Always and Forever
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I do try to respond to most people that leave reviews, when I can. Sadly, I can't respond to guest reviews directly. The only way to do that is in author's notes. I do want my guest reviewers to know that I see your reviews and appreciate them and all the other reviews I receive though. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: This is the epilogue. It's set twelve years after the last one. This is the grand finale! This chapter focuses heavily on the next generation. So if you aren't into finding out more about the kids, the last chapter also works as an ending. Oh and most of the children were named after the older Naruto generations. Sorry for any confusion.
Chapter 26
"Dad, how did you know?" Kushina asks Naruto.
Naruto tilts his head. He had no idea what his twelve year old daughter was asking. That was a little vague to put it mildly.
"How did I know what? Sorry, you are gonna have to be more specific than that, Princess." Naruto says with a smile as he messes up her hair.
Kushina grumbles when he does that. Nothing annoyed the "Uchiha Princesses" more than having their hair messed up. The father of four was pretty sure it was a girl thing.
"How did you know that you liked men?" The Academy student clarifies.
"Oh well that's a long story. I mean your father always held my attention. Even when we were kids, I just wanted him to notice me. More than anything really. It took awhile to figure it out though. It was only after I followed him to the Sound that I realized that was even an option. I mean that loving someone who was the same gender as you was an option. Why do you ask?" The blue eyed Otokage inquires.
"Big Sister, got her first kiss today! That's why!" Jiraiya says.
Jiraiya was their third child. He was eight years old and their first son. Naturally, Naruto had named him after Pervy Sage as a way to pay his final respects.
"What? No way! That's great news, Kushina. Who is the lucky guy?" The proud father asks.
He had considered naming the boy Minato because he liked the idea of honoring his father. Sasuke had refused to allow it though. According to Sasuke, that would be "creepy."
Having one of their daughters named Kushina and one of their sons named Minato just seemed too weird. A brother and a sister shouldn't be named after their grandparents, in his mind. (Reluctantly, Naruto conceded that Sasuke had a point about that).
"It wasn't a guy! It was Asuka!" The younger blonde continues happily.
Yes, Jiraiya and his twin brother were blonde. This was much to Itachi's amusement and somewhat to Sasuke's mortification. It looked like Naruto's side of the family tree had decided to express itself more strongly with the second set of twins.
Jiraiya had blonde hair that was styled like his grandfather Minato. His eyes were obsidian black like Sasuke's though. The boy had certainly gotten Naruto's ears and nose, though the rest of his face looked like Sasuke. He lacked Naruto's whiskers and his skin tone was somewhere between both of his fathers. His younger brother, Shisui looked identical to him.
"You kissed Suigetsu and Karin's daughter?" Naruto asks dumbfounded.
Well, he supposed that he couldn't be upset. He was in love with a man. If Kushina preferred girls, that was okay. It surprised him though.
He didn't really know why. The Sound was a lot more open about that sort of thing than most other villagers. (Though that was slowly changing).
"It was an accident! We were just glaring at each other and some idiot bumped us together!" Kushina protests.
"Oh I've heard that one before." Sasuke says as he walks into the living room and kisses Naruto's cheek.
"What do you mean?" Their daughter asks in confusion.
Sasuke shakes his head. He had suspected that Kushina might favor girls over boys. Their youngest daughter had never really shown any interest in boys. So he wasn't entirely surprised to hear this. Though it was amusing that history was repeating itself.
"The same thing happened to your father and I when we were at the Academy." The Uchiha Patriarch says simply and Kushina's eyes widen in a panic.
"Sister, it's alright. I'm sure that you will both make beautiful brides, someday." Mikoto says as she helps Sasuke carry in some groceries.
"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!" Kushina demands as she twitches in anger.
Mikoto smiles serenely as she starts helping Sasuke take out some of the groceries from the bags. She knew that it was a little sadistic, but oh well. She was an Uchiha. It was to be expected.
"I said that you will both make beautiful brides someday. I look forward to being the Maid of Honor at your wedding. Will you be wearing a wedding kimono or your ninja uniform? You do strike me as the more masculine between the two of you. So I imagine she'd wear the kimono. Though I guess you could both wear them. Whatever makes you happiest." Mikoto says.
"YOU'RE SO DEAD! RASENGAN!" Kushina screams at her and charges up her attack.
The young woman's fist slams down on the table instead of her sister though. Unbeknownst to her, Mikoto had cast a Genjutsu that made her sister believe that the table was her. Ninjutsu users were so predictable.
"Mikoto, stop provoking your sister! Kushina! Stop destroying furniture!" Naruto calls out.
"SHE STARTED IT!" They both cry out.
Shisui comes in carrying a bag of groceries. The eight year old looks at his siblings in confusion. He felt like he had missed something.
"Do I even want to know?" He whispers to Jiraiya.
"Kushina kissed a girl and Mikoto teased her about it. So now Kushina is mad and Mikoto almost got hit by a Rasengan. She used a Genjutsu to dodge it though." Jiraiya whispers back.
Shisui just shakes his head. Girls could be so weird sometimes. He loved his big sisters, but they were strange. All girls were really.
"Alright. Come on. The celebration is going to be starting soon." Naruto tells them.
It was the anniversary of the Sound becoming an official ninja village. Every year, they held a grand festival to celebrate. Most of the Sound Villagers were old enough to remember a time when it had been run by Orochimaru. So they were still rather proud that it was now officially recognized by all the other villages.
The children of the Sound, well they just saw it as an excuse to have a good time. They all seemed to greatly enjoy the fireworks, music, food, and games. Once Naruto mentioned the festival, his daughters quickly forgot about their fight.
"Works like a charm, every time." Sasuke says with a smirk as they finish putting away the groceries and head out.
The Sun was just going down and already people were filling the streets. Music was playing and there must have been dozens of booths selling food or with games around. It was too early for fireworks just yet, but Sasuke knew that it was just a matter of time.
"Look! It's Cousin Kosuke and Nori!" Shisui says happily as he bounds over to his cousins.
The other Uchiha children soon joined him. Shisui was definitely the social butterfly of the group. He was always the first to greet people and the last to leave any celebration. Like Naruto, he definitely loved being around people. He was a natural extravert.
"Hey, Shisui." Nori says as he shoots him a shark toothed grin.
Yeah. Nori's teeth hadn't gotten any duller with age. If anything, they were now much closer to that of a shark's than a human. He didn't mind that though. Sasuke was pretty sure he got a kick out of it.
"It looks like they are setting up a rather impressive display of fireworks this year. Bigger than last years." Kosuke adds.
"Really? This is going to be so awesome! Hmm. I wonder if I can help them with the display!" Jirayia muses out loud.
Jiraiya was the most mischievous of the bunch. Nori was the most aggressive. That meant they were partners in crime. Which naturally meant they were the most likely to drive their parents crazy.
"I figured that the two of you would try to get into some mischief. So I already told those manning the fireworks not to let you in while they are getting set up. I love you two, but I remember what happened last time." Itachi says.
The year before, they had snuck in. Jiraiya and Nori had somehow gotten hold of some fireworks and used some minor jutsus to make it act like a dragon. That dragon had scared the living daylights out of their Academy Instructor. Apparently, the two of them weren't particularly fond of said instructor and that's why they did it.
He just thanked God that Kosuke with his mind reading jutsus, wasn't nearly as mischievous as they were. That would have been a disaster. Thankfully, Kosuke had more of a scholarly nature than most of his relatives. (Other than Mikoto who was more similar to her cousin in that respect than her siblings).
"Awe. We were just having some fun!" They pout and Itachi just shakes his head.
It was amazing, Naruto muses to himself. After Kisame and Itachi had Nori and Kosuke, they had all decided to tell the ninja world the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. It had taken people awhile to get used to the fact that Itachi and Kisame were "good guys," but they finally did after a couple of years.
Well, maybe good guys was stretching it. They both had rather bloody histories, but the main point is that they weren't completely evil. Finally, people had accepted that. Though people still tended to look at Itachi and Kisame a bit warily sometimes.
"Your son almost gave your teacher a heart attack." Itachi says.
"Oh come on, Itachi. Admit it. It was pretty funny. Besides, boys will be boys." Kisame says with a laugh.
This earned a dirty look from his lover. Honestly, Kisame was absolutely hopeless when it came to disciplining children. Who knew that the former S Class Criminal would end up having such a soft spot for kids, Itachi wondered to himself.
"Kisame, you are not helping." He says with an exasperated sigh.
"Hey, Dad. Some of my friends are over there from school. You mind if I go play with them?" Shisui asks Naruto.
"Nah. It's fine. Just be back in time for the fireworks." He says and Shisui heads off.
Sasuke simply shakes his head as he watches Shisui play with his friends. It soon became rather apparent that they were having some sort of contest with weapons. Shisui favored weapons over jutsus when given a choice.
Really, it was amazing how good he was with kunais, bow and arrows, and other weapons. By far though, his favorite toy was his demon wind shuriken. Naturally, that's what he decided to use for the "game." Oh boy.
"Sasuke, do you really think it's a good idea to let him play with such a lethal weapon?" Itachi asks in concern.
"He's young, but he knows what he's doing. It'd be nice if he didn't show off in front of the other kids though. I guess he's like Naruto in that respect. Like Kisame said, boys will be boys." Sasuke says after debating his answer for a minute.
"And it looks like girls will also be girls." His brother notes in open amusement.
That got Sasuke's attention immediately. It looked like Kushina and Asuka had found each other. The two were bickering over the Kissing Incident. While Mikoto had wondered off to one of the game booths.
"What do you have to do to get that big giant panda?" Mikoto asks the person running the booth.
"Well you have to hit at least seventy balloons with one hundred or fewer darts." The man explains with a smile.
Just then someone walks over to them. It was Seiko. He was Gaara's son. The Academy student had inherited his father's blood red hair, though it was styled like Madara's had been. His eyes were the same color as his mother and he also had Gaara's eye markings. He was surprisingly tall for his age, easily towering over Mikoto.
"Is the use of chakra allowed or does it have to be done in the old fashioned way?" Mikoto's classmate asks. (The Uchihas all attended the International Academy and so did Seiko).
"It's allowed. I mean if you are willing to pay to play, there's no reason you shouldn't be allowed to play to the best of your abilities." The man says.
"Good." He says as he pays for a hundred darts.
Seiko had inherited his father's looks, but his mother's bloodlines. So he simply uses boil release to throw the darts and burn away all one hundred of the balloons. Well that was easy.
"This is for you." He says and hands her the panda.
"Thanks!" Mikoto says and she smiles as she kisses his cheek, causing him to blush as red as his hair.
Gaara sighs as he and Mei make their way over to the Uchiha family. He looks at Sasuke and they both exchange knowing looks. This was going to become rather annoying and quickly.
"Uchiha, I swear if your seductress of a daughter hurts my son in any way, I will Sand Coffin her." He warns him.
"My SEDUCTRESS of a daughter?! She's twelve! He's the one trying to win her over with stuffed animals! And if you even think about touching my daughter, I will rip you apart limb from limb!" Sasuke snarls.
Naruto blinks. Uh oh. He could feel from the Mating Bond that this could get ugly and rather quickly. He was going to have to step in.
"Guys, their just kids. Besides, it's kinda cute. Oh and Gaara that was NOT cool. Don't threaten my daughter again. I mean I wasn't threatening to Rasengan your son's nuts off, if he hurt our princess!" The blonde retorts.
"But you were thinking it." Gaara says accusingly.
"Well maybe a little. You're my friend, Gaara. But she's my daughter. You know how it is." Naruto says sheepishly.
Itachi and Mei both cover their faces in their hands. Honestly, they were surrounded by idiots sometimes. They loved their respective idiots, but it was time for them to put their foot down.
"Alright. I think everyone has suitably "protected" their children from the dangers of dating for now. Let's just enjoy the festivities, shall we?" Itachi asks.
"Yes, I think that's a grand idea myself." Mei agrees.
Jiraiya and Nori just shake their heads. They were surrounded by crazy people. Each of them loved their families, but everyone in it was crazy. (Well everyone except for them)!
"Sasuke, what's up with your daughter kissing mine?" Suigetsu asks as he walks over with Karin.
"Suigetsu, leave it be. I'm not in the mood to deal with your stupidity. It was an accident. It's not a big deal. I'm sure that when they end up getting married, she'll have you walk her down the aisle. So you've got nothing to worry about." Sasuke says.
Naruto blinks. Oh yeah. Mikoto definitely took after Sasuke. They could be vicious and sassy divas when they wanted to be. It looked like there were going to be a lot of fireworks going on tonight and not just the ones in the sky!
"My stupidity?! You're the one who has a klutz for a daughter!" The white haired man snaps at him.
Oh that did it. Naruto shoves Suigetsu against the nearest tree and holds him there by his throat. He had never really cared for the water lover much anyway. So he certainly wasn't going to allow him to insult one of his princesses.
"What did you say about MY daughter, Fish Face?!" The blue eyed Kage growls at him menacingly.
"Naruto! Let go of my husband!" Karin shouts at him.
"Not until this creep says he's sorry for insulting my daughter." The blonde informs her.
Sasuke sighs. Suigetsu had just been asking for that one. He sighs and glances over at the two bickering girls who were about a hundred yards away.
Asuka had her mother's vibrant hair and Suigetsu's violet eyes. Sasuke had never been interested in women, but it was obvious that she was going to be considered quite the beauty in a few years. If his daughter was going to prefer women, he could at least see why Kushina would be physically attracted to the other girl. That didn't make Asuka's father any less annoying though.
"As much as I would love for you to snap his neck, it would annoy our Mate. If you want to mount him again sometime this year, I wouldn't do it." Kurama advises him.
"Damn it. I guess you're right. It's so fucking tempting though. He's been asking for this for years." Naruto grumbles.
Thankfully, the blonde releases the other member of Taka. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief that this day wasn't going to turn into a blood bath. A crisis had been adverted.
Speaking of adverting disaster, Sasuke sighs as he remembered Tsunade. He still felt a bit guilty about killing her. She hadn't done anything wrong, but it had been a preemptive strike really.
"You can't just throw your weight around like that, Naruto! It's not cool!" Karin insists.
"Since when do you ever have an issue with Suigetsu getting his ass kicked?" The blonde demands.
"Since he's my husband and I'm the only one allowed to beat him up." The feisty red head informs her distant relative.
Maybe Tsunade would have kept her mouth shut about Sasuke and Naruto both being the twins' biological fathers, but she wouldn't have about Sakura. Naruto had killed Sakura. Sakura had been Tsunade's apprentice. That was grounds for a war.
So he had taken her life to prevent a war between the Sound and Leaf. A war that likely would have eventually dragged the other ninja villages into it. One life to save possibly tens of thousands.
"That's right! Wait. What?" The sword lover asks in confusion.
"Suigetsu, I would just go with it." Jugo says with a smile as he walks over to the group.
Suigetsu grumbles. First, Naruto threw him around. Then Karin said she was the only one allowed to beat him up and now Jugo was in on it? What was this? Pick on Suigetsu Day?
In a way, Sasuke supposed he was now like Itachi. He had put the needs of the many above a smaller group. Mostly though, he just wanted to protect his family. He would have done anything to protect them. He had killed for them and he would do it again, if it came down to it.
"Are you enjoying the festivities, Jugo?" Itachi asks.
"Yes, I am. I was just coming to tell all of you that they are about to start the fireworks. I didn't think that you would want to miss the beginning." He says with a smile.
"Oh good point. HEY, GUYS THE FIREWORKS ARE ABOUT TO START. COME ON! WE NEED TO FIND GOOD SEATS!" Naruto calls out.
Idly, Sasuke was impressed by Naruto's lung capacity. That and how quickly their kids came running towards them. He noticed that Mikoto was dragging her "sexy panda" behind her and that Kushina and Asuka were racing towards them as well.
"Alright. Let's get going then." Sasuke says with a smile as they head off to watch the fireworks.
Meanwhile back in the Leaf Village, Shizune and Kakashi place some flowers on Sakura and Tsunade's graves. The two of them often visited their graves together and made sure there were always beautiful flowers on top of them. It seemed like the least they could do.
"Do you think that they are at peace now, My Love?" Shizune asks.
"I like to think so. I'm sure that Tsunade would be glad the peace between the ninja villages has been maintained all these years and the same goes for Sakura." He answers her.
After the deaths of their loved ones, the two of them had grieved together. Somehow, they had come to rely on each other through the coping process. Comfort turned to friendship and friendship turned to love. They had been happily married for about eleven years now.
"Good. Well I think the worst of the fallout from the Uchiha Massacre is finally over. The Leaf's reputation is almost back to normal." She says as they walk off together, hand in hand.
"Good. It was touch and go for awhile. That nearly destroyed us. Let's go sit on the top of the Hokage Mountain. We should be able to see the fireworks from there. I wonder if Jiraiyaand Nori will meddle with the displays again." The silver haired ninja muses out loud.
"I'm sure that they will. It's Jiraiya and Nori." She says with a smile as they go off to do exactly that.
A few hours later, the fireworks were over. Sasuke and Naruto had finally gotten done lecturing Nori and Jiraiya for meddling with the fireworks again. It seems that the sneaky children had made clones and managed to get the fireworks to spell out, Nori and Jiraiya Rule!
Jiraiya's special jutsu was that he could control his density. He could spread out his molecules enough to become invisible or to become so dense it was almost impossible to injury him. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't perfected it yet. He could only hold either of those forms for a couple minutes. Apparently, that was long enough though.
Nori was one of the fastest ninjas that Sasuke had ever seen. He was also a skilled Taijutsu Expert in the making. If Jiraiya could sneak them in, Nori could complete any prank they had in mind.
"Oh come on. You have to admit that was pretty funny." Naruto says with a laugh as they stumble into their room.
"Alright. I'll admit that it was kinda funny. Still what are we going to do with them?" Sasuke says with a sigh.
"Oh they are just kids. They'll grow out of it eventually. Remember when I painted the Hokage Mountain and everyone got all mad? It's the same thing." The blonde assures his lover.
Sasuke nods. He remembered that quite clearly. He wasn't called the number one hyperactive, knuckle headed, and most unpredictable ninja for nothing. Thankfully, Naruto utilized his vast creativity in different ways now. Much more sensual ways actually.
"I remember that. The world should be very grateful that now we finally have a much more productive use for all your energy." Sasuke says with a smirk as he playfully pins his lover to the bed.
"Oh yeah. They definitely should be grateful for that. I love you, Bastard. You know that, right?" Naruto asks after kissing him.
Sasuke smiles and returns the kiss. It was a silly question to ask. Of course, he knew that. They had the Mating Bond. Even if they didn't though, he would know.
"I know that. I love you too. I always have and I always will." The raven haired ninja says.
"Always and forever." Naruto says with a smile.
"You know that is still redundant! Always and forever mean the same thing!" Kurama interjects.
Naruto twitches. Damn Kurama. He just had to go and ruin the moment!
"Naruto, are you alright? I just felt you get rather irritated." Sasuke asks in confusion and a little alarm.
"Yeah. I'm fine, but Kurama won't be. If he doesn't shut up, I'm going to turn him into a nice fur coat!" Naruto grumbles.
"I have a better idea. Why don't we traumatize the furball?" Sasuke asks with a smirk.
"I like the sound of that!" The other Otokage says with a smirk and the two spend the rest of the night together.
When the morning came, both lovers were extremely satisfied. Kurama was another story though. He was thoroughly traumatized. He was perfectly fine with two males mounting each other, but he hadn't expected them to use clones!
"Do you ever regret leaving the Leaf?" Sasuke asks as the two were sharing a lovers' embrace.
"Not for a minute. I have you and our children. Hell, we even have Itachi, Kisame, and Taka. I've got everything that I ever really wanted. What about you?" The blonde asks.
"I feel the same way." Sasuke says with a smile and they both drift off to sleep.
Each of them was content with the knowledge that they were safe with their most precious person. It was very easy for the two of them to fall asleep in their lover's arms because they knew that nothing and no one would ever be able to separate them. They would be together for always and forever.