The Start of the Mercenary Group, Akatsuki
__~KUSHINA~__
"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" Kushina's jaw was nearly to the floor, and her eyes were wide and in disbelief. The doctor simply laughed softly at Kushina's reaction. "I said that you are currently 3 weeks pregnant as of today, dear."
"But me and Mina use protection, and I am on birth control, so how?" The female doctor looked through her notes, making a quiet hum.
"That would be because of your Uzumaki heritage, making most medications ineffective, and with your heightened vitality, your chances of having children are nearly 10 times more likely than a normal woman your age". Of course, Kushina could see the logic, but it was still a shock. The red-haired woman looked down at her stomach and gently touched it, yet worry still plagued her. After all, what would happen to the seal? Would it hurt her baby? Would it weaken and allow the Kyuubi to escape?
The doctor, misunderstanding her worry, tried to assure her, "Don't worry dear, I know shinobi like you worry about children, but you are still in early enough stages to get rid of them-" The doctor wasn't able to utter another word as they collapsed under the seer amount of Kushina' killer intent.
"DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN". The doctor rapidly nodded, and the tension in the room vanished as Kushina controlled herself. "Sorry…just this baby is mine. Nothing will take them from me." The doctor gave a shaky smile.
"No, no, the f-fault is m-mine. I was b-being inconsiderate". The rest of the visit passed quickly; before Kushina knew it, she was back home. She was lost in thought, thinking about Minato's reaction. Not because he would not want the baby, quite the opposite, considering he was born an orphan and has always wanted a family. She was worried because Minato had been so busy recently taking care of special orders from the third Hokage. If he heard about her pregnancy, there was no doubt in her mind he would be torn on whether to stay with her or follow orders. However, she won't get anywhere by keeping it a secret, so it would be best to just tell her husband. She begins dinner while waiting for Minato to return.
A few hours pass before she senses her husband coming in
"Hi, Mina! How was your meeting?" Minato smiles at her excitedly
"It went great, no better than that. I have good news, Kushina," The redhead blinks and gestures at him to continue. "I have been selected as the next Hokage, the fourth one." Kushina's eyes widen, and she shakes happily before jumping into her husband's arms. The two hug for a moment before Kushina pulls away, laughing.
"I'm so happy for you, though I am a bit jealous that you managed to become a Hokage before me," She said with a pout. Minato leaned forward, giving her a grin.
"Well…you may not be THE Hokage, but being the Hokage's wife isn't so bad, right?" Kushina hit the blonde shoulder at his teasing, but her heart was full. She suddenly recalls her news, and her hands land on her stomach. Minato notices, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Kushina…? What's going on?"
"I also have…my own news. As you know, I went to the doctor today…" Minato looks more worried now, so Kushina hurries up and blurts out, "...and I found out I'm pregnant!" Minato gave a slow blink
"Pregnant?"
"Pregnant," Kushina confirmed, and in the next moment, Minato collapsed onto the floor. The redhead fondly sighed as she picked the man off the floor and dropped him onto the couch with no struggle. She went to get some tea and sat next to her husband's unconscious body. It only took a couple of minutes before Minato's eyes widened, and he stared up at her with eyes full of emotions.
"So.. it's true, you're…" Kushina smiled
"Yes, with your child." Minato's eyes went shiny, and he carefully placed a hand on her stomach.
"My child, my baby, OUR baby…" He whispered in awe, tears stubbornly clinging to his eyes. Staring at those loving blue eyes, having Minato with her, having this life…, and having a chance at a family after losing her clan made Kushina feel so lucky.
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__~OBITO~__
If Obito was honest with himself, the Akatsuki was starting to look a bit like the original Akatsuki. The cloaks and Trio’s attitude mixture looked a lot like the anime Akatsuki. Seeing Yahiko act so seriously that Obito could almost mistake him for Pain was weird. However, as soon as the orange head was out of the public, he went back to his carefree self. Yahiko had become the figurehead of the organization with his leadership, Konan had become the secretary, and Nagato was sort of the bodyguard and assistant. Funny enough, Obito filled in Zetsu’s original role as the spy and information gatherer. He could summon many shadow clones for a non-Uzumaki, and his Kamui and gamer skills made infiltration easy. He would have been concerned about how easy it was if it did not benefit him.
Today was officially a month since he had visited Konoha and had not returned. Despite finding jutsus that could conceal his scent, he was still afraid of being discovered. Especially when Danzo has been acting strangely recently, and Obito has yet to find the cause, which irritates him. Obito shook his head, telling himself to think about it later because he had to bring the Trio his latest information “obtained” by his clones. He walked into the meeting room and smirked, seeing the piles of paperwork in front of Yahiko that the Uchiha no longer had to do. Kanon seemed to be feeling sympathetic and taking a small portion to help. The orange head looked at her like she was his savior. Obito snorted quietly but wasn't quiet enough because Yahiko's head whipped around to glare at him.
"What are you laughing at?" Obito tried to play innocent.
"Me? Laughing? You must have the wrong guy," Yahiko glared, intensified
"Just because you have a mask doesn't mean I can't tell your expressions; I can practically feel it." This time, obito didn't bother hiding his laugh.
"Tobi, please stop teasing Yahiko. We have other matters to discuss.". The orange head sobered up, looking more serious.
"That's right, we found we need more manpower." Obito raised an eyebrow
"Elaborate"
"We have been using more members of the Akatsuki to rebuild and assist civilians, so we don't have enough people to go on a quest for more money."
"And..Neither can you go?" Both Konan and Yahiko sighed in unison.
"No, we…well, have been too busy managing everything, especially Nagato, considering he had been using so many clones to speed up the process." Obito nodded and looked up, thinking for a moment
"Any ideas or..?"
"Well…" Yahiko glanced at Konan, who nodded, "We have discussed bringing in outsiders to help."
"Like who?"
"Like missing-nin from other villages," Obito wanted to shout at Yahiko, but his gamer mind kicked in, and he thought about it logically. Missing Nin lived out in the wilderness with nowhere to go. They were usually strong and easily swayed by money. However, on the other hand, they had betrayed their original village or were once criminals.
"But why does that matter, all shinobi would have been considered criminals in my original world." Obito thought the idea had some merit and said so.
"I think it is a good idea depending on who you decide to recruit, so if possible, would you allow me to overlook the design process?" The duo strangely relaxed instead of becoming angry.
"That's fine."
"You are surprisingly trusting and not as annoyed as I expected."
"Why would we be annoyed? You are a good judge of character, well better than us, at least."
"Huh…and you don't think I might double-cross you and bring horrible people?"
"No, if you really wanted to do something, you wouldn't have tried to help us, so yeah, we trust you," Yahiko explained.
"Holy hell, these two are so naive; no wonder my other self could trick them so easily!" Obito was deeply concerned; however, at least it was him they seemed to trust.
"Alright… I'll go make a list of candidates, and we can choose together," Obito suggested, and the orange head nodded before frowning.
"Before…you can help with this paperwork-?"
"Nope! Good luck"
"Damn it!"