Chapter Text
Kakashi walks along the path in the forest. His three students follow closely behind him. Sasuke is at the head of the procession. Sakura is in the middle and Naruto is bringing up the rear. Kakashi and the three genin just completed a mission in another land. Now, it is time to go home.
Naruto huffs slightly as he walks. “That mission was so lame!” Naruto exclaims. “When are we gonna get more exciting missions?!”
“Naruto, stop complaining!” Sakura says with a reprimanding voice. “You should be grateful that we even got a mission like this. We went a week without a mission, remember?!”
Sasuke just groans. Am I really gonna have to listen to these two argue all the way back to the village? Sasuke thinks to himself.
Just then, Kakashi stops walking and becomes alert. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto almost walk into Kakashi’s back. “Kakashi?” Sasuke says with a raised brow.
Kakashi gasps and looks over to a few trees. “Look out!” Kakashi calls out as he leaps away from the bushes.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all follow their sensei’s lead, not understanding what has their sensei on edge. However, the answer becomes clear when two men suddenly come out from behind two trees. The two men are wearing headbands with the symbol of the Hidden Grass village etched on the metal. However, the symbols are slashed, marking these two men as rogue Hidden grass village Shinobi. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto all get into fighting stances. These men look like trouble.
The two rogue Hidden grass shinobi just smirk as they look at the single jonin and the three young genin. “Well, well, it looks like we have us a papa leaf nin, and three little leaf nins.” One of the men says.
Naruto huffs, offended by the word little . “Hey, we are not little !” Naruto says with anger.
The two men just laugh and get into their own fighting stances. Within minutes, the fight begins. Naruto and Sasuke take on one of the men, while Kakashi and Sakura take on the other. Sasuke sends punches and kicks, while Naruto creates shadow clones. However, the man manages to knock Sasuke to the ground. Then, the man turns and pops all of Naruto’s shadow clones effortlessly. Naruto’s eyes are wide. The man smirks and puts his hand together, and makes a strange hand sign. “AGE REVERSAL JUTSU!” The man yells.
Naruto and Sasuke gasp as they try to step back. Age reversal jutsu?! That certainly does not sound good. However, before the two boys can get away, the man grabs Sasuke by the front of his shirt, and Naruto by the front of his jumpsuit. The man smirks as he pins Sasuke and Naruto to the ground. The man’s hands then glow with an unusually bright blue chakra, which envelopes Naruto and Sasuke’s bodies.
Kakashi and Sakura both gasp as they try to rush over and rescue the boys. However, the other man prevents them from doing so. After a few minutes, the man holding Naruto and Sasuke let’s go. All that is left of Naruto and Sasuke are piles of clothes and two little lumps, which are buried in the clothes. The two mysterious men make their getaway, while Kakashi and Sakura rush over to the piles of clothes. Kakashi kneels by Naruto’s jumpsuit, headband, and empty sandals. Sakura kneels by Sasuke’s shirt, shorts, headband and empty sandals. Just then, the lumps buried within the piles of clothes begin to move. Kakashi and Sakura both gasp as they begin removing clothing from the piles. Sakura screams when she finally removes Sasuke’s shirt. Kakashi just blinks as he looks at what is contained within Naruto’s jumpsuit.
In Naruto’s pile of clothing, is a one year old looking naked baby boy. The baby has bright blond hair, bright cerulean blue eyes, and three whisker-like marks on each cheek. A red swirling tattoo like symbol is printed on the baby’s belly. In Sasuke’s pile of the clothes, is another one year old looking baby boy, who is also naked. The baby in Sasuke’s pile of clothes has pale skin, spiky black hair, and black irises. Both of the babies simply suck on their thumbs as they look up innocently at Sakura and Kakashi.
Kakashi simply picks up the blond haired baby and looks at him. “Naruto?!” Kakashi says with some disbelief in his voice.
The blond haired baby simply removes his thumb from his mouth and looks at Kakashi. “Ello.” The baby says.
Sakura’s face is pale and horror stricken as she picks up the black haired baby boy. Sakura holds the baby in front of her. “Sasuke?!” Sakura says with a horror filled voice.
The black haired baby removes his thumb from his mouth and looks at Sakura with innocent eyes. “Mama…,” The baby says. “Papa. Tachi.”
Sakura wails as she clutches the baby to her chest. “NOOOOOO!” Sakura wails. “THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”
Sakura’s wailing scares both babies, who begin to cry. Kakashi rocks the blond haired baby in his arms. “Sakura, you scaring them!” Kakashi says.
After a few minutes, Sakura stops wailing and looks at her now baby teammates. The babies slowly begin to calm down. After another minute, both babies return to sucking on their thumbs. Sakura looks at her sensei with horror filled yet mystified eyes. “Kakashi sensei, how can this be?” Sakura asks as she sniffles.
Kakashi closes his eyes. “I am not sure.” Kakashi says with a voice full of uncertainty. “I have never heard of an age reversal jutsu before. However, I am sure Lady Hokage can shed some light on this mystery. We need to get back to Konoha. Help me gather their things. We’ll wrap them in their clothes on the way back.”
Sakura tearfully nods as she gathers up Sasuke’s backpack, headband, sandals, shorts and underwear. Sakura quickly wraps baby Sasuke in his shirt. Kakashi gathers up Naruto’s headband, white undershirt, and sandals. Kakashi quickly wraps the giggling baby in the orange jumpsuit. Then, without another word, Kakashi and Sakura begin their journey back to Konoha, the two babified genin in their arms.
Kakashi and Sakura both watch as Tsunade examines baby Naruto and baby Sasuke. Jiraiya sits at a table nearby. Jiraiya is combing through some books as is Shizune. Kakashi and Sakura got back to Konoha just as the sun set. Explaining the situation the irritable female village leader was very nerve wracking for Kakashi and Sakura to say the least. Tsunade had just gotten done talking about important matters with Jiraiya when the two of them walked in with the two babies. After the full gravity of the situation finally set in, Tsunade immediately ordered baby Naruto and baby Sasuke brought to the hospital so that she could examine them, and hopefully understand this mysterious jutsu better.
Tsunade frowns as she looks at reports on blood samples that she took earlier. Tsunade shakes her head and looks at Kakashi and Sakura. “Just what did that rogue Hidden grass ninja say when this happened?” Tsunade asks.
Kakashi and Sakura both look at one another. “The man said, ‘age reversal jutsu’ milady.” Sakura says respectfully.
Tsunade rubs her chin thoughtfully. “I thought I heard of such a jutsu long, long ago by that name. Back when I was a small child. My memory of it is fuzzy, but I now remember that it is supposed to be a Kekkei Genkai.”
Jiraiya’s eyes widen as he comes to an excerpt from the book that he is reading. “I think I found something!” Jiraiya says. “This page describes a jutsu which can attack a body at the molecular level, reversing age. This jutsu is a Kekkei Genkai. The clan which performs this jutsu is called the Kitaya clan.”
Tsunade, Kakashi, Shizune, and Sakura all blink a few times. “What exactly can this jutsu do?” Tsunade asks with an authoritative voice.
Jiraiya sighs. “Well, for starters, this jutsu can reverse an individual's age by months, year, or even decades. The Kitaya’s would use this jutsu in order to prolong the life of others. The limit to this jutsu is that a Kitaya cannot use the jutsu on his or herself, but he or she can still reverse the age of others. Here are some stories about this jutsu.”
Jiraiya takes a deep breath before he begins. “One of the ways this jutsu was used was to tame unruly children. If a Kitaya child became too much for his or her parents, then the parents would simply reduce the child’s age to a more manageable age and then start over trying to teach them discipline.”
Sakura gasps. “Kitaya’s must be terrible parents if they do that to fix bad behavior!” Sakura exclaims with a horrified voice.
Jiraiya closes his eyes. “The Kitaya’s even used this jutsu on their enemies.” Jiraiya says. “It says here that the Kitaya’s are very strict about inbreeding and incest as they know this can produce genetic diseases and malformities. So in order to increase the number of children in their village during times of low birth rates, they will sometimes go out and find abandoned children to raise within their village. If they cannot find abandoned children, then here is what they do. When they encounter enemies during battle, they will pick and choose ones that they see fit to raise in their village. Then, they use their jutsu, and bam...they have children or babies for their village.”
Sakura and the others gasp. “They turn their enemies into children and babies so that they can adopt them?!” Sakura asks with shock.
Jiraiya nods. “That is what the book says.” Jiraiya says. “Say, tell me what that man looked like.”
Sakura and Kakashi both begin thinking for a minute. “Well, the man had black hair and deep violet colored eyes.” Kakashi says.
Jiraiya sighs. “We’ll violet colored eyes and black hair are genetic traits of the Kitaya clan. I would have to say that man is a descendant of the Kitaya clan. And since the Kitaya’s are reclusive and don’t really associate with any of the ninja villages, I would have to say that man’s parents left the Kitaya clan’s village and then had him in the Hidden grass village.”
Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Sakura all look at one another. “Is there a way to reverse the jutsu?” Tsunade asks.
Jiraiya sighs. “Only a Kitaya can reverse the jutsu.” Jiraiya says. “And since the Kitaya’s are so reclusive, no one really knows where their village is exactly. And even if we find them, they may refuse to help us.”
Sakura begins weeping. “NOOOOOO!” Sakura cries. “You’re telling me that Sasuke and Naruto may be like this forever?!”
“They will age normally, don’t worry.” Jiraiya says. “They will just have to grow until we can find a way to reverse the jutsu.”
Sakura sniffles and walks back over to the crib which contains baby Sasuke. Both baby Sasuke and baby Naruto are in simple white hospital cribs. Their once bare bottoms are now covered with white diapers. Baby Naruto is sleeping soundly. Sasuke on the other hand, is antsy. He is sitting up in his crib and looking around wonderingly. “Mama…,” Sasuke says with a tiny voice. “Papa...Tachi.”
Sakura’s heart feels like breaking for the baby. Sasuke obviously has no memory of the Uchiha massacre or any of his life after this particular age. The poor baby doesn’t know that neither his mama, papa or even his big brother can come to comfort him. The baby doesn’t even know that he is an orphan, or that his big brother is the one responsible for making him an orphan. The baby just wants his family. A family that he doesn’t have anymore.
“Mama!” Baby Sasuke says with a tiny desperate voice. His eyes begin to water. “Papa! Tachi!”
Sakura cannot take it anymore. She begins sobbing beside Sasuke’s crib. Sasuke sobs along with her.
Kakashi just looks at Tsunade. “Milady, can you tell what their ages are exactly?” Kakashi asks.
Tsunade just sighs. “No more than a year at the very least.” Tsunade says.
Kakashi rubs his chin thoughtfully. “That means Sasuke has no memory of the massacre or Itachi’s betrayal.” Kakashi says. “
Baby Sasuke’s eyes suddenly perk up at the sound of his brother’s full name. “Tachi!” Sasuke says excitedly. “Tachi!”
Sakura looks at baby Sasuke with tearful eyes. “Sweetie, your big brother is not here.” Sakura says with a soothing voice.
The baby’s eyes become wide and tear filled. It seems that he can partially understand Sakura’s words. “Tachi!” Baby Sasuke says as he sobs. “Waaah…Tachi!”
Everyone in the room simply watches baby Sasuke sob. They all share glances with one another. It appears that they may have to avoid saying the rogue Uchiha’s name in front of baby Sasuke.
Jiraiya sighs and stands up. “There are a lot of concerns that need to be taken into consideration. First off, we have to worry about Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.”
Kakashi’s eyes widen. “That is right.” Kakashi says. “If the Akatsuki and Orochimaru find out about this, there will be trouble. The Akatsuki could sneak into the village again to try and abduct Naruto in his vulnerable state. And since you know who is part of the Akatsuki, we may have to worry about the Akatsuki harming Sasuke. And Orochimaru and Kabuto will obviously come for Sasuke as well.”
Tsunade sighs. “We’ll just have to beef up village security.” Tsunade says. “And we need to make certain that this news does not get outside of the village. However, it just seems inevitable that the Akatsuki and Orochimaru will find out about this eventually. We’ll just have to be prepared for when that time does come.”
Jiraiya nods. “Agreed.” Jiraiya says. “While all of you tend to Naruto and Sasuke, I will go look for the Kitaya clan’s village and try to convince them to reverse the jutsu.”
Tsunade nods. “Good luck.” Tsunade says.
Jiraiya nods as he takes a few notes from the book. Then, without another word, Jiraiya leaves the room. Kakashi and Tsunade look at one another. Now comes the hard part. What do they do about Naruto and Sasuke’s care? They have no relatives to care for them!
Tsunade paces around the room for a few minutes. Then she sighs. “I am going to leave Naruto and Sasuke’s care to you and Sakura.” Tsunade says to a stunned Kakashi. “They shall sleep in a guarded room, and the two of you will sleep nearby in other rooms. The two of you shall care for them throughout the day.”
Kakashi rubs the back of his head. “Milady, I don’t know much about childcare I'm afraid.” Kakashi says. “And what about our missions?”
“You and Sakura will take missions inside the village until further notice.” Tsunade says.
Kakashi sighs. Well, it looks like there is no way out of this. He is going to be caring for his two babified students. Great.
Sakura on the other hand, just looks at the two babies inside their cribs. Sasuke finally fell asleep a few moments ago. Naruto is sleeping soundly in his own crib. Sakura blinks and gently strokes baby Sasuke’s small head. She just can’t believe that her teammate and crush ended up like this.
Well, at the very least Sasuke and Naruto have a sensei and a female teammate to care for them during this time. Sasuke and Naruto will need Kakashi’s protection more than ever now that they are so vulnerable. Especially with the dangers sure to come.
Unknown to everyone inside the hospital room, a figure stands in the shadows outside the window. The figure wears purple clothing and has big round glasses on his face. The figure sports silvery gray hair and dark eyes. The man smirks as he silently begins walking away. This is very interesting indeed…, The unknown man thinks to himself. Orochimaru-sama shall be very interested in this new development.
Then, without further ado, the man slips farther into the shadows until he disappears completely. However, unknown to the man, and the shinobi inside the hospital room, a white paper origami bird sits inside a vent leading to the room. The white origami bird then begins silently floating through the vent until it reaches an opening, which leads outside. The bird morphs into a sheet of paper in order to slide effortlessly through the cracks. After the sheet of paper is out of the vent, it morphs back into a bird, and then lands on a waiting finger. The finger belongs to a young woman with indigo blue hair which is tied back into a bun, and amber colored irises. The woman is wearing a black cloak with red clouds printed on it.
The woman’s eyes are closed. When she opens them, the origami bird turns into a sheet of paper and morphs with the woman’s body. “Interesting…,” The woman whispers to herself. “This is something Pain should know. And this should interest Itachi as well.”
Then, just like the mysterious man, the woman slips silently into the shadows.