Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mixed Feelings ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Kurenai, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji, Asuma, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Gai, Konohamaru, Udon, Mogei, Iruka, Anko, Genma, Shizune, Jiraiya, as well as some other Jounin, Chuunin, and ANBU all stood and/or sat in Tsunade’s office discussing what to do about the Orochimaru conflict.
Suddenly the door burst open and an ANBU guard rushed into the room in a panic, breathing heavily.
“What is it?” Tsunade asked, an eyebrow lifting in curiosity and concern.
“Akatsuki.” He heaved out breathlessly.
“What?” Tsunade snapped, her fists pounding on her desk, cracking it, as she stood abruptly.
“Relax, we mean no harm.” A man suddenly appeared behind the breathless man, his hands resting on the ANBU’s shoulders as he smiled cheerfully. He was about six foot one, with short, slicked back black hair and deep brown eyes. He wore a silver, chain-link T-shirt, and black sweatpants. His legs, from his ankles to his knees were wrapped in bandages, and his slashed Hidden Shadow forehead protector rested on his upper right leg. An Akatsuki cloak was draped carelessly over his left arm.
The ANBU stiffened at the touch.
The black haired man chuckled, “Ha, is he going to faint?”
“What do you expect when you sneak up on people like that, Ichi?” A gruff woman asked as she stood in the doorway. She was five foot seven with waist length red hair held up in a loose bun with a thin veil of bangs hanging in hazel eyes. She wore a dark red, long sleeved shirt, and black, skintight pants. Her slashed Hidden Sand headband rested loosely around her waist; her Akatsuki cloak dropped carelessly to the floor.
Beside the redhead stood another woman, standing at five foot five; she had short, chin length orange-brown hair and dull blue eyes. She wore a light purple T-shirt, black shorts much like Hinata’s, and a very dark purple jacket with white trim; her slashed Hidden Stone headband sat on her upper right arm. She slipped off her Akatsuki cloak and threw it over her head, giggling lightly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare anyone.” The black haired man, Ichi, released the ANBU’s shoulders and took a step back.
“Ichi is harmless, I promise.” The redhead announced.
“I wouldn’t go that far, Sachi-san, none of us are exactly harmless.” The black haired man smiled kindly.
The redhead, Sachi, rolled her eyes and punched the man’s shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot.” She stood and snatched the cloak off the other woman’s head. “Miki, this is no time to be fooling around.” She snapped.
Itachi and his partner Kisame were suddenly standing behind Miki in the doorway, along with another woman. She was five foot four, with shoulder length light pink hair, her left eye green and her right blue. She wore a long sleeved tan/brown shirt and brown, formfitting pants; her slashed Hidden Sound forehead protector sat sideways on her head, much like Zabuza used to wear his. Her Akatsuki cloak hung around her neck, pushed off over her shoulders.
Miki held up her hand, set in the peace sign. “We come in peace.” She grinned, giggling slightly.
“This woman does not represent us.” Sachi pointed to the woman in purple, who giggled in response.
“But she’s right, we mean no harm.” Ichi announced. “I believe you already know Itachi of the Hidden Leaf and his partner, Kisame of the Hidden Mist. I am Ichi of the Hidden Shadow, and the pink haired woman is my partner, Kana of the Hidden Sound.” He tapped the redhead’s shoulder. “This is Sachi of the Hidden Sand, and her partner Miki of the Hidden Stone.” He motioned to the cheerful woman in purple. “We’ve come with information, and an offer.”
Tsunade eyed each Akatsuki member now standing in her office before sitting slowly. “What kind of information?”
“Orochimaru.” He said simply.
Tsunade’s eyes narrowed at the name, she motioned to one of the vacant chairs in front of her desk for him to sit.
He nodded sharply and took a seat.
“Well?”
“We’ve been doing surveillance in Sound, Sand, and Leaf.” Tsunade opened her mouth to speak but he held up a hand. “Please let me finish, Hokage-sama.” She huffed but nodded anyway. “We’ve been keeping an eye on Orochimaru especially; he has allied with Stone and Rain and they are preparing for war. They will attack Konoha in a months time, we’d like to offer our assistance.”
“Why?”
“Orochimaru is a nuisance.” The brown-eyed man huffed. “We’ve been trying to dispose of him for quite some time now.”
“Considering Orochimaru’s status and such, I’d think that the Akatsuki would want to become allies with him.” Tsunade told him.
Ichi furrowed his brow in anger and shook his head. “Please do not think so lowly of the Akatsuki. We may seek power, but we are not desperate, nor greedy. Orochimaru is the lowest form of slime there is, and we refuse to associate with such disgusting trash. Orochimaru hides behind powerful allies to seem more powerful than he really is. It is merely a pallor trick of smoke and mirrors.”
“May I ask one question off subject?” Tsunade’s demeanor saddened.
Ichi nodded, a look of confusion crossing his face.
“Nine years ago, Akatsuki members were sent after a boy here in Konoha named Uzumaki Naruto, he disappeared seven years ago, do you know what happened to him?”
The room was silent, the air thick and tense, no one said a word for several uncomfortable moments.
“No,” Ichi closed his eyes for several seconds before opening them again. “I’m afraid not. I’m sorry.” He coughed into a fist. “We will keep an eye open for you though. So, will you accept our help?”
“Why should we trust the Akatsuki?” Sasuke asked, the sneer evident in his voice.
“Well aren’t you sweet.” Sachi murmured sarcastically, her hands on her hips.
“You have every reason not to trust us, we’d expect no less.” Ichi said.
Tsunade steeple-d her fingers as she thought.
"They have a point," Shikamaru butted in. "We will need all the help we can get against Orochimaru, he never comes ill-prepared."
Ichi nodded in agreement.
"What did you mean when you said you did surveillance in Sand, Sound, and Leaf?" Neji asked.
"Mere observations." Ichi smiled kindly, "We were checking up on Orochimaru, of course. But in Leaf and Sand we were checking over your preparations and such, we wanted to know if you'd really need our help against Orochimaru, or if we could leave it all to you. As you've pointed out, Orochimaru never comes to battle ill-prepared. We noticed that you also have an alliance with Mist, unfortunately they are having troubles with Hidden Waterfall so they may not be able to help."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to know who was sent where." Tsunade asked, and the other Leaf-nin nodded in agreement.
"Kana-dono and myself were sent to Sand, we chose to do our observations from the shadows. Sachi-san and Miki-kun were sent to Sound, they went undercover as deserters from Waterfall. And Itachi-san and Kisame-kun were sent to Mist, I believe they too did their job from the shadows." Ichi explained.
"And the ones who were sent here?" Tsunade lifted an eyebrow in question.
"Those two may, or may not, be joining us." Ichi told her. "Unfortunately I do not know how they did their job, although I believe they chose the shadows. You see, when they were to report on their mission, they were to report to Itachi-san, and well, neither of them like him very much." He smiled sheepishly.
"Don't see why." Miki grinned; she turned and hugged Itachi around the neck. "Teddy!" She giggled.
Itachi snorted at the added weight.
Ichi closed his eyes and held his breath for several minutes before releasing it and beginning to breath evenly.
Tsunade cleared her throat. “Well, I think we should set down some ground rules.”
Silence.
Tsunade’s eyes darted around the room to see if anyone would say anything.
Sachi sighed and stepped towards the Hokage’s desk, then promptly dropped her fist onto Ichi’s head heavily. His eyes snapped open suddenly before he blinked rapidly. “Stay with us, Ichi.” The redhead mumbled.
“Ah, sorry.” He smiled goofily.
“Ichi-san has a tendency to fall asleep, a lot, please bare with him.” Sachi explained with a somewhat forced smile. She gripped the black haired man’s shoulders from behind and shook him slightly. “Ground rules.”
He nodded and she let go, taking a step back. Ichi cleared his throat. “First of all, you don’t attack us, and we won’t attack you.”
“Agreed, the same goes for us.” Tsunade nodded, glancing at Sasuke quickly.
“Agreed.”
“I have a question about these two members who may or may not be joining you.” Tsunade piped up. “Before we go any further.”
“There is about a seventy percent chance they will not be coming here.” Ichi explained. “I will answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.”
“I’m sure we have questions for all of you.” Tsunade mumbled as she glanced around the room.
The brown-eyed man nodded. “Then we will answer to the best of our ability. To be warned, anything we deem an unnecessary question will be ignored.”
“Why exactly was the Akatsuki after Uzumaki Naruto?” Neji asked. “Was it really because of the Kyuubi?”
“Yes.” Itachi mumbled, pushing Miki away from him finally.
“Are you still looking for him?” Lee asked.
“No.” Kisame answered.
“Why, may I ask?” Shizune asked, cocking her head to the side.
“We just follow orders.” Ichi shrugged. “Well, most of the time at least.” He grinned sheepishly.
“May I ask why your comrades may not join us?” Jiraiya asked.
Ichi sighed heavily and looked thoughtful. “Personal reasons, and specific responsibilities. I will not divulge any further information on the subject.”
“Miki-san,” Sakura asked hesitantly, going for the least harmful looking assassin. “Do you know a man by the name of ‘Jiro’?”
Miki looked thoughtful, tapping her bottom lip and looking up at the ceiling curiously. “I don’t think so.” She answered finally.
Before any more questions could be asked, childish laughter echoed from down the hall.
The Leaf-nin’s eyes widened, thinking a child had wandered into the building, and they might be in danger with the Akatsuki in there.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sachi huffed.
“I hate kids.” Kisame grumbled.
“Kids hate you.” Sachi rolled her eyes.
A spiky haired blonde boy wearing a red t-shirt and black pants ran passed the door in a giggle fit, only to have the collar of his shirt grabbed by Itachi as he passed the older man.
The Leaf-nin stiffened; Sasuke glared at his brother, daring the man to harm the child.
The blonde coughed as he was choked by the sudden stop. He allowed himself to be dragged closer to the older man, turned to face the group inside the Hokage’s office.
Several Leaf-nin nearly fainted, Iruka being one of them. The boy was the spitting image of Naruto, he even had the faintest hint of whisker marks on his cheeks, the only difference was this boy was only about seven years old, and he had black, obsidian eyes.
The boy smiled goofily and looked up at the Uchiha still gripping the collar of his shirt.
“Little brat.” A voice grumbled, a voice the Leaf-nin recognized. “I am not a baby-sitter.”
“Mainly because you need a baby-sitter yourself.” Itachi mumbled.
Niro stepped into view, glaring at the older Uchiha. “Bite me.”
"No fighting you two." Miki giggled.
"I don't think that's possible." Sachi sighed, shaking her head.
"Jiro-kun." Several Leaf-nin chorused together.
The blue haired man jumped and peered into the room. "Oh, hello." He waved lightly. "Um, my name is actually Niro, Niro of the Hidden Rain."
"Isn't Jiro the perfect alias?" Sachi remarked sarcastically. "Niro to Jiro."
The blue haired man shrugged. "It's easy to remember at least."
"You're an Akatsuki member?" Ino mumbled as she hid herself behind Shikamaru. "I don't believe it."
"Then...does that mean..." Sakura trailed off, unable to believe the obvious.
Inside, Sasuke knew what it meant if Niro was an Akatsuki member, it meant Gen was too.
"What are we doing here?" The miniature Naruto asked curiously.
"Baka." Came a young, but slightly deep voice. What looked like a miniature Sasuke with crystal blue eyes, wearing a navy blue t-shirt and black cargo pants, stepped into view, glaring at the blonde boy beside Itachi.
"Daisuke-ahou!" The blonde shouted, threatening the dark haired boy with a clenched fist.
The blue-eyed boy simply stared blankly, not even flinching. "Weren't you paying attention when Niro-san explained it earlier?" He asked. "This is Hidden Leaf..."
"I know where we are! Why are we here?" He scowled.
"Ginji, calm down." Itachi mumbled; he had yet to let go of the boy's shirt.
The blonde looked up at the older Uchiha and grinned cheekily. "Sorry."
"What's with the kids?" Jiraiya asked.
The two boys, Daisuke and Ginji, were glaring at each other heatedly, their fists clenched and waiting to strike at any moment.
Gen stepped between the two boys, pulling them apart. Instead of her usual black mesh shirt over a red tank top, she wore a large baggy orange t-shirt obviously made for a man. A little girl, the same age as the two boys, with black hair streaked with gold clung to Gen's right leg. "Enough, you two." She said calmly, but it was an obvious demand with no room for argument.
"Gen-chan..." Ino and Sakura gasped together.
Gen glanced up at them before bowing her head with a saddened look upon her face.
"Well, this proves me wrong." Ichi sighed. He stood from the chair and walked towards them. "Niro of the Hidden Rain, and his partner...Gen-san." He motioned to each.
"We've met." Kakashi mumbled.
Ichi placed a hand on the blonde boy's head. "This is Ginji," He place his other hand on the blue-eyed boy's head. "This is Daisuke," With a jerk of his head he motioned to the little girl clinging to Gen's leg. "And that little one is Rin." He smiled cheerfully.
"And why have you brought three children with you?" Tsunade asked.
Gen stepped into the office, approaching the Hokage's desk; she stopped a few feet in front of it, Rin following close behind. Gen bowed respectfully, "I apologize, Hokage-sama, they are my children, and I had no other choice but to bring them along."
Gen tensed as Sakura stepped towards her, but Sakura knelt down next to the little girl attached to Gen's leg and smiled sweetly at the little girl. "She's so cute, Gen-chan." She glanced up at the teal-eyed woman who stood with a surprised look on her face.
Sasuke’s eyes had yet to leave the little boy named Ginji. Could this be the reason Naruto left, because he got Gen-san pregnant? They’re the right age, but then, since Naruto’s not with them, does that mean he’s dead? When Hokage-sama asked about Naruto, Ichi-san hesitated, I swear he did; so does that mean they know what happened to Naruto? Could that be why they’re no longer looking for Naruto, because he’s dead? Or perhaps he left, and Gen-san asked them not to pursue him? Several emotions passed through Sasuke; guilt, sadness, anger, curiosity, and something else he couldn’t identify.
“Well, shall we get down to business, or do you have more questions?” Ichi asked; he was now standing beside Gen, his hand resting on the woman’s shoulder.
Tsunade looked thoughtful as she tried to think of more questions.
“Tell us what you know about Naruto.” Sasuke said, his tone even and demanding.
Gen’s eyes widened and she tensed; Ichi squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.
“We already told you…” Ichi began.
“You were lying.” Sasuke nearly snapped.
“How…” Sachi began with a scowl.
“Ichi-san hesitated when Hokage-sama asked him before. You were all tense when the subject arose, and the Akatsuki wouldn’t stop pursuing Naruto for no apparent reason,” He paused. “Unless you know something has happened to him.”
Everyone was silent. Several Leaf-nin realized what Sasuke said was true, and couldn’t believe they had believed the Akatsuki.
“Sasuke is right.” Kakashi nodded. “Tell us what has happened to Naruto.”
Sakura looked up at Gen as she kneeled on the floor, the little girl in front of her inspecting her manicure, and watched as the teal-eyed woman glanced back at Ginji and Daisuke. Things began to click into place as Sakura looked over at the two boys, and she came to the same conclusions as Sasuke had.
Ichi was tempted to ask what business it was of theirs, but knew the answer he’d get; for once, he was at a loss of what to say. Besides Kana and Niro, Ichi had gotten very close to Naruto. The four of them together were the only ones who knew ‘Gen’ never really killed anyone on assassination missions; Niro did all the dirty work. Naruto never really wanted to become an Akatsuki member, but was forced to since he had nowhere else to go; because he knew the Akatsuki hideout, he was not allowed to leave alive unless he joined. They had told the elders, who were the head of the Akatsuki, that their new member was Himiko Gen, and that Uzumaki Naruto was dead by her hands. Ichi always wanted a better life for the boy, was always tempted to set him free, tell the elders that Gen died on a mission, but they’d want proof, like they’d wanted with Naruto. ‘Gen’ had told them confidently that she had burned Uzumaki Naruto’s body, but she did hand over his orange jumpsuit, which seemed to satisfy them. His eyes saddened for a mere second as he glanced at Gen, the look was fleeting and luckily no one seemed to notice it. He sighed as he glanced around the room at the angry and expectant faces; he still had no answer to their question.
“Well?” Tsunade asked expectantly, an eyebrow rose in suspicion. “Answer the question, please.” Her tone was tight and clipped; she obviously would not let them get away with not answering.
Niro swatted at the older Uchiha’s hand, which still gripped the blonde boy’s shirt, until he shot a glare at the one eyed man before letting go. Ginji stumbled slightly, he’d been leaning on his uncle and wasn’t expecting the man to let go so abruptly, but luckily the Sharingan-eyed man grabbed his shoulder and caught him before he could fall to the floor. Niro bent at the waist and straitened the wrinkles in the boy’s shirt; over the years, the closer he got to Naruto, the more fatherly he became towards the triplets.
Daisuke walked away from his younger brother and headed towards his ‘mother’, stopping and standing protectively beside his younger sister, throwing a warning glare at the pink haired woman whose hand Rin held. Sakura looked at him curiously, but he looked away.
“We’re waiting.” Jiraiya reminded the room of the conversation at hand.
The pink haired woman made a few hand motions and the room tensed.
“What is she doing?” Tsunade’s eyes narrowed.
Ichi glanced at his partner before realizing what was going on. “Those are not hand seals, Hokage-sama.” He announced. “Kana-dono is mute, that is sign language, her only means of communication.”
Kana nodded to confirm the information.
“All right, I wish you’d told me earlier.” She mumbled.
“My apologies.” He bowed his head politely.
Kana repeated her hand motions again.
“Kana says, the Akatsuki elders were told that Uzumaki Naruto is dead.” Miki chirped.
“Naruto-kun…is dead?” Hinata questioned shyly, sadly.
Kana shook her head.
“I never said that.” Miki translated more hand motions from the pink haired woman.
“So Naruto is alive?” Iruka asked hopefully.
The Akatsuki members were silent for several moments.
Gen wrung her hands, “Yes.” She barely whispered.
Ichi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her against his side; he touched his head to hers, his mouth close to her ear. “You didn’t have to come,” He whispered.
She shook her head, closing her eyes.
The brown-eyed man turned to look at the Hokage again, meeting her stare evenly. “We won’t answer any more questions…” Ichi began, his voice firm.
Sasuke took a step forward, standing strait and defiantly, his fists clenched at his sides, he glared at the black haired man. “Tell us what happened to Naruto.” He ordered. “You said he’s alive, where is he?”
“It is not easy to annoy or piss me off, Uchiha-san, but I can guarantee you are very close.” Ichi’s eyes narrowed at the ANBU captain.
“I can guarantee every Leaf-nin in this room demands the same, Ichi-san.” Tsunade glared at the black haired man. “Tell us everything you know of Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Can’t you be satisfied with the knowledge that he is alive?” Sachi snapped, hands on her hips as she glared at the room’s occupants.
“No.” Tsunade said flatly.
Everyone in the room, including both Uchiha, jumped as Ichi’s hands slammed down on the Hokage’s desk, the man leaning over and glaring at the blonde woman on the other side. His jaw was clenched, his eyes narrowed, and his muscles tense. “You want to know everything?” He asked. The once calm, relaxed and pleasant man was obviously pissed; his voice was tense and strained, as if he was trying not to shout or something to that effect. His knuckles turned white as they threatened to make fists on the wooden surface of the desk.
“Everything we know? Is there a limit to that?” Niro asked, one hand in his pocket and the other resting on top of Ginji’s head.
“No, everything.” Tsunade answered looking at the brown-eyed man leaning over her desk warily.
“Uzumaki Naruto was born on October tenth, twenty-one years ago. Yondaime, or Uzumaki Arashi, sealed Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of his son at birth for the sake of this ungrateful village, and died later that day due to his injuries; Naruto’s mother had died during childbirth. The older generation was not to speak of the Kyuubi or the sealing, so not even Naruto understood why you disgusting ingrates hated him so much. He did not learn of the fox sealed inside of him until he was twelve, when a man named Mizuki attacked him; his academy teacher, Umino Iruka, saved him until Naruto finished Mizuki off with Kage Bunshin. His dream was to become the next Hokage, and finally be noticed and acknowledged. His Genin teammates were Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke; their teacher was Hatake Kakashi. One of their first few assignments sent the group to the Wave Country with a man named Tazuna, where they met his daughter Tsunami and her son Inari, and they fought Momochi Zabuza and his disciple Haku. There, Uchiha Sasuke nearly lost his life and Kyuubi attacked Haku; the bridge on which they fought is now named ‘The Great Naruto Bridge’. A few months later, team seven entered into the Chuunin exams, Sakura was disqualified in the first part of the third exam in her fight against Yamanaka Ino, and the end result of the fight was a draw. Naruto won against Inuzuka Kiba, and Sasuke won against a Sound-nin who was posing as a Leaf-nin. In the final part of the exam, Naruto fought and won again Hyuuga Neji; Sasuke fought against Gaara of the Sand, but during the middle of his fight Konoha was attacked and the exam was cancelled; only Nara Shikamaru became a Chuunin. Not long after, Uchiha Sasuke left to join Orochimaru; Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Akimichi Choji were sent after him, later joined by Rock Lee, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. After finally retrieving the selfish little brat, Hyuuga and Akimichi were hospitalized due to serious injuries. Naruto left on a journey with Jiraiya to find the fifth Hokage, when they found you, Tsunade, they returned. At thirteen, team seven re-entered the Chuunin exams, this time all three of them passed into Chuunin rank, as well as all the other Leaf Shinobi who entered the first time.” Ichi paused, watching as the Hokage gapped at him. He chose his next few words carefully. “At fourteen, an incident occurred, which forced Uzumaki Naruto to flee Konoha. At that time, Uchiha Itachi and his partner, Hoshigaki Kisame, were headed to Konoha to once again try to kidnap the boy when they found him passed out on the forest floor several miles from the Hidden Leaf walls. They picked him up and brought him back to Akatsuki headquarters, but did not report to the elders that they had retrieved him. We helped him to the best of our abilities.” He concluded his tale as he shot a glare around the room. “Did I leave anything out?”
“Why did Naruto leave Konoha in the first place?” Jiraiya asked after regaining his composure, he wasn’t expecting the Akatsuki to know so much. “And what of him now?”
“Don’t you think he left for a reason?” Miki asked as she cocked her head to the side curiously. “He obviously doesn’t want you to know why he left.”
“We miss him.” Sakura mumbled.
Ichi’s anger seemed to evaporate as he looked at the pink haired girl kneeling beside Gen, his eyes softened and he shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled.
“Where is Naruto?” Sasuke just barely held back the urge to growl. How many times did he have to ask the question before he got a strait answer?
Ichi scowled at the Uchiha, very close to punching the man. Gen held up her hand and pushed the black haired man back a step gently. She turned and knelt to the ground, motioning Ginji closer. The blonde boy pulled away from Niro and his uncle and rushed to his ‘mother’ hugging her around the neck as he reached her.
Daisuke scowled at the two. Before they’d left, Naruto had told them they had to call him ‘mom’, but Daisuke refused. He was very tempted to just call him dad and answer everyone’s questions, who cares if he got in trouble, but decided to only do so as a last resort of ending the madness of questions, which were actually starting to get on his nerves.
“Gen-san, I can’t help but notice that your son looks an awful lot like Naruto.” Neji said, finally voicing what everyone else was thinking. As he saw the teal-eyed woman tense, he nodded his head. “Is Naruto their father?”
Gen closed her eyes and hugged Ginji tighter, reluctant to answer the question.
“Yes.” Rin answered shyly. “That’s daddy’s name.”
“Rin…” Sakura began, but stopped as Daisuke glared at her and pulled his little sister closer.
“Gen, why don’t we go back to the hotel?” Niro suggested, noticing the woman’s discomfort.
She nodded as she released Ginji; she picked up Rin as she stood, setting the girl on her hip, which in return wrapped her arms around her ‘mother’s’ neck.
“We’ll finish up here and meet up with you later.” Ichi nodded to the two.
Sasuke stepped into Gen’s path to the door. “Please tell us what happened to Naruto.” His voice was soft and kind as he spoke to the woman, unlike when he addressed the others. “We all miss him a lot, if you don’t know that’s ok, but if you do please tell us.”
Gen refused to look him in the eye, afraid of what she might do, that she might just tell him everything. “Please move, Sasuke.” She murmured.
Sasuke didn’t move, just observed her; her face was turned away from his, her hair shadowing her eyes. He still didn’t understand his odd connection to the woman, sure she was beautiful, but since he’d developed a crush on Naruto he couldn’t see himself with women, or anyone else besides Naruto for that matter. But this woman had somehow captured his attention, and kept it despite the fact that she was Akatsuki, and had three kids, but then again hadn’t she tried to tell him that when she left the last time? As she shifted from one foot to the other, rebalancing Rin, he noticed that she was avoiding eye contact with everyone, but him especially. He reached out a hand and gripped her chin gently, turning her face towards his; he smirked as he realized she had closed her eyes. “Gen…” He mumbled.
She shook her head, releasing it from his gentle grasp.
“Leave her be, Sasuke-san.” Ichi murmured from behind the teal-eyed woman.
Sasuke stepped out of the way with a sigh, and Gen headed for the door with Ginji and Daisuke in tow.
“Why can’t you give us a strait answer?” Ino snapped. “There is no need to protect him if that’s what you’re doing, we only want our friend back.” She nearly knocked Shikamaru off his feet as she pushed him out of the way and stepped towards the Akatsuki members.
That was the last straw for Daisuke. How many times had he seen his dad look sad or depressed when someone talked about his old friends in Konoha? How many times had he heard his dad say he missed someone? One too many times to count, he couldn’t stand it any longer. As they neared the door, he cleared his throat. “Oi,” He mumbled. “I’m hungry, can we get something to eat, dad? Please?”
Gen nodded, “OK, Daisuke.” She murmured before thinking. She froze in mid-step and quickly realized the room had gone quiet.
“Ops.” Daisuke mumbled.
“Daisuke-ahou! You did that on purpose.” Ginji hissed in a whisper.
“Did not.” He scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Did he just call you…dad?” Sakura asked as she got to her feet.
“But then, that would mean…” Lee began.
“Impossible.” Tenten shook her head.
Konohamaru shook his head in excitement. “No it’s not.” He grinned.
“Sexy no jutsu.” Jiraiya smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Naruto?” Sasuke murmured in disbelief.
Ichi calmly walked over to the teal-eyed woman, took Rin from her arms and set her on her feet, then gripped the woman’s shoulders and walked her out of the room. “One moment please.” He called back over his shoulder.