Under the Stars

Well, this was different…cleaner, quieter, more spacious, more inviting. The civilian section of the village were all of these things. No longer were ninja jumping from tree to tree, no longer were the streets crowded, no, not here. People walked on the sidewalks, bags in hand, clothes free of kunai or anything else pertaining to duty. The neighborhoods were different as well.

Houses, not apartments, medium sized houses with green yards.

He'd memorized the address and what the house should look like, Tsunade had left him the moment they entered the civilian area. Apparently, the patient and the circumstances surrounding them had been important, so important that Tsunade had to leave Naruto. He hardly cared though, he wanted to do this alone. The sun was almost gone, it would be dark soon, he needed to finish this quickly.

OOOOOOOO

He'd found himself standing in front of a black door that belonged to a grey bricked house. The number above the door matched the number Tsunade had given him, the description, though shadowed by the darkening sky, matched Tsunade's as well.

A stiff fist hovered mere inches in front of the door, and a mental war waged within Naruto's mind.

Knock….don't knock….knock...don't knock..knock...knock...Knock.

He jumped at the actions of his own body. He hadn't expected to knock, and he hadn't expected to find himself doing it again, this time faster and harder, almost impatient. This thin wood, wood he could easily kick down, was now the only physical thing keeping him from his son.

Whispers, he could he whispers from the other side of the door, uncertain and almost afraid.

Slowly, he leaned his head on the thick wood, listening to whom it may be.

"Mom and dad are out, who the hell knocks on the door at this time of night?" It was a girls voice, older, maybe around his age.

"Don't answer it! Let's just go to our rooms, it could be a robber, let's go!" another voice said, a boy's voice, he sounded around Konohamaru's age, maybe a little younger.

"Mommy and Daddy said no answer! To our rooms, go to our rooms!"that was him, it had to be. That was the voice that sent Naruto on near rampage.

He had already been frustrated, and this only fueled his frustration more. However, Naruto was careful with his anger. He knew for certain that yelling would not allow him entrance into the house, but against his better judgment, he did just that.

"I'M NOT A DAMN ROBBER NOW OPEN THE DOOR BEFORE I BREAK IT DOWN!"

OOOOOO
The color was slightly returning to his cheeks, only slightly. Overall, Iruka was still a sickly pale, too pale for Tsunade's liking. His color would return in a week tops, but he'd be expected to wake up any time before that. Tsunade had already taken it into her hands to find substitutes at the Academy, Iruka would be out for at least a month until his wounds healed and he'd no longer have to be assisted.

Glossy eyes stared back into Tsunade's brown ones, and already, she assumed that he'd drifted off into a dormant state, exhaustion and blood loss finally taking their toll. She'd done what she could, fixed the wounds and stopped the damage in its place, leaving room for healing. The wounds had been deep and accurate, and Iruka was lucky Sakura found him when she did. The medical team did an excellent job at sustaining Iruka's life, and their efforts combined had saved him.

It would be a tragedy to lose someone like Iruka.

He'd been cleaned, changed, and moved to another room. His clothes had been too heavy, they'd put him in a light hospital gown and pants and sterilized his new room. His old room was tarnished in blood, stained by the substance. The workers shared a similar fate as the room, their clothes stained as well, but in the end, when the healing was successful, they all "toasted" to the teacher's health.

Tsunade deeply wanted to participate in the ceremony, however, Sai was a more important matter.

Orders, however, were orders, and she could not punish the boy for carrying out a mission given to him by Danzo. Though she'd known others who were exposed to the sensitive information would disagree with her choice, she knew that had Iruka had a say, he'd let Sai off with a lecture about thinking for oneself and the additional topic of self esteem. It pained her, however, to see a tool like that walk freely out of her office, ready to strike again at moments notice. Iruka's life, his days, as far as Tsunade could tell, had been numbered the moment Naruto bluttered his secret out into public.

Honestly, there was no telling when ROOT would finally take him out.

She'd keep an eye on Sai, but that was all she could do.

Sighing at the thought of her corrupted village, she headed out of the hospital room in search of the blond ninja.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He'd never been so angry before, so jittery and so exited.

His emotions, as dense as a ball, had been locked up since the moment he found out about the truth, and now he was attempting to prevent that very ball from wildly bouncing around, scaring the already petrified guest sitting across from him at the table..

His fingers bounced nervously on the dark wooden surface. His host had sent the two other boys away before Naruto entered, and now she sat directly across from him, hands in lap and staring intently.

Though her expression remained calm, Naruto could tell that she was scared out of her wits, and honestly, she had every right to be.

He'd terrified them and he knew it. It wasn't justified, knocking ferociously at night, yelling at the top of his lungs, but he was here now, just feet away from his son.

It was unnatural, this feeling, almost as if his body was wavering in and out of "auto-pilot".

Nothing felt so real, so surreal. In fact, this all felt like a cruel illusion, like it would be snatched right before him in mere seconds.

But nothing had happened yet, no "release" had been spoken, and no sudden surge of chakra had jolted him awake from a happy nightmare.

Now with little control, Naruto managed to maintain a calm demeanour as he spoke.

"I'm sorry for yelling," he apologized, "It's just...there's someone here i'd like to see."

The girl, her dark eyes staring intently into his, began to speak, never breaking contact, "Naruto...right, i've only heard of you," she spoke, a little excited and fidgety, "I mean we live in the same village, but you're like a legend…but that's not why you're here, I don't think. You're here to see my brother, right?"

Naruto tensed at the tone she took while regarding her brother. How she spoke of him already, it was so...possessive. However, Naruto, despite the inclining sense to back down and leave, reminded himself this was his son, and he wasn't going to let an implied threat scare him away.
"I just want to see him...I_since he's_since he's my son…" and suddenly, the words bore so much responsibility, and Naruto felt a heavy burden weigh his heart, only to be temporarily relieved when he realized that he wasn't actually caring for his son, that he's just found out about him.

"I know...but Iruka said," she paused when she noticed a flash in Naruto's eyes, but quickly resumed, "He said he'd bring you when you were….you know, older? And adult i guess, no offense, but you look like my age, like sixteen. And i'm not old enough to raise a son, and I...don't think you are either."

And sixteen did she look. Long dark hair cradled her pale face, dark grey eyes, wide and curious looked directly at Naruto, as if he was a god-like figure, something she'd never seen.

A civilian teenager.

Naruto blinked, suddenly realizing that the two lived in completely different worlds, and that her eyes were missing something that his eyes had been forced to harbor for so many years.

That missing things was hate. She was a civilian, and for the most part, spared the atrocities of ninja life, and Naruto only assumed that her siblings had been spared the same demise.

And with some hope and a sudden realization, that meant his son had been spared the hate and fear that the village would have bestowed upon him had they realized his linage.

"I mean , if you want to see him you can," she called out, snapping Naruto out of his trance-like state, "he's just three, so maybe it'll be a good thing...it's just not how Iruka told us, but hey, i guess things change right?"

Iruka...Naruto had been terrible to him, blind to the older man's decision. Now, he felt like crap because of it. He never should've yelled at his Sensei like that, he should've sought to find the truth rather than just putting Iruka on the spotlight in public like that. He tried not to remember the look of hurt and confusion on his Sensei's face, tried not to remember the eerie silence that followed soon afterwards.

He hoped Iruka was alright, and right after all of this was over, Naruto promised himself he'd give his Sensei a bone crushing hug as he begged for forgiveness, and he'd take Iruka to Ichiraku's and pay for both tabs himself.
"Um...you're zoning out again_Do you want to see Chris?" she spoke again, waving her hand in front of him to gain his attention.
Naruto blinked at the strange name, "Chris?"
"Well, yeah...that's his name, he kinda looks like you," she chuckled, "I'll call him from his room."

Naruto stiffened, but nodded, the tapping stopping immediately.

She stood up and inhaled a large breath of air, letting it all out in one instant, "CHRISTOPHER!"
The anticipation, the moment of silence, and the small footsteps that came following afterwards practically killed Naruto.

The house itself was casual, and Naruto sat in the living room the entryway to the hallway only a few feet away from him.

Naruto refused to look at him, unsure of what he'd see, fearful that he'd see his own reflection staring back at him.

Obviously, the girl could sense the tension.

"Um...why don't we go outside, it's more spacious, prettier_The backyard that is," she said in an attempt to ease the mood.

OOOOOOO

The sky had been painted a mournful purple, small stars glimmering in the distance, light years away, staring down at the inhabitants of the tiny planet. Naruto was thankful, his vision was somewhat obscured, however, being a ninja came with permanent night vision. It would only be a minute until his eyes adjusted to the darkness around him.

Naruto stood further in the yard, looking at the sky, intaking the beautiful scene above him. It was as if an artist had painted the very image themselves, took care into every aspect put into the sky, from the shining of the stars, to the eeriness of the moon.

He could hear their voices a little further behind him on the porch. When they went outside, Naruto went ahead to stand in the center of the yard, meanwhile, the others sat on a bench on the porch, their figures dimly lit by the light hovering above them.

There had been another, and when Naruto had finally gained the courage to look towards his son, he saw the entire family. Yes, there was the girl, hair dark, skin pale and wearing a plan house dress, than there was a boy. He was younger, about nine or ten, wild hair, dark skin and raggedy pants and a white shirt. His green eyes were wide and confused when he'd met Naruto, and immediately his hand grasped that of the younger boy's beside him, Christopher. Those green eyes looked up at Naruto, practically asking, "You're not taking my brother away, are you?"

Naruto was shocked by the appearance of his own son. Red hair? That was different, and he shuddered at the thought of that hair not coming from his "side of the family", of that hair coming from the "father".

The situation was getting weirder already. Other than the hair, he looked like Naruto all the way, minus the whiskers.

It was weird, but Naruto felt a twinge of pride knowing he'd helped create something that looked like that, and he had to admit it, his son was cute, even with the hair.

The talking ceased suddenly, and Naruto swore he heard a "creak" noise alerting him that there was one less person on the bench.

Naruto could already sense the chakra coming near him, though faint, it was unmistakably part of him.

There were crunches on the grass, he could hear them close behind him, stumbly and un organized, almost as if a small child had been skipping or hopping.

He was so nervous and so tense, he needed to relax, needed to breathe. He'd been waiting for this moment, fighting for this moment, so why, now when his son was feet away from him, could he not be relaxed, could he not peel his eyes from the scene unfolding above him.

A small hand tugged on his pant leg, hard.

Naruto gulped, and with every inch of willpower, turned his head away from the moon, and down towards the flaming redhead below him.

Blue eyes stared at him, soft and wide, kind and forgiving.
Then he spoke, his voice shrill and high at first, but with every word, Naruto's ears grew accustomed to the sweet sound, "Hi," he greeted, "my name is Chris! I am jus' tree ye_"

And the ball dropped, the emotions spilled, and within a second, Naruto had scooped Christopher into his arms and held the boy to his his chest, eyes spilling with tears, and sobbing wildly.

Chris was perplexed, and Naruto could tell, but he didn't care, he only hugged the boy tighter. He laughed, cried, and screamed all at the same time. He inhaled the scent of the boy's hair, inhaled the years, the three short years he'd missed with him, inhaled everything regarding Chris.

And though the void wasn't filled completely, with his boy in his arms, close to his hard, it was nearly full.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO

Silent, and undetected, a small mouse, composed of ink and stowed silently into the hospital room in search of it's target.

This ink it was composed of was different. It was potent and lethal, a substance created by Torune himself. No cure, no antidote, just a slow and prolonged death. The substance itself would go unnoticed, which worked to Danzo's plan.

The mouse found its target, crawling onto the be and to the mouth, where it seeped into slightly parted lips.

The task was complete and the deed was done.

Umino Iruka's days were truly numbered.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OO

Don't worry guys, there will be a conversation in the next chapter =D I'm thinking about two to three more chapters. I'm glad so many people like it, so please please please REVIEW! It's taken me days to work on this, and honestly, i've neglected a lot to this, so please review. Sorry for any spelling mistakes, there shouldn't be much though, I proofread. Anyway, I don't own Naruto. Check out my other stories though, I think you'll like them. As always, have a nice week and God Bless :D