Siren's Call
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. This will be the final chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter Notation: This place five years after the last chapter. I was unable to find out exactly what age children enter the Academy. I decided on five because Kakashi graduated at that age. I also made the first Shisui, Sasuke's cousin. I'm not sure if that is cannon or not. I know they are related somehow though.
Chapter 11
"Shisui! Mikoto! Hurry, we are going to be late." Hinata calls out to her youngest children.
Mikoto comes skidding out. She was the youngest of their three children and currently their only daughter. Mikoto had been named after her paternal grandmother because of her beautiful long black silky hair. Sasuke said that it reminded him of his mother. She had inherited Hinata's eyes and smile, but Sasuke's ivory cream colored skin.
What else did she inherit from her father? Her pouncing skills. Though Mikoto's skills were used for decidedly more innocent purposes. The young girl sees her father and immediately lunges. She climbs onto her father's back like a jungle gym and sits on her "throne." In this case, that meant the Uchiha Patriarch's left shoulder.
"How long do you think you are going to be able to carry them both on your shoulders like that?" Hinata asks Sasuke with a small smile.
"Should be alright at least till they are Itachi's age. Then it's going to be an issue of room." Sasuke says.
Sure enough, Shisui came scurrying towards them. He soon joins his fraternal twin, taking his rightful place on Sasuke's other shoulder. Shisui had been named after Sasuke's cousin.
Shisui like his sister had raven black hair, styled like Sasuke's when he was that age. He'd inherited Sasuke's massive childhood bubble eyes, but they were the trademark Hyuga lavender. He also had Hinata's ears and skin tone. The rest of his facial features resembled his father.
"Morning, father, mother, and sister." Shisui says cheerfully.
"Morning, brother." Mikoto says as she moves over a bit, so he could get comfortable.
Hinata shakes her head in amusement. She was never going to get used to seeing Sasuke treated like a horse. Her husband was very indulgent though. Sasuke didn't seem to mind giving them their beloved shoulder rides.
"Itachi, are you ready?" Hinata asks as their eldest son descends the stairs.
Itachi had her midnight blue hair, but it was styled like his uncle's. He also had Itachi's "tear lines." The rest of him though was all Sasuke as far as his looks went.
"I'm ready!" He calls out as he dashes over to join the rest of his family.
The young family heads off. Today was a very important day. Itachi was entering the Academy. Sasuke could only hope that his son would have a happier ending to his story than his brother.
"Hey, bastard!" Naruto says as he darts over to Sasuke once they arrive.
"Loser, what are you doing here? You don't have a kid." Sasuke asks and raises an eyebrow.
"I'm Hokage! I'm supposed to be here. The Hokage is always there for the Entrance Ceremony!" The blonde protests.
Sasuke smirks. Naruto never failed to take the bait. It was just too much fun not to rile the idiot up.
"Hi, Uncle Naruto." The mini Uchihas all say in unison.
"Oh hey, guys. Wow you are all getting so big. Good thing you take after your mother. You aren't grumpy like your father!" Naruto exclaims.
Hinata shakes her head in amusement. She was used to Sasuke's and Naruto's antics by now. Some things would truly never change.
"Oh he's not grumpy. You just have to know how to talk to him." Hinata says with a smile.
"Yeah three kids in five years. I'm sure there was a lot of talking going on." Naruto says and Sasuke smacks him on the back of the head for that one.
The Uchiha Patriarch was honestly beginning to wonder if maybe Naruto needed smacked upside the head once a day, in order to function. It would explain a lot. He smirks when Naruto grumbles.
"Owe! That hurt! What'd you do that for?!" The blue eyed ninja demands.
"You were being annoying. Annoying people need a good smack now and then to help them stop being annoying." Sasuke says with a shrug.
Naruto grumbles about annoying bastards. Then he heads to the center of the Academy to kick off the ceremony. After all, it would be rude to keep everyone waiting because he wanted to bicker with Sasuke.
"Welcome everyone! I'm so glad you could all be here. As you know, today is a very important day. This is the first step on your journey to becoming really cool ninjas!" He exclaims.
Sasuke smacks his forehead. He couldn't believe that Naruto was still talking like some Genin. Really cool ninjas? Pft.
"So make sure to study hard. Once you graduate the Academy, you will become official ninjas and be called Genin. From there, if you are really determined you can become Chunin. Only a handful of ninjas make it to the elite rank of Jonin and on. Who knows? One of you might be the next Hokage!" The blonde continues giving his "inspiring" speech.
Itachi watches Naruto in confusion. He wasn't really sure why the Hokage was repeating such basic facts. As he looks around, he notices that most of the other children were watching in awe.
"Mother? Why are they acting like they have never heard this information before?" He whispers.
"Some of these children come from civilian families and this is all new to them. That and even if you come from a ninja family, you still might not know these things." Hinata explains.
Itachi ohs and nods. He continues watching Naruto. The blonde was striking some heroic poses and going on about the importance of friendship. Itachi thought he was babbling. Uncle Naruto did that a lot! But he gave good presents and was fun. So Itachi didn't mind that much.
"Mommy, can we go to the candy store after this?" Mikoto asks.
Hinata giggles. She smiles and kisses her daughter's forehead. Sasuke might not like sweets, but their children all had a major sweet tooth. She supposed they had inherited it from her side of the family.
"Of course, if you are good." The bluenette informs her.
"He's never going to shut up, is he?" Sasuke muses.
"Now, now Sasuke. That wasn't very nice. Naruto is just fulfilling his duties of Hokage and giving the kids something to aspire to." Kakashi says as he walks over to them.
Sasuke shrugs. He really didn't see how a big speech was going to do that. Besides, he could tell that Itachi was getting a little anxious. Clearly, his son wanted to actually go inside the Academy at some point!
"Eh I never claimed to be nice. Surprised you are here. Would have thought you'd be too busy reading your books to go to something like this." Sasuke says with a smirk.
"That's true. Well I do hope you are at least nice to Hinata and the children." He muses.
"Oh trust me, I am VERY nice to Hinata and our children." Sasuke assures him.
Kakashi chuckles. It was an unexpected match to say the least. He never would have thought that Sasuke would fall for the shy heiress. Still he couldn't really argue with the results. Itachi, Shisui, and Mikoto were definitely beautiful children.
They could also be sneaky little devils. Kakashi was so busy talking to Sasuke, that he didn't notice the clone sneaking up behind him. Itachi yanks off his mask.
"I DID IT!" He calls out triumphantly and everyone looks to see what was going on.
Gasps were heard. No one had ever seen Kakashi unmasked before. Itachi dispels his clone and walks around with the mask in his hand, rather smugly.
"I don't get it. Why do you wear the mask? There's nothing wrong with your face." Hiashi inquires curiously.
"I just like the mystique. Sneaky little thing, aren't you?" Kakashi asks in amusement as grabs his mask back.
"A ninja should always expect the unexpected." Itachi says.
Shisui and Mikoto seem to find great amusement in the whole situation. The youngest Uchiha boy starts laughing. His sister soon joins him in a fit of giggles.
"I taught him how to do that!" Naruto says proudly and remembers that day well.
"Naruto, are you sure that's a good idea. The twins are only three and Itachi is five. It might be a little early to start teaching them how to make shadow clones." Hinata asked in concern.
"It'll be fine! Besides, if they are anything like the bastard…they'll learn fast." The blonde protested.
Sasuke watches Hinata and Naruto in amusement. He did think that it was a bit early to be starting them on shadow clones. Still they were ninjas. It was in their blood and even if they didn't manage it, well it'd be a valuable lesson that powerful ninjas didn't become so overnight.
"Let him try. If it looks like it's too much, we'll make him stop." Sasuke replied.
Hinata looked less than convinced. The rest of the day passed by rather comical. Some of the clones looked rather cartoonish. It was clear the children understood what they were trying to do, but had a hard time copying themselves. They had the chakra, they just didn't know how to sculpt it precisely yet.
"Mommy! Daddy! Look! See what I did!" Mikoto called out and smiles as she points to her clone.
Sasuke blinked. He didn't expect Mikoto to be the first one who made a clone. He expected Itachi to manage it first. He was the eldest. Then again, Sakura had been the first to climb a tree with chakra. He was beginning to wonder if women might have the edge when it came to chakra control in general, while men had the edge in raw destructive power (with exception for women like Tsunade , Sakura, and so on.)
"You did it! You did such a great job!" Hinata praised her daughter and hugged her.
Itachi and Shisui were naturally competitive. They were Uchihas after all. It didn't take them long after that to form their own clones.
By the end of the day, Sasuke was rather amused. Itachi had figured out how to use the clones rather strategically. The Uchiha children were now playing on Aoda, as their clones did their chores.
Apparently, this was Itachi's idea. Though he noted Shisui had formed two clones. His siblings had one each.
Sasuke would later find why this was. Shisui's chakra reserves had just developed earlier than his siblings. Itachi preferred to conserve his energy. And finally, Mikoto was too distracted by the butterflies in the garden to bother to try for a second clone.
"Yeah. You did. Now they use it to get out of doing their chores." Sasuke informs him.
"Really? Damn they are smart." Naruto says with a laugh and goes back conducting the ceremony.
Eventually, they break for lunch. The children were all on the playground and the parents were conversing with each other or their instructors. Hinata smiles as she saw Itachi push his siblings on the swings and waves to Kurenai.
"I can't believe Itachi is already old enough to attend the Academy. My how time flies." The Genjutsu Mistress observes.
"Yes, it does. Shisui and Mikoto will be following him shortly." Hinata says with a smile.
Kurenai nods. She smiles. It was still hard to believe that Sasuke and Hinata were married with children. Happily married at that, if how close they were sitting together was any indication.
"How is Hiashi taking being a grandfather?" She asks.
"I wouldn't call him that to his face. I think he's a little sensitive about his age, but he does dote on them. In his own way." Sasuke says.
Kurenai briefly wonders what "in his own way," meant. She decides it was probably better not to ask. The Hyugas could be rather strict when it came to their children. They often demanded perfection. Hinata seemed to have a more laidback approach to pairing though.
"Come on! Do the eye thing!" Another child says as they walk over to Itachi.
Itachi shakes his head in amusement. He had learned how to activate his Sharingan only a couple months before. The Uchiha knew that he was an early bloomer. He suspected that Mikoto and Shisui wouldn't be far behind them though. Of course, these kids didn't know that. They just automatically assumed all Uchihas could activate their eyes from birth onward.
"The eye thing is called the Byakugan and Sharingan." His sister informs them with more than a hint of annoyance to her voice.
It was rather obvious that the Uchiha Princess did not take kindly to their bloodlines being referred to in such an informal fashion. The boy just ignores the girl. She couldn't do it yet. He wanted to see it!
"She's correct about that." Itachi mutters and soon one eye showed the Byakugan and the other the Sharingan.
"Whoa! You can do both?!" He asks.
"Yes." Itachi replies and shakes his head.
He didn't feel the need to confirm what the other boy just saw with his own eyes. But he decides to humor him anyway.
"Itachi! Push! Push!" Mikoto says and Itachi laughs as he goes back to pushing his sister.
"She sure is bossy!" The other boy exclaims.
"Don't call my sister bossy! I'm the only one who gets to call her that!" Shisui exclaims.
Sasuke sighs. He could see a fight was brewing. He quickly strides over to his child. He smiles at them and gestures for them to follow him.
"Come on. After lunch the ceremony is over. Let's go home. We can stop at the candy shop on the way home." He offers.
Sasuke had said the magic words. Candy Shop! The Uchihas immediately forgot about their annoyance and pranced over to their father. (Yes, Uchihas could prance.)
He chuckles and heads off with his children and wife. True to his word, he takes them to the shop. Hinata and Sasuke watch as the mini Uchihas suddenly start hunting for their favorite sweets.
"They definitely didn't get their sweet tooths from me." Sasuke muses.
"I don't know. You are just rather fussy about what kinds of sweets you like. You did marry me, after all." Hinata muses as she leans into her husband's arms.
Sasuke smirks. That was true. Hinata was very sweet. He kisses her cheek and continues watching the young children race around the store.
"That's true. Maybe after the kids go to bed, we can have our own fun." Sasuke whispers hotly in her ear.
Oh yes, Mikoto had definitely inherited Sasuke's pouncing. Hinata smiles and nods. She watches as Itachi, Mikoto, and Shisui head over to the counter and pay for their purchases. (Sasuke had given them allowances.)
"Boy, these are some bright kids. Amazing that three year olds and a five year old know how much money to give me." The clerk muses.
"Of course they are. They are Uchihas." Sasuke says feeling smug at his children's ability to do "advanced math." (Well advanced for their age anyway.)
"They get it from my side of the family." Hinata says proudly.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. Cheeky kitten. He shakes his head in amusement and they soon head off.
A few hours later, the children are put in bed. Sasuke watches in amusement as Hinata sucks on a lollipop. Apparently, their children were not the only ones with a fondness for sweets.
"I never thought that I'd be jealous of candy before." Sasuke muses as he stalks towards his wife.
Yes, stalks. Hinata thought he resembled a lion going after a zebra at this point. He was definitely about to pounce.
"Sasuke, you can't possibly be jealous of an intimate object." She replies with mirth.
"Yes, yes I can." Her husband informs her as he playfully pins her to the bed.
Hinata laughs. She drops her lollipop on the floor and kisses her husband. She smiles into the kiss when she felt her lover return it. If nothing else, Sasuke was very attentive towards her family. (Much to her delight.)
"I can always give you something much bigger to suck on." Sasuke purrs seductively in her ear.
"You are bad." Hinata says and shivers at his tone.
"You like it though." Sasuke replies and kisses her forehead as he gazes down at his beautiful wife, lovingly.
Hinata couldn't really deny that. Surprisingly, Sasuke did seem to enjoy teasing her with what Naruto might call dirty jokes. Hinata just called it teasing.
"Maybe." She mumbles and feels her face heating up in a blush.
"I'm pretty sure that we can do better than a maybe." He murmurs and places a soft trail of kisses along her neck.
"And I'm pretty sure you are trying to convince me to have another baby." She says with a contented sigh and arches against her lover.
Sasuke smirks. He didn't see what was so wrong with that. Three was a very good start, but the more the merrier. He wasn't insane. It wasn't as if he expected Hinata to have a dozen children. He could see four or five though. Maybe six.
It was just smart to space them out a bit. That gave her time to recover and make sure the other children were all walking, talking, and most importantly…toilet trained.
"Maybe. Mikoto could use a sister. It'd be more fair." Sasuke says.
"Mmm well that's true." She muses and runs her fingers through his dark, spiky locks.
Hinata was putting her foot down after five. She loved her children, but she couldn't imagine being outnumbered by three to one. Well at least she was going to try to put her foot down after five, Sasuke could be very…persuasive.
"SPIDER!" Came a scream from Mikoto's room.
"…" Sasuke is speechless.
He sighs and kisses Hinata's forehead. His daughter could make shadow clones. She could do math. She could even make fireballs, but apparently spiders were terrifying to her.
"Hold that thought. I'll be right back." Sasuke says as he heads off.
"FIREBALL JUTSU! FIREBALL JUTSU! " She shouts and Sasuke blinks.
Oh boy. He just shakes his head. He looks around to find the spider which may or may not have been hit. He nods when he found it.
"Mikoto, it's not going to hurt you. Stop throwing fireballs. I got it." He assures his daughter, grabbing a jar.
Sasuke shoos the spider into said jar and places a lid on it. He then heads over to the window and opens the lid. He tosses the spider outside. Honestly, he almost felt sorry for the insect. He had almost been burned alive. (Or she. Sasuke didn't know how you checked the gender of spiders and he frankly didn't want to.)
"What's going on?" Itachi and Shisui ask as they poke their heads out of their rooms.
"Oh your sister just saw a spider." Sasuke explains.
"Scaredy cat!" Her brothers say.
"I AM NOT A SCAREDY CAT! FIREBALL JUTSU!" Mikoto cries out and soon the three mini Uchihas were engaged in some good ole fashioned sibling rivalry.
Sasuke blinks. He looks at Hinata as she comes out of their room. Both of them were wondering if that really just happened. Sasuke scoops up his daughter and Hinata does the same for their sons.
"Alright. Alright. Settle down." Hinata says with a smile.
"Hinata, I'll put them back to bed. I'll see you in a few minutes." Sasuke assures her as he escorts their children back to their rooms.
She shakes her head in amusement. It truly took skill to corral a five year old and two, three year olds. Sasuke was used to it though and their children knew better than protest. (They knew who gave them their allowance.)
"Sasuke." Hinata calls out to him a few minutes later.
"I'm coming. Itachi just wanted a bedtime story." Sasuke mutters as he heads back towards their room.
He smiles when he rejoins his wife. The Uchiha Patriarch could never resist his siren's call. Sasuke smiles and shuts the door behind them. The rest of the night was spent trying to give Mikoto a little sister. The Uchiha Clan's restoration was well under way…
