If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be living off of cafeteria food at my college, now would I? >. All other characters are original, and mine. But you can borrow them if you e-mail me and ask politely. .
This story is the sequel to my other Naruto fanfiction Changing Times. I suggest reading that one first, to save your mind from overwhelming confusion. .
This fic takes place twelve years after Changing Times, when Setsuko is seventeen and Akira is twenty.
Return of the Lost
Chapter Five: Kyuubi
Shino sighed, popping the little white pills into his mouth, struggling not to lose his temper and toss the entire bottle down the drain. The pain medication he had been prescribed made his mind fuzzy at times, but it stopped the constant pain of his headaches.
It also stopped him from being an ANBU, or ever being able to look clearly upon his family ever again.
"Shino, come to bed, it's late," Neji whispered, wrapping his arms around his husbands waist with a sleepy smile.
"Just a second, I want to check up on Aoi," Shino whispered, kissing Neji's pale, rough hands softly. Neji smiled, and nodded, slinking into their bedroom.
The insect masters fingers trailed across the fine grained walls, his skin whispering across the oak knots and worn paths. If a person were to look closely they would see the fine groove his many journeys down the hallway had created, the delicate outline of the paths between his room and his children's rooms.
'My child's room, Takeshi is dead,' Shino reminded himself mentally.
"Aoi," Shino whispered, his voice fading into the room as he opened the door, watching his daughter staring up at the crescent moon, "Are you all right?"
"I have that funny feeling again, Daddy," Aoi whispered, looking up at Shino, her green eyes full of confusion, "But it's stronger this time. The sand is howling this time, Daddy. It demands blood in payment. The sand is so angry."
Shino started, deeply disturbed by what words had escaped her mouth. He knew quite well who her biological father was, and had never thought her insane for ranting about the sand. When she spoke of being stronger, and the sand more obedient, he could be sure to know that Gaara was in the area. The closer the two got, the stronger Shukaku became.
He was only glad that she had grown up without a hatred of humanity, and an existence defined by death. But he was deeply afraid of what would happen when Gaara finally succumbed to the mortal disease of death, and left all of Shukaku's power to be absorbed by the tiny girl.
When she finally absorbed the entire psyche of the demon, and there was no one powerful enough to stop her if she could not control the Sand.
"Don't worry, precious, it's just been a bad weekend," Shino smiled, tucking the fifteen year old into bed, "Everything will be better in the morning."
"Daddy," Aoi called out as Shino was closing the door, "You won't ever leave me?"
"Never, precious, never."
Hinata smiled as she opened the door, letting the familiar guest inside. Over the years the red headed Kazekage had become a familiar guest in the home. Though not without ulterior motive; Hinata knew it was merely because Neji would visit frequently with Aoi.
"Gaara-san, I was not expecting you to show up so long before the Chuunin exams."
"Is she all right!?" Gaara demanded, his voice wavering as his eyes drowned in emotion.
"She's fine, Gaara. She's already out of the hospital, and will be returning to duty in a week. The Hokage is merely giving her extra time to recover," Hinata smiled, leading him into one of the many foyers, "You really needn't have raced all the way over here. Naruto could have informed you of the situation by letter."
Gaara smiled, and sighed, "I was so worried, Hinata. There was nothing else I could do."
"Mama, something's wrong with Setsuko!" Akira shouted, throwing open the door.
Hinata glowered at him, Gaara's eyes blazing with fury. He knew all of Hinata's children by name, and he knew exactly who this byakugen user was. The same as who had hurt his little girl, his precious daughter.
And he would not let her pain go unavenged.
Sand swirled dangerously through the room.
"Gaara!" Hinata snapped, slapping the red headed man's hand, glaring at her son, "Akira, go talk to Zatoichi."
Akira looked between his angry mother and the furious stranger, blinking. He knew that there was something going on that he could not figure out, and was quite sure he didn't want to know. He was more concerned about his beloved Setsuko, who seemed to be dying even as he looked between the two adults, confused.
Akira slammed the door, and rushed toward his older brother's quarters.
"He's the one who hurt her, isn't he?" Gaara snarled, his temper flaring as Hinata sighed.
She had just had this room dusted a week ago, and now it was covered in sand.
"Yes, he's the one who attacked Aoi. But if it helps, he got worse than her in return."
"I'll give him worse for hurting my little girl!"
"She isn't your little girl anymore," Hinata reminded him, "You gave her up for a better life, remember?"
Gaara stared at the woman pouring tea before him, an odd sense of deja vu ringing through the air. He could almost feel the cool evening breeze as he had this conversation with Naruto, the same explanations on his tongue and in his words. He had done the same thing as Naruto, and finally knew, in full, what Naruto had been feeling that evening.
"Go away," Setsuko groaned, emptying the contents of her empty stomach into the toilet, glaring daggers at Zatoichi and Akira.
If she hadn't been feeling so ill she would have been laughing her ass off. Akira, in all the years they had traveled the road together, had never fallen apart so easily. She had never seen him lose his cool, or go running down the hallway screaming for his mother like a pansy boy.
She definitely hated being pregnant, and hated her case of morning sickness even worse.
"Akira, go into the kitchen and ask for a bowl of ice shards and some lemon oil," Zatoichi smiled, sensing his little brother dashing down the hallway at break neck speed.
"Ice and lemon oil?" Setsuko questioned, resting against the cool wall, "Sounds like an old wives prescription to me."
"Old wives usually know the best cures for such ailments as yours," Zatoichi smiled, tying her blonde hair back in a simple braid, "You should really tell him, you know. It would save his nerves, and maybe his neck as well, the way he dashes around."
Setsuko smiled, gazing up at her lovers brother thoughtfully. She knew he was right. It was the entire point of her return trip to Konoha, soon she would become a risk with the pregnancy, and would be unable to be counted upon on the road.
And she needed the knowledge of an expert on the powers of the Kyuubi demon that was locked inside of her. It had taken her a near death experience to get information of the sulking demons existence within her, and she was unsure how it would affect the child developing inside of her.
"Zatoichi, you can sense chakra right?" Setsuko asked, her voice calm despite the queasy feeling in her stomach.
"Quite clearly. Your baby is healthy, Setsuko," Zatoichi smiled, assuming that was her desperate question.
"And the Kyuubi?" Setsuko asked, her voice containing a faint tremor.
"The Kyuubi?" Zatoichi frowned, scanning over the girl again, detecting the faint demon chakra, entwined within her own. It was a complicated braid, and her baby was too young to clearly separate from Setsuko's.
"The Kyuubi told me that it had been sealed into someone else first, my father, and had escaped from him into me. But the images the demon showed me weren't of Papa, and I think she was confused," Setsuko sighed, her stomach beginning to settle.
"I can't tell from just a brief glance in a bathroom, I'll have to take you to the hospital to do more tests, and consult with the Hokage. He would probably know more about this," Zatoichi mused Setsuko groaning as she heard a bowl shatter in the next room.
Akira had probably heard the wrong part of that conversation.
"Hospital? Consult the Hokage? What's wrong with Setsuko!?" Akira demanded, his sharingan flashing through his eyes.
"Nothing's wrong with us," Setsuko snapped, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Us?" Akira gulped, clearly understanding the meaning behind her words.
"If you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to elsewhere," Zatoichi smiled, leaving the couple to argue, as he was sure they would, on their own.
"So this is why you insisted we come back home," Akira sighed, sinking down to the floor across from Setsuko, pinching the bridge of his nose as he heard his brother gently close the door.
"Yes, in part," Setsuko smiled weakly, crawling over to her lover, resting her head on his shoulder.
"How much longer until he runs around screaming Daddy in my general direction?" Akira asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"And who says it's going to be a boy, hmm? It could be a girl, you know," Setsuko reminded him with a smile, "Or twins."
"Please don't say that. The last thing I need to deal with on the road is you and two children," Akira groaned, pinching at his nose even harder.
"If there is a me to deal with," Setsuko whispered, suddenly remembering the Kyuubi.
The Kyuubi had told her that it had killed her mother to have her, and she couldn't be sure she wouldn't be killed as well. Not even Zatoichi knew the answer to that.
"What are you talking about? Did someone try something!? I swear if anyone tried hurting you I'll tear out their throats myself!" Akira hissed, his arm tightening around Setsuko protectively.
He had not survived with her, alone, in the wilderness all these years just to come home and watch her die. Especially when he had just been informed that she was carrying his child.
"The Kyuubi, Akira," Setsuko whispered. She had long ago told him of the nine tailed demon that lived inside her, "The Kyuubi killed my mother when I was born."
"That won't happen to you, I won't let it," Akira swore, smiling down at the blonde, wiping away her tears, "I love you too much for that."
"I'm glad," Setsuko smiled, closing her eyes and drifting to sleep in his arms, on the bathroom floor.
Tsuzuku (To be continued)
Author's Note: Wow, talk about time between updates! >. I do apologize about not updating in such a long time. One thing led to another, and I found myself too busy, or too bored, to write. And, amazingly enough, I caught a severe case of writer's block, followed up with a severe case of too much college work. .;
Leave it to my Nutrition teacher to completely forget that a majority of my class does not use IE, and assign an online project at a site that requires IE to work. And the installation of Gator for no apparent reason.
Needless to say me and others in the class refused to do the assignment on the grounds of moral beliefs. She was not amused, and can't understand why anyone would use anything besides IE. And, before anyone asks, she's barely in her 20's. Kinda hard to hit the ground in the college profession a complete idiot. .;
Oh well, enough of me ranting. If you enjoyed reading this chapter, please leave a nice, long review. I like reviews! .