Sasuke's first word wasn't "aniki", "papa" or even the typical "mama". But then, Sasuke Uchiha wasn't exactly your typical toddler. He was the son of two more-than-capable shinobi who, as it came with the job description, possessed enough unusual quirks between the two of them to fill an arsenal. It made sense, though. People who have experienced enough fighting to last them a few lifetimes have license to be a bit odd and, as long as they find some way to cope, they are allowed their particular brand of strangeness.

Much like his daughter, Kazama Uchiha found his therapeutic outlet in the merciless teasing of his blonde son-in-law. The boy had proven himself time and again that he was not just a capable, but an effective (and good) leader on the missions his equally blonde brother had assigned him to over the last two years following his abrupt, bizarre arrival.

And so, the old man had taken to grooming Naruto Namikaze-Uchiha (the council of elders had thrown a collective fit when they had heard that the new husband of the heiress had intended to keep his last name following the wedding ceremony) into a perfect future clan head – as far as Kazama was concerned, at any rate. Not that the boy had knowledge of this, of course.

"Are you off your rocker, old man?!" Naruto punctuated his exclamation with wild gesticulations that made it seem as if he was trying to take off. Well, he hadn't known until now, at least.

Kazama awarded his efforts with a scowl, "Is that anyway to respect your father-in-law, brat?" he grumbled with equal vigour and proceeded to bonk the younger man on his head with a heavy wooden staff. He didn't actually require a walking aid just yet, but it was great fun pretending to be a senile old coot and this particular walking stick was extremely useful for disciplining wayward sons-in-law. Case in point.

He continued sternly, "Even you aren't a big enough idiot to not have seen this coming! You married the Uchiha heiress, for goodness' sake!"

Naruto, who was rubbing his sore head, glared at the older Uchiha, "I know I did! But – but, you're the clan head!" Kazama gave an exaggerated sigh at this statement (Naruto was grasping at straws here, and he knew it), but continued nevertheless, "Interim clan-head, you clown! Or do you not know what word that means?"

The blonde man awarded his father-in-law with an Uchiha-worthy scowl and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Kazama resisted the urge to chuckle at the antics. His daughter had chosen well, indeed.

"Look Naruto," the man in question looked up gloomily at the use of his actual name, instead of that of a creative insult, "I have no doubt that you will make a fine clan head, and it isn't like you'll be running blind here! What do you take me for?" He grinned widely (and yikes, this goof was really rubbing off on him) to be rewarded with a resigned sigh and a weary smile back.

"Alright, gramps," and here Naruto was cut off with another thump on the head for insubordination, "Not like I had much choice anyway," he mumbled half-heartedly, much to the continued amusement of the soon to be ex-Uchiha-clan-head (for the second time).

The old man reached over the table the two were seated at and clasped Naruto's hand determinedly, "That's my boy," he beamed proudly and Naruto could not resist smiling more genuinely back. He was a few days away from becoming Hokage before his accidental time-travel stint. How hard could it be?


As it turns out, it was hard. It was very hard.

Naruto groaned as he collapsed onto the couch in the living room of the clan-head's – his – home. Mikoto swiftly bustled in from the kitchen and set down one of the mugs she had been carrying on the table in front of her husband, while she took the other one. Nudging Naruto's socked feet out of the way, she sat down at the other end of the sofa he was sprawled on, before he immediately replaced them onto her lap. The dark-haired woman giggled, before resting her free hand on a tense calf.

"I'm a performer, hime," he said face down into a cushion, "It's like I'm juggling everyone and everything. Trying to keep the clan happy, trying to keep the council happy, trying to keep my brother happy," he trailed off, throwing his hands awkwardly into the air, before letting them collapse back to his sides again. It had been a few weeks since his official induction and it hadn't taken him long to realise a new respect for Minato, what with all the trash he no doubt had to wade through every day if his own experience was anything to go by.

Mikoto smiled understandingly, "Well, that last one isn't really a problem, Naruto. All you have to do is exist for that clown to be happy," her husband gave a muffled, but amused snort at this. She wasn't wrong. "And," she continued, "if you manage to achieve anything beyond that, he proceeds to worship the ground you walk on."

Both of them laughed at that, and Naruto finally sat up properly and retrieved his hot tea. "But in all seriousness, you are doing a wonderful job, husband of mine," the Uchiha woman said truthfully, a playful twinkle in her dark eyes, "The clan is inordinately pleased with the work you have done in such a short time.; and the elders are grumbling about you less and less each day," she shuffled closer to him on the couch even as he chuckled gratefully and did the same.

He curled an arm around her, "You're not just saying that to make me feel better, are you?" Mikoto grunted derisively and got up so that she could look him straight in the eye.

"And why, pray tell, would I ever do that, dobe?" she snarked with a raised eyebrow, that odd pet name that he had taken to so long ago as meaningful as ever even now, "I would never give credit where it was not due." Naruto rolled his eyes good naturedly as he looked down at his wife, waiting for her to finish her thought. She did not disappoint.

"And you, my dear husband, deserve more of that than you give yourself." Mikoto felt said husband's muscles relax seemingly all at once, the approval he had apparently been seeking (whether subconscious or not, she couldn't tell) received and he all but melted into the couch they were both sitting on.

Although the look he had in his eye when he gazed at her again was anything but relaxed. It held the almost inhuman determination that the Uchiha heiress had come to expect from her husband as he said, "Well, then. I suppose that'll have to change."

She smiled back proudly and was about to draw Naruto into her arms, when the couple was interrupted by a miniature whirlwind in the form of their eldest son blowing into the room.

"Kaa-san! Kaa-san!" The boy's already long hair was messy and his pupils were blown wide in excitement. He looked slightly unhinged. That was, until he noticed Naruto openly gaping at him.

He immediately smoothed his mane, and his wide-eyes gaze found his fingers, that seemed to have started timidly pressing themselves together entirely without his permission.

"Oh w-welcome home, tou-san," he smiled shyly and looked up from underneath his eyelashes. The tall man was beaming at him unreservedly at the use of that title and he spread his hands, gesturing with them for Itachi to get closer.

The little boy did so, all semblance of nervousness gone as he flung himself into his daddy's waiting arms and nuzzled into the warm embrace. Naruto chuckled and Mikoto's eyes shone as her mouth curled into a bittersweet smile. The happy child in front of her, laughing freely as Naruto blew rude noises into the crook of his neck was a world apart from the stiff, stoic boy that she had feared she had been rapidly losing, in every sense of the word.

The mother tried to calm down her two giggling boys.

"Itachi! Oh, stop that dobe, and let our son speak!" Naruto only laughed harder, but he obliged and set the child on the floor again, ruffling his hair fondly as he did so and messing it up again. This time Itachi didn't fix it and gave a wide grin (that he had definitely picked up from his new father) that showed off a missing front tooth. He had lost it only that week and had seemed immensely proud of the fact that he was going to be a 'grown up' soon, if his puffed-out chest had been anything to go by.

Itachi's eyes immediately lit up at his mother's words as the reason he had been so excited caught up with him once more, "Kaa-san! Tou-san! It's Sasuke!" the two immediately straightened in their seats at the mention of the infant, whom Itachi had been carefully watching over in his crib in the couples' bedroom. Itachi took a deep breath and then continued, "He said his first word!"

The young parents blinked. First at their son, and then at each other, before simultaneously beginning to gush at the news as they drew their eldest into a group hug.

"What was it? What was it?" Naruto was now on his feet and bouncing around the sofa, unable to contain his joy, "I bet it was 'papa'! Well, Itachi? Was it? Was it 'papa'?"

The boy's cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the question and he looked to his mother unsurely, "Well, tou-san. It – um – it wasn't 'mama', but…"

"I knew it!" the blonde streaked from the room in an orange blur and went careening up the stairs to hear the word out of the mouth of the babe himself. Mother and son were left, slightly whiplashed as they giggled at the man's antics. Itachi, whose face was rapidly approaching the hue of a tomato, tugged his mother's hand and she rose to her feet. The two walked at a more sedate pace, but when they reached the foot of the stairs they stopped at the boy's slight hesitation.

"Was is it, my son?" Mikoto enquired, mildly worried now.

If it were possible, Itachi only flushed deeper and he ducked his head as he mumbled out his answer, "I really think you should call Tou-san 'papa' around Sasuke more, Kaa-san."

Mikoto was successfully bewildered as they walked up the stairs now, thinking back to all the times Naruto had referred to her as 'mama' when he talked to the boy, who up until now had only replied in adorable baby-babble. It was true that she hadn't done the same very many times, but the woman couldn't see what the problem was there. She certainly hadn't done the same for Itachi, and nothing had been out of the ordinary with his developmental milestones.

The answer became apparent when they reached the flung-open door to the room, seeing an overjoyed Sasuke in Naruto's arms and happily playing with his brightly-coloured hair. Naruto himself, on the other hand, was smiling wryly and if Mikoto hadn't known better, she could have sworn that a blonde eyebrow was twitching.

It was then that the toddler spotted his mother and brother in the doorway, and his face lit up as he pointed at his father and proclaimed, "Dobe!"

Mikoto promptly lost it.