a/n: story is half-way to completion at this point. I may be editing this chapter a bit, adding some stuff in the future.

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the frog in the well

"a frog can be busy too"

the child he loves

Sakumo was more excited than he'd ever been in his life to hear the news that he was having a child.

Etsuko's eyes gleamed with tears, her hands lifting to cover her mouth as she covered the broad grin she had pulling at her lips.

"You're for real?" He had to ask, just to be sure it wasn't a prank. He had to be sure before he released the crowing sound building up within him.

She nodded, laughing and it sounded like she was singing with that lovely voice of hers. He couldn't help himself—he reached his arms around her waist and swung her around.

Etsuko's laughter grew breathy as she slapped at his shoulders, giggling as she grinned at him. "Stop, stop, I'm pregnant! You shouldn't toss around a pregnant woman so haphazardly, y'know."

Sakumo set her down immediately, more nervous than he thought he'd be. "Pregnant," he echoed. Ah, the word sounded like magic to his ears. He had it all now, didn't he? A beautiful wife, a child on the way, success in his missions and respect from his colleagues. He almost wanted to cry, overwhelmed in the reality of it.

"Yes, pregnant," Etsuko said decisively, her expression soft as she regarded him.

Like the wind, he could feel her love emanating off of her and he knew they were unseen waves he was sending back ten fold. Sakumo reached out to tuck a stray hair back behind her ear.

"Thank you for having said yes," he whispered, leaning in to kiss her. Once, twice, a third time that deepened.

She pulled away panting. "Thank you for having asked at all."

the child he loves

"Einosuke!" Ayame crowed excitedly and though it was causing a scene in front of a few strangers, she launched herself into his awaiting arms with glad laughter.

"How's my favorite girl been?" he asked, grinning as she kissed his cheek.

"Hopeless without you," she declared. "You?"

"Much the same." He slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a cursory glance over, his brows notching upwards. "Trying out a new fashion trend?"

"Doesn't it suit me?" Ayame's smile turned broader, pulling away to twirl in the knee-length peach skirt she'd put on that morning.

"The skirt suits you just fine, but it's the hair I'm surprised by!" Einosuke lifted a hand up to touch at the ends of her hair, his hand brushing against her shoulder as a result. "Aya-chan, did something awful happen? Why'd you chop such a pretty thing off?"

"Told you I've been hopeless," she joked, shyly fingering her newly shortened hair.

Ayame kind of regretted cutting it all off—she'd been growing the damn thing for her entire life!—but in many ways, she'd experienced a freedom and unburdening of stress that she had sorely been in need of.

Cliche as it was, she felt newer than she had been before. Happier, more carefree. Only because she'd accepted her lot in life and the inevitability of it all crashing without a moment's notice.

Mayumi had said it best; why spend minutes worrying when she could be doing something instead?

So doing something she was. Like cutting her hair, finishing up with necessary paperwork, going on meetings with realtors for lots and empty buildings she could make a bookstore out of. Better yet, she'd been taking Hiruko out into the village even more often, much to his utter joy.

He was still working on getting her to leave him alone when he wanted to go play with other kids alone, but no way was that happening without her being close enough to keep an eye on him.

Which was why, "I found a place for the store. Right across from a park frequented by civilian kids and their parents. It could be a marketing tactic even; while the kids play, the parents can pick out a book to pass the time. I was thinking we could even stock up on art supplies, have a section for the kids. Oh! And Mayumi wanted to ask about us possibly incorporating a place for tea. Not exactly for ceremonies—though I can serve as well as any geiko if needed—but it'd be more as something to relax with. A place of peace and tranquility, quiet in the land of books—how's that for marketing? We could put that on an ad—"

Einosuke laughed, jostling her as he took her by forearm. "Aya-chan, first let's find some tea at your place before we get into discussing the details. I've been looking forward to seeing Hiruko-kun after all."

"Chan. He isn't old enough to be addressed any other way," Ayame corrected, relenting as she lead him down the road.

"How has Hiruko-chan been? Has he adjusted to the village lifestyle."

"Well, he still complains about not getting to see you but he's still a child and forgets easily enough. For now, he's still too excited about getting to stay with his uncle and having more time to spend with me. Though, lately, that realization makes him aware that maybe he doesn't want to spend time with his mother, because that means rules and he wants to break all of them. It's only with me too. He's so polite with Mayu-chan and Aso-chan, but when it comes to his own mother, he likes to play up his antics and act cute. It's too bad it mostly just makes me laugh, which makes me worried he isn't getting disciplined enough."

Ayame paused, perplexed by how much she had spewed out of her mouth without thinking.

Einosuke looked at her, bemused. "Haven't had many to talk to, have you?"

"You're so sharp!"

"Well, it's to be expected. You're still new to the village and I can't imagine it being easy to assimilate when you've only known a certain way of living."

"I suppose. I'm just hoping the bookstore will allow me to meet new people. Hopefully, a few will be good-looking men who don't mind messing around in the back with me."

Einosuke snorted. "Really?"

She grinned cheekily. "I want to be adored again. Besides, you told me to meet someone, so I'm going to try."

"Ah, this is the Aya-chan I have been missing," he noted, his eyes twinkling.

"So? Have you met anyone yet?"

"Well, given my limited pool, it's not as easy as you might think to find a man who isn't just in it to be experimental."

"Tch. No one good, huh?"

"No one good," he agreed.

"At this rate, we really will just have to marry each other," she noted thoughtfully.

"Born to a whore, married to a whore—almost poetic."

She snickered at that. "Retired whore, remember? I'm about to become a manager at a bookstore. I'm a perfectly respectable woman now."

"Says the woman who knows just how to tickle a man's balls into ejaculation and amassed such a following, I still get people begging for your return."

"Ooh, really?" Ayame grinned, pleased to hear this.

"Some have tried to pay me a quantifiable sum to beg your return," he said dryly and with a wink.

"Well," she began, setting up the stairs that would lead to Jirai-nii's apartment, "that isn't going to happen. I'm never going back." Even if she did still miss it, dreaming of those long passed nights, wanting.

Some part of her really was hoping to meet a nice book-interested customer that she could get to nail her somehow, but that wasn't very proper to discuss out loud. Wasn't very proper to think about either. It made her feel rather two-faced, having to bend to the expectations of others.

"I'm happy to hear that," Einosuke murmured, following after her as she opened the door.

Hiruko rounded the corner, a big grin on his face. "Eino! Eino!" He collided with Einosuke's knees, pressing his face into his robes before pulling back with arms raised in an obvious request to be held.

"Hello there, Hiru-chan," Einosuke greeted, lifting Hiruko up into his arms and giving a kiss to his forehead. "Have you been a good boy for your mother?"

"The best!"

"Really?"

A sage nod.

Ayame rolled her eyes at that. "He got into the cupboards this morning and made a mess of the pantry in search of sweets. I don't even know how he got up so high!"

"Kaa-chan laughed!" Hiruko cried, as if that exonerated him of fault.

"How did you get up so high? Climbing?" Einosuke asked, always the one more curious after Hiruko's methodology. Ayame was usually too distracted with the 'why' he did something, than the 'how'.

"I jumped," Hiruko answered, his tone nonchalant.

Ayame frowned. "Jumped? Like, up and down?"

"Up and down, onto the counter, onto the shelf," Hiruko explained slowly, expression scrunching. "Jumping!"

"Ah! Did you beg your uncle into teaching you something he shouldn't have?" Ayame asked, worried he could have gotten himself hurt and frustrated that she hadn't thought to ask like Einosuke had.

"I'm going to be a shinobi," Hiruko declared. "It's practice!"

Ayame yelped, clasping a hand over her mouth to soften the sound of her shock. It was too soon! She didn't want to think of him training to do something so dangerous, especially not before he reached school age. She was supposed to have another year to adapt to the idea of this possibility!

"Aya-chan, aren't you going to offer me something to drink?" Einosuke asked, interrupting the buzz of her thoughts.

"R-right. Tea?"

"Orange juice!" Hiruko said.

"I'll take the same actually. Been a while since I had some."

"Hiru-chan? Can you lead Eino-chan into the living room?"

"Yes!"

Ayame fled to the kitchen, getting the serving tray prepared with three glasses of orange juice. She just barely withheld the temptation to add something extra to her drink that might have soothed her stress levels. She was trying as hard as she could not to replace one addiction with another—the temptation was there all the same.

"Einosuke arrived?" Mayumi asked, her voice tapering off into a yawn. Ayame turned to see her scratch at her scalp, messy hair still uncombed.

"Yes. Did we wake you? Sorry..."

Mayumi waved her off. "It's fine. I'm sorry I wasn't up watching Hiruko when you were out of the house."

Ayame paused to refocus her gaze, taking in the distinct bags under her eyes. "Have you been doing okay lately? Seems you're always exhausted. Y'know, you didn't have to accept that job so quickly. The bookstore will be up and running before you know it, then you'll just have to quit."

Mayumi shrugged her shoulders. "It's not work. It's something..." Her cheeks reddened.

Ayame ducked in and couldn't stop herself from asking in a whisper, "Is it the sex cravings?"

"You know?" Mayumi's eyes went wide, and she lifted a hand to her mortified expression.

"I get them too," Ayame said soothingly.

"I'm tired of them. I thought I was finished with all that kind of stuff when we left the brothel."

"It's to be expected. Our bodies adapted to a certain norm, and now we just have to adapt again."

"It's hard," Mayumi grumbled, her expression dark.

Ayame looked at her, a bit perplexed. "Just seduce my brother. You can do that, can't you?" She swept a glance over Mayumi's form and nodded, satisfied. "You're his type."

"Your br-brother!" she sputtered. Mayumi looked horrified. "You'd be alright with that?"

"Mayu-chan," Ayame started, reaching out a hand to her shoulder, "we've been sisters since long ago. Of course I don't mind."

Cheeks reddening even further, Mayumi gave a shake to her head. "I'm off to wake up my daughter. Tell Einosuke-san I'll join the three of you soon."

"Will do!" Ayame didn't watch to see her leave, turning back to the serving tray and confirming that yes, in fact, she didn't need to spike her drink.

Not yet anyway.

the child he loves

It was months later that Sakumo really began to see the swell of his child in Etsuko's belly. It was more apparent than ever when she was fully clothed, making him beam in happiness.

Excitement and plans for the future began to take up most of his time, especially the latter as he worked on getting the baby's room outfitted with everything a child would need. Etsuko was just as busy, coming home with bags at a time, a growing stock of diapers and clothes pilling up in the closets.

Friends had begun to drop by presents too, making for a whole lot of stuff that formed into a collection of things that would be useless to a newborn baby but might prove interesting as their kid aged.

Ah, his kid was going to grow up spoiled, having everything it could possibly want.

Already, the room was laid out with a chair for Etsuko to sit up in with the baby, a crib, a mobile that played calming music, and a dresser fully packed with diapers and plenty of nighties for the kid to ruin with puke. It was going to be great.

Sakumo finished with stacking a few of his own things to make room for the baby's things—mostly parenting books he needed to read as soon as possible. Now, all there was to do that day was wait for Etsuko to come home with that belly of hers.

He'd surprise her with having arrived home much earlier from the mission he'd just been on. Just in time to hear news about the baby! If he remembered right, she'd be getting out of an appointment with the doctors.

As if thinking on cue, Etsuko came in through the front door and made her way into the living, jumping when she found him sitting on the couch with a book in hand.

"You're home!" A smile broke out onto her face before she rushed to sit down beside him, her lips kissing his cheek before pulling back, sounding breathless. He raised a brow.

"Any news?"

"It's a boy!" she said, almost loud enough to be a yell.

Sakumo felt his hands go numb, the book slipping from his still fingers as his jaw dropped. She snickered at his reaction.

"That's right, you gotta pay up on that bet of ours," she reminded him tauntingly, going in to kiss his cheek before rising to flounce away.

"And what was it that we bet again?"

"Naming rights," she said with a serene smile.

"And what is it that you'll be naming our son?"

"Why, it'll be Kakashi, of course." As if he should have been able to guess.

With that, she left the room as suddenly as she had come in.

the child he loves

"What? I have to wait till next year to join Hideki-chan at school?" Hiruko asked in a whine, his hands clinging to Ayame's skirt as she went about in the kitchen.

Three months since his birthday, she'd finally gotten the hang of cooking and had even grown to be a bit addicted to the craft. It made her feel like she had her shit together, being able to make oyako-don or nikujaga without a moment's notice, technique and recipes firmly in hand.

It might have been her coping without sex, but it was making her into that much more of a dependable mother.

And dependable mother's got their kids into the schools they wanted to join.

"School started in April, but you're still only four. It's the five year olds that get to join, so your new friends at the park will just have to wait until your next birthday." She'd had to talk to a few school officials, only to get that answer—a frustrating adventure that left even her a bit disappointed.

She was a bit grateful he still wasn't going to school, but seeing his crestfallen stare made her stomach sink.

"Sorry you weren't born a year earlier. It's my fault, I was a bit stubborn with your father," she said, chopping up carrots.

"Kaa-chan, when is Oji-chan coming home?" Hiruko asked, a pout set onto his lips that she saw only after he tugged at her skirt.

"He'll be home for dinner, why?"

"I want him to teach me more! Hideki-kun said I would be weaker than everyone in the whole world if I didn't practice!"

She snorted. "You are related to two of the strongest shinobi in recent history, of course you won't be weak."

"What does related mean?"

"Family."

"Eh?" His eyes went wide. "I'm re-related to two strong shinobi?"

"Yes. Your father, and your uncle."

"Who is my father?" he asked, closing his eyes as she went to run her fingers through his hair. "Eino-chan?"

She laughed. "You've never met him, but your father is a very famous man. People call him the White Fang—sounds cool, doesn't it?"

His mouth opened as an "ooohh" sound slipped out. His grin broadened. "Will I get to meet him?"

Ayame went quiet and debated on this, going back to chopping at the carrots with methodic diligence.

"Kaa-chan?"

"Maybe when you get older."

"Another one of those answers!" Hiruko shook his fist in her skirts, before he pressed his face into her leg. "I want to grow up now!" was his muffled scream.

Laughing, Ayame gently tugged him from her before she leaning down to kiss his forehead. "Be a kid first, okay?"

Still pouting, he shook his head.

"No matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby," she told him, kissing him one last time before adding, "Will you be a grown up and get Mayu-chan and Aso-chan? Dinner will be finished soon."

"Okay," he mumbled and took off from the kitchen with a speed she wouldn't have been able to match.

"He's his father's son," she mused, turning her focus back to preparing the meal.

He surely didn't get that ability of his from her.

the child he loves

Jiraiya had a predicament he was fond of, but had to somehow get out of.

Mayumi kissed his inner thigh with utter devotion in her eyes and again, he was spellbound. He'd been to a lot of brothels in his day, but none could outmatch a master at the art of sex techniques. He couldn't even count on his hand how many times he'd had that great of sex.

He'd done positions with her that he hadn't even dreamed possible, had some of the best orgasms of his life, and had a compatibility with her body that he salivated over when apart from her too long. That was all great, especially to a pervert.

She wasn't shy with her affections, and though she'd made it abundantly clear they would never be anything more than this deal of theirs, he still enjoyed having her with him all the same.

They didn't talk much as they touched each other, and while he was thinking of all the ways he could possibly write down her beauty, words escaped him. Instead, he was lost in the sounds of her moans and the brush of her tongue against his.

She'd given him enough material to write an entire book about, now that he thought about it.

"I'm buying a bigger house," he told her, minutes after they'd gathered their breath. Sometimes she lingered for pillow talk, other times she left the hotel rooms as fast as she could, rushing to get home to her daughter.

This time, she stilled against him, the hand she was using to stroke his skin stopping on the bulk of his chest. "Why?"

"The apartment is too small for all of us," he pointed out. "Plus, I found a place close to the lot by the park Aya-chan told me about."

"Are you planning for me to stay with you forever?" she asked, a strange note in her voice.

He shrugged. "You're welcome as long as you want to be. My nephew sees your daughter as his sister anyway, and if you left, it'd almost be as if the family was breaking up."

"Are you sure you'd be okay with me being there?" Mayumi asked, shifting to lay on him and meet his eyes. Her fingers went up to trace the markings on his face and before he could answer, she licked his lips. "You'll never find a good woman like this."

"Good woman is subjective," he pointed out.

"No good woman would appreciate a former whore hanging around. People will start to think you're taken if I live with you permanently," she shot back.

He mocked a horrified gasp. "My own sister is a former whore."

She snorted, shaking her head. "Do you never want to find love?"

He chuckled. "I don't know, never gave it much thought. What about you?"

Mayumi smiled. "I think you're lying. I think you've given it so much thought, you've scared yourself out of trying."

"And you're not answering the question yourself because...?"

"I've scared myself out of trying too," she murmured, before silencing his response with another kiss.

This one deepened, and with the skill of her tongue pressing against his, Jiraiya lost his head in pleasure he would have thought exaggerated if someone told him it had come from a kiss.

Ah, it was decided. They'd move into the biggest house he could afford, one with as much privacy as possible.

the child he loves

"That's the last of it?" Ayame asked no one in particular, watching another genin take off with a loot of boxes from the living room. She walked through the apartment, checking all the rooms, and nodded to herself. "The last of it."

Moving day had come far earlier than she had expected, and much earlier than even the bookstore opening, which was also fast approaching. Big things were happening and she was doing all she could to keep up, all the while appearing fresh and livened as usual.

The still vain part of her was sure to measure how long each of the genin helping looked at her. It appeased her greatly to know she could still draw gazes even outside of wearing makeup. Even better, she could do it under the heat of summer in August.

"I didn't think someone related to that guy could be so pretty!" one of the guys hissed in a whisper to another one and it left her conflicted, but happy.

To her, Jirai-nii was perfectly handsome, but the compliment itself still stuck.

Ayame was preening as she floated out of the apartment, spotting Hiruko on Jirai-nii's shoulders in the distance.

"We're done here!" she called out before jogging up to them, making sure not to trip over the hem of her kimono robe.

"I want dango," Hiruko said as soon as she reached them.

"I want sashimi," she responded, and then looked to Jirai-nii, who shifted his gaze away. When she went to stand more firmly in front of him, he sighed.

"Oi, oi, I'm paying for the house and the genin missions, I don't have the funds for sashimi and dango right now."

"Here, I thought you had to be rich because of all those missions of yours," she muttered, a bit sour about the fact she felt like she'd been seeing less and less of him lately.

His cheeks reddened on his already red skin. "Aya-chan, how about we have sashimi next month."

"I don't want dango anymore," Hiruko announced. "I want sashimi."

"What?" Jirai-nii's eyes widened. "You can't just change your mind about that!"

"Oji-chan," Hiruko whined, "you told me earlier that I could pick out whatever I wanted, and now you say that I can't?"

Jirai-nii went silent while Ayame went to take Hiruko off his shoulders and balance him on her hip. Together they stared at the shinobi in silence.

"The two of you aren't fair, you know?" Jirai-nii muttered, taking out his frog wallet to count the bills he had, shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Thank you very much, Jirai-nii," Ayame said, grinning as she kissed her son on the cheek. She'd raised a good son for him to have his mother's back where it counted most.

"Thank you, Oji-chan," Hiruko chimed in, playing up his charm with puffy cheeks and a wide-eyed expression. Ah! He was just too cute sometimes.

"I suppose it'll just have to be a family dinner celebrating the move," Jirai-nii muttered, before blinking at Ayame. "Where's Mayumi-chan and the kid?"

"At the sashimi restaurant I told them to wait at," Ayame announced happily.

Hiruko and Ayame both had a good laugh at the expression that made her brother have.

Jirai-nii shook his head in exasperation. "The both of you have me too wrapped up on your fingers."

"I'll treat you to sashimi with my first paycheck, promise," Ayame told him soothingly.

"I'll give you my favorite toy... for an hour," Hiruko offered.

"I'll take your second favorite for a whole day," Jirai-nii bargained.

Hiruko scrunched his face up and after a long moment, nodded. "Not a second too long, got it?"

"Got it," Jirai-nii said grinning.

the child he loves

At the start of September, Sakumo got it into his head that the birth of his son could come any day now. It warmed him a bit, knowing his birthday would be so close to his own, as if cementing the special bond he already felt.

"He isn't going to arrive with you just staring at my stomach like that," Etsuko informed him dryly, her hand smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt.

"I keep waking up thinking today will be the day, and when it isn't, I start wondering what's taking him so long. Our son might develop a habit of being late if we aren't careful."

She laughed at that and shook her head with a wry smile. "With you as his father, how could that be?"

"You think I'll be good at it?" Sakumo asked, a bit nervous over the answer. "I was an orphan, I don't know any of the good parenting techniques."

"Oh, dear, you've read how many books for that now? Stop worrying so much," Etsuko grumbled. "You'll be a great father, I know it."

"I suppose if you know it."

She smiled. "I do."

"Thanks," he whispered, and absentmindedly went to trace his thumb over the swell of her stomach. "I just want to do right by him."

"You will, you will," she said, with such confidence, he couldn't help but begin to hope.

the child he loves

Kakashi was born September fifteenth, just as autumn began to set in, the leaves turning colors on the trees outside the window in the hospital. It had been close to evening, after Etsuko had endured painful contractions for the hours that Sakumo spent white-knuckling the side rails of her hospital bed.

It had been her screams that stuck with him and the magical moment of meeting his son for the first time became tinged by it. The sound of her agony...and the despair that soon set in as he was ushered out of the room, it clung to him.

A day later, she passed away due to complications no doctor around could save her from.

And Sakumo became a widowed father of a healthy newborn boy, Kakashi, the baby who looked as if the weight of the world already sat on top of his tiny shoulders.

Or maybe that was just his own projection.

chapter nine - end

if Ayame ain't getting action, someone will uvu

Age Guide;

(In Story - Chapter Nine)

Jiraiya - 23 (Nov 11)

Sakumo - 20-21 (Sep 3rd)

Ayame - 21 (Jan 31st)

Hiruko - 4 (Feb 12th)

Kakashi - just born (Sep 15th)