Naruto One Shots

Spitting Image #2 (Ino Yamanaka)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to shiino_9]

Requested by: Myself

Word Count: 3,738

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:
- Okay I want your thoughts. I'm thinking part three is all Gaara being zaddy and trying to reconnect with his baby mama. Then part four is moving to the Sand Village. Yay? Nay? Idk :)

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     "Just breathe, it's all going to be okay," Ino whispers in my ear, gently squeezing my shoulders as she leads me down the road.
     I repeat her words in my head, eyes set on Yoshiki who's curled up in my arms. His chubby hands are raised, trying to get a grip on one of the strands of my hair. He giggles to himself, the ends of my hair tickling his chubby cheeks. Lord, he's so chubby and round and adorable.
     "You are adorable, my love," I coo, peppering his cheeks in kisses.
     "You're hogging him," Inojin complains, his hands wrapping around my arm to tug on it.
     "Inojin," Sai says, his tone calm as he smiles softly at his son. "Maybe let Ne-San carry Yoshiki for a while."
     "She has been carrying Yoshiki though. I want to hold him!"
     "Inojin!" Ino snaps, gripping her son's ear as she lectures him.
     "Ino," I call, shifting Yoshiki to my hip before I tap her shoulder. "It's okay, if he wants to hold him it's fine. It'll probably be good, give me a chance to wiggle my nerves out of my system." I bend down, handing my son over to Inojin. He's quite responsible for his age, and always careful while holding Yoshiki.
     My son's eyes light up when he realizes who's holding him. I swear, he's just as attached to Inojin as Inojin is to him. Yoshiki takes hold of his hair, gripping it and using it to move the older boy's head around. Ino's son gushes over my baby, cooing at him as he takes slow careful steps down the road.
     The sight is nice, even if we are heading to my doom. It's been about a week since I ran into Shikamaru's brother-in-law. Gaara's older brother. Yoshiki's Uncle.
     After Ino managed to talk me out of the bathroom, she showed me pictures of Temari's and Shikamaru's wedding; more specifically pictures of Gaara, who turns out was the man from the one-night stand. It took about a week, but Sai and her managed to talk me into letting Gaara meet Yoshiki and me. Meet me again, in a sober mindset, with the lights on, and my legs closed this time.
     "You look pale, Ne-San. Are you nervous Gaara is going to want rights to Yoshiki?" Sai asks, getting a smack upside his head from his wife.
     "What the hell, Sai? You can't say stuff like that!" Ino hisses, gripping his ear like she was doing to her son a minute ago. My eyes stay trailed on the boys as Ino rips into her husband, the noise of their fighting filling the background.
     My mind spins with a million different possibilities and 'what if's about this meeting, about things going forward, about how Gaara is going to react.
     "Okay, I want Yoshiki back," I mutter when the restaurant we're meeting at falls into view.
     "Ne-San!" He whines, clinging to my son more.
     "Please don't fight with me about this Inojin. I'll let you feed him at lunch," I try to bribe him, sliding my hands between his arms to wrap Yoshiki in my hold.
     "Really?! You mean it?"
     "I mean it," I echo, resting my son on my hip. Inojin tucks himself into my side, the one my kid is resting on as he continues to coo at him. My grip tightens as Yoshiki tries to throw himself at Inojin, calming my nervousness a bit again. The sight clams me a bit. It's adorable how much the boys love each other.
     "Shoo, go run ahead and say hi to Shinki or something," Ino complains, trying to wave her son ahead. Reluctantly he does as he's told, racing ahead and disappearing into the restaurant. "Alright Mamas, how are we feeling?" She asks me, gripping my shoulder again.
     "She's probably not doing too well. We're about two steps away from her life changing forever, hopefully for the better," Sai mumbles, doing his weird 'I'm trying to be comforting but I actually look creepy as hell' smile.
     "Sai!" Ino screeches again, ramping up her lecture.
     After a couple of minutes filled with their heated back and forth, I decided waiting in the restaurant would be better than listening to the Yamanaka screaming match. The restaurant atmosphere is quite calming, with dark soft reds, and gentle music playing in the background.
     Yoshiki's head swerves around, taking in all the soft lights and the colorful coverings of the lights. "You like the colors?" I ask him, shifting him up further so I can whisper in his ear. Giggles erupt from him, his small hands squishing my cheeks as he enjoys the lights.
     "Oh, you like that one, don't you?" I ask another unanswered question, walking towards the soft red-colored covering that has caught his eyes. I settle us underneath it. Watching Yosh watching the coloring. "Do you know what color that is? It's red, just like your hair," I tell him, twirling one of his strands around my fingertip. "Your hair is red, chief Akimich has red hair, and... and..."
     "And his dad's hair is red," a voice from behind me butts in. My nerves are on edge as I turn around. My grip tightens on my son as the man from the flower shop - Yoshiki's Uncle stands a couple of paces behind me. "Gaara has red hair," he reiterates as if it's something I don't know.
     "Ya, I know. It's why I was attracted to him," I mutter, scanning the entrance for Ino and then the restaurant for Inojin.
     Ino might not fall into my view but her son does. He's sat at one of the large tables in the restaurant, a group of about six people or so with him, making my heart flutter faster with anxiety. My eyes stay locked on the boy, hoping he'll notice me and bring some familiarity to this uncomfortable moment.
     "You got a thing for redheads, little lady?"
     "Don't call me that," I mutter, anger bubbled in my words. My nerves are rubbing off on Yoshiki who's starting to stir, his pre-cry whines falling from him.
     "Oh hush, love," I coddle him, covering his forehead in kisses. "You don't need to go and get upset just because mommy is. You're fine," I continue to coo, moving him around like a bird as I walk us around the restaurant, leaving his Uncle and some of my anxiety behind.
     Yosh giggles because of it, 'flying' like a bird being pretty high up in his list of favorite things. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," I hum to him, continuing our laps around the room as I wait for Ino to join us. "You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you," I continue to sing to him, resting him against me again. "Please don't take my sunshine away," I finish off, littering his chubby cheeks in kisses.
     "Ne-San!" Inojin calls, leaning over the table he's at as he waves at me. "Come here! It's almost six o'clock, Yoshiki needs his bottle."
     I sigh softly at the boy's knowledge of my son's schedule. It's useful when I'm busy, but not useful at this moment. "You might not know how much I love you but you sure as heck will know how much big brother Inojin loves you," I tell my son, holding him in front of me so he can dangle. He doesn't do his newborn scrunch anymore, which makes me a bit sad.
     "What do you say we go over to Inojin? You want to see Inojin?" I ask him, getting happy babbles as a response.
     I cuddle him against me again, my heart slamming against my chest as I head towards the table. Yoshiki's Uncle has rejoined the table, his wife - presumably - is sitting next to him, in similar purple makeup as her husband. Shikamaru and Shikadai are sitting next to them, looking more like twins the longer I look at them. There's a blonde lady next to them, Yoshiki's opal-colored eyes staring at me from the lady's face. That must be Temari.
     The spitting image of my son is sitting next to the blonde girl, repeatedly blinking as he stares at me and my son, our son. A boy about Inojin's and Shikadai's age sitting silently next to him.
     Yoshiki is unfazed, his attention on trying to grip my hair again. Soon his hands fall from my hair to my mouth, trying to shove his hands into it. This is his new thing, like two days ago new thing. "Yosh," I coo, moving his hands away from my mouth. "We don't do that. No, we don't," I tell him, pressing kisses to his small hands.
     "You're hogging him! Ne-San! You promised I could feed him. Give me, give me, give me," Inojin whines, turning around in his seat and trying to take grip of my son.
     "Ya, ya, ya," I mumble, carefully placing Yoshiki into his arms. My eyes stay locked on my son, worried about this Gaara guy or anyone else at the table jumping at him while I dig for his bottle.
     "There you are, mamas!" Ino calls, jumping on me as she wraps her arms around my shoulders. "And look at that, Yosh is already back in Inojin's arms. I swear at this rate Ino is going to have a permanent imprint of Yoshiki on his arms," she teases, sending me a soft smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. Ino's eyes are soft, a silent 'are you okay?' being sent by them.
     "Yoshiki? As in fortunate?" Gaara asks, his face scrunched up as he looks between me and my - our son. 
     "No, Yoshiki as in blessed. Like a blessing, since he's my blessing," I mutter the last half, tugging his bottle out of the diaper bag. Despite the fears and anxieties I've felt today, I managed to hold it together enough to prep for dinner. Pre-measured formula in his bottle so all I need is warm water.
     "Aw, that's cute!" Temari beams, sending a not-so-secret glare towards her brothers.
     "Oh, ya. Adorable," Purple-man echoes, getting kicked by his wife under the table.
     "Yes and no. It was my father's name," I mutter, setting Yosh's bottle on the table as I scan for a waitress.
     "Don't worry Ne-San! I already ordered some warm water for you, it should be out soon," Ino's son says, focusing still on making faces to entertain Yosh.
     "Thank you, Inojin," I praise, resting my hands on his shoulders before pecking his forehead. I lean down a bit further, kissing my son's head too before I slide into the seat next to the boys.
     Ino quickly sits down on the other side of the boys. Sai goes to sit next to me in the only spare chair, getting a pointed look from his wife.
     "How about we play musical chairs!" Temari cheers, locking eyes with Ino. Shikadai sends his mom a weird look, his father mimicking it as they stare at her together. "You stay right there... um... ma'am? You boys stay there too," Temari struggles out, ordering Inojin to stay still.
     "Temari - " The oldest brother starts, quickly getting cut off by his sister.
     "Get up Kankuro," she hisses, quickly standing to her feet, husband and son in tow.
     Everyone shuffles around, raising my anxiety even more. When everyone settles back down, seats have been changed completely. Inojin is still holding Yoshiki, then me, followed by Gaara, the kid who sat next to him earlier, Shikadai, his parents, the Kankuro man and his wife, with Ino, and Sai sat by their son to start the circle again.
     "So..." Shikamaru mumbles, breaking the silence and getting a warning glare from his wife. It's almost funny how much Temari and Ino seem to be. "Gaara and you have two kids, that's cool."
     "Two?" I ask, snapping my head towards the Nara chief.
     "Shikamaru!" Temari and Ino both yell, startling Yoshiki enough for wails and tears to spill from him. "Shut up," Temari hissed at her husband, pairing it with a smack to the back of his head. Well, that solved the mystery on the silent kid with red face paint. I assumed it was Kankuro's kid, I guess not.
     "We're going to step out for a moment," I murmur, snatching Yoshiki from Inojin's arms. "Do you mind making his bottle?" I ask the older boy, patting his head before quickly heading back out of the restaurant, crying baby in tow. By the time I get out the door, into the chilled air, tears are spilling from me too, mine being from stress instead of fear.