Not you, too!

28: An Avenger, A Rescuer or A Reviver – Carry on Uchiha

The taller of the two brunets sat on a lounge chair in the yard as his brother stood before him and talked animatedly about something and the tiny boy sat in his uncle’s arms.
Koibito had taken to Itachi as soon as he had laid eyes on him.
Itachi had grudgingly taken the baby when coaxed and they had been nearly inseparable since.
Naruto was sure that the man was wishing that the baby was a true Uchiha but had accepted it regardless just as Sasuke considered it to be just as much his and Naruto’s child as if they had already gone through the jutsu enforced delivery.
It was comfortable here, and even though the ANBU were still stationed in the surrounding area, and the various friends they had were clearly afraid to visit, they were becoming a family.
Naruto had just come into the house from his secret project in the far yard and was thinking of taking a shower before joining the others when Itachi saw him and this brought him to Sasuke’s attention.
“Come on out here. I was just telling Aniki about how we managed to defeat Orochimaru. I need you to do that thing with your chakra so he can see it. I doubt even I could describe it well enough. Now, watch Itachi.” And Naruto closed his eyes as he allowed the chakra of the Kyuubi to flow out and surround him. It glowed red and took on the outward shape of the fox and with it came the elongated canines, sharp clawing fingernails and defined whisker marks. The whole effect was not the same as when an enraged Naruto called it forth in a battle situation, but it was impressive.
Itachi drew a breath and waited as Naruto eased back into his normal look and countenance.
“So, you can control the Kyuubi?” he asked, and Naruto shook his head.
“No. I don’t control it. I have sort of merged with it. I can draw on it when I need and it claims to feel safe within me now. I think it’s whole reason for attacking was more of a reflex than a premeditated desire to destroy us. I can’t say for sure, but it’s how I feel.”
“Oh. So, it was attacking because it felt threatened? By mere humans?” Itachi questioned and Naruto bit back his comment about at least it didn’t kill its own family just to prove it could. He knew that would be counter-productive at this point. But, Sasuke was not so sure.
“Aniki, people, and demons perhaps, do things for reasons we can’t understand. We need to look deeper to see the reason behind the reason. It is a good ninja trait. It is something I have learned with the Dainichi. It shows the reasons that bring about the behavior and allow them to heal. It worked for you and until I learned about it I believed that you were just an evil man.”
“Sasuke, there are evil men in the world. You have to accept that.” His brother told him, but Sasuke shook his head.
“No. I think that there are good men, gone bad, for evil reasons. I am going to search for them. I want to heal others, and bring them back from their evil thoughts. Naruto and I have talked about it. We have heard about where Kurosuki Raiga is and if we can stop him, we will. We have to wait for something first, but then we will go. I hope you are in agreement.”
“We both feel bad that we couldn’t save Orochimaru and Kabuto instead of killing them. We aren’t going to make that mistake again. Not when Sasuke has the Dainichi to heal them with. And Raiga is out there, with Ranmaru. I really liked that kid.” Naruto said, shaking his head.
“So, you will go and save the missing nins, then what?”
“Settle down and bring up lots of little Uchiha’s. What else?” Naruto put in and Itachi scoffed.
“And how do you expect to do that? You two barely get out of this house, where are you going to come up with little Uchiha’s?”
“Oh, we will, Aniki. We will.” Sasuke said, smiling while taking the now sleeping baby out of his brother’s arms.

The room was loud and Gaara was getting a headache from the volume of the voices as they argued over redundant issues.
Kankurou had been standing near the door when he noticed the strained expression on his brother’s face.
Gaara looked like he was about to turn green and be very sick. The puppet master gently eased his chakra strings toward the redhead and manipulated the glass of water on the tray until it worked its way over to his sibling. Gaara looked up and as he lifted the glass he smiled a strained smile to his Aniki, before sipping the water and looking back at the he other leaders.
“I think that this meeting has outlasted its ability to function. You have all bypassed the points that could be negotiated or adjusted. Perhaps we should adjourn and try this at a later time.” And the leader rose and headed to the door near his brother.
Once he had passed, Kankurou followed and closed the door behind them.
Gaara slumped and the puppet master caught him, nimbly.
“You aren’t doing as well as you thought, Gaara.” Kankurou said as he lifted the redhead into his arms and aimed for the other’s office.

Temari nodded to her partner and they looked over the rise of sand dunes to see the towers of their home. They had been gone for two months and she was tired of traveling. Their mission was a success and they had the missing nin in their power.
Nejiri reached out to touch her arm, and Temari turned to him. His face was barely discernable under the mask that he wore to protect it in the driving sand storms, but she knew it well enough to recognize his shared message. He was glad to be home also and they would now be able to approach her brother with their news.
Turning to the rebel ninja that had been a known Sound chuunin for much of the last seven years they nodded and pulled their prisoner along behind them.
Suna was a welcome sight and they were not about to spend another day out in the weather when a hot bath and a soft bed awaited them tonight.
Nejiri pulled the rope and dragged the man along behind him as Temari rushed ahead, her momentum not about to relent this close to her home and family.
Plus she needed to get home before she felt sick to her stomach and puked all over the sand.

Aburame Hana became a mother at the ripe age of twenty-five. She and Shino had a beautiful baby boy and named him Shippo. He was born on the seventh of July, seven days before Tsume’s prize bitch had a litter of seven puppies. The Aburame clan and the Inuzuka clan had the largest celebration the village of Konoha had seen in seven generations.
On this day, Tsunade released the ANBU from the Uchiha/Uzumaki residence and greeted Itachi back into the family of the Leaf village.
Itachi was somewhat overwhelmed by the greeting he received from the other ninja’s and was invited to many homes over the next few weeks.
Naruto and Sasuke talked privately to the Hokage and she listened intently before finally authorizing their request.
Neji and Shikamaru were more than happy to look after Koibito while they went on a mission that was potentially lethal and only they could possibly carry off.
If they had known of it, the village would surely be of mixed opinions on the necessity, but would agree that it was a very dangerous thing to take on.
The Hokage wished them luck, and sent them off. While they were gone, Itachi was going to stay with Iruka and Kakashi, as he was still low on Chakra and had difficulty caring for himself.
The two young men said goodbye to their home and headed off for one of the most difficult missions they had ever been on.


Vashta – hold that thought. Sasuke isn’t ready to take the plunge just yet. I think I needed some other characters. It isn’t confusing enough, yet. Now we are off to find us some dangerous missing ninja’s and bring them back. Woo Hoo. And What do you suppose Temari has been up to, huh???? I know I sprung Hana’s baby on ya, but I can’t give fair warning about everything. I had her out of the main comments when everything was happening but forgot to put in the part about her condition at the time, oops.
Regarding Gaara and Choji’s offpring, um, don’t make any assumptions. You might have a surprise or two coming. I saw a picture of Orochimaru at about five years old, and my god, he was a darling. So, I had to put in the tongue thing, it was just too cute.

Marielle – As I said in the last review comment. A little Orochimaru is destined to be a heartthrob. I love the little viper too. And maybe he’ll get a little brother or sister soon. But I digress. That would be the whole point in this story, right???
Oh, and Sakura only knows that she is a bit closed minded, okay???

Next chapter is Finding the Lost, Saving the Souls – Love blooms in the Desert
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