Brief Author's Note: I'm pretty sure there's not an email that goes out if a chapter has just been replaced. So if you're a long time reader friendly suggestion to read the prologue super quick!
Chapter 1: Respect Lost and Deals Made
Mari stood at the observation window that looked into the nursery, filled with sleeping and crying babies alike. Her unwavering gaze was settled on two in particular as they slept peacefully away side by side. One had bright golden hair and rosy chubby cheeks, the other had the trademark red hair of her mother's clan. Mari felt her heart clench painfully as she thought of her beloved cousin. Kushina had been so excited to be a mom and Mari knew she would have been a great one – the best probably. Now she'd never get the chance.
"They're cute aren't they?"
Mari was startled out of her sad thoughts by a familiar voice. She glanced up to see the familiar face of her mother's teammate, Jiraiya. He was grinning like he almost always was, but it looked sadder and more forced than Mari had ever seen it before.
"Yeah, Kushina always did say they'd make cute babies, but this is like, sickeningly cute. Do you see those chubby cheeks on Naruto?" Mari joked, in her usual attempt to lighten the depressive mood. "Ugh." She said in fake disgust.
Jiraiya chuckled a little, perfectly aware of Mari's intention. Silence fell as the two stood side by side and watched the babies of the people they'd loved dearly and lost tragically. Mari knew Jiraiya, her Uncle Jiji, well enough to know that, despite how he was trying to make it look, he was feeling the loss of his student hard. It was probably a little like losing a child.
"So what's going to happen to them now?" Mari asked aloud. A question she'd been wondering in the back of her mind since she'd learned of Kushina and Minato's deaths.
Jiraiya let out a long sigh before answering. "Well, they'll stick around here for a while until there's more room at the orphanage."
Mari swirled on him with wide eyes. "Excuse me? Orphanage? Why would they go to the orphanage? You're their godfather."
"Mari…I can't take care of two kids…it'll get in the way of my research…" Jiraiya whined in a lame excuse.
"Research? Why don't you just call it what it really is? It's peeping! How can you even be concerned about something like that when there are two defenseless lives on the line here?!" Mari snapped, fuming in anger. "Minato and Kushina chose you as their godfather so that if anything should happen, you'd take care of the twins!"
"I can't take them Mariko. It's not because I don't want to, it's because I can't." Jiraiya stressed in a more serious manner. "One day, you'll understand."
Mari glared at him coldly. She'd always known her Uncle Jiji was a bit unorthodox and a gigantic pervert, but she'd always seen him as an honorable man. A man who stood by his promises. But in this moment, she was seeing a side of him she'd never imagined existed. One that had no qualm with walking away from his responsibilities. It was here that she lost all respect for the man she'd once held in such high regard.
"I'll never understand the abandonment of children." She told him coldly, then turned on her heel and walked away.
Outside in the bright sunlight, her mood did little to improve. She walked through the village with her arms crossed over her chest, stewing angrily over this newest bit of information.
An orphanage! Kushina and Minato's children were going to an orphanage, of all places! She couldn't wrap her mind around it. Surely there were people who were willing to take them in? Kushina and Minato had been popular, so one of their friends would have stepped up to raise their children, right? Mari's mind instantly went to Kushina's good friend Mikoto Uchiha before quickly nixing the idea. Mikoto was already the mother of two children, one of which was a newborn baby. It wouldn't be fair to ask her to take care of two more.
She started to gnaw on her thumb as her mind ran through different solutions. The orphanage was not a possibility. Mari had noticed the way the hospital staff treated the twins. It was a cold indifference. The staff made sure the twins' most basic needs were met, but that was it. Unlike the other children in the nursery, they didn't get extra cuddles nor were they spoken to. Having such little direct contact wasn't good for a baby's development. She doubted they'd be treated differently in the orphanage.
"Mari! Hey, Mari!"
Mari stopped and turned to look back to see her teammate, Daichi Uchiha, was jogging up to her.
"What the heck, Mari? I've been calling out to you for a solid three minutes." The boy grumbled in annoyance. "Who's pissed you off now? Kakashi? Asuma?" he blanched a little. "I don't think I've done anything lately that would warrant you to be pissed at me…today at least."
Mari huffed a little. "I was just thinking intensely. Why do people always assume I'm pissed when I'm thinking?"
"Well, it may have something to do with the look of murder on your face." Daichi teased her. When it didn't elicit the response he'd intended, he became serious. "All right jokes aside, what's wrong? It must be something pretty important to have you in such a mood."
"I was at the hospital checking in on Naruto and Noriko when Jiraiya showed up. He told me they're going to the orphanage. Can you believe it?" she fumed in frustration as she started walking again.
Daichi followed her. "Well, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. I mean they could get adopted by a nice family ya know?"
Mari gave him a 'get real' look. "No one is going to adopt Naruto of their own free will. Noriko's got a better chance on her own, but if any of those bastards even think for one second they're splitting them up, then they've got another thing coming. I may only be thirteen, but as their only blood relative in this village, I will cause such a scene."
"You would, wouldn't you Princess?" Daichi joked using Mari's detested childhood nickname. He ignored the look of death she sent his way and rubbed the back of his head. "Too bad you aren't a bit older, then you could take them in."
Mari froze in her tracks. She could take them. She could take them! That was it! That was the solution!
"That's it!" Mari threw her arms around Daichi's neck and gave the boy's cheek a kiss before running off waving over her shoulder. "Thanks for the help Daichi!"
The young Uchiha stood in a daze with cheeks the color of a ripe tomato, completely unsure of what he'd done to help.
"Yeah…don't mention it…"
XxX
A week after the Nine-Tails attack on the village and three days since the memorial for the Yondaime and the others who had fallen from the destruction and defense of the village, Hiruzen found himself back in the office he had only recently vacated in favor of retirement. The council had accepted his return easily enough, he just hoped the Daimyo would as well. As he reflected on this, a knock on the door to his office pulled him away from his thought.
"Enter." He called out.
A small smile tugged at his lips as a familiar young girl with pale blonde hair strode into his office, dragging behind her an equally familiar boy with silver hair and a bored expression. He had wondered when they would show up.
"Mariko, Kakashi, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked.
"We want to talk to you about Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei's children." Mari told him.
"Oh?" Hiruzen asked as he leaned back in his chair. He noted the firm set of Mari's jaw and the suborn look in her eye. She looked so much like her mother sometimes that it bordered on obscene. He also noted how Kakashi's dark gaze fell on everything in the room but him. "What about them?"
Mari took in a deep breath. "We want to take them."
"We do?" Kakashi asked her in a lazy drawl, which earned him an elbow to the ribs, causing him to flinch. "We do."
Hiruzen smirked, feeling rather amused. Then again, he was usually amused by Mariko. She was like a granddaughter to him, much in the way he had felt like her mother had been the daughter he'd never had.
"You want to adopt two newborns?" he asked for clarification.
Mari gave a resolute head nod while Kakashi just gave him a resigned look. Having been friends since their toddler days Kakashi would probably be willing to follow Mari and her whims just about anywhere. It was admirable and a source of amusement for the casual outside observer like himself to watch.
"While I can understand and appreciate your desire to care for your teacher's children, I'm going to have to decline your request at the present time." Hiruzen said.
"But we're –"
Hiruzen held up a hand to cut off Mari's tirade before she could begin.
"I said at this moment, Mariko, my dear. While you two may be adults in the eyes of shinobi, the truth of the matter is that you're much too young to take on the responsibilities of caring for a child." He said to them frankly.
"I told you so." Kakashi whispered to Mari, which earned him a hot glare.
She turned back to Hiruzen with a look that was a cross between a pout and a scowl. "So we're old enough to be sent out on dangerous, life-threatening missions, old enough to kill, old enough to pay taxes, but not old enough to take care of two babies?"
"To put it simply, yes." Hiruzen agreed. "You are still children yourself and have much left to learn. While I admire your willingness, I don't believe you've thoroughly thought this through. Who'd take care of them while your away on missions? Would one of you give up your career as a ninja to stay with them? What happens to them if something were to happen to you in the field? These are all things you need to have prepared when you have one child to care for, let alone two."
Mari hung her head in defeat, her shoulders slumping forward. Kakashi moved a little closer to her and took her hand in his in a show of comfort. Hiruzen watched the two of them with understanding eyes. They'd both already lost much in their young lives, they'd only wished to prevent the same from happening to someone else.
"I will make you a compromise." He told them. Both children looked up at him curiously. "Naruto and Noriko will be released into the care of the local orphanage when they are discharged from the hospital. They will also be under the watch of the ANBU twenty-four seven." His eyes slid to Kakashi for a moment but garnered no reaction from the boy. "Whenever you can spare the time, volunteer at the orphanage. Learn how to care for young children and build a bond with the twins. Then, when you've turned eighteen years old, I will allow you to become their guardians if you still desire it. Do we have a deal?"
Mari glanced towards Kakashi. He gave an indifferent shrug of his shoulders in reply, which made Mari roll her eyes. She turned back to Hiruzen and nodded resolutely.
"Deal."
Author's Commentary: Just so you kind of know what to expect the first part of this story is going to be background that roughly follows Kakashi's ANBU filler arc in the anime. Say what you want about fillers but I personally love it. I get to see smol Kakashi (who needs a fucking hug), teeny Tenzo (probably could also use a hug), baby Itachi (OHMYGODCHILDLETMELOVEYOU), and sweetest cinnamon roll to have ever cinnamon rolled Shisui Uchiha (Tobirama is judging me hard from Ninja-Heaven for the feels that boy gives me).
Interesting headcanon: even in terms outside of his fic, I believe that Kushina is closely related to Tsunade more than we're shown. In this story, Kushina's grandmother is the younger sister of Mito Uzumaki making Kushina and Tsunade cousins in a complicated roundabout way. When Kushina was brought to Konoha she was placed in the care of the Senju's and saw Tsunade as a big sister. In turn growing up, Mari saw Kushina in the same light. Kushina was Mari's idol.
See ya'll next Sunday!
