharp along with his sight.
Soon enough, he learned that he was a baby. The way he was treated, what he was eating and the environment supported his theory even further.
How was a question definitely needing answers.
Why was just as mysterious.
However, seeing Sasuke's face was something that confused him even further.
He looked at the calendar at one point.
The Second War closed to an end, around the time he was born on the tenth of February was when it stopped.
Sasuke wasn't supposed to be born for another fifteen or so years.
So why is he here…?
"Katsu": "Victorious"; "Winner"
"Tajū": "Beast"; "Animal"
"Hachidori": "Hummingbird"
I posted a panel of a future chapter on my deviant account (pen name: Toudan-no-Hyoushi). It holds no spoilers, though.
Preview:
Blood. It was everywhere…
Peace! :3
