Uchiha Clan House
"I'm back!" Sakura announced as she got back home from work. She got no response. "Wouldn't kill you to greet me back" she sighed. As she made her way to the kitchen she saw Sakumo lying face down in the couch of the living room. He had been nearly a month training with Kakashi, so she could understand his exhaustion. She assumed her husband must have been sleeping as well since he had a night shift the day before, and if Sarada didn't answer, that must have meant she was out. Sakura started putting the food she bought in the fridge.
"Do you need some help?" her son asked her, now awake and standing next to her.
"That would be very nice" she smiled.
Sakumo was adapting to his family very quickly, it warmed Sakura's heart that he had only been living with them for over a month and it was like he had been living with them all his life. It was a small gesture but Sakura knew first hand what it really meant for an Uchiha to offer himself for things like this, things remained unspoken but she could already tell that Sakumo had accepted her as his mother and was showing her his affection with these actions that would mean practically nothing for anyone else. It went both ways. Sakura loved her son with all her heart, just as much as Sarada even if she had raised her and had 16 years with her that she didn't have with him. It was one of those moments when Sakura felt like hugging him, but she had to restrain herself and give him some space. Sakumo was even more of a.. well, an Uchiha than Sarada. Sakura cracked down long ago the mystery behind Sasuke's, or an Uchiha for that matter, antisocial behaviour. Uchihas were naturally shy. She was shy as a child as well, so it was only natural that her children would be the same way. Since she raised Sarada, she made sure that Sarada would beat her insecurities and get over her shyness the normal way. With Sakumo, well, she didn't get the chance so Sakumo turned out just like his father. To someone as proud and stubborn as Uchiha boys tended to be, shyness is a weakness, and they don't have weaknesses, so instead of coming out of their shell like every other shy kid, they build a wall around themselves and replace their shyness (weakness) with an I'm too cool for you attitude (strength). That also leads to their infamous arrogance. She was actually kind of surprised Sakumo was a lot more social than his father at his age. Noticing that she was psychoanalyzing her son, thank you Ino, she decided she would break the silence.
"So, how's training with Kakashi going?"
"Better, I'm getting used to the intensity. I can actually keep myself awake after the sessions" he replied. Sakumo passed his written exam, with a perfect score, just a couple of weeks after his classes. Now, Kakashi was training him to be physically fit to be a shinobi. Kakashi could be pretty brutal, she was proud that Sakumo was actually managing with relative ease.
"That's great. The physical exam should be pretty soon right?" she asked
"Sooner than I think he says, whatever the hell that means" he shrugged as he put the last thing on the fridge. Sakura nodded, knowing Kakashi, that could mean tomorrow or a month from now. Oh well, she was confident Sakumo would ace the exam no matter when it was.
"So you're not feeling tired now?" she asked, Sakumo shook his head "good, maybe I could teach you more earth style techniques" she offered.
"Sure" Sakumo agreed before they left the house.
Hidden Leaf Training Grounds
Before Sakura and Sakumo reached their destination, they ran into three familiar faces who were leaving. Sakumo's eyes rolled. Not him again.
"Hinata!" Sakura greeted her friend with a hug.
"Hello Sakura" she greeted back. She turned her attention to Sakumo. "You must be Sakumo, it's nice to finally meet you"
"Hello" he said, this woman looked just like the woman she fought before getting here, those weird white eyes.
"I'm Hinata, Naruto's wife, this is my daughter Himawari" Sakumo looked at the younger girl, who waved with a smile, she had her mother's hair, but her brother's face, those weird whiskers ran in the family it seems, they looked kind of odd in a girl "and well, I hear you've already met Boruto"
"Asshole" Boruto said as he looked away and put his arms behind his head.
"Douchebag" Sakumo responded putting his hands in his pockets. Hinata and Sakura sweatdropped. They already had insults for each other much like their fathers at the peak of their rivalry.
"So what are you doing here?" Sakura tried to bring the conversation back to a friendly vibe.
"Himawari's chunin exams are coming up and Boruto had the day off, so I'm giving them a couple of pointers for their visual prowess" Hinata explained "Hanabi usually does it since she's a better teacher, but she's out on a mission"
"It's not that aunt Hanabi is a better teacher, it's just that you go too easy on us, mom" Himawari spoke up.
"Oh right, you've already met Hanabi" Hinata said as she noticed the change in Sakumo's expression once he heard the name. Sakumo didn't know what to say. I almost killed your sister. Awkward. "don't worry about it, we're shinobi, it happens, she's fine and she doesn't hold any grudge towards you" Hinata told him, as if she was reading his thoughts. Sakumo simply nodded "so what brings you over here?" she asked
"Pretty much the same, really. Sakumo has an exam coming up to graduate as a shinobi, so I'm teaching him a couple of things" Sakura answered.
"Medical ninjutsu?" Hinata asked.
"Oh, no. You see, Sakumo is an earth style user"
"Earth style?" Boruto asked.
"Yeah" Sakumo smirked, he could already tell that Boruto was annoyed that his water tricks would no longer work on him.
"Well, we should be leaving anyway" Hinata said as both boys glared at each other.
"Yeah..." Sakura agreed, their rivalry was honestly a bit too intense for the women there "We'll see you soon" she waved. Sakumo observed them as they left. He was actually surprised, Hinata and Himawari were very polite and sweet, almost the total opposite of Boruto "I guess that old habits die hard..." Sakura commented "can't you boys be nice to each other for once?"
"Doubt it" he answered. Sakura sighed.
"Anyway, let's get to work. So, any jutsu in mind you want to learn?" she asked. Sakumo shrugged.
"Earth style is kind of boring, I wish I could do the lightning thing like father and Sarada" he said. Sakura sighed again. Everyone who saw the chidori wanted to use it.
"Boring you say" she smirked "Sakumo, look around you" Sakumo raised an eyebrow "earth is everywhere, unlike lightning, earth doesn't drain your chakra as much since you can use the environment to your advantage"
"Fair enough, but isn't there something.. cooler than raising walls, throwing rocks or hide underground?"
"As a matter of fact, there is" she said "does creating earthquakes and earth dragons that chase your opponent sound cool enough for you?"
"Well yeah. That. I want to do that"
"Such big jutsu require precise chakra control, something I'm afraid you didn't take after me and you;re not at that level yet"
"How can I get better then?"
"Let's see" Sakura put her finger on her lips, thinking, Sakumo was already competent enough in climbing trees and walking on water "I got it. You have gotten pretty good at the fireball jutsu right?" she asked. Sakumo nodded "you can try this" Sakura said before weaving handsigns. A small flame came out of her mouth, she told Sakumo with her eyes to watch and she gradually increased its size to a massive fireball that eclipsed everything in Sakumo's line of sight "once you can manipulate the fireball jutsu's size like that you should have a decent level of chakra control to learn those" she explained.
"You can use fire style too?" Sakumo asked, his mother grinned "I thought your chakra natures were earth and water"
"Yeah, well I got fire style after Sasuke and I..." she started blushing. Sakumo learned what made his mother blush and an idea flashed through his head.
"Does that mean I can get lightning if I have sex with a woman who...?" Sakura's face turned as pink as her hair and she smacked her son before he could finish.
"Sakumo Uchiha! Did Kakashi teach you how to be a pervert too!?"
"No!" he said as he rubbed his head, his mother could get way too scary when angered.
"I meant when I became pregnant with you! Your father didn't sexually transmit fire affinity to me! My body developed it when gestating Uchiha life!" she yelled.
"Oh"
"Yeah. Oh" she calmed down "I swear... Start practicing and let's just forget about this"
"Ok" Sakumo nodded and performed a fireball jutsu. Way too big. He looked at his mother, she just gestured to try again. He managed to create a small flame, but when making it bigger he couldn't do it gradually and it grew too quickly. Again.
After his fifth try, a noise coming from where Sakura was caught his attention, his eyes widened as he saw his mother throwing up.
"Mother!" he rushed to her side. He noticed she lost consciousness. He didn't think twice,he picked her up and rushed to the hospital.
Uchiha Clan House
"Where have you been?" Sasuke asked as he came from upstairs after taking a shower and saw Sarada sitting in the kitchen.
"Out with Cho Cho" she lied. She was actually visiting Shisui's and Obito's graves. She was still investigating, and she just couldn't find anything.
"Hn" Sasuke grunted as he sat down next to her, poured himself a cup of coffee and started reading the newspaper. The doorbell rang.
"I'll get it" Sarada said before getting up and heading towards the entrance.
"Hi there! Is Sasuke home?" a man asked as she opened the door. White hair. Pointy teeth. Sarada's fist swung towards him before she even realized it was acting on its own. To her shock, his head just liquified after her fist collided with his face.
"What the hell" Suigetsu said as his head regenerated "why do girls have a thing for punching me in the face?" Sarada blinked once and regained her composure.
"That's for making me think my mom wasn't my mom you bastard" she told him. A female laughter behind Suigetsu caught her attention.
"You deserve it" the red haired woman spoke.
"Karin!" Sarada greeted.
"How are you doing Sarada?" Karin smiled. She would have hugged her god-daughter, but she only met her once, after all.
"I'm good!" she answered "what are you guys doing here?" she asked.
"We came to see Sasuke, is he here?" a tall man with orange hair spoke up.
"What is going on here?" Sasuke's voice spoke behind Sarada "It's you guys" he said as he saw the three people outside "come on in"
"Sasuke!" Karin ran to hug him. Sasuke was taken aback and didn't return it.
"Sasuke.." Jugo greeted as he crouched a bit since he was taller than the door.
"Jugo" Sasuke nodded.
"Hello to you too man, long time no see" Suigetsu grinned as he punched his shoulder "would you look at this? You finally got a left arm!"
"What are you doing here?" he asked. Ignoring Suigetsu, as usual.
"Long story" Karin said as she adjusted her glasses "first things first, we were interrogated about that day" she explained.
"We had nothing to do with it and we were cleared by your people, so quit glaring at us" Suigetsu spoke up.
"Any idea how this could happen Sasuke?" Jugo asked him.
"I was actually hoping you could provide more answers than us" he answered.
"Well shit, this is just crazy" Suigetsu whistled.
"Did the people who interrogated you tell you anything? Do they have any leads?"
"We're not exactly liked here. They told us nada. Treated us like criminals" Suigetsu complained
"You kind of are, aren't you working for Orochimaru?" Sarada spoke up.
"Not anymore" Jugo answered,
"What?" Sasuke rose an eyebrow.
"Like I said, it's a long story that we'll have to explain over dinner or something" Karin said "first things first, where are Sakura and my god-son who I just found out about?"
Hidden Leaf Hospital
"Sakura" Sakura opened her eyes to see Shizune looking at her.
"Where... am I?"
"Good, you're awake" Shizune smiled "you're in the hospital, you passed out"
"Oh..." Sakura gasped as she remembered what happened "Shizune... is it what I think it is?"
"Yes... Congratulations Sakura, you're pregnant" Shizune beamed.
"I am?" Sakura smiled. Finally! She and Sasuke had been trying for months "Wait! Where's Sakumo?" she remembered.
"He brought you here, you should have seen him, he was so worried about you. He's just outside. Do you want him to come in?" she asked. Sakura nodded and Shizune exited the room. Sakura was so... happy. Another child.
"Mother! Are you alright?" Sakumo entered the room.
"I'm fine Sakumo, don't worry" she calmed him down. It was the first time she saw her son worried, as a matter of fact.
"Then what happened?"
"Sit" she told him gesturing the chair beside her bed. She took his hand "It's good news. Sakumo" she smiled "You're going to be an elder brother"
"What?" Sakumo couldn't believe it. He stared at his mother, then at her stomach, and switched back and forth a couple of times. He couldn't believe it. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was alone, now he had a family, and a new person of his own flesh and blood was on the way.
"Mom!" a voice interrupted. Sarada rushed in "what happened?" she demanded. Sakura saw her husband walk in after her. And three more people walked in after them.
"Karin? Jugo? Suigetsu? What on earth are you doing here?" she was shocked.
"We heard you were in the hospital and came as fast as we could, did something happen?" Karin asked as she hugged her friend. She did what she was used to do and scanned Sakura's chakra, she instantly noticed a second chakra in her body, she smiled at Sakura and she simply smiled back.
"I'm just fine, don't worry, I didn't know so many people cared about me" she laughed.
"So" Suigetsu said as he spotted an unfamiliar face "you must be Sakumo"
"Yes... who are you people?"
"We are old friends of your parents, we were actually with them the day you were born. My name is Karin, I'm technically your god-mother" Karin smiled at him "the tall guy is Jugo and the idiot with a loud mouth is Suigetsu"
"Suigetsu? Suigetsu Hozuki?" Sakumo stared at the man with the sharp teeth.
"You know me?"
"Not in person, just heard things about you"
"Oh right! I heard you were in Shark Village, I assume people still love me over there?" Suigetsu grinned.
"Some do, I guess" Sarada stared at her brother. Of course. She couldn't believe she forgot. Her own brother lived in Shark Village, heard stories about Kisame, Itachi and the Akatsuki. Maybe he knew something that could break the dead end she was stuck in.
"Can all of you shut up and get the hell out of here? Something happened to my wife" Sasuke spoke up, with a pissed off tone.
"Relax Sasuke, she's fine" Karin answered, she looked at Sakura looking for her blessing to break out the news, Sakura nodded "your wife is pregnant"
"What?" he looked at Sakura "are you serious?" Sakura smiled and nodded. Sasuke simply hugged Sakura.
"Great, yet another Uchiha" Suigetsu sighed.
"You idiot" Karin scolded him before dragging him out of the room, Jugo followed them.
"You're pregnant mom?" Sarada asked, dumbfounded.
"Yes Sarada. You're going to be a big sister"
"About time" she exclaimed. She knew her parents were having sex more than usual and there had to be a reason for it. Still, she was so happy, for them, and for her. A baby sibling! She couldn't wait.
"Anyway, not that I don't enjoy the spotlight, but we should stop making a show here in the hospital and go home" Sakura said.
"Shizune didn't say you could leave" Sasuke said.
"Honey, I'm pregnant, not injured" she stood up anyway. She forgot how overprotective Sasuke was the last time she was pregnant. Joy.
"She's fine Sasuke. No reason for you to worry about her or the baby, let her breathe a little" Shizune said as she reappeared. Sakura stuck her tongue out to Sasuke and broke free from his grasp. Sasuke glared "anyway, both of you have been summoned by Lord 7th"
"Why?" Sasuke demanded.
"No idea" Shizune shrugged.
"Well, let's go honey" Sakura said as she got out of the room "Sarada, Sakumo, go home, we'll be right there" she told her children.
As their parents left, Sarada and Sakumo walked through the streets of the Hidden Leaf.
"A little sibling... isn't that great?" Sarada spoke up.
"Yeah..." Sakumo answered. Sarada looked at him, it was the first time she saw any glimpse of happiness on his face. She grinned. After a couple of minutes of silence, Sarada remembered what she thought about earlier.
"You heard stories about Suigetsu?" she asked.
"Yeah, just things about him being a candidate to be one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. Why?"
"Did you ever hear something about a man named Kisame Hoshigaki? Or the Akatsuki?"
"Yes"
"And?"
"I know where you are going with this. You want to know about that because our uncle Itachi had something to do with it" he said. Sarada stared "I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you"
"What? Why?"
"Listen, I have heard very different and vague things about the Akatsuki. Some think they were the lowest scum imaginable. Others think they were heroes. All I know is that the Akatsuki is a very delicate subject. Those who know anything concrete about them, won't talk and will take that information to their graves"
"And don't you want to find out? In case you haven't noticed, everyone is hiding things from us. Itachi and the Akatsuki are just two of them"
"Of course I do"
"Then let's find out, together. Mom and Dad will try to stop us, so we have to work in secret"
"Sounds like a plan" Sakumo agreed after a couple of silent seconds.
Hokage's Office
"Shizune told me" Naruto grinned as he saw his two best friends walk in "I'm so happy for you guys! Congratulations!"
"Thank you Naruto" Sakura smiled as she sat down.
"To think that just a couple of weeks ago I had 2 kids and you had 1, now you have 3. Crazy world we live in, ya'know!"
"What do you want" Sasuke demanded.
"I'm your best friend Sasuke, let me be happy for you will ya?" Naruto pouted.
"Did you summon us here just to congratulate us?" Sakura asked.
"I wish" Naruto changed his expression.
"This better be an update about what happened with Sakumo" Sasuke said.
"Actually, no" he raised his hand before any of them protested "Yes, we are still investigating, yes, there has been progress and no, still can't tell you anything" Sasuke and Sakura just grunted in frustration "however, this does have something to with it, in some way"
"What are you talking about?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow.
"Karin. Suigetsu. Jugo. I have to ask you something. Do you vouch for them?"
"Why are you asking us this?" Sakura asked, confused.
"I just need you to answer that right now, we'll go over the details after that"
"Yes, I do" Sakura answered.
"Sasuke?" Naruto looked at his former rival.
"Yes" he simply answered.
"Good" he pushed a button in his intercom "Shikamaru, send them in" the rest of team Taka walked into the office.
"What's going on here?" Sasuke asked.
"Starting from today, they will be living in the Hidden Leaf"
"Unacceptable, you know damn well Yamato is not enough-" Sasuke said before Naruto cut him off.
"They have been keeping tabs on Orochimaru, the Five Great Nations are very grateful" he turned his attention to team Taka "you have done a splendid job, but that's the problem" he looked back at Sasuke and Sakura "Orochimaru is gone"
"What do you mean gone?" Sakura asked.
"Gone. No trace of him. He's disappeared. Not even Mitsuki knows what happened to him" Naruto informed.
"Dead?" Sasuke spoke up.
"Doubt it" Jugo answered.
"Are you saying Orochimaru has something to do with Sakumo?" Sakura asked.
"Not necessarily. However, the timing is a coincidence we can't afford to ignore. Maybe. We don't know. We'll find out eventually"
"So why are you coming here instead of looking for him?" Sasuke asked.
"We sent someone to question them about the Sakumo incident... things got tangled... long story short, if Orochimaru is alive and well, he will have most definitely found out that they are your moles"
"To sum up Sasuke, we're stuck with you again" Suigetsu told him.
"Besides, we have another reason to come to the Hidden Leaf" Karin announced.
"Which is" Sasuke demanded.
"The Uzumaki clan is growing" Naruto grinned.
"Karin...? You too...?" Sakura caught on.
"Yeah..." she blushed.
"What? Who?" Sasuke asked. Jugo and Karin looked at Suigetsu, who put his arms behind his head.
"You're fucking kidding me" Sasuke exclaimed in disbelief. Sakura started laughing "Now? Seriously? Now?"
"I win" Sakura grinned. Now it was the other 4 people in the room who were missing something.
"So he knocked her up, it doesn't mean they are together" Sasuke responded.
"We're actually married" Suigetsu announced.
"God damn it" Sasuke complained as he took out his wallet and handed money to Sakura.
"I can't believe you didn't invite us to the wedding, or tell us anything, for that matter" Sakura complained.
"Yeah you are one to talk. Hello Karin! Long time no see! This is my wife Sakura, who I married in secret!" Karin mocked Sasuke.
"Forget that, what was that money about?" Suigetsu demanded.
"Sasuke and I made a bet long ago that you two would eventually end up together. It was so obvious, of course I won"
"Obvious? We were living together for more than a decade and nothing happened!" Karin defended herself.
"Sasuke's exact argument" Sakura grinned.
"Anyway, not that I don't find this amusing, but you guys can catch up somewhere that's not the Hokage's office" Naruto interrupted.
"Yeah, sorry Naruto, let's go have dinner at our house" Sakura said as she got up.
"Speaking of bets Sasuke, ours does not count, I didn't realize Sakumo and Boruto wouldn't share a team" Naruto stopped him once the others were out if the office.
"Loser" Sasuke smirked as he left. Sakura kept teasing Suigetsu and Karin, Jugo, always the silent man, just followed.
"Bastard" Naruto growled.
"So?" Naruto spoke up once they were long gone.
"Nothing suspicious, I think I can clearly say they're innocent" Kakashi Hatake announced as he appeared out of nowhere.
"I see... any theories?"
"My guess? A powerful genjutsu we don't even know about, which would make the Kotoamatsukami look like childsplay"
"And who could have such a jutsu in their power?"
"Not sure. I'll keep looking into it. But I don't like this, not one bit"
"Yeah..." Naruto sighed. A huge threat was lurking somewhere. Plus, this Orochimaru stuff? Not good. Not good at all. This was easily the most difficult thing he had to deal with as Hokage.
"Sakumo's doing great by the way, he should take the exam soon. I have no doubt he will have a chunin grade"
"And what do you suggest for the physical exam?"
"Oh, you will love this..."
Uchiha Clan House
"Married. You seriously married him, Karin" Sarada stated in shock as they were having dinner.
"Sarada I'm practically your uncle, and I said I'm very sorry, will you please forgive me for the DNA thing?" Suigetsu pouted.
"No" she declared.
"You are such an idiot Suigetsu, I'm pretty sure I told you that was Sakura's" Karin scolded.
"Yeah, but I'm your idiot" he said. Karin blushed.
"Awwww" Sakura let out.
"Anyway why would you think Karin was our mother?" Sakumo spoke up.
"Because of the glasses" Sarada answered.
"So? Plenty of people need glasses"
"I have Uchiha eyes! One would think I wouldn't need glasses!"
"That's a misconception. You have the sharingan, not the byakugan. You can still need glasses with a sharingan, plenty of Uchiha have needed glasses. It's the byakugan the one that gives you perfect distance eyesight" Sasuke explained.
"Whatever" Sarada folded her arms.
"Oh hey! Since it's about glasses, maybe Kabuto was their real mother!?" Suigetsu joked.
"Kabuto's a man" Jugo added.
"Yeah, but with that body he has? I think he could totally give birth with it" Suigetsu explained. The adults started laughing, even Sasuke who let out a chuckle. Sakumo and Sarada didn't get it.
"Kabuto is a man who modified his body to creepy extents, kids" Sakura explained.
"Is it true he's taking care of the Shin clones?" Karin asked.
"Yes, it is" Sasuke confirmed "which reminds me, maybe I should take you two to spar against them, their sharingan is a failed imitation, but it should make a good challenge"
"They are innocent boys Sasuke, you have to stop hating them so much" Sakura rolled her eyes.
"You are an Uchiha, Sakura, you should view those genetic aberrations as an insult" Sasuke told her.
"Not even with an Uchiha growing inside me, I just can't bring myself to be so angry at petty things" she joked.
"We're going to be mommies together Sakura! Isn't this exciting?" Karin cheered.
"Yeah!" Sakura smiled.
"Any pointers on how to handle a pregnant wife Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked him.
"Beware of the mood swings" Sakura and Karin turned from happy to glaring at Sasuke in the blink of an eye "I rest my case"
To be continued...