Reise zu Reinkarnation

XIII.

Sasuke eased himself down the side of the ravine, carefully shifting away stones to get at the little slip of paper tucked away in the tiny niche. The code was written in a script only an Uchiha would know, the handwriting flowing in an elegant script that Sasuke remembered – that Uchiha remembered – from a long, long time ago. The message was simple: it stated that Sasuke was to meet Itachi at an inn in the Tea Country, simply to discuss what Sasuke wanted to discuss.

Orochimaru and Uchiha were confused, Sasuke knew that much. He’d done his best to keep both of them from discovering his condition, afraid of what they would try to do to his child, and through the child, to him. However, neither had bothered to look for answers within the body, rather seeking them from the outside. Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time before they found out, and he needed to tell Itachi before problems could arise.

Sasuke pulled himself from the ravine, rolling onto the edge and away from it as slowly as he could. He wandered back to his campsite then, packing up his belongings and erasing the presence of his campsite. He moved on in a hurry then, running for the Tea Country, needing to meet with his brother before he could return to Konoha. As long as he had someone on the outside that knew the truth, he could protect his child from all sides. He crossed the border at noon, slowing his pace and carefully treading along, having changed into a disguise before he’d emerged from the woods. He had to reach the inn before dusk, or else Itachi would leave and Sasuke’s search would take longer than he wanted it to.

Orochimaru settled himself to wait, trying to figure out what Sasuke was trying to do. Uchiha was ignoring them both, quiet for once, settled into meditation and ignoring what was going on around him. Orochimaru simply tapped into the body’s senses, hearing what Sasuke heard and seeing what Sasuke saw. It was a trick he’d managed to perform time and time again, mostly because he had been trying to get a hand into the proverbial cookie jar to take over the body. Now, though, something was plucking at those shriveled heartstrings, and he wanted to know what.

Sasuke stepped into the inn, moving to a table in the back, settling to wait for the telltale black and red cloaks to fill the doorway, quite early. He nursed the water and soup the sleepy-eyed waitress brought him, filling his stomach more for the child growing in his abdomen than for his own nutrition. Sasuke kept his head bowed, aware that the door to the inn opened to admit two bodies. Those two bodies moved then, closer to Sasuke, until one settled in the chair opposite the young man and a finger began to tap a rhythm on the wood of the table. Sasuke looked up into red and black eyes, giving a slight nod of deference to the elder Uchiha. Itachi returned the nod and slid the kunai back into its sheath.

“You called and I’m here,” Itachi said quietly, “so tell me what you need to tell me.”

Sasuke took a moment to breathe, fighting the instinct to activate his Sharingan. “I’m pregnant.”

Orochimaru shared Itachi’s silence. While the elder Uchiha’s eyes widened in shock, Orochimaru’s narrowed in thought. A child of an Uchiha would provide him with exactly what he wanted. But something was holding him back now, something that made him stop and listen, knowing Uchiha was listening too.

“Are you positive?” Itachi asked his little brother. Sasuke nodded.

“Even if I’m not, the blood tests Sakura took will make me so.”

“I heard you’d been captured by Konoha.” Itachi whispered. “How did you convince them to let you come here?” Sasuke’s lips thinned. Itachi simply nodded. “Kisame and I will silence the wagging tongues out here. You need to return to Konoha right away.”

“I will.” Sasuke promised. “Itachi, I–”

Itachi shook his head. “Tell me nothing more, Sasuke. Get yourself home now.”

Sasuke nodded and began to rise, stopped only by the hand that fell across his. Sasuke met Itachi’s eyes, blinking in confusion. Itachi asked his question silently, allowing Sasuke the opportunity to deny the question or answer it. Sasuke slowly sat back down and leaned forward a little, keeping his voice low.

“Uzumaki Naruto is my child’s father.”

Orochimaru shared Itachi’s surprise, but it was too late to keep Uchiha from hearing the news. Orochimaru felt Uchiha turn his sight inward, at the growing child, and Orochimaru felt the malice bubbling up in Uchiha’s heart. Orochimaru knew what Uchiha was thinking. How could he not, when he was thinking the same thing?

“You should get home, Sasuke.” Itachi said again, rising before his brother and moving to collect his partner before leaving the younger Uchiha alone in the inn. Sasuke left a few moments later, feeling strange. He barely made it out of the Tea Country before he collapsed, trying to fight through the fever taking its toll on his body.

Orochimaru watched Uchiha closely, wondering what he would do in this time of weakness. Only Uchiha never moved, simply remaining in his meditative state. And since Uchiha did not move, neither did Orochimaru.


“Naruto! I found him!” Ino’s voice crackled over the radio. “He’s not doing so hot.”

Naruto leapt from branch to branch, hurrying toward Ino’s location as fast as he could. “Don’t let him go, Ino!”

“I won’t. Promise. Just hurry.”

Sakura beat him to the pair, already mixing a few herbs together into a medicine, measuring enough of the powder into the canteen she carried to turn the water a gentle green colour. Ino held Sasuke’s head in her lap, tilting it enough to allow Sakura to pour a few drops of the water into Sasuke’s mouth. He swallowed, coughing a moment later, his eyes opening to stare at the two women. Naruto landed beside Sasuke in time to catch his wrist, grip tightening to keep the elder man from puncturing Ino’s throat with his index and middle finger. His eyes were bright with the fever, but the moment he looked upon Naruto’s face, he froze.

He whispered two little words and began to cry.

Naruto pulled the brunette into his arms and looked at Sakura, then Ino. The women rose and helped Naruto up with Sasuke. Sakura took the chance to check Sasuke’s temperature, sighing with a little nod.

“He’s all right to move. Ino and I will go ahead and get a room set up for him. I’ll need to run tests and I’ll prepare some medicine for him. He probably just overexerted himself, but I don’t want to risk anything.” Sakura pointedly looked at Sasuke’s abdomen.

Naruto nodded. “Go ahead. We’ll be less than a day behind at most.”

“If you need us,” Ino whispered, “we’ll be a radio call away.”

Naruto just nodded again and the two kunoichi disappeared, leaving the men alone. Naruto just held onto Sasuke and let the man cry, unable to really think of anything to say. What could he say? Really, what could he say in this situation? He slowly became aware of the silence then, of Sasuke holding tight to him, of their own synchronized breathing. Finally, the Rokudaime pulled back to hold the brunette at arm’s length, tilting Sasuke’s head up to force the Uchiha to look at him.

“Sasuke, why didn’t you tell me?”

Sasuke blinked slowly, rubbing his eyes a little bit. “I was going to tell you when I got back. I had to tell my brother first.”

“Telling Itachi was more important than telling the father of your child?” The sarcasticness of the sentence bit hard.

Sasuke winced and looked away from Naruto. “…He will keep watch on the outside.”

“I could have done that!” Naruto shouted, shoving himself away from Sasuke before he hit the brunette. “What, you don’t trust me to protect our child?”

“No!” Sasuke shook his head emphatically. “I –do– trust you! But, Naruto, you still haven’t caught the anti-Council’s dogs, you don’t even know who they are! If the entire village found out, and you know they would have if I had told you then, I would’ve been attacked!”

“And you’re not even capable of defending yourself?”

“If I use chakra now, so early in the pregnancy, at best I’d kill the baby.”

Naruto froze. “And at the worst?”

Sasuke simply stared at the blonde. “At worst, both I and our child would die.”