Chapter 31
Sakura frowned. Where the hell was Naruto? Sure, Lee was down and wouldn't be able to participate in the matches, he was still recovering from the poison, but Naruto should be here. Oh. There he was. Launched into the stadium and flat out on his face. Shikamaru kindly picked up him and let Naruto lean against him.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru groaned.
Why pick him up then?
"Stampede of bulls..." Naruto whimpered.
"...Riiight..." Shikamaru huffed. "Well, you're lucky, your rampaging bulls didn't follow you in here."
Naruto shook his head, clearing it. "That's good. They'd only get in the way. Right! Are we ready yet?"
"We were waiting for you," Shikamaru sighed.
"Yeah, Naruto. How could you be so late?" Sakura scoffed. "Just as bad as Kakashi sensei."
Naruto snorted. "Is he even here yet?"
"Sadly not. He was with Sasuke too." Sakura frowned. "Hopefully they didn't get too side tracked."
Wherever they ended up. Once Sasuke woke up from his coma Kakashi took him somewhere and thus left Sakura in Izumi's 'care'. It felt like she had barely gotten to say a word to Sasuke, who still looked tired, but much more focused.
"Quit fidgeting, you three," Genma ordered. "Stand up tall for the spectators. We're about to begin."
.::.
"Bloody hell, Kakashi! You're seriously delaying us."
"This lizard has challenged me."
Kakashi sensei was crazy. The pregnancy had finally ruined whatever brain cells he had left. No, Sasuke wasn't joking. Kakashi was having a staring contest with a lizard. A tiny, purple lizard that had been sitting peacefully on a tree.
Now its eyes were locked with Kakashi's.
"It blinked at you!" Sasuke groaned. "Why are you doing this? I know there's a purpose, but I can't tell if it's to mess with me or not. Sure, it could be your pregnancy brain or whatever, but you seem to use that as more of an excuse now than anything."
Kakashi smirked. "I'll never tell."
"I hate you," Sasuke sighed. "With all my hate."
"I know." Kakashi looked delighted.
What the hell was wrong with this guy? Why was he taking such enjoyment out of seeing Sasuke suffer? All he wanted to do was go see the match, maybe copy some new moves, mock Naruto when he got punched in the face, stuff like that. But no! They were going to miss Naruto's match at this rate. That meant missing seeing the little shit get punched.
Dammit. That was the reason! Stupid team building.
.::.
Obito sipped at wine and munched on grapes beside the Daimyo. He was quite happy to look like the spoiled personal advisor to the Lord, it was quite relaxing. And way too easy. They sat in the private balcony, one of the most expensive seating in the entire stadium.
His main concern was that Kakashi wasn't here. Kakashi felt fine though, highly amused, so that was a relief. But why wasn't he at such an important event? Did he forget about it? It was more than likely, Kakashi seemed to lose track of the dates more frequently these days.
Obito barely paid any attention to the fight. Caged birds. Hyuga drama. Yada, yada, yada. It was the same old story. The world continued to make people suffer over and over again. The nine tails host kept barking and doing heroic speeches, but the only reason he won that match was because of the fox's chakra. It wasn't by his own strength.
That was the chakra Obito would claim one day. Naruto could play with it for now, but the nine tails had a very important job to do in the next few years. Along with Gaara's one tail, the crazy, bloodthirsty pup, standing on the sidelines.
What made Obito pause was Kankuro withdrawing from his match. Not without even an ounce of hesitation, like it was planned. Genma looked suspicious, but Temari distracted everyone with her little wind and fly show.
"And you are?" Genma frowned.
"It's me next, right?" Temari smirked.
"You're certainly an eager one." Genma blinked, then looked back up at the stands. "Alright, Shikamaru Nara, you're up!"
The Nara boy looked ready to disappear into the shadows. Obito smothered down a laugh. Poor Naras never did like being forced to do too much work, not with all the energy they spend doing their shadow techniques. It made them tired and cranky, and obviously this pup was no different.
Only problem was Naruto slapped his back eagerly, shoving him out the safety of the stands.
The pup ended up just staring at the clouds despairingly, even as the crowd threw their snacks and paperwork at him. The Nara gave no shits whatsoever, and Obito smothered down another laugh.
Naras were always so bloody chill.
.::.
What the hell was wrong with this Omega? Temari had never seen someone so lazy. It was kinda funny though, the kid didn't seem to care at all, even with the entire crowd booing him.
"What's wrong?" Temari teased. "Planning on giving up too, pup?"
She couldn't let him. They needed to stall for more time. Sasuke Uchiha wasn't here yet and they needed to capture him for the Sound.
.::.
"Don't you dare stop for tea!" Sasuke hissed, clutching Kakashi's t-shirt.
"It's a puppy cafe!" Kakashi was relentless, digging his heels in, reaching for the teahouse with an odd glint of determination in his eye.
"You have plenty of dogs!"
"These are puppies and I must pet them! Besides, look at the little faces, you must want to pet them too."
"I'm a cat person," Sasuke said dryly.
"All you Uchihas are." Kakashi rolled his eyes.
"How many Uchihas can you possibly know? There's only Izumi and I." Sasuke frowned.
Kakashi smiled sweetly. "I can tell you about it over tea."
Sasuke glared. "I'm not falling for it."
"I could tell you about how your mother used to bake me cookies when I was little." Kakashi grinned, and Sasuke twitched.
That was tempting...
Kakashi was a devil. The literal devil.
"Why would my mum bake you cookies?" Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"There's only one way to find out." Kakashi's smile grew and he eyed the puppy cafe gleefully.
Sasuke frowned. It must be something to do with the Sharingan Kakashi had stolen. Although, if he was that close to Sasuke's clan then maybe it hadn't been stolen? And if he had stolen it Izumi would probably not be so friendly with him. Whatever it was, Kakashi seemed willing to share some details, and it would be worth missing a match or two. Even if he had to miss Naruto get punched in the face.
Sasuke ordered them both tea while Kakashi cooed over every puppy that ran at him with their little tails wagging. It was strange seeing a grown man coo, but Kakashi was a strange guy in the first place so this was probably fine. Once they had gotten comfortable on the cushions scattered all over the place, and the puppies settled down, one on Sasuke's lap, and about six others lounging on Kakashi, Kakashi finally told him about the first Uchiha he had ever met.
Sasuke's mother.
"Mikoto was my father's student," Kakashi revealed, sipping at his tea, somehow without ever showing his face. "They were Team 6, Mikoto Uchiha, Kushina Uzumaki, and Sanji Hyuga. Sanji died during a mission when I was two, so I don't remember much of him... But I met Mikoto and Kushina fairly often."
Sasuke filed away the name Kushina Uzumaki for later. Right now this was his mother he was hearing about. But he did want to mention the name to Naruto. They could be distant relatives? Who knows, it might be that Naruto wouldn't even care. Right now he wanted to hear about his mother.
"She was quiet, polite, but friendly. Loved her panthers, but they always got into a fight with my father's wolves about their rivalry-"
"Your father's wolves and my mother's panthers had a rivalry?" Sasuke frowned, in disbelief.
"Ask Yami about it sometime. Anyway, thankfully my father and Mikoto were calm and easy going, so any arguments between the two groups were sorted through fast. Thankfully, otherwise Kushina would have been involved instead." Kakashi shivered. "Kushina had a horrible temper and was rude to most people, but her and Mikoto were such close friends despite their different personalities."
"She had these two twin blades, the purple one of which I noticed was with Izumi, and I believe the other is for you..." Kakashi mused. Sasuke neither confirmed nor denied it. "And she was amazing at genjutsu. Also baking. She taught me how to cook basic foods, but when we baked together it was great fun."
Sasuke smiled. Yeah, he remembered that feeling. He struggled to reach the counters back then to help his mother, in fact she'd pull over a stool so he could stand on it to reach. They'd end up creating such a mess then hurry to clean it up before father came back home, giggling like maniacs.
He really missed her. If she was here-
But she wasn't. Itachi made sure of that. The murderer. He killed their mother of all people-
"So you knew each other because of your father?" Sasuke managed to ask, struggling to pass the anger.
Kakashi's scent, now softer than ever, soothed over him, trying to offer comfort. Sasuke reluctantly accepted it. Kakashi was a pregnant Omega, so of course he wanted to comfort pups. Sasuke would normally have never accepted it- even though it was nice -but this was a pregnant Omega, his pregnant sensei. Sasuke could afford to show some respect.
"Yeah, they used to babysit me." Kakashi laughed. "I used to be a little terror too, from what I was told. The only one who could get me to sit peacefully was my mother, but sadly she was gone early in my life."
Sasuke frowned. "What about your father?"
"He died early too," Kakashi said softly. "The Hatake Clan is pretty much non-existent by this point. It's just me-" Kakashi paused, laying a hand on his stomach. "Well..." He smiled weakly. "Me and the baby..."
Sasuke grimaced. "There are no other Hatakes?"
"Sadly not. We were never a big clan in the first place, and that's probably what ruined us. Too many early deaths and a little amount of children."
There was a silence between them for a time, but Sasuke decided to try fill it, albeit awkwardly.
"You... You said you knew a lot of Uchihas..."
Kakashi startled out of his thoughts. "Ah, right. Yeah. Shisui Uchiha, he was the 'funny guy', always cracking jokes, running circles around us, and being a nuisance."
Sasuke snorted. "Sounds like him."
Kakashi laughed. "He was funny. We went on plenty of missions together-"
Sasuke paused. "Shisui was in ANBU with Itachi in Team Ro..." He saw Kakashi pause, blinking widely, and scowled. It clicked then. That bastard. "You're Hound, aren't you?"
Hound was with him and Izumi for months after Itachi murdered their clan. He made them food, guarded their house, even watered their plants. He used to stay outside Sasuke's window and Sasuke used to leave it open so he could whisper to him about anything and everything. Sasuke flushed at the thought.
That was fucking Kakashi.
"You're the one who kept changing my room lights to flash random bright colours!" Sasuke gasped.
Every time he came home they would change colour and act like he was in a disco. A very bright, confusing disco. Izumi's bed would flicker colourfully too, and he would hear her cursing up a storm.
Kakashi grinned. "Neither of you liked the dark anymore, so I thought I'd help."
"You turned our rooms into discos."
"Yes. It was very colourful."
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke sighed.
"Do you want that list in alphabetical order, or from best to worst?" Kakashi asked mildly.
Sasuke groaned.
.::.
Asuma laughed sheepishly. "Well, he never really was very driven..."
"This is embarrassing..." Kurenai complained.
The Sand girl must have lost her patience, because she charged Shikamaru. Shikamaru hardly seemed fazed, more annoyed as he searched his pockets. Dust covered the field momentarily, and Asuma smirked. Shikamaru was perched above the Alpha woman on two kunai. Temari looked shocked, and Asuma cheered. Finally, his pup was on the move!
"It really doesn't make a difference to me whether I become a Chunin or not, but I guess I shouldn't let myself get beaten by an Alpha female-" Shikamaru paused, the smirk left his face. "Oh, shit."
Temari froze, right at the moment their eyes met. Asuma groaned, shaking his head, while Izumi muffled her laughter.
"Don't you dare, Izumi..." Asuma warned him.
Izumi's shoulders shook, but she gave in and threw her head, laughing hard. Kurenai patted Asuma's shoulder, sympathetic.
"What are you doing, Shikamaru?" Ino yelled. "Kick her ass!"
"I can't believe that's happened twice," Asuma groaned. "Both Sand ninjas."
"Will they do a match change here?" Kurenai asked.
"I don't think they can. They've pretty much ran out of people to use in the matches, unless they put Temari against Sakura and Shikamaru against Gaara," Asuma said, grimacing. "Shikamaru's going to be annoyed."
"You two are mates?" Genma sighed. "Great, I don't think there's really anyone left to battle either in this round-"
"No," Temari said shakily, a wild look in her eyes. "I'll happily fight my Omega."
Shikamaru groaned. "Great, my Alpha's a wild one."
.::.
Izumi felt a flicker of anger and worry and turned around. Shikaku stood at the stairs, staring at his son with fear in his eyes. Izumi froze. She had forgotten the rules-
Clan Omegas didn't take mates outside their lands. Konoha didn't allow it, or at least their council didn't. They'd send Shikamaru to the breeding grounds. Shikaku looked ready to commit murder, and his eyes were already on the Hokage. Izumi went immediately to his side, gripping his wrist.
"Shikaku-" she began.
"I know," he growled lowly. "Shikamaru hasn't had his heat. He's safe for now. But I won't let them drag my pup into a dark cave, and neither will my wife."
"We'll begin soon," Izumi said.
"Yeah." Shikaku's eyes hardened. "We will."
"Shikaku?" Asuma spotted them up at the top of the stairs and waved them over. "You made it for Shikamaru's match?"
"Managed to grab a quick break," Shikaku said, and Izumi nearly sighed in relief when his urge to murder eased off. "Asuma-"
Asuma's eyes darkened. "I know. Shikamaru's ran into his mate and she's a Sand ninja." He leaned back in his seat. "I'll make sure the old man fucks off and leaves Shikamaru out of it."
Shikaku grunted. "Would he even listen to you?"
"I'll make him," Asuma insisted.
"Good to hear." Shikaku nodded. "Thanks, Asuma. I'd owe you one."
Owe the guy whose father they were planning to blackmail? Huh, interesting.
