𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐈𝐑𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

Shizuka

"Do you want me to carry Ayumi for you, Tera?"

As Tsunade, Kannon and I grew closer to our destination, the latter offered to take Ayumi from me, who was being her usual quiet self.

"Uh, yeah, if you want." My mind was blank as I lifted her baby carrier over my head and handed it to Kannon as we both stopped for the exchange, the Hokage halting a few meters ahead of us. Gingerly, I put the carrier on Kannon and secured Ayumi, smiling at her as she gazed up at me with searching eyes.

"She's got that Kurotsuki hair, alright," chuckled Kannon, nodding at me to head off. I did, and when we headed off, Tsunade said, "We've put enough space between ourselves. If the others did their jobs right, it's safe for us to take it easy now."

With nothing more than a nod, Kannon and I followed Tsunade, and we walked until sunrise.

***

"There's an abandoned cottage just over there for Tera and the baby to rest in for a little while. Kankuro and I have already checked it inside out, and it's fine. Clean."

"Thank you, Temari. Kannon, would you like to take Tera and Ayumi over?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama." I bowed my head at the three Sand shinobi that had met us as Kannon led the way to the aforementioned shack, which didn't look too shabby. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it looked like the cottage mustn't have been abandoned for long, and once we got inside, something was amiss.

I didn't know whether or not the door had been open before the Sand shinobi arrived, but when Kannon and I stepped into the living room, it looked untouched.

"Wait here," I instructed to Kannon, who was bouncing Ayumi around on her chest. "I just want to have a quick look around."

"No problem."

I edged my way through the cottage, peeking my head into every door I passed. The first room I peered into had a messy bed with a few bits of clothing strewn on the floor, an empty dressing table, and empty drawers half open. Further inspection of the next room yielded the same result, and I wondered why the house looked like it had been left in a hurry.

Clearing the house myself, I made my way back to the living room, where Kannon had already made herself at home on the couch and taken the liberty of removing Ayumi from her carrier.

"We aren't too far from Suna," said Kannon cheerfully, cradling Ayumi carefully in her arms. "A day left, max. How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," I admitted, rubbing my temples. As I spoke with Kannon, the front door opened again, and our guards walked in.

"Tera-chan, leave Ayumi to me," was the first thing Tsunade said. "Does she need to be bathed? Fed?"

"I can do that," I said weakly, sitting next to Kannon.

"She's very quiet," pointed out the sandy haired woman accompanying the crew. I didn't even know their names yet. Or which one was the Kazekage.

"I know, it's unnerving at times," I said, wondering if there was something wrong with her. "There's nothing wrong, right?"

"No need to worry, she's as fit and healthy as can be," reassured Tsunade.

"Shizuka would have been such a beautiful name for her," cooed the sandy haired woman, making me look up in surprise.

"Agreed," nodded Kannon.

"She's a couple of months old now, I've gotten used to Ayumi," I laughed nervously.

"Did you name her? Or did the Uchiha?"

"The Uchiha did."

"Well, there you go. If you ever find the want to change her name... Shizuka is in the air for you."

"Haha, thanks... umm, what's your name?"

"Oh, we haven't- hi, I'm Temari," she said with a bright smile. I looked at her before scanning the two men standing behind her. One, with bright red hair and pale teal eyes, and the other, a man wearing a black hoodie with purple face paint.

"These are my brothers, Gaara-" she pointed to the redhead- "and Kankuro." She pointed to the other guy. Both uttered their own versions of "nice to meet you" and I smiled at them all, appreciating their presence.

"Gaara's the Kazekage, by the way," added Tsunade, nodding in his direction.

"Meeting the Hokage and the Kazekage at the same time. This is crazy," I grinned, getting to my feet. "I'll take Ayumi to the room to feed her and then see if I can find something to clean her up with. I dropped the backpack out there somewhere."

"We'll help you look," said Temari, punching Kankuro in the side. "What do you need? Towels? Hot water?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

As the siblings gathered the things for me to quickly wash up Ayumi with, I breastfed her in the first room I inspected, mulling over Temari's words as I gazed over her peaceful face.

"Shizuka, huh," I said, having mixed feelings. On one hand, I absolutely detested the thought that the Uchiha had named Ayumi. It wasn't that I didn't like the name, it's just... I didn't like how she came to get it. Shizuka wasn't a bad name; it did match her well, after all. But I'd gotten so attached to Ayumi, that I was scared renaming her Shizuka would make her a completely new child. A stupid, unfounded fear, but I was attached to the name Ayumi.

"Maybe I should let you choose your name when you're old enough, huh," I said. "Make life so much easier for me."

As I let Ayumi suckle away, my mind drifted back to Shisui. Knowing him, he probably had some final words for Itachi, and I sincerely hoped that if it did go to the point of Shisui meeting his death, that his cousin would have the heart to make it a painless one.

I really wanted to cry.

Author's Note: long time no see~~ i'm sorry for the lack of updates!! but i just finished my last exam today (woohoo) so i tried to put together a short update to get this rolling again!! it's not as long as my usual chapters but that's okay, because i'll hopefully be back to producing full length chapters soon. (think of this as a filler lol everyone who watched naruto is probably used to them anyway)