May It Be

Author’s Note - Oh dear gods, please do not kill me for having taken this long to update. Long story short, my health issue was diagnosed and all hell broke loose afterwards. I am now divorced and trying to get life to settle down. So please, dear readers, forgive me. Another two characters are making their appearances and since I’ve yet to find an accurate account of age differences between them, I’m going to tweak it a bit. And since it’s AU, it shouldn’t be too bad, right?

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto nor do I make any money from it. Naruto is owned by another person who lives in Japan.

Chapter Seven - Changes Forthcoming

Iruka hummed softly as he looked over his book to watch the three year old play in the yard with the dogs. Kakashi had left two of his summons to help keep guard over the house and little family while he was away on a mission. The canines had come in handy when the brunette’s attention had to be diverted away from the little boy.

Time had passed swiftly for the little family, the three of them growing as the years unfolded, leaving marks on all of them.

Kakashi had become taller and was mostly doing Jonin duties now, only assisting with Anbu when his unique talents were required. Since the Hatake clan had become a bit more active politically, the Sandaime had decided to retire Kakashi from Anbu and utilize Kakashi’s abilities as a Jonin, hiring him out for missions that required the young man’s skills. The silver haired male was acquiring a name and reputation, much to Konoha’s delight as it meant more revenue coming in.

Iruka felt he had changed quite a bit as well over the past three years. He’d grown as well and due to training every day with Kakashi, he’d passed the Chunin exams the first time he’d taken them. Even now, they worked together on days Kakashi was home to keep the Jonin’s skills sharp and to help the Chunin grow even further as a shinobi.

The Sandaime had been good about alternating missions so that someone was home to stay with the rapidly growing Naruto so the boy would have love and protection from either members of his little family. On the rare occasion that they both had to be sent out at the same time, a member of Anbu would come to watch over the tiny blond.

Naruto was the one who had changed quite a bit over the three years. A few days after the adoption ritual, Iruka had been the first to notice the changes in their young charge and had pointed them out to a pleased Kakashi.

The sunny blond hair had taken on a softer shade, incorporating a silvery sheen to it that was both beautiful and unique. It was quite a blend of Minato’s and Kakashi’s hair colors, and Iruka could say that it was very much a beautiful color.

The darker skin tone had lightened a bit becoming a warm creamy color that matched the silvery blond tresses.

Iruka had joked shortly after the changes had made themselves known that they would be keeping fan girls and fan boys away from their Naru-chan, which had made Kakashi laugh and agree.

Another thing they had agreed on was starting Naruto’s shinobi training as soon as possible, including his normal education. Iruka had begun working with him on the basics, learning colors, identifying sounds, and other things as soon as the little one began giving vocal answers that were understandable by his father and uncle.

Due to the presence of the sealed youkai within the little boy, Naruto began expressing chakra at a very young age, which had both Kakashi and Iruka working on very simple chakra control exercises. They had both realized that if the control exercises weren’t begin immediately, Naruto would have an extremely difficult time controlling his chakra when he grew older.

Iruka’s thoughts were drawn away when he heard a tap on the door. Knowing the dogs would keep an eye on his nephew, he hurried inside to answer it. At the door was a masked Anbu.

“Come in, Anbu-san. Kakashi isn’t here; he’s out on a mission,” Iruka greeted him as the Anbu entered the house.

“I know but this couldn’t wait for him to return,” the Anbu responded. “Sandaime-sama sent me to give you this.”

The Chunin took the scroll, recognizing the Hokage’s seal before breaking it to read what the village’s leader had sent. He froze, reading it three times before looking up.

“Inform Sandaime-sama that everything will be ready tonight for this.”

The Anbu nodded, leaving quickly to report back to his leader. Once alone, Iruka sighed and went to start cleaning out another room. Things were about to get a bit more interesting in the Hatake/Umino household.

At two in the morning, Iruka was awake and listening for the door. He was there to open it at the first sense of chakra, admitting two people and nodding at the Anbu standing a small distance away from them. The Anbu nodded, indicating that the transfer was complete before disappearing.

“Come in,” he murmured to the larger of the two, who was carrying the smaller one. The little boy was sound asleep in his brother’s arms.

Dark eyes looked at Iruka, who gestured for him to follow. He led them to a room next to Naruto’s, smiling at them.

“This will be your room for now. I didn’t have enough time to get two rooms ready for you and your brother, so I hope you don’t mind sharing a room for tonight.”

The six year old shook his head as he carefully laid his brother on the bed.

“No, Iruka-san, this is fine. He will need someone familiar with him when he wakes,” the boy said softly to the older one.

“Do you need anything?”

The little boy shook his head, getting his brother comfortable before doing the same thing for himself.

“No, thank you, Iruka-san.”

The eighteen year old Chunin smiled, hoping to get the boy to relax a bit.

“I’ll be down the hall if you need something. Don’t hesitate to ask,” he told him.

The dark haired boy nodded, climbing into bed and curling up next to his brother. Iruka’s heart melted as he watched the two cling to each other even as the older one drifted off to sleep.

He padded off to the living room to read, not feeling tired enough yet to try to sleep, and a few hours later, that was how Kakashi found him when he entered the house.

“Hey Iruka.”

The Chunin gave him a smile, rising to help take the gear so Kakashi could relax.

“Welcome home, Kakashi. How did it go?”

The silver haired Jonin sank onto a chair with a tired sigh.

“It went well. Mission was a success and without any Konoha casualties, so Sandaime-sama was pleased with the report. How was everything here?”

Iruka nodded, grateful to hear that no one had been seriously harmed.

“Naru-chan has learned to recognize more colors and can repeat his alphabet back perfectly,” he said with a laugh. “I think it’s time to move him to a different chakra exercise. He’s mastered the one we taught him before you left.”

“Not bad, not bad,” he answered with a quiet smile. “He’s picking things up quickly.”

“Takes after his dad,” Iruka teased playfully, making Kakashi laugh softly at the compliment.

“Actually after both of his fathers. Minato-sensei was a genius in his own right too. We’ll just have to foster it in Naru-chan and help him to learn to think creatively in all things,” he said, making Iruka nod in agreement.

“Other than that, it’s been quiet mostly except for the fact we now have two new additions to the household,” he told the other.

Kakashi straightened in his seat, staring at Iruka with a questioning expression on his face. The dark haired male took that as an invitation to continue.

“I received a scroll from Sandaime earlier today. Apparently, Uchiha Mikoto came to him with information she’d overheard. Uchiha Fugaku has been in league with Orochimaru in regards to the future of the Uchiha clan. I don’t know all the details but from what I understand, the clan is gone.”

“Gone? What happened?”

“I really don’t know,” Iruka admitted. “Itachi looked tired and fell asleep immediately so if he knows what happened, he didn’t say.”

“So we’re giving them sanctuary until Sandaime-sama figures out what to do with them?”

“I think so, Kakashi. The scroll asked that we give protection, comfort, and shelter until he calls for you.”

Kakashi leaned back in his seat, thinking about what Iruka had told him. Something was definitely afoot here, and he was curious as to what was going on.

“You did the right thing. At least Naru-chan will have a playmate for a while until our guests are settled,” he murmured.

Iruka nodded, silently agreeing with Kakashi. Their little ray of sunshine needed someone his own age to play with so this might end up being something beneficial for all of them if things worked out.

“I guess we just have to wait to see what Sandaime-sama has to say about all of this. Do you think they’ll end up staying for a long period of time?”

The silver haired male shrugged, pulling the gloves off of his hands and flexing them with a soft sigh.

“Anything is possible. I guess we’ll know more when he summons me,” was the soft answer. “Either way, life will be a lot more interesting from here on out.”

Iruka laughed and nodded. “I think so too.”

Both males drifted into silence, enjoying the companionship between them as they contemplated what the future would bring.


Author’s End Note - And there are the Uchiha brothers. I thought I’d add a bit of mystery to the story. I hope everyone enjoyed this installment. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it. I think I’m getting back into the swing of things - finally!