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No Madara, Sasuke or Naruto in this chapter. I tried to fit them in, but it just didn't fit. It seemed too disjointed so they will be in next week. Which is why the story is late… I was fussing over it too much… which isn't always a good thing. Hopefully it's okay.
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Kishimoto
Chapter 70 – That Young Man's Family
After so many years of being a ninja, Itachi found the waiting room of the hospital to be almost as familiar as his own living room at home. There were, however, several distinct differences, and the biggest one was definitely the atmosphere. A heightened sense of awareness as well as fear, depression and longing seemed to cling to the people milling about in the large room. It was almost overwhelming and he began to wish he could just leave.
Sheeta hadn't wanted anyone in the family with her except for her oldest sister Nui, who was now full medic. Tsunade, of course was overseeing the delivery, but that also had Itachi feeling tense. The Sanin level medic didn't usually attend to deliveries, but because of the problems Sheeta had in the past few months there was a high probability that the baby would have problems after he or she was born. Luckily, Sheeta was doing well.
Looking around, Itachi saw that the news of Sheeta's impending delivery had spread pretty fast. Clansmen were trickling in to check for news or parking themselves in empty chairs and staring blankly into space.
Mikoto was sitting next to him and he realized she had his hand firmly clasped in both of her own. She was leaning slightly in his direction on her chair and her eyes were closed in meditation. He assumed she was probably praying, or perhaps reliving the nightmarish events surrounding Sasuke's birth.
His father was over by the main door leaning against the wall and talking with Toshiro and a man from the Hyuuga clan who was an advisor for their underage chief, Hinata.
He wondered if he should join them in case they were discussing village matters, but when he caught Fugaku's eye the older man shook his head once, silently telling him to stay where he was.
The somber mood was not quite what he had expected and Itachi felt his chest clench with fear. He had been in the waiting room before when deliveries were impending and the families always seemed upbeat and happy, and a little bored by the long wait. But not the Uchiha. Given the events of the last twenty-five years and their bad luck with pregnancies, any delivery was seen as stressful and caused great deals of apprehension. And Sheeta's poisoning a few weeks back made it even worse.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Propped up in an odd angle, Sheeta was definitely less than comfortable, but whether that was from the contractions or her position was certainly up for debate. She didn't really care though, as she continued to repeat the same mantra over and over in her head, "This will be over tomorrow."
"One more push Sheeta." A very serious looking Tsunade stated clearly. While Nui was performing the actual delivery the older woman was hovering over her like a mother hen.
Sheeta gathered together her resolve and realized as she was pushing just how immensely exhausted she was. She couldn't even cry out as the pain shot through her like a knife. However it seemed to end quickly and she blinked twice when she heard something not unlike a banshee screaming and then crying.
"Wow. That is one pissed off kid." Tsunade said surprised.
"You have a daughter, Sheeta." Nui said, a little out of breath as she handed the baby to an orderly.
"The contractions have stopped." Sheeta replied, panicked as she watched her daughter receiving her first bath at a basin nearby. The bright lights of the stark white room made it very easy to see the child's short, thin black hair and scrunched up face. Even the little tears were clearly visible. But there was another problem and her attention wasn't diverted for long.
"There's usually a couple minutes before they begin again..." Tsunade was interrupted by a panicked teen.
"Something's wrong! I can't feel his chakra!"
"Sheeta calm down!" Nui said in a strong voice as she watched Tsunade who was already pushing chakra into Sheeta abdomen.
"He's worked himself into a bad position." Tsunade said, "Sheeta, I'm going to stimulate your muscles to create a contraction. When you feel it push as hard as you can."
Steeling her resolve she did as she was told, but as the Sanin repeated the process her energy grew less and less. Finally The baby was released into the world and Sheeta closed her eyes and despite her desire to see her children, fell asleep.
The sound of a trolley and worried voices brought her back to her senses only a few seconds later, "What... what's wrong?" Sheeta mumbled, barely able to speak.
Tsunade opened her mouth to speak but Nui beat her to it, "He wouldn't start breathing so we had to resuscitate him. He's breathing now, but his arms and legs aren't moving."
Sheeta turned her head, staining to see the tiny infant, but he was lost in a world of electronics, stuffed into an incubator and quickly being attached to an IV and various monitors. As she closed her eyes again, giving in to the exhaustion, her thoughts became nothing more than a jumble of disjointed images, then blackness.
x x x x x x x xx x x x x x xx
"Congratulations, Itachi. You're a father. Tsunade's smile didn't quite reach her eyes and, of course, everyone held their breath waiting to hear what was going to come next. However, she paused, looking at the new father and the twenty-odd people who were hanging around.
"It's okay Tsunade; they'll hear anyway, just tell me why... what..." Itachi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He truly didn't mind the fact that everyone was there. While he had never seen his clan as anything more than an inconvenience in his younger years, he now saw them as caring people who were no different from anyone else.
Tsunade sighed as the smile disappeared. "Your daughter has some of the poison in her but it is being dealt with and we are hoping it didn't cause any damage. You're son isn't doing as well..."
"Wait..." Itachi interrupted, "Two?"
"Yeah, Twins."
"I never felt two chakra sources inside her..." Itachi was at a loss. How could he have missed something that important?
"Most people don't unless you know what you're looking for. Twins synch their chakra with the mother - we still don't understand that completely- but considering that a baby who has never used chakra emits very little to begin with it's very easy to over look."
"So the..." Itachi licked his lips as his chest clenched tight with apprehension at the realization of what his new status in the world was, "My... my son..."
"Suffered oxygen deprivation and has higher amounts of poison in his body. His limbs weren't moving at all after birth, but they are gaining some movement." Tsunade's tone turned professional. "We'll have to wait to see how the paralysis turns out. It might get better or stay the same. However... you should probably prepare yourself mentally to raise a handicapped child. Maybe even two if the poison that affected your daughter is irreversible."
Itachi tried to take a deep breath, only to have it catch in his throat as a series of hacking coughs forced him to the floor. Tsunade was at his side instantly pumping soothing chakra into him. A moment later he felt his father pull him off the floor and place him in a chair.
Tsunade knelt down in front of his and took his hand, "You're running a fever. And from the looks of you have been for a couple days. That's not good, Itachi. Remember, you're still sick. We may have eased its severity, but it isn't gone and it makes you very prone to lung infections. "
"I've just been tired." Itachi sighed, "How is Sheeta?"
"Asleep. You can go see her, but please don't wake her up. Nui is staying close to the babies, which is where I'm going. By the way... What are the babies' names?"
Itachi paused. He knew what was in his heart and his wife's... but did the names they had each chosen still fit?
Glancing over the faces of his family and clan he realized that neither child could grow up to be a ninja. And the relief that washed over him was almost overwhelming.
Smiling, he glanced out through the plate glass windows of the waiting room into the darkness of late evening. His children would be safe, and despite their handicaps, would live a longer life than most Shinobi.
"I chose 'Shisui' for the boy, and Sheeta chose 'Rumiko' for the girl. She doesn't realize I know that though." he gave Tsunade a conspiratorial smile and she laughed.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
The next few days were busy as Mikoto and Sheeta's aunt prepared for the babies' homecoming. While Itachi had been worried about the crib still being on backorder, it turned out they were ready and being held by the decorators until it was time to use them.
Sheeta had been hiding the twins from Itachi so she could surprise him and as the decorator had further explained, "If one or both died, she didn't want to see an empty crib."
It was understandable and as Itachi looked down at the two beautifully handcrafted hardwood cribs he had to agree.
The electronic monitoring equipment was ready and would be used to warn them if Shisui had problems. While Rumiko had responded well to treatment and was now declared "fit" (pending further diagnoses as she aged), the little boy was still rather motionless and slept much more than his sister. Although he was responsive to sound and people, he rarely cried.
"I'm still not sure about Shisui being let out of the hospital so soon." Itachi said, voicing his concern to his father a few minutes later as he joined him in the meeting room where he had been summoned for a meeting.
"You can trust Tsunade." Jiraiya, who was also there, said cheerfully.
"Yeah..." Itachi voiced non-commitally. He had seen his son several times over the last few days and while he was not in any danger, he was still very small and delicate. And Rumiko, for that matter, was only three ounces heavier than him. "Actually both..."
Fugaku laughed, "That boy hasn't given up and that girl let out a wail Sheeta said sounded like a banshee. I think you can worry a little less about them for a while."
"A banshee? I take it she's the heir?" Jiraiya found that amusing and grinned showing all his teeth.
"Uh..." Itachi hadn't actually thought about it."
"Very likely. She was born first. Nothing is ever set in stone though." Fugaku responded, "It's been over two-hundred years since a woman was in charge. The last one though is written in our histories as being quite a hellion."
That made Itachi smile. The stories of that woman's kunoichi abilities were a favorite of Sheetas and he wondered if maybe that woman had somehow returned to the clan to be reincarnated. However, something...
"Hey..." Itachi frowned. "Her name was Rumiko also."
"A little slow on the uptake, kid. The rest of the clan has already figured that one out. Are you sure you're fever is gone?" Fugaku laughed again.
"Well, I've had other things on my mind." Itachi took offense to that. "So why did you want to see me? I have a feeling something is going on here."
"We found Naruto. He's safe, healthy, and extremely bored." Jiraiya was very happy and grinned even bigger than he had been only moments earlier.
"Where is he?" Itachi asked, becoming serious. He glanced at the door as the sound of rain falling in the garden caught his attention. It had been raining off and on for a couple days despite the weather forecast that had called for sun.
Predictably enough, Pein strode into the room. However, the people standing behind him were not expected. At least by Itachi. Fugaku and Jiraiya, on the other hand, seemed happy to see them.
Kisame and Pein sat on either side of Itachi while Deidara and Suigetsu remained standing near the door.
Itachi sighed, and sighed again when he realized how much sighing he was doing lately. "Why are you here?"
"Wanted to see the kids." Kisame answered, grinning.
"I doubt it." Itachi responded.
"Well that was the nice answer." Deidara added. "The real issue is much more complicate, un."
"Anyway... back to Naruto." Jiraiya turned serious. "My frog friends found him. He's being held by Akatsuki in a cave on the coast of Fire country, but... and I know you won't like this and Tsunade nearly smacked me until she heard by reasoning... but I'm going to take control of this situation."
"Where is Tsunade?" Itachi asked, realizing she had come to the meeting.
"Hospital. But I already cleared all this through her and as she put it, it's my head if it doesn't work. So anyway, I am a Sage who studied at Mt. Myouboku with the frogs. I was about Naruto's age when I began, but I could only stay for short periods of time. It took me years to attain sagehood."
He paused, "What I am going to do is send Naruto to stay with the frogs for a while. They will train him and I suspect he's a faster learner than me. In part because of Itachi's excellent mentoring skills."
"So you want me to go get him and take him to the frogs?" It sounded logical to Itachi so he was quite surprised when Jiraiya laughed,
"No. In fact I can have the master toad reverse summon him. Getting Naruto back isn't the problem."
Pein spoke up. "It's what happens after Naruto disappears that is the concern."
"Right you are, Pein. Madara will know immediately that it was me and he might even be able to put two and two together and figure out where he is. Madara against the frogs would result in a massacre." At this Jiraiya looked closely at Itachi, "That Sharingan of his... you also have it."
Itachi nodded, but kept quiet. He wondered how much Pein had told his old master about their meeting in the woods. Probably everything, more than likely.
"He would have to use it to win against so much sage power. It would... the frogs wouldn't stand a chance. So... I came up with this brilliant plan that will completely solve the problem!" The man gave everyone another one of his big grins as well as a thumbs-up.
"Usually when someone says it like that it means you're going to be killed on the mission." Deidara said grumpily.
"So negative." Suigetsu grinned, "You haven't even heard him out yet."
"I'm glad to hear you say that my boy!" Jiraiya laughed, "Because you are going to be very important to the plan."
"You get him killed off before I get my money back from his doctor bills, you will be the one paying me." Kisame growled defensively.
"He loves me like a son." Suigetsu pretended to wipe away a tear.
"I feel sorry for his kids then." Deidara muttered. And once again Itachi was left wondering about the big man's personal life. Did he have kids somewhere?
"Fine." Jiraiya turned serious. "I get it Kisame. You don't take orders from me and never will. However, we need a kid for this to work and we need you guys to help. Basically, Suigetsu is going to take Naruto's place in captivity, then you... Itachi, Kisame and Deidara will rescue him and bring him back to Konoha."
"Wow. That's really stupid." Suigetsu replied. "Get one of his friends to do it. I only know Naruto from a while back when Itachi and Sasuke killed Orocimaru."
"It's a great plan, we'll do it. And the fee is double the usual." Kisame said.
Suigetsu shook his head, "He really is trying to get me killed, isn't he? For someone who says he's not into money he's sure trying hard to get mine."
Everyone ignored him and he closed his eyes and sat down on the floor.
Pein shifted his leg and leaned forward so that he could rest his arm on his knee, "Why are you not using one of your own people?"
"Because you know more about Akatsuki. Also, I estimate the possibility of Konoha being attacked after Naruto's escape is discovered to be very high. Having the top Shinobi here in Konoha to protect the village and Naruto after his return is tantamount to our success."
Fugaku spoke up, "So Suigetsu will be staying here for a week in order to learn some of Naruto's mannerisms. He will also be put in contact with Naruto's friends and they will help prepare him."
"Here? Cool." Suigetsu grinned. "I get to eat Lady Mikoto's cooking." Kisame found that amusing and gave a short laugh.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
The meeting ended a short time later and Itachi found himself showing Suigetsu to Naruto's old room. It had been made up already and his backpack was placed on the floor next to the bed.
"Looks like I was expected." The boy sighed.
"Wow. Nice room." Deidara stuck his head in. "It's big"
"Compared to Kisame's house, yeah." Itachi commented. "Sasuke's room is twice as big and has a TV if you feel like being alone for a while. You're probably not used to being around a family." Itachi glanced at the alarm clock and noted that Sheeta would be arriving soon.
"Why don't I just sleep in his room then?" Suigetsu asked, stating the obvious.
"Stay away from that subject. Mikoto will hang you." Itachi answered.
"Yeah, I'm staying in Itachi's old room, un." Deidara answered.
"What?" That was unexpected. Itachi didn't mind Suigetsu hanging around for a week but Deidara was certainly a different story and he wondered if Fugaku had finally gone insane.
"I wasn't planning on it either." Deidara frowned, but Kisame said that I'm Suigetsu's backup if anything happens to him."
"Sounds more like he's dumping you on us." Itachi replied grumpily. "Why do you even stick around?"
Deidara was silent for a moment, then sat down on the bed and sighed, "Originally I wanted to beat you in a fight because I lost to you. But then you got that terminal disease and fighting you at less than full strength wouldn't feel like winning. Then Akatsuki started to fall apart and we started to do jobs for Konoha on the sly and that was kind of fun I guess... but now... I liked being with Sasori even though he's really creepy but… he ditched me."
Deidara paused and stared out the rain-streaked window. "Pein said he would give me full citizenship in Rain if I follow him. Fugaku offered me the same thing in Konoha. I guess right now I'm just riding it out to see what happens."
"I think at this point that's what we're all doing." Itachi shook his head, surprised that he got such a detailed answer from a person who actively disliked him. Then again, he didn't seem to be all that hostile anymore.
"Sheeta should be here in a couple minutes. So… relax for a while I guess." Itachi wasn't sure what to say to the two missing nins, but "make yourself at home" was definitely not a good idea. At least in his mind.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Stepping off the porch he made his way to the driveway just as Sheeta's carriage was pulling up. The well-groomed black horse stood motionless as the driver jumped down to help Sheeta down the stairs. Itachi stepped forward to great her and instead had a baby placed in his arms. Mikoto starting snapping pictures and Shisui turned his head around, to see where the noise was coming from. He had quite a lot of hair for a newborn and his big black eyes seemed oddly over-large. Blowing small bubbles he blinked several times when Itachi adjusted the lavender blanket to cover him up.
The rain had continued to fall and as Itachi looked up to see what kind of clouds were over head, an umbrella appeared out of nowhere. Looking behind him he saw Nui standing behind himself and Sheeta, holding a large red and white umbrella in each hand. Fugaku came out a minute later and grabbed one of the umbrellas.
Konan also stepped out of the carriage and Itachi realized that the woman had accompanied Sheeta home from the hospital. Something clicked in his head and he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.
His father had provided a rather substantial security force to escort Sheeta home. In the middle of a ninja village full of powerful Shinobi. Looking around he noticed the tell-tale chakra signatures of several Anbu and he even saw Kakashi standing near the lake talking with Gai, Kurenai and Asuma.
Something was up and it was not good. "What's going on?" Itachi asked in a low voice as his father moved next to him. The clan photographer had taken over the picture taking and was arranging people in different positions.
"We received word that Sheeta has been placed on a hit list by the Yakuza." Fugaku said under his breath. "They can't get to you, so they're going after her."
"That makes no sense at all. We've always had an unwritten agreement between Yakuza and Shinobi..."
"I agree. It appears this has something to do with Ki. We're still gathering information. Until then, keep Sheeta under constant surveillance."
Shisui began to whimper and Rumiko let loose with one of her signature screeches and began to cry. Itachi couldn't help but smile and the conversation ended as he accompanied Sheeta into the house.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Laying the infant in his crib Itachi was pleasantly surprised to see Shisui moving around a little. His legs were still stiff, but his feet were moving and he was able to lift his arms a couple inches.
"That therapy seems to be working." Itachi remarked.
"They think his arms will get better, but his legs are still iffy. Right now they're doing daily physical therapy with chakra to keep the muscles from atrophying. If they are never used it makes it harder to fix any problems."
"Is Nui going to do it?"
"No. She's leaving for the capital in the morning. She's taking the entrance exam for the university Medical school in a few days. The therapy is going to be done by a couple people whose job is to visit patient's homes and help them, so we're just added to their schedule."
"He won't be a ninja." Itachi said after a long pause.
"You and I are happy about that, but it's his feelings we should think of. I mean, how will he feel being left out?"
Itachi hadn't thought about that and his face grew thoughtful as he watched his son try to reach for the colorful mobile that was now circling his crib and playing a soft tune. And Rumiko could be in the same boat. It was still unknown what extent the damage was with her.
Looking up at the ceiling Itachi closed his eyes, "In a ninja village everyone is important. From the Hokage to the shoe salesmen. Everyone plays a vital role. If they didn't, Konoha wouldn't exist. But... it will be hard for them."
x x x x x x x x x x x
The day ended late and Itachi found he wasn't able to get to bed until almost two A.M. Sheeta was already asleep and he slipped under the blankets carefully so as not to disturb her.
He had been discussing issues pertaining to the Yakuza clan that had threatened Sheeta for several hours in the Hokage's office. It was a touchy situation, but on the whole he suspected that some sort of misunderstanding had occurred.
Shinobi would only go after mobsters if they received a mission, and Yakuza would only go after Shinobi if they received a contract from a specific upper echelon contact. That almost always meant that busting someone of mid or low rank resulted in no consequences for the ninja.
This time something went horribly wrong. The first assumption was that Danzou had been a member o the Yakuza. That would certainly have lead to a hit on a ninja. However, very few people, including Itachi, Fugaku and Tsunade were willing to entertain that notion. It was too ridiculous. While he had maintained some contacts with them, he most certainly was not a member.
The next theory was that Madara had ordered the hit. While it was much more likely, it still seemed unbelievable. After all, with all his resources it would seem rather odd of him to turn to the Yakuza.
The only thing that made any sense was that some upper level mobster had been killed by Itachi during the ruckus with Ki. The question was, who?
As he drifted off to sleep Itachi's mind wandered back to his childhood and the nights he would spend asleep on the floor of Sasuke's bedroom after waking up from a nightmare. Being near his little brother had been comforting for some reason. Things had seemed so complicated back then, but now it seemed they had become a hundred times worse.
Even so, he no longer felt alone. With all the people standing beside him he knew that he and his family and friends would survive this. And with that, Itachi fell asleep in his home with his wife by his side and his daughter and son nearby.
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Next week, Naruto learns about the plan, Madara and Sasuke learn about the babies, and what exactly is going on with those eyes Toshiro retrieved from Ki?
I hope the Yakuza thing isn't too odd. It's a minor subplot and I hinted at it during the Ki attack. By the way, the Yakuza is the Japanese mafia. I once heard that Kakuzu's manner of speaking is similar to the way a Yakuza speaks and it's had me wondering ever since. Perhaps that is where he learned about finance?
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