double post today since chapters have been a bit short :)
Lovely #7 [The Early Years]
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Mikoto had known that Uzumaki Naruto would be the one for her son since the day Sasuke had brought him home and told her, "we're dating…". She'd smiled and congratulated them while both boys looked uncomfortable and pleased at the same time.
Naruto was just so perfect for Sasuke.
She'd never seen Sasuke as flustered as he was around Naruto. Not a blushing, stuttering kind of flustered. But the kind of flustered that he was when his mother teased him and he grumbled and rubbed the back of his head, delicate eyebrows pulled together in that charming, more embarrassed than angry frown of his. She'd never seen anyone except herself and Itachi get that from Sasuke.
Naruto really got to Sasuke and that was how she knew.
She remembered the first time Sasuke had come home after meeting Naruto. They had moved back to Konoha about a week before highschool had started and Sasuke had attended the first day. Apparently Naruto hadn't though which she had been surprised about. When she'd heard about Kushina and Minato's accident she'd also heard that their son would be staying in Konoha. She wondered if maybe he had moved away after. She'd been disappointed and continuously disappointed for the next few weeks when Sasuke failed to come home and tell her about the new friend he had made. (She'd naturally assumed they'd be friends.) Until that day.
The youngest Uchiha had stormed through the front door sporting a purpling bruise at his cheek and an angry red flush. Mikoto had quickly met him in the kitchen doorway after hearing the sound of him throwing down his bag, and drawn a long breath as her baby boy towered over her, shoulders heaving, mouth hanging open as he drew ragged breaths. He was still wearing his P.E. uniform and smelt like he hadn't bothered to shower which she found unusual.
"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Concerned eyes fixed on Sasuke's expression. The boy shut his mouth and then opened it again, his features making the face he used to show her as a child when he came home from kindy, frustrated by someone mixing paints or upset over grass stained knees and elbows.
"Sasuke?" When she called his name again he relaxed and shook his head.
"It's nothing. Just some new kid in my class. He annoyed me all day and then I turn up to try out for the baseball team and there he is. What makes it worse is that he's a pitcher and I'm catcher. We had a fight and then the coach told us to get over it …" The boy's shoulders slumped and he pinched his nose, something his father did too when he was stressed. Mikoto smiled and guided Sasuke to a chair at the table before moving back into the kitchen, speaking to her son over the counter.
"I'm sure you'll get along better once you get to know him. As I recall Sasuke, a few weeks ago you thought that Nara boy was annoying too but now you like him just fine, right?"
"Hn."
"So what's this boy's name?"
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Looking back now, it was something to be laughed at, the way Sasuke, and surely Naruto, had reacted to one another. From Sasuke's afterschool tales Mikoto heard much of just how annoying Kushina's son was. But then, gradually—"He's actually a really good player. And he always stays with me if I want to practice more, which I do because he throws so damn hard. We sit together at lunch now. I'm glad Shikamaru is there too though. I don't think I could handle the Dobe on my own…"
Pet names and angry affection.
At that point, Mikoto had been hopeful and in her mind she imagined speaking to Kushina about their sons' budding relationship. She didn't dare speak to Fugaku about Sasuke's preferences. Although she'd known for a long time.
Sasuke would tell his father when he was ready.
In the early days of the boys' friendship, Naruto came to visit often. The first time Mikoto couldn't resist pouncing on him. She'd never actually seen Kushina's boy afterall. She'd made Naruto cry by mentioning his mother but even after that he'd still come back to play with Sasuke. The two practiced baseball in the Uchiha's big backyard and did homework together. Sometimes Naruto stayed for dinner when Fugaku and Itachi weren't coming home.
"We need to fill the table, why don't you stay, Naruto?"
Sasuke always ate the tomatoes out of Naruto's salads; because the other boy didn't like them or because Sasuke did, Mikoto wasn't sure.
A few months after confessing their relationship before Sasuke's mother, Sasuke and Naruto approached Fugaku.
They stood and held hands and Sasuke did all the very small amount of talking. Fugaku had sat silently and Mikoto stood behind the armchair her husband was sitting in with a firm hand on his shoulder. She was sure that if she wasn't there, the head of the Uchiha house would have done a lot more than silently storm out of the room once they were done. But even that had left upset tears shivering across the bottom of Sasuke's vision. Neither Naruto nor Mikoto said anything as Sasuke stood completely still, shoulders tense and tears slipping down humiliated red cheeks. Naruto had left immediately without touching Sasuke.
In the morning at breakfast, Sasuke was a little quiet but seemed okay. He'd perked up when Naruto had come to pick him up for school. Mikoto had watched the two from the living room as they stopped at the gate.
Sasuke had his fingers at Naruto's sleeve, holding him back. And then he had looked up and down the street before tugging Naruto back to him and pressing his mouth quickly to the other's. Afterwards Sasuke asked Naruto something with a worried face and Naruto touched his cheek reassuringly.
Sasuke wouldn't let his father's disapproval keep him from what he wanted but Mikoto knew it Fugaku's reaction had still hurt.
Eventually, Uchiha Fugaku became more okay with the idea of his son's lover.
Until Sasuke had come home one evening and told them he and Naruto were adopting a child.
They had moved on from highschool and had been living together for a while, but-
"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, SASUKE? HAVING HIM AS A—AS A LOVER IS BAD ENOUGH, AND NOW YOU WANT A CHILD?!"
"Sasuke, you're very young, Honey. Why on earth…"
"She's living at the hospital. She doesn't have a family. We don't have to take her home or anything yet, Iruka sensei said she can live in the infant's ward as long as we need but… We want her. Her name is Natsuki and she's ours."
Naruto hadn't said much which was common when the Uchiha head was present. He'd gone home after a little more conversation and another walk-out on Fugaku's part.
Later Mikoto had sat down with Sasuke on his bed.
"Sasuke, why would you do this… You and Naruto are… Your job is… You can't even be legally… bound…" For lack of a better word.
"Doesn't matter."
"You're still so young, you don't know that you'll stay-"
"Yes I do. And you do too. You're just agreeing with Father. You know that I… You know I love him, don't you?" Sasuke turned honest eyes to her and she could do nothing but sigh and run her fingers through her long, thick hair.
There was no doubt that Sasuke would be a good father; he was mature, responsible, organized and could hold his temper when he really needed to—God knew he'd had enough practice when conversing with his father. And Naruto was affectionate and warm and so full of love. But still…
Another sigh.
"Yes, I know you love him, Bub. But a baby?"
"Girls have babies younger than this. And Naruto and I would have kids at some point anyway…"
"Yes, but—"
They sat in silence for a while and Mikoto let her mind fill with Sasuke, a more mature Sasuke, standing with a more mature Naruto and their family. She agreed with Sasuke that he would build a life with Naruto; she'd always said Naruto was 'the one'. But right now Sasuke was still so young to her. His jaw was still a little round and his hands still a little smaller than Itachi and Fugaku's. She was so used to seeing him in a school uniform that he just didn't seem like an adult.
"It's very hard work, Sasuke," she told him.
"I know. But Iruka will be there and you know Sakura is already at the hospital too. There will be help. Also…" Again Sasuke looked to her. Mikoto could see how her son was clenching and unclenching his jaw. He looked like he was going to cry.
"… You'll be there, won't you?" he asked quietly. "To help…"
Mikoto drew a long breath and jumped slightly as Sasuke dropped his head onto her shoulder. She couldn't see his face even as she looked down but she suspected he was doing that on purpose.
"Sasuke…"
"She's really beautiful. And Naruto just looked so…"
Blurry images of Fugaku's tender, happy face as he held a pink, crying baby Itachi and then a similar baby Sasuke flashed before the woman's eyes.
"I know, Bub."
They stayed like that until Sasuke murmured he wanted to sleep.
Mikoto headed out to the kitchen. Fugaku was nowhere to be seen. When she wandered down the hall he wasn't in their room so she guessed he was in his office, not wanting to be disturbed.
The situation was a tricky one. Sasuke had shown that he wouldn't back down but Mikoto was fairly certain Fugaku was pretty set on not tolerating his youngest son and his boyfriend adopting a baby either.
As she sat at the dining room table, absently rolling a napkin into a tube, an awkward weight settled in Uchiha Mikoto's chest. She didn't exactly agree with Sasuke but she didn't really disagree with him either. She'd been asked to support her son by a Sasuke with such honest eyes that she couldn't refuse. But she knew that Fugaku would expect her to support him too.
She'd sighed heavily into the quiet evening.
'What a predicament. What should I do?'
But deep down, she knew that she wouldn't be able to deny Sasuke or a baby granddaughter. And deep down, she knew that Fugaku wouldn't be able to either. They didn't even have to wait through a pregnancy to come to love this 'Natsuki'. She was sure that her husband, just as many initially opposed men before him had done, would turn to mush at the sight of maybe not his flesh and blood, but family for sure.
'He'll come round soon enough... He can't really do anything to stop them anyway…"
Mikoto stood that night and closed the curtains with a hopeful smile and a strange sense that, despite the tension between father and son, despite the anxious weight in her chest, despite Fugaku fuming in his office, everything would be fine.
It'd just take a little bit of time.
