Miyako walked up to the entrance of one of Orochimaru's hideout, pausing before entering, Ainu secured to her back in a sling she had bought before leaving the village she and Itachi had met up in.
As she entered the hideout, she noted how quiet it was. It had been a week since she saw Itachi, two weeks since she had been with Sasuke, the Snake sannin, and his subordinates. She couldn't help but shiver as she entered the snake's den.
There was a loud bang from further into the hideout, and she made her way into Orochimaru's room to find a dead Orochimaru and a panting Sasuke. She walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him tense in surprise at the sudden contact.
"It's just me and Ainu-chan," Miyako stated as he gaze flickered around the destroyed room. "Where's Kabuto?"
"Don't know," Sasuke grunted, turning to face Miyako with his Sharingan blazing red and black. "Don't care."
Miyako frowned. "He's as much a snake as Orochimaru. You should care," she stated before turning her back on Sasuke.
"Ainu and I are going to rest for today. If you can wait one day, we will join you to gather the allies you've chosen," Miyako stated simply and left the room, not awaiting a reply as she made her way to her and Ainu's room in the base, closing the door behind her with a sigh.
She unwrapped Ainu from her back and placed her in the bed. She watched the sleeping baby for a minute before her gaze fell to the other door in the room that led to the bathroom. After a week of travel and sleeping outdoors, Miyako relished the thought of having a shower, but she hesitated in the event that Ainu woke up while she was showering.
The door to her room opened, revealing Sasuke who stood there with no emotion on his fair-skinned face. "I'll watch Ainu so you can relax."
Miyako looked at Sasuke in surprise. He rarely ever to offers to help with Ainu, but she wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth and smiled before nodding. She grabbed a change of clothes and a towel before entering the bathroom, leaving Sasuke with his niece.
...
Sasuke sighed before making his way over to Ainu, looking down at the little girl, a small smile on his lips as he thought about the day she was born.
Sasuke was just getting out of the shower after training when he heard banging on the bathroom door. In annoyance, he wrapped a towel around the lower part of his body and slammed the door open, only to be met with a teary-eyed, almost ten-month pregnant Miyako/
"What?" he asked, and Miyako latched onto him. "M-Miyako?" Sasuke stuttered in shock.
"S-Sasuke, the baby. She's coming," Miyako stated, making Sasuke freeze up in shock.
"What do we do?" Sasuke questioned, forcing himself to remain calm in the face of the problem at the moment.
"You need to get dressed. Then carry me to the nearby villages midwife. No way am I giving birth to my child here in the hideout," Miyako ordered, and Sasuke nodded, pushing Miyako out of the way and rushing into his room to get dressed while Miyako looked away to offer him privacy.
He quickly got dressed and picked Miyako up, rushing out of the base before running to the nearby village. This was no easy task due to Miyako's current weight.
When they arrived, he went to the midwife who settled Miyako down in the back room and looked at Sasuke.
"Is the baby your's?" the middle-aged woman question, making Sasuke blanch in shock.
"N-NO! No. It's my brothers," Sasuke explained, blushing at the thought of making babies with Miyako. "He's a shinobi and can't be here so he put me in charge of looking after his girlfriend while he's away," he explained, a little white lie couldn't hurt... right?
"I see. Unfortunately, only the father can be in the room with her. You'll have to wait out here," the midwife explained, and Sasuke nodded in understanding, relief at not being needed in the room. He didn't want to witness a birth.
He sat down on the couch outside the door to the room as the midwife walked into the back room.
Five hours later – full of grunts of pain – a sound of a newborn baby filled the house. Sasuke shot up nervously as the door to the room opened and the midwife walked out, a smile on her tired face.
"Congratulations. You're an uncle to ba little girl," she stated, and gestured to the room. "You may go in now, if you wish."
Nervously, Sasuke entered the room to find an exhausted Miyako sitting up against some pillows, a bundle wrapped up in an off-white blanket in her arms.
Miyako smiled when she saw Sasuke. "Come and meet your niece."
Sasuke walked up to the bed stiffly, looking down in the blanket to see a newborn with a small tuft of dark-purple, almost black hair on her head, red-tinged skin, and sleeping peacefully.
"What name have you decided?" Sasuke questioned in awe of the first Uchiha born since the massacre.
"Ainu. Officially Haruno Ainu. Butt, if she develops one of our kekkei genkai she will take that surname instead," Miyako stated. "I want to keep her as safe as possible."
Sasuke gave a smile as he touched the little babies hand, the first true smile he's given for many years. He let the infant grasp his finger. "She's perfect. You should be proud. Even if she is his daughter."
That day, Sasuke vowed to himself to protect his niece, and Miyako as well. He knew that he'd do anything for them, anything for Ainu. In his eyes, nothing was more precious. Her safety had become more important to him than even Itachi's death.
"What are you thinking about, Sasuke?" Miyako questioned as she entered the room, a towel wrapped around her hair.
Sasuke grunted in response as he stood up from his spot on the bed and turned to face Miyako, a blank look on his face once again.
Miyako sighed. "Not going to tell me, huh?"
Sasuke nodded, and Miyako let out a laugh.
"You know, I could just read your thoughts if I wanted to."
"You respect my privacy too much to do that," Sasuke replied knowingly.
"Perhaps," Miyako agreed before making her way over tot Ainu, past Sasuke. "How was she? No problem I suppose?"
"Not even a stir," Sasuke replied, and Miyako nodded in understanding.
"That's good. So I take it that you're going to wait until tomorrow before making your wa to get Suigetsu?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke grunted in agreement, making his way towards the bedroom door.
"Get some rest. We leave at dawn," Sasuke ordered and left the room, closing the door behind him and making Miyako sigh again as she turned to Ainu.
"Honestly, Ainu, what are we going to do with that uncle of yours? He is such as troublesome person."
...
The next day, at dawn exactly, Miyako, Sasuke, and Ainu made their way out of the base and towards one of Orochimaru's many laboratories. I would take a day to reach their destination, but the two teens didn't mind. Ainu, on the other hand, was restless, wanting to get down and crawl around.
"Sasuke, maybe we should stop at the next tea house. We need to let Ainu use up her energy a little bit," Miyako suggested wearily, knowing Sasuke wouldn't like the delay.
Sasuke shot her a glare, and Miyako frowned in annoyance.
"Come on, an hour crawling around and she'll sleep for a few hours. Either that, or you can carry her instead," Miyako stated with a smirk, making Sasuke glare harder.
"Fine. At the next tea house we'll take a break," Sasuke agreed, not wanting to carry his niece around. The very thought of his enemies seeing him carrying a baby made him shudder. No way in hell was he looking weak in front of the enemy.
"Thank you, Sasuke. I know it's inconvenient having me and Ainu around, but there's no way I'm leaving you alone," Miyako stated, and Sasuke turned back to the road ahead.
He knew there was a tea house another kilometre up the road, and if he was being honest he wouldn't mind a small break, after all, it was just past lunchtime and he was getting hungry.
...
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the tea house. Once seated, Miyako let Ainu out, who was more than happy to crawl around the little shop, much to the delight of the elderly worker who cooed at the adorable now nine-month-old.
"What can we get you?" one the ladies questioned the two teens.
"Two Sakura teas please, plus two serving of your beef stir-fry," Miyako ordered, and the lady nodded.
"Would you like me to bring some mashed-up vegetables out for your little one?"
"Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you," Miyako replied with a smile, and the lady nodded before heading to the kitchen to place the order. "Do you want to feed Ainu today, Sasuke?"
"Hmm, sure. It'll give me something to do," Sasuke replied, pretending he didn't care. But to be honest, he loved looking after his niece, he saw it as practice for when he had children of his own.
"Oh! I know that look. You're thinking of your future again," Miyako stated with a smile after some minutes have passed. Sasuke looked at her in surprise, she was getting too good at reading him, even without her kekkei genkai.
"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement to her assessment.
"Well, I know one part of your plan can only be completed once you return to Konohagakure. And that's finding some poor female to marry and make babies with," Miyako stated with a smirk. "What was your plan? Kill Itachi then restore your clan? Looks like Itachi is already one step ahead of you on the restoring part."
"How are you so casual about me planning to kill your boyfriend?" Sasuke questioned a she lady returned and place their order down, she paused and looked at Sasuke in horror before running off, probably to gossip with the cooks on what she overheard.
"It's what he wants. Who am I to go against his wishes?" Miyako questioned as she stood up and grabbed Ainu, handing her to Sasuke to feed.
"He wants me to kill him?" Sasuke questioned as he began feeding his niece, who giggled, wanting to play with her food instead.
"He wants you to try," Miyako replied as she took a bite of her food. "Oh, how delicious! Do you like your food, Ainu-chan?"
"Ah, ba!" Ainu replied as she munched on her food.
"I wonder what vegetable they used," Miyako contemplated with a tilt of her head.
"We used broccoli, sweet potato, and snow peas," one the old women stated, and Miyako smiled.
"How perfect! Thank you," Miyako replied, and the woman smiled.
"You have a beautiful daughter. What's her name?"
"Ainu. This here is her uncle," Miyako explained the unasked question that was going through the ladies mind.
"Putting him to work I see. Where's the father?"
"He's a shinobi. We rarely see him because of his line of work," Sasuke stated before Miyako could reply.
"Are you a shinobi as well?" the woman questioned in curiosity.
"We both are. But we're currently on vacation," Miyako replied, glancing at Sasuke who had stiffened and seemed to be getting annoyed with the woman's endless questioning.
Sensing the fifteen-year-olds state the woman excused herself and Sasuke relaxed, finishing feeding Ainu and placing her on the ground so he could eat his now cold food as Miyako finished hers.
...
A day later, they arrived at the laboratory. Miyako followed Sasuke through the building and into a room where there were tubes, all full of some liquid or another. Sasuke stopped in front of one and smashed it open, the liquid falling out and forming into a white-haired teen with pointed teeth and purple eyes. He also happened to be naked.
"Well, well, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke. What brings you here?" the teen questioned, coming up behind Sasuke and pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun.
"I killed Orochimaru. I want you to join me in killing my brother," Sasuke stated as Miyako leant against a wall and watched the interaction in amusement.
"Why should I help you? You killed Orochimaru? Big whoop. Almost everyone wanted him dead, you were just the one to do it," the boy stated.
"What if I ask nicely, Suigetsu-san?" Miyako questioning, startling the boy as his gaze fell to the purple-haired teen, a wide grin fluttering across his lips.
"Hey, Miyako-san, long time no see. Still following this loser around I see. And look at that, you have a daughter. Sasuke is an uncle," Suigetsu stated with a laugh, stepping away from Sasuke. "Tell you what, because I actually like you, I'll make a deal. You take me to get Zabuza's sword, Kubikiribocho, and I'll join your group."
"Deal," Sasuke stated.
"Now get dressed. We'll wait for you in the clearing," Miyako stated with a smile and her and Sasuke left, leaving a grinning Suigetsu behind.