Baby o' Mine

Chapter Six

With Clipped Wings it's Impossible to Fly

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Disclaimer: I don' own Naruto, I don't own Sasuke, I don't own anything, actually, since I'm a minor and I have no legal rights. I do, however, like writing, so...that's how it all goes, y'know?

Notes: Finally to the interesting part! Wow...I'm hoping to make this one longer than the others, just cause it's that torture thing that I really like. I think there's going to be major OOCness, but if you've been reading this you'll have figured it out by now.

Does anybody even read these things? I could put a lemon up here and no one would ever notice, nope. /Crying out, Sasuke gasped as he was gripped tightly by his one and only love.../ See what I mean?

*Music while reading: Yoma Counting Song: Blood Reign *

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The feel of the cuffs being removed from his wrists felt better than anything he'd felt in a very long time. Sighing in relief, he turned back to the council, "Where's Iruka and Iruka-sensei?" How he wanted to hold his son again, to see that smile or the perpetual frown that played across his face.

The Hokage stood, going around the large desk structure and walking to a door off to one side. "They're in my office, your son's still sleeping from the sleeping powder one of my ninja's used to bring him here, Iruka is watching over him." Stepping through the door he felt Naruto hurry to catch up, the man's sneakers squeaking against the wooden floor.

"Is he all right?" Naruto almost demanded, worry for his son honing his parental instincts dangerously.

"Of course he's fine. He'll just be sleeping until tomorrow morning, it will feel like he took a long nap." The Third said, and as they reached the familiar door to the Hokage's office, Naruto was suddenly ahead of him and quietly opening the door.

He smiled at the scene that lay before his eyes. Iruka-sensei sat on the couch with the little boy curled up sideways; head resting on the older mans thigh. While grading papers, Iruka-sensei was absent-mindedly weaving his finger through the semi-long black hair, tucking it behind the little boy's ears before going back to his papers. He looked up and waved carefully at Naruto; that maternal smile finally draining away the last of the uneasiness Naruto had felt during the trial.

"Naruto-kun, I see that I won't be forced to take care of this little terror after all." Iruka-sensei said quietly as Naruto walked into the room. Naruto smiled, sensing the relief that his teacher was giving off that Naruto was still alive. Carefully, he bent over and gave his first instructor and parental figure a hug, resting his chin on the older mans shoulder.



Mildly surprised, but very relieved, he hugged Naruto back, before whispering, "I'm glad your back."

Naruto smiled against his teacher's hair before pulling back and squatting down to look at the boy who lay in his sensei's lap. Without a scowl, or anything else, he looked very much like his father when sleeping. Shaking his head, he lifted the boy up and propped him against his hip; Iruka-kun {Because from here on out they're going to be together for a while} wrapped his arms sleepily around his fathers neck, snuggling his face into the orange shirt.

Iruka-sensei, who had begun putting all his papers away, turned to look at Naruto; "Do you have anywhere to stay?" Foolish question, but he wanted to give his lost student an opportunity to find somewhere else to stay.

Naruto shook his head; "I don't suppose you'd let us stay at your house till we find other arrangements, would you?" In all honesty, he half expected Iruka to say that he didn't want them at his house and instead had another idea for where they could sleep.

Standing, the teacher still had a good five inches on the youth, "C'mon, your rooms just as you left it, the empty instant ramen cups not there aside..."

Naruto smiled in embarrassment, if had a free arm he would have rubbed the back of his head.

They passed the trial chamber as they walked out of the building, Naruto nodding at the Hokage when their eyes met, and as they reached the evening dimmed street, Naruto noticed that many people were staring at him, some whispering to others; eyes filled with either fear, anger, hate, or curiosity. Shifting Iruka-kun a little, he continued walking the all too familiar path to Iruka-sensei's home, feeling the stares bore into the back of his head from the people they passed.

They traveled in silence, though it was more so that their new 'admirers' couldn't eavesdrop on whatever conversation that they might have had than anything else. As they finally made it into Iruka-sensei's house, Naruto let out a loud sigh of relief at finally excaping the drowning pressure that had filled the air while they had walked.

"Geeze, you'd think I'd of actually grown a neon colored third head by those stares! What's their problem?" It was supposed to be rhetorical, as he carried Iruka-kun up the stairs and into one of the three bedrooms that the house had, the one he'd practically lived in when he wasn't at his normal home as a youth, setting the little boy into the bed and pulling his shoes off.

"It's not every day that a lost nin rejoins the village, let alone one with a nine-tailed demon fox sealed in his stomach." Iruka-sensei said from his place leaning against the door. Naruto smiled cheekily at that, his eyes squinting all too familiarly.

After he tucked Iruka-kun in all the way, he followed Iruka-sensei out and to the kitchen, sitting down at the table and burying his head in his arms. Iruka-sensei set about making some tea; hopefully to calm his lost students frazzled nerves. A few minutes passed in silence before the water was ready for the tea.

"I almost thought that I was free, finally free." Came the mumble from the hidden recesses of Naruto's arms, "Seven years of worry...that someone would kill me and he'd see it...I guess I'm really lucky that it was Sasuke that found me instead of one of the other hunter-nins." He sighed, glancing up to where Iruka-sensei was turned to look at him, "But now I'm locked in a gilded cage once again."

Iruka set down the tea, taking a seat across from Naruto. "You were lucky it was Sasuke," He said, stirring his tea as Naruto lifted the cup and took a sip. "You mind telling me what happened?"

Sighing, Naruto told the edited version of what happened to Iruka, leaving out who the father was like he had to the elders. Iruka's expression had gone from curious, to astonished, to sad, and finally settled on maternal protectiveness.

The tea had grown cold during that time, and finally Naruto's tale ended, "So, I'll have to find a job and get our stuff from my old house. I have to tell Oba-chan that I won't be around any more to help her with getting some things, and I guess get Iruka-kun into a class at the academy." He sighed.

Lifting a hand, the elder of the two rubbed along his scar in a thoughtful way before sighing; "It was Sasuke, wasn't it." Naruto jerked slightly, but his face never lifted to look up into his teacher's eyes. Distantly, a remote part of his brain seemed to say, /why do some people pose /statements/ as /questions/, 'tis damn annoying.../. Iruka knew the answer from the silence.

Taking a deep breath, the older of the two swirled his tea, "I'm sorry that I...I didn't strike you as someone you could talk to...about this." He said finally, feeling like he had done his...not son, but the closest thing he's ever had to one, a great disservice.

Naruto spun the tea around his cup habitually, "I considered it..." he sighed, "But would you have believed me? I sure as hell have never heard of a man having a baby on his own like this...I'd be more of a freak in everyone else's eyes than I already was."

Iruka-sensei stood carefully, "C'mon, lets get you to bed. We'll talk about this in the morning after I get Iruka-kun into a class at the academy, I think that Hinata's class should still have a few vacancies still."

Naruto started, "Hinata's a teacher?" Looking at his former teacher in surprise while standing and turning to go up stairs to his room.

Smiling at he wide blue eyes of the boy he almost considered a son, he smiled, "It's her first year, but she's got a lot of promise to be a good teacher. Her sister's in the ANBU now, so she isn't as pressed anymore to conform to her families wishes, and has really come out of her shell." He laughed a little at Naruto's expression, "She was awfully torn up when you left, you should talk to her."

And that was all that was said that night as Naruto settled into the bed that he and Iruka-kun would share that night.

~*~*~ The Next Morning ~*~*~

Ghostly white light played through the thin snow colored draperies on the east side of the room, sending light deftly through the cool air and settle on the little boy curled up on his side, the blanket kicked half way down his form, one hand resting across his stomach while the other lay haphazardly by his pail face and mid length black tresses. He lay alone, his father having risen moments before to go to the restroom and brush his teeth.

Sleepily, sea blue eyes blinked open, long lashes fluttering against his cheeks and he carefully pushed himself into a sitting position, using one hand to prop himself up and the other to push back his hair. He looked around his environment, not recognizing any of it.

"Daddy?" he asked, his voice filling the room before he heard a sink from behind the door to his left. A moment later it turned off and the door opened. Blonde hair, tanned skin and warm blue eyes...Iruka-kun leapt from the bed and nearly tackled the older man who's featured made up his parent. Smiling at his new appendage, he hugged the boy back as best he could for a minute.

"Iruka-kun, Daddy has to get some clothes on." He said eventually.

Blinking from where he'd been attached, Iruka now noticed that his father was clad only in his favorite jeans, his tanned muscled torso and the top part of the black tattoo on his stomach noticeable. He nodded, letting his firm grip go and stepping around the room, noticing his shoes nearly hidden under the bed.

"Where is Iruka*, daddy?" He said after a little exploring.

Naruto looked up from putting on a white shirt he was borrowing from Iruka-sensei and turned to his son. "We're staying with one of Daddies old friends, we're in the village that Daddy grew up in." He said, turning and walking over to his son, picking him up and opening the door. "Wanna go and see if I can get you something to eat? You must be pretty hungry, did Oba-chan let you have some of her sweets?" The last part was said in a faux menacing voice, his father's fingers ghosting across his stomach, making the boy giggle.

"No, Oba-chan said that the sweets would wrought Iruka's teeth, so she made Iruka have rice and bean curd." His face went into a display of just what he thought of this choice in diet.

Naruto laughed, "I know, Oba-chan and her bean curd." He smiled a little wistfully before finally making it to the kitchen. The clock on the counter told them it was a little past ten, "Go sit down at the table over there and I'll see if Iruka-sensei's kitchen is as he left it the last time I was here." The boy nodded and was set down; going to sit while his father looked through the cupboards and refrigerator.

"Why are Iruka and Daddy here in Daddy's old village?" The boy asked as Naruto set about making eggs and toast. {He's a cook now; he's not limited to ramen.}

Naruto frowned for a second; "We're going to live in this village now." He said slowly, "The man that we're staying with is getting you classes at the school that I went to when I was young this morning, and you'll makes lots of friends here."

"But Iruka already has friends, Iruka doesn't want to make more." The little boy said.

Setting the ready food onto a plate and giving the boy a glass of milk he sighed, setting the food down in front of his child and sitting down in the chair that Iruka-sensei had been sitting in before.

"Daddy doesn't have a choice, aka-chan*...we have to stay here for a while, but we'll probably go back really soon to see Oba-chan and your friends for a visit." The boy still frowned while he ate, before his small hands grasped around the glass of milk and swallowed it.

"Who is making daddy stay here?" He asked finally, looking up into the mirror reflection of his eyes.

Naruto snagged a piece of toast that he knew that Iruka wouldn't eat, "People that daddy ran away from before you were born. I ran away and they wanted me back, so now that they have me I have to stay here."

The boy mulled over this while studying his eggs. "Iruka doesn't want Daddy to be forced to stay here."

Naruto smiled at his son, "Iruka...look at me." The boys gaze shifted up to meet his, "I missed it here, I left because I wanted to, but now I'm back and it's okay. So don't go coming up with the idea that this place is bad, it's really nice; you'll like it here."

The boy looked back at his eggs before finishing them; "Does daddy want to stay?"

Naruto nodded, "I want to stay," He smiled, standing and scrapping off the left over breakfast into the garbage, setting about cleaning the small mess that he'd made and put away the food. "Now how about we go to a park? If I remember right, there should be one near here, and you can see what the place is like first hand?"

Iruka smiled, hurrying up stairs to where he saw his shoes by the bed. Naruto looked after the human blur and shook his head with a smile. "Sure answer's my question."

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* This is basically all in Japanese, and little kids in Japan begin mostly referring to themselves in third person, I found this out when Okinamaru-san who lives an apartment up from me had her little girl and everyone spoke Japanese there and the little girl did the third person bit.

*Aka-chan = baby.

Well, I was very happy with this chapter, just the way it came out. I'll probably redo it because it's only a filler and I can play with it however I want. It seems that my 7-chapter idea has now turned out like 10. Why do the idea's /not stop/! I keep adding little things...anyway, how was Iruka-chan? Isn't he cute? I thought so, he reminds me of my little brother when he was that age, just much cuter and less annoying.

I still haven't gotten any submissions for the art contest; I'm beginning to consider the idea of holding chapters for ransom unless I get submissions. *Glares threateningly*

Ja