We are proud to announce the birth of Ichiru Shisui Uchiha.

***

Sasuke scowled as he leaned against the wall. The house had been crowded with visitors ever since his nephew had been born.
It had been two days ago that he had heard Taryn cry out in the garden. He still wasn’t sure how she had made it to the house.

“What are you dong?” Taryn protested when he lifted her and carried her outside.
“You need a hospital,” he said in a gruff voice. 
“Since when do you c.. ah!”
“Shut up already!”

They hadn’t made it very far. A little down the road they had run into one of Taryn’s students, the annoying one with the brown hair. He was with that girl, the bakers daughter.
After getting over his initial shock, the boy had run back to the village to get help and that was when the circus had begun.
The boy’s mother had come. After that, the boy had returned with his two friends. And not long after that, Taryn’s siblings had arrived.
They boy’s mother, Daro’s mother, had chased everyone out of the room, besides Temari and Casey, and the waiting had begun.
The sounds that had come from the room had not been pleasant, but with the others around, he had feigned deafness. With his arms crossed and a scowl on is face, he had looked the other way.
Gaara had paced up and down the room.
Kankuro had been casting worried glances at the bedroom door.
Two of Taryn’s students had been glaring at Sasuke and the other one, the black-haired one, had started making everyone lunch in the kitchen.
It had taken hours before they finally hear the soft crying.

Sasuke sighed. Today it was Temari’s turn to check up on things. He didn’t like her sharp tongue. He didn’t like the hateful looks she gave him. He didn’t like her attitude. He had to bear with her, but that didn’t mean he had to socialize with her.
He pushed away from the wall and made his way to his brother’s grave, his only sanctuary in this place.
He stared at the stone, his mind miles away.
His nephew was a little baby now, but he would grow up fast. One day he would ask about his father. He wondered what he would say when the time came.

 ***

Day 15 of the Third month
First year of the great Peace
From Mai Kozaru, bird keeper of Kirigakure
To Souta Shiraki, bird keeper of Sunagakure

We would like to thank you for the new messenger birds you have sent to our village. They are swift and efficient and seem to have no trouble at all with finding their way through the fog.

We also thank you for sending your assistant to help us set up the training program. We are sure it will prove to be very effective in the future.
We are most grateful.

 *** 

“So, Daro-kun found himself a girlfriend, huh?” Tai smirked at Kuro, “what about your sensei? Did she have her baby yet?”
“Yeah,” Kuro said hesitantly, “he was born not log ago.” He was a bit intimidated by Daro’s new friend. The Mist ninja was tall and broad and assertive.
Tai smirked even wider. “That’s gonna stir things up for sure.”
“Ichiru didn’t do anything wrong,” Kuro said.
“I know that,” Tai said, “I didn’t mean anything by it. But not everyone will be happy with a new generation of Uchiha.” He grinned. “Your sensei has some guts. I like it.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Kuro’s mouth. Maybe Tai wasn’t so bad after all.
He had been nervous at first, going to the Hidden Mist village. Regardless of the truce, he was a long way from home, but his father had assure him he would be fine. He had assisted his father with the training of the hawks ever since he was a child, so he should be able to do it on his own now.
He had arrived yesterday and he would stay here for at least three weeks.
“So, can you show me to the bird watch?” Kuro asked.
“Eager to get to the job huh. Come on, this way.” 

***

“Really,” Temari rolled her eyes, “can’t you ever be serious?”
Dante cast her a charming smirk. “you know you like me.”
“You’re delusional,” Temari answered and pushed him out of the way.
“Keep up the tough act all you like,”  Dante said, “but we’re going to spend a lot of time together now that I’m in the Kazekage’s personal guard.”
“Yeah,” Temari said, “too bad there’s not much to guard now that we’re at peace.”  She stuck out her tongue, making him laugh.
“See you around, Temari,” he said and tapped her cheek before leaving the building.
Temari looked after him and crossed her arms, a heated blush spreading across her cheeks.

 ***

“I’m glad you’re doing better, Hiro-kun,” Casey smiled at him.
“Yeah,” Hiro grinned while scratching his neck, “I’m glad my mother lets me out of the house again. She was completely overreacting.”
“She’s your mother,” Casey said.
“But I’m a ninja,” Hiro stated, “I’m a Chuunin now. It was just some injuries.”
“Meh leave it Casey,” Daro sat down next to his friends, “he’s pretending to be all tough.”
“Hey!” Hiro protested.
Casey giggled at hearing the two friends argue.
“So when’s Kuro coming back?” Hiro asked.
“I don’t know,” Daro said, “he said he’d be a few weeks. He must have arrived by now.” He sighed. “It’s strange. I thought that now that the war is over, things would go back to normal, but so much has changed.”
“Yeah,” Hiro said, “we’re not kids anymore.” He grinned. “It seems like a lifetime ago that we graduated from the Academy.”
“And met sensei for the first time,” Daro smirked, “remember how hard she made us work?”
“Ugh,” Hiro groaned, “I thought she wanted to kill us.”
“In your case she probably did,” Daro laughed.
“Hey! I wasn’t that bad!” Hiro took a deep breath and hung his head. “Maybe I was.”
Daro smirked. “You still are.”
He was just in time to dodge the pillow aimed at his head.

 ***

“So he’s been born?” Shikaku sat down across from Kakashi in Kakashi’s office.
The masked shinobi sighed. “Yes. Ichiru Shisui Uchiha. She named him after Itachi’s best friend.”
Shikaku looked a bit surprised. “I didn’t know they knew each other.”
“They didn’t as far as I know,” Kakashi replied.
“So it’s a tribute to Itachi then?”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t look happy,” Shikaku noted.
Kakashi sighed again. “I am happy. I’m happy for her, but she keeps on pushing her luck. A lot of people will remember Shisui. It will remind them of the Uchiha massacre, of Sasuke, the war.”
Shikaku gave his friend a serious look. “Listen, Kakashi. I’ve known Taryn for a long time as well. She doesn’t like being told what to do. And she never was the nicest of persons. But she has changed a lot. And she cared about Itachi a lot.”
“I know,” Kakashi said, “that’s why I’m giving her space. She needs time.”
“Perhaps she does, but we both know she’s not going to be the one to come to you.”
Kakashi kept silent. He looked at the short note on his desk, informing him about the birth of Taryn’s child. It was written in her hand, but it was impersonal.
“She writes to Neji,” Kakashi said.
“He is her cousin,” Shikaku answered simply. He looked at Kakashi’s tormented expression. “So talk to Neji.”
Kakashi sighed. “Perhaps I should.”

 *** 

Taryn groaned when the crying woke her up. Again.
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and flicked on the lights. Just when she wanted to climb out of bed to check on Ichiru, the door to her room opened and Sasuke stepped in.
The Uchiha had an annoyed expression on his face and his hair stuck out in different directions. He ignored Taryn and walked straight up to Ichiru’s cradle.
“What are you doing?” Taryn said alarmed, scrambling to her feet.
“I’ll take him, just go back to sleep.”
“You can’t just walk into my room,” Taryn growled, “I could have been breastfeeding.”
“Then he wouldn’t be crying,” Sasuke said with a smug face. He picked up Ichiru and held him against his shoulder. He turned to Taryn and smirked. “Besides, I have no interest in looking at you in that way.” He pulled a face. “He needs a change.”
Taryn smirked and stepped back into bed. “Good luck,” she said smugly and flicked off the lights.

***

“Do you have any leads yet?” Gaara stared out of the window, his hands on his back. His face held a grim expression.
“No, Kazekage-sama,” Ao answered, “the spies we sent to the separate nations weren’t able to discover anything. If one of the Kages was involved, they hid it well.”
“Taryn said she couldn’t identify them by their jutsu. They made sure to only use weapons.” Gaara sighed. “Keep on with the investigation. They failed once. They’ll try again. Especially now that Ichiru has been born.”
Ao’s eyes widened. “Even here in Suna?”
Gaara looked at him seriously. “Shinobi from different nations walk in and out of the gates on a daily basis now that we’ve signed a treaty. It could be anyone.”
Ao’s eyes turned determined. “We’ll find out who’s responsible. We won’t stop until we’ve brought them to justice.”
Gaara nodded. “good.”

***

Sakura sighed and checked her chart again. For months she had been working on a cure for Juugo’s condition, but nothing seemed to work. They had even tried the seal mark that Kakashi had once placed on Sasuke to constrict Orochimaru’s curse. It suppressed the blood, but didn’t dissipate the disease. She didn’t know what to do anymore.
“It’s not working, is it?” Juugo asked. He sat silently on a stool with two ANBU at his side to guard him.
“I’m sorry,” Sakura said, “I’ll keep trying. We seem to be getting closer. You haven’t had any episodes yet.”
“I try to suppress it,” Juugo said, “I don’t want to hurt people.”
“I know,” Sakura smiled, “don’t worry. We’ll find the answer.” She bit her lip and looked at the ANBU. “I need to speak with the Hokage. Please take him back to his cell.” She felt bad about it. Juugo didn’t seem like an S-ran criminal. He was always kind and he looked sad, but they couldn’t take any risks, so they locked him up. Juugo didn’t seem to mind at all. Strangely enough, he seemed relived to be imprisoned. At lest that way he wouldn’t hurt anyone.
“Sakura,” Juugo’s voice said form the door.
The young medic looked up at him questioningly.
“Is there news on Sasuke?”
Sakura’s eyes flickered sadly for a moment. He asked that every time. “No,” she said softly, “nothing new.”
He nodded and let the ANBU take him back to his cell.
Sakura gathered her papers and headed over to Kakashi’s office. Sadly she looked at the buildings around her. Konoha had already taken a great hit before the war. It would never be completely the way it was before.
She knocked on the Hokage’s door and stepped inside.
“Sakura,” Kakashi said surprised.
“Kakashi-sen… I mean… Hokage-sama…”
Kakashi smiled. “Sensie is fine. You’ve been calling me that for so long. I’m used to it.”
Sakura nodded and walked up to his desk. “We’re not making any progress with Juugo of Tempin. The seal restricts his blood, but doesn’t cure him. We’ve tried everything we could think of. I’ve even consulted the medics in Suna. They’re famous for their antidotes.”
Kakashi nodded. “I was afraid of that. I guess there’s nothing we can do.”
“Actually,” Sakura hesitated, “there is one other thing. I just need your permission.”
Kakashi looked at her confused. “Why?”
Sakura took a deep breath. “Juugo was a prisoner of Orochimaru. He must have done a lot of research to create the curse mark. If we can find that research…”
“No,” Kakashi cut her off.
“Why not?”
Kakashi sighed. “You have tried everything possible, but in the end, Juugo of Tempin is a criminal. He’s in prison where he can cause no harm. Curing him does not have our priority.”
“But he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He wants to be cured. And he gave himself up.”
“He still followed Sasuke.”
“The only reason he even became a criminal was because he thought Orochimaru would be able to cure him. He didn’t know that creep would use him to create the curse mark. And he only followed Sasuke because.. because…” She closed her eyes and sat down on a chair.
Kakashi looked at her sadly. “You miss him, don’t you? Sasuke.”
Sakura took a deep breath and lowered her eyes. “I know he’s changed and I hate him for it, but… I don’t know…”
Kakashi sighed. “Take two shinobi with you. I doubt there is anything left to find. My guess is that Kabuto destroyed it all after Orochimaru’s death, and even if there is, it may not be useful to you.”
Sakura’s head snapped up. “Are you saying I can go?”
“If it’s really that important to you then I won’t stop you, but Sakura.. make sure you do this for the right reason. And if there’s nothing to find, promise me you’ll give it up.”
Sakura took a deep breath and nodded. “I promise.” 

A/N Dedicated to akatsukifan4ever for suggesting the name Shisui ^_^ Huge thanks!