Alright Everyone! This is the -non lemon- version of the other story I have posted under the same name. I don't do this for all my lemon stories, but I felt that I liked the plot enough to make this one for those of you who want to skip over the lemon versions. If you've stumbled across this and want to read the lemon version, look on my lemon page and it'll be right there.
Also I know I cheated, using the same picture for both versions, but hey, they're the same story, let's keep some continuity here.
As always, Read, Comment, and Enjoy!
.x.Hidden.x.Winter.x.
“Lady
Tsunade!” The Hokage’s sleeping form snapped to attention at the urgency in
Shizune’s voice. “There was a woman found in the forest outside the village!”
“What?
What village is she from?”
“We
don’t know my lady, she’s in the hospital, she won’t wake up.”
Tsunade
was all business, focused as she strode to the hospital room where the woman
was laying. The first thing that Tsunade noticed was her youth, she was more a
girl than a woman, she could barely be 20. Her hair was bright and shimmered
like copper, but her skin was pale as if she was under some strain. The second
thing Tsunade noticed was the overly large bump on the girl. “She’s pregnant.”
Tsunade murmured, before resuming her professional status and checking the girl
for injuries.
“I
can’t tell that anything’s wrong with her. She’s got a nasty bruise on her
forehead, but other than that she’s just… asleep.” The matter was truly
puzzling, Tsunade had never seen anything like it. Next she moved on to see the
status of the baby.
It
was a girl, a very large healthy girl. “Can we try and get the parentage of the
child? If we find the name of the father we could find their village of
origin.” Tsunade said.
“We’ve
already run tests, the results should be ready in a few days.” Shizune
answered. Tsunaade pat the girls hand sympathetically, the poor girl must have
been through some ideal, but she needed to wake up. The baby would be ready any
day now.
“I
want her monitored at all times.” Tsunade ordered to the doctors, “alert me if anything
happens.”
***
“Lade
Tsunade! She’s awake!”
Tsunade
raced to the hospital where the girl was sitting up, handing a glass back to a
nurse. As she entered the girls bright blue eyes flickered to her. Tsunade sat
next to her and everyone else slowly shuffled out of the room.
“What’s
your name?” Tsunade asked gently.
“Yours
first.” The girl countered, a slight challenge in her eyes.
“My
name is Lady Tsunade, I am the hokage of the Leaf Village, we found you
unconscious on our borders, do you remember how you got here?” Tsunade kept her
voice as gentle as she could, but as she spoke she could see fear mounting in
the girls eyes.
“I’m
in the Leaf Village?”
“Yes.
Is it far from your home?”
The
girl cast her eyes downwards and did not answer.
“Do
you have a name of the father of your child? Maybe we could contact him?”
The
girl raised her tearing eyes to Tsunade, “get out.”
“We’re
only trying to-”
“Get
out!” She roared, tears falling from her angry eyes and staining her cheeks.
Tsunade sighed and left, she would come back later when the girl had calmed
down.
“Keep
an eye on her.” She said to the doctors.
***
“Have
you calmed down enough to tell me your name?” Tsunade asked as she reentered
the girls room.
A
wry smile twisted the girls lips, “not interested.”
“What?”
Tsunade asked, slowly moving closer to sit on the chair beside her.
“My
name,” The girl muttered, “my name is not interested.”
“Look
I’m going to be serious with you here,” Tsunade said, trying to make the girl
grasp the situation. “Your baby could be born any day now, we don’t know what
village you came from, and we don’t know the father of the child you are
carrying. We don’t know how you got that bruise on your forehead and we don’t
know how you ended up unconscious on our doorstep. We need you to start giving
us some answers.”
“You’re
wasting your time. Just let me go.”
“Not
in your condition.”
“My
condition? I’m pregnant! It’s not an injury.”
“I
am not letting you leave this hospital, end of discussion.”
“Then
consider this the end of any discussion you want to have with me.” The girl
said, her voice unwavering and her eyes frozen.
Tsunade
sighed and left the room, making a note to post guards on the doors so she
didn’t escape. There was something about this girl that wasn’t right. She was
hiding something big.
***
“Come
on Nana! Push!” Tsunade yelled over the girls screams. For the past few days
the girl had kept to her word and refused to speak to her, or say anything at
all. A few of the nurses had taken to calling her Nanashi, meaning nameless.
Tsunade had frowned on it at first, but then found herself using it.
Nanashi
threw her head back and screamed, her body arching from the bed.
“Nana,
calm down.” Tsunade ordered, “listen to me, you have to push!” The baby had
come too soon, Nanashi wasn’t dilated enough. They had been at this for hours
already, but Tsunade could feel that the baby was almost out. She was grateful,
Nana’s small body couldn’t take much more of this.
The
poor girl screamed again, but this was a more focused scream, a scream of
determination. She grit her teeth and tried again, and again. “Push!”
“I
am pushing!” She yelled, before going again.
Shizune
burst through the doors, her eyes wide and worried. She made it to Tsunades
side and whispered in her ear, “My lady, you have to come with me.”
“I’m
a bit busy at the moment.” She grit back, “keep pushing Nana.” Tsunade saw a
tuft of dark hair and then the baby slid into her waiting hands. Nana collapsed
on the bed, her breathing heavy and exhausted. Tsunade sympathised, this was a
big baby, and Nana was only a small girl.
“It’s
the baby, we’ve found out who the father is.” Shizune whispered, her eyes
flickering to Nanashi who seemed to be staring unseeingly at the ceiling.
Tsunade cut the cord and turned, Shizune never danced around the point like
this, this information had to be massive.
“Who?”
Shizune
seemed reluctant to say it, looking down at the results in her hand, and then
to the mewling baby in Tsunade’s arms.
“Hey,
Hokage, give me my baby.” Nanashi seemed to have recovered and was now looking
at Tsunade with a worried expression. It intensified by the second, “Tsunade,
hand me my baby.” She repeated.
“Shizune,
who is it?” Tsunade ordered. She stared at the wriggling black haired girl in
her arms, such a small thing to cause such a fuss.
Shizune
hung her head, “Uchiha Itachi.”
***
Two years earlier.
Itachi
watched as Deidara sat a few seats down from him. The akatsuki was currently
holed up in a dingy rain village bar. Itachi was drinking silently, but he
watched his fellow comrades as they slowly fell into a drunken stupor. His
current observation was Deidara, the man about to attempt to pick up a girl.
Itachi had to admit, Deidara had good taste with this one. Her shimmering
copper hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her thin but fit build suggested
years of ninja work. Her lips were tilted in a cupids bow, and glistening as
she tipped her head back to get the remnants of her drink.
Deidara
motioned for the bartender to make her another, and then he spoke.
“You
don’t look like you’re around here often, what village did you come from?”
She
cast a quick glance in his direction, looking him up and down before obviously
deciding that he wasn’t worth her time.
“I
live not far from here, in a village named out of your league.”
Itachi
let out a tiny smirk that only grew larger as Deidara walked away, knowing he
was going to get nowhere with her. Itachi watched her out of the corner of his
eye, watched her neck elongate as she drank. Watched her long thin fingers wrap
around the glass, watched the condensation drip, rolling down the side of the
glass before meeting her finger, leaving a drop of moisture. He watched her lift
that finger and absent-mindedly suck the side of it for the briefest of seconds
before placing it back around the glass.
Before
he could make a conscious thought, his body was filling the seat emptied by
Deidara only moments ago. The bartender handed him a new drink and Itachi
nodded in thanks. He rarely drank alcohol, and although he could handle his
liquor, maybe that was the reason for his brashness. Maybe, or maybe it was
just the fact that he was a man. He spent so much time with his male akatsuki
teammates, so much time planning for Sasuke, so much time training that he had
almost forgotten what it was like. The pounding of need, the heightened sense,
and the ever watching eyes. He had almost forgotten, but damn it he was a man,
and true men never forget.
“Not
interested.” Her voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked at her from
his drink, only to find that she was staring straight forward. “My name,” she
continued, “it’s not interested, before you bother asking.”
He
chuckled, “I didn’t ask.”
This
seemed to throw her off guard. “So you just felt like moving seats?” She asked
sarcastically, recovering smoothly.
“So
you knew where I was sitting? That means you were watching me.” Itachi said,
amused.
Her
eyes narrowed in confusion, he could see that he had thrown her back on her
heels. “I know who you are Itachi, so forgive me for watching where you sit.”
He
rolled his eyes, of course she would take notice of where the murderer sat,
everyone in this bar probably knew where he was sitting.
“He
was right.” Itachi nodded at Deidara who had moved to a new target, “you’re not
from the rain village.”
“Neither
are you.” She countered.
“I’m
from the leaf village.” He said
“I
know.”
“Well
it seems rude that you know so much when I know so little.”
He
could see a small smile fighting to break through and eventually she sighed and
took a drink, “My name is Calypso, most people call me Cali, I’m originally
from the mist.”
“So
you’re a mercenary then.”
She
glanced at him, “to put it bluntly, yes.”
Cali
had to admit, she was intrigued. She had heard rumours of the unholy strength
of the Uchiha, and here he was trying to pick her up in a bar. She had never
actually seen him before, but right now she was fighting hard to keep her eyes
pointed at the space in front of her and not let them veer to her left where he
was sat. She had to continue to appear uninterested. It was harder than she
expected, because even from the corner of her eye she could see the darkness of
his hair, and the strength of his jaw. He was the human manifestation of
moonlight hanging in a cold winter sky. She watched the muscles on his forearm
twitch as he picked up his glass. Focus Cali, she told herself, he might just
be looking for you to take a job. She was used to employers taking this
approach, approaching her in a bar and trying to smooth talk their way in.
Until this Uchiha revealed his intentions she would not make the first move.
The
bartender looked and saw the two were nearing the end of their drinks. He
quickly refilled them, receiving a nod from both in return.
“Are
you on business now?” Itachi asked her.
“Not
at the moment, but you never know when jobs come up.” She sipped her drink, and
Itachi noticed she was drinking slower than she was before. Trying to keep
herself sharp and focused. Itachi grinned internally, he was doing the same.
Looking
around the bar he noticed his teammates had left, most likely to rent rooms for
the night to spend with their prizes.
“Your
friends are all gone.” Cali commented.
“I’m
glad, the place is quieter now.”
“You
prefer quietness?” She asked, a tad startled. If he preferred the quiet then
why was he in the S-rank criminal lifestyle?
“I
do.” He replied.
They
sat there, silently drinking. Occasionally they would flip a topic between
them, but mainly there was silence, a fact Itachi greatly appreciated.
Eventually
he stood, “I should be going.”
She
looked at him in surprise, “that’s it? You’re not going to hire me or try to
seduce me?” Why had he sat by her for so long?
He
looked at her in amusement, “would you like me to?” He chuckled at her confused
face, “Enjoy your stay, Calypso.”
***
Present Day
“What
are your relations with Uchiha Itachi?” Tsunade asked.
“Give
me my child!” Cali yelled.
“Do
you know his location?”
“You
can’t keep my child from me!”
Tsunade
stood in frustration. She was getting nowhere with Nanashi, they hadn’t even
found out her name yet. She refused to tell them anything about herself, or
Itachi, and Tsunade had ordered that the child be looked after by someone else
until the girl could be deemed safe. It was a hard decision to make, keeping a
child away from it’s mother, and it only seemed to be angering Nanashi, but it
was the decision Tsunade deemed safest. Until they had an idea of who this girl
was and what she was capable of, it was best to keep the child out of harm’s
way.
***
1 year ago
Cali
trudged back to her apartment in the Mist village. She had been gone for a
while, this last job had taken more out of her than expected. Her boots let out
puffs of dust with every footfall, and when she reached her home should couldn’t
be more glad.
Except
for one thing.
The
unlocked, and open window on the second floor.
Sighing,
she unsheathed the blade from her back and crept into the house. All she wanted
was to go to sleep, some breakfast and a bath when she woke up. It wasn’t much
to ask for. What she wasn’t in the mood for was creeping around her house
looking for whoever had broken in.
“Come
on out you bastard,” She called, “I know you’re around somewhere.”
Her
quickly dying patience was growing thin, and soon she was boldly walking
around, looking through each room with purpose. She didn’t try to hide her
footsteps. She would find whoever it was, kill them, and then sleep. Good plan.
The
last room was her bedroom, and there she found her trespasser. Not quite believing
her eyes, she sheathed her blade. Itachi’s forehead was hot, and his breathing
was shallow, but he didn’t seem to be too injured, just plain exhausted. Pushing
him over she crept under the blankets next to him. She was too tired to do
anything tonight, she would deal with him in the morning.
She
awoke with the feel that eyes were watching her. Lurching out of bed she saw a
set of blood red sharingan focused on her from the chair across the room, “Oh
it’s just you Itachi, you scared the crap out of me.” She let herself fall back
on the bed. “What are you doing in my house anyway, and why did you leave the
window open? That just looks like a pathetic rookie mistake.”
She
closed her eyes and waited for his response.
“Didn’t
you have a job in sand country?” He asked.
“It
fell through, the fighting ended before I could get there so I just came home.
How do you know about that anyway?” Realisation started to prickle in her mind
and she leaned up on her elbows and looked at the expressionless Uchiha.
“You’ve
been using my house when I’m away.” She accused, knowing that she was right. “You
ate my cheese, I knew I hadn’t eaten
it all!”
“Your
house is conveniently located, and anonymous. When I have business in the area,
and assuming you are not home, I use your house as base.” He finally explained.
“Ugh,”
she collapsed back down, “you could have just asked, I wouldn’t have minded you
know. Anyway, come here, you looked like you needed medical.” She said, sitting
up and gesturing for him to sit on the bed.
After
a long glare between them, he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, knowing it
would be more trouble than it’s worth to refuse her. She began to remove his
cloak when his hand grasped hers. “I can tell your back’s injured, I’m not an
idiot, let me have a look.” She chastised him, and he removed his hand. He felt
strangely, naked, as he sat before her. Her eyes missed nothing, and her
fingers felt every scar as they traced his back.
“Jesus,
do you ever relax?” She said, “you’re tenser than anything back here! And who
on earth patched you up? These stitches are pathetic. Hold on, I’ll redo them
for you.” She hopped off the bed and pad off on light feet to the bathroom. She
came back with a box of supplies and nestled herself behind him. She pressed an
ice pack into his hand, “this will help that pounding headache of yours.” Then
she placed something warm over each shoulder and Itachi could feel the heat spreading
throughout his muscles. “There’s no way I can sew these up properly when you’re
tensed like this, everything will set wrong, I need you to relax Itachi.” She
said the words but could tell he didn’t really comprehend them. Her callused
fingers pressed into his back and he involuntarily arched forward just enough
for her to notice. Grinning, she continued until his back was satisfactory. It
was nowhere near relaxed, but she supposed this was as loose as his muscles had
ever been.
Quickly
she cut his last sets of stitches and pulled them out. The room was quiet
except for the snipping of scissors and the soft sound as the material was
dropped in a bowl. Itachi closed his eyes as he felt a warm damp cloth press
onto each wound, slowly cleaning each one.
“And
sterilise time.” She warned him. He felt a cold liquid trickle down his back
before it met each cut in a blistering pain.
“What
are you using, acid?” He growled sarcastically.
“Don’t
be ridiculous, I’m a professional. It’s vodka, want a sip?” The bottle was held
beside his face and he took it, if only to have something to do with his hands.
There were sharp pricks now, each time she thread the needle through his skin,
but it was nothing compared to what he had been through before. He sat
patiently for her to finish, twirling the bottle in his hands.
“And
that’s it.” She said proudly, admiring her handiwork. “Any more? You can’t just
have done your back.”
“I’m
fine.” He said, going to grab his cloak and shrug it back on before she saw-
“Fine
except for that on your chest!” She exclaimed, forcing back down onto the bed. “Stay.”
She commanded, looking at him until she was sure he was going to comply. She
straddled his knees just to make sure he stayed until she was done, and then
began the process again. It was different this time, with them facing each
other. Cali wasn’t sure if she should look at his face or not, so she kept her
gaze on her hands where they massaged his chest muscles. She could feel him
under her fingertips, a tightly wound mass of twisting iron that she was slowly
trying to coerce to play nice with her.
“You
really should try to relax you know. You’re movement is limited when your
muscles are like this.” She said, not expecting a response. She felt him slow
his breathing to try and work with her, and she felt her heart warm at the
gesture.
“You’re
different than you were at the bar.” He said as she snipped through the poorly
sewn stitches.
“So
are you.” She said, soaking the newly opened wounds with the warm rag. They
stayed silent as she took the bottle from his hand and poured it over his
chest. Once she had begun stitching he spoke again.
“Why?”
“Why
am I different now?” She asked, he nodded. “Well I thought you were trying to
hire me, no one wants a talkative merc. And then when you didn’t say anything I
thought you were trying to seduce me, and I wanted to see how far you’d go.”
She said this idly, as if she were commenting on the weather as she sewed up
his chest. Finally finished she soaked up the excess blood with the rag and
then looked up for the first time.
She
caught a glimpse of dark eyes before lips pressed themselves to hers. They
weren’t demanding, or harsh, they were more of a question than that. A simple,
honest question. The rag trailed up his body as her hands looped around his
neck and her lips responded. His hands entangled themselves in her hair, and
the kiss grew faster. Their tongues danced and their lips met. Skin met skin as
they pressed each other close, clinging to each other. Itachi rolled her, and
his hot body lay atop hers, his heavy weight encompassing her and filling her
world with him.
Seconds
passed, and then she felt a cold wind wrap around her. Itachi was stood at the
window, cloak in place and eyes red with the sharingan fire burning bright in
them. “I can’t,” was all he said before he was gone.
***
Present Day
“Lady
Tsunade, the baby is refusing to eat.”
Tsunade
sighed, rubbing her temples. This girl was causing more problems than she had
anticipated. She strode to the room where the girl was still being kept and
shut the doors behind her.
“Your
name and village.”
The
girl simply looked at her.
“Tell
us your name and village of origin, and I will let you hold your baby.” Tsunade
knew it was a dirty trick, she felt filthy using something this low but she was
out of options other than throwing her to Ibiki. She could see it was working,
the girls eyes were filled with longing, as any mothers would be.
“Calypso,
of the Mist.” She whispered, not meeting Tsunade’s eyes. Heavy guilt poured
through Tsunade, clutching at her throat as she took the baby from Shizune and
handed her to Calypso.
Calypso’s
eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to relax as the small baby gurgled in her
arms.
“She
looks like her father.” Tsunade said in a kind voice, and then realised she
probably shouldn’t have said anything at all. Calypso simply met her eyes and
with a warm smile she replied,
“She
does.”
Tsunade
pulled up a chair next to the bed. “Have you named her yer?”
“Kasai.
Uchiha Kasai.” Calypso grinned at the wry smile on Tsunade’s face. A child to
fan the flames. How fitting.
***
Eight months ago
Calypso woke and
jumped out of her covers, ready to defend herself. Her fists dropped as she saw
the tall raven haired man stood, soaking wet, at her open window.
“Itachi, what’s
going-” Her onslaught of questions spluttered out as itachi’s lips descended on
hers with furious need. His hands cupped her jaw with bruising force, but she
could barely feel it. Her mind was too far away in the dripping locks of hair
that tickled her forehead, in the feet that were slowly walking backwards
towards her bed, in the lips that caught and pulled at her own.
She fell
backwards onto her bed and Itachi was right there with her, his body pressing
close to hers as if it were his lifeline, his hands still gripping her. As hard
as it was, Cali forced herself to break away from him, and saw the flash of hurt
and rejection in his eyes. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she felt
his weight lift. He wasn’t getting away that easily.
“Itachi.” She
murmured, “Itachi look at me.”
His fiery eyes
met hers and her heart broke with the lonliness she saw there. He had opened
himself to her, had trusted her with his messed up life, had tore down every
wall he had built. He was back to being that child who needed companionship,
that boy who needed love. He had found it all in her.
Calypso slowly
kissed his lips, a kiss that spread warmth through them both, and let them know
that they understood each other.
“Itachi, look at
me.” She repeated against his lips, “really look.” And then he understood.
There was still one barrier, one wall he had left up. One sign that blared out
that he was still hiding in the shell of an akatsuki. Slowly his eyes dimmed
until she was looking into the dark eyes she had glimpsed at before. She gave
him one simple kiss, thank you.
Later that night, Calypso woke to find
herself in a sleeping embrace, Itachi’s arms thrown over her. She was hot,
incredibly hot, but she fell back asleep, not wanting it any other way.
***
6 months ago.
Calypso
had been waiting for Itachi to show up again. Things had been hard for the
akatsuki recently, Itachi had to be careful. She was waiting, mulling in her
mind what to tell him. Should she tell him? Of course she should. She had
already had this argument with herself and didn’t want to re-live it. She
should have known that his eyes missed nothing, when he appeared in front of
her his eyes were concerned.
“Calypso
what’s wrong?”
“I’m
pregnant.” She blurt out, hating herself for being so awful with words. But
then again, she found out in a bathroom so why should he have it easy?
The
corners of his lips twitched in a smile and then broke, and then twitched
again. It was as if he was unsure what to feel, “you’re sure?”
“Completely.”
She replied. She watched his face for any sign of rejection, and wasn’t prepared
for when his lips crashed down onto hers. They fell backwards onto the couch
but he didn’t seem to care. He kissed her over and over, a smile on his face
and a hand on her belly.
Later,
they sat and discussed the issue.
“What
do you think he’ll look like?” she mused.
“No
one can know she’s mine.” He said firmly.
“She?”
Calypso asked innocently, focusing on the twitch of his lips instead of the
flash of his eyes as she missed the point of his sentence.
“Do
you understand Cali? If anyone finds out you’re carrying my child-”
“Yeah
I know itachi.” She said solemnly. “but it’s not like I can just give birth in
a ditch and enrol him in a school along the way, we need a village.” Both of
them knew this to be true, but also an impossible task. Her mercenary work had
taken her to most of the shinobi villages in the five nations, and wherever you
hadn’t been, Itachi was sure to have gone.
“The
Leaf.” Itachi said.
“Are
you joking Itachi?”
“You’ve
never been there, you said it yourself. The Leaf is one of the largest villages
and you said it was stupid for a merc to walk in those gates.”
“It’s
the Leaf Village Itachi!”
“She’s
a Uchiha. She belongs there.” He said firmly.
“And
you belong with him.” Cali argued. “If we go to the Leaf there’s no way either
of us are ever seeing you again.”
“The
Leaf will protect you. They will assume either myself or Sasuke took you by force,
they will give you work, help you raise the baby.”
“and
this is really what you want? Your son to be seen as a rape baby? No itachi!”
“Of
course this isn’t what I want!” He roared, before calming himself down, “I want
to be there with you as she grows, I want to be there with you and make her a
sister, but I can’t. This is the only path for her.”
“I
don’t believe it. We’ll find another way.”
Itachi
was silent, and Calypso couldn’t help but feel that he was determined to get
her to the Leaf village by any means necessary. She steeled herself, she would
fight hard to stop him. Their separation would be permanent that time, and she
refused to think of it.
***
Present Day
Calypso
huddled the blanket around her, trying not to wake the baby pressed against
her. Silently she crept across gardens, grounds, and finally the village gate.
She used the stars to guide herself northeast, back to the mist village. She
kept her head down, trying to avoid being seen. It would have been easy to ask
a passing traveller for a ride, but her red hair was a giveaway to who she was
and she couldn’t risk it.
She
made it to an inn and booked a room, shutting herself in it. Lifting the baby
to her face she smiled and rubbed noses, letting the peace of the baby wash
over her. That peace was washed away when the door opened and Itachi stood
there, an unreadable expression on his face.
“I
sent you to the Leaf.” He said, closing the door behind him.
“I
noticed, the bruise was a nice touch.”
He
winced, “you fought back.”
“Of
course I did.” He smiled at the hidden meaning in her words, I didn’t want to leave you. He sat next
to her on the bed and Calypso slid the baby into his arms.
“I
named her Kasai.” She murmured.
Itachi
smiled, fire, how fitting. He pressed his lips to the top of his daughters head
and held her close to his body. “I’m sorry I missed the birth.” He kissed Cali’s
lips lightly, “I promise I’ll be here for everything else.”
Cali
smiled against her lovers lips, “That’s all I ever asked.”
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