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Loud construction noises echoed in the village and it seemed to drill migraines into the blonde’s skull. As if his baby’s cries of pain weren’t enough to keep him up at night, the reconstruction of the village was keeping him up during the day.
Naruto growled under his breath as he tried to soothe his ailing infant. Parts of Konoha Hospital were destroyed during the Sand-Sound invasion and while he was able to get his injuries mostly treated, he was still aching and hurting. His face was covered with patches, one on his forehead and two on each of his cheeks along with his fingers and knuckles being wrapped up and some general body aches, Naruto didn’t think his condition was that bad. He didn’t notice his flushed cheeks under the patches of the fever he was developing. His focus was solely on caring for his child.
Ai was almost a year-old, whimpering as her body was rocked with a high fever that refused to go down. Along with that, she was fussy and refused her usual foods and medicine. The baby was just in pain she didn’t understand. Naruto knew that but it didn’t help his frustrations. “Shh, shh, it’s okay Ai. I know you’re uncomfortable but you’ll be okay,” Naruto tried to coax the infant to sleep, but nothing he was doing was working. Her cheeks were red, as was her forehead, it made her hair look bright blonde when it looked sandy blonde at the lightest most of the time.
Naruto tried to ease her pain, he really did, but he felt stuck. No hospital…medical nins were so busy…and his baby’s usual doctor had died during the attack on Konoha.
It’d also been a few days since the Third Hokage died. He wasn’t handling the grief as well as he thought he would. He saw that old man as a grandfather and he owed Ai’s life to him as he had been the one to advocate for Naruto to keep custody of his child after she was born. His death was hard for everyone in the village without question, but Naruto felt it hurt a bit more.
The boy shifted his position, from sitting on his rocking chair to move to his bed. Sat down and let his baby rest against his shoulder as he rubbed her back. He had tried feeding her and burping her, but all that did was make her throw up what little nutrients she could get. It was making Naruto worry more.
And reminded him of when his child was born and how she was hooked to machines to help her grow because she was premature.
Naruto’s eyes began to drift shut as he let his hand rest on his child’s back, still trying to comfort her. He blinked and shook his head. No, he couldn’t afford to sleep! He needed to stay awake and care for his baby!
Ai’s cries had turned to whimpers as she tried to sleep against her parent's shoulder. Her small fist clung to Naruto’s t-shirt. He tried to be as still and quiet as possible, but the noises outside weren’t helping either of them. He understood buildings needed to be repaired but couldn’t they wait a day or two?!
When his eyes began to drift close again, he heard the loudest knocking he’d ever heard at his door. It made Ai begin crying loudly again. Naruto gritted his teeth and climbed out of bed with his daughter in his arms.
When he heard another round of knocks at the door, he hauled over and opened it angrily, “What?!” He demanded.
Sasuke and Sakura stood there and Sakura began, “Kakashi-sensei is out on a mission and we wanted to let you know we won’t be having missions for a week,” Sakura said and was annoyed that she had to talk over a crying baby.
Naruto wanted to choke someone in vexation. “I already knew that,” he said with a growl in his voice. Naruto hasn’t even been cleared medically for missions again and he wouldn’t be in his condition now.
Sakura crossed her arms, “we didn’t know you knew. So much for being a good teammate,” she said and looked at the crying baby. “And why is she crying so much?”
“Ai has a fever and the hospital can’t take her in,” Naruto stated. “I’ve been trying to take care of her.”
Sakura rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips, “as if you would know how to take care of a sick baby, I’m still surprised she’s still alive under your care,” Sakura commented.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his female teammate. He knew she didn’t like the baby, especially after Sakura had kidnapped her to “return her to her rightful parents” but that comment was uncalled for.
Naruto snapped, “how about if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” He yelled. Sasuke also noticed a notable winced as he yelled.
Sakura scoffed and glared, cracking her knuckles, “got a problem with me speaking facts now?”
“Both of you stop it!” Sasuke stepped in, which he usually never did. Usually, he would ignore her hitting Naruto because he was usually acting dumb. Right now though, it wasn’t right.
Sakura stopped herself and said, “fine but don’t come near me until that baby is better. I don’t want to catch whatever she has because you can’t wash your hands,” she said and began walking off.
Sasuke was about to walk off too when something caught the corner of his eye — Naruto was leaning against the door’s entryway and was barely able to hold himself up. Sasuke stared for a moment before he stepped in and gently took the crying baby from Naruto’s arms and practically pushed him inside.
Sasuke closed the door behind him and looked around — this apartment was a mess!
Clothes throw haphazardly and general disarray of baby items and a medical first aid kit were scoured around various areas. Naruto managed not to fall to the ground, but he turned to Sasuke, “hey asshole! What do you think you’re doing?” He asked.
“Go lay down, I’ll watch over Ai,” Sasuke stated. While he was injured still, they were minor injuries compared to Naruto’s appearance alone.
“What? Who said you could do that?” Naruto asked with anger.
“No one. She needs care and so do you. You’re barely even standing,” Sasuke mentioned.
Naruto wished he could argue that, but he felt drained. He hadn’t felt this drained of energy since his pregnancy. He still tried to shake himself to be more awake. “Well, you never took care of a baby before, let alone a sick one. How are you going to help?”
Naruto was right for once. Sasuke had never taken care of a baby, but who else was going to step in? He gave Naruto a knowing stare, “by letting you sleep for a few hours. I think I can handle your baby while you try to get some rest,” Sasuke said as he adjusted his hold of the baby squirming around against his chest.
Naruto was about to reach out to take her again, but Sasuke held her tight with their left arm and then chopped Naruto’s neck with his right. The nerve on Naruto’s neck was struck and the boy fell unconscious, collapsing on the floor. Sasuke didn’t want to do that, but Naruto was too stubborn to let others take care of him.
Sasuke looked at the baby, seeing her still awake with heavy-lidded eyes. Being near the infant was painful, as she reminded him of the person he hated the most, but she was an innocent baby and needed care. He laid her down in her crib to move Naruto to his bed. Sasuke laid his teammate and rival on the bed and pulled the blanket over his body, up to his chest. Naruto’s face finally relaxed as he went into a deeper state of unconsciousness. Sasuke sighed, ‘he’s finally resting,’ he thought to himself and turned his attention to the baby. Ai began to hiccup and whimper. Her eyes were now shut but she couldn’t sleep. Sasuke’s first thought was to help cool her off, and he could see that Naruto had tried that with all the wet wash clothes scattered around the sink. Sasuke could tell by the infant’s lack of tears that she was dehydrated. So he went to make a bottle of milk. Then he paused when he smelt the fridge.
That milk was so spoiled that it was almost completely mush. He had to completely dump out the milk in the kitchen sink and run wash over it so that it doesn’t stink up the apartment. He held back his gags of disgust and as he was washing out the cartons with a few shakes, he had the dreadful thought. “Did that moron give his child spoiled milk?! No wonder she’s sick!” He said to himself. He hoped that wasn’t the case and as Sasuke went to grab a few baby bottles, he sighed in relief when there were cans of baby formula in the cabinet. “Naruto is dumb but not that dumb as to give his kid spoiled milk,” Sasuke muttered and went to fill the bottle with some cool water.
Sasuke picked up the infant again and went to sit down. He picked up the bottle and cradled the girl in his arm. It was a harder balancing act than he realize as she began moving about. “Ai! Ai calm down! I'm just trying to feed you!” Sasuke said as the girl was fighting him. As he soon managed to get the nipple of the bottle in the girl’s mouth, she began suckling. Her eyes closed all of the way shut, contently drinking the water.
And it was then that Sasuke realized that he just said Ai’s name for the first time since knowing her. She’d always been “Naruto’s baby” or “that baby.” He’d always made an effort to avoid talking about the baby since Naruto didn’t seem to be a parent around him or Sakura. He was just a kid.
A kid who was a parent.
Sasuke finished feeding Ai the bottle and began to burp her. Only he realized he didn’t have a cloth over his shoulder after she coughed up some sickness. He shuttered and pulled the baby away from him, to see her sleep. Her face was beat-red still and Sasuke knew he had to get her fever down. He looked around to put her in her crib and as she was laying down, she began to squirm a bit and kick about. The baby was wearing a light orange onesie with a front zip-up for easier removal and putting on.
Sasuke turned to wash his shoulder, ridding himself of the thankfully clear sick from his black jumper. It made him regret this outfit as it was all one piece and if he needed to wash it, it required taking everything off. Lucky for him, he just needed to pat the area to soak it.
And as he was cleaning himself up, he smelt a horrid odor that made him gag so hard that he was close to vomiting.
And it wasn’t from the spoiled milk from earlier…
Ai’s cries got much louder and Sasuke instantly regretted caring for the sick infant. He’d forgotten babies needed diaper changes.
He wanted to cry.
Once Ai was cleaned from a quick bath, Sasuke placed a small cool wet rag on her forehead. The baby was finally sleeping and Sasuke looked like he’d been through hell and back already.
He was about to relax when he heard a groan coming from Naruto. The unconscious boy shifted in his sleep and was holding his arms around his stomach. Sasuke walked over and gently put his hand on Naruto’s shoulder, feeling it shake subtly. He flipped Naruto onto his back slowly and saw the boy in a feverish state. His body was soaked with sweat and his flesh was either pale in some areas or red in others. Had he caught whatever Ai had?
Sasuke felt Naruto’s body, pulling back. “Yep. He has a fever,” he said. Sasuke moved to remove the patches on Naruto’s face, seeing his injuries scabbed over but still needing treatment. Sasuke looked around and remembered the first aid kit and picked it up. There were a few supplies, including new larger bandaids and a half-container of healing ointment. Usually, Naruto was a quick healer and his cuts and scabs would be gone in less than two days. Sasuke removed the first patch, on Naruto’s forehead — a memory of Naruto head-butting Gaara of the Sand flashed in his mind — and began putting ointment on his wound. Naruto’s body twitched as the cool ointment touched his wound. Even in his sleep, he was able to feel it. Sasuke ignored his twitches to get the new bandaid on his forehead and then moved on to the other two. He moved Naruto’s head to the left to look at his right cheek. He lifted the bandage and saw something similar to his forehead. He treated it and repeated with the left cheek. He was glad Naruto remained unconscious at first, but as Sasuke treated his wounds, he noticed Naruto’s pain was increasing. He lowered the blanket and the boy’s abdomen was bruised. Maybe an internal injury left untreated? Sasuke didn’t know. He went to get ice in a baggie since it looked like it needed to be iced. He wondered if Naruto also had a heating pad…
Sasuke filled the baggie with ice out of a small tray and placed it over Naruto’s shirt. The boy’s hand instantly flung to the cold source and held it in place. Sasuke stilled Naruto’s movements but as he did, watching the boy’s breathing grow heavy. Sasuke also stared at the boy’s flat abdomen longer than he should have.
Naruto had been pregnant before…and that meant he carried a baby inside of him. His stomach looked firm and untouched by a pregnancy, but maybe he had just worked out and his baby weight vanished?
A knock at the door snapped Sasuke out of those thoughts and he looked over at the door. He walked over and opened it, revealing a tall older man with long spiky white hair in a ponytail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side.
Sasuke blinked in sheer confusion. Who was this old man?
“Hello, I was not expecting you. Is Naruto here?” The old man asked.
“How do you know Naruto?” Sasuke asked.
“Oh, I’m his mentor. I was just seeing if he wanted to go travel with me outside the village for a bit.”
Sasuke frowned his brows, “who are you?”
“Oh! I’m sorry! We haven’t met. I’m-“
“Pervy Sage, what are you doing here?” Naruto asked from behind Sasuke. The Uchiha was on sound mind not to jump out of his skin as he wasn’t expecting him to be awake.
Jiraiya fell back and scolded, “knock it off with the Pervy Sage nickname! People are going to start talking!”
“Why? Cause what I’m saying is true!” Naruto said as he held the bag of ice to his stomach.
Jiraiya noticed. “You’re still recovering from your fight?” He asked.
Naruto nodded a bit, but as soon as he was about to open his mouth, Ai began crying. Sasuke and Naruto turned and both headed back to tend to her and both glared at each other when they both went in to care for the infant.
“Let me have her!”
“No! You’re injured! Get back into bed!”
“I’m fine! Ai needs me!”
“I said get back into bed!”
Jiraiya sighed and walked in, needing to step in and parent the young blonde. “Listen to your teammate Naruto, you need to rest.”
Naruto pouted and as he turned to look at Jiraiya, Sasuke swooped in and picked up the crying infant. He rocked her a bit and then pulled her close to his chest. The sick baby clung to Sasuke’s shirt and let out a weak cooing noise. Naruto turned around sharply when he heard that.
And his heart hurt when he saw his baby cling to someone else.
“Sasuke, I’m fine, please let me hold her,” Naruto said weakly but Sasuke walked away and sat in the rocking chair. “Her fever is still a little high,” he said as if he suddenly knew how to care for the baby. Sasuke began rocking in the chair back and forth, trying to ease the babe into a calmer state than her fussy fit at the moment. Naruto watched with quiet amazement at how well Sasuke was doing soothing Ai.
Even Jiraiya took notice. He remembered how hard she was with him during Naruto’s training before the Chunin Exams. Jiraiya would watch over her while Naruto trained (and maybe him watching over a baby was a bonus when it came to picking up ladies). And that wasn’t the only thing Jiraiya noticed between Sasuke and Ai.
Though as she was gently being rocked, and her small head turned away, Ai suddenly extended her hands out, letting go of Sasuke, making a whiny noise as she reached for Naruto — her daddy.
Naruto walked over and lifted the baby from Sasuke’s arms and held her close. “It's okay, you’re okay,” Naruto spoke lovingly. Sasuke watched the interaction and was suddenly reminded of his mother tending to him as a small child whenever he was sick or injured.
Ai held onto Naruto as her eyes drifted shut once more. The boy sighed and looked in positive relief. “She just needs more rest and some more medicine. I think if she’s able to keep down fluids, she’ll be fine,” Naruto said as he laid her back in her crib. As he walked to the cabinets in his kitchen, he was getting some annoying glares from Sasuke and Jiraiya.
“Huh? What?” Naruto asked.
“How is it that you can tell your baby to rest but when we tell you to rest, you flat out ignore us!” Sasuke said as he stood up and approached the blonde.
Naruto tried to laugh it off, “well I’m Ai’s father, I know what’s best for her. You two aren’t my parents,” he said. “And I’m stronger than she is. I can handle a few aches and pains and even a fever without being debilitating,” Naruto said. As he reached for the formula, Sasuke grabbed his wrist and held him against the counters. He leaned into him, “if you don’t go lay down right now, I will break your wrist,” he said as he held it in a tight hold.
“Now Sasuke, hold on-“
“You’re in no condition to take care of Ai properly. You still have bags under your eyes and if I press down hard enough, the bruises on your abdomen will get worse,” Sasuke stated. “Go. To. Bed!” Sasuke commanded as he pulled Naruto away and practically shoved him on the bed. Naruto was baffled by this behavior. Why was Sasuke being so bossy? Jiraiya sighed and said, “he has a point Naruto. Rest while you can,” he said.
Sasuke got off him and Naruto crawled back into bed. He looked outside his window, which had been covered by his blinds, and saw how the sun was setting. He’d been so out of it that he lost track of time. He sighed and said, “fine but you’re not staying the night Sasuke!”
“Naruto, shut up and go to sleep,” the Uchiha said and ignored him.
Naruto looked over at Jiraiya, who said, “I’ll come back later and check up on you. Goodnight Naruto,” he said and looked over at Ai sleeping in her crib, “good night Ai,” he said and looked at Sasuke with a nod of acknowledgment before taking his leave.
Sasuke turned and looked at Naruto, who was shocked to see the glare on his face.
“Go to sleep before I knock you out again!”
The morning sun shined bright on Naruto’s face. He groaned and opened his eyes. He felt much better than yesterday. Maybe the fall he needed was some sleep? He turned his back to the window, shutting his eyes when he felt another presence in his bed.
He snapped his eyes wide open when he saw Sasuke laying in bed with Ai in his arms.
If there was ever a ‘red alert’ alarm going off in Naruto’s head, it would be now.
The blonde sat up and stared at the two sleeping beings. Ai, his beautiful and amazing baby daughter, and Sasuke who resembled the man who had—
Naruto shook his head. No. He couldn’t keep thinking about that man. He wanted to forget, to keep repressing that memory, but it was popping back up. Even. Now as the two slept, Naruto couldn’t fight the claim that Sasuke and his daughter resemble each other. Almost as if Sasuke was…
Naruto shook his head. Why did he keep thinking that? Sasuke couldn’t be Ai’s daughter! Naruto knew it was an adult man who had…
But what if Sasuke used the transformation jutsu?!
Naruto watched as Sasuke began to wake up and took a moment to fully wake up before he saw Naruto staring down at him like he was about to cry. “Why are you looking at me like that usuratonkachi?”
Naruto laid back down, locking eyes with Sasuke. “Why did you stay when I said not to?”
“Because I couldn’t leave your baby to be sick all night while you were recovering,” Sasuke said. “It seemed obvious.”
Naruto looked at his baby and kissed her forehead, and noticed the temperature difference even more. “Looks like her fever finally broke,” he said softly with relief. His eyes went back to Sasuke. “Thanks for helping me care for her. I owe you one,” Naruto said with a small smile.
Sasuke sat up and cracked his neck, “don’t mention it. Ever,” he said and instinctively was still holding the infant.
There was a knock at the door and Sasuke got up, bringing Ai with him. She rested on his hip and was still asleep. Naruto sat up and yawned.
When Sasuke opened the door this time, it was Sakura with a large dish of okayu (rice porridge). “Hi, Naruto. My mom felt bad when I told her your kid was sick so she made you-“ Sakura stopped talking when she saw Sasuke, with messy hair and holding a baby on his hip.
He looks like the husband/father version of Sasuke in her dreams! Particularly the fantasy where she just had a baby and the baby wakes up crying and so he goes to tend to the baby and comes back and gives her the baby and starts kissing her…
She blushed immensely and dropped her mom’s dish. “Sorry I need to go now,” Sakura suddenly said and began speeding walking away.
Sasuke was just left confused and now there was a mess in front of the door. Naruto got up and walked behind him, “who was that?”
“Just Sakura, but she left in a hurry,” Sasuke said as he closed the door.
“Wonder why,” Naruto asked aloud.
Sasuke handed Ai over to Naruto, “since you seem to be doing better, I’m going home now,” Sasuke said and began heading out.
Naruto followed after him and as Sasuke slipped his sandals on and was walking out, Naruto said, “thanks for taking care of us!”
Ai was walking up and Naruto took her small hand and began waving it for her. Sasuke turned as he saw Naruto and Ai wave him off, all Sasuke could see was a shadow lingering behind them — like a ghost haunting their beings.
And that ghost was Itachi.
Sasuke snapped his head back and he vanished from their line of sight.
Naruto shrugged it off and as he looked down, he just saw the remains of okayu. “Who left this mess outside my apartment?” Naruto asked with an annoyed voice as he would have to clean it.
Ai began giggling and kicking about and waving her arms out. She was feeling energetic today and after days of being sick, it was a welcomed sight to behold.
Naruto kissed her cheek a few times before going back into the apartment to get ready for the day.
And the construction noises outside his apartment didn’t bother him anymore because he finally got used to them.