I'd Love It If We Made It

Shikaku was a patient man, but he found most things to be a drag. While he tended to avoid troublesome situations and people, according to him, he only nodded to his wife when she came in with Minato's newborn. "Kakashi and Obito eh?" he said. "Yes. They are figuring out their relationship and other issues. It would be best to keep Naruto with us till they figure it out." His wife was one of the calmest and least troublesome women he had ever met. He was of the view that women were a troublesome species, but his wife could be an exception. His son was not much of a hassle too. He slept most of the time and only woke up when hungry or needed a diaper change. Shikaku was willing to change diapers if that meant avoiding nagging from his wife because women nagged even more after having children and while his wife wasn't like most women, it didn't mean she would not do it later. He was still skeptic. It wasn't very polite to call Naruto a hell spawn, but he absolutely was one. Very similar to Kushina in nature. Mikan handled the child with practiced patience which had come from dealing with Kushina since her childhood. He wondered if he would ever get back his precious silence again, which had been limited to the times the kid was asleep. Currently, Naruto was snoozing beside his own son Shikamaru, having been fed moments ago. He should get used to this, he thought with a sigh. The sandaime had been talking to him about Obito Uchiha, who was supposedly hiding his progress from others, including his late sensei. He had had minimal interaction with the boy, so he would not be able to find out anything without a proper talk. His wife knew him. His medical records had not shown anything abnormal, barring the eye transplant in place of his own. His psych evaluations were normal. He was saner than most other Uchiha and a bit less of a pyromaniac. There had been considerable outrage in the clan when Kakashi received one of Obito's eyes; the elders were concerned about the sharingan being in the possession of an outsider. Things were still a mess and a tailed beast attack just after the war had worsened it tenfold. While he was immune to most surprises, he had not been able to control it when he learned of the circumstances surrounding his son's birth. Countless hours in the Nara family archives and library had revealed nothing which could shed light on this odd phenomenon. It was a troublesome time, he could deduce this much.

Kakashi and Obito went to the Nara compound two days after their big fight to take Naruto home. Shikaku san was a cool guy, taking the idea of Naruto being with them in stride. The thought of going back to his ancestral home and facing the demons there left him shivering with self-loathing and a crippling cold feeling which wouldn't leave him and only seemed to become greater with time. Yet, as they walked back to the apartment with Naruto in Obito's arms, Kakashi could not help but acknowledge the warmth spreading in his chest at the sight of Obito cooing at Naruto. It drove away all that cold dread for the time being. Obito was not sure how Mikoto and Fugaku would take the news. He had not gotten the chance to speak to either of them following the Kyuubi attack. Both of them were busy helping the clan to rebuild the homes and other miscellaneous buildings of the compound. The clan elders had raised a lot of objections regarding the eye he gave to Kakashi, and Mikoto had to go through a lot of trouble to resolve the issue. Many did not acknowledge Mikoto as the clan head even when she had proved her worth more than once, just because she was a woman, and a beta. Most of the elders were prudes with no regard for women and other secondary genders barring alphas. He had been allowed into the academy only after receiving permission from the elders as he was a recessive omega. While most branch family omegas were allowed to pursue the shinobi lifestyle, there had been a significant decline in the number of members during the war, so the clan elders were now calling omegas from branch families to marry into the main family and have children. Obito was not a top choice, but he knew that he could be called someday to fulfill his "duty" as an omega. A detour to the Uchiha compound had taken care of the Naruto issue. Though apprehensive at first, Fugaku, Mikoto and Itachi had welcomed Naruto with open arms. Mikoto could not keep the promise of protecting Obito if he was called by the elders, but she promised to keep the matter under wraps as long as possible. Fugaku was happy to have Naruto as a future playmate for Sasuke. Lastly, in a manner completely unexpected of him, he had winked at Obito and asked him to inform him first when he got mated to Kakashi. Obito had not considered this possibility, he thanked the gods that he had sent Kakashi to the market and come here with Naruto. On his way back, he bumped into Kurenai and Anko of all people. After gushing over Naruto, they proceeded to thoroughly question him regarding his responsibility for Naruto. To their credit, none of them batted an eyelid when he told them about Naruto's parentage and circumstances. He couldn't keep it a secret from everyone. In order to ensure a smooth life for Naruto, some people needed to know of his secret. That is when he came up with the idea of asking them for a favor. The Hatake compound would need a thorough cleaning before they moved in, and he could ask them to help with the promise of babysitting privileges for Naruto, as well as entry and food when required. He knew very well just how much his batch mates loved free food and places to crash. He was sure Kakashi wouldn't mind. But he was not so sure if anyone would want to babysit Naruto again after experiencing it once. Anko had wisely declined that offer; Kurenai did not know what she was asking for. He was sure that the girls would involve Asuma, Raidou, Genma, Aoba and others in this. Another job done, he went back to his own apartment to pick up more clothes before going to Kakashi's. Pakkun was checking the shopping list with the items Kakashi had brought. The enoki mushrooms were missing. "There were no enoki mushrooms in any of the shops I asked." Kakashi said sheepishly. "I'm pretty sure I saw enoki mushrooms when passing through the market with Naruto. I don't want to hear any excuses, just because you do not like enoki does not mean I will not eat it. This is partly the reason why you were so short back then! Leave it, I'll go to the market and buy it myself." Obito stormed out of his apartment. Kakashi was left standing in the kitchen, an awake Naruto gurgling in his arms. "Boss. You're absolutely smitten." furiously blushing at Pakkun's remark, Kakashi snapped at him. "Mind your own business! Oh god. Am I a masochist?"

"Yes. I don't see any reason as to why we should not help. Spring cleaning is an awful tough job, especially for a big clan house which has not seen light for almost ten years. But nothing can be tougher than the fact that those two are looking after a child!" Asuma said after Anko and Kurenai were done with their part. "Those two can barely look after themselves. I wonder how they can take care of an infant." Hayate commented with a cough. "But they are taking care of the kid, and he was not distressed as such kids often are." Kurenai shot back, Aoba and Anko nodding their assent. Genma too couldn't help but agree, both Obito and Kakashi were messes in their own way, but they were doing a good job of taking care of the yondaime's child. He had seen cases worse than this. Kurenai would have said more, but Anko interrupted, "So. Are we going to help Obito clean up the Hatake clan compound or not?" "I don't see any objections. So I guess we're going." Asuma shrugged. A few days later, Kakashi almost had a heart attack when he came back to his apartment from the market to see it completely bare. All his possessions, even the lone cup in his kitchen he used for himself, were gone. Obito and Naruto were nowhere to be seen. He hurriedly summoned Pakkun. Pakkun had to smack him to stop him from being reduced to a panicking heap on the floor. "The cub and Obito are at your old home. I can smell some of your friends here, I'm sure they took all your belongings there. Come on, Boss. Let's go." For all his photographic memory was worth, he had trouble recognizing his own house when he arrived there. Most of the things from his apartment were there, he was nudged out of the way by Asuma and Genma, who were bringing in his only cupboard which contained almost everything, right from spare clothes and ANBU armor to diapers and medicines. "Hey Kakashi! Look what we did. It was all Obito's idea though." Anko hollered at him. "Yeah, you should thank him. He took this initiative alone while caring for Obito. And I don't want any complaints from him regarding you." Kurenai's sweet smile had morphed into a Hannya's growling face. Kakashi shivered, she was getting really good at genjutsu. "What's with that dumbstruck look on your face? We are doing this for you, the least you can do is smile. Or are you too busy mooning at Obito?" Genma could not complete his smirk when his face was doused into the dirty water from cleaning the doors. Anything to have him stop talking, Kakashi thought. Said person was cleaning the doors of the Master bedroom at the middle of the corridor, he could see him from the engawa before the corridor. That room had been Kakashi's; before he stripped it of everything it had and moved out of it into his apartment. Naruto was on the crib that Mikan san had bought for him, sated and gurgling. He seemed to be in a good mood, which usually happened after being fed. He wondered if the others had seen Obito suckle Naruto. He was not old enough to be weaned off breast milk. Kakashi admitted to himself that he had made a mistake when judging Obito's character, the amount of courage, determination and sense of responsibility required to handle Naruto was not a trifle. And Obito was taking it in stride, and doing pretty well, better than him anyway. He had avoided a lot of things for a lot of time. Obito came to Naruto and hoisted him up, he gurgled happily. "Bakashi! You're here finally. I asked the gang to help me clean up. I hope you don't mind. They'll be here for lunch." He had crossed the room in long strides before his mind had even processed everything properly. "Then the least I can do is hold Naruto for you." Obito's surprise was evident. "Maa. I'm not that lazy." He finally said. "Fine. Let me check on the rice and curry. It should be done by now. It's a good thing I came here earlier to make the kitchen usable. We are having curry, tonjiru and karaage." The cheer Genma let out was infectious. Obito's questioning glance was not lost on him when he pulled down his mask and burned this memory in his mind. That night, they put their futons in Kakashi's room, Naruto's crib in the middle. Obito's face had an odd kind of grace, he observed. He had not noticed it before. Silently, he swore to protect his family, for lack of a better word; Obito and Naruto. Earlier, he had pretended to not notice when Genma, Kurenai and the others had whispered among themselves just how much they looked like a family.

(Time skip: approximately three years)

Naruto was a fast learner, he started crawling at five months and walking at seven. His rambunctious nature and aptitude towards pranks never gave Obito or Kakashi a moment of peace, except when he would be at the Nara's with Shikamaru. Kakashi became busy with the ANBU as Konoha started getting back on its feet after the Kyuubi attack. It took a lot of convincing for the sandaime to let Obito remain as a chuunin. The man had arrived unannounced one day and took him to a secluded training ground to spar with Mikan. He had to literally give it his all. His carefully built façade was falling apart. The sandaime, Shikaku san and Mikan san had deemed him eligible for a jounin rank. While he had skipped the jounin rank for the time being, the sandaime had asked him to help train a kid orphaned in the Kyuubi attack, for his chuunin examinations. His name was Umino Iruka; the kid was a fast learner and managed to pass the exams which were held in kumo. So now he had no more obligations and he still did missions, but there were constant reminders from the sandaime that once Naruto came of age, he would be promoted to jounin rank. The gang threw him a birthday party at yakiniku Q last week. They had done the same for Kakashi a few months before. He was eighteen now. Obito had stopped going to his apartment, which now remained under lock and key. He practically lived in the Hatake clan compound with Kakashi and Naruto. A few Uchiha elders had raised objections when Obito started looking after Naruto, but that did not gain much momentum and was soon dropped. However, the clan was none too subtly pushing him to move out now, while Obito's father was a branch family member, his grandmother had been a part of the main family. The clan elders wanted Obito to get mated and bear children for the clan. Many of them had raised concerns about an unmated alpha and omega staying together with a child, which was not even their own. Kakashi had been absent when this happened, he would have to know. The sandaime as well as Mikoto were doing their best to quell this. But Obito wasn't sure how long this would last.

Mikan was a sensor, a very good one. So she was invaluable to the village. And she had no idea what to say when she came back from a diplomatic mission in kumo to see the Nara compound a mess. In the middle of all this were Obito, Shikaku and Kakashi. Obito looked like he would burst into tears anytime, Kakashi looked paler than usual and Shikaku looked constipated, for lack of a better word. Long story short, Shikamaru and Naruto were playing together in the main house, Shikaku was watching over them. He had fallen asleep, and woke up to find them missing. And now they were having a really hard time finding them both. Thorough checks of the compound and other possible places where they could be in the village had revealed nothing. Many Nara clansmen were looking in the Nara forest now. Mikan being here made things easier. She led them in deeper into the forest, far deeper than even the places where the does went to give birth. She could clearly detect their chakra signatures, Naruto's unstable, fickle chakra, like a mini whirlpool; and Shikamaru's calm, lazy one, but with an edge. She could not see them anywhere however, the area was an opening free of trees but the surrounding forest just got denser here, dense enough so that sunlight could not enter. She finally resorted to using her own voice, a few loud calls later her eyes immediately darted up to a particularly dark corner of a cluster of ancient, tall bodhi trees. Something was moving up there, hidden among the leaves and hanging roots. "Naruto, Shikamaru are you two up there? Come down please honey, we are not angry." She called out. How could two little boys have climbed a tree that high? She couldn't even see them carefully. They weren't able to properly mould chakra yet. Her question was answered with a tiny squeak and suddenly a ball of orange came out hurtling from the darkness and almost fell off the branches but suddenly got stuck few meters above the ground. It was neither Naruto nor Shikamaru but a fox kit, with beautiful blue eyes; it seemed to be hanging from its shadow, which extended back to the dark corner on the tree. Moments later, there was a low purr and what looked like a black cat came sauntering out of the shadows, lazily walking on the branch. Except that it wasn't one, it was a juvenile panther, not an adult, completely black in color. Its eyes were an acid green which peered into your soul. Mikan's thoughts wandered back to a memory; a memory of being confronted by a black panther in the mostly unexplored forests of Uzushio when she was a child. A black panther, and behind it had stood a fox with fur a flaming orange. It had just observed her with interest, while the fox had nudged her towards the correct direction out of the forest. It seemed that the panther was somehow responsible for the fox hanging from its shadow. It nimbly climbed down from the tree; the fox let out a yip, disengaged from its shadow and jumped to the ground. She stood there, transfixed as the fox bounded towards Obito and climbed on his shoulders while the panther made his way towards her and brushed itself at her feet, letting out pleased purrs. Shikaku looked wary and curious while Kakashi looked almost ready to strike."Naruto?" Obito called out shakily once more, the fox kit nuzzled at him and let out a happy yip. He looked positively hysterical now. Suddenly, Mikan remembered an old story which grandmother Nika would tell them at the orphanage every Sunday. A story of how Uzushio came into being. "In the beginning there was nothing, no land, air or water. Only chaos existed; a manifestation of energy. A long time later, it condensed into two parts, one was an epitome of activeness and action: Yang and the other personified calmness and thinking: Yin. Gradually these two parts manifested themselves as animals, Yang as a primordial fox and Yin as a panther. They roamed the universe together and finally settled down one day. The fox disintegrated into the seas surrounding us, true to its nature, always active, making waves. While the panther, its counterpart lay down to sleep and transformed itself into a landmass, not as vast as the sea, but with roots so deep you won't be able to find its end under the sea. This landmass is our homeland, our Uzushio. We would have roamed like nomads if not for it, therefore, make sure you cherish her." She would also talk about Uzushio not being the same it was before. She told them about a prophecy their ancestors had made, the first settlers in Uzushio. The prophecy was that of the reemergence of the fox and the panther in two individuals, who would restore Uzushio to her former glory. Things just got clearer as well as more complicated. "Shikamaru. Can you change back please? Naruto too." Shikaku and Kakashi looked at her, shocked. In front of their eyes, the fox and the panther transformed back into two very naked young boys: Naruto and Shikamaru. "Shifters." She told them simply. "You've got to be kidding me." Shikaku's words summarized their expressions.