This chapter is short even by my standards. I know sorry won't cut it. But it's all I've been able to squeeze into my sparse free time, so I'll upload this before I drag even longer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 9: Her Child

Someone was fondling her breasts.

Mortified, Hinata sprang up, hugging her chest protectively. Something rolled down onto her lap. It twitched.

Then it started to cry.

The sound pierced through the fog in her brain. Hurriedly, she picked the child off her lap and rocked it in her arms, making panicked shushing noises. The poor thing looked hideous, with its wrinkly skin and a birthday suit made of caked blood. It was too dry to rub off; the infant shifted and wailed when she tried. She resolved to bathe it – him – the first chance she got.

She cradled him gently, rocking him, but he continued crying. Why wouldn't he stop crying? She hugged him to her chest, almost mad with fear.

The peculiar movement on her breasts returned, and she looked down at her baby in surprise. He was nuzzling her, looking for something he couldn't yet see. His toothless mouth opened and closed like a fish before he found a breast and latched onto it, trying in vain to drink through her blouse. He began to cry in dismay.

She scrambled to bare her chest to him, wincing when his gums chomped on a sensitive nipple and he began to suckle. His cries quietened as chubby fingers touched its food source, gripping as though he were afraid she would take it away. Hinata watched him in breathless awe.

She had a son. A real, live, breathing son, whose very life depended entirely on her. She'd never felt more afraid or overjoyed.

He took his time drinking, and Hinata happily left him to his own devices as she checked him for abnormalities. Ten fingers and toes, two eyes, one nose, one mouth…yup, her baby was fine, except for the splotches of dark brown blood that marked his birth. Hinata grinned and stroked his fine tuft of hair. It felt like peach fuzz.

"Hello," she whispered to him. He continued nursing, oblivious to his mother. She refused to let that deter her. Instead she shifted as discreetly as possible, hoping to rid herself of a soggy heap between her legs which she knew was the placenta that housed her baby throughout her pregnancy. In the end, she just stood up and ignored the slimy feeling of something sliding out of her. Her baby let go of her breast, hunger sated.

She burped him carefully, satisfied when he coughed up a bit of milk with a sound of protest. She must have done it right. She cradled him close, supporting his head, and ventured out of the cave.

It was pitch black outside, with only faint stars and a nascent moon for guidance. She tried using her Byakugan to improve her vision, to no avail: the Byakugan afforded all-round vision, not night-time visibility. She deactivated it and used a small Goukakyou no Jutsu to create a fireball. The baby didn't react. She pushed the fireball further away from her just in case, so that it hung like a lantern above their heads.

The journey back up to the surface wasn't hard, but it was awkward when she had a baby to carry. Horizontal travel was not an option – there was no way she'd risk dropping the baby – so she ended up hopping all the way. Her limbs trembled despite the short journey.

Where to, now? She looked around her forlornly, taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. Not far off a single path appeared, half-hidden in the shadows, in the direction of Wave Country. She hesitated.

Should she go back? Wave wasn't safe, she knew that now. But she had nowhere else to go and the baby had to be washed and clothed. He couldn't stay bloody forever. Hinata imagined it in faint horror.

Wave it was. Determined, she held her baby close and started the long trek back to the port. On her way there she passed her battleground with the Kiri ninja. Their bodies were gone now, vanished so cleanly it had to be someone's doing. Hunter-nin, perhaps. She refused to feel too sorry for them. The baby was sleeping now, its little head lolling back into her supportive fingers. She averted her eyes from the ground and walked on.

Dawn broke just as she reached the outskirts of the country, where the black markets did business. The rock shimmered as it belched out several disillusioned ninja while she watched. Beside it, in a narrow crack that she knew hid a generous cavern, the civilian black market was dying down, eager to shut down before the general population woke up.

Her own eyes were threatening to slip shut from sheer tiredness, but she managed to stay awake until she'd snuck into her bathroom, bathed her baby, and wrapped him in her old jacket. Then, sensing Hana was absent, she crossed over to her half of the room and fell into a deep sleep, her baby ensconced in her embrace.

….

The registration office was the next destination in mind. She headed there right away in the guise of Futa, after she ensured her baby had been comfortably clothed and nursed. There weren't many people around at this time of the day, but the few who were stared at the unusual sight of a young boy carrying a newborn baby in his arms. She bore it all with flaming cheeks.

"Ahem. Sir, please state your purpose."

Hinata flinched and faced the bored receptionist, banishing her embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I'd like to register this baby." She lifted him up for the receptionist to see. "What are the procedures I must follow?"

"Wait a sec." He rummaged around, mumbling to himself. Eventually he resurfaced with a sheaf of paper in hand. "Place of birth?"

In a cave off the coast of Wave. "Ah, Wave," she said. He stared at her.

"I meant which hospital, sir. Or was your son born at home?"

"Oh yes, at home." She could have kicked herself. "Last night, around midnight." Not that she knew for sure, but a few hours give or take didn't make a difference. The receptionist hummed and scribbled it down.

"Where's the mother? Her name? And your name too, if you're the father."

Hinata hesitated. Whose name to use, an alibi or her own? She looked at her child.

She wanted a claim on him, of course. And she didn't want any disputes about his parentage when he grew up. He would never be mistaken as an orphan. He was her son, and that was that.

"Names, please," the man repeated, sounding irritated.

"Sorry. Mother, Hinata. Father unknown."

The receptionist coughed. "Sorry, I just thought the child's yours. You two looked pretty alike."

"No, no, it's okay," she assured him. She hugged her child closer to her bosom. The resemblance had to be a good thing, right?

"Well, okay," he said, a bit gruff upon being caught. "You dunno her full name?"

Another tick of hesitation. "No, sorry," she said at last. "If his mother comes later, she can add details, right?"

"Much more trouble, but yes, she can." He didn't look very happy at the prospect of additional paperwork, and she felt a tad guilty for causing it. "One more thing, then," he said. "What's his name?"

His name! "Oh," she whispered, panicking. She'd come here to register his birth, but she'd forgotten to think of a name. What was her child's name! "I – um –"

"Look, I know you're not the father, but surely the mother told you the name of her son?"

"Well, yes, I – his name is –"

"Futa!" someone yelled in the distance.

"– Futa?" she said, confused. She turned around. Kise was outside the office, looking just as surprised to see her as she was to see him. The sheen of sweat on his face and arms belied the day's hard work at the dock. He stared at her.

"What are you doing here with a babe?" he asked, then shook his head. "You've skipped work for two days, the boss ain't happy 'bout that."

"Sorry," she said, ducking her head. Kise's eyebrows rose at the sight of the wiggling bundle in her arms.

"Futa, is that…?"

"All right, done," the receptionist said. "Sign here." She obeyed, too overwhelmed to think. It was only when she pushed the forms back to him that she read what was written at the top:

F-U-T-A.

"Oh my god!" she cried, eyes wide. "No, wait, sir, please –!"

"You've signed your confirmation, what else do you want?" he sniped, irritated. He dumped the forms on a counter behind him, where they were swiped away by another employee. She watched it disappear, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Nothing, thank you," she said faintly. She toddled out of the registration office, forgetting about Kise. "Oof! Kise-san, I'm so sorry!"

"You've a lot of explaining to do," he grunted. He removed his steadying hands from her shoulders. "Where'd you find the kid?"

"I'm keeping him," she blabbed. "He's got no one but me."

"Okay, that's your choice. But you're explaining yourself to the boss; I'm not gonna tell him you went off baby-hunting."

Baby-hunting? Hinata winced at the choice of words and nodded. It was time to face the music.

- Chapter 9: End.

I hope I didn't get too rusty. Tell me what you think!