Beginning The Morning of September 20th

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.


Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Natsumi speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc .)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking


Orochimaru had always been different.

The Snake Sage's parents had emigrated to Konoha from an outer island of Kiri before he was born, and there were always those in Konoha who hated outsiders: most people, in fact. His parents, however, had always held their heads high and he followed their example.

He still missed them.

Now, of course, those in Konoha respected and feared him. No, they may not love him the way they did his teammate, Tsunade, but he didn't need their love.

That did not mean that he didn't wish he had it.

"Good morning," he said to a civilian selling takoyaki from his little stand. It was a little early for it, but Orochimaru had been awoken before dusk thanks to a Chunin at the hospital who couldn't deal with an emotionally (disturbed) Tsunade. His pregnant teammate was an absolute nightmare. THIS was but one of the many reasons why he didn't like women that way. "Thank you," he said to the man when he passed him his large order. Uncharacteristically, he patted the civilian's son's small head as he moved toward the cave Sakumo's wife was supposed to have given birth in.

He was a godfather now! Sure, he shared the responsibility with Dan and that oaf, Jiraiya, but considering an Uzumaki's supposed penchant for mischief - and the fact that there were two of the little future brats - that was fine. Plus he and Jiraiya would probably soon be godfathers/uncles to Tsunade's soon-to-be-born son, too. It took a village to raise a child, so his sensei said, so sharing duties was acceptable. Orochimaru couldn't help the small smile that grew on his face.

It was almost too bad that he could never have a child of his own, to one day continue his line. To love, he thought to himself regretfully.

He respected Hatake Sakumo: Sakumo was the one person he could easily imagine one day becoming Hokage instead of him, but Orochimaru had a feeling that Sakumo would almost go rogue rather than take on that enormous responsibility. He chuckled, then did so again when he saw a civilian he didn't particularly care for, looking as if he was shocked that "the Snake Sannin" was capable of human emotions. When he winked at the man, he thought the shop owner might have shat himself.

So all in all, then, it was a very good morning.

An hour later, feeling chakra signatures he didn't recognize, Orochimaru stopped and drank some water, wondering if he should alert the village. He was well outside of Konoha and it certainly wasn't a crime for foreigners to be on the other side of the border, but these were unfamiliar shinobis. He smirked to himself, moving toward the cave again as the shinobis continued moving toward him. It had been a while since he had a real challenge, and although it might be against protocol, Orochimaru always wanted to prove himself to fools that mistakenly chose to take him on.

All orphans want to prove themselves, he thought to himself. For a moment, he wondered why he was feeling so particularly reflective today.

Sensei has enough to deal with anyway. He could bring Hiruzen-sensei one of the enemy's heads in the end; it would be fine. As soon as he was in the cave, he made a few shadow clones to find out who was spying on him. He, himself, began packing up the medical equipment that had been placed here, thinking for a moment how convenient it would be to have a lab outside of the village. He'd have to speak with his sensei about it. Aside from the nettlesome Iwa shinobis his clones had found, it was very peaceful out here.

After more than another half-hour wherein two more of his clones dispelled, he turned and raised an eyebrow when a very pregnant Natsumi waddled in with Sakumo - but of course, it really wasn't them. His clones had henged and were leading his prey right to him.

Another clone dispelled and from what he'd heard, it seemed that the Iwa shinobi were after Hatake Natsumi.

This latest intelligence regarding these intruders meant that he needed to get word to Konoha - preferably to Sakumo or his sensei. He inhaled, quite surprised that his clones had now counted 18 Iwa shinobi. His clones had set traps for them and signaled a patrolling Konoha ANBU unit to bring in backup. Now it was just a waiting game.

Once everything was packed up in storage seals, he placed the scrolls in his Jonin vest. Dispelling his last shadow clone when some of Danzo's - no: Sakumo's - men began arriving, he unsealed the cave. As he had hoped, the Iwa Jonin were immediately on them. The first one into the cave looked confused.

"Expecting someone else?" he asked mischievously. Biting his thumb viciously, he summoned Manda who immediately attacked before shouting about sacrifices. Considering his summons had already consumed two rather large Iwa Jonin while he was viciously attacking more with ninjutsu, he disregarded Manda's complaints.

Although his summons, he believed, were the most powerful of the big three, Tsunade was right. Manda was something of a nightmare and the rest of the snake clan wasn't too personable, either. Really, they were much like him, just as his Genin teammates' summons were like them. The toads were big and goofy, while Katsuya spit acid much like Tsunade did with her words.

He went underground just before the cave exploded. What a mess. If nothing else, such a large explosion would alert more Konoha shinobis.

When he and his mud clones came out of the nearby ground, he frowned, realizing that he had a much bigger problem on his hands than he had at first believed. Sakumo's men - ROOT - were aiding Iwa. "Well, well, well."

His considerable chakra was nearly extinguished before the Sandaime and loyal Konoha agents arrived on the scene.

ROOT agents had already found his personal, sealed "invitation" to the Hatake Compound and had fled the scene but that wouldn't be known until later.


Kurama was LIVID.

Exactly one outsider knew that Natsumi was his vessel: Son Goku's lava-spewing bastard jinchuuriki, and although Natsumi wouldn't want him to, Kurama was going to kill him!

Really.

If Son Goku's container informed that power-hungry old fool, Onoki, about Natsumi? He was dead.

Dead.


Natsumi breathed a heavy sigh as she looked at poor Togo. Her ninken partner was in the corner of the Senju home she and her family had been hauled to, accompanied by heavy guards, when she and the babies were finally allowed to leave the hospital. He let out another soft whine and she pulled a chair over to him.

"Togo! I'll say it again and again. It wasn't your fault."

He let out a long whine that bordered on a howl.

"You saved the pups, Togo!" Natsumi's soft declaration was followed by a howl that seemed to be his first language. Checking on the bassinet the twins were in, she saw that his forlorn musings didn't bother the sleeping babies at all. The husky lay down and covered his snout with one paw.

"So adorable," Natsumi couldn't help but coo to herself. She loved this dog! Ninken.

"I hurt her," he whined - softly saying the first words in the common tongue that he'd said in over a week.

"Baby," Natsu drawled, unable to help herself. "C'mere." It was hard to drag such a big ninken to her twins as she was still healing, but fortunately, Togo immediately relented - seeming to feel even worse for having forced her to try to move him.

Meh, she used that to guilt him into looking in the bassinet.

"See! Ichika-chan's going to be fine." She waited for Togo to sniff both babies, although he still looked miserable. "They did a little iryo-ninjutsu but said that because she's so young that it's best for her natural healing abilities to do the rest. She's part Uzumaki, so I'm sure she'll heal especially quickly." She hoped.

"Is she going to have a scar?" he asked miserably.

"I hope not," Natsumi said honestly, having wondered the same thing every time she dressed her baby girl's wounds. "And even if she does, they'll be super small!"

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAWRAWRAWROOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Natsumi jumped, shocked when the twins started howling in almost the same way before their little cries returned to the way they normally sounded. She could've sworn once before that they howled like one of Sakumo's wolves but told herself that she'd just been sleep-deprived and unstable when she'd heard it.

"Oh my goodness!"

Natsumi reminded herself that she could tolerate baby howls much more than baby fangs.

She winced miserably at realizing that Togo had immediately returned to his corner. "Baka," she whispered toward the ninken as she began to rock the cradle they were in.

They were not calming down. And she'd just fed them!

She felt fine - not great, but fine - so she checked her chakra levels and decided to go for it. "Kage bunshin no jutsu?" It took a lot out of her, but Kami, what an aid the clone was. She and her doppelganger ensured that there was nothing nearby that could pop it and each redhead took a baby into her arms. Her clone didn't want to give up Kakashi-chan but eventually lay the babe into the original mother's other arm.

She'd just got them settled when Sakumo finally came home. He took one look at the two identical redheads and flipped out.

"Hatake Natsumi!"

Both babies began howling. Like, literally, howling like tiny baby wolves.

Sakumo was so proud.

Natsumi was so irritated. And he'd scared her clone into popping somehow. "Now I'm tired."

"What did Tsunade say, Natsu? NO CLONES," he ordered as they both struggled to calm the babies. Fortunately, they were very good babies.

"How is Orochimaru?"

"Still out," Sakumo rumbled grumpily.

Natsumi looked at her husband and raked her fingers through his scalp and long hair: he looked exhausted and now he was rocking Ichika on top of everything else he had to do. "Any news?" She hadn't seen much of her husband since the attack.

Sakumo sighed loudly as he leaned into her touch. "It's a mess. My own division, Natty…"

"No," Natsumi said firmly, afraid that this was one of the things that might potentially lead her very strong husband to spiral into depression at some point in the future. "Those were Danzo's men and you've already mentioned how screwed up they were. I'm sure the Yamanakas will get to the bottom of everything."

Sakumo sighed, knowing she was right but still feeling - and being - ultimately responsible. "To think that Konoha shinobi from ANY division would pair up with Iwa…" And Kumo - but Natsu didn't need to know that.

"Have they talked to you about it?" Natsumi asked reluctantly

"Oh yeah; first thing," he laughed without humor. "Inoshi wanted to know if I yearned 'to get rid of my family," my pack for God's sake!

"Sake!" She couldn't believe it. Well, actually she could but...

"Feh. I just had them Mindwalk me; it made it a lot easier."

"I'm so sorry," Natsumi whispered, beginning to tear up again. "Sorry, again! …Hormones!"

It wasn't just hormones, though. "You woulda been better off without me," she whimpered pathetically.

Sakumo kissed her temple and forehead, gently shaking his wife a few times with the arm that was wrapped around her. "Look at these two." He gazed lovingly down at his twins. "How can you say that?"

"Sorry," she sniffed again. Changing the subject, she pointed at the ninken in the corner.

Sakumo had had enough with him. "Baka Togo! You need to shape up!"

"I scarred the puppy," the ninken whined back.

"Togo," Sakumo barked in his alpha voice, making the ninken snap to attention. Both babies opened their eyes, startled but quiet. Two little pacifiers began moving up and down much more quickly as the newborns watched their father. "When you jumped into our pups' basket you saved them from falling debris! Chiki-chan's little scratch won't be the first that she gets from a wolf or ninken! You should be proud that her first mark of protection is yours." The ninken nodded at him and finally seemed to pull his tail out from between his legs. "You need to help Natsumi!"

Togo seemed to fight himself as he approached Natsumi but put his face in her lap before bringing it up and laying it on Kakashi. Kakashi managed to grab a few whiskers and pulled them back and forth but didn't mind the licks he received.

"They were howling," Natsumi commented as she petted Togo's beautiful head, smiling as she scratched him behind his ears. Ninkens were great! –Especially when they weren't super sad and pouting in the corner.

"That's good! It's early, too," Sakumo replied excitedly. He was so grateful for these three: they made everything else bearable.

Natsumi sighed and cuddled up to him before she needed to make him dinner. Sakumo was working almost ALL of the time lately and if the thing with Iwa was true, things might only get worse. Absently, she wondered why those associated with canines had these behaviors: if it was genetic or environmental. It seemed like both. Was it because of the family's summons?

A strange image appeared in her head of a half-Hyuuga, half-Uzumaki blonde baby born out of eggs with toad legs and flippers, making her dissolve in a fit of laughter and snorts. "Sorry. I'm a little sleep-deprived."

Sakumo grinned at her. "You sounded like Kushina-chan."

"I guess I did."


Natsumi woke up when someone knocked. Looking down at her propped-up arm, Kakashi was staring at her as he sucked on a pacifier that had a puppy face in the middle. "You're adorable, ya know." She looked up to find her small father grinning at her.

"How are you feeling, Natsumi-san -er, nee-chan? —Oooo! Kakashi-chan's awake," he remarked, smiling even brighter before going in for a closer look. "His eyes are getting darker," Minato said, suddenly looking cross.

"Hai," Natsumi drawled, half-bummed about that, too. The good thing about it was that his darker eyes just made him look even more like Sakumo. "Ichika-chan's eyes haven't changed at all but I think her hair is more silver."

Minato peeked into the cradle but didn't see any change in Ichika's tiny tuft of pink hair. Considering that the babies weren't even three weeks old, that wasn't surprising. He thought it was funny that Natsumi seemed to wish for her to have orange hair instead. Whether her hair was pink, orange, or silver, it would certainly be unique. "I think the babies have our chins, nee-chan," he said out loud before blushing brightly. "Sorry; I didn't mean to assume."

"Minato-kun, what have I told you about being formal with me?" Natsumi was glad her father - or little brother figure: either way - was becoming more and more comfortable around her. Minato looked away and smiled cutely before his eyes darted toward the kitchen where Sakumo was. "Don't be afraid of my 'old man!'" He clearly wanted to spend time around Sakumo. He respected her husband greatly.

Minato clicked his tongue before asking if he could hold Kakashi. Once the baby was secure in his arms, they both laughed at how Kakashi's eyes focused on his extremely bright blonde hair. He finally said what was bothering him. "Kushina-chan shouldn't call Sakumo-sama an old man."

"He doesn't mind," she said, ruffling his blonde hair. "He's told me a few times that people have been giving him a hard time about his hair since he was a kid."

"He's a great shinobi," Minato said quite seriously.

"He is. And my husband's an even better man."

Minato adjusted Kakashi a little as he thought about how to ask a question that had been bothering him. "Nee-chan, Jiraiya-sensei has had me do some things that I'm… not sure of.."

Natsumi frowned. It had better not be what she thought it might be. Minato's thoughts on what shinobi life would entail were startlingly clear and realistic for a child of his age. –Maybe that's simply what growing up in wartime would do to you. "Shinobis are asked to do many things that are immoral, Minato-kun." Minato only nodded but didn't meet her eyes. "Or is he asking you - or advising you - to do things that are immoral on a more personal level?"

He gave no answer. Sakumo had walked in and when Minato realized that the silver-haired Jonin had been listening in, he turned bright red.

Natsumi waited as long as her patience allowed. "Is Jiraiya asking you to do pervy shit, Minato?"

"Nee-chan!"

"Remember that Jiraiya's a great shinobi, Natty. We need him in the war," Sakumo advised with a wry smile as he dried his hands on a towel. "I'll kick his butt for you if you'd like!"

"No, wait," Minato said, beginning to panic. His big sister's hair was crackling with chakra and she looked so irritated. "I - I don't want to get sensei or anyone into any trouble - I should've never - oh man - oh MAN! I just… I didn't say that!"

"Maa, relax kiddo. Jiraiya's got certain… behaviors that you shouldn't emulate. It's as simple as that."

"Perversions," Natsumi sniffed, her cheeks heating up when her husband tilted his head at her and quickly wiggled his eyebrows - as if I'm a pervert, too! How dare he! He's just as bad as me and that's only between the two of us. "There's nothing wrong with looking at someone you like, otouto..."

It was still weird calling her chibified father that but he was adorable, blushing like a tomato. "Just don't make them uncomfortable; think of how you'd like to be treated! And if someone's in an onsen or something, give them respect and privacy. And if you see some giant pervert, no matter his position in the village, who's perving on women there? Kick his ass hard - and if there are kunoichis around: kick him straight into them so they can cut off his balls."

"Nee-chan!" Sakumo-sama was laughing but seemed to be in agreement.

"My wife's violent."

"Well duh: NINJA! But you'll be around that pervert a lot and I want you to consider how you would feel if he perved on someone you like-liked, Minato," Natsumi said, hoping that made it clear. When she saw a spark of shock go through the little blonde's eyes after a few beats she felt victorious. "Soon you'll be going through puberty - well, people go through it at a whole range of ages but ninjas tend to develop earlier…" Minato had slapped his hands over his ears as she went on lecturing even as he freaked out since it was hilarious.

"Lalalalala!"


Orochimaru woke up to the sounds of sobbing. He immediately knew that it was Tsunade. His throat was exceedingly dry and he struggled to remember what had happened. "How… long?"

It had been a very long time since he felt this terrible.

"DON'T TALK," the fiery pregnant woman demanded.

Orochimaru scowled. As usual, Tsunade was already giving him a bigger headache, and judging from all the activity in his hospital room it wasn't going to get any better soon. Surprisingly, he felt the cooling sensation of iryo-ninjutsu pressed against his temples. "Bi…wako…sama."

"There, there, Orochi-kun," the Sandaime's wife said soothingly, "how many times have I asked you not to use that honorific?" She brought a glass of ice chips to her husband's prodigious student's thin lips.

"Many," he eventually admitted. He sluggishly snapped his fingers at Tsunade when Biwako turned around and his blotchy, teary-faced teammate moved into action, lumbering as it was. Tsunade pressed a cool glass to his lips and he was able to take a few sips of water before she took it away again.

"Tsunade-chan," Biwako scolded. "Only ice chips for now!"

Orochimaru frowned at his sensei's wife. "You should be in bed." Biwako had given birth less than three weeks ago. His eyes widened as he finally remembered what had gotten him to this state. "Did they get her?"

"No," Biwako said as she handed Tsunade a tissue. She knew whom he meant immediately. "You've been out for a long time: three weeks now!"

Orochimaru was stunned. "I need to report to sensei and… " He reluctantly turned to his teammate. Lady Sarutobi was an excellent mid-nin but his teammate was Senju Freaking Tsunade. "I can't feel my legs."


Hiruzen crossed his arms over his chest, one of his feet planted on the wall under the window of his student's hospital room as he leaned against it. "I'm surprised that you didn't contact us at once, Orochimaru-kun." His wife shot him "the look" but he shot her another. He needed to speak with his student, and she'd already told him that Orochimaru was well enough to report in. "Explain."

"As if you needed more on your plate, sensei," Orochimaru snarked.

Hiruzen glared at him. "They threatened our jinchuuriki. They tried to TAKE our jinchuuriki and were even able to go after her and her newborns! SAKUMO'S newborns," he added, knowing that his student was friends - or at least close comrades - with and respected The White Fang.

"As soon as I recognized the threat to the jinchuuriki, my clone reported it to you." Orochimaru tapped his temple. "I remember. Or have you forgotten, in your old age, that shadow clones transfer memories to their original?"

Hiruzen sighed as his wife chuckled beside him. He wasn't old! Orochimaru always had to be a cheeky brat, though. "I did receive your clone's report. What happened after that?"

"ROOT forces joined the Iwa shinobis' attacks - which I can admit, I did not anticipate. My carelessness in blindly trusting my comrades will not be repeated."

Hiruzen rolled his eyes. "Around 20% of ROOT joined the attack on you and the Hatakes."

"The foreign shinobis anticipated the jinchuuriki giving birth in the cave."

"That's right," the Hokage agreed, having confirmed Orochimaru's clone's initial report. "The ROOT nins that participated in the attack were conscripted by Danzo from other villages aside from a few that were blindly - rather insanely - loyal to Danzo."

"What did I tell you about that man, sensei?!"

"I know, I know…"

"Danzo was ALWAYS jealous," Biwako agreed, having only put up with the man because of the supposed "friendly rivalry" her husband felt toward him.

"I suppose you are punishing Sakumo," Orochimaru nearly hissed. His sensei might be a great shinobi but in trying to emulate Lord Second, he often went too far.

"I've given him a week off."

Biwako patted Orochimaru's arm. "He's getting soft."

"Hardly," the Sandaime disagreed. "Next week ROOT will be assigned the mission of bringing a second tailed beast to Konoha. –Or if they're sealed, killing Kumo and Iwa's jinchuurikis."

It took a few moments before Orochimaru realized that his mouth had fallen open. It must be the drugs.

"We'll teach them to mess with Konoha," Hiruzen added, turning to wink at his student as he walked out the door.

Biwako covered the Snake Sannin up with an additional blanket and smoothed it out over his chest. "I'm going to induce Tsunade tomorrow morning. Between the two of us, we'll get you back on your feet very soon Orochi-kun."

"Hai," Orochimaru sighed - his mind elsewhere.


"Natty? Baby?"

Natsumi woke up in an odd position on the couch. "Oh! Sake, I'm sorry..."

"Don't," Sakumo interrupted, trying to deny the fact that he may never see her again. "I've got a mission, Natty. It's going to be a long one." He watched his mate's face pale drastically. "I'm so sorry."

Sakumo had been spending all of the time he could with his wife and pups but it just wasn't enough. Call him a coward but he hadn't gotten the nerve up to tell her about this for the last several days. And now it was time. His cowardice in all ways ended now.

"How long?" Natsumi tried to hold the tears back and breathe normally. She had a very bad feeling about this, though, and was internally panicking.

"Quite some time," Sakumo said softly as he ran his hand through her hair. "I'll contact you as often as I can but I'll be on the frontlines." He caught his wife when she threw herself at him.

"Please come back to me," she whispered to him desperately.

"I have to do this, Natty. Not just for the village - but for you and the pups; for all of our pack, in fact."

She wanted to ask what that meant but all she could do was cry, kiss, and beg him to be alright as he held her tightly. She later watched him leave through tears but she would forever remember his words:

"I leave them to you, baby. You're a perfect wife and a wonderful mother," he'd kissed her desperately.
"We're mates, Natsu; we'll be together again no matter what."

Sakumo had kissed their sleeping twins on his way out and had looked at all of them as if he'd never see them again before he left.