Not you, too!

26. The Uchiha conflict – Hime to the rescue



The woods were dark and it was cool this night. Naruto began to wish he had worn his clothes as he looked down at the gooseflesh on his arms and legs.
He was still following the strange sensation and surprised that he hadn’t heard comments from his internal guest about his actions.
Normally Kyuubi was his omnipresent voice of reason and by now the fox would have told him how stupid he was to leave his house in the middle of the night, half naked and without a weapon on him. Not counting the two kunai and three shuriken in his boxers.
He reached a clearing and the moon shone through the trees. A tall body separated from the trees and stood there. Naruto felt the chakra swirling off of the cloaked form and narrowed his eyes in the darkness. “Who is it?” he called out and the man moved swiftly to stand directly in front of him. His early warning bells were ringing in his head and he was about to run, when:
Naruto looked up to see the familiar face and whirling black dots amid the crimson eyes. His mind floated away and he was moving out of himself. Hands took hold of him and he was aware of his fear but couldn’t escape. Kyuubi was as soft voice in the recesses of his head. ‘can’t you hear me, brat? I said, run!’
But he couldn’t move; he was loosing his connection to his own body and his mind didn’t care. A voice called out, it was faint and far away. He recognized it, turned toward it with great amounts of will power and slowly he was drawn back.
“So, you have finally come, Aniki.” Sasuke said as he felt his brother attempting to snag the Kyuubi in his vessel. “Look at me, brother. See what I have grown to become.”
Itachi heard the voice of the only other living Uchiha and he turned from the blond.
He looked at the way his brother had grown and saw his long frame standing firmly to the side, moving from sturdy if slim legs to small hips and a narrow waist. Yes, just like him, Sasuke was not physically foreboding but there was strength in that body that was belied by its somewhat slim and feminine physique.
And above that was the face of his little brother, all grown-up but still the perfection that was Uchiha. Even the trademark scowl couldn’t hide the beauty of the members of the family and as Itachi let his eyes move up he saw the swirling Sharingan and the tiny white dots that seemed to be foreign there. He released the blond and took a step forward and then another. Drawn in by the specks.
He needed to finish this. Perhaps it was time to destroy the last of his line, finally. He activated his curse and prepared to attack when a bright light encompassed him and flooded his mind in a golden glow that seemed to come from the center of one of the sparking lights in his brother’s eyes.
The light seared its way through his mind and sought out all of his inner thoughts. It burned away all of his anger and resentment, it tore through his fears and paranoia. The light lingered long enough to erase all memories of his Mangekyou and the price he had paid for it.

Naruto felt his control return the minute that Itachi was captured by the Seidan. He watched the man slink towards the other as if pulled.
He nearly attacked when he saw a look of pure hate fill the Akatsuki’s face and then he heard the litany of Sasuke’s voice as he begged. “Come on, Aniki. Show me your power, so I can show you mine. Come on.”
And the deep rumble of Itachi’s command of “Mangekyou.”
Then the older of the two Uchiha’s froze and stiffened for a prolonged amount of time, before dropping toward the ground to be caught in the arms of the younger brother that was the only soul spared by his own killing intent.
Naruto walked over to the place where Sasuke sat on the ground with his brother cradled in his arms, petting his hair gently.
“He’s safe now?” he asked.
Sasuke looked up and smiled one of his rare smiles from the recesses of his heart. “He’s home. I can heal him.” He said.
“Then, let’s get home. Koibito will be waking up soon, and I know you will want to change him. Plus I’m freezing out here. I’ll take Itachi for you.” And Sasuke allowed Naruto to lift Itachi from his arms and followed as they aimed for the small cottage that they called home.
“Do you think Aniki will mind if he wakes up to find out he has a sister?” Sasuke said, and Naruto smiled.
“He needs a few more shocks to keep him from going crazy again, Hime.” He said, and found himself next to his sexy no jutsu mate once more. “The girls in this town have nothing on an Uchiha in drag.” He said, smiling.


Neji sat in the Hokage’s office once more.
Tsunade stared at him and shook her head. It was the look on his face that kept her from making the snide remark about ‘some people going overboard’ as she took in the glowing beauty of the form before her.
“Yes, Meneji. You have definitely conceived. I would say you managed it within the first twenty-four hours, but I can’t be sure. I will estimate you will deliver on or around February 12th. Until then, no heavy training, eat a healthy diet, with a few additional vitamins I will prescribe and get extra sleep. I think that should aide with maintaining this form, although I think the Jutsu I added when you transformed should keep you safe. I am not as good at it as Jiraiya, but it should hold.”
“So, we are going to have a baby? You’re sure of it?” Shikamaru asked.
“You question your Hokage? You may be a genius, boy. But do not presume to ask me if I am sure. This child is a fact. I am expecting you to do your utmost to assure its healthy birth. Do you understand, Nara Shikamaru?” She said, her eyes flashing.
“Yes. I understand Hokage-sama. Are there any other conditions that we should know about, Ma’am?” he asked.
“I am sure that you will be fine. I can’t think of anything that would limit you. Anything you feel like, you can probably accomplish. In moderation. I would suggest you limit your use of Byakugan during the pregnancy. I’m not sure of its effects on your circulatory system.”
“I think you are right. I haven’t used it since the transformation. It will be interesting to avoid it for that long. I have never had to go for any lengths without it, before.”
“I think you should have a talk with your uncle. I have already heard from him, and I think he needs to understand that his wishes are not possible in this event. He has never known the word no, that I am aware of. I tried to explain things to him, but he wasn’t listening.”
“Yes, Hokage-sama. I will explain for you.” And as the two young people left her office, she sighed in remembrance.

“Hokage-sama. I need to know if my nephew has conceived the child yet. Arrangement must be made as far in advance as possible. I have relatives in the wave country that must be contacted and the family is required to undergo various rituals.”
“You do understand that this child will be half Nara by birth, don’t you Hyuuga-san?” Tsunade asked.
“Yes, of course. But I mean, this child is the first born of Hyuuga descent since Hanabi. It is a major event in my family. Even though it is by the branch family.”
“But if it is a Nara there are certain things that must be considered.” She began again.
“Certainly. We will have to invite them to the ceremonies, but other than that it is irrelevant. I simply need a date. When will you know?”
“I will examine Neji tomorrow, Hiashi-san. I will know after that.” She resigned to him. "I will have Neji come and tell you herself as soon as she leaves here."
“That will have to do.” He said, but Tsunade hadn’t missed the way his eyes narrowed when she had referred to his nephew as a female. It was going to be a long year.

Neji held tightly to Shikamaru’s hand as they entered the Hyuuga home. Her family was important but he was her man and she would stand with him, just as he would stand with her.
They had to understand.
“Meneji.” She turned to see a strained look on his face. “You are about to limit my ability to protect you by permanently crippling my right hand.” He said, and she looked down at their twined fingers. She yelped a little as she loosened her stranglehold, and the Nara man smiled at her.
“Sorry, Shika.” She said.
“Don’t worry. They will have to understand and if not, I’ll send my mother over. They’ll relent if only to get her to stop.” And Neji couldn’t stifle a chuckle at the thought of Nara Yoshino taking on Hyuuga Hiashi. The results were definitely up in the air about that.
“Ahh, Neji. You look, fine. Come and tell me of your news.” Hiashi said as they were led to a large room that was normally reserved for important visitors. Neji wasn’t sure if she felt honored or set apart in a bad way.
The room’s occupants looked up as they arrived.
Hinata and Kiba were there with two other Hyuuga relatives and they all stared at the transformed Ninja oddly.
“Meneji, do you know the results. We were so nervous that we decided to come and wait with Tousan.” Hinata said, poking Kiba in the ribs.
Kiba stood and moved behind her so that there was room for the two to enter the circle that was made in the center of the room, around a small table set with strong smelling tea.
“You were having a tea ceremony?” Neji asked.
“Hanabi was practicing. She went to get some more cakes. Sit and tell us.” Hinata added.
“The baby is due in February.” She said when she was seated next to her cousin. Hinata smiled and Kiba smirked.
Before anyone else had a chance to speak up, Shikamaru, in an unusual display of verbal speed, cut in. “The child will be of Hyuuga/Nara descent. There are certain conditions that must be met.”
“What?! How dare you? Young man I have been silent thus far about your involvement in this but,”
“But what? It is only okay to screw one of your relatives if it provides you with another Hyuuga and more possible Byakugan holders. There are certain condition required by my family and these conditions will be met if you expect this child to reach it’s potential. The Nara family is as old as yours and the Kagemane is an important jutsu to the village and therefore it must be encouraged also. The Nara family is the only possessor of this ability.”
“Hiashi-sama, the boy is right. The Nara’s are an influential force. I do not wish to encounter their resistance.” One of the relatives said.
“I see you have met my mother. Now, the most important condition is that no Nara has ever had any form of Tattoo, mark or blemish inflicted upon its body. The Kagemane requires a perfect flow of flesh. There must be no Curse Seal.” He ended in the room’s total silence.
The silence only lasted a few minutes before, “What!????”
“If the child shows any ability at Kagemane by its fifth birthday there must be no curse seal. I don’t care what your family hierarchy says; this is not a debatable requirement. If there is no ability then we shall concede to the seal.”
“What other conditions do you require, Nara-san?” the other relative said.
“If the child is a boy, it must bear a family name. My mother will choose. If it is a girl, then Neji or your family may name it.” Shikamaru said as if the whole subject seemed silly to him.
“Will this child be considered a Hyuuga or a Nara? What do we do about this?”
“Oh, we have decided to use Nara-Hyuuga as a full name. It would tell the world that the child is very special indeed.” Neji added, smiling at them, and lifting a cup of tea.

Gaara had never felt so bad in his whole life. He reached for the towel and Choji helped him up from the floor in front of the toilet as he wiped his face.
“Are you feeling any better, Gaar-chan?”
“Mmm hmm, I will. Don’t worry. I said I wanted to do this. It will be al right. Shukaku is amused at least.”
‘Not amused. Convulsing with laughter, brat. I find your discomfort highly entertaining.’ The demon informed them.
Gaara had made the change following Sasuke’s directions perfectly. He had retained his own facial features and toned down any outwardly feminine flaws. The change inside was his goal and as far as anyone could tell Gaara was still Gaara.
But within four weeks the sudden need to rise from bed and rush to the bathroom and dispense with any food recently taken in told the Kazekage that they had been successful and the voice of his personal demon had confirmed that it was not alone in there.
The sand that protected him seemed confused by this behavior and it was trying in vain to aid him. It cushioned his feet as he walked and moved around to warm the rooms he entered by its very friction against itself.
The Chuunin was very worried, as the man-turned-woman seemed to be actually 'sleeping' in this form and gaining weight even though he also threw up most of what he took in.
Gaara explained that the demon wanted the child as much as he, so had agreed not to take advantage while the gestation continued for fear it would affect the progress. He wasn’t sure of the creature’s ulterior motives, but they would figure it out in time.
In the meantime, he was doing all he could to fill his stomach and keep a usable portion down.
Choji accepted his words and smiled vacantly.
It was going to be a long trip from here to February.


::::And another chap is threaded and ready to sew the piece another length. I hope this patchwork isn't too sketchy as I weave about. Craft Humor.

Vashta – There is my lovable Choji once more. I think he fills the shoes of the concerned lover perfectly. He is cuddly and supportive. As for Naruto, yes there finally was the Itachi I promised you. And there had to be at least one member of the group that would be slightly squicked by the whole ‘Hey, I want to be a mommy, even though I originally came equipped with this here penis.’ No, I don’t hate Sakura and do not intend to go in for any kunoichi bashing here.

Marielle – not just any groupie. You are mine! Here is your Anna’s Fan button. Wear it in good health and when your sick, drink lots of fluids and only read lemons. The citrus is good for you.

Serenia – I haven’t seen the latest Choji pic. As soon as I finish posting this I am off to find a copy. Thanks for the info.

Next chapter is called A New Life and an Old Enemy – How to Start Over Again