Chapter 15
Luckily Keigo hadn't started a war.
The downside was that he now had a nice entry in the bingo book naming him as an S-rank ninja.
Now there were rumors throughout the village that Keigo had defeated an entire platoon single-handedly like his father had done before him.
That day however he was sitting on the wall of the Sarutobi complex, hidden by the foliage.
Hisao's funeral was being held in complete secrecy as he had died on an ANBU mission.
At least they had managed to bring his body home, the Naras had not had the same luck with Shoko.
Keigo hadn't had the strength to show up at the Sarutobi's door to attend the funeral with them, so he had hidden in the distance to mourn his teammate.
He could see the Third Hokage in the front row consoling what must have been Hisao's wife, holding a new born baby in her arms.
Konohamaru.
The service was almost over when Keigo was spotted by Hisao's own wife, her brown eyes meeting Keigo's blue ones.
He didn't move from that wall until the end, when she broke away from her family and came closer to him.
"You can stop hiding Duck, or should I say Keigo" she said.
"How do you know?" Keigo asked in dismay
"I should recognize the kid who passed my boot camp in record time and Hisao couldn't shut up about it"
Her boot camp?
Now that he actually looked at her the pale blonde hair was strangely familiar and the only person he had ever met in ANBU with that hair was Horse, his old instructor.
The realization must have been written all over his face because Horse chuckled.
"Oh yes Hisao wasn't the only ANBU in the family, you can call me Mai" Horse told him, no not Horse, Mai.
Konohamaru who had decided that the conversation had gone on long enough began to cry.
His little face wrinkled and turned red from fatigue. It reminded Keigo of when his little brother was the same age and the sleepless nights he spent looking after him.
The new mother who was exhausted and suffering from the loss of her husband could not calm him down.
"Can I?" he asked, pointing to the baby.
Mai with a surprised face didn't ask too many questions and handed him her little son.
With a learned ease, Keigo supported the boy's head as he began to sway and tap his back lightly.
Mai was looking at him in amazement as the child slowly calmed down.
"You know, Hisao couldn't stop talking about him even though he wasn't born yet" he said fondly "I was with him in his last moments and he made me promise to look after Konohamaru"
He looked at her with now shining eyes and tense shoulders.
"Sounds just like our Hisao" she said with affection overflowing from her voice.
Our.
"I wasn't able to bring him home, please forgive me" the dam Keigo was holding finally broke, sobs shaking his body and his knees hitting the ground.
"It's not your fault, you don't have to carry the world upon your shoulders Keigo"
What a way to celebrate New Year's Eve, he thought as Mai reassured him.
In the afternoon Keigo and Naruto dragged Tenzou to the Nara compound to disturb their old sensei and maybe pick up something to eat.
Shikaku, after taking a good look at the innocent faces they had turned to him, sent them to the living room to entertain Shikamaru.
That evening they all watched the fireworks together from the garden of the complex and in the end Keigo and Tenzou fell asleep in the living room each with a child in their arms.
With the new year and the arrival of spring a new set of recruits invaded the ANBU building.
Their already small team had dwindled dramatically. Two dead and the third, Genma, had decided to give up after learning what had happened. At the time of the mission he had been exchanged with Team Ebo, because they needed a poison expert for their mission.
When they had returned and given him the news, he had made up his mind and left the ANBU division to return to the regular forces.
In recent months the Team Ro consisted of only three people. They managed well but one more member wouldn't have hurt to even out their numbers.
Their requests were filled within two weeks of starting the boot camps.
They were in the locker room changing after a day of training when someone interrupted them by knocking.
Keigo, confused by who could be at the door, immediately went to open it, at first he didn't see anyone until he lowered his gaze slightly and met a mask staring at him.
He quickly ushered in what must have been a child and possibly his new teammate.
"Well I'm Keigo, the one with the old man hair is Kakashi and the one with the embarrassing metal plate on his face is Tenzou" his introductions hadn't been as thorough as the ones he'd been given the first time he stepped into the room but by his standards they were perfect.
"And who are you, half a pint?"
The child seeing that the others were also not wearing the mask slowly took it off as he introduced himself.
"Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha"
Obviously Keigo knew who he was, he'd have to be living under a rock not to know.
The Uchiha clan had announced to the entire village of the clan's new prodigy heir, a child who had activated the sharingan at just seven years old and who beat adult shinobi in combat.
"Then welcome to team Ro, Itachi Uchiha"
Itachi was a closed child, that was clear to everyone, his face was stone for anyone who didn't take more than five minutes to dismiss him.
But Keigo was breaking down the walls he'd put up one walk at a time.
Every time he went to pick up Naruto after training he walked to Mikoto's house with Itachi who happened to be Sasuke's brother, his little brother's most frequent playmate.
He had noticed that underneath it all, Itachi was a sweet child who cared about many things.
Now whenever Keigo was near the compound to drop off or pick up Naruto, Itachi would pop out and accompany him.
He had started calling him his duckling.
On a particularly sultry summer day, Keigo had taken Naruto and Sasuke to play in the river to cool off a bit.
Itachi was as always by his side.
After playing in the water with the children for a while, Keigo sat down on the shore with his legs still submerged.
You could tell he was in his element, water and sun kissing his tanned skin.
The same couldn't be said for Itachi, the boy was deathly white and still clothed and was sitting on a dry rock near Keigo.
The silence between them was comfortable and the laughter in the background put a smile on their lips.
"Why did you decide to be a shinobi Keigo?"
The question came out of nowhere.
"Why did you decide to be one, Itachi?" Keigo asked back.
"It was expected" the boy answered sincerely.
Keigo understood what he meant, what could he be if not shinobi? With expectations of becoming as great if not better than his parents he didn't have many options.
And so he told Itachi.
"But then everything changed, I found a reason to continue being shinobi, someone to fight for if you put it that way" Itachi was listening to Keigo, enraptured by his words.
"Who?"
"Them" Keigo replied, pointing with a sweet smile to the children who were still playing in the water. "Above all, but also dad, Kakashi, Tenzou, Shikaku-sensei and Obito"
"And how could I forget about my duckling, you too are part of my reasons" Keigo continued.
Itachi looked at him with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe his words.
"Do you understand Itachi? It doesn't matter whether you were meant to become a shinobi or not as long as you find what gives you the strength to keep fighting and a reason to come home"
After some encouragement from Keigo the boy nodded in affirmation.
"Good I'm happy, now we better get the little monsters back before they try to drown each other"
Keigo said before venturing further down the river to call the children back.
Itachi watched him go as he thought about what he had been told.
Since he graduated from the academy he hadn't thought about why he fought, now that he had been told though he realized it, he had always done everything to get home to Sasuke.
And perhaps next to his little brother's name he could add Keigo's name.