Coming and Going

A/n & dis: I do NOT under ANY circumstance own Naruto, Kishimoto-sensei does. I own any OCs I introduce, my plot (after the adopted chapters) and my insanity. Keep the flames down please, Tobirama, Zabuza and my other Suiton users have all run away. This is kinda AU.

So, question for my readers, respond if you care since i want opinions. Should i have Zabuza and Haruko hook up or nah? Yes or no in the reviews for your answers. If you say no, i'll listen.

And to the guest who asked if they were keeping HInata, sorry they aren't. But she visits a lot.

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"Who's he?" asked Haku, looking at the masked man who was eating in their kitchen.

"This is Momochi Zabuza. He'll be lending us a hand around here from time to time around here," said Tsunade, "Zabuza, this is Haku, Haruko-san's son."

"He's a boy?!" asked Zabuza, more than a little shocked. The kid looked like a girl.

"Yes, i am a boy," said Haku, a scowl on his face, though hidden by the mask, as Zabuza schooled his face to be neutral again.

Kimimaro looked at Zabuza distrustfully.

"Oh right. Zabuza-san, apologize to Kimimaro. Kidnapping people isn't nice," said Shizune.

"The fu-" started Zabuza before a sharp glare from Tsunade made him pause, "The heck should i apologize? The kid wandered after me."

"Because. If you don't, we aren't afraid to take drastic measures," said Kakashi sternly.

"Fine. Sorry for kidnapping you," said Zabuza to the tiny boy.

"I dunno…" said Kimimaro, a distrustful look painted on his face.

"We need his help Maro, even if you don't like him you need to accept he won't leave," said Shizune, her hand on the boy's head.

"Fine…" muttered the masked Kaguya before he took his usual seat at the table for lunch.

"So, i can come here whenever?" asked Zabuza.

"So long as you send warning. We'll patch you up, give you a room. But never come here wearing the blood of others if you can avoid it," said Tsunade.

The bandaged ninja sighed but nodded. This was a pretty cushy gig. All he needed to do was not fuck off and do whatever and he'd get paid just to listen in on news. He unwrapped his bandages, revealing pointed teeth and an aloof looking face. He looked at the group, noting the masks before he asked, "Whats up with that? The masks."

"Family tradition," shrugged Tsunade, "We use genjutsu to hide their faces when they eat."

"Well shi- heck. I didn't need to take off my bandages then," said Zabuza scratching the back of his head. He had no idea what he was doing right now. He didn't really interact with others outside the other Shichinin, and none of them were brats. He had no idea why he had agreed to this….

"Somethin' ron?" asked the yellow haired blond boy, his words still slightly slurred though the mask he was unused to. But they were far clearer than they had been earlier.

The tall ninja raised an eyebrow but said, "It's nothin'. Yer masks seem WAY more convenient then my bandages is all."

"We can give you one if you want. We have lots of spares," said Kakashi as Haruko set out the food.

"Nah. It'd be suspicious if i suddenly started wearing somethin' new after a mission like this," said Zabuza, "'Sides, i like my bandages. Though i will need to remember that genjutsu thing." He looked down at the food. It was simple, but it smelled so good. Especially compared to the gruel in Kiri.

Hinata looked openly stressed. She wasn't used to large crowds of strangers.

Shizune patted her head reassuringly before she dug into the chicken in front of her.

The tiny girl took a deep breath then started eating. It was so much more relaxing here than at her home. But she missed her parents. How much longer would she be here?

After everyone had finished Haruko took Hinata's hand and took her to a patient room as she said, "You'll be sleeping here. Don't worry, Shizune-san will be in here too incase a bad man comes, ok?"

Hinata nodded uncertainly before the Hyouton user patted her head affectionately and walked out.

"This'll be your room. Do whatever you want with it. But keep weapons out of reach of kids. We don't need another 'i stabbed my hand' incident," said Kakashi opening a door to a vacant room.

"Do i wanna know?" asked Zabuza.

"Just, keep the weapons out of reach. Or Kaa-san will get mad," said Kakashi with a shrug.

"Understood," said the Kiri-nin as he entered.

He was sitting on his bed, thinking when he noted the effeminate boy at the door, staring at him.

"Ya need somethin'?"

Haku started to shake his head before he asked, "Do you hate Kekkei Genkai?"

"Not particularly. My Kage does, but fuc- fudge him. He can't see the potential," said Zabuza.

Haku nodded before he walked off.

That had been…. odd. Why had the kid bothered asking him that?

He lay back down on his bed, looking up at the roof before he dozed off.

Zabuza sat on his bed. He didn't belong here. This family was innocents. He grabbed his blade and went to leave, being stopped by the black haired boy's mother as she said, "Not even going to stay for breakfast, Momochi-san?"

"Don't belong here. Tell yer boss i'll keep my end of the bargain, but i won't ever be here," said Zabuza.

"Tell her yourself. She'll be down in a bit," said the woman as she went towards the kitchen. She had things to do.

Zabuza sighed and went outside looking into the mists surrounding the home. It'd be easy to vanish, claiming the girl wasn't here. His Kage would be pissed, but he could deal with that. He couldn't handle brats, and a family. He wasn't ashamed of his past. His past had made him the strong shinobi he was. But even he recognized that his hands were irreparably stained with blood. So he decided to leave.

"Leaving?" asked Tsunade, coming to join him.

"Can't stomach brats. Might wanna hurt em," said Zabuza.

"Well, i think Haruko might have something to say about that," said Tsunade, "Besides, you'll need somewhere to go if Kiri finds out you lied to them."

Zabuza fell silent. He couldn't REALLY argue with that logic. The ninja sighed and said, "Won't be around much either way."

"That's your choice. But our door is always open," said Tsunade, "Haruko, get him some food and water for the road."

"Ok Tsunade-san," said the young mother, "This just needs to sit and finish anyway." She patted the top of a steamer before she went over to the rice to make some onigiri for the leaving ninja.

Zabuza waited silently, unsure how to react to people taking care of him, since no one in Kiri cared about each other.

His concentration was broken when he was handed a bundle wrapped in plain white cloth and a water bottle. He tucked the objects into a pouch on his back and nodded politely before he walked away.

"He's going to come back?" asked Haruko after a few minutes.

"Probably. People like use like having places to call home, and this is a place that can be his home," said Tsunade as they returned inside.

The pair passed the next hour talking about Haruko's med nin training only stopping when a bleary eyed Kimimaro and a wide awake Shizune came down.

"What? No haku, Ruto or Kashi?" asked Tsunade.

"All dead asleep," laughed Shizune, "Though food will wake Ruto any sec-"

A tiny blond carefully descended the stairs one at a time, his eyes half shut and crusted with sleep.

"Hello my little man," said Tsunade, lifting the boy, who was maskless, like Kimimaro was.

"Hi kaa-san," yawned Ruto, his arms hugging his mother's neck.

"Let's go get you woken all the way up so you don't fall asleep on breakfast, ok?" said Tsunade as she went to go wash the boy's face and brush his teeth.

Ruto nodded and dozed off during the process only waking up when he felt his longish hair being brushed and he gave a noise similar to a purr, startling Tsunade.

"Guess you like that huh? Just like your tou-chan there," said Tsunade, burying her sadness for her lost nephew under a smile for her living grandnephew.

Ruto nodded and then the pair returned to breakfast, seeing Kashi and Haku up and with them.

"Nice to know good food is always the best motivator," chuckled Tsunade as she set Ruto down in his high chair as Haruko served up egg mixture she had been cooking.

"Delicious as always, Haruko-san," said Kashi with a polite nod.

"Its nice to have decent ingredients to cook wi-"

Hinata stumbled down and was put next to Ruto to eat when a knock was heard at the door.

Tsunade went to see who was there. Her eyes widened seeing Fugaku, Mikoto and Itachi, as well as their own 2 year old boy.

"Can i help you?" asked Tsunade, noting Shizune walking up behind her before she turned and headed back for the kitchen to get the boys into their masks and to tell Kashi to get on his genjutsu.

"We just wanted the best to look over our boys, is that ok?" asked Mikoto, Fugaku remaining silent, "Say hello Itachi, Sasuke."

"Its nice to meet you, Senju-dono," said Itachi, bowing politely.

"Hello," said Sasuke with a bright smile.

"Um sure. The clinic isn't open yet, and won't be for another 2 hours, but you are welcome to wait here. The Hyuugas dropped off Hinata for her own check up before they went to handle business if you want to do the same," said Tsunade as she ushered in the 4.

"That would be convenient, since our business will take two days and we can't stay at an inn for personal reasons," said Fugaku with stiff formality.

"Let me go get my sons. I think they'll like having some non-related friends," said Tsunade, "Could you wait here?"

"No trouble," said Mikoto looking around the entrance hall, though her husband looked slightly perturbed at being told to wait.

Tsunade bowed and went to get Kimimaro, Ruto and Kashi, who was in a genjutsu that made him look like brunette with dark grey eyes and the ends of scars peeking over his mask.

THe three exchanged odd looks but nodded, Haku following.

"Uchiha-samas, these are my sons. Kashi is the oldest, i found him here in Wave. Kimimaro is an orphan from Mizu who we picked up on a run there for herbs. This is actually my housekeeper's son Haku, but he's practically family. And last is little Ruto, he's only two, but we found him abandoned on our doorstep just after we arrived here," said Tsunade, putting her hand on each boy's head as she introduced them before she continued, "Boys, these are the Uchihas. Fugaku and Mikoto and their sons Itachi and Sasuke. Itachi and Kimimaro look about the same age so i think it'll be ok to leave them together. Kashi, can you keep an eye on Sasuke and Ruto today?"

"Sure thing kaa-san," said Kashi with a nod.

Haku stuck a bit closer to Ruto, as he usually did.

"Its a pleasure to meet you boys, if its not rude, why are they wearing those masks?" asked Mikoto.

"I'm afraid they're taking after me. I wear mine to cover some very…. severe scars," said Kashi using a cover story.

"I am sorry for asking then. We'll be back to pick you boys up tomorrow, be good ok?" said Mikoto, crouching to look her sons' in the eye.

"Hai, kaa-sama," said the pair in unison.

Mikoto nodded and pressed kisses to their foreheads before she and Fugaku left.

"Have you two had breakfast?" asked Tsunade after a few awkward moments.

"No, ma'am," said Itachi.

"Then lets get some food in you, don't need you fainting during the exam," laughed Tsunade before the boys followed her to the kitchen where Haruko gave them some food.

"Ok Itachi-kun, come with me so i can do your check up," said Tsunade a little while after breakfast.

The somber boy nodded and followed her out of the room.

"You ready for your check-up Sasuke-kun?" asked Shizune, getting the boys attention from where he was playing.

Sasuke stayed silent for a moment before he nodded and stood, walking over to Shizune.

Hinata and Ruto watched before returning their attention to the game they had been playing.

"You're very quiet Itachi-kun," said Tsunade as she took Itachi's heart rate.

"It's better to observe than to comment sometimes," said the boy after a few moments of consideration.

"A wise answer. Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san must be very proud of you," said Tsunade with a chuckle as she moved onto checking his reactions.

"You praise me too much, Tsunade-sama," said the gray haired boy with a bow of his head.

"Humble too," said Tsunade, tousling his hair like she did with her sons.

Itachi's ears blushed lightly but he stayed quiet as the exam continued.

Over in the other exam room…..

"Ok Sasuke-kun, lets get started," said Shizune as she lifted the small boy up onto the exam table.

He remained silent, eyeing the stranger warily.

"I don't bite y'know. I promise," said the med nin with a sigh.

Sasuke blushed a little and relaxed a bit. He couldn't embarrass his family.

"Sasuke-kun, if you're this tense i won't be able to take the measurements you need," said Shizune, "I bet Itachi-kun is being good about this. Should i go ask him for advice about how to get you to relax?"

"NO!" exclaimed the tiny boy before he clapped his hands over his mouth. Uchiha never got startled.

Shizune chuckled and said, "Calm down, the sooner we get started, the sooner you and your brother can go back to playing, ok?"

Sasuke nodded as Shizune started.