Ch. 3
The next week saw Akemi's life, as Zabuza's wife and an apparently unknown ninja of Konoha, quite different than what she had expected.
The notoriety as being the woman who enticed 'the demon of the mist' to come and join the forces of Konoha; and with the gate guards Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo spreading that rumor to the ninja populace it was soon known by all with a headband, and with Kakashi telling everyone he overheard discussing it; that she had been a long term infiltration specialist, who was taking a break due to the presence of a mission baby, coincidentally Zabuza's, and that she was a close friend of his (along with the fact of her 'true identity' as the Yondaime's niece) she soon became very popular among the ninjas of the village, and of course among the connected civilians.
The shift from being a pariah to becoming almost a princess of Konoha was rather hard on the newly named Akemi; especially as she was adjusting to married life at the same time.
In the beginning she only experienced her inherited awe and respect when she was out shopping or showing her husband and his student their new village; as she was disguised as Naruko during her trips to the red light district, but after a week she was informed about the new member on team 7, and decided that she had used enough time on settling in, and that she wanted to start training again.
(It was lucky that she was human and not in fact a fox demon, as the nightly activities of her and Zabuza would have made her pregnant many times over, had that been the situation.)
The new member of the team was the only surviving member of a genin team from last year, who had lost his sensei and the other male teammate during a routine mission gone wrong. The fault for their death was his female teammate; who was a typical fangirl, and had been fangirling over the now deceased team member, resulting in him having to sacrifice his life to protect the client, as she was truly unable to carry her weight. The female teammate had ended up taking her own life, as she couldn't live with the shame and guilt of being responsible for her crush's and sensei's death, leaving the boy, by the name of Hayashi Morio without any of his former team.
This resulted in a new teammate who wasn't ready to ignore the uselessness of team 7's own fangirl: Sakura.
According to the daily visiting Kakashi; this had resulted in a rather unstable team, but he was sure that when they had all worked through there issues (or Sakura quit; whatever may come first), they would be a solid team. He had high hopes about them being able to enter the Chunin exam, but only time would show.
Concerning the Chunin exam; it wouldn't be needed for Akemi. Her actions during the wave mission, and the fact that it was needed for her new identity, had her promoted to chunin.
…o0O0o…
Akemi was wandering down the main road of the red light district, in her guise as Naruko. She had wanted to visit 'The Blue Lotus' which was the whorehouse where all of her female friends were working and living in… well she called them friends, they were more like older sisters and an aunt.
As she sneaked into the breakroom she was confronted with the sound of tears. Quietly stepping closer, to see if there was anything she could help with, while being hidden should she need to scare someone away, she came upon the sight of a crying Kaida in Hanako's arms. Hanako was the oldest of her friends, at the age of 34, and she had lived and worked at 'The Blue Lotus' for the last 10 years; since the death of her whole family, including her fiancé, during the Kyuubi's attack. Akemi had never found out why she ended up as a whore, as she seemed rather capable in many other things, but maybe it just was her preference.
As she walked out of the shadows, to find out what was wrong and if she could help, she was seen by Aimi who was standing helplessly, with a hopeless yet enraged look on her face.
She walked over to Akemi and started to explain in a quiet, almost whispering voice.
"Kaida was forced by a customer to have unprotected sex about 2 month ago… she is pregnant… there is no way she can keep the baby… she won't get kicked out, but she will be forced to give her baby to the orphanage."
Kaida was 16 years old, and had lost her whole family when they fled from the civil war in Mist. She had been the only one to reach Konoha, and all of the family's gold had been stolen on the way. As a fugitive she wasn't able to find a job, and had ended as a whore to get a roof above her head and food on the table. There was nothing she wished more for than a family. To be told that she wouldn't be able to keep, and might never again see, the baby she would be carrying in her stomach for nine months had to be devastating.
Aimi had also lost her whole family in the Kyuubi attack. She had been 8 years old when it happened, and had been burdened with crippling anxiety attacks for one and a half year afterwards. When she finally was ready to begin her life again, she had wanted to become a ninja; only to be told that it was too late, and that she should find another job.
She had only been in 'The Blue Lotus for two years, as she had been thrown out of the orphanage at age 16 due to there not being enough room. She had wanted to work in library, but as she didn't have any money or a family willing to fight for her, she was forced to find other employment (the road to becoming a librarian were expensive and time consuming, as you had to have read all of the books in your domain, making it an impossible road to take for a poor orphan). Through the twists of life she ended up as a whore, even though it was one of the better paid establishments, and she had a regular customer; her john was married, and she couldn't exactly get a reputable job now, not after she had 'sullied' herself.
Akemi tried to find a solution to the devastating problem, but it was only when she gave up, looking down in defeat, and spotted her stomach she started to think of a feasible solution.
"I have been keeping a lot of stuff secret since my C-rank mission, you know; my mission to wave. It wasn't on purpose… no that isn't true… I was told not to tell anyone, because if anyone found out, more than my own life would be in danger. But you guys are my friends… my family. I need you to promise me not to tell anyone what I am telling you now… and I might have a solution that will make you capable of keeping your child." The last part was addressed to Kaida, but all three of them were looking at her with hope in their eyes.
"We promise… but Naruko, you can hardly look after yourself, how could you find a feasible solution?" it was Hanako who were speaking; being the oldest she was also the most responsible out of them.
"I had a name change… to Namikaza Akemi… ten hours later I became Momochi Akemi… I am going to become a mother, but I don't want to stop being a ninja… I have only just begun after all and…" a shocked Kaida interrupted her.
"Do you mean you got adopted by Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the mist...? And what in the world do you mean by getting pregnant? Last I knew you were born male; a henge is all good for ticking people, but it doesn't change your gender."
Akemi gave them a nervous smile.
"Surprise; I can actually change my gender… and no I didn't get adopted… I got married… my baby is a mission baby, and the baby's father; one Momochi Zabuza, decided that he wanted to have a part in raising his child… so we got married…" then her sheepy voice turned determinate, and she continued.
"But that isn't important. I will need a babysitter when I start taking missions again, and I will need someone I trust. Not to mention that it would be much better if the babysitter had a child herself; as I will want to change back to myself as fast as possible, something that will be difficult if I will have to breastfeed my child myself… If I change to male I won't be having any milk in my breasts when I change back… so I thought; maybe you would want to be my live in nanny…? What do you say? Wanna leave this place behind?"
At her hopeful look the three whores started laughing, relived but with a hint of hysteria.
When they had all calmed down Akemi turned toward Hanako and Aimi with an apology on her lips, but she was met with head shaking.
"We will find a way out of here on our own… we never expected help to come like this; and the fact that you can save Kaida and her unborn child is more than enough… you cannot save the world, no matter how much you wish to." Were Hanako's quiet words, which Aimi was nodding along to.
Akemi gave them a relived smile, and then she got a confused look on her face.
"Wait a moment… you didn't question why I had taken the name Namikaze… quite frankly I thought that would be the most shocking thing for you…"
The women were so relived at the earlier found solution that they couldn't keep from having a little fun at Akemi's expence.
"Ghasp… you're right… how could we forget such an important discovery…? I mean; there is no way that you could be the Yondaimes child… you look nothing alike, and I am sure that if he had had a child the Sandaime would have told everyone… after all there is no danger connected with letting his child carry his name."
Then Hanako, who had been the one talking, and the two others send her a look, clearly stating that she was an idiot.
At Akemi's confused and sorry face Aimi started to explain, trying to make her understand that they truly didn't care about her new revelation.
"while most of the villagers, civilians or ninjas, might not wish to see the truth, and keep on their blinds; we in the red light district don't have that luxury… plus we know you… your looks, when you look like yourself, are just like the Yondaime… and your personality… everyone knew about the flame the Yondaime carried for Uzumaki Kushina… you showing up with her name, his looks, and a personality that were a perfect mix of theirs, although colored by growing up in our part of town… you could be noting but their son… or daughter if that is what you want to be."
Akemi's cheeks colored red… it was the first time she had been told that she resembled her parents, and to be told that, in such a positive way, by her self-made family made her truly happy. Then she registered the last part of the little speech.
"Wait- no- I don't want to be a girl… the only reason I am a girl right now is because of the pregnancy… I don't hate being a girl… but I have never been in doubt of whether I'm a girl or a boy… sure it is helpful to look like a girl when I have to sneak around, or when it is needed during a mission… but look where I ended because of that… pregnant at 10… not exactly an endorsement for the jutsu."
The three women couldn't keep from laughing at her flustered face, but they did stop trying to kid her.
"When will I move?" the quiet question came from Kaida, cutting through the others hilarity. When Akemi looked at her; she was confronted with her uncertainty for the future, and the illogical fright that her savior's promise wasn't the truth.
Akemi smiled assuringly at her.
"You can come with me home today when I go home… that seems the most logical. And while you know I ain't dissing your guys work… I very much doubt you will want another night of work, when you don't need it."
All of the three women were nodding in agreement, even Hanako who normally didn't say anything negative about her work. While their work could at times make them feel good; there were customers who they sometimes wished they could turn away.
…o0O0o…
Akemi, under the disguise as Naruko, and Kaida didn't stay for very long. Only long enough to get Kaida's affairs in order, and for Akemi to get an update of what had happened while she had been away or otherwise busy.
As they walked down one of the back streets of the red light district, on the way to Akemi's new home, which was placed in one of the better parts of town, primarily populated by non-clan ninja families and the few rich but small, often times only one member strong, ninja-clans, she thought back to how she became so knowledgeable about the layout of this part of the village.
She had, or rather he, as he had been Naruto at that time, been thrown out of the orphanage at the age of 4. Actually the day after his 4 years birthday; the matron of the orphanage had told him that he was old enough to take care of himself, and to never darken their doorstep again. When the Old man Hokage had found him and given him an apartment of his own, shortly after his 5th birthday, due to him being recognized while going through the trash of Ichiraku Ramen and brought to the Hokage's attention by Teuchi, the ramen chief, the Hokage obviously thought that he had only just been thrown out, thinking that it would have been impossible for him to survive the winter when he was told by Naruto that he had been thrown out after his birthday.
In truth he had been living on the street in the poor part of town, where the orphanage was placed, until about the beginning of November, where he had, purely on accident, wandered into a bar in the red light district, where the thieves and hustlers of the village normally hang out. He had been picked up by Jigme, and the rest as they say is history… or at least it was his history.
He was moved from home to home, hideout to hideout, and learned most of his sexual education during the nights he spent in the closet at one or the other of the whores' places; while they were 'entertaining guests'. It was also there that he learned about the few in the village who preferred their same gender, and as such never developed a discrimination against same sex couples. Something he later, during his time in the academy, learned was frowned heavily at.
And even after he had got his own apartment, he seldom spent more than the night there, as he easily became lonely and started to miss his 'family'. As most of the people in the red light district had hardly had a normal or, in most peoples' case, even nice childhood, most of his 'family' didn't know how to entertain him, and ended up teaching him all they knew, whether it was about lock picking, where to hit a man so he went down, either temporary or permanently, how to entice a man to your bed, and make him come back for more, or the simple things like reading and counting, instead of the normal pursuit of children his age; like playing ninja or hide and seek.
At the end of it all; Naruto could have easily taken over the control of the red light district, or started 'working' in any of the different trades his 'family' worked in, but he wanted to be a ninja. Mostly because he couldn't decide between the different professions, and being a ninja allowed him to use all of the skills he had acquired during his childhood.
When he had started the ninja academy, the people of the red light district, whether they knew Naruto personally or only through the stories of their colleges and friends, decided collectively to make him out to be the best ninja possible. Not necessarily the most famous, but the best; as if to represent the red light district. And while he was heavily handicapped by sabotage from his academy teachers, he was a much more capable ninja than any of the rest that came out of the academy.
Sure he didn't know all that much about the history of the world, or how to calculate The Projectile Motion of a kunai, but he could kill, cheat, steal from, seduce or trick any man, be they ninja or civilian, and though most thought him an unrepentant prankster, it was in a matter of fact a training technic that Makoto had devised for him. The irritating and humiliating pranks, combined with his orange jumpsuit, made him train in evasion, hiding, speed, how to sneak into secure areas, and how to keep track of other ninjas in a highly hostile situation.
Every week he was given an objective, and a time wherein he was not allowed to get caught. When he got a little older, and the chunins weren't enough, he really started to get something out of his small training exercises, as the ANBU was much more difficult to hide from or outrun. Not that he couldn't do it, but for a while he didn't succeed in his objective of the week, and as such was put under much hasher training in his other 'subjects' by his 'teachers'.
Just before they left the red light district, Naruko went in between two buildings, and seconds later returned as Akemi. Not that there were all that big a difference between the two looks, except for the difference in age; as Naruko looked to be around 18 years old, and Akemi was 14, and the lack of whisker marks and smaller breasts on Akemi.
They secretly left the district, but soon they were just a part of the moving masses of people to the watching Haku. He had been given orders to follow Zabuza's new wife. They may be married, and he a part of their new village, but he did in no way trust his new 'wife'… at least not yet. After all; the only reason he got married to a 10 year old boy, was that he got tricked into having unprotected sex with an, at that time, enemy ninja.
Oh; he did have nothing but respect for his new wife, she was probably the ninja of Konoha with the most 'ninja mindset' out of all of the ninja bellow jounin. And he was sure that they would, once trust had been established, become one hell of a pair. But as for right now; he didn't trust her at all.
…o0O0o…
A week later, after rigorous training from her new husband (he found the standards they let genins graduate at to be like sending them on suicide missions at the get go; there was no way they were ready for anything more than the chores disguised as D-rank missions for a long time, and even though he was impressed with how she handled the situation in wave, he had found that Sakura's level was the norm and were rather put out with Akemi's fighting skills too. He was determined to make her at least at Haku's level before her birth and her reentering into missions.); she met the first person who absolutely didn't like her new persona.
It wasn't the fact that she was a ninja, by Kami no; she was one herself, but the fact that she had been willing to 'sully herself' to complete her fictive infiltration mission. In Inuzuka Hana's eyes she should have killed, or taken Zabuza as prisoner, instead of seducing him. She didn't care at all that some missions called for discretion and that the fake mission parameters said that she was supposed to leave no one with the knowledge that she was a Kunichi. According to Zabuza; this was a clear sign that she was a clan heir, as clan heirs were never given the 'dirty' missions like assassination of a child or seduction of an enemy or informant. She simply had rose-tinted glasses on, about what it meant to be a ninja… a little like the fangirls in the academy.
None the less, this resulted in the rather dangerous situation of being heavily disliked by one of the more important, both politically and socially, ninja's of 'their generation'; even though there was 4 years difference between Hana's age and Akemi's supposed age.
In the end Akemi lost face when she had to decline a spar with, the rather dismissive of her skills, heir to the Inuzuka clan.
Sure she had told Hana that it was because of her pregnancy, and that she had been advised to decline offers of spars, as the alliance of Momochi Zabuza and his bloodline carrying apprentice was dependent of her birthing a healthy child, but the truth was; that while she had the title of Chunin, and indeed had a lot of skills not normally found in a genin, her fighting abilities was far from where they should be according to her rank.
Another lie was that she did indeed spar, daily and rather vigorously with her husband. This, and her lack of fighting power and finesse, was luckily kept a secret from the populace of Konoha, due to the rather large training field behind the Momochi, formerly Namikaze, mansion. As it had formerly belonged to the former Hokage; it had its own private training field, although it had earlier, when her father's parents lived, been a rather large garden.
The house, while not as big as the Uchiha, Aburame or Hyuga compound, and indeed were only comparable to the main house of the Nara clan, was big enough to possibly house a restarted clan. It had at one point in time been the main house of the small Namikaze clan, but as the members dwindled they started to sell out of their land, and slowly new small clan houses started to spring up around it. The ground was none the less one of the biggest in that area of the village, and the house itself held 20 bedrooms.
But even more important than the size of the training field, was the fact that it was behind a large wall, which the former Hokage had reinforced with seals, making it impossible to scale. This made it possible for Akemi to use her Shadow clones; a technic she had been rather well known to use in large scale under her identity as Naruto.
Zabuza almost cut Kakashi's head of when he learned that she was unaware of the memory feedback feature of the clone. Afterwards he turned toward Akemi and chewed her out for her stupidity in not noticing, but at least she got to see Kakashi cower; he hadn't been a very good sensei, even though he was a more than passible friend.
Apropos friend; she found a new friend, now that she could no longer hang out with her former classmates. Sure he was the age of her parents, but somehow their personalities just clicked.
Her new 'best bud' was from the former Ino-Shika-Cho team; the parents of the new Ino-Shika-Cho team.
While her husband found her ridiculously un-careful in becoming 'best buds' with the jonin commander, and the undisputed smartest ninja in the village, who himself was best friends with the head of the T&I department, and head of a clan of mind readers, and of course Chouza; a man who could charm the secrets out of an Aburame, he was also rather accepting of her spending a large amount of her time with the other male.
Most people thought it was because of him being so secure in her devotion to him (with her being so submissive to him), but the truth was that he truly didn't care if she was with them in that way.
When Akemi questioned him about it, having found out the truth due to a slip of the tongue from Haku, his answer truly surprised her.
"While I have no doubt about your commitment to me; I am quite aware of your responsibility to repopulate the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans. If you only had children from me; you would only be able to remake the clans under one banner. A diversity of fathers to your children would make a splitting of the clans possible; and as you are my wife, any children of yours, no matter the biological father, would be for me to raise."
To hear that her husband expected her to have children with others quite surprised her, and frankly made her a little uncomfortable. But as she was committed to follow her husband's wishes; she was willing to do as he wished. Not that it was relevant right now, as she was unable to become pregnant once again while being pregnant already.
His words also made her think. She truly wished to become a great ninja, and later Hokage, but she was also aware of her responsibility to repopulate her clans. She could hardly do both; unless she married, or got someone pregnant, as Naruto. It would be something she would often think of, and ponder upon, in the following months. She was only ten years old (no matter that she lived her life as a 14 years old) and would have time in the future, but it wasn't something she could forget about.
…o0O0o…
While Akemi liked Shikaku a great deal, and found him to be a much greater friend than his son had been, even in their years of skipping together in the academy, she truly detested his wife Nara Yoshino.
"Shikaku I don't understand why you accept her treating you like that!" the two of them were once again sitting, during one of the jonin commander's rare free days, at the shogi board.
Having just experienced Yoshino once again heaping verbal abuse at Shikaku due to him being lazy (something she really should have expected upon marrying the head of a clan known for its laziness), even though even Akemi, who was only a friend, knew how hard the man worked during work hours. She really didn't understand how he could stomach having such a demanding and domineering wife; someone who had no respect for how hard he worked for the sake of Konoha.
It wasn't like he never trained either; you could clearly see how much he trained from how ripped his body was. He was almost comparable to her Zabuza-sama.
Shikaku gave a sigh, then looked carefully around; he really didn't want his wife to overhear.
"We have been married for 13 years… we have a son together, that got to count for something!?" whether he was asking, or trying to convince himself, she didn't know; she just knew that he definitely didn't believe his own words. Apparently she was on to something. She tried asking in to it, hoping to find out what the real reason behind such a relaxed man as Shikaku having decided to marry a harpy like Yoshino.
"Why did you marry her anyway? I mean sure; she is very beautiful. But why marry someone with such an incompatible disposition?"
Now Shikaku looked rather sheepish. He scratched under his goatee and hemmed a little. When she just continued looking questioningly at him, he finally answered in a slightly ashamed tone of voice.
"She got pregnant."
Akemi couldn't keep in a snort of laugther. At Shikaku's chagrined look she smiled almost lovingly at him, shaking her head lightly at his stupidity.
"Shikaku… it's me you're talking to… remember what happened on my last mission, and why I had such a shortgun wedding…? With a missing nin at that!"
That made Shikaku himself release a snort in laughter and self-disgust. And he was called the smartest in the village. At least he had Akemi when he started to wallow in self-pity and stupidity.
…o0O0o…
One and a half week later Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza sat in a bar on the border of the red light district. They were quite aware that such a district existed within the village, and actually came there rather often. Not to partake in its lovely women, but for the cheap drinks, and the seldom hint they could get about what was going on at the bottom of the society.
"So… how does it go with you and Yoshino?" it was Inoichi's turn to ask the, by now, common question. And he and Choza expected the just as usual answer of 'fine'.
Shikaku emptied yet another saucer of sake, and after a sigh and a quiet 'troublesome', he answered.
"I have had just about enough of her… if it wasn't for Shikamaru I would have left her by now; and with the speed she is pushing him away, it won't be a valid reason for much longer."
Choza put down the cup he had just lifted, and Inoichi almost spat out the beer he had just filled his mouth with. They had not expected him to answer that, no matter how honest, and quite frankly expected the sentiment was.
Then Choza got a glint in his eye.
"Oh I see… spending a little time with your new, young 'friend' has finally opened your eyes! Looking for a new wife I see…" then with a matching grin Inoichi completed the sentence.
"I'm sad to have to inform you that she is taken…"
Shikamaru gave them a deadpan stare, then he gave a little self-discriminating smile.
"Sure… laugh it up. If she wasn't already married I would have taken her… no matter that she is only two years older than my son… she is exactly like a woman should be: quiet, hardworking, demur and able to protect herself… and I bet when she get her child she will be the ideal mother… not like Yoshino… always harping up about how Shikamaru isn't achieving his full potential.
But I'm serious… if she runs Shikamaru out of the house I'm getting rid of her… it is becoming much more troublesome to stay together than to live alone."
Now his former teammates were truly shocked… sure they had been surprised at him finally voicing his grievances with his wife, but to hear that he truly was at the end of the line, and seriously considered becoming a bachelor again, that did surprise them. He had after all grinded his teeth for many years; both because of his son and heir, but also because of the clan, and the villagers image of the clan. Even though it was legal; for a clan member, or worse a clan head, to get divorced was quite unusual. Primarily because the former spouse would be holding knowledge about the clan that most clans wouldn't want to leave the family. It would take quite a bit of work to change routines, locks and codes if Yoshino got thrown out of the clan she had married into. The same thing that happened whenever a clan member of one of the clans became a missing nin.
But even so, if this was truly how Shikaku felt; they would inform their wives that they were to start to distance themselves from the Nara clan matriarch. They were both aware that; even though to an outsider the wives of the three former teammates looked as close as siblings, the only reason they appeared so was because of their clans being so closely knit together. Their two wives didn't really have all that in common with the Nara clan heads wife; neither in hobbies, childrearing or temperaments.
After a closer, but discreet, look at their friend; the two men decided, each on their own, that they would inform their wives to try to create a friendship with Momochi's wife. Although they believed that there would never come anything out of it; it was clear where Shikaku's heart lay.
…o0O0o…
While Nara Shikaku was falling in love with his wife, Zabuza was finally starting to trust her.
He had been asking around in town about Uzumaki Naruto (and it was only due to the Hokage's interference he wasn't brought into T&I due to asking about the village's closest guarded asset), and was rather shocked at the animosity he was met with; contraire to his starting belief it wasn't because of him, but rather because of the subject matter he was asking about, something he soon discovered.
It was first upon questioning a chunin who worked at the academy, one Umino Iruka, that he got a description of his new wife, which wasn't filled with swearwords and hateful comments.
According to Umino; Uzumaki Naruto was a rather straight forward kind of guy. What was special about Naruto was; that unlike every other ninja in the elemental country, Naruto had a Samurai mindset. When he gave his word he kept it, even if it was to an enemy.
Finding that little tidbit of fact rather fascinating, he started to ask around again, to hear if that was the truth, and lo and behold; it was.
Uzumaki Naruto, now Momochi Akemi, always kept her word. And as she had promised to be faithful and care for him, be it in sickness or health, he finally started to trust his new wife.
That brought on new dynamics in their household. Where before Zabuza had expected total obedience from his wife, and wasn't shy about informing her of this, it was now a rather understated understanding.
It didn't really change anything on the surface, but they all became more relaxed. Zabuza also started to ask questions about Akemi's life before their marriage, and willingly answered questions in return. This brought a new understanding between the two of them, and soon they were so comfortable in each other's company that people, meaning civilians, who didn't know who Zabuza was, believed the two of them to have known each other for their whole life.
With the understanding of each other came a relaxation on Zabuza's part, in his monitoring of his wife through Haku. Haku still kept an eye on Akemi when she was out of their home, but he no longer brought tidings back to Zabuza about what she was doing, and with whom.
They truly had come together as a family. True there was not yet any love; only trust and attraction. But now they both felt that they had a chance at becoming something more. They had an actual chance at falling in love.