IT HAD BEEN A MONTH since three of the most important shinobi in the world had up and vanished. Naruto, the temporary Hokage, was struggling to keep everything under control. With Sakura gone, the hospital didn't really know what to do anymore. She was the best medic they had, there was a huge gap between her skills and what the rest of the staff could do. Those with fatal illnesses or injuries were drawing closer and closer to death's doorsteps with her gone.
Tsunade was still out exploring the world and she had been on the other side of the planet when she finally received the letter of emergency. She had yet to arrive, but they were expecting her soon. Hopefully the dangerously ill patients could last long enough until she arrived.
As for Sunagakure, with Temari gone, the temporary seat for Kazekage was placed by Kankuro. With him being buried by all the unfinished work Gaara left behind, there was no one to take care of Shinki and make sure he was okay. He felt it was safe to take him to Konoha. It'd be a whole change of scenery for him so he wouldn't have to wallow around the empty mansion all day. He could finally meet his cousin, Shikadai, while staying with his aunt Temari. Plus, Kankuro felt a lot safer leaving him under the care of Naruto and Sasuke, two of the most powerful ninjas in the world.
(Though he also considered them the most dumbest. Naruto, for obvious reason and as for Sasuke, the asshole should've known that running to Orochimaru, the pedophilic snake bastard with a collection of traumatized human-experiments, was a bad idea from the start. Like seriously. Idiot.)
Shinki had never stepped foot out of Suna, so seeing Konoha for the first time should've been leaving been an amazing experience for him or at the least, mildly intriguing. Don't get him wrong, the village looked nice, but lately he felt as if he was just drifting away from reality. His face was blank as he walked around with his aunt Temari and cousin Shikadai, but the inside of his mind felt fuzzy, like he had a huge cotton ball for a brain.
His father... was gone. He remembered that fateful day out at the training field. Everything was fine, Kankuro was going to teach him how to use puppets and he was so excited about it especially since his father would be watching, but then there was that blue light and suddenly... His father was gone.
"Alright!" Kankuro clapped his hands, his painted face breaking out into an eager grin. Shinki was feeling the same amount of excitement as his uncle, he was just doing better at hiding it. A few feet away from them was Gaara, who was watching with a small smile on his face.
"First off, the Puppet Technique requires most of the puppeteer's attention and a shit to—I mean, a lot of precise chakra control." Kankuro began, only slipping up in the middle. Thankfully Gaara was too busy probably inwardly gushing about his son's first ever puppetry lesson from Uncle Kankuro to notice.
"Like Uchiha-sama?" Shinki inquired.
"Eh, not that much." He replied. Though now that he thought about, Sakura would be a damn good Puppet Master with how superior her chakra control was. Hell, he was pretty sure even before she gained her Byakugou Seal, she'd be almost as good as him.
Actually, maybe it's a good thing she didn't learn the Puppet Technique... Imagine a genius medic-nin who could punch a crater in the ground and control your limbs with chakra strings. That'd be a fucking nightmare. He shuddered at the thought. She was already scary enough as is despite what her appearance said otherwise.
"Anyways, the first step to being a fine Puppet Master like your great ol' Uncle is to practice your chakra control! Then after that, maybe I can help you make your first ever puppet!" He beamed.
Shinki's eyes lit up. "How do the puppets work?"
The older man was practically bouncing on his feet at this point. "You wanna take a closer look at one of 'em?"
He nodded. "Yes please."
"Perfect!" He presented the puppet he had on hand—Karasu, one of his oldest ones. Shinki gazed at with deep interest. The puppet resembled some sort of humanoid creature with three eyes, four arms, jagged teeth, and spiky brown hair.
Kankuro was just in the middle of showing off the hidden scythe blades hidden in Karasu's torso when they were suddenly engulfed in a bright blue light. Shinki briefly registered the abruptness of the wind picking up speed and nearly tumbled over it hadn't been for Kankuro holding on to him tight.
"GAARA!" He heard his uncle yell. He looked up from his bulky arm and saw something that would forever be engraved into his memories. His father, with his right arm and leg wrapped up in sand, was being sucked in by a swirling blue vortex. The sand was trying to keep him anchored, but it was breaking its hold.
"FATHER!" Shinki shouted, trying to move forward. He suddenly lost his balance and felt his feet lift up from the air.
"Shinki!" Kankuro shouted in alarm, and tightened his grip to keep him from flying off.
"FATHER!" Shinki saw the sand wrapped around his father's limbs being sucked into the wormhole. Finally, all the sand was gone and Gaara flew right into the vortex. It disappeared right after that, like nothing ever happened.
Kankuro and Shinki stared at where Gaara once stood, disbelief etched onto their faces.
Shinki's lips trembled. "...F-father...?"
Shinki was jostled out of his thoughts by a gentle nudge from his Aunt Temari. He looked up at her, her teal eyes—just a few shades darker than his father's—showing concern and worry.
"I called your name a few times already, kid, you okay?" She asked.
He nodded numbly. "I apologize Temari-obasama. I was lost in my thoughts."
Temari couldn't help but purse her lips. Even though Shinki was adopted, his mannerisms were just so similar to Gaara's. It was cute and painful at the same time.
"Shikadai has a playdate at the park with some of his friends. How about you come with us? I'm planning on giving you guys ice cream afterwards." She offered.
Everyone in Suna loved ice cream. There were probably more than twenty ice cream parlors in the desert village, all put there by Gaara once he became Kazekage and was introduced to the wonders of the cold sweet treat in Konoha. Needless to say, his approval ratings reached an all-time high once the order was implemented.
Another numb nod. "Okay."
Temari made sure the two boys were ready before taking them out. Shikamaru ruffled his son's hair on their way out and gave Shinki a nod of acknowledgement, aware that physical affection was something he was not used to yet.
"Don't cause any trouble," he warned them before lazily staring Shikadai down. "And if Boruto gets any ideas, don't listen to him. The paperwork for the last incident was troublesome..."
"Sorry, dad..." His cousin mumbled.
Temari grumbled something under breath before ushering the kids out of the house. The park wasn't too far from the Nara compound and it was already filled with laughing children running around and squealing—Shikadai's friends, Shinki presumed.
"There's Boruto!" Shikadai grinned.
"Don't do anything stupid," Temari warned.
He gulped. "Yes, mom..." He glanced over at Shinki. "Come on!"
With an encouraging nod from Temari, Shinki slowly followed his cousin to the playground while his aunt found a good seat at a bench. Boruto was at the brightly colored platform merry-go-round, spinning it while several unfortunate kids on the platform screamed.
"Shikadai, you're finally here! Hey, who're you?" The blonde asked Shinki.
"Subaku no Shinki," he introduced himself loftily. "Son of the Kazekage."
His blue eyes widened. "Ehh?! Seriously? I'm Uzumaki Boruto! My old man says he's gonna be the Hokage one day, 'ttebasa!"
The brunette inclined his head slightly. "It's nice to meet you."
"Shinki's staying over at Konoha for a bit," Shikadai explained. "He's also my cousin."
"Oh," he said, then, with the expected attention span of an average six year old, changed the subject. "Ne, ne, do you know why Sarada's so sad lately? She's been sitting at the swing for an hour now and all she's doing is staring at the ground. Chocho even tried offering her chips but she said no!"
He looked over at the dual swing set. Like Boruto said, Sarada was sitting numbly on one of the seats, not even swinging. Instead, she sat down, staring at the ground with a contemplative look in her eyes.
Shikadai facepalmed. "Moron!" He hissed. "Sarada's mom and the Rokudaime are still missing, remember? And I heard her dad came back too and she wasn't happy about it..."
Boruto blinked in confusion. "Huh? Wait, he's back? But you just said he was still missing..."
"No, I meant her real dad." Shikadai sighed. Explaining all this was so troublesome.
Blue eyes bulged out. "EHHHH?! H-hold on, Kakashi-jichan isn't actually Sarada's dad?! What?!"
"Sarada's dad is Uchiha Sasuke, Boruto," another sigh. "And he just came back a few weeks ago."
"A few weeks ago...? Is it that dark and creepy looking guy I've been seeing around the village sometimes?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"THAT'S HER DAD?! But he's so weird 'ttebasa!"
Shikadai just groaned. "Can we stop talking about this? Shinki's dad's missing too and I don't want—wait. Where'd he go?" He looked around wildly. If he lost his cousin five minutes into taking him to the park, his mom would kill him.
He relaxed when he finally spotted him walking towards the swing set where Sarada was.
Boruto frowned. "Hmm. What's he want from her?"
Shikadai watched them thoughtfully. "Ah... let's just leave them alone, Boruto."
Shinki had left the conversation the second they started talking about the Uchiha girl. She didn't seem to sense him as he approached her, but he didn't mind.
"Hello," he said blankly.
She glanced up and he was mildly surprised to see a new pair of glasses on her face. "Oh. Hi Shinki."
Unlike their previous meetings, there was no animosity between them. Just quiet nothingness. Our parents would be proud, Shinki thought bitterly before plopping down on the free swing.
"I see you have glasses now." He murmured.
"I had a fever and I awakened my Sharingan. I guess it overwhelmed my eyes too much." She replied. "Mama could've healed it."
She could've, he agreed. She had cured him of a flu in a matter of seconds when she and Sarada were staying in Suna. She could've easily healed a measly fever. But she wasn't here and neither was his father.
"Did you come here by yourself?" He asked randomly.
She nodded, her nose scrunching up slightly. "Yeah. I was staying with my grandparents but my—" She stopped herself, a look of frustration in her face. "Someone came uninvited."
"So you ran away?" He guessed. "That was not wise."
"Hn." She said, then her face contorted into horror, as if she had uttered a curse word in front of a bunch of strict elderly. "S-so why are you here in Konoha?"
"Kankuro-jisan is overworking himself with his new role as the temporary Kazekage," he explained. "There is no one to watch over me—though I don't need to be watched over like a child. I believe another part of his reasoning is because he wants me to have a change of scenery. Staying in Suna reminds me too much of when father was taken."
She nodded in understanding. Though she wouldn't want to leave Konoha. She needed to stay in case her mother came back.
Will come back, she corrected herself. Because her mother was still alive, and she'd come back home.
Then the last person she wanted to see stepped into the park. Before she could even jump out of the swing, he was standing before her with a stern expression on his face. It wasn't even near as scary as her mom's, so if his goal was to scare her, he failed. Miserably.
"Sarada," he began stiffly. "You shouldn't have run away like that."
"Hn," she replied mockingly.
His one visible eye twitched.
Shinki decided that now was the time to speak up. "You must be Sakura-sama's husband.*" He said coldly.
Sasuke glanced at him. "Who are you." He didn't even bother to phrase it as a question.
"Subaku no Shinki. The Kazekage's son." He stated proudly, looking at him as if he was speaking to a peasant. "Sakura-sama rarely speaks of you."
Another eye twitch. Making the wise decision to not argue with a six year old boy, Sasuke ignored him in favor of his glaring daughter. "We're going back to the Harunos. Now, Sarada."
Sarada opened her mouth to protest but was cut off by a booming voice. "UCHIHA SASUKEEEE!"
Heads turned towards the entrance of a park, followed by gasps of amazement. Shinki saw a blonde haired woman storming towards them, small cracks appearing under her feet with every stomp. Behind her was a frazzled looking dark haired woman carrying the most elegantly dressed pig he had ever seen.
Beside him, Sarada gasped. "Tsunade-baachan!" Shinki barely registered the name as the dangerous looking woman drew closer.
Sasuke stiffened as the woman finally reached him.
"DAMN YOUUUUUU!" She howled, pulling her fist back and smashing it right at his face before he could even react. His body was sent flying back, crashing into the trees.
And that was how Shinki met one of the Legendary Sannin.
─────•~❉🌸❉~•─────
After Aizawa dropped them off, things got awkward real quick thanks to the weird tension Obito and Kakashi were giving off. It made Sakura and Gaara so uncomfortable that they left the house immediately, leaving the other men to deal with their issues.
The two were now standing across from each other in the middle of the living room.
"So..." Kakashi started off. "You're alive... Again."
Obito snorted. "Yeah, sorry to disappoint."
"I'm not—" He sighed. "That's not what I mean. I'm happy you're here, really. It's just... shocking. To see you again after I grieved you twice."
Obito allowed his shoulders to relax when he heard his words and caught the smile-shaped indents in his mask.
"You gotta stop dying on me, Obito. I can't keep paying for your funerary arrangements forever."
An incredulous laugh bubbled out from his throat. "Are your eyes watering, Bakashi?" He teased.
"Fuck you," was the immediate reply. "And it's only because of that hideous outfit you're wearing. You've honestly never looked any dumber."
Obito scowled down at his flamingo-patterned shirt. He knew he never should've listened to those jerks when they said it was 'vogue', whatever the fuck that meant. "Still an asshole, I see." He grumbled. "I thought those brats of yours would've softened you up."
"Sakura's not a brat," Kakashi said defensively.
His scarred face broke into a maniacal grin. "Ohoh? Does Bakashi actually have a crush on someone?"
The grey haired man sent him a chilling glare. "Obito—"
"—This is just poetic justice," he continued on. "She's married to my psycho relative and even has a kid with him. And she still calls you 'sensei' too, hah!" He was crying now. He told himself it was because he was enjoying the karma instilled in Kakashi and not because he was happy to get this second chance with his old teammate with him. No, it definitely wasn't the latter.
Obito wiped his face and nose, feeling the emotions finally bursting from his chest. Across him, Kakashi's eyes softened and he allowed them to water a little too.
"You've always been the more emotional idiot between the two of us," he said.
"Fuck you," Obito croaked.
Meanwhile, Sakura and Gaara were waiting patiently outside the house. They were strolling around the neighborhood, but Sakura was soon growing bored of seeing the same traditionally styled house every time.
Suddenly, Gaara stopped walking. "They're both crying now."
She looked at him in confusion. "How do you know that?"
"..."
Then she noticed that he had one of his eyes closed. Her jaw dropped in realization. "Oh my god, Gaara! Are you... spying on them?! With your Third Eye?!"
"I'm sorry." He mumbled guiltily. "I just wanted to know when it would be best for us to return. I wasn't aware they were going to become so... emotional."
"Have they made up though?" She asked hopefully. She knew they did back at the war, but everyone and everything was out to kill them so of course they'd do their best to part with good sentiments.
He nodded, but then he started to frown. "Obito just wiped his snot on his shirt..."
She shrugged. "It was ugly anyways. You should stop watching them. I think know's okay for us to come back."
They retraced their steps and returned home, though before they could hop the gates, a familiar voice called out to her.
"Uchiha."
The pair of them turned to see Shouto standing outside the Todoroki Abode. He approached them, looking so serious she almost thought she had done something wrong.
"Todoroki-kun...?" She said warily. Why was he staring at her so intensely?
"I need to talk to you," he said before glancing at Gaara. "Alone."
Gaara's teal eyes narrowed suspiciously, before he nodded in consent. He disappeared in a whirlwind of sand a second later.
Shouto blinked at the spot he once stood before turning his attention back to her.
"Is something wrong?" She asked him, suddenly feeling nervous.
"I noticed a few things about you back at USJ," he began.
"Ah, you did?"
He nodded, the serious look stick stuck to his face. "Before I get to that, there's something else I want to ask. That man you were with at the time, who was he?"
"He's not a villain if you were wondering. He was... unwillingly dragged into that mess because the villains wanted to make use of his, erm, unique Quirk. He was pretty much threatened and blackmailed, so he had no choice to follow along," she lied swiftly. Obito's cover story had already been fabricated with the help of Aizawa and Tsukauchi. Though the man really didn't appreciate being seen as a victim...
"Do you know of him personally?" He asked with a curious tilt of his head.
"Somewhat," she said. "He's, um, a relative of mine." They had the same last names, so it wasn't much of a stretch.
His eyes widened by a fraction of an inch before he schooled his expression. "I see... Now back to what I really wanted to discuss with you: you claimed to have a healing Quirk, yet when we ran into each other, you showed signs of having a speed Quirk. I even witnessed you severe the Nomu's arm and punch it to the ground. Ojiro also mentioned you being able to create some sort of water dragon."
Ah, shit, she thought. "I said my Quirk allows me to heal. It isn't all I can do," she really hoped she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "My Quirk, Chakra, allows me to do a bunch of things. It increases my speed, strength, and, er, other things..."
She really hoped he wouldn't ask her for more information.
He nodded slowly, though she could see it in his eyes that he was still unbearably curious about her. Which just wouldn't do.
Then he asked her the most weirdest thing:
"Do you have parents."
"What." Did she hear him correctly?
"Do you have parents," he repeated.
"Do I—?! Um, yes?" What kind of question was that?!
"But you live with that man, Kakashi, and Gaara..." He trailed off.
"Kakashi's my guardian," she lied. "And he's also Gaara's guardian."
"And your parents?"
Why does he need to know this?! "Um, they're away for the time being. Very far away."
He stared at her long and hard, and she was starting to grow flustered. "Uchiha..." He began. "I don't know how to break this to you..."
What is he going to say next? She thought with dread.
"But I think you're adopted."
"..."
"Your Quirk is very similar to All Might's. I'm confident that you're his secret lovechild. It would explain why he would have to give you up—probably to keep you safe from all the villains after him."
"..."
"I think Midoriya is his secret lovechild as well. Which makes the two of you siblings—possibly half-siblings."
"..."
"You and your adoptive parents should have a talk about this in the future. It's important that you know the truth." He said.
"..."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Uchiha."
"...G-goodbye..." She said weakly, watching him with a dumbfounded expression as he returned to his house. Feeling stumped, she trudged back to the gates of her own house, immediately meeting with the equally shocked faces of her housemates. Even Gaara looked stupefied by what he heard.
"So you were listening," she said faintly.
"When Gaara came in and told us about it, we thought it was gonna be some love confession," Obito admitted sheepishly. Or at least Bakashi did. Hehe.
Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well... that was quite a... riveting(?) conversation... I'm just surprised with how blunt he was."
"And how convinced he was." Gaara added, blinking. "You look nothing like that All Might person he spoke of."
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "To be honest he reminds me more of Lady Fifth..."
"I have no idea who All Might is. Is he dude in the creepy bedroom?" Obito had the misfortune of walking in it while he was exploring the house.
"No that's Endemic, our next-door-neighbor," Kakashi explained. "All Might is a male, spandex-wearing carbon copy of Senju Tsunade—blonde, likes to punch people, and big-breasted."
"Kakashi!" Sakura scolded.
He shrugged unapologetically.
Obito's eyes widened in recognition. He turned to Sakura. "Hold on, is he that guy who barged into the building and started screaming out his attendance or something like that?"
While Gaara was muttering something about poor stealth skills, she nodded her head. "Yep, that's him."
"Whoa," he marveled. "Bakashi's right. His breasts were huge! Though to be honest... he reminded me more of Might Guy," he shuddered. "Yells a lot, extremely loud, likes to wear spandex..."
Gaara nodded thoughtfully. "He has a point."
Sakura just rolled her eyes. "Can we not discuss this right now? It's almost dinnertime and I'm still reeling from the fact that some kid came up to me and not only accused me of being adopted, but of also being some man's illegitimate child. I could use some really good crepes after a draining conversation like that..."
Kakashi shook his head. "Sakura, we are never going back to that restaurant."
"I'll cook!" Obito chimed as they started walking back to the large house. "I need to make up for all the horrible things I've done."
"I don't think a semi-decent meal is enough to make up for causing a world war," Gaara deadpanned.
He grimaced. "'Semi-decent'...? Ouch..."
— author's note —
* You know how some people demean women by calling them "so-and-so's wife"??? Well Shinki pulled a reverse Uno card on Sasuke. Lolol, that poor man, everyone's just shitting on him left and right. First there's Gaara, then his in-laws, even his own daughter, and now some Suna kid is joining in too. AND THEN HE GETS HIS SHIT ROCKED BY TSUNADE WHILE SHIZUNE AND TONTON ARE CHEERING IN THE BACKGROUND XD. He just can't get a break.
Shouto... oh Shouto. Just imagine when he confronts Midoriya during the Sports Festival. He's gonna be all "Ur All Might's secret love child and oh, btw, Sakura's ur long lost sister" Midoriya's gonna be so confused, that poor boy XD And then there's Bakugou who'll be eavesdropping, he'd just be facepalming at the idiocy
Shouto's social skills are at a negative.
Obito's teasing Kakashi for his crush on Sakura, but just you wait until cupid's arrow hits him too. Then he's gonna be screwed.