Untitled_SasuNaru

For two months Konoha shinobi searched through every lair that had been Orochimaru's previous home. Most, if not all weren't whole anymore having been abandoned and then taken care of with one tell tale explosion. There were well over fifty lairs that had been explored and still twenty or so more to go. Hardly anyone slept especially Naruto, who was on one of the search teams. He'd asked to join one and Sakura, Neji and Sasuke had a good feeling as to why.



When Sasuke had been confronted about the kiss he gave Naruto, he said nothing to Sakura or Neji. Sakura had started hollering at him and he'd looked to Neji who just pulled her out of the compound. Sasuke hadn't left the compound and hadn't let Aito out of his sight the entire two months. He also hardly slept, not giving the nightmares of what happened to Hikime time to creep up on him. After the night with naruto, Aito hadn't cried once. For a week or so, she'd all but stopped eating. Tsunade helped with that and now she ate, slept and of course, needed diaper changes but she was almost lethargic. If she wasn't sleeping and she wasn't eating, he was just laying on the floor, or in Sasuke's arms staring off into proverbial space.



Tsunade said it was due to her twin being gone. Sasuke knew that was only half of it. Somehow, sometime since they'd come back together, Naruto had become as much apart of the girl's life as Sasuke had. Sasuke knew somewhere in the back of his mind that Aito was waiting for the annoying blond to come back and make funny faces at her. Gods above knew he was as well.



After the kiss, Naruto had taken to avoiding him at all costs. He tried to talk to the blond but hadn't been able to even open his mouth before Naruto poofed away. He supposed he deserved it, especially after what happened in their past but...he was acting childish! Couldn't he just confront the problem head on like he used too? Had he changed so much since the last time Sasuke had tried to...Shaking his head, Sasuke looked down to Aito who was up on her hands and knees, rocking. Her eyes were staring at the door. He turned to see the center of his thoughts standing in the door.



Naruto walked over and picked up Aito, nuzzling their nozes together and then he lifted her above his head and Sasuke's heart stopped. He was up reaching for the baby when she burst out giggling and reaching down to touch his whiskered cheeks.



"Naruto! Put her down! You'll drop her!" The blond just looked over with a quirked brow. Then he smiled with that big dopey smile and let her drop a little. She squealed and laughed. Sasuke's face paled to ghost white and he watched his baby drop a small distance before being caught again. In an instant, he had Aito in his arms and was backing away from Naruto. The blond rubbed his head and frowned.



"What was that for teme?!"



"Don't do that again dobe." Sasuke looked down to his daughter who had her little arms stretched out towards Naruto. Her face however was turned up to him and he saw her little lips puff out. His black gaze was drawn to her hands which were making grabbing motions. "Of all the things- You have tainted my daughter dobe!" Hew handed the child off and watched with abstract amazement as Naruto played with his daughter. It was like he breathed life into her. It also looked like she put the lightness back into his eyes. How was that possible? A few seconds later, both he and Naruto were staring at the small body. She'd just said a word. Blue eyes met black but they were more shocked at the word she said.



"Did she just-" Naruto looked back to her and she smiled...and said it again.



"DA!" Her arms reached out and she cupped his whiskered cheeks. Naruto looked back to Sasuke who was now sitting down.



"She just said da."



"Well yea teme."



"She just called you da."



"I noticed." Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked from his daughter to Naruto.



"She just called you da." As if sensing the turmoil swirling around her father, Aito looked at him and spoke again.



"Dada!" Sasuke blinked and looked down, eyebrows knitting together. he walked over and picked her up. She giggled and let her little fingers find his chin. he looked to Naruto. So did she. And once again, she spoke, reaching out to Naruto. "Da!" It hit them both then. Naruto blushed and Sasuke turned a shade of red that was as red, if not redder, than Gaara's or Tashiro's hair.



"Da," Naruto pointed to himself, "dada," and he pointed to Sasuke. "Where did she get that from?"



"I can take a guess." Naruto's brows drew together and it seemed to take him a few minutes before he figured it out.



"OHHHH!!! I get it now!" He slapped a fist down into his hand, face looking like he actually made the connection. "She thinks I'm her dad!" Sasuke slapped himself in the forehead. There was the dobe he was familiar with.



"Yes, dobe, she does. But she called us both da, if you weren't paying attention." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and his face fell. "Nani?"



"I'm not really...I-" he stopped and looked to the floor, arms crossing over his chest. "I'm not her dad. Or other dad."



"Apparently she thinks otherwise."



"I'm just a friend." Sasuke sighed and set Aito in her play pen, keeping a close eye on here while walking back to the blond.



"Naruto?" The blond just looked at his daughter. "Naruto!" He snapped to attention and looked at sasuke.



"Hm?"



"You..." he paused and another blush threatened to come into his cheeks but he tramped it down with two feet. "You have been like another father to them in the time you've known them. You didn't have to be but you are. It makes sense she would think you were her father. Other father."



"But I failed Hikime...and Aito..." His voice was full of sadness. Apparently they still hadn't found anything that might point them towards Orochimaru's new lair. Tashiro was comatose, her body shutting down very slowly. She'd been put back on a respirator and was now being fed through a tube in her stomach. Sasuke wanted to reach out and touch Naruto but fisted his hands and shoved them into his pockets, putting on a look of impatience.



"Look Naruto," he held a mean tone, "if you don't want to accept that things happen then fine but it wasn't your fault that they got taken. We have Aito and you're working your hardest to get Hikime back. Aito has accepted that you are one of the other people in her life, even though she's not old enough to really understand what it means. If that's a problem for you then walk away and don't come back. You'll save them both a lot of trouble in the future." He looked away from Naruto because the blond looked hurt.



Naruto's mouth opened and closed but he sighed and scratched the back of his head. "You should hate me teme."



"I should but that doesn't mean I do. Dislike and hate are two different things. And I have always disliked you."



"And after you left, I really did grow to hate you even though I told you otherwise." Naruto sighed and moved to the couch to sit down. "Why did you kiss me teme?"



"Because you looked like you needed it."



"Hm. Don't lie." Sasuke sighed and took to his chair, watching his daughter play with a stuffed frog.



"Fine." He didn't want to tell Naruto the real reason but he supposed he owed it to the blond. "In the time I've been back I've become..." he stopped. Nope. Couldn't do it. Just trying was putting a strain on his pride. "Look, if you can't figure it out, you're even dumber than I first pegged you." With that, he stood and left to the kitchen. When he got to the door, Naruto's voice stopped him.



"So you just want to torture me. Got it." The blond stood and walked over, stopping any further conversation as he played with Aito. Sasuke heard a growl but he didn't know who it was from until he realized Naruto was against the wall, hands above his head with Sasuke's body pinning him there, his knee in between Naruto's legs. Naruto looked deeply into black eyes and saw something pass through them.



"If I wanted to torture you dobe, it would be painful." Naruto's eyes phased for a moment and the small hairs along Sasuke's arms stood perfectly on end.



"It is painful teme." Sasuke cursed and closed the distance between their mouths. He knew if Naruto wanted too, he would have pushed away but instead, he just stood there. When he had to pull away, Sasuke looked over Naruto's features.



"If it's torture, why are you letting me do it?"



"Pain makes me realize how much I hate you."



"If you hated me dobe, you wouldn't be here right now."



"If you didn't have a kid, I wouldn't be seeing you at all teme." Sasuke sighed and let Naruto go, turning and heading off for the kitchen. He heard Aito giggle and knew Naruto was back at the play pen playing peek-a-boo with her. It was her favorite game. Hikime however, enjoyed watching Naruto getting beat up, or Sasuke. As long as someone was geting beat up and making funny faces, she was laughing. It wasn't hard to figure out who was going to be the more aggressive twin. Sasuke smiled, thinking about Hikime. She might have been a twin but she was one of a kind. Both of his daughters were one of a kind. And he would have them both. Just to know where that snake bastard had moved!



Sasuke started making some tea when someone sent up a small flare of chakra. He walked to the door and answered it. Sakura stood there with Ino. They both had a grave look on their face. Showing them into the living room, Sasuke asked Naruto to take Aito upstairs and the blond did so without arguing or asking why. Sakura helped Ino sit down and it was then he realized how red Ino's eyes were and that they were almost swelled closed.



"What is it?" Sakura wiped sweat from her forehead as she sat next to her friend.



"Tashiro has passed away this evening. Ino informed me a little while ago." Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked to Ino. No wonder she looked bad. She lost another teammate.



"When?"



"Two hours ago. She came out of the comatose state long enough to relay some information and ask to be taken off the respirator. The funeral is tomorrow." Sakura paused and looked to Ino. She took the blonds hand and whispered something. Ino nodded, stood up and walked over to Sasuke. She got down to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor.



"It is my duty to give this to you Sasuke-san and ask that you would please deliver the farewell speech tomorrow at Tashi-san's funeral." She lifted her head and handed him an envelope with a blood seal. She stood and Sakura helped her to the door and stopped when Sasuke came to show them out. Sakura told Ino she would catch up. Ino nodded and started walking out of the compound. Turning, Sakura took Sasuke's hand and looked down at the difference in their skin.



"I would never do this Uchiha-san but...it's Naruto." She looked up and there was an almost angry pleading in them. "The night you kissed him, I saw him revert back into the state where we had to hospitalize him. I said I would help you where he was concerned but you have to take things slow. And the only reason I agreed to help you was because I want to see Naruto smile again. Truly smile. He is like...my brother." She let his hand drop and looked to the floor. "I don't want to see him hurting anymore Sasuke. If you're going to try and be with him after everything you've done, then you are going to have to show him how much you care, if you do at all. I cannot help you with that." She bowed a little and left, closing the door quietly behind her. Sasuke stared at the door for a while before looking to the envelope in his hands. Walking over to the table, he sat down and opened it.



What he saw, at first glance was a leather bound book and a bunch of scroll-like parchments that were blank. He frowned and thought for a moment. Blood seal. Duh. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, Saskue reached over to the knives he kept on the table, grabbed one up and after drawing a thin line of blood in his palm, he formed the release seals. In the instant that his blood touched the pages in the book and the scrolls, words formed. He opened the scrolls first and frowned. It looked like...maps. But there were no keys, no landmarks and no latitude or longitude lines. There were just blobs on paper. Laying them open around him -on the table- and looked to the book. It was bound in a blood red and pure white, silk ribbon. Carefully, he pulled the ribbon and watched as the book opened itself. It opened to a blank page. The cover said "Cook Book X". It looked empty.



With agitation getting the better of him, he turned the pages back to the beginning and stared at them. He again released the blood seal and that's when words appeared. It wasn't a cook book. It was a diary.



First Year || Month One-



Been received by the informant and infiltrated successfully. Instantly base was moved from Fire to Wind. Last lair was blown. Anything valuable such as prisoners, medical notes and vials were taken to new base. Base schematics: eight clicks by fifteen clicks. Twelve above ground chambers, four under ground, one dungeon that was already activated and full to the brim with hideous creatures.



Introduction to sannin complete. first day of experimentation was hell. Can barely stay awake to write. Was injected with a slow acting, chakra activated poison without my knowledge. Activated if any suspicious movement encountered. Silver haired scientist often disappears after orders are received. Am constantly locked in room with snake guardians. If only they knew...



Experiment two. Need sleep. Some of it made sense. Some of it didn't until he read the passage twice more. He frowned and flipped the page. There were more nonsensical things he had to read two or three times before understanding dawned.



Around the eight passage, he got a key to one of the maps. As he kept reading, more information was revealed. He'd noticed the passages were getting more detailed and easier to read because they were actually written out and not just basic, gruff details. The one passage that held his attention for it's entire length however, was one he thought would make him sick.



Nineth Year || Month three-



The Uchiha has been acquired. I have worked nine years to become his left hand and now the red eyed child threatens to take it away. Kabuto and I worked day and night preparing samples of certain chemicals that will be introduced into the Uchiha's blood stream. Unfortunately, Kabuto had a black out and knocked some of them off the counter. After his encounter with the mast last night, I wasn't very surprised. I brought him back to his chambers and found, after undressing him, he was covered from just under his collar bone to his calves in shallow cuts. Some were still bleeding. When i touched one, he had a surprising reaction. The silver haired scientist not only enjoys inflicting pain, but enjoys it himself.



I have wondered what the master sees in Kabuto other than his healing ability and now I see what it is. Kabuto, the right hand, is a pain slut. It is a win-win for them both. The sadistic master with the god complex likes inflicting damage to his servants and Kabuto takes everything he dishes out.



The Uchiha is going to be the masters next vassal. Since Kimimaru has fallen ill, his body will no longer suffice. It is sad to sit with Kimimaru and know that he hangs on by sheer will power because he has complete devotion to the master. Contact has been made with the elder Uchiha. After a near death experience Kabuto would rather not repeat, it was found that he would indeed be interested to see what happened after the younger Uchiha's "training." Not that he believed a word of the training bit. It seems we have the only living relatives permission to start experimentation. he will not stand in the way.



The first injection wasn't a success. The Uchiha had adverse affects that threatened to stop his heart. I am not allowed anywhere near the child and my position has been compromised. Manda slipped his forked and said something about me. Now there are no snakes here to guard but spiders instead. Their poison is deadlier and I cannot harvest it without alerting the master. Damn that child! If he had not come, none of this would happen! Damn the snake! I gave him a pound of flesh to keep his trap shut but I guess that is what you get when you trust a snake.



I have suggested to the master that he should use Kimimaru's remaining specamines since the man himself has died. The master received the idea well and I was rewarded with a decent meal and a night without the torture of experimentation. he says my eyes will stay the way they are however. After endless promises and hours under the knife, I have come to the realization that he was never intending to fix my eyes. Too bad. Suna might have had more use for me if I had eyes. But then again, that Kazekage was more into torturing his youngest son then looking for valuable shinobi.



The master has created the sack, finally.After almost a whole month of training, experimentation, the sack was completed. The Uchiha is unsuspecting in what it is. Akin to female uterus, the sack is connected to viable chakra sources and draws nourishment from the body. Impregnation will come next year. The estimated gestation period has been at eleven months but it is simply because the impregnation is not natural. The master is convinced that the product will be perfect. With both Kimimaru's and the Uchiha's clan abilities, it will be the ultimate body. I feel horrible for suggesting it, but at least it will save the brat's life. That is part of my mission. The new orders came last week.





I have been found out. Damn that snake! No more information to delve.



Sasuke felt bile rise in his throat. He set the book aside. When he looked around, he noticed a scroll that had words, not pictures. He pulled it over and frowned. It was a letter. What?



Uchiha Sasuke-

You have, by now, found out that I was a spy for the Fire country. I was born in Suna. At age fifteen I was recruited by the Third himself for the ranks of the Fire country Shinobi. I was sent our two years later as a spy to Orochimaru. I spent nine, long years under his watchful eyes. In that time, I have found out some valuable information that may be of some use to you now.



I know about your twins because I posed the idea to Orochimaru. I thought it was just a stupid idea until Orochimaru started experimenting on you. When he completed the sack inside of you, I knew that my idea had backfired, however, it also made it possible for you to escape the lair without more harm. Before I could find out if he actually impregnated you, I was discovered and left for dead. I barely managed an escape. I will tell you in all honesty, I was dying when I came back to Fire country. There was nothing I could do to save my own life.



There is one thing I can promise you though, if you are reading this, I have already died. You are probably seething with anger right now and believe me, it would be laughable because compared to your brother's, your anger is nothing. Your twins however, after I discovered that you had them, will be in danger for capture. If they have already been captured, I can promise with one hundred percent certainty, they will not be harmed beyond a few needle pokes and prods. They might be utterly unhappy but they will not be harmed. Orochimaru plans to use the stronger of the two for his body transferring technique. The other one...I am not certain after that.



The maps that are with this letter have marks on them that look like blobs of ink but in reality, they, together, are a large map. Using the key in the diary accompanying this letter, place the top right edge of the first map along the bottom line of this letter and then follow the directions in the book. Once you are finished, a pattern will form. Draw the pattern out and take it a map with the other locations of Orochimaru's previous lairs. The pattern will form another map that will take you to his newest location. I spent nine years discovering the pattern he moves in and have made sure to document it.



If he has captured your children, you will have to confront him to get them back. Orochimaru's weakness is hidden. It is a piece of his original body. Destroy that and you will destroy him. If you do not destroy the limb, then he will come back every time you think you've killed him. Kabuto mumbles mindlessly when he's heavily medicated but you have to get close enough to inject him with the drugs. If you manage to capture him and drug him, make sure to keep him in a cold place for anything that raises his body heat will kick start his unique healing ability. If that happens, the drug will be sweat out of his system in a matter of minutes.



I am sorry I could not be of more help to you Sasuke. If my words are anything to you, please forgive me for what has happened to you. If you go after Orochimaru, give him a message for me ne? Manda likes eating his servants. Ja ne.



Sasuke stared at the line on the bottom of the letter and felt his fury melting into nothing. She had given Orochimaru the idea to impregnate him but in death, she was giving him the way to save his child. He would have hated her had she lived and made it his prerogative to make her life miserable but she was dea and her dying deed was helping him, his daughters and the five teams of shinobi that had gone after his daughters. Shaking his head, Sasuke moved and started placing maps here and there, following the code in the journal. When he was finished, he felt like laughing out in hysteria.



It formed a Konoha leaf.



"What are you looking at?" Sasuke looked up and his smile faded slowly.



"It seems Tashiro was of more use then we pegged her at." Naruto walked over and looked at the pattern.



"What is it?"



"The key to finding Hikime." Naruto did a double take.



"But it's a Konoha leaf."



"And that would be the humor in it." Sasuke grabbed up the maps, the journal and the letter and handed them to Naruto. "Hold those. I'll be right back." He headed up the stairs.



"I just put her to bed teme."



"And I am not taking my eyes off her dobe."





When the poofed into the Hokage's office, she looked up and raised a brow. Sasuke walked over to the map they had been using to pin point the snakes location. He put up the symbol he'd drawn and connected the points on the map. After the symbol was formed, he used the one he'd drawn on a separate piece of paper and turned it counter clockwise. They had a new location to check. Tsunade asked how he knew this and he just said someone helped him.





The next day, the shinobi ranks were adorned in all black and they stood at the memorial stone. Aito sat in a sling on Naruto's back and Sasuke stood at a small podium giving the farewell speech. After he was finished, he lit the tier that held Tashiro's body and everyone watched it burn. It wasn't normal custom in either Suna or Konoha but it was her dying wish to be taken care of like the members of her family. White roses were set one at a time into the fire as the shinobi left. When there were only a few left, they gathered around the tier and watched it burn into nothingness. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, himself and Aito watched the fire burn through the day and night, not moving until the last embers died away. Tsunade did the following honors and let the ashes fade away with a wind helped by her chakra.



After the ashes were scattered, Tsunade returned to her office flanked by the group of shinobi who watched Tasiro go onto the heavens.