章節 146: Four babies

It wasn't difficult to find Anko; she was on a cloud swing, shaded by some trees, gently rocking our baby on her chest, humming a lullaby.

The scene was so peaceful that I felt reluctant to interrupt it.

This kind of thing was exactly why I originally wanted to go to a peaceful world...

I am currently a parent (in the most common sense of the word) to four babies.

Anko gave birth to a boy who inherited her hair color, while his eyes are more similar to mine, a bluish-gray. He has fairly pale skin and is particularly sensitive to his surroundings, making it sometimes a headache to get him to sleep.

His name: Kenta.

Pakura, on the other hand, gave birth to a girl who is blonde like me, but curiously has those orange tips at the end of her hair like her mother, as well as her brown eyes. She is quite curious about everything that happens and loves it when Fu and I make funny faces.

Her name: Hikari.

Ameyuri outdid herself, as only she knows how, and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, respectively. Both inherited their mother's beautiful red hair, while, like Kenta, the eye color is mine. They don't like being separated at all and seem to have a mutual understanding as fascinating as the Weasley twins.

Their names: Riku (boy) and Mei (girl).

Yes, the girl's name is influenced by Terumi, I think the reasons are evident.

Oh, did I mention they also inherited their mother's teeth? And they came out fast.

Ameyuri made more than one face when breastfeeding them...

Nothing that a good ointment along with a soothing massage couldn't calm.

—What's going on?

Anko noticed my presence and looked at me, asking quietly not to wake up Kenta. I still remember how scared she was at the thought of whether her milk would be poisonous to the baby.

—Temari called, and she needs us to help rescue her little brother, the one-tailed beast jinchuriki —I told her as I approached and carefully stroked Kenta's little hand— Akatsuki took him, but they left a lot of people poisoned, and they need you to take a look at them.

—Alright, I could use some fresh air. I haven't left the village in a month. And I haven't played with poisons since you got me pregnant! —Anko sighed gently through her nose and stood up carefully to go put Kenta in his room— I'll let Haku know to be on the lookout when he wakes up.

More like since she dragged me with Pakura to the room...

Each baby had their own customized separate room (except for Riku and Mei), which was next to the others', so there was a whole area dedicated solely to their care, and where everyone could help if necessary.

The three children we picked up from the caravan also had their rooms in the same building; basically, we had designated this place as a nursery for the little children.

After leaving Kenta, I called Karin, Kimimaro, and Maki.

Karin can help Anko with poisons, Maki can visit old acquaintances, and Kimimaro needs a fight. He always needs a fight.

I asked Tsunade if she wanted to join, but she refused under the excuse that the desert is too bothersome. I think she's been obsessing over that experimental garden of hers. Shizune, on the other hand, was busy with her exams supervised by Nemu.

Mariko is asleep after staying up late the other night with seals; I'm not going to wake her.

So, we're a group of five in total, more than enough to take care of what...

You know what? That would have sounded like a red flag, so I won't say anything.

Using the Kinton cloud, it doesn't take us too long to reach Sunagakure.

On the way, Kimimaro already summoned a scorpion to be on alert in the area to see if they could find traces of Gaara. Since we don't have ninja hounds with us like Kakashi, we need to find the lair where they want to extract Gaara's chakra.

The fact that it's in a rocky area with trees and abundant water helps eliminate a lot of surrounding terrain.

Naturally, I remembered to bring with me the artifact I prepared especially for Black Zetsu over these years.

He won't escape again!

Our arrival in Sunagakure is met with depression.

—The damage they caused by being able to enter the village was considerable —Temari explained to us when she came to greet us— We discovered that the guard who let them pass wasn't even one of ours, probably a spy who had been lurking for a long time, but since the incident, any trace we could follow disappears.

Yeah, something like that sounds familiar from the series.

Weren't they the sacrifices Pain used to make substitutes for Itachi and Kisame?

I'm pretty sure at least Itachi's sacrifice was a ninja from this village.

—The positive part is that there were almost no civilian casualties thanks to the new shelters we were able to build with the flow of materials we've had since the Land of Water incident —Temari continued as we advanced toward the village hospital, trying to lighten things up.

—And the bad? —Kimimaro asked dryly.

—The kidnapping of Gaara and the destruction of several important buildings in my village!

—Oh... —Kimimaro blinked without changing his expression— Right.

Temari took a deep breath to calm herself; she never could hold a proper conversation with Kimimaro without getting worked up, and it seems she decided to ignore his existence for the rest of the conversation.

It's funny; there was a time when I thought Kimimaro would take Shikamaru's place in Temari's heart. It's just that Kimimaro doesn't seem to be very inclined...

—My brother and the other ninjas affected by Sasori's final venomous attack are here —she stopped in front of a quite large medical room before opening it— If you need anything, the medical staff will cooperate fully with you.

Her gaze ends on me as the conversation concludes.

Technically, I'm the one who knows the most about medicine and poisons of those present, followed by Anko and Karin. Even Maki knows a bit about it, more focused on antidotes than poison itself.

Anko has already approached to study the poison of one of them, and Karin is with another poisoned ninja, so I'll have to go personally to treat Kankuro.

No choice...

The thing is, as I approach the bed where Kankuro is sweating like a pig, I hear two knocks behind me, and turning around, what I see makes me raise both eyebrows.

Both Anko and Karin have a hand pierced in the chest, and the assailant is none other than the "patients" who were trying to help.

—Zetsu...