The Red String of Fate: New Generation

Wanted - Kakashi

Kakashi was so glad to be back home. The boys were already asleep when they went to pick them up from Guy's apartment, which wasn't surprising. Guy probably wore them out doing training exercises. He carried a sleeping Sakumaru into the nursery; Mizuka followed close behind with Inari. She was unusually quiet after they had picked the boys up, but Kakashi wasn't surprised by this either. She had to be exhausted from the events of the evening.

"Are you okay, Beautiful?"

He ran his fingers through her long hair, pulling her face close to his chest.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

She pulled away from him rather quickly, turning to pin her hair up and undress. Maybe he shouldn't have joined in that limmerick tonight about her, or maybe she just wanted to be alone. He would give her the space she needed, heading to the bathroom and turning the water on in the shower.

It was nights like these that he was grateful for a long shower; a place to just stand and think in the steaming water. He slowly undressed, folding his clothes and stacking them on the vanity. He stepped into the running water and allowed the steam to over take him.

Tonight went about as well as he could have expected, but not nearly as well has ne had secretly hoped. At least the Harunos answered her questions, sort of. Kizashi seemed like he was trying to smooth over the past, but he said enough for Kakashi to get a picture of his thought process. A young, ambitious, but weak, shinobi gets a young, ambitious, determined kunoichi pregnant. But, the baby is seen as weak due to her shallow chakra reservoir. Father abandons child emotionally, bullying her over her appearance and choices. And Mebuki filled in the rest: a resentful, uninterested young kunoichi is saddled with a baby she didn't want. She basically abandons the child at academy age to pursue her shinobi career. He really couldn't be as upset at Mebuki as he thought the situation warranted: at least she was forthcoming and honest about the situation. Kizashi, on the other hand, seemed much more anxious. Kakashi wondered if this newfound interest in Mizuka was actually over grandchildren or if he finally realized how powerful she really is and wants to use that to continue his clan's legacy in some way. Sakura was a great healer, following in the footsteps of Lady Tsunade, but Mizuka was Tsunade's peer. The top healers in the country were her only peers. That was quite a legacy to leave. Besides, Sakura was an Uchiha now, so he was sure she had dropped her maiden name immediately as well as her clan symbol. And he knew that his wife wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Haruno surname, choosing to go by Mizuka of Tenchi, an adopted village, before identifying with it-

"Kakashi?"

He was so deep in thought that he jumped when he heard his name.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You've been in here for a while."

He gave her a small smile.

"Just trying to process everything."

"Yeah, me too."

He turned the water off and grabbed his towel. Mizuka had already run herself a warm bath and was already heading over to settle into it.

"May I join you?"

"Of course."

He rubbed the towel over his wet hair before putting it on the side of the circular tub. Mizuka was stretching out, her beautifully pregnant body finally relaxed.

"Do you want to talk, Z?"

She sighed.

"I don't even know where to begin, or if talking about it would help. It's hard for someone to tell you that they wanted to abort you."