Well, it's a little corny (pardon the pun) but a nice, sweet little read. It was fun to write, so enjoy!
Warning: mentions of sex, nothing explicit.
Characters are probably a little OOC. My bad.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Yishin.
Sasuke Hates Corn
Sasuke sat at the dinner table, glaring at the steaming dish of his least favorite food. His wife, Sakura, bit back a smirk as she placed more dishes on the table.
"Yishi, dinner!" she called to their six-year-old son. His head covered with black hair that stuck up in the back the way Sasuke's did appeared, apple green eyes glinting with excitement.
"Daddy!" Sasuke grinned as he hugged his son.
"How was your day, Yishin?" Yishin made a face.
"That Uzumaki girl tried to make my hair not stick up!"
"Like father like daughter, always meddling," Sasuke said, without any real malice in his voice. Yishin looked at him, confused.
"Daddy, what are you talking about?" Sasuke shook his head, smiling.
"Never mind. Did Kini's mom come pick her up today?" Yishin nodded. "Did you say hello to Hinata?" Yishin nodded again.
"Yeah! I even bowed and everything!" Sasuke patted his son's head.
"Good for you."
"And daddy, it's Kiniko! Not Kini! Only babies have nicknames!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"That's not true. Kiniko's dad had a nickname for me when I was twelve." Yishin's eyes widened. He'd never heard of this before.
"Really? What was it?" Sasuke opened his mouth before Sakura handed him a fistful of silverware and napkins.
"It was a very rude word, one that little boys shouldn't know," she said disapprovingly. Sasuke bit his lip to keep from grinning and set the silverware around the table. When he was done, he went and put his arms around Sakura's waist: she had been watching him with a slightly disapproving look in her eyes.
"I have not greeted you properly, my dear."
He leaned her down and kissed her, smiling at his sons exclamation of "Ew! Why'd you guys have to kiss?" He said 'kiss' as if it were a dirty word. Sakura laughed, breaking the hold her husband's lips had on her own.
"Dinner's almost ready."
"Finally!" Sasuke turned a father glare onto his son.
"Don't be rude." Yishin ducked his head.
"Sorry."
"That's alright. Now go help your mother with dinner." Yishin nodded and hopped up, running into the kitchen. Sakura rolled her eyes as he husband reclaimed his seat. He looked at her and shrugged.
"What?"
"You could help too, you know." Sasuke sighed.
"Yeah, but I'd just screw it up. And I've been helping train new Genin all day!" He emphasized the last two words. "They're awful and annoying! Were we that bad when we were twelve?" Sakura nodded.
"Yeah. We were probably worse though. We had some troublemakers in our class." Sasuke followed into the kitchen, now genuinely curious.
"Really? Who was there, besides Naruto?" Yishin looked at him disapprovingly.
"Daddy! You shouldn't call the Hokage that! At least call him san!" Sakura grinned at her husband who rolled his eyes.
"Yeah Sasuke. Listen to our son." Sasuke leaned against the counter as Sakura and Yishin chopped vegetables.
"Fine. Who else was there besides Naruto-san?"
"Well, there were most of the girls. We all had bad crushes on you." Sasuke laughed. It had been a long time ago that that had happened. "And then we had all those weirdos. I mean, most Genin are weak, and don't have any special abilities. Pretty much every Genin in our class had a trademark technique by the time they were twelve, and several were from distinguished clans."
"Who else was from a distinguished clan besides me?" In most cases, this would sound like bragging, but Sasuke was asking an honest question.
"Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji."
"Are they cousins?" Sakura nodded.
"There wasn't really anyone else as distinguished as you three, but everyone else were from some very good families. And there were people from the other villages with good families as well. Like Gaara." Sasuke groaned.
"Don't even talk to me about that man! Can you imagine how hard it is to train twelve year olds with a guy who barely talks and a woman who talks too much?"
"You were with Ino, weren't you?" Sasuke nodded.
"And that wasn't even the worst part! The worst part of it was that Naruto came by, and he could've completely helped, and all he said was 'Keep up the good work!'" Sasuke finished his outburst and leaned against the counter once again, breathing harder than usual. "I swear, one of these days I'm going to take those stupid robes of his and choke him with them."
"Daddy!" Yishin cried shrilly. "That's not nice!" Sasuke sighed and patted his son on the head.
"I know. I'm sorry." Yishin nodded and went back to work. Ten minutes later, the three were sitting at the dinner table. And Sasuke was having his silent feud with the pot of his least favorite food ever.
"Yishin, eat your vegetables."
"But daddy doesn't have to!" Sakura raised an eyebrow at her husband, who was resolutely looking down.
"He has a point."
"But… I don't like it…" the argument sounded weak and childish even as he said it. Sakura smiled crookedly.
"Then you're setting an even better example." Sasuke glared playfully at her and took a big, yellow, steaming spoonful of…
"Corn."
"Yes dear. Good for you. You're learned to identify it now. Shall we move on to the harder vegetables?" Sasuke had to hand it to his pink-haired wife. Her delivery was excellent, not a hint of a smile. Sasuke snorted and let the hated vegetable plop onto his plate. Yishin sighed and took the spoon from his father. He got a scoop just as big as Sasuke's.
"Yishin, can you eat that much?" his father asked, curious. Yishin nodded proudly.
"If daddy can eat that much, so can I!" The small boys parents smiled at his devotion to his father.
At the end of diner, everyone's plates were clean. Except for Sasuke's. He still had the hated corn, no longer steaming, on his plate. He was carefully ignoring not only the stares of his family, but the corn.
"Sasuke, darling."
"Yes, my love?"
"Are you going to eat that?"
"… I was waiting for it to cool off." Sakura snorted disbelievingly and stood, clearing her place.
"Right. Well, if you don't eat it, you don't get dessert."
"What's for dessert?" Yishin asked eagerly. Sakura sighed self-pityingly.
"Well, we were going to go out for ice cream with the Uzumaki's, but if Sasuke can't eat his vegetables, I guess we'll just have to cancel." Yishin turned his horrified gaze to Sasuke.
"Daddy! Eat them! I wanna see Kini again!"
"I thought only babies had nicknames. Do you like Kini?" he asked, almost as an afterthought. Yishin blushed bright red.
"Well… it's okay for girls!"
"Do you like Kini?"
"No!" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and Yishin hung his head. "Yes." Sasuke roared with laughter and patted his son on the back.
"Good for you! You started way earlier than me! I was scared of girls until I was nine!"
Yishin looked up. "Really?"
"Really. In fact, I was still scared of them until I was twelve. I just hid it better. Fangirls are scary."
"Mommy, what are fangirls?"
"They're evil creatures that'll hide under you bed and eat you," Sasuke answered with a grin. Yishin jumped up and ran to his mother, hiding his face in her clothes.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" Sakura glared at her husband.
"Honey, that's not what fangirls are. They're young, teenage girls who all like the same guy and chase him around." Yishin pointed his tearstained face up to his mother.
"Really?"
"Really. Your father is just full of crap."
"At least I'm not full of corn!"
"Oh, just eat it you big baby! I want ice cream!"
"Me too daddy!"
Sasuke sighed dramatically, and began to eat the corn as fast as humanly possible. Of course, he ate it with the appropriate disgusting faces and sounds. When he was done, he drained his glass of water and looked pointedly at his wife.
"Happy?"
"Ecstatic. Yishin, get your shoes and we can go." Yishin nodded and bounded off to get his shoes on. Sakura walked over to Sasuke, and he pulled her into his lap, arms wrapping tightly around her. Sakura giggled.
"If he made such a big deal about kissing, imagine what he'll do if he sees us like this." Sasuke smirked slightly, continuing to kiss her neck, and didn't answer.
Sakura giggled again. "Come on, let's go get ice cream."
"Can't we just let him go by himself?" he asked, not kissing her ear.
"No. He's only six!"
"At six I had almost perfected my fireball jutsu."
"That's just your Uchiha blood. At six, I was wearing my hair practically like the girl from The Ring, and getting teased because of my big forehead. You need to remember that Yishin's not only an Uchiha. He has Haruno blood too."
"I know. That Haruno blood is what makes him so dang cute."
"Oh, I dunno. I think you helped with that a bit, Mr. Sexy."
"Oh? Is that my new nickname?"
"Or I can call you what Naruto used to call you."
"I think I prefer just Sasuke." Sakura smiled and turned her head, allowing her lips to be captured by his. "But only when you say it," he murmured. Sakura smiled, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "You are so sexy. I love that outfit on you." Sakura was wearing her usual style of clothes, but in dark blue and black, with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back.
"Hey, anybody home?"
"Mommy, daddy, Naruto-san and Hinata-san and Kini are here!" Yishin yelled excitedly, leading the three Uzumaki's into the dining room, just in time to see Sasuke's hand disappear under the back of Sakura's shirt. He immediately removed it, and sat, glaring at Naruto while Sakura blushed bright red. She made to get off his lap. Sasuke merely tightened his grip, not letting her leave. Naruto smirked at his former rival.
"Get a room."
"We have a whole house. We don't need a room," Sasuke coldly shot back. Sakura and Hinata made faces at each other. The two were always like this whenever they got together.
"Were you having fun training the new genin today Sasuke?"
"Oh, definitely, Naruto. You could've helped you know!"
"Daddy, Naruto-san!" Yishin corrected again. Sasuke rolled his eyes and finally allowed his wife to leave his lap.
"If he's going to call me Sasuke, I'm going to call his Naruto." And with that, the males greeting was complete. The two families left, Hinata and Naruto in the front of the group holding hands, Kini and Yishin in the middle, talking earnestly about some six-year-old occurrence, and Sakura and Sasuke in the back, his arm around her waist.
"I would rather we sent Yishin alone with the Uzumaki's."
"That would be rude. Anyway, you love ice cream."
"Yeah, but, that' s not what I want for dessert tonight."
"Then what…?" The twenty-four year old Uchiha looked pointedly at his wife, and she blushed.
"Oh." Naruto, noticing the conversation going on behind him, grinned, and turned.
"Hey kids! After the ice cream do you wanna come back to our place and watch a movie?"
"Yeah!" The two children burst out. The Uchiha adults looked, confused, at the Hokage.
"What-"
"Come on Sasuke. Anybody can see that you two are just begging for time together. We'll take Yishin and Kini. You kids go have fun." With a wave, Naruto turned again, the kids following him and Hinata happily. Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at his wife.
"Shall we go get ice cream?" Sakura nodded, and the two changed directions, heading to a different ice cream place, one that was farther from their home. After getting their ice cream, they strolled romantically through the park, gazing up at the stars.
"This reminds me of when we were dating," Sakura remarked quietly.
"When did we start dating?" Sasuke couldn't' remember. It was a happy, surreal blur to him, up until two weeks before he'd proposed.
"After you came back." Sasuke flinched.
"I don't want to talk about this."
"We need to. We've hardly talked about it at all." Sasuke turned to look at his wife. She was staring at him stubbornly, and he sighed. He knew there was no way he was getting out of this very unpleasant conversation. They found a bench and sat.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Why did you leave?"
"Power. Orochimaru offered it to me… and I accepted. I needed to kill Itachi."
"Was it hard leaving?" Sasuke looked down at his wife. She wasn't meeting his gaze, and he understood the deeper question she was asking. What she really meant was 'Was it hard leaving me?'
"Leaving the village was a bit difficult. I had friends, and it was my home. Leaving you…" Sasuke sighed, and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly. "I said goodbye to you last. I saved the hardest one for the end, like a coward. Sakura… leaving you was the hardest thing I have ever done."
"Then why did you leave?" Her voice cracked, and Sasuke winced. He hated making her cry, and he knew that he had always been the reason for her tears.
"I had to kill Itachi. My whole life had been centered on revenge. I couldn't let anything distract me. And then… you waltzed into my life, and I began to question everything. Even though what I really wanted was you, changing what had been my one goal in life was too difficult.
"That night… leaving you… I almost stayed. I was so close to staying. Another second with you would have made me stay. That's why I knocked you out." Sakura nodded, and they stood, walking back to their house. Sasuke had finished his ice cream.
"Okay."
"Is that all you wanted to know?" She nodded.
"Yes."
"Sakura… I'm so sorry for all the pain I've caused you." Sakura glanced at him. He was staring at the ground, bangs shadowing his eyes. Sakura smiled and slipped her arm around his waist.
"I know Sasuke. I know. And I forgive you for everything." Sasuke smiled, and picked her up bridal style. Sakura yelped, almost dropping her ice cream.
"Sasuke!"
"Sakura. Look, we know each other's names. After six and a half years of marriage I'd say we're doing pretty well. Shall we move on to our sons' name?" Sakura laughed, and finished her ice cream.
"Sasuke, you're so weird!"
"I'd say we're about the same level of weirdness. At least I don't have a super tough, practically insane alter ego that lives inside of me."
"You know she's awesome."
Sasuke nuzzled her neck as he carried her into their house. "She is awesome, because she's part of you."
"Aww… you are so full of it." The two adults laughed.
"It's true! And I'm only full of it when I'm lying to our son."
"You shouldn't do that! He always believes you."
"I know! That's why it's funny!" Sakura rolled her eyes, and then kissed Sasuke passionately.
"You're horrible."
"Only in some places. In other places I'm quite… skilled."
"Such as?" she asked, already knowing the answer as his hand crept up the back of her shirt again.
"Well… bed, for one." Sakura grinned.
"And we both know it. Remind me again just how skilled you are."
Two hours later Naruto quietly opened the door with the spare key the Uzumaki's had. Yishin was on his back, sound asleep, thumb in his mouth. Naruto gently tucked him into his bed, and went to Sakura and Sasuke's bedroom. He wasn't sure if they were home, and he couldn't just leave Yishin alone!
Opening the door, Naruto found the two in bed, Sakura in Sasuke's arms. Sakura had one of Sasuke's old shirts on (it was very baggy on her), and a pair of his boxers. Sasuke was merely wearing boxers. Naruto smirked as he saw the tangle of clothes on the floor. Sakura was usually a neat freak. Sasuke stirred as Sakura shivered. They had no blankets on them. Opening groggy eyes, he tried to reach for the blankets at the foot of their bed without disturbing Sakura, but he couldn't reach. Naruto's smirk widened as Sasuke saw him.
"Hey."
"Hey. Did you get lucky?" Naruto moved forward and pulled the blankets over them. Sasuke nodded his thanks, tucking them around his wife.
"I'm always lucky, because I have her, and Yishin." Naruto raised an eyebrow, and Sasuke grinned.
"I don't see how that's any of your business. But yes." The two males laughed quietly. "Naruto, thanks."
Naruto held up a hand. "Hey, no problem. You guys needed a date, and Yishin is such a sweet kid."
"He likes Kini you know." Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Then I'll have to have a talk with him." Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"He's six! And when the time comes, I'll have that talk with him, not you. You can have the boyfriend talk, only after I do." Naruto shrugged.
"Fair enough." Sasuke grinned at his best friend slash rival. "Night Sasuke-jerk."
"Night stupid Naruto."
"Y'know, I was telling Yishin about what you used to call me."
"What, Sasuke-jerk?"
"Yeah. Sakura wouldn't tell him what it was. She said it was a rude word little boys shouldn't know." Naruto grinned.
"It is kinda mean. Ah, well, whatever. See you tomorrow. Have fun training the Genin!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Working with Ino is like working with a bird with the shrillest voice ever, and working with Gaara is like working with a rock." Naruto grinned.
"If Sakura weren't needed as a medical ninja, I would let her work with you, but you guys would spend more time making out than actually teaching." Sasuke shrugged. Naruto had him there.
"Just deal with it. I might drop by later and help you out. Maybe. If I feel like it." And with a last, wicked grin Naruto close the door. Sakura sat up slowly, blankets falling off her shoulder.
"Was that Naruto?"
Sasuke nodded, sitting up as well. "Yeah."
"I can't believe he asked if you got lucky. With that exact phrasing too!"
"Yeah, but did you like my answer?"
"I was too angry over the fact that he actually asked."
"I told him that I'm always lucky, because I have you and Yishin. And this time, I'm not full of it."
"You actually said that?" Sakura sounded surprised.
"Yeah, I did. Y'know, it hurts me that you sound so surprised."
"I'm sorry, that's just… really sweet."
"It's true!"
"I know." The two lay down again, and Sakura nuzzled his neck. "I know."
"I love you Sakura. I love you so much. I hate it when you're sad. It kills me when you cry." His arms tightened around her.
"I love you too. You know, it's funny. You've come so far."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you used to hold all your emotions inside. You used to always just glare at anybody, and not tell your feelings at all. You used to never smile." Sakura laid her head against his chest. "Even when we started dating, you'd have trouble talking for a long time, and whenever you'd laugh it would be really quiet, or forced. And then… one day, you kissed me."
"At the coffee shop. I remember."
"That was when I found out that you like your coffee black. I mean, gross!"
"It's too sweet with sugar or milk."
"Whatever. Anyway, out of the blue, you just… kissed me."
"It wasn't out of the blue. I'd been thinking about doing it for years, since before I'd even left." Sakura giggled.
"That makes me happy. Anyway, after you kissed me, you started to change. You just sort of… loosened up. And now you're the man I'm married to."
"You know why I started to change? After we started dating, I was so scared that I was going to lose you again. I was just… so terrified that you'd leave as soon as I tried to move the relationship forward." Sasuke shrugged. "So one day, I just psyched myself up, and kissed you. And when you didn't run from me, or look horrified or disgusted-"
"The expression on my face was one of utter joy and happiness."
Sasuke continued. "Anyway, when you weren't absolutely revolted by me… I knew you were the woman I would marry, and build a life with, have a child with!"
"I didn't see you having any children."
"You know what I meant."
"I do."
"Sakura, I just don't get it. Why did you keep coming back? I was mean, I was cruel. The only thing I had going for me was my good looks and my lineage. Why did you keep coming back?"
"Because of your good looks, actually." Sasuke winced.
"Don't lie just to make me feel better."
"That was just at first though. Eventually I actually started caring for you as a person rather than just as a hot guy. I kept on coming back because I cared. I keep on coming back now because I love you. And because I love Yishin, and I won't put him through the pain of divorce."
"I love you too. And Yishin. So, so much." Sasuke shifted his position in the bed. "We need to get some sleep if we're going to be able to get up with Yishin and go to work."
"I don't wanna sleep now!" Sasuke smirked.
"Maybe we should have some fun." Sakura smirked as well.
"We're already had quite a bit of fun."
"Yeah, but why not have some more?"
"True, true."
Just before Sasuke's lips met her own, their door opened a crack. Both adults blinked up at the faint outline of a small six-year-old standing in their doorway.
"Mommy? Daddy?" Sasuke controlled his sigh, and then smiled gently at his son. They'd already had their fun for the night, and now they needed to be parents once again.
"Hey Yishin. What are you doing out of bed?"
"Daddy, I'm scared."
"Did you have a nightmare honey?" Sakura asked.
"Yeah. The fangirls are going to get me." Sasuke snorted and began to laugh, before he managed to turn it into a hacking cough under Sakura's withering glare.
"Yishin, I told you. Fangirls don't hide under your bed and eat you." Yishin hugged his teddy bear tighter to his chest.
"Um…" Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances and then smiled before Sakura spoke.
"You want to sleep with us tonight?" Yishin nodded. "Come on then." Sasuke picked his son up and snuggled him in between his father and his mother.
"You guys won't tell anyone, will you?" he asked worriedly. "Only babies sleep with their parents." Sasuke sighed as Sakura wrapped her arms around their son.
"Yishin, after my parents were killed, I would have done anything to be able to sleep in the same bed as them. So consider yourself lucky."
"Okay," Yishin said, already half asleep. Sasuke smiled, and knew that his son wouldn't remember the conversation at all.
"Goodnight Yishin."
"Night daddy."
"Goodnight honey."
"Night mommy." And then Yishin was asleep. Sasuke wrapped his arms around his wife and his son.
"Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight Sasuke." Their lips met one more time before they closed their eyes, and Sakura fell asleep. Sasuke lay awake, thinking for a few moments.
He was the luckiest man alive, and he knew it.
With a last smile, Sasuke fell asleep, good dreams not a rare occurrence as they used to be, but merely continuing the perfect dream he lived in.
Yeah, I know, sappy, a little corny, and probably kinda stereotypical. But review anyway!
