Chapter Two: Fox + Wolf = Squirrel?
By DemonClowSorceress and Red
Disclaimer: WE do not own Naruto. But we can dream.
Red: *still holds up ITACHI X NARUTO sign*
"So Sasuke, can we keep him?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. This was the fifth time he'd been asked in the last two minutes. Again he gave his answer. "No, you can't. You can't even take care of yourself, Naruto."
"That's not true!" pouted the blond boy, widening his eyes in a classic begging look.
"Those don't work on me," snapped Sasuke.
A sly smile crept across Naruto's face. "That's not what you said last night....." Which of course made Sasuke blush red as a stop sign.
Their attention was again brought to the small bundle of fur cuddled in Naruto's arms. He - they had checked the child's gender and determined it to be a boy - was staring up at them with wide blue eyes, sucking his chubby index finger. The child seemed to be less than a year old but older than a few months. He gave a wet grin around his finger and said very clearly, "Chi."
Naruto's voice hit girlish levels in his squeal. "OMG Sasuke, he's soo cute! Can't we keep him?"
"What is this 'we' stuff?" Sasuke had to be the voice of reason and ignore the very large portion of himself that was begging to take both males and hug them to bits. "We can't raise a kid, are you kidding? You're the Nine-Tail Demon Fox boy, I'm an Uchiha-turned-traitor with a traitorous older brother in Akatsuki, which, if you remember, is the organization out to get you and Gaara and all the other Tailed Beasts containers. Not to mention you and me aren't exactly the poster children of wholesome families."
"So?" Naruto smiled at the child. "I wonder why he's wearing a squirrel suit. Isn't it hot in there, little guy?" And he reached to pull off the hoodie covering the kid's head.
The child flipped onto his stomach, stretched his arms and legs, and literally scurried up Naruto's arm and onto the opposite shoulder. Sasuke watched in surprise as the ears on the hood actually twitched and moved on their own, like actual ears. The child's tail lashed like a puppy's as his bright eyes watched Naruto's frozen fingers. "Chi," he said again, blinking once.
"That's different," remarked Sasuke. He got a little closer to the boy, examining him closely with his Sharingan. "His chakra's like an animal's, not controlled at all. And as far as I can tell, that suit's staying on."
"Hiro-chan!" Naruto suddenly announced, startling both Sasuke and the squirrel-child. "That's his name!"
The black-haired Uchiha gave him a confused look. "The hell?"
"Hiro means 'a light on the road', and we found him on this road!" Naruto sounded very pleased at his reasoning.
"For one, this is a forest path. Two, we found him in a tree. Three, don't name him. Then you'll get attached to him." Sasuke slapped his face with his hand, exasperated. "Four, we're not even keeping him."
Suddenly there was a stubborn spark in Naruto's blue eye. Sasuke felt his stomach clench for two different reasons. One, because it made the blond look really damn cute. Two, because he realized that Naruto wouldn't let go of the kid.
The kid in question poked Naruto's cheek. "Chi." The stubborn light became a warmer glow that lit up his face. Sasuke frowned; that was supposed to be his job. He hated to admit it, but he was jealous of the squirrel-child.
So he said it. "Just leave it here."
"CHI!"
And something thwacked him on the head with the force of a falling fifty-pound anvil. Sasuke went down.
Naruto gasped. From frickin' nowhere a horse-sized acorn poofed above Sasuke's head and fell, knocking him down and effectively pinning him to the ground. The kid - Hiro - scurried down Naruto's arm and leg, hit the ground, and trotted over on hands and feet to sit at Sasuke's head. "Chi," he said again, raising a hand.
From nowhere a head-sized acorn materialized and fell into his hand. Hiro proceeded to whack Sasuke with his nut (haha) like he was hammering a nail.
Meanwhile Naruto was close to wetting his pants, he was laughing so hard at the picture in front of him. Dropping to his knees, hands pressed against his stomach, he laughed until tears streamed from his eyes. "Oh my gawd, you should see the look on your face!" he yelled between gasps. "You look like a bug that got squashed by an acorn!"
"Shut up and help me up!" snapped Sasuke, shaking his head to try avoiding Hiro's bashing.
**************
Obviously the sight of another person with Sasuke and Naruto, especially a small baby-like child, made people look twice. Three times. Some even stared for a couple minutes.
The Konoha Twelve heard about the arrival through gossip channels and were lying in wait when Sasuke and Naruto reached the crossroads before they seperated for their homes. Being as focused as they were on Hiro, the two boys never saw, heard, or sensed Kiba coming until an arm snaked around their shoulders and his head thrust between theirs, screaming, "Holy cow, you guys really did it! Congrats!"
"Which of you's the mom?" asked Neji with a smirk, coming up with the second wave. Seeing the way Naruto held Hiro he chuckled, "Never mind. I figured it out."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically. "Having fun you guys?"
"So much fun, it's actually ridiculous," admitted Kiba. And then he got a good look at Hiro. "Whoa, wait. It's a squirrel."
"He's a squirrel-boy," corrected Naruto. "And his name is Hiro-chan. Problems with it?"
All the Konoha Twelve cocked their heads as the following equation ran through their heads in a series of pictures:
Fox (Naruto) + Wolf (Sasuke) = Squirrel (Hiro) ???????????
The girls crowded around because, hey, girls like cute things. It's like a rule or something. "AWW!" crooned Sakura, stroking Hiro's cheek. "He's soo cute!"
"I just want to take him home!" squealed Ino. "So adorable!"
"Wonder who his real parents are," murmured Tenten.
"So, who keeps him overnight?" asked Hinata, bringing Naruto and Sasuke back into the conversation.
The blond looked to the black. And vice versa. "Um....." they said in unison.
Shino stepped forward. "You two aren't going to switch him off every night, are you? That's not condusive to a healthy upbringing."
"The boy shouldn't be at Naruto's house," insisted Sakura. "I've heard noises in those garbage piles that I'm not entirely sure about. Some mutant thing could eat Hiro or something."
"Hey!" Naruto said in an offended tone.
Sasuke sighed. "For your information, we'll raise Hiro at my house. It's bigger and that way you can all visit without fear of being attacked by garbage-lurking monsters."
Which made everyone present heave a mental sigh of relief. You couldn't be sure at Naruto's house. There were some things better left undiscovered.
When Sasuke let Naruto and Hiro into his house, the first thing Hiro did when the door shut was bolt down Naruto's arm and crawl up the wall like a spider. Both Sasuke and Naruto's jaws dropped in shock as Hiro made his way up the wall and nestled in the corner of ceiling and wall, back to the corner, staring down at his fathers. "Chi!" he exclaimed happily.
"You think that's the only word he knows?" Naruto asked when his jaw reconnected.
Sasuke shrugged. "What intrigues me more is that he's a squirrel, but that was a really ninja move he did. Kid has potential."
Naruto giggled. "He's cute, isn't he?"
"Yeah." But you're cute too, you idiot. Sasuke sighed. "Well, I guess we're keeping him then."
Suddenly his vision was full of big sparkly blue eyes and spiky blond hair as he was tackle-glomped. "Are you serious?! REALLY?!" squealed Naruto, his arms wrapped around Sasuke's neck. "We can keep him?!"
The overwhelming cuteness in front of him made Sasuke's face blush beet red. "Y-Y-Yeah," he stammered out. "Why not?"
"YAY!" crowed Naruto. "Hear that, Hiro-chan? You can stay with us!" Caught up in the moment, he placed a big kiss on Sasuke's cheek, then let go and jumped up to catch Hiro and spin the small child around. Hiro squealed happily as he spun around and around.
Sasuke grinned, touching his cheek. "Okay then," he said, watching the two happy boys.
A.N. - Review please! The next few chapters will be awesome!