I wrote a Naruto fic?

[kelles]

This is a Naruto fic I wrote for fivebyfiction and it is dedicated to my wonderful daughter, yoko_chan who I blame thank for forcing me to watch Naruto with her.  

Anyone on my FL who is into the Naruto fandom, I'd love feedback because this is the first Naruto fic I've written and I'm a bit nervous about it.  *shaking*   I'm not completely happy with it but I may edit. Again.

Rated teen for violence.

Title: Promises

Warnings: SPOILERS for manga chapters after the time skip,

Parings: Asuma/Kurenai, Obito/Rin, & the beginnings of Kakashi/Kurenai

 

Kakashi Hatake remembered his friend's words like the conversation had been only yesterday. Asuma had knocked on his door late that night and Kakashi could see the worry in his eyes. It was the night before he and his team left on their mission would take his life. He had invited him in and the two men shared a cup of tea.  Asuma was silent until he finished his tea, hesitant to speak.

"I suppose I should tell you. It's just she made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone until..." Asuma hesitated.

Kakashi, confused as he had ever been, waited for Asuma to speak. "Asuma?"

"You know, I'm going on a mission tomorrow morning, to Akatsuki. I have a feeling that I-I might not be back."

"Does she know?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, Kurenai knows. She's not too happy about it given the circumstances. But, she knows it can't be helped."

"Circumstances? I don't understand. Everything okay between  you two?" Kakashi asked, studying his friend carefully.

Asuma smiled thinking of  his beautiful kunoichi.  Some men, no most, would  think he was crazy, risking his life when he had so much to live for. He wondered himself why they hadn't retired and gotten married years ago. "Of course."

"What is it Asuma?" He knew his friend was hesitating telling him something important and could not figure it out. Asuma was usually so straightforward.

"Well," he started, "it's actually good news, Kakashi. Kurenai just wanted to wait before we told anyone. I think she was afraid it'd be bad luck to make an announcement. With this mission coming up now, I think she might be right." Asuma lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "I'm going to be a father, Kakashi."

Kakashi nearly fell out of his chair. Asuma and Kurenai were pregnant? He grinned underneath his mask once he recovered. "Congratulations, Asuma." Kakashi said, in a solemn tone. He understood the reason for the visit now. His friend wanted something from him if he didn't make it back. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Asuma smiled, "Good. If I do make it back and she finds out I told you, she'll kill me."  He laughed nervously.

"Asuma...what is it?"

"I know it's a lot to ask but---if I don't come back can you watch over her? Make sure she and the baby have what they need.  Keep them safe. She's a beautiful woman, Kakashi. I'm sure if I'm gone, she'll be pursued by every pervert in the village."

"And you're not worried about me, one of the biggest perverts in Konoha?" Kakashi asked. He joked to lighten up the mood in the room. The atmosphere was so heavy, it suffocating him.

Asuma smiled genuinely at him. "No, it'd be okay if it were you...or Shikamaru. I'm not saying you have to, Kakashi. I know how you are about committment. But, it'd be all right if it ended up that way." He put out his cigarette and lit another one, studying Kakashi's face for a reaction. "Just be there, for her and the baby---if something happens."

Kakashi smiled and nodded at his friend. "Of course, Asuma."

"I hope I'm wrong, but I have a bad feeling about this mission.  And so does she."  Asuma got up to leave. "Thank you, Kakashi. This really puts my mind at ease." He opened the door and turned to him before he opened. "Just don't let Gai end up with her. He is a good man, but...I can't stand the thought of Gai raising my kid." Asuma laughed as he walked out the door.

That night was the last time Kakashi had seen Asuma and the very thing his friend feared had come true.

 

The words came to him as he sat in Kurenai's home, watching her sleep and remembering his agreement with Asuma.  He had taken to sleeping on the floor inside her bedroom the past few weeks. Although she initially protested the arrangement, Kakashi insisted. She was about to give birth to the baby and Kakashi knew Asuma didn't want her to be alone when the baby came and he had chosen him to take care of her.  He had broken many promises in his lifetime but this was one would keep.

Even though he thought it wasn't even possible, Kurenai was more beautiful now with her full belly then she had been before the pregnancy. He remembered Sakura telling him that pregnant women developed a natural glow which enhanced their beauty. He hadn't believed the medic then, but couldn't deny the truth of her words now. Asuma, he thought, I only wish you could be here to see how beautiful, your woman is now.  Kakashi felt guilty because he wanted to lay down beside her, stroke her long black hair, and wrap his arms around her.  No, I can't do that, he told himself. She still has a part of him in her body. The copy nin wondered if it was his fear of commitment or the improper feelings that watching her sleep stirred that were preventing him from doing so.  It is probably both, he mused. No, sitting here and watching the beautiful kunoichi from a distance was safer, even though doing so became harder each night that he kept watch.

His mind drifted back to another time, when he failed to keep a promise he made to a dying friend.  It was a memory Kakashi only thought of when he visited the memorial but the copy nin could not help thinking of it now. Obito had asked him to watch over and protect Rin just as Asuma had asked him to watch over and protect Kurenai.  Kakashi had promised Obito that he would protect Rin no matter what but in the end, she had died too. He had failed.

Kakashi knew something had been different about Rin when they left on the mission but told himself she was still upset about Obito's death. After all, he knew the two had been lovers. His death was bound to have a greater effect on her than him.  But her performance on the mission still seemed so off. Rin had trouble keeping up with him and they had to stop several times to rest. He couldn't remember a time when Rin had trouble keeping up with him and Obito. There was also the difference he noticed in her chakra. Kakashi kept asking her if she was okay. Was she sick? Had she gotten injured somehow? Rin had insisted she was fine, that nothing was wrong with her physically. She was tired but hadn't he been having trouble sleeping since Obito's death too? Still,  he couldn't help but wonder why she didn't take any of the soldier pills. Kakashi knew she brought them on every mission. If she was that tired and needed a boost in chakra why wouldn't Rin use them? Kakashi felt stupid asking her and so he didn't. After all, wasn't she the medic nin?

They had travelled for many hours and were almost to their target. They had stopped again so Rin could rest and Kakashi sensed her chakra was depleted. There was no way she would be able to fight or even heal him if he was inured.  Kakashi regretted not stopping sooner and finding a safer place for her to rest.

"Rin, you don't look good. Your chakra..."

"I know. I'm sorry Kakashi. I've just been so tired lately. I thought I'd be okay or I would have asked if you could find a substitute. Maybe if I just rest awhile."

Kakashi smiled at her and nodded. "I think I can handle these guys on my own. Give me a soldier pill. I'll take a few just in case." He didn't ask Rin why she didn't take one. You must have a reason for not taking them, he told himself.

Rin handed him several pills and placed them in his hand. "I guess you want to know..."

"No, we don't have time to talk now. You can tell me later, Rin." He told her and left to attack the enemy.

Rin never had a chance to tell him why she didn't take the solider pills. He found her dead body covered in blood when he returned to the tree.

The enemies had been skilled, more so than Kakashi expected or he would have asked for another team member. They were a group of several missing nin from many different villages, including Hidden Leaf. His mission had been to kill the missing nin from Hidden Leaf but all of them were waiting for him and he was ambushed. If it wasn't for the solider pills that Rin had given him, he wouldn't have survived. He managed to kill his target and several of the other missing nins before noticing some of the others were fleeing from the compound. "What in the hell?"

Kakashi stumbled away from the enemy compound and toward Rin when he heard it---her scream. The nin ran quickly to the spot he had left her but it was too late. Whoever had done this to her was gone and she was dead. "Fuck!" he screamed.  Obito's words came back to him at all at once. Promise me, that you'll protect and watch over Rin.

He carried her dead body all the way back to Konoha even though he was barely able to walk himself. His body suffered a lot of damage on the mission and his chakra was drained. It was a miracle that he didn't collapse before reaching Hidden Leaf. Tsunade was the one to find him, passed out just outside of Konoha, clutching Rin's dead body tightly.

She was returning from her vacation with Shizune they discovered them. "I should've known." Tsunade said. "I won too much  money in that card game. I never win."

News that would horrify him even more was revealed when he woke up in the hospital. It was Tsunade that delivered it. "Kakashi? I have a personal question to ask you. I don't mean to embarass you but it's neccesary."

"Huh? What is Tsunade-san?"

"You and Rin, what exactly was your relationship?" Tsunade asked.

"What? What do you mean? We were teammates. Friends." Kakashi was glad his mask was covering the blush he felt developing.

"Well...Did you know about Rin's condition?"

"Condition---what condition? She didn't have a condition that I knew of. Rin wouldn't have gone on the mission if anything was wrong with her. Was she sick?"

"No, she wasn't sick. It's just that she shouldn't have gone on any mission in her condition. I'm sure she knew. She was a medic so she had to know."

"Tsunade-san what aren't you telling me?"

"I'm sorry, Kakashi. She was pregnant. Not just one life was lost on the mission but two." Tsunade studied Kakashi carefully as she asked the next question. "Was the baby yours?"

Kakashi nearly fell off the bed. "You think Rin and I were...no-no-no. It wasn't mine. Rin and I, we weren't like that."

That was when the realization hit him.  Rin had been pregnant with Obito's child. Kakashi had failed Obito in every way. That knowledge hurt him so much, he didn't want to live.

"It was Obito's child." Kakashi stated coldly.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi. You've lost so much lately. If there's anything I can do, let me know." Kakashi silence was her answer, so the future Hogage left him alone to deal with his pain.

 

That was then, this is now.  Kakashi would not break his promise to Asuma. He would protect and watch over Kurenai until his own death. The copy nin would not fail another friend the way he failed Obito.  Kakashi had learned from his mistakes and he refused to let history repeat itself. He glanced at the beautiful woman with the big belly snoring softly in her sleep.  Kakashi chuckled as he drifted off to sleep wondering what Asuma's child would look like. I hope the baby takes after Kurenai. You were one funny looking kid, Asuma.

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[kakunouji.livejournal.com]

It is not bad, I rather like it. The thought of Asuma dieing though of course is sad, he is one of my favourite adult characters too.