Birthright
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I would list the kids again, but that does make for long Author's Notes. So anytime you get a little fuzzy on which kid is which, please feel free to refer back to Chapter 14. Oh and if anyone has any suggestions for classmates for the Uchiha Kids, feel free to let me know. The kids do have to have at least teammates at some point. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: A lot of people have been commenting on Kira and Kaiden. They aren't the Big Bad. More like the Mini Bads. So keep your eyes out for the "big one."
Chapter 15
Two weeks later, Kaiden didn't think that his wife was ever going to stop twitching. Not that he could blame her. They had been bested by a bunch of children! It was rather humiliating.
"Those brats are too strong and they haven't even hit puberty yet." That unfortunately was a good point. "We're going to need to act more quickly!" Indeed!
Though what they were going to do about the situation was a little more uncertain. "What did you have in mind, My Love?" Well at least the crystals had just dissolved after about an hour.
Getting stuck in crystals wasn't on his To Do List. He couldn't lie though. It made him very uneasy. These were not normal children.
No. These were demons. Toddlers shouldn't be able to use any sort of Jutsus, let alone Jutsus on that level. Thankfully, it appeared to be more instinctual than anything else. But that didn't exactly put his mind at ease. In some ways, that made it more dangerous.
"A contract." Kira sighs heavily. "As much as I'm loathed to admit it, we're getting too old." That was true.
Kaiden had been married to his wife for the vast majority of his long life and so, he liked to think that he could read her well. "You want to hire a mercenary." It was a statement of fact. Not a question.
Kira nods and Kaiden pauses. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. On one hand, they were getting too old. It would be a miracle, if they had even five more years in them. On the other hand, could a mercenary really be trusted.
Those people were only after one thing. Money. And while they had lots of it, who was to say that someone wouldn't make them a better offer later on?
"Yes, I do." She smiles slyly. "It seems the most logical solution." That smile. Kaiden didn't particularly care for him.
It made her seem so predatory. There were times when it was attractive, but they were talking about children. Well demonic children, but still children. Still, what other choice did they truly have?
Their hands had been forced. These were simply the cards that fate had dealt them. It was now up to them, to make the most of it!
He nods. What more was there to say on the matter? "Did you have someone in mind?" This was going to prove difficult.
Kira nods. "Yes, I do believe that I have the perfect choice in mind." Hmm. It sounded like she had been thinking about this for awhile.
Kaiden doubted that she had just come up with a name out of thin air. His wife sounded almost disturbingly confident with her choice. Which could only mean one thing, this person's help would not come cheaply.
That was fine with him though. He had a foot in the grave already and it wasn't like they didn't have the money. That and well, "You get what you pay for."
"Who?" He needed a name. "Who did you have in mind?"
She smiles slyly. "Sagara." Damn it. Sagara would definitely get the job done, but he was a wily bastard. Kaiden didn't trust him as far as he could throw him!
Meanwhile Sasuke watches as the children play with Aoda. It was a rather adorable sight. Not even he could deny that.
Well Aoda and his Mate. Kara. A giant female snake. Sasuke supposed that it was only natural. There had to be female Snake Summons somewhere. Otherwise, where would all the hatchlings come from?
"Hi, Aoda!" Aiya smiles as she huggles the massive snake's chest.
Well Sasuke assumed that was the closest spot that Aoda had to a chest anyway. His children were certainly not afraid of snakes. That much was for certain!
Hinata giggles and kisses his cheek. "They're all so cute together." Sasuke could only nod in agreement.
"Weee!" Arashi slides down Kara's back with the twins in his arms.
Itachi blinks and looks mildly alarmed, but Sasuke just shakes his head. He should know by now, that the Snake Couple would never allow anything to happen to any of their hatchlings.
"So when do the eggs hatch?" Amaya looks up at Kara.
Kara smiles and the Uchiha tries not to think too much about how said eggs were made. Though it was obvious some things were universal. Kara was definitely glowing in a strange way.
It reminded him of when Hinata was pregnant. There was a certain look that expectant mothers had. It seemed that look transcended silly things like species.
The serpent nuzzles her Mate and smiles more. "Pretty soon. Most likely only a couple more weeks." That had to be annoying.
Not knowing exactly when the eggs were going to hatch. Sasuke had been on pins and needles himself throughout Hinata's pregnancies. So had Itachi. It would be nice, if due dates were more precise.
"Snake babies!" Kenji laughs as he pets Aoda.
Yes, snake babies. Sasuke's shakes his head at the thought. His life could be so strange sometimes, but he wouldn't trade his family for the world. And well that included the scaly members of said family.
At that same moment, Hiashi was visiting the Academy. After all, it was important to check on the children's progress. Of course, it was still early for the triplets. They had only just started, but the twins were another matter.
Iruka chuckles. "You know, we do have official parent teacher conferences." Hiashi nods. He was well aware of that.
Of course, he also knew that one on one time at such events was at a premium. That was why it was better to ambush the instructor when he was alone. One found out far more information that way about your grandchildren.
"Yes, I know." He shrugs. "I still wish to hear your personal opinion about their progress." The more information, the better.
Sadly, he knew that Kira and Kaiden were getting increasingly desperate. While physically, they didn't pose a threat…there were other ways to hurt people. So if there was any change in the behavior of his grandchildren, Hiashi had to know and be prepared to act on it.
The Chunin shakes his head. "Quite well. Aiya and Arashi show great promise and it's rather early to tell when it comes to the triplets, but I suspect that they'll be the same way." The lavender eyed man didn't know why Iruka was feigning surprise at his behavior though.
He had done the same thing for Hinata and Hanabi. He was the head of his Clan and as such, it was important that he ensure everything was flowing smoothly. So that was what he would do!
"I was hoping for more detailed information than that." And surely, Iruka was aware of that fact!
"Very well." Iruka pauses as he considers what to tell him. "Aiya and Arashi are rather inseparable. Though that's common for twins." Hiashi nods in understanding.
"Yes, I expected as much." He would have been more surprised, if that wasn't the case.
Iruka shakes his head and simply offers Hiashi a folder with some papers inside it. Each sheet had what seemed to be a summary on it.
He smiles. "Read it at your leisure." Which of course meant that Hiashi was going to read it right now.
Aiya Uchiha: An eight year old Academy student who has already discovered her chakra nature. Water. She is able to use it on an almost instinctive level and performs well on written exams. She is very close to her twin brother Arashi and something of a group leader. She has a somewhat cautious nature and will often defer to Arashi when she feels uncertain.
Hiashi chuckles at that. Well he couldn't fault Iruka there. Aiya's report was most assuredly accurate.
Arashi Uchiha: An eight year old Academy student whose primary chakra nature is fire and he is the twin brother of Aiya Uchiha. Like his sister, his chakra nature appears to be instinctive. He possesses a mischievous and social personality and while he is clearly quite skilled at things such as wielding kunasi, his biggest issue is that he can't sit still. Though it's assumed he will eventually grow out of this.
"Well most boys are like that." Hiashi had met only a handful of eight year old boys who weren't hyper. "I'm certain that you're right and he'll grow out of it."
Amaya Uchiha: She is the eldest of the Uchiha Triplets and is currently five years old. Despite her young age, she is very articulate and already can detect Genjutsu with ease. Her chakra nature is Lightning and her biggest issue is that she often seems lost without her fellow triplets.
"Yes, most likely." Iruka agrees with a nod of his head. "The children are all dependent on each other to varying degrees. I suppose that's my biggest concern, but that's probably only natural at this age."
Miya Uchiha: The middle of the Uchiha Triplets. She already shows signs of being a skilled Taijutsu User and the Scorch Style (Fire and Wind Combined). She is the most competitive and aggressive of the Uchiha Children to date, but she appears rather susceptible to Genjutsu and deeply protective of her siblings. (Even if she does have a special affinity for challenging Arashi to play fights).
Hiashi chuckles. That did indeed sound like Miya. "She always was a rather unique one." That was putting it mildly.
Nara Uchiha: The youngest of the Uchiha Triplets. She has an Earth Chakra Nature and is by far the most mellow of all the Uchiha Siblings to date. I have yet to see her get in any fights. If anything, the girl might be too accommodating sometimes. She does appear to be a genius though. Her written scores are almost unheard of.
The Uchiha Patriarch nods. "Well it seems as though you're rather good at judging their abilities." He couldn't fault Iruka for that. "Thank you. This has been extremely enlightening." And with that, Hiashi heads back to the Uchiha District.
Back in the Uchiha District, Hinata smiles. "Well I think the children are having a grand time playing with the snakes." She kisses her husband's cheeks. "Perhaps we should make the most of it and enjoy a nice dip in the hot springs?"
Eight children was a lot. Hinata wasn't sure how they would have done it without the summons and clones. She loved all of them dearly, but sometimes one needed to take a moment or two and relax.
"As I told you before, I'm certainly not going to get into the habit of rejecting an offer from a beautiful woman to bathe with her." Itachi smirks. "And I meant that most sincerely." He never ceased to surprise her.
Before her marriage to Sasuke and Itachi, she had asked if the Uchiha Brothers wanted to bathe with her. It had been almost immediately after they found out about their engagement. Itachi had been such a gentleman and said that she wasn't ready, but he wasn't going to get into the habit of rejecting offers like that from beautiful women.
It seemed that he must have remembered the incident. Hinata smiles at that thought, even if it caused her to blush. Itachi really did care and so did Sasuke.
"That sounds perfect." Sasuke smirks. "I'll give Aoda some warning and meet you guys there." Hinata nods in agreement and heads off with her eldest husband.
This would be nice. A nice, relaxing soak in the hot springs with her two gorgeous husbands. What more could a woman really ask for?
"This was a wonderful idea." Itachi begins stripping was he grabs a towel by the hot springs. "Exactly what the medic ordered." They always kept towels by them these days, just in case.
Hinata laughs and smiles. "Yes, it was." After all, she was actually a medic.
Meanwhile Sagara raises an eyebrow as he receives a messenger hawk. It was rather vague, but he could read between the lines. Hmm. This was a most interesting request to say the least.
Dear Blood Moon,
We humbly request to meet you in order to discuss a potential employment opportunity.
Sincerely, All Seeing Eyes.
Blood Moon was something of a nickname. Many ninjas had them once they became famous (or infamous) enough. For example, Kakashi was known as the CopyCat Ninja and Guy as the Green Beast. He was known as Blood Moon.
There was a very simple reason for that. He used a Genjutsu to make it seem as though a moon had appeared in the sky. His targets would look at it and then he would trap them inside.
"And depending on the nature of the job, their blood is soon spilt." He muses as he looks at the letter again.
It was rather vague, but the All Seeing Eyes was an important clue. Most of his clients didn't want their dealings with him to become public knowledge. So the smarter ones would come up with interesting signatures.
All seeing eyes could be philosophical, but in this case he assumed it was literal. That could only mean one thing. Whoever was requesting his help had to be a Hyuga.
Well actually, judging by the letter, it was more than one. Hmm. Now, what could make at least two people from such a noble clan ask for his assistance. They must have been in rather dire straights to resort to this.
To say the least, his interest had certainly been peaked. He also knew one thing very important about these clients. They could afford to pay him whatever he asked.
"My services aren't for paupers." And that was most assuredly true.
Very few people could afford to employ him. He was in something of a niche market. He solved problems for extremely wealthy people. Oh well. At least he knew that he would never go hungry.
Wealthy people always wanted their problems handled discreetly and quickly. That mean they were more than willing to pay huge fees in order to regain their peace of mind.
He smirks. "Let's see what they want." And with that, he went to meeting place listed on the back of the message.
Back in the hot springs, Itachi smiles as he sits down next to Hinata. It was always a good day when he got to relax with his wife. Well him and Sasuke. After all, they were both married to her. It would be wrong of him to begrudge his foolish little brother the chance to bond with her as well.
"He should be here any moment." Itachi smiles and kisses her cheek.
Hinata snuggles closer to him. "I know." Thank goodness for Sasuke's Snake Summons. It made parenting so much easier!
As if summoned, Sasuke soon comes into view and smiles at them. It was like magic really. To get Sasuke to appear, all one had to do was say his name and well, there he was.
"I presume that Aoda and Kara do not take any issue with playing babysitter for a few hours?" He chuckles.
Sasuke shakes his head and strips, before grabbing a towel and joining them in the hot water. Itachi didn't miss the soft sigh of pleasure that the other man gave upon sitting down. Not that he could blame Sasuke.
The water was hot and very comfortable. It was the perfect way for someone to relax after a hard days work. And parenting eight children, well that certainly qualified!
Hinata giggles and kisses them both. "Good." She then swiftly moves to sit between them.
Itachi smiles and wraps his arms around her as Sasuke follows suit. He couldn't believe that somehow this had all worked out. Not only had Sasuke forgiven him for everything, but they had both found love and fathered children.
Beautiful and healthy children. Healthy children that got into far more mischief than they should sometimes. Shisui in particular was likely to be a handful with his Flickering, but Itachi couldn't imagine life without them.
"Very good." Sasuke smirks in agreement.
Itachi smiles. "I was thinking that since we know the paternity of three of them, that isn't very fair." It didn't really matter, but the Uchiha Patriarch couldn't imagine going to his grave and not knowing. "Perhaps, it is time to do the testing to determine the other results."
Hinata blinks and Itachi knew that he had genuinely surprised her. Though that was only to be expected. The twins were already eight. They had gone the better part of the decade without knowing the paternity results for their eldest children.
She bites her lower lip nervously and looks at Sasuke. "What do you think?" Obviously, his wife wanted them all to agree on this momentous occasion.
Sasuke caresses her cheek. "I think that we should find out." He smiles at her. "We already know that Kenji and Hoshi are mine. Shisui is definitely Itachi's." That was true. "So we both know at a minimum that we've fathered one or more children. There's no reason to get competitive about it and sooner or later, the truth will come out anyway."
Hinata pauses as she considers that. "Well that's true." There was also something she hadn't really pondered before, that she probably should have. "That and the twins are getting older. They might start asking."
What if Aiya and Arashi asked and they couldn't tell them? Would they feel like they were keeping secrets from them? And if the twins started asking, the triplets might. Kenji, Hoshi, and Shisui might be a little to young to truly under stand what was going on, but the triplets might.
"That's a good point." Itachi sighs. "We should have considered that possibility a long time ago."
Hinata nods in agreement. "Well, it's probably better to do it before they start asking questions." She snuggles closer to them. "For now though, let's just enjoy the moment." She smiles at them.
"That sounds like a very good idea to me." Both of her husbands smile slyly at her and then they pounce.
Forget about enjoying the moment. It was likely going to be a very long, but pleasurable night. Thank goodness for Snake Summons!
Meanwhile the Uchiha Children continue playing and Aiya looks at Hoshi. "So how long do your crystals keep people frozen?" It was a question that had been weighing on her young mind for the past two weeks.
Hoshi shrugs. "No know." That answer causes the youngest Uchiha to face fault. She couldn't believe it.
Arashi laughs as he looks at his distraught sister. "Well he's only two." Right. She probably should have factored that into the equation.
Shisui was Flickering about and having a ball playing Hide and Go Seek with the snakes and his siblings. "Fun! Fun!" Aiya couldn't help, but laugh at the scene.
Maybe, he would grow up to be a Tracker one day. His targets would never see him coming. They had started learning about the different kinds of specializations that existed.
Apparently, there was a lot more out there than just Combat Ninja, Medic, and Instructor. There were so many choices! Aiya was glad that they had a few years before they had to decide!
Nara smiles as she pets Aoda. "It must get exhausting trying to keep track of all of us." Thankfully, her youngest sister was a little more easy to keep tabs on .
Adoa shakes his head. "Oh no." He smiles at her. "It's not that hard. Your parents might have had a large litter by human standards, but our kind is different."
Miya looks rather curious at that and she bounds over. Aiya couldn't help, but chuckle at that reaction. Her sister certainly knew when story time was about to start. One hadn't give her that much.
"How are you different?" She looks at him curiously.
Kara chuckles and smiles down at them. Aoda's Mate was very pretty. Well at least Aiya thought she was pretty. Well at least by snake standards. Not that she had that much to compare her to, but those white scales were rather mesmerizing to say the least.
"We're used to having up to a hundred eggs in a single clutch." She grins at that.
That little revelation causes Aiya and Arashi to face fault. They weren't the only ones though. The triplets looked equally shocked, but the younger set of twins thought it was funny.
Well at least they did, if their giggles were anything go by. "Lots!" Shisui laughs.
Yes, a hundred was definitely lots. Aiya blinks. She had no idea how the Snake Summons could keep track of all their children. Let alone how they were going to name them!
"What are you going to name them all?" Arashi laughs. "Numbers 1-100?" That was exactly what Aiya had been thinking actually.
A hundred babies! That was so much. The eldest Uchiha child had absolutely no idea where they were going to put that many!
Aoda just laughs. He was apparently used to this question. "Oh don't worry." He nuzzles his Mate lovingly. "We already have names picked out and a very large territory."
Aiya smiles at this. Well some things were universal. Aoda looked at Kara in the same way her fathers looked at her mother. She hoped someday that someone would look at her that way.
"Oh well that's good!" Arashi grins! "A hundred kids means lots of kissy kissy."
She loved her brother. Truly, she did, but sometimes he could be such a guy. Aiya rolls her eyes at the phrase kissy kissy and joins her other siblings in a nice game of Hide and Go Seek. Shisui's specialty.