Operation: Parenthood

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Gundam Wing, Naruto, or Harry Potter, no matter how much I wish that I did.

Summary: Sequel to Duo Maxwell: Operation: Santa Claus. The G-boys take on a new mission: raising children. Post Endless Waltz. AU Naruto-verse, and semi-AU HP verse.

AN: Okay, I didn't get a single objection to making this a story, so here goes. I decided to add one HP character at the moment, I don't know yet whether or not more will come into play later, but I don't see it. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoy.

Chapter 1: Santa Can Fix It!

It was two days after Christmas and Duo Maxwell was out once again in the freezing cold that persisted in Sanq. This time, however, he wasn't going shopping, he was contemplating. One of his good friends, and fellow Gundam pilot, had just gotten engaged.

It had been quite shocking when Wufei Chang, the former Shenlong pilot, had gotten down on one knee on Christmas day in front of his boyfriend of the past six months, Duo's own twin brother Harry Potter. They had found out that little tidbit just after the Mariemaya uprising, with the establishment of the Family Reconstruction Act.

What was most disturbing about this turn of events, however, wasn't so much that it was his brother, but the fact that he still didn't have a ring on his own finger. He and his boyfriend, Heero Yuy, had been together for over a year now and Heero still hadn't popped the question. Even Trowa, the silent one of the group, had asked his boyfriend, Quatre, to marry him.

Was it just him? Maybe Heero didn't know Duo was waiting for him to ask. Perhaps Heero wanted to be the one asked instead. But that didn't make any sense, the Perfect Soldier was very much the man in their relationship. He shook his head, if, by their anniversary, Heero hadn't asked, Duo would.

He turned a corner and entered a rather rundown neighborhood, trying to shake off his depressing thoughts. He paused when he heard children laughing down the street. It brought a soft smile to his face. That's what he'd fought for after all, the future generations. He continued on for a bit, finally stopping next to a chain link fence surrounding an old playground and building. He rested his arm on the metal and watched the rugrats play on the dilapidated equipment for a few moments.

He finally shook his head, it was time to be heading back to the house. Quatre would probably yell at him anyway, for being out in the cold this long. He turned away from the twisted metal and began walking back the way he'd come. He hadn't gotten more than five steps when a cry had him stopping in his tracks.

"SANTA!"

He'd just managed to turn back around when he found himself sat hard on the pavement, an unexpected weight pinning his legs in place. He stared down in dazed disbelief at the orange and grey wrapped bundles in surprise, not quite sure what he was seeing.

"See, Kiba, I told ya he'd come," the orange bundle said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, so you were right for once," the grey bundle shoved the orange one slightly.

It was as he caught a flash of white inside the grey that Duo finally realized just what he was looking at. These were two of the chibis he'd played Santa for on Christmas Eve. He looked up from the two boys in his lap and spotted the other three members of the little gang. He gave a lopsided grin to the three standing boys before readjusting the two on his lap so he wasn't so uncomfortable.

"Santa?" the blonde looked up at him with pleasing blue eyes. "You can make good things happen, even if it's not Christmas anymore, right?"

"I can try, kiddo," the braided teen frowned, what could be wrong with these little chibis? "What seems to be the problem?"

"You gotta come see Ruka-sensei," Naruto jumped up and grabbed Duo's hand. "N tell him you'll make everythin' better."

The little blonde began pulling on his arm, but since there was still a kid in his lap he didn't get very far. The shaggy haired brunette, however, quickly realized what his friend was doing and scrambled off the former pilot and took his other hand. Together the two boys began pulling him toward the break in the fence denoting the entrance and the building beyond.

Duo followed, not sure what else to do at the moment. He wasn't entirely sure he would be able to help them with their problem but he'd do what he could. Of course it would always help if he knew what the problem was to begin with.

They entered the front doors of the Konoha Street Orphanage with the other three boys trailing behind them. Naruto and Kiba continued dragging the braided teen down a series of hallways until they finally came to a stop outside an office labeled 'Manager'. The little blonde proceeded to knock before just pushing the door open.

"Hello, Naruto," a gentle voice said as the door started to open.

"Hi, Ruka," the blonde beamed as he rounded the door, still pulling Duo along for the ride. "I found slution for probem."

"I don't have time right now, Naruto," the man behind the desk sighed, flipping through a small stack of folders. "I have to fill out the paperwork so the others will be taken care of."

Duo took this time to study the man carefully. He had rather long brown hair, he'd say shoulder length at least, when it wasn't pulled into that high ponytail he sported at the moment. He had kind brown eyes and, if the little lines around them were any indication, an easy smile. The former pilot had to admit that the man wasn't bad looking, even if he did have a long dark scar that crossed the bridge of his nose and extended onto either cheek. He quickly shook that thought away, he was happy with his boyfriend, thank you very much.

"But Santa'll fix it," the chibi insisted, stepping closer to the desk and pulling Duo forward. "See, he came. Jus like Gaara an' I said."

"Naruto, what are you…" the man finally looked up and his eyes widened in surprise as they laned on the former Gundam pilot and he quickly pushed to his feet. "Oh dear god, please forgive him, sir. I'm Iruka Umino, manager of this establishment. I'm terribly sorry if he disturbed you in any way. The five of them are convinced that you are Santa Claus, and that you can fix anything."

"Well," the teen scratched his neck nervously, "honestly, I don't know what's going on. I was just walking down the street when they knocked me down. But…"

"Boys!" Iruka cut him off, glaring at the five guilty looking chibis, the other four having entered behind Duo. "That was very inappropriate. Apologize immediately."

"It's fine, Iruka. I can call you Iruka, right?" Duo said, moving to the chair in front of the manager's desk. "Let me level with ya. Ya see, I don't know what's going on, but I do know that I'd like to help in any way I can. These boys made my Christmas that much more special, and I'd like to do something for them if I could."

"You've already done more than enough, sir," Iruka sighed, taking his seat once more.

"It's Duo, Duo Maxwell," the former Deathscythe pilot extended his hand for the man to shake. "None of that sir stuff, makes me think I'm turning respectable."

"It's a pleasure, Duo," the scarred man shook his head. "I'm afraid, however, that there's very little that can be done for our current situation."

"Hey, Naruto," the braided teen leaned over so he was staring directly into those bright blue eyes, "why don't you and your friends go outside and play, you're all dressed up for it after all." He tweaked the little nose. "I'll come out and see ya when I finish up in here, kay?"

"Alright, Santa," the blonde beamed and ran over to the little raven haired boy, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the office. "Come on, guys! Santa's gonna help Ruka fix it."

"Now," Duo leaned back in his chair when he couldn't hear the chibis anymore, "Iruka, I don't know what the problem is. So why don't you tell me that before assuming there's nothing I can do about it."

Iruka sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "The orphanage is closing. The whole block has recently been condemned, and it's getting torn down shortly after the new year, to make way for a youth recreation center. Now, we would seek other premises and proper funding, but yesterday, we had an adoption day, sponsored by the Preventers and all but three of our orphans were adopted out. If they haven't left for their new homes yet, then they'll be picked up within the next few days. The three remaining are being transferred out to other orphanages around the city. None of them have room to take all three of them so they are being split up."

"Ouch," the braided teen grimaced. "That's gotta suck. So why weren't they adopted, is there something wrong with the three?"

"No, not particularly," the manager shook his head. "They're just difficult cases. They have special needs that turn away perspective parents. Gaara, the little redhead outside, has had a difficult life before we took him in about six months ago and he still has trouble sleeping because of it. Kiba, the one with the red arrow tattoos, is the perfect example of ADHD and most parents don't want to have to deal with the complications that come with that. And then there's Shika, or Shikamaru, the one with the ponytail, he puts no effort into almost anything and he gets overlooked by most couples."

"What about Naruto and the raven, Suki I think his name was?" Duo frowned.

"Oh, Sasuke and Naruto," the dark haired man shook his head. "Well, Sasuke was actually adopted by the owner of the orphanage, Kakashi Hatake, the same week he was brought in. Kakashi was a friend of his family's before they passed. As for Naruto, I've been in the process of adopting him for years. It finally went through yesterday."

"So you need someone to adopt the other three of them?" the former Deathscythe pilot scratched his chin in thought.

"That would be the ideal situation, yes," Iruka sighed. "However, finding them someone in the amount of time we have is next to impossible."

"Nothing's impossible for Shinigami," Duo smirked. "Don't fill out their transfer papers just yet. Let me go talk to Une, she's a good friend of mine, and see if I can't pull a few strings and get those boys adopted."

"You would do that for them?" brown eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"Cause that's what I do," he beamed. "I fight for the underprivileged and abused. Make sure innocents don't have to suffer for the misdeeds of others. And that kids, especially, don't get swept aside by the government."

"Thank you, Duo," Iruka covered his mouth, tears pooling on his lashes. "You don't know how much this will mean to those little boys."

"Oh, trust me on that one, I do," Duo shook his head. "I'm just here to carry on Father Maxwell's work. Hopefully, his death won't be in vain."

"Father Maxwell?" the orphanage worked frowned slightly.

"Nothing, forget about it," the former pilot waved him off. "Now, if I'm not back before the day's out, or you don't hear from Une within the next forty-eight hours, then you can sign those transfer papers, but please wait till the time runs out."

"I will hold off as long as I can," Iruka promised, a relieved smile crossing his face. "Those boys were right about you, you are an amazing person."

"I try," he laughed.

With that being said, he pushed to his feet, extending his hand once more. Iruka mimicked him and accepted his hand with a smile. Then Duo turned and left the office, heading back the way he'd come. He had some chibis to see before he made an appointment with Lady Anne Une.

When he arrived outside, he shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun off the snow. However, Kiba was the first one to spot his black clad figure emerging from the building. With a shout the boy ran over, the other four following in his wake, some more sedately than others. Duo beamed at them, he couldn't see how anyone couldn't want these adorable little kids.

He spent the next fifteen minutes playing a game with the chibis. When it was over, they were all laying in the snow laughing, even the icy Sasuke. After he caught his breath, the former Deathscythe pilot pushed to his feet and dusted the snow off his coat and pants.

"Well, I gotta go now," he looked around at the five of them.

"Noooo!" Kiba and Naruto said together, latching on to either or his legs.

He laughed, "Don't worry, I'll come back and see you."

"Promise?" five little voices sounded in unison.

"Hey, I'm Duo Maxwell," he said confidently. "I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie."

"I thought you were Santa," Gaara frowned, and the former pilot barely repressed a shudder at how intimidating that little chibi could look.

"I am," he tapped the side of his nose, "but only for Christmas. The rest of the year, I'm Duo."

"Oh, okay," the redhead nodded, accepting his explanation.

"Now, I really do have to go, my friends are waiting on me, and I have a very important meeting with someone," he pried the two boys off his legs.

"Bye Duo!" the chibis waved as he headed out of the fence.

He turned, with a wide smile across his face, and waved before he was too far away for them to see. Once he rounded the corner, however, his smile faded into a severe scowl and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He hadn't lied, he has some very important meetings to attend to.

Ammie: Okay, I hope it doesn't suck, it didn't want to work for me for most of the day. Anyway I hope ya'll enjoy the fifth day of Christmas Present that I have for ya.