Chapter Ten

The next day, Haru goes to find Hinata. Sasuke's Summon had returned. It looked like he had news too!

"Mother! The snake came back. He says Kakashi sent a team of ANBU after the bad people!" The young boy tells her.

"That's very good news. Hopefully, they catch them soon and we can go home." She says with a smile and pulls Haru into her embrace.

There was so much of Sasuke in him and it wasn't just his looks. This is what Sasuke would have been like if the Massacre hadn't happened, she decided. So innocent, happy, and carefree. She was going to miss Haru horribly when he went back.

Her face heats up. Hinata realized that at the rate she and her new lover were going, they might not be separated from Haru for terribly long. She still couldn't believe what she had done last night.

She had been so outrageous. Sasuke Uchiha had actually allowed her to chain him up! He hadn't seemed to have mind though. If anything, it seemed to make him even more...aggressive in his passion. He was definitely a very good pouncer.

"Don't worry, mother. I'll be okay." Haru says and snuggles into his mother's warm, loving arms.

"Haru...I know you are young. So if you can't, that's understandable. But do you know if you can wield the Byakugan, Sharingan, or some combination?" She asks curiously.

"Oh that. Yeah! I have one eye of each." He says.

Hinata blinks. She hadn't expected that. This kid was going to really be something when he grew up.

She tried to imagine Haru when he was a grown man. He was going to be an absolute terror on the battlefield. It seemed at odds with his gentle nature though. Maybe he'd be a medic like her?

"Yup! I'm strong. Just like father and mother!" He says cheerfully.

"Can you show me?" She asks.

"Okay!" He says and activates both of them.

It was an unnerving though stunning visual. Despite only having one Byakugan, the veins around both eyes were enlarged. His Sharingan was a shade or two lighter than Sasuke's. The Byakugan was the same color as Hinata's though.

"That's good for now. You can deactivate them. You don't want to overdo it. I'll show you some Gentle Fist style." Hinata tells and Haru does as she asks.

Hinata was thankful that for the most part, it looked like Haru had inherited her more...accommodating nature. She was pretty sure kid Sasuke would have kept them both on longer just to prove he could do it. Sasuke was very stubborn that way.

While his personality was more gentle, his fighting style definitely took after Sasuke. There was a certain aggressiveness to the way he moved. It might not be incompatible with the traditional Hyuga style, but it was at odds with it. The Hyuga Style called for precision. Haru seemed to prefer to use blunt force. Though he was five, it might just purely be a matter of age.

"Haru? Can you tell me more about your grandfather?" She asks.

Haru tilts his head to the side. The boy was considering. He probably wasn't going to tell her anything that she didn't already know. Haru doubted the timeline would get messed up if he told her.

"Grandfather is an Ice Prince. He is nicer to me and some of the others more than father. But father and grandfather they don't like each other. Father says grandfather called him something VERY bad once. Grandfather says father is arrogant. He does give good presents though." Haru adds the last part, in what to a five year old was probably a diplomatic gesture.

"I see. Well hopefully they will learn to get along better." She says with a smile.

"I don't think so. They known each other 17 years. If they don't like each other by now, I don't think they ever will." He says.

"Se-venteen years?" Hinata stammers.

"I shouldn't have said that." Haru eeps.

"It's okay Haru. You won't get in trouble." She reassures him.

"I don't wanna go poof!" He whimpers.

"You won't go poof. Your father and I won't let that happen." She promises him.

Haru leans into his mother's arms and hiccups. He seemed soothed by her reassurance. She'd never lied to him before.

"I don't think you have to worry about going poof. Not with as often as the snake has been visiting your mother's garden." Sasuke says, walking over to them.

"Morning father! I still don't understand the snake and garden? Mother has a garden? What garden?" He asks and tilts his head.

"You'll understand when you are older." Sasuke says and flicks Haru on the forehead.

"Hmpf! People always say that!" He pouts.

"Because it's true." Sasuke says in amusement.

"SASUKE!" Hinata says, hearing his reference.

"Yes?" Sasuke says innocently.

"You think you would have learned your lesson last night when you talk like that with Haru standing right there!" She huffs.

"Oh I learned my lesson." Sasuke says seriously.

"And what did you learn?" She asks.

"That I should do it more often. I liked the results." He states.

"AHHHHH! YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!" Hinata yells.

"Your mother is so cute when she gets angry." Sasuke says to Haru.

"I don't get it. Another thing I'll understand when I'm older?" He sulks.

"Exactly. Smart boy." Sasuke says.

"Your Summon returned. He says that Kakashi has an ANBU team out after them." Hinata says.

"Good. Hopefully they catch them and we can go home soon." Sasuke replies.

Meanwhile elsewhere in the Fire Nation, Zaku chuckles. So they had been found out. Well no matter. It would be an easy matter to throw them off the trail. Now it was time to pick a few sacrificial lambs.

If he let the ANBU capture them and take them to an old hideout they were no longer using, that would work. The Uchihas/Hyugas would lower their guard. They'd come out of hiding and then he could grab them.

While Sasuke's eyes would surely be a grand prize, he wasn't delusional enough to believe that he had anyone who could take him out. It was likely that the man had developed an immunity to most poisons. Zaku understood that was fairly standard in the Sound. Orochimaru wouldn't want his pets taken out of commission so easily.

"Send them out. Choose some people moderately proficient in combat. We want the fight to look real." He states and didn't bait an eyelash at the knowledge he was sending several of his minions to their early graves most likely.

At the same time in the Leaf Village, Kakashi takes Shizune to the seafood place she wanted to go to. There were pros and cons to every job. One big pro of being Hokage is that you could eat wherever you pleased without a reservation. Besides, it had been awhile since he had had seafood. He was particularly fond of shrimp.

"The bunny and hawk seem to be getting along surprisingly well." She muses as she orders some fish.

"Yes, well I suppose they have to." Kakashi replies.

He had decided it was best to give them code names. The bunny was obviously Hinata. Sasuke was the hawk. That way they could discuss them out in public and no one would be the wiser.

You never knew who might be listening in. The silver haired ninja was well aware it was possible that the Black Market had spies waiting to pick up what information they could. Haru was that high a priority of a target.

"It must be strange to see your team growing up so quickly." She states.

"Yes, I still remember them as bratty Genin. Sasuke hides it well but he was just much into causing mischief as Naruto." Kakashi chuckles.

It was another day for Team Seven. They were heading home from the disastrous mission in the Land of Waves. Sasuke had largely recovered. They were going at a slow pace though.

Naruto and Sasuke had been turned into human pincushions on that mission and neither was really fit to race home. That was fine though. Kakashi wasn't in a hurry.

"Hmm that's strange. Where did I put my book?" He wondered and looked around his tent.

It was early morning. Sakura and Naruto were still asleep. He thought he had heard Sasuke moving about earlier though. Kid probably just had to go to the bathroom or something. Even ninjas were not immune to having certain biological functions.

"That sounds painful. Definitely not doing that." He heard Sasuke mumble and a page turn.

Kakashi amused, goes to see what on Earth Sasuke could be reading. He watches the 12 year old stealthily. Sasuke was perceptive, but Kakashi was a Jonin. If he didn't want Sasuke to know he was there. He wouldn't know.

"I can't believe they trust the woman enough not to bite them...while that's in their mouth." Sasuke observed as he had moved on from a page involving whips and chains, to one about oral sex.

There had to be something in here, that he could do after killing Itachi. He had a clan to restore. Sasuke thoroughly believed when you were given a choice, it was better to have a plan. So he took that strategic approach to everything, even sex.

Ah ha! Finally, this was interesting. Office sex! That explained why mother had spent so much time in father's office while he was in charge of the police.

"Sasuke, you know you could have just asked if you were really that curious." Kakashi declared in amusement.

"AHHH! KAKASHI!" Sasuke cried and fell out of the tree that he was sitting on. (It had a rather sturdy branch.)

"I didn't mean to startle you. Well I suppose you are 12. It's only natural that you would be curious about such things. Still you aren't supposed to read that until you are at least 18." Kakashi added in amusement.

"You aren't supposed to BUY it until you are 18. There's no rule that says you have to be 18 to read it." Sasuke stated smugly.

"That's my student." The future Hokage said proudly.

Kakashi chuckled at the memory. Naruto had always been oblivious about interactions with the opposite sex. Sakura definitely had been interested in. Though as far as he knew, she'd never managed to steal his book like Sasuke.

It wasn't that his dark haired student had no interest in women. He just was a very focused individual. He preferred to dedicate himself solely to one goal at a time. It seemed now that Itachi was gone and Sasuke was aware he had (well was going to have) a son, now the second goal was the focus of his current attention.

"What's so funny?" Shizune asks as she watches him chuckle.

Kakashi was definitely an easier Hokage to get along with than Tsunade. She loved Tsunade but the woman could act like a kid sometimes. She was always trying to get out of paperwork. While Kakashi would put it off until the last minute, he had more success finishing it than his predecessor. He was also much more mellow. Most of the time, you'd never know the cheerful, eccentric man was a very lethal ninja.

"Oh I was just remembering one time when Sasuke stole my book." He chuckles.

"Did he really?!" Shizune asks and blinks, she couldn't imagine the stoic Uchiha ever doing such a thing.

"Oh he was 12. He was just curious. It was harmless. It was quite amusing really, especially how quickly he fell out of that tree when I caught him." Kakashi says and takes a sip of his wine.

"I wish I could have seen that." She laughs.

"Yes, it was quite the memorable moment." The CopyCat Ninja admits.

Things were looking up. He was enjoying a nice dinner with a beautiful woman. Sasuke apparently had gotten over his avenger days and was playing house with Hinata of all people. Naruto was well Naruto. Sakura was becoming quite the talented medic. Somehow his team had found their way.

He just hoped the ANBU team he sent out would be able to deal with the Black Market dealers. Haru was such a cute kid. He really didn't deserve to live his life in fear.

Meanwhile Naruto goes to visit Sakura at the hospital. Honestly, he probably should have done it sooner. Sakura had been in love with Sasuke for years. Now she found out that he was apparently in love with Hinata or going to be at some point.

Yes, Naruto knew that Sasuke was a bastard. But he did not think his best friend was enough of a bastard to have a kid with someone he didn't love. Being the decidedly less bastardly of the two men, he thought it was his duty to make sure their female teammate was okay.

"Hey, Sakura. You are on lunch break now, right?" He asks.

"Yeah." She says.

"Wanna go get some ramen with me? I mean with everything going on, we haven't really had a chance to hang out in awhile." He offers.

"Are you ever going to outgrow your obsession with ramen?" She asks.

"Nope! Never. Believe it!" He says and heads off with her.

"It's good that some things never change. Comforting in a way, really." She muses as they head to the shop.

"Speaking of change, how do you feel about the...well the Haru situation?" He asks.

"I don't know how to feel about it really. I mean...I'm glad he's happy. At least I think he will be. Still it's hard to get over your first love. You know? But Haru is adorable. Do you think that's what Sasuke was like before the Massacre?" She questions as she orders her food.

"Maybe. I don't know. He wasn't at the Academy that long before it happened. But he seems to be getting along really well with Hinata. I guess maybe he just needed someone more...well you know?" Naruto suggests.

"No. I don't know. More what?" She asks.

"Housewifey?" The blonde asks.

"Housewifey? That's not even a word and what do you mean by that?!" Sakura says and feels herself twitch.

"Well Hinata is pretty old fashioned. She's the type of women, I think that you know would be happy staying at home, baking cookies, and she's really mellow. You have a temper. You know what I mean? Sasuke's just a really dominant, abrasive personality. Two hotheads together isn't going to end well." He reasons.

"Naruto, she is a medic. She's not just some housewife that is going to stay home all day baking cookies!" Sakura protests.

"You know what I mean!" He protests.

"Yeah. I guess. Maybe you are right. Maybe they balance each other out. He can make her more assertive and she can calm him down." Sakura says with a sigh.

"Don't worry, you'll find the right guy. Oh look, there's Lee. Hey Lee!" Naruto says cheerfully and Sakura runs off like a bat out of Hell.

"Friend Naruto! It's good to see you. And of course friend Sakura! Wait...where did Sakura go?" He asks in confusion.

"What are you talking about? She's right here?" Naruto asks and then he looks at the seat where Sakura had been sitting, it was empty.

"Maybe she had to get back to the hospital?" The green spandex lover muses.

"Yeah. I'm sure that's it." Naruto agrees.

At the border of the Fire Country and Rain country, the ANBUS had found their targets. A vicious battle was raging. Kunais, swords, and jutsus were flying. How did the ANBUS know these were their targets? It was simple. They were carrying a bag of body parts.

The ANBU captain recognized one arm as having belonged to someone from a clan whose bloodline was in their arms. There was a special birthmark that they were all born with. Yes, there was no doubt about it. These were their targets.

"Try to capture at least one of them alive." He says.

"Yes, sir!" The ANBU all chorus and rush at their opponents.

The battle lasted the better part of the day. They followed them to their hideout, an abandoned village. Eventually the Leaf ninjas were victorious. Unfortunately, they had to kill them all. The Captain sighs. That was unfortunate. He would have liked to have the chance to see them interrogated. But still Lord Hokage would be pleased. They head back to the village.

Back at the Uchiha Fortress, Sasuke smiles as he watches Haru play with the cats. He was so easy to please. Most kids would have been terrified that someone wanted to cut their eyes out. But Haru seemed almost completely unaffected. He was more worried about going poof than potential attackers.

"You're good with him." Sasuke says, wrapping his arms around his lover's waist.

"So are you." She mumbles and leans back against him.

"I try to be." He says and rests his head on top of hers.

"You succeed." The bluenette says with a smile.

"He seems worried that he'll disappear. It'd be a little easier if he was about ten years older." Sasuke says and nips her ear.

"Sasuke!" She says.

"I'm just saying, then he'd understand that we are getting along well and that isn't a concern for him. Well at least I found out one of your kinks. You like to tie me up." He observes.

"It's not a kink! It was one time and you needed to learn to watch what you say with him watching. What if he mentioned what you said to someone else?" She asks.

"They'd think, lucky guy?" Sasuke offers.

"I'm serious!" She says.

"Hinata, everyone knows that he's our son. I think they figured out that we are intimate or are going to be in the future. It's not a big secret." He states in amusement.

"You know what I meant!" She says.

"You weren't this shy last night." Sasuke says.

"Th-at was different." She mumbles.

"I'm not an Exhibitionist. But you're mine, I don't really care who knows that." He says.

Yeah maybe Exhibitionist was the wrong thing to say. Hinata looked close to fainting. Sasuke shakes his head in amusement and kisses her. Adorable really. From tigress to kitten in the span of 24 hours. Impressive.

"Okay." she mumbles and lays her head on his shoulder.

"That's better. So did you want to try out clones next time?" He asks smugly.

"Cl-ones?!" She asks.

"Well maybe just one clone. We are still new to this. I could do it or you could. Double the Hinata's, double the fun." He whispers hotly into her ear, causing her to turn red as a tomato.

"Right...that might be a little advanced for now." He says.

"A little." She admits.

The thought of two Sasuke's was a bit overwhelming. She could barely handle one. Hinata couldn't imagine being bold enough to make a copy of herself for THAT. It seemed Sasuke...adventurous when it came to intimacy.

"That's alright. There's no rush. Plenty of time to see what we like." He says and kisses her cheek.

"Mhm." She agrees and enjoys being held.

Back in the Leaf, Kakashi's dinner with Shizune is interrupted by an ANBU Captain racing inside. He excuses himself and follows the Captain. Once outside, he wasted no time in demanding an explanation.

"We caught them. Unfortunately, all of the suspects were captured dead. But I don't think that they will be a problem anymore. We found lots of...body parts and a camp. It was a gruesome scene." The ANBU Captain admits and shivers remembering it.

It was an abandoned village. Ghostly quiet. It was so out of the way that they never would have noticed it, if they hadn't been chasing their targets. But they had. He wished they hadn't. It was filled with the stuff of nightmares.

Inside every building, there was what seemed to be a medical lab. Body parts preserved in jars or large medical tanks. It was like something straight out of a horror movie. He would never get those images out of his head as long as he lived.

"Excellent news. I shall have the Bunny and Hawk notified." He states.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." He agrees.

"Good work. You and your squad may take a month of leave and perhaps it would be a good idea for you all to receive some counseling." He offers kindly.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage. That was most kind of you." He says and flits off.

"What was all that about?" Shizune asks as she walks outside.

"They captured the Market Dealers." Kakashi says.

"Oh thank God. It was horrible having that hanging over our heads. Sasuke and Hinata will be so happy. I imagine Haru will be as well." She says with a smile.

"Yes, they will be." Kakashi says with a smile.

Kakashi sends Pakkun off to inform the happy couple that it was safe to go back to the village. The ninja dog wasn't particularly pleased to be in a fortress filled with ninja cats. The ninja cats all wanted to have a go at the dog, since they outnumbered him.

"Thanks you, Pakkun. You can head back now. No reason for you and the cats to have a cat and dog fight." Sasuke offers.

"Right." He says and looked relieved to get the Hell out of there.

"We can go home!" Haru cries out happily.

"Yes, we can." Sasuke agrees.

"I'll start packing up." Hinata says.

"I'll help you." Sasuke says and follows his lover.

Hinata was bending over to gather some of Haru's clothes. Well Sasuke was Sasuke. He was never one to waste such a golden opportunity.

So he did what any hot blooded ninja would have done. He smacked her ass. This drew a rather loud eep from the bluenette and Sasuke smirks smugly.

"Sasuke! That better not leave a bruise!" She warns him.

"If it does, I can just kiss it better." He states.

"..." Hinata didn't even know how to respond to that.

"It's a nice ass. If you are going to display it like that for me, I'm going to take the offer." He continues.

Hinata feels her face heating up. Sasuke had always been so aloof before Haru. She figured at some poin the would want to restore her clan. But had always thought it would be more of a responsibility to him, than something he'd enjoy doing. He'd never seemed interested in anyone.

This Sasuke was a completely different animal. Emphasis on ANIMAL. Haru needn't worry about going poof at this rate. Her lover seemed to be rather...affectionate and attentive when given the opportunity to be so.

"I should probably start using the Jutsu at this rate. Father would kill you, if we made a Haru this soon." She mumbles.

"All the more reason to. Though it sounds more like we will be making an Akemi first." He muses.

"Sasuke! You and my father really need to learn to get along." She huffs.

"I said I'd try. He's not here. So I don't have to pretend to be nice to him." Sasuke points out.

She shakes her head. It seemed that the two Patriarchs were always going to be at odds. Haru had said that was the case for 17 years. But Haru was only five. Had it really taken 12 years for her to conceive? She doubted it. Sasuke was far too...attentive for that to happen.

Haru had mentioned Akemi. So it was likely that they had at least two children. Probably more if Sasuke kept up this pace, she thought with a blush.