Modernity Has Failed Us

"Kushina san? Do you think Kakashi should join the ANBU?" Obito asked Kushina. She could detect the slightly concerned tone in Obito's voice; she was worried for Kakashi too. Mikan was an accomplished healer; and she could not thank her enough for leaving the hospital at such short notice and heal an injured shinobi without asking any questions. "Both of them are manifesting signs of trauma in different ways." Mikan had told her plainly. "But it seems that they are stable enough with each other. See that they avoid fighting with each other as the problem probably started when they fought with each other earlier. Any relapses could be detrimental to their health. The Uchiha boy looked stressed enough as it is." She had told her after listening to a truncated version of the events. She wondered if people would ever get peace in this situation. A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. "A penny for your thoughts, pretty lady?" Minato was smiling, the charmer. He would have to know. In a week, the life growing inside her would be a month old. She only hoped that nothing would go wrong. "Minato, I don't think Kakashi should join the ANBU." Minato sighed, "Kushina. You need to understand the gravity of the situation. Kakashi is a strong and able-bodied jounin who can handle his own in battle. Our shinobi forces are dwindling, gradually but surely. It is the ANBU who are doing the most to protect our village. Engaging Kakashi in such work will keep his mind off recent incidents. I know you don't like it, but my hands are tied." "That doesn't mean you will convert him into a doll who only knows how to carry out missions perfectly! He has suffered enough damnit! Both of your students are suffering. Don't you see it? I'm pretty sure you will do the same to Obito once he becomes a jounin. I have seen those men and women, Minato. They are gone, minds broken beyond repair!" ah, the infamous temper of the Red Hot Habanero. This was the Kushina he loved and cherished, strong and fiery. "It is for the village, for those people who look up to us, Kushina." Minato had become the hokage again. There was no budging him, that voice brokered no further arguments.

Minato did not like where this was going at all. Kakashi was observant, if not anything else. The shinobi lifestyle was ingrained in his blood. He had gone to Kakashi's apartment the next evening to check on him. It broke his heart to see him like this. But it had to be done. He told Kakashi about joining the ANBU, unofficially. He asked him to guard Kushina as she was pregnant, and a jinchuuriki, which was an S-class secret. Kakashi did not tell him no. But he also told him something which alarmed him to no end. Obito had walked into his apartment without triggering any of the traps set up, which was not matter of joke. Even Minato had trouble entering Kakashi's apartment without triggering a few traps. This could potentially mean that Obito was keeping him in the dark about his skills as a shinobi. If that were true, Obito could very well be a jounin level shinobi. He did not know why he had never seen it in him before. The boy had burst into his office the same morning, demanding Kakashi not be recruited by the ANBU. It took him a lot of effort to convince him otherwise, the announcement that Kushina was a jinchuuriki and pregnant and needed protection calmed him dowm somewhat, but Obito was still not really convinced, but he could not go against him. Minato was his kage. His word was law for the population of Konoha, especially the shinobi. He had walked away without a word. He was sent back to the check post near Kiri again, so he left the next day. Kakashi joined ANBU. Minato learned from Kushina that Obito had left a good amount of pheromone soaked clothing articles for Kakashi, because no one else's pheromones could calm him down when he felt particularly restless. "I know this is too soon, but I can't help but think they will make good mates for each other." She had said, words mirroring his own thoughts. He didn't know if the thought pleased him or scared him, maybe both.

Obito made a note to visit Mikoto and Fugaku at the Uchiha compound. Her frail disposition made it hard to believe that she was the leader of her clan. Her mate, Fugaku was a few months pregnant with a second child. Itachi, their first child, was Obito's nephew. He adored the child and the child loved him too. Fugaku was a stern faced omega, but he had a heart of gold. His quiet nature and naturally grim expression had led the other Uchiha clan omegas to avoid him. They avoided Obito too. His brashness and clumsiness was not received well by most Uchiha, his cousin and her mate being the few exceptions. Obito and Fugaku had naturally gravitated towards each other, having been shunned by the others. Itachi had hugged him tight; he was such a cheerful child. Obito could only hope that this cheerfulness would last when he would be molded by the Uchiha elders into perfect clan heir material. These old men and women tended to sap out all the happiness and light from the next generations, their actions and words tended to have such an effect. Children were supposed to be happy, not glum and serious all the time. Obito was not an idealist, not anymore. Rin's death had changed him like that. He knew that the life of a shinobi was fraught with death and hardships. The only respite he allowed himself from these thoughts was the prospect of having a wanted children; the idea was really appealing to him. Mikoto and Fugaku had bade him farewell and wished for his safety during the mission. Fugaku had a hand on his growing belly. Seeing him like that, Obito wondered if he would ever get a chance of his own to carry a child. He visited Kushina next, congratulated her and wished for a safe delivery as he would probably not be there when she would give birth. He knew Kakashi was present nearby, but he didn't appear once. Obito left Konoha the same day, unaware of the cogs rolling in Kakashi's mind. His eyes on the dark figure which grew smaller and smaller, Kakashi was perplexed. Obito was not the secretive type, he loved and hated openly with nothing to covet, or so he used to think. He was wrong. Kakashi's apartment was filled with Obito's scent, thanks to those pheromone laden clothes. He was secretly pleased, the suppressed, more primal part of his mind taking pleasure at the gesture. Pakkun had supplied him with a few ways to preserve the scent from the pheromones for a long time, these were apparently techniques developed by his own ancestors both for hunting and other aesthetic purposes. He could sleep a little better now, thanks to Obito's scent (not that he would ever admit it), not plagued with as many nightmares like before.

Days at the check post passed in a blur for Obito. With Konoha gaining a slight upper hand in the war, more civilian immigrants, fleeing from Kiri hunter-nins could be found at the post. Every month the chuunin posted there would learn of their hokage's feats on the battlefield and in the village from the shinobi who would come with rations and other neccessties. Obito thought of Kushina san and her unborn child a lot. His mind would also stray towards Kakashi's welfare, no matter how much he tried to stop it. Obito was still at the check post when the news of Konoha winning the war came. The head chuunin at the check post let Obito go back to Konoha soon after, saying that he was the youngest member and one of those working here the longest. It would have been an understatement to say that Obito was happy. His good mood was spoiled soon after when he was ambushed by and odd shinobi. He had blue skin and gills with shark like teeth. Judging from his hitai-ate, he was a missing nin from Kiri, making him all the more dangerous. Obito managed to escape with a dislocated shoulder, a few broken ribs, and a nasty gash on his thigh. He made it back to Konoha in record time, judging his state. Mikan san had scolded him a lot for trying to pop his shoulder back to place without any help, he gave up on trying to convince her that the dislocated shoulder could have costed him his life in front of the Kiri missing-nin. After treatment and rest, he had gone to the Uchiha compound to meet his newest nephew. Fugaku had named him Sasuke after the Sandaime's father, Sasuke Sarutobi. Itachi was really happy to see him back. Little Sasuke was a spitting image of Mikoto, not unlike his brother, however, Itachi had a bit of Fugaku's features in his face. Holding the little one in his arms, Obito was once again assaulted by thoughts of holding his own child like that. His musings were broken by a resounding howl which reverberated throughout the compound, shaking the ancient, highly stable foundations of the buildings. He was already handing Sasuke to Fugaku and sprinting towards the hokage tower when he saw it. A monstrous creature with flaming red and orange fur which kept swatting at the buildings and making them collapse like castles of cards. A fox with nine tails, the kyuubi! Wasn't the Kyuubi sealed in Kushina san? Assuming the worst, he ran towards the center of the attack. He did not see his sensei or Kushina san anywhere. Where were the ANBU? He finally noticed them in all this din with civilians running screaming, the surroundings ruined, having borne the wrath of the kyuubi. He was thrown back a few metres by a swish of the Kyuubi's tails. Then he saw Kakashi, he was running towards the hokage mansion. A part of the mansion had collapsed; he saw a flash of yellow there. It was Minato sensei, he was drawing something on his newborn child, the yellow hair was a dead giveaway. Kushina san was slumped beside him, gasping. "Sensei! Kakashi!" he screamed. "Obito! Kakashi! The sharingan can control the tailed beast." Kushina told him with great difficulty, already on her last few breaths. The next few minutes were like a nightmare, they jumped to the top of hokage tower, which was almost eye level with the kyuubi. He worked in tandem with Kakashi to subdue the beast. The last thing he remembered seeing was Sensei's bloody, sad smile. " Take care of our son, both of you." He had said, before falling to the ground, dead. Kushina was already gone. Obito had blacked out temporarily. He returned to consciousness by the piercing cry of a newborn. Kakashi was lying near sensei's child, unconscious. Obito picked up the squirming infant, it was a boy and tried to bring Kakashi back to consciousness. Both of them stood amidst the rubble for a while, in front of their Sensei and Kushina san's corpses. Kakashi nudged him, "We don't have the time to cry." He said softly. Right, shinobi did not have the time or luxury to cry. They were alerted by the shout of a jounin, it was Shikaku Nara, the jounin commander. "We have found the yondaime's son and his students, sandaime sama." He said. Soon they were whisked away to the hospital, which had thankfully been spared in the attack. He sat with Kakashi in one of the cabins. They could still hear the cries and moans of the injured and affected in the hospital from there. One of the nurses on duty had come and given them first aid after swaddling the baby with a clean cloth. He looked even more like sensei, having been cleaned thoroughly. He continued crying still, clearly hungry. Kakashi had seen the sandaime, he looked really busy. The council was being reassembled. Such an attack just after the war had been really detrimental for Konoha. He wasn't sure when the man would be able to meet them. He had looked quite relieved when he heard that Minato sensei's son was alive and okay with them. Obito looked like he was in a daze. Kakashi had henged the bright red seal on the boy's stomach to prevent any uproar amongst the medics and nurses. "Say, Kakashi? Sensei won't be coming back, will be? Or Kushina san? They won't try to scold us again." Obito had let out a choked sob. Kakashi had nothing to say, so he let go and cried too. They cried, huddled together for once, acting like the children they were, the sound of their own sobs intermingling with their sensei's son's cries.

Obito was woken up by a pair of hands shaking him softly. It was Mikan san. "Obito. Let me have a look at the child. His name is Naruto. Kushina told me they would name him that." Mikan san was crying too. Kushina had been her childhood friend. She wiped off her tears. Naruto had fallen asleep too, having worn himself out with all the crying. "He needs to be fed, Mikan san." Obito said. "We don't have anyone available who would feed him, Obito. Even I'm busy, I'll have to go soon. I can however, do one thing. Aren't you a recessive omega? I can use a iryou jutsu on you which will allow you to suckle him for a while. This is actually the most feasible option in this situation." Obito had long since steeled himself for the reality. He would carry out his sensei's request, no matter what. Kakashi was still sleeping, which showed just how tired he was. So Obito nodded his assent. He made himself comfortable with his back towards Kakashi and got ready to suckle Naruto. As the jutsu took effect, he saw his nipples get rosier and gain more volume. Mikan san continued till there were beads of milk forming on his nipples. "Take your time feeding him. Newborns require a lot of feeding." It took some time to get Naruto to suckle, but he latched on to it soon after and promptly started suckling. Mikan san left with Obito wondering if this was a twisted form of fulfilling his own dream of having a child.

Kakashi woke up to see the sterile white walls of the cabin he was in. He instinctively looked for Obito, his animal side having imprinted on him in a way. Obito had his back towards him. He peered stealthily from behind his shoulders and promptly reeled back with a blush. Obito was suckling sensei's son! He had no idea how or why he was doing it, he didn't want to know either. Obito finished feeding the cub; Kakashi's subconscious was already referring to him as a cub. "I'm sure there is a concept called personal space and privacy." He snarked. Kakashi averted his eyes. "Not a word about what you saw to anyone. Okay?" Obito hissed at him. He immediately nodded yes. "Minato sensei and Kushina san named him Naruto. Mikan san told me" he said. Kakashi looked at Naruto, he looked sated and was already half asleep. His face was a perfect mixture of his parents' faces. The spell was broken when a medic barged into the room. It was Mikan san. "Sandaime sama is ready to see you now." she said, slipping into her mask of practiced stoicness, but not before smiling at Naruto. Inside the office, the sandaime looked even older than before. His wife, Biwako san, had been rescued from the rubble, unconscious. She was stable now. Being the witness to two shinobi wars and a kyuubi attack had taken its toll on him. However, he looked significantly younger when he saw Naruto. Taking him in his arms, the old man had gazed at him lovingly before cooing at him like a doting grandfather. Handing him back, he had returned to his seat and addressed them, finally. "Minato and Kushina's will has been found. They have explicitly mentioned both of you as their son's godparents. I need to know if you two will be able to take care of him. Otherwise I will have to think of other options. Also, I don't need to tell you that it is an S-class secret that the boy is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. No one should know of this." One look at each other and Kakashi and Obito had said yes in unison to taking care of Naruto together. That was one thing done. "As of now, how do you both intend to handle the matter because both the hair and those whisker marks will garner attention." said the sandaime. "We can add his name to the Hatake family register and I can pass off those marks as latent clan markings. Few of my ancestors had similar marks on their faces." Kakashi said. Obito liked the idea. "It would be better for you to move into Kakashi's apartment then. I also have a better idea, I can have Kakashi reopen his original clan lands and you two could move in together with Naruto. No one will question you then." The sandaime looked satisfied. It was going to be tough for both of them. Taking care of a child was no joke. But they would have to, and they would, for each other's sake and Naruto's.