Song of Aether

Full Summary:

Strange rumors from the border make Sasuke wonder just how tenuous Konoha's peacetime really is. When his oldest child is targeted by a suspicious character—who may or may not be connected to the supposedly long dead Uchiha Madara—anxiety mounts, and the tranquil life that Sasuke and Sakura have worked so hard to build begins to fracture under the pressure.

Updated Author's Note, 7/28/13

Wow, this story has been running for two years now. My first attempt at a novel, this story has some awkward phases as I worked out idiosyncrasies and kinks in my writing. As the reader, no doubt you will find some bumpy areas in the earlier chapters, but I urge you to keep reading: this story has a great plot and characters that you will come to care about.

The fact that I continue to update this story until the end shows that I have faith in it. It goes places that most fanfics don't go to, and has influenced my writing immensely. It's a gem:) I am grateful to this story, and to my readers who have given me excellent criticism and support along the way.

I plan to finish this fic this summer or in the fall; it is almost complete. Full list of my own characters is in my profile, along with links to pictures of them:)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think.

Ever yours,

Wings

Chapter 1: Graduation

Today I roamed with the lady of the mountain

Trying to find something my soul to sleep

In the thickets of wildflowers, wandering

by the rush of the cold spring creek.

~The Second Book Of The Songs Of Akash, Verse I

The eldest Uchiha child finished putting gel in her hair. It was a difficult look to achieve- just enough time and effort so that the spikes of her hair were styled, but in such a way that it looked like she had just rolled out of bed without actually giving any thought to her locks. It wasn't easy having the Uchiha mane; the genetics did not make for good hair days, especially when the weather was humid. Suddenly, a loud, irritating voice jolted her out of her reverie, and her hand slipped, messing up a lock of what had been perfectly coiffed hair.

"Yuki! Yuki, you're so going to be late." Saki bounced into her older sister's room while munching on a red apple. Her pink hair frizzed and framed her face, escaping the tight braids that Sakura had woven only a short time ago; her outfit had odd creases in it, as if Saki had picked her uniform up from her floor and had donned it without a second thought. How very unhygienic, Yuki mused dryly. Additionally, Yuki was unnerved by her sister's voracious, loud chewing noises, and she noted idly that her younger sister's motions of mastication really highlighted the baby-fat that remained on Saki's ruddy face.

"Stop riding my ass Saki," Yuki muttered while adjusting her hair. Kami knew, the twerp was always riding her proverbial ass. Even though her younger sister lived across the hall- thank the lord they didn't have to share a room!- Saki always made it a point to infringe upon her older sister's personal space on a regular basis. Her mother often told her that Saki was just trying to get close to her, but Yuki doubted it; if anything, Saki was a violent and vaguely sadistic housemate, in Yuki's professional opinion.

"Gah, I'm not riding your ass!" the younger girl pouted as she opened the door again, twirling a kunai in her free hand. "Anyway, I'm just trying to be helpful Yuki-chan, 'cause dad's totally going to be pissed if you're late."

Yuki grimaced and looked at her watch. "Idiot, I'm right on time. Go bother someone else."

"Jerk." Saki stabbed the kunai into her sister's door and stomped down the steps; her angry footfalls echoed dully throughout the stairwell. Yuki merely rolled her eyes and plucked the offending knife out of her door, its wooden surface already pockmarked from Saki's previous assaults. She finished adjusting her uniform- which was already impeccable to begin with- and gracefully made her way down the steps.

"Come on trolls, let's go already." Sasuke opened the door and gestured for his kids to get-the-hell-moving.

"Hai, otousan!" Saki called, trying to score points with her father by being obedient for once.

"Hn." Yuki, on the other hand, who had adopted the classic 'I-don't-give-a-shit-for-I-am-an-Uchiha' attitude, promptly shoved her hands into her pockets and made a bee-line for the door.

"Oi, otousan, where's mom?" Saki pulled a shuriken out of her holster and started twirling it on her index finger as they made their way down the street. Sasuke sighed pointedly and reached out for the spinning weapon, neatly stopping its revolutions with a pinch of his fingers.

"She's meeting us there. With Takeo."

Saki pouted prettily, "Hey, I was practicing-"

"You shouldn't mess around with sharp objects. You could hurt someone." Using his parental intuition, Sasuke could tell that the weapon was only seconds away from being hurled at Yuki. Really, how many times did he have to tell Saki to stop stabbing Yuki's door with kunai? Or to cease flinging weapons at her sister without any real provocation? Sasuke really despaired about Saki's temperament sometimes; it seemed Saki had inherited Sakura's infamous short fuse, much to his chagrin. He had hoped all his children could have received the cool, calm, and collected countenance of the Uchiha, and thus bring honor to the family name-

"You mean...I could really hurt someone...Like Yuki..." the younger girl muttered under her breath, the angry utterance only confirming Sasuke's thoughts.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Yuki shot the remark over her shoulder, not even bothering to look behind her at her sister.

Saki ground her teeth, then slid her shuriken out of her father's grasp. With an evil smirk, she summarily flung it at her elder sister. But Yuki, the epitome of ninja perfection, caught the weapon in midair and pocketed the projectile with practiced ease.

"Hey, Yuki, give that back!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers. You're such an idiot."

"Daaaaaaaad!"

Sasuke fought the urge to grin, and instead replied smoothly, "I told you not to mess around with sharp objects. Now you must face the consequences of your actions."

Saki sighed dramatically and ran a hand through her pink hair, which only served to further unravel the tight braidSakura had spent so much time on earlier that morning.

"Gah, dad, you're always going on about consequences!" Saki pouted and crossed her arms before muttering under her breath, "You think you could be a little more creative with the lectures already?" She rolled her eyes at her father and quickly jogged up to her older sister to exchange more insults. With his progeny's backs turned to him, Sasuke finally indulged in a smile.

Who would have thought that Konoha's most mentally unstable, least likeable, renegade ninja would have ended up happily married with three kids? Although truth be told, if Sasuke had had his way, he would be the proud father of four or five or even six kids by now...

"Sasuke, for the hundredth time, I'm not a baby making machine."

Sasuke frowned slightly and twined his arms around his wife. "I never said you were."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Not exactly, but you've said as much to that effect. I have my career to think about-"

Sasuke stalled her protests by placing a finger on her lips. "Haven't I been doing a fine job with Yuki, Saki, and Takeo, raising them up at home while you're at work? I daresay I'm the model house husband."

In fact, it was surprising how quickly Sasuke had taken to the domestic arts once he and Saukra had settled down. At one point, an astrologer had wandered through town and had drawn up his chart; apparently, his moon was in Cancer, which would theoretically explain his mysterious propensity towards nesting. Although Sasuke wasn't sure he believed in all that crystal gripping hippie shit...

In any event, since he was condemned to house arrest for the foreseeable future, he resigned himself to making the best of his situation, for himself and for Sakura. Still, he couldn't help but feel claustrophobic at times; he figured, if he couldn't have missions or even leave the house without a bloody escort, at least he could have another baby to raise while serving out the rest of his sentence.

Sakura snorted. "I never said you weren't dar-ling, but you know that's not the issue. The issue is, how can I advance as a medical ninja while I'm pregnant and need to conserve my chakra? For Kami's sake, Takeo is barely one..."

Sasuke sighed. "If I could, I'd look at you with my adorable puppy eyes and you wouldn't be able to say no."

Sakura laughed at that, and the joke was especially funny since Sasuke had been blind for years. "Well, thank goodness you can't use puppy-eye-no-jutsu on me, because I seriously can't afford to be knocked up right now." After all, Sakura was head of the hospital now, and she was even considering taking on another apprentice, Kami help her. Not to mention that she was one of the Hokage's top advisors. She ruffled his hair, and then proceeded to tackle him on the bed. She then smoothed his messed up hair affectionately and continued, "I know rebuilding your clan is really important to you Sasuke-kun, but we have time. There's no rush. I still have another ten, fertile years ahead of me, at least. So...can we wait another year or two?"

"Two?" he asked incredulously. He wanted to make another mini-Uchiha that very night...

Sakura laughed and whapped him over the head with a pillow, reading his over-zealous mind.

"Dad, I can tell you just zoned out."

"Of course not. I was paying attention to your every word. The answer is no."

Yuki shook her head. "I didn't ask you a yes or no question."

Sasuke nodded sagaciously. "Very good. I was testing your reflexes."

"Dad! You so weren't paying attention!" Saki groaned and slapped her hand over her eyes.

Yuki crossed her arms. "A ninja looks underneath the underneath. Indeed."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his eldest daughter's somewhat esoteric statement. "What are you getting at?"

"She's saying you're getting soft old man!" Saki grinned and chucked a kunai at Sasuke. He sighed wearily, expeditiously snatched the knife out of the air, and shoved it into his weapons pouch as Saki shouted angrily for him to return it. She just never learns, he thought, half amused, half annoyed. Sasuke sighed theatrically and muttered, "Kids these days." He couldn't see it, but he was sure his children were rolling their eyes at him.

Thankfully, they had arrived at the academy and Sasuke was saved from further humiliation at the hands of his own children by his wife.

"Okaasan!" Saki yelped enthusiastically.

"Okaasan," Yuki murmured, composed and yet giving off the impression of being slightly irked.

The two children bowed politely to Sakura.

"Yuki, Saki, I trust you haven't been giving your father a hard time?"

Sasuke grinned and sardonically replied, "They were the model of respectful, polite children."

Sakura scoffed and shifted the weight of one sleeping Takeo in her arms. "I see, I'm so glad to hear it, Yuki, Saki." Sakura's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Yuki, go ahead and line up with the rest of your class. Saki, why don't you find your friends?"

"Hai, okaasan!" the two sisters shouted in stereo before sauntering off. Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time that day and cooed down at the sleeping form in Sakura's arms, "You're going to treat daddy nice, won't you little one? You won't be excessively cruel like your older sisters, no, no. You'll be a proper, honorable Uchiha." Sasuke grinned and and put his arm around Sakura before continuing, "It's good to have another man in the house."

"Sasuke, Takeo is one-and-a-half. That's hardly a man," she deadpanned.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. I'll take what I can get."

"Baka." Sakura raised herself up on the balls of her feet and gave Sasuke a peck on the cheek. "Let's go find a good seat before everything in the front row is taken."

"Hn. Give me a bit of healing chakra before we go in... my head is killing me."

Sakura rolled her eyes and muttered, "The girls were that bad, huh?" Acquiescing, she funneled chakra into his temples and over his broken eyes.

"Ah, arigato. So much better. Those brats are really something else..."

Sakura snorted. "Alright, why don't we find a seat and I'll work on your headache some more once we're inside."

(line break)

The graduation ceremony from the academy hadn't changed much since he and the rest of Team Seven had sat through it. He was unable to stifle a yawn, which earned him a disapproving grimace from Sakura. And of course, it was at that precise moment that Takeo woke up from his nap and started fussing; Sasuke was only too happy to take the malcontent baby from Sakura as an excuse to leave the stuffy auditorium.

"Hush now, demon-spawn, daddy's taking you outside now."

His squalling baby earned him yet more disapproving glances from the crowd, and it took every ounce of ninja stealth to exit without pissing off everyone and their literal mother. Finally, they reached the large, metal doors and slipped outside just as Takeo's whining reached earsplitting crescendos.

If only I could still use my mangekyou sharingan on this little shit... Sasuke was slightly appalled at the thought of using that particular jutsu on his own baby, and he knew that Sakura would throttle him if she ever found out he had even dreamed of something like that. Sasuke began desperately trying to calm Takeo, who was squirming in his arms like one of Ibiki's prisoners undergoing intense torture.

He offered the baby water which Takeo promptly spit back up on him. He half-heartedly began bouncing the babe up and down, which only earned him louder cries. In desperation he covertly retrieved a candy bar from his pocket, thanking Kami that Sakura wasn't there to see him offering their child refined sugars. However, Takeo seemed to have the same feelings about the candy that he had about the water; he nearly brained Sasuke as he hurled the sweets at his father. Finally Sasuke gave up and sat Takeo down under a shady tree. It was hot outside so Sasuke lay down next to the still-screaming brat.

"Kami Takeo, I really don't know what you want!" Exasperated, Sasuke stuck out his tongue as an expression of his complete and utter resignation to torture at the hands of his the screaming child. The baby giggled and stuck his tongue back out at his father. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Sasuke pulled the corners of his lips apart, his lame attempt at a silly face. Takeo rewarded him with a smile and mirrored Sasuke's motions, his little hands entering his drooling maw and pulling apart his lips in his best caricature of his dad.

However, after a moment the boy became bored of this game and proceeded to wail again. Desperate times called for desperate measures- Sasuke screwed up his face and began speaking nonsense. "Ooogie boogie boo!" Takeo ceased his cries and laughed loudly. Thank Kami...now all I have to do is keep on making faces at the little hellion until the ceremony is over. Sasuke continued to make an ass of himself, pulling down his eyelids and gnashing his teeth to a garbled version of the itsy-bitsy-spider for the sake of peace and quiet, until finally-

"You know, if you keep on doing that, your face will freeze in that position."

If Sasuke had the power of sight, he would have shot the intruder a death glare for witnessing the embarrassing scene. "As long as my baby shuts up, I don't care," Sasuke replied somewhat snappily before he sighed and turned to Takeo, who (thank the Spirits!) had been distracted from his temper tantrum by a fluttering swallow-tail butterfly. Sasuke was safe for now. Remembering one of Sakura's many lectures on how Sasuke needed to be more civil to his peers, he cleared his throat and continued in a friendlier tone, "How are you Shikamaru-san? Your boy isn't graduating today, is he?"

"Hayato? Nah, he's only eight, plus he'll probably end up graduating over in the Sand country. You know how it is- he's perfectly capable of graduating right now, but both the Hokage and the Kazekage insist on no early graduations. It's troublesome, but what can you do? I suppose its for the best."

"Can't hurt to take things slow." Sasuke nodded thoughtfully, then scowled as he noticed that the ends of his scarf were currently being chewed on by his youngest son. Sasuke wished he hadn't worn his favorite silk scarf with the intricate embroidered hawks on it that particular day; he had much plainer ones that he used to cover his blind eyes that already had Takeo's gnaw marks on them. Such was his luck. Sasuke suspired and replied evenly, "We are in peacetime after all, it won't kill the village for the kids to take their time about becoming contracted killers."

Shikamaru frowned, and was thankful Sasuke couldn't see it. Instead, the Nara asked drolly, "Your girl Yuki graduated at the top of the class I hear."

Sasuke filed away the fact that Shikamaru had indeed grimaced and was trying to hide it from him, but instead replied in a monotone, "She'd be offended to hear you called her a girl, but yes, it's true. Her grades are the best, and her jutsu is nothing to laugh at either."

"Offended?"

"Hn. She prefers the term, 'warrior', or 'ninja', or at the very least Woman with a capital W. She's...er...mature for her age."

Shikamaru laughed quietly. "She looks a lot like you did in your younger days...minus the female bits of course. Even her uniform is strongly reminiscent of the one you used to wear when we were genin."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded civilly. He really wasn't much of a talker, but he didn't want to be impolite, so he added, "It was easy to combine the Uchiha and Haruno symbols, thankfully. For the uniform..." Sasuke finished awkwardly. He gently pulled the sodden ends of his scarf out of Takeo's mouth, who then proceeded to chomp down on the corner of Sasuke's shirt. Teething was hard on his wardrobe. "So...Shikamaru-san, what brings you back to the Leaf? I can't imagine it's just for the graduation."

"Not much, really. Just here to help arrange the genin teams."

"You're hiding a scowl from me again. Either assembling the teams was 'too troublesome', to phrase it in your usual parlance, or you are hiding something else entirely from me." Sasuke was sure it was the latter; the usually laconic Shikamaru did not often pick conversations with the equally tight-lipped Uchiha for no good reason. Plus, Sasuke was fairly sure Shikamaru hadn't been officially scheduled to come home for at least another month.

"Oh?" Shikamaru replied, feigning surprise.

"Something is up."

Shikamaru sighed. "I was actually hoping to gather some information from you. I presume you've heard about the strange disappearances happening along the border?"

Sasuke choked back a yelp as Takeo bit into his side. "Hey little monster, that hurts daddy. Here, chew on this." Sasuke resigned himself to more slobber and handed the greedy infant the ends of his scarf to destroy, then turned back to Shikamaru. "I've heard a bit, but as you know, I'm still technically under house arrest...so...I don't get out much." Sasuke shrugged.

Shikamaru nodded and chewed his lower lip. "Well, it's nothing to trouble yourself about." Sasuke severely doubted that, but he sensed that the graduation ceremony had just let out, and they were being approached by their friends and family.

"Sure." He was sure Shikamaru would ask him more about it later, but for now, he wouldn't let the inquiry mar Yuki's graduation.

"Oi, Shikamaru-kun, I knew you'd come for Cho's big day! You really do care!" Ino squealed and grabbed the Nara by the crook of his arm.

"Ah, Ino, troublesome as always." But despite his words, he smiled at his blonde teammate.

"Shika, stop whining so much and get over here! I want Cho to show you her new jutsu!"

Shikamaru sighed. "I'll see you...later, Sasuke."

"Later then."

Sasuke shook his head to clear himself of foreboding thoughts, gathered Takeo up in his arms, and rose to meet his family.

"Saki, for the last time, no, I didn't cheat on the exams," Yuki exclaimed, exasperated beyond measure.

"Well, I don't understand how you can be at the top of the class, since my jutsu-"

"Are still sub-par, Saki-chan."

"You want to go Yuki-chan? Let's go, right here, right now, we'll see who the strongest-"

"Saki, can you cool it for one afternoon? Let's just enjoy and celebrate the fact that Yuki graduated with high marks from the academy, ok?" Sakura thumped Saki lightly over the head as she completed her sentence. Saki shot her mother a cantankerous glance and then proceeded to glower down at the ground.

"You are both excellent warriors." Sasuke placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder as he said this, and mentally congratulated himself by avoiding the word 'girls', and thus instant doom via sharp pointy objects from his children. He smiled slightly and continued, "Well done Yuki. You bring honor to the Uchiha name."

"Otousan? Can we spar?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You mean, right now? Don't you want to enjoy-"

"I'm in a bad mood, ok?" Yuki frowned and petulantly chewed her lower lip.

While Sasuke would have been delighted to spar with his eldest daughter, he wasn't sure that now was the time and the place. "Why-"

Saki cut her father off and explained tersely, "She just found out who's on her team."

Sasuke chuckled, remembering how low his spirits had been after being placed on team seven. Beside him, Sakura nudged him in the side, as if to say that she too remembered that fateful day. They both smiled at this, but Sasuke dared not voice his own fond memories in front of his progeny- he was sure that they would use that information against him somehow. Seriously, having overly-intelligent children could often prove to be a major liability. In any event, he wondered if the rumors were true that Yuki would be paired with the rambunctious offspring of the Hokage. He replied blithely, "Oh come on, it can't be that-"

Sasuke blessed his acute ninja reactions, for he blocked Yuki's punch to his gut with his free hand just in time.

"Yuki-chan, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't try to cause me bodily harm while I'm holding your younger brother." Sasuke sighed and handed the fussing baby to a frowning Sakura for safekeeping.

Saki moaned, "Otousan, how can you be so insensitive! Ryuu and Cho just got put on Yuki's team! Her life is over!" Saki flailed her arms dramatically while bouncing up and down to accentuate her point. Sakura rolled her eyes and broke in, "Ryuu and Cho are both fine ninja, I don't see what the problem-"

Saki, ever the impatient brat, broke in again, "Hello, mom, first of all, Ryuu is… well, he's just…Ryuu." Sasuke grinned at that; the apple really didn't fall far from the tree. Not only did Ryuu look like the spitting image of Naruto, but he was also equally...annoying. He could see why Yuki was not pleased at this development. Saki sputtered under her mother's quizzical glare but continued, "And to be paired up with Cho! I mean, who's ever heard of two girls on a team together- ouch! Owowowo! Yuki!"

Sasuke sighed. "Yuki, unhand your sister's ear." Yuki paused for a minute, gave Saki's earlobe one last good pull, and retracted her hand. Saki, screwing her face into a pout, glowered up at her sister as Sasuke commented dryly, "The only reason Yuki and Cho were paired together on a team is because Yuki and Cho are extremely talented ninja."

Yuki scoffed, "I wish I had been paired with Tadashi."

"Tadashi isn't even graduating this year." Sasuke shook his head; while Neji and Tenten's son was extremely talented, he was a year younger than the rest and wouldn't become a proper genin until next year. "Tell me some good news, who is your sensei?"

Even without sight, Sasuke could tell that the metaphorical cloud over Yuki's head had just become even darker, if that was even humanely possible.

While Yuki smoldered in silence, Sakura chuckled and muttered, "No one other than Konohamaru-san."

Well, that would certainly explain the bad mood. The only thing worse than having Naruto's son on your team would be to have the equivalent of Naruto's younger brother leading it.

Speaking of the devil, just then a rosy cheeked Ryuu came strolling over. "Oi! Yuki-chan! Do you think we'll get one of those awesome S-ranked missions to check out the boarder towns! I hear there's been monsters, and ghosts, and even werewolves-"

Yuki ground her teeth. "First of all, Yuki-san, or even Yuki-sama will do. If you ever, ever use 'chan' at the end of my name... and second of all, there is no such thing as monsters, ghosts, or werewolves. Baka. Third of all, there's no way they are going to send a green rookie genin team like ours on a S-ranked mission. We'll be chasing cats and cleaning barns until you get your act together."

"Aw, Yuki-chan, don't be such a downer!"

"WHAT did I say about using chan?" Sakura subtly restrained her daughter from unleashing a barrage of kunai at Ryuu as Naruto and Hinata cheerfully approached. While their family had always been close to Naruto's, Yuki, ever the overly serious Uchiha, often had little patience with Ryuu's lack of common sense and gravitas.

"Hello, Hokage-Uncle-Naruto-sama!" Saki smiled cheerfully as she waved wildly to get his attention, her frazzled braid bouncing up and down on her back.

"Just Uncle Naruto will do, Saki-chan." He grinned and messed up Saki's hair even more than it already was before continuing, "Well, hello all! Congrats, Yuki-san, on graduating at the top of the class. I wouldn't expect anything less from Sasuke and Sakura's kid. They always did kick my ass when it came to academics," he mused nostalgically.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama." Yuki bowed formally to Naruto.

Naruto sighed- why, why could Yuki never call him just plain Naruto? He supposed for some kids, adolescence just hit early. As for Yuki, she had all the physical signs of an early puberty: she was as tall as her father for one. And according to Sakura-chan, she had been pirating extra bindings to pin down, quote, 'her obnoxiously bouncy girly bits' (dear gods, he really wished Sakura-chan hadn't shared that particular bit of information with him). Even Naruto could see that emotionally, Yuki was already the angsty teenager at the tender age of ten; and although she was now looked upon in the ninja world as an adult, her parental units- 'Uncle Naruto' included- had a hard time digesting that fact. Naruto smiled. "Ah, Yuki-san, I hear Ryuu's been placed on your team. Try and watch out for him, ok?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yuki responded in a dead-serious tone, as if she had been assigned an important mission from their village leader, instead of simply exchanging pleasantries with a family friend.

"Aw, dad, I don't need anyone looking out for me!"

Naruto schooled his features into a stern look and turned towards his son. "Unfortunately, your grades from the academy are too much like mine were. You could use someone competent looking out for you."

"Otousan! Come on, you got those grades and then you became the HOKAGE! I'll be, like, totally fine!" Ryuu's prepubescent voice squeaked in protest.

Saki snorted, "Ryuu, you should be honored to have my sister be looking after your sorry ass- I mean, rear! Rear! Your sorry rear!" Saki's eyes got wide with horror from the look Sakura was giving her due to her improper word choice.

"Not even Saki, I'm totally going to be Hokage some day, just like my dad!" Ryuu pointed to himself and smirked. Behind him, his younger sister Hoshiko smiled quietly and gave him a thumbs-up.

Yuki sighed painfully. "I'll try to make he doesn't do anything too stupid, Hokage-sama.

Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Naruto all had a good chuckle at that, while the younger ones gave them looks that ranged from slightly irked to exasperated.

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