Disclaimer – I don't own anything regarding Naruto in this fic except my own characters.
A/N – In the previous chapter I mentioned Satoshi but I didn't go into details. He will be introduced in this chapter. There won't be anything saying about the current plot or what's going to happen. This is an introduction to satoshi who's going to be a major character.
Chapter 2 - Uchiha Satoshi
Sasuke sped off the rooftops in the Konoha village towards the Uchiha compound. The meeting was just over and he wanted to get away before Sakura could come up with another 'Teamwork building' ideas. They usually consisted of the four of them sitting down having lunch or drinking tea with Sakura shooting off questions, mostly aimed to him. 'She never gets it does she? She'll never understand', he thought with a sigh.
Sasuke jumped off the last roof and walked towards the compound intent on getting home soon and taking a warm shower to clear his thoughts.
He had his hand on the door when it was ripped open with a shout of joy and a tackle. 'I'll never get used to this. Is he even supposed to act like this? He has Uchiha blood in him for Kami-Sama's sake.' He was on the ground with the small bundle attached to his stomach. Sasuke sighed and tried to pry off the iron-grip of the small hands off his stomach before he suffocated.
"Okairi nasai Otou-sama (Welcome home father)!" was the joyful greeting he got from the small bundle after he got it off.
"Hn, Tadaima Satoshi (I'm back)" Sasuke greeted back offering a small but genuine smile. He was glad. Even if his son was energetic and very un-like any Uchiha he had seen, he was glad.. glad that the old clan ways were changing.
Uchiha Satoshi got up from the ground using his small hands to support his weight. The four year old energetic bundle of joy was an exact copy of Sasuke when he was four years old, with big ebony eyes, duck-butt hairstyle and a cute smile on his chubby face.
Sasuke found himself looking at his small son; Satoshi was wearing his old clothes. A blue colored shirt with the large Uchiha clan symbol on the back and white shorts with hastily put on shinobi sandals.
He remembered when he first found his son. It was four years ago and he had been in Konoha for a year and he was just released from the sentence he had for abandoning the village.
Flashback – four years before
Tsunade was sitting in the Hokage office and Shizune, as always, was standing next to her. Sasuke stood in front of the Hokage desk with chakra binds and two ANBU guards on either side of him.
"Uchiha Sasuke, you were sentenced for a year of D rank missions without the use of chakra and house arrest for leaving the village and then joining Orochimaru. But after proving the killing of Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi, both of them missing nins of Konoha the council pardoned your leaving with the sentence said before. After today your one year sentence is over and you will be reinstated as a Konoha shinobi and you will be free." Tsunade finished reading the scroll and then motioned to the Anbu.
The two ANBU guards, owl and rabbit masked, undid his chakra binds. Sasuke enjoyed the feeling of his chakra running free in his body for a minute before talking.
"Will I be placed in Team 7 again or do I get a new team?" he gave away no indication of his thoughts or feelings in this question. His eyes were guarded and his stance was relaxed.
But Tsunade was a medic-nin and the best in the shinobi countries. She saw his tense shoulder muscles. She cleared her throat before speaking.
"You'll be placed in Team 7 again. And you'll be doing missions with them as before. The chuunin exams are in five months time and it's held in Suna this time. Ask Kakashi about it when you meet him."
Sasuke left the room without a backwards glance after she finished speaking. And he left straight to the compound to train.
'It was after that I found out what happened to Team 7 and what happened to 'him'', Sasuke mused after prying Satoshi off and going to the shower. His room was clattered with scrolls and blunt kunai. 'Satoshi was in here again', he gave a weary sigh before starting to arrange the ruckus in the room.
He took off the black yukata he was wearing before going towards the bathroom. He took off the rest of the clothes and stepped into the shower and turning it on. His thoughts drifted back into the past as he enjoyed the soothing cascade of lukewarm water running off his tense muscles.
Flash back – four years before
Sasuke was getting tired of this dodging around without attacking. And the infuriating thing about it was that he couldn't do anything!
Team 7 was on a mission to get back a run off mental patient. It had been a few weeks since he was back on the team and he started doing simple missions with the rest of them at first to get used to working together and understanding their fighting and skills.
When they had first heard of this mission they thought it to be a joke. Who in this world would let a potentially dangerous mental patient in a room full of open windows? Apparently their client, who was the head of the ward, was 'observing' the patient and seeing his reactions to the freedom so freely displayed.
Sasuke snorted when he remembered the client desperately explaining what had happened. The patient had taken a one look at the window and then looked back at them. After a minute of doing nothing, when the doctors had relaxed, he had taken off the window and over the fence.
'At least he had the brains to wait until the doctors relaxed. It shows he had a bit of intelligence on that crazy brain of his', Sasuke thought while dodging a kitchen knife hurled his way.
So now here they were, the newly formed team 7 trying to coax a psychopath to put down his weapons and come with them. The said psychopath was especially interested in him. He took one look at Sasuke when he entered the kitchen of the house the patient had taken refuge in, and then started throwing anything and everything he could reach.
Then Kakashi had signaled him to keep the patient's attention while he sneaked back with rope to capture 'the mission target'. Sasuke thought the same thing when the patient first threw a banana in his direction.
Kakashi had finally gotten behind the patient without him noticing. So now finally he was tied up by Kakashi then drugged by Sakura. Riku was the one who was going to do the carrying of the 'target'.
Later that afternoon after finally getting the patient unconscious with the results of few scratch and bite marks on both Kakashi and Sakura (Riku refused to go anywhere near the patient before he was unconscious) they had made camp in a small field between Konoha and 'Village of fields', which was where Pakkun had said the patient was.
Their dinner was a deer caught in a trap by Sakura. They agreed not to take the chances with the patient so they let him sleep on heavy drugs without food. 'one missed dinner wouldn't kill him' were Riku's verbal thoughts on the matter.
They were tired and sore, running after a deranged man wasn't easy business. Even Kakashi showed signs of weariness even though he took first watch.
They had put away the remnants of dinner and prepared sleeping bags when they felt the foreign chakra moving in their direction, fast, pulling everyone to their feet at once. Kakashi stood up brushing his pants while Sakura and Riku moved to protect the patient. They couldn't take any chances. Sasuke stood up and stood, farthest to the group and closest to the oncoming attack.
He activated his sharingan and stood watching where the attack was supposed to come from. 'It's only one nin.. but he has something.. a faint chakra signal is coming from it' Sasuke quickly signaled to Kakashi and both of them took off to meet the unknown nin.
The nin took off running in to the right when they were half way to meet him. But the two of them increased their paces and took on their opponent soon after that.
'A sound nin? What are they doing so close to Konoha, it's practically suicide.' He saw the nin holding a bundle wrapped in a blanket. He was shocked, but he kept his surprise to himself when he saw a small hand reaching up to the nin.
Kakashi had seen the small hand reaching too, if his slowing down was any indication of it. But they couldn't let the man go unharmed and Sasuke knew from his sound village experiences that sound shinobi rarely took care of their children. So seeing this shinobi running with a bundle piqued his interest as well as suspicion.
It seemed that Kakashi had reached a somewhat same conclusion of the situation. Both of them nodded to each other and hid their chakra signatures and themselves.
They saw the shinobi come to a halt in the clearing of trees before them. Then he sat down on the bottom of the tree Kakashi was hiding in (Sasuke had the perfect view since he was hiding in tree opposite of the tree Kakashi was hiding in). He put the bundle down and opened the blanket to pull off a handkerchief.
The clearing was suddenly ringing of the sounds of a baby crying his heart out. Sasuke cringed when he heard the screams. He was so used to the silence of the small forest that the baby crying sounded like gongs going off right nest to his ear.
It seemed like the sound shinobi had the same opinion regarding the baby's crying because he took the gag again and took it in his arms again. Before he could gag the child again Kakashi attacked right then with Sasuke launching himself against the nin a second later.
The shinobi's surprise made him still for couple of seconds before taking the bundle and dodging to left, barely missing Kakashi's well aimed kunai, then had to dodge again when sasuke launched with his own set of kunai.
The baby was screaming himself hoarse amidst all the kunai going around everywhere. The nin was good with fighting. He managed the baby with his left arm while aiming kunai with his right hand.
But he knew that he was not matched against the two when he recognized them. A sneer broke on his scarred face and he took off without hesitation with Sasuke and Kakashi on his heels.
He was down on the ground the next minute when his foot caught the ninja wire Kakashi had strung around the trees. He went down with the baby still in his hands. The soft crunches they heard when the man hit the ground made them both wince.
There was silence then around the field. The shinobi slowly got to his feet and his face had a fearful look when he slowly looked down on the bundle in his arms. He didn't get to see the baby's face because Kakashi's kick caught him in the back of his head.
Then he fell again, burying the bundle with his heavy body. Sasuke walked towards the nin while Kakashi came from in front of him. Then Kakashi turned the shinobi's body so that he lay on his back on the soft ground.
The bundle on his arms didn't move. Kakashi and Sasuke shared a look before Kakashi bent to take the bundle in his arms. Sasuke neared him with a small tinge of guilt in him.
'Did we kill the baby?' he asked himself when he stood next to Kakashi who was holding the bundle with care. 'Hn, who would've thought Kakashi would be the first one to get the baby' he thought with a snicker.
The baby wasn't dead. When he gave a small whimper of pain they both sighed in relief before Kakashi started to attack the baby with whatever healing jutsus he knew.
While he was healing the baby, sasuke took upon himself to take care of the nin. But Kakashi's voice stopped him.
"Sasuke, I wouldn't do that. We don't know who the baby belongs to, and that man could be the father. Wait till we get back to camp to sort it out", Kakashi reprimanded with a bored voice.
He was going to reply when he heard kakashi stifle a gasp. He turned around quickly expecting another shinobi or an animal that could pose a threat. But he found nothing. He was about to ask Kakashi what was wrong when he saw him staring at the bundle with an expression of shock.
Sasuke quickly went to his side to see what was surprising enough to make even Kakashi show emotions and what he saw made his thoughts stop and heart jump in an emotion he didn't recognize.
The appearance of the baby was what made both of them stare in surprise. The baby looked like an exact copy of Sasuke, minus the mature look and glare. He was small, about two or three months old and he was apparently malnourished, if the boney frame was any indication. But the trademark duck-butt hairstyle of sasuke and ebony eyes of an Uchiha was there.
The small baby looked at them curiously, probably wondering why there were two weird people gawking at him. He cooed a little making Sasuke and Kakashi snap out of their temporary shock. The baby then cooed again, blinking up at them with shameless curiosity.
"Sasuke, you should tie up that shinobi while I carry the baby, we'll get to camp and get the baby checked by Sakura", Kakashi ordered. Sasuke nodded mutely still staring at his copy then moved towards to nin pulling out ninja wire from his pouch.
They arrived at the camp without a word. Kakashi holding the baby securely while sasuke had the shinobi slung on his shoulder, unconscious. When they arrived at the camp it became apparent that they weren't the only ones who had trouble.
Sakura was sitting on the log next to the fire with fresh cuts and marks, she was healing herself. Riku was near the unconscious beat up patient and was nursing his own bite marks.
Both of them looked up when they sensed the two of them close. Sakura jumped to her feet as soon as she saw sasuke, asking if he was alright or if he was injured. Then turned to Kakashi, but stopped tilting her head in confusion and curiosity at the bundle on his arms.
"Riku, help me tie this thing up with the patient. They can keep each other company", Sasuke ordered while Riku ambled over to help him. Then he heard Kakashi ask Sakura to check the baby.
'1…. 2…. 3….' he counted before the field rang of a loud voice. "KAKASHI SENSEI!", ' gotcha' he internally smirked when he heard sakura shout.
"wha.. wha.. the baby he.. he looks just like sasuke-kun! .. how..", sakura rambled off, her voice filled with confusion, hurt and shock.
"We don't know what happened sakura. We have to wait till he", he indicated to the unconscious nin "wakes up." concluded Kakashi while picking up his Icha Icha book.
Sakura was beside herself. The baby looks just like Sasuke-kun. He wouldn't. He couldn't have done 'it'. Right? Her uncertainty wasn't answered. She looked over to where Sasuke was with Riku, both of them securing multiple knots of the ropes binding the nin and their patient together.
Her thoughts were halted when the baby in her arms started crying. It was a pitiful sound. Her team members looked at her, hoping she'll do something, even if the sounds of the baby was saddening they were loud and if any nin were around their camp location would be given away.
So Sakura being the intelligent girl did the only thing that came to her mind. She did a sleeping jutsu used on reluctant patients on the baby. He fell asleep promptly. But he whimpered softly in his sleep.
"We don't have anything to feed the baby or change him, we need to get to Konoha as soon as possible", sakura voiced her thoughts.
"Then we'll leave now. We can't stay here, any ninja around would've heard the racket. We should get moving. It's only half a day's walk to the village. We'll make it." Sasuke spoke with confidence.
"But what about those two?",Riku indicated to the two unconscious men.
"What about them?" Sasuke asked without any emotion in his voice but his eyes were glaring at the sound nin.
"We can't get them up now. And no way am I carrying them. That maniac almost gouged my eyes out when we were coming here" Riku was adamant. He was not going to pull another load around until they reached Konoha. 'I'll probably pass out half way there' he thought with a grimace. He wasn't perfect in health after the patient's attack.
"I agree with Sasuke. We need to get to Konoha soon. I'll carry the patient and Sasuke can carry the sound nin. Wrap up the camp. Sakura and Riku, you two will have to carry our packs with you", Kakashi ordered while walking towards the tied up two. He knew they had to get to Konoha, and they had to do it fast. 'Or Sasuke will probably kill the sound nin 'were his thoughts when he untied the two unconscious men.
After packing up their camp and erasing any clues of their brief stay they set off to Konoha.
They arrived before the gates at dawn, hungry, tired and downright irritated. They had kept moving throughout the whole night and they wanted to rest now. The baby had been kept asleep for the whole journey.
They quickly shrugged off their ninja packs and kept them with the gate guard and ran fast to the Hokage's office.
Then the sound nin was taken to Ibiki for interrogation and the baby was checked and fed by Tsunade. She sent each of them to clean up and rest before ordering to come to her office in the afternoon.
They arrived at Hokage's office at 5 to see Tsunade and Shizune cooing and smiling at the baby. Tsunade gave the baby to Shizune when they arrived and started explaining.
"From the information we got from the sound nin, he's from one of orochimaru's labs. He was a guard there. Suna sent ninja teams to clear off any labs or survivors of orochimaru and when they arrived at the lab this guard was working at he took one of orochimaru's most precious experiments, as he said." Tsunade rested her chin on the hands at this and looked straight at Sasuke.
"I checked and rechecked the baby and DNA. He is an exact clone of you." She said with a calculating look in her eyes as she looked for any indication of surprise on Sasuke. There was none. His eyes held an unreadable expression for a second after hearing this before it was quickly wiped off.
"It seems as that Orochimaru was going to use your body again and again", at this expressions of horror and disgust were shown in Sakura's and Riku's eyes while Sasuke simply looked repulsed.
"The baby is an Uchiha, Sasuke. He can be considered as your son if you want", Tsunade said with a bit of warmth coloring her voice.
The unreadable expression was back on Sasuke's face as he looked at the baby. He looked at him a moment longer before striding towards him and holding out his hands.
Shizune looked surprised but was soon smiling when she handed Sasuke the baby. He cooed, and looked at Sasuke with big, bright eyes before smiling.
"Hn, my son.." Sasuke murmured softly before looking at Tsunade again. She was smiling.
"You should pick a name Sasuke. I'm going to keep him for a bit more check ups then you'll have him all to yourself. Pick a room and decorate it", she said softly while looking at the baby with warm eyes.
" A name?.." Sasuke looked back at the baby who was still looking at with curiosity.
"Satoshi.. I'll call him Satoshi", he said with finality to Tsunade who nodded at him.
Sasuke jolted back from his memories when he heard Satoshi calling his name. He called back, shutting the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist before stepping into his room.
His son was sitting on his futon with his legged crossed. "I'm hungry otou-sama. You were in the shower for so long. What were you doing?", he grumbled while wrinkling his nose.
Sasuke smiled before shooing him off telling him to wait until he changed. 'My son and the only thing I have left. The only thing left because 'he' is not here.' He changed into fresh pants and a shirt before going to the kitchen to make dinner. 'And I am not going to let him go for anything in this world. My only light in the darkness since he left.'
A/N – gah ! it's so long ! I was so bored. So I thought about writing the next chap. But didn't think it'll be this long * flexing fingers*
My poor fingers.. need a finger massage..
I'm new at Japanese.. I'm still learning.. so if you see any mistakes please tell me ok..
Reviews appreciated ..
ja ne !