Disclaimer: You'd think after thirty-five chapters, you'd get the picture.
Author's Note: I was happy with the overall response from the last chapter (even if I wish there were more than just a few reviews). I have an announcement that I'm going to make in the usual A/N at the end of the chapter, but if you don't typically read that, I urge you to for this chapter. Anyway, I'm just gonna get to the chapter…
This chapter was betaed by SingingSparklyKuma, and by Merciless Angels Never Cry.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Adjusting to Life
THREE MONTHS LATER…
Sasuke adjusted his shirt, smoothing it down and making sure his pants weren't too low down. He had to make sure he didn't look too disheveled; his mother wouldn't like that. Despite knowing about his relationship with Naruto, she refused to even consider the sexual aspects of such a relationship, nor did she like knowing that "her baby" has sex on a regular basis now. He wondered how she'd react if she knew he once had a casual sex affair with Suigetsu.
The light-haired teen was the first person he saw when he walked into the mansion. He was just coming down the stairs, ready for work. When Sasuke and Itachi had first offered to hire him and Kisame as bartenders while they bounced back, they were both resistant. They'd already done so much, letting the two move into the house; it wouldn't be right to impede. When Suigetsu learned they had another house guest, he took the job to make himself scarce.
Itachi didn't let Sasuke know that he had invited Kisame and Suigetsu to move in. After Suigetsu's engagement with Hinata fell through, they were evicted from their house, and Itachi took them both in. He knew that Sasuke was friends with Suigetsu, so there wasn't much of a chance of Sasuke rejecting them. Unfortunately, since Itachi didn't tell Sasuke of his intentions, Sasuke thought they had one more spare bedroom than they already had. After her father kicked her out of the house for refusing to marry Suigetsu, Sasuke offered Hinata the room to stay until something else could be worked out.
They were now one big, not-so-happy family. Mikoto was initially resistant to the influx of people, but she was easy to appease on that issue. More people around the house meant more people to help her as she adjusted. There was still so much she couldn't do after being out of commission for so long. She was finally getting able to walk around on her own. If she used a cane, no one had to be around to make sure she didn't fall.
Kakashi was also accepting, mostly because he didn't really care about the others. Kisame and Itachi didn't really have much of a problem with the arrangement either. No, the only people who had a problem with the living situation were Suigetsu and Hinata, for understandable reasons. They just broke off their engagement, and now they were living under the same roof. Life's funny like that, huh?
"Your mom's mad at you again," Suigetsu said as Sasuke gingerly closed the door. It was 12:30 in the afternoon, and he had spent last night at Naruto's dorm, "having fun." He rolled his eyes. Of course his mom was mad. Any time he spent away from the house that didn't directly involve school was time he should have spent with her. He understood that she felt there was a lot of lost time to make up for – and he agreed – but he couldn't just give up his friends and relationship. He'd already moved back into the house when she came home. That was a huge chunk of time that he had set aside for her.
"You didn't close the door?" Sasuke asked with an annoyed frown. Since Kisame, Kakashi, and Hinata all had their own spare bedrooms, it fell upon Sasuke to accept Suigetsu in his room. It was a little weird at first, but there was enough room. Suigetsu didn't need a desk now that he wasn't a student at Konoha University anymore, so they only really needed to put in a bed. There was more than enough closet space for the two of them, even if Suigetsu was constantly wearing Sasuke's clothing.
After Mikoto started making a big deal about Sasuke sleeping over at Naruto's frequently, Sasuke and Suigetsu made an arrangement that their door always stays closed. She would never know when Sasuke was sleeping in the room or out at Naruto's. And he was able to convince her that unexpectedly going into the room of a teenager was probably a bad option. Still, she always managed to find out that he was gone, and she always ended up lecturing him. Sometimes he would argue back, and they would end up in a row.
Today was one of those days. Sasuke entered the kitchen and saw his mom sitting down with Kakashi, mugs of coffee in front of them. Sasuke noticed that the coffee machine was still on, so he walked over to pour himself a cup. He nodded a greeting to both, hoping that would be the extent of what they had to say to him.
"You weren't in your room this morning," Mikoto commented as she took a sip of her coffee. Sasuke scowled – not facing her – as he poured himself coffee. He cleared his face of expression before turning back around.
"I was at Naruto's," he said simply, as if that explained everything. If it was anyone other than his mother, it would have.
"You know I don't like you sleeping over at his place," Mikoto commented. "It's inappropriate for someone your age." Kakashi took the opportunity to intervene; he tried to talk Mikoto down whenever she got like this.
"Sasuke's an adult," he told her. "He's allowed to sleep wherever he wants." She gave him a glare, not appreciating his intervening.
"There's no need to jump into bed with him," Mikoto commented. "Your father and I waited until we were married to have sex."
"Naruto and I can't get married," Sasuke said curtly. "We're in a committed relationship, though, and sex is a part of that. Besides, I did not jump into bed with him. We were together for months before we took it to that level."
"You're still not ready," she insisted as Suigetsu walked in. Every time he, Suigetsu, and his mother were in the same room, he wondered how she'd react if she knew that he used to fuck the guy who sleeps in his room. That door would probably be closed a lot less often, at her insistence.
"I'm not five years old anymore, Mom!" Sasuke exclaimed loudly. Some might even call it yelling. He didn't like when he got angry with his mother, but she often seemed to forget that it had been fourteen years since the accident, and he was now an adult. She didn't like to think that he was capable of making his own decisions and being an independent adult. She had the same problem with Itachi, but to a lesser extent. With an angry look, he took his coffee and left the room, choosing to go upstairs and work on a paper for his class.
A few minutes later, Kakashi knocked on his door and Sasuke allowed him to enter. He was relieved that Kakashi hadn't brought Mikoto, but knew he was in for a lecture.
"You shouldn't yell at your mother," he said in a calm tone of voice. "She might be a little…misguided…but she still loves you, and her intentions are pure."
"When is she going to stop treating me like a baby?" Sasuke asked resentfully. He wanted desperately for him and his mother to get along well, but it seemed like every time they interacted, something went wrong.
When Sasuke was watching TV, she would chide him, telling him to do his homework. When he wanted to go out and grab dinner with his friends, she told him that she was cooking that night, and he had to stay to have dinner with the family. When he invited Naruto over, the door to his bedroom had to remain open, and they would be third-wheeled by someone. It was a different person depending on who she asked to do it.
"You are her baby, though," Kakashi told him. "She doesn't know who you are now. All she sees when she looks at you is how you were when you were five. I know it's not right and it's not fair," he added at Sasuke's look, "but that's how it is. And don't forget that she lost her baby. I personally believe that left her with a severe longing to protect you and Itachi, and everything she does is meant to protect you and keep you close."
"I'm an adult," Sasuke said adamantly. "If she doesn't get that through her head, then I'm moving back into the dorms next semester. I can't live under the same roof as her if she insists on treating me like a kid."
"Instead of fighting her at every step and turn, why don't you do something to fix the situation?" Kakashi asked him. He gave Kakashi a confused look. "She doesn't know who you are at seventeen. Why don't you spend some time together, figuring out what you have in common? She'll learn who you are, and you'll be more of a peer in her eyes than a child." Sasuke considered that for a moment and agreed inwardly that it was a good idea. There had to be something they had in common.
He walked down the stairs a few minutes later to apologize and talk to her. They would never develop a healthy relationship if they kept fighting; Sasuke knew that. She was accepting of his apology, even if she didn't apologize for treating him like a child. 'One step at a time,' he reminded himself.
"We should do something together," he suggested. "You know, get to know each other better?"
"That's a wonderful idea," she said, a bright smile illuminating her face. Sasuke wished he saw her smile like that more often. "Do you like music?"
"Yeah," he said easily enough. He liked almost all types of music, so there had to be something they could both relate to. "Do you want to go to a concert some time?"
"I'd love to!" she said happily. "How about Whitney Houston?" Suigetsu snorted from the corner, but both he and his mother ignored him.
"She's…uh…dead," Sasuke said awkwardly. Mikoto's face fell.
"Oh," she said. "How about Michael Jackson, or Aaliyah?" Suigetsu almost roared in laughter. Sasuke took a deep breath before speaking up again.
"They're dead too," he informed her.
"Oh," she said again. "Why don't you decide?" she asked. It seemed like the best option. After listening to and rejecting songs from Green Day, Maroon 5, fun., and Coldplay, they finally decided that a Muse concert would be the best choice. Unfortunately for them, Muse was touring in Europe for the foreseeable future.
"Why don't we just go see a movie?" Sasuke suggested.
It was a disaster.
After arguing about whether or not it was appropriate for them to see a Rated R movie together, Mikoto insisted on dragging him into some Halloween cartoon movie that was rated G. Yeah…a G rated movie. Because she was sure that the brief nudity in the PG-13 movie was too much for Sasuke to handle.
Whatever, he conceded. He didn't have the heart to just give up and bring them back home. So when he started to text Naruto halfway through the movie, bored out of his mind, Mikoto glared at him, announcing how rude it was. He put his phone away. It wasn't worth the fight. When he kept looking at the time on his phone throughout the movie, Mikoto got more and more annoyed before finally walking out.
"That was incredibly rude," she said when they left the theater. "I didn't pay for you to sit in a theater on your phone the whole time." Sasuke didn't point out that he was going to pay for them before she insisted on paying. Nor did he point out that Frankenweenie was the last movie he'd ever want to see in the history of the universe. Instead, he put up with the rant she gave the entire ride home.
When they got home, he retreated up to his room without a word to Kakashi, Hinata, Kisame, or Itachi, slamming the door to his room.
Kakashi's next idea was to go to the zoo. Sasuke was still incredibly mad, but Kakashi somehow managed to convince him that it was a good idea. So when he proposed the idea to his mother, after assuring her that he wouldn't be so rude when they went out, she accepted.
Apparently, "zoo" to her meant "petting zoo." Mikoto stood with the other parents as Sasuke walked into the pen of animals. He was the oldest amongst the people petting animals. The one closest to his age was ten years old, and even he looked bored by it. There were some people in their twenties, thirties, and even forties in the pen – but they were all holding small children, helping pet the animals. And Mikoto insisted on taking photos of Sasuke and the animals.
When he didn't smile, she got upset again, and again, the day ended with Sasuke slamming the door to his room. He'd wasted his Saturday at a baby's movie, and his Sunday at the petting zoo. After his weekend, his class was a welcome distraction from his family. After class was over, he made sure to spend some time with Naruto at his dorm room. Until he got a call from the mansion. Kakashi gave him the message that Mikoto wanted him home for dinner.
He was silent the entire meal, ignoring everyone else's questions and conversations. Everyone noticed but no one commented. It was impossible for them to ignore the yelling that had gone on in recent months. Mikoto would treat Sasuke like a child and Sasuke would blow up at her. It was happening over and over again, and at this point, no one even acknowledged it. It was so normal that it was ignored.
It was Itachi who talked to him that night.
"I understand where you're coming from," he assured Sasuke. "I really do."
"I just wish she would understand that I'm an adult. I can vote, I can own a bar, I can have sex with anyone and everyone I want. I can see R-rated movies, and stay up past midnight. I can drive, I can enlist in the military, I can go to a regular fucking zoo without being in mortal danger."
"I know that," Itachi commented when Sasuke was finished.
"She doesn't," Sasuke said angrily.
"Of course she does," Itachi said. "She knows you're an adult, but she doesn't accept it." Sasuke was quiet, waiting for Itachi to continue. When the older Uchiha brother realized he wasn't going to be interrupted or spoken over, he continued. "She's depressed, don't you see it? She lost her husband and her unborn son, and the next thing she knows, everyone's moved on. We're adults attending college where we were both kids barely able to understand what death was. Even small things contribute, like learning about how the world has changed.
"We're all acting like this is a great blessing, but for her, this is a double-edged sword. She gets more time with us, and she still has life, but look at the cost. She lost half of her family, and she doesn't even know us anymore. The only thing that seems relatively constant is Kakashi. She copes with this change by acting like everything is as it was, but we both know it can't be like that.
"She's gotten all the medical help she needed to tend to her health. She's had physical therapy, treatments to get over all the issues she faced after a twelve yearlong coma, and she has all the best doctors on call if she needs anything. But it's not enough. She's getting the physical help she needs, but more than that, she needs help on her mental being." He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe we should convince her to see your therapist."
"He's not my therapist," Sasuke said, but inwardly agreed that she could benefit from seeing Dr. Kishimoto. He'd only met the guy twice, and neither visit was productive at all, but he helped Naruto a lot, and Sasuke could see he had a mostly positive track record with patients. He wouldn't go back to seeing him, but it wouldn't hurt his mother to visit him.
"Kiba's boyfriend's here!" Hana yelled out to her parents in a singsong voice.
"Shut up!" Kiba replied embarrassingly. Ever since his parents found out about his relationship with Gaara, they'd insisted on meeting him. He always managed to avoid having them meet him by picking Gaara up and staying away from home when they were together. Unfortunately, today was the day when Gaara insisted on picking Kiba up, and Kiba couldn't tell him that he just didn't want him to meet his parents. He wouldn't understand.
With his sister's announcement, Kiba's parents left the kitchen and came into the living room near where the front door was. It was his mother who opened the door.
"This must be the Gaara we've heard so much about," she said with a toothy grin as she opened up the door. Gaara looked a little shocked to see someone other than Kiba answered the door, but he covered it up quickly. He held out a hand for a handshake.
"Hello, Mrs. Inuzu–" he began before she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. His feet lifted off the ground, and he made an "oomph" sound as she squeezed him.
"That's not how we say hi in this family," she said loudly as she crushed his spine. She finally let him down after a moment. "And even if we've just met, you've been with Kiba almost six months. You're family."
"Th-Thank you," Gaara said, giving Kiba an unsure look. Kiba returned with a look of apology. Luckily, his father wasn't nearly as bad as his mother.
"Forgive Tsume, son," he said, extending his arm. "She gets very excited by things like this." Gaara accepted his handshake, and was grateful that Kiba's father seemed to be much more normal than his mother. "Unfortunately, I have to get going. I wish I could stay longer." With that, Kiba's father excused himself, and Gaara and Kiba were left alone with the two weird Inuzukas.
Before anyone had time to react, Kiba grabbed Gaara's arm and began to lead him back out the door. "Well, it's been great, but we should get going too."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Tsume practically roared, grabbing the collar of Kiba's shirt and pulling him back into the house. When he and Gaara relented, she slammed the door shut behind them. "I was just cooking dinner. You're welcome to join us, Gaara."
"We actually have reservations at a restaurant already, but thank you for the gracious offer," Gaara said with a polite bow of his head.
"Oh, that's fine," Tsume said, her tone changing completely. Kiba knew just what was coming. "I just figured after spending all day cooking a meal, my son's boyfriend would appreciate a family dinner instead of leaving for restaurant food. Is it because you're afraid of my cooking, or do you just not want to get to know the family?"
Her manipulative guilt trip worked like a charm, despite Kiba insisting she hadn't known Gaara was coming and she hadn't been home more than an hour to cook. Gaara knew that there was no right answer to her question, so he had to relent. And now, instead of a nice romantic date with his boyfriend, Kiba got a family dinner.
After the food was placed on the table, the interrogation began.
"So, how long did you wait before having sex?" Tsume asked. Kiba spit out his drink all over the table, naturally.
"Mom!" he yelled, a red flush covering his cheeks. "You can't just ask him that!"
"So you don't deny having sex?" she followed-up in a chiding tone. "You two are–"
"We're consenting adults!" Kiba argued, trying to figure out a way out of this dinner.
"Fine," she conceded. The room was quiet while everyone loaded their plates with meat, potatoes and vegetables. When she finally finished loading her plate, Tsume spoke up again. "Do you at least use protection?"
"MOM!" Kiba shouted. "If you ask us any more personal questions about our relationship like that, we're out of here.
"Fine," she conceded once more. It was more important to her that the question was raised than answered. Another brief silence ensued, in which the clank of silverware against plates was all that could be heard. "So what are you studying, Gaara?"
"I'm pre-med," he informed her after he finished swallowing his food. Gaara already understood that if he did anything even the slightest bit questionable – like talking with his mouth full – Tsume would have another go at him.
"Oh, Kiba's studying to become a vet," she said, happy that her son could end up with a doctor. She always urged Hana to marry a doctor.
"I know," Gaara said graciously. "We've spoken about it a few times."
"So, any other plans for the future?" Tsume asked. "What med school do you plan on attending?"
"I haven't decided yet," Gaara admitted. "Kiba and I are already in our second semester of college. We have time before looking for med schools and vet schools."
"So you plan on staying close together, then?" she asked.
"Of course," Gaara said as Kiba's fingers intertwined with his. "I have no intention of being in a long-distance relationship with him when we can stay close together." Tsume frowned at the way it looked like Kiba had his hands near Gaara under the table.
"Watch your hands, Kiba," Tsume chided. "I don't want to worry about what it's doing under the table so close to your boyfriend."
"That's it, we're done," Kiba said, standing up and pulling Gaara up with him. "I'm tired of you doing this, Mom. If you can't behave nicely in front of him, then we're not going to eat here anymore." Thankfully, Gaara allowed Kiba to do the talking to his mother. He didn't wait for her to respond before he turned to leave, pulling Gaara along. When they were alone outside the house, Gaara pushed Kiba against the wall next to the door and caught his lips in a deep kiss.
His tongue played with Kiba's as he pressed the slightly-taller boy against the front of the house. Kiba moaned his surprise, but didn't protest. After Gaara pulled away, Kiba smirked.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"For not making me sit through that," Gaara admitted. "Your mother is…"
"A bitch?" Kiba asked.
"…hardcore," Gaara supplemented with a smirk. They walked together towards Gaara's car, and Kiba profusely apologized all the way to the dorm room. "Kiba, shut up about it or we're not fucking tonight," he threatened. "I'm horny, and the last thing I want to think about is your mother." Luckily, Kiba obliged.
As soon as the door opened, their lips were attached. As soon as it was closed, their clothes were off. And as soon as Kiba entered Gaara, the phone rang.
"It's my mother," Kiba said, looking at the Caller ID. Gaara sincerely hoped that Kiba wouldn't answer. The last thing he needed was for the brunet to talk to his mother while inside him. And the last thing Kiba wanted was to grow soft. "I'll call her back tomorrow," Kiba said with a grin, throwing the phone over his shoulder.
He withdrew from Gaara almost all the way before slamming back into him. He stayed at a very slow rhythm, choosing to thrust hard and deep instead of fast. He felt the familiar feeling of his cock brushing against Gaara's prostate, because the redhead shivered and groaned beneath him. He leaned over and nipped at Gaara's chest as he continued his slow, deep thrusts, hitting that bundle of nerves every time with dead-on precision. Gaara's legs wrapped tighter around his midsection.
Kiba reached out and let his fingernail lightly graze the bottom of Gaara's erect cock. "Do you want me?" Kiba asked, playing coy. Gaara glared at him and growled, but Kiba only thrust again – hitting his prostate, of course – and Gaara closed his eyes in pleasure. Kiba grinned and gripped his cock in his hands, beginning to slowly stroke it to the rhythm of his trusts.
"Faster, you asshole!" Gaara growled out.
"There's only one asshole here," Kiba replied, giving another slow thrust to emphasize his point. "Well, technically there are two, but only one is of consequence right now." Kiba didn't think Gaara had it in him, but he managed to catch Kiba off guard and switch their positions. Instead of Kiba pounding into Gaara, who was lying flat on his back with his legs around the brunet, Kiba was now lying down on the bed with Gaara's asshole still sheathing his cock.
Gaara, using some sort of sorcery, began slamming down on Kiba's cock in a rhythm that probably broke speed barriers. Kiba would have objected if it didn't feel like his balls were about to explode any second. Instead of insisting on a slow pace, he began thrusting up to match Gaara's own movements.
It wasn't very long before they both came together, Kiba's cock filling Gaara's asshole with his salty seed while Gaara spilled his own all over Kiba's chest. Gaara quite literally rode out his orgasm, as did Kiba, but they were soon lying on each other, the familiar feel of sticky cum between their chests. Kiba's orgasm had been so strong that some of his seed was already starting to spill out of Gaara's gaping hole.
Despite always liking to be clean, Gaara faced the usual predicament of staying in bed with Kiba or getting up and getting clean. He picked the usual solution, and stroked Kiba's soft hair as he made himself more comfortable.
"That was…wow," Kiba said between breaths. Even though it wasn't their longest session by a long shot, it was definitely the most satisfying by far. Gaara moved his fingers from the brunet's locks and began to lightly draw circles on Kiba's chest with his nails.
"I lied to your mom," Gaara admitted after a moment. When Kiba looked to him with a confused look, he elaborated. "I already picked out a med school, Ithica School of Medicine, in New York." He still saw confusion in Kiba's eyes. "It's not the best med school in the country, but its near the Cornell vet school – best in the world."
Kiba wasn't sure if he was so in love with Gaara because he had planned out a future for them together, or if it was because he cared more about the caliber of Kiba's school over his own. Either way, he'd never loved Gaara more than in that moment. "You're so perfect," Kiba said in awe as he reached out a hand to touch Gaara's cheek. "Sometimes I think I'm dreaming. And I don't want to wake up."
"If this is a dream, I won't let you wake up," Gaara said with a smile, leaning down to kiss Kiba. Unlike the previous lusty kisses they'd had that day, this one was sweet, and filled with love. And like their love, it didn't seem to want to end.
When Ino saw Shikamaru sitting at a computer in the university library, she made a beeline to him, deciding to ignore the fact that she had a paper due on Tuesday that needed to be started. She placed her bags down next to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Whatcha doing?" she asked, bouncing into the seat next to him.
"I'm looking for someplace to live off-campus for cheap," Shikamaru told her. "I don't want to be stuck here anymore, but I don't want to pay too much or live too far from campus."
"What's wrong with the dorms?" she asked.
"I'm not a 'roommate' person," Shikamaru told her. "If my roommate was in the room any time except to sleep, we'd have major issues."
"You two have major issues anyway," Ino said with a smirk. "And you still refuse to use a hamper."
"It's too much work," Shikamaru muttered, causing Ino to roll her eyes. What an absolutely Shikamaru thing to say. It's too much work to put away dirty laundry. Sometimes, she wondered how he even managed to get laundry done. He's the kind of guy she'd expect to re-wear shirts inside out before putting them in the laundry.
Ino didn't comment, but decided to look over his shoulder at the listings. Shikamaru clicked one, but it was obvious from the pictures that it was an even bigger pig sty than Shikamaru's dorm room. He looked through a few more that were all bad choices. One was way too expensive, another had only half a bathroom. One was too far from campus, and the next was a studio with a kitchen and the toilet and shower in the corner. He let the mouse hover over the price, but Ino wasn't having it.
"No," she told him. "If you're getting a place, you're getting a full apartment. There isn't even a wall between the 'bathroom' and the rest of the room." She said 'bathroom' using air quotes.
"I'm not going to have roommates," Shikamaru objected. "Who's going to look at me?" Ino gave him a look. "If we get to the point where you're sleeping over regularly, I'm sure you'll have seen my junk by then."
"That's not the point!" Ino growled, frustrated. Even though she didn't actually give a reason, he acquiesced and moved on to the next one. It was a beautiful two-bedroom apartment with nice carpeting, a full kitchen, sitting room, and dining room, along with a bathroom with one of the nicest showers/bathtubs she'd ever seen. And that was something, considering she'd been to the Uchiha, Hoshigaki, and Hyuga mansions. The price wasn't even all that bad. Shikamaru still clicked the back button on the browser.
"What was wrong with that?" she asked, shocked that he was so quick to dismiss it.
"It has two bedrooms, and it's too expensive," he said with a shrug.
"So?" she asked. "Get a roommate! That's an awesome place."
"Didn't you listen when I told you why I'm looking?" Shikamaru asked. Oh right, that thing about 'not being a roommate person.' What a crappy reason to give up such a great apartment at such a great price.
"What if I move in with you?" she asked him, earning a questioning look from him. "Not like that!" she objected. Even though they'd been dating for a few months, they'd never gotten past second base. Even though she was sure by next semester they'd have crossed that line and they'd have a libido to rival Kiba and Gaara, and even Naruto and Sasuke, it didn't matter. There were two rooms. They could each have their own stuff and then spend the night in each other's room – or not. If they didn't want to do anything on a specific night, they could go back to their separate bedrooms. It was a great plan!
And the rent was cheap too! She'd definitely save on dorming by moving into an apartment. She was sure her father wouldn't like it, but he wouldn't matter much as long as he saved on money. Besides, she was planning on getting a job anyway. Every second it seemed more and more like the perfect plan.
"I'm sure that once you live with me, it'll be a few weeks before our relationship is over," Shikamaru commented. "I'm very hard to live with. Just ask my roommate. Or my father."
"Stop being stupid," Ino chided him. "I've had to live with Naruto for years. When we were moving his stuff out of our house, I found a half-eaten container of instant ramen from 2009." Shikamaru's eyes widened and then his face contorted in disgust. "As long as you keep the common rooms neat, it's not going to be a problem. I promise I won't even bitch if you leave your clothes all over your bedroom floor," she lied.
After a moment of consideration, he shrugged. "Eh, why not?" he said, clicking the e-mail icon. He sent a small brief e-mail with his phone number and financial situation, saying that he and his girlfriend wanted to rent the apartment out. As soon as he clicked send, he swiveled his chair around.
"And now we wait," Ino said.
But she was never good at waiting. Which is how she ended up back in her and Sakura's dorm room – which was thankfully Sakura-free – pressing Shikamaru up against the door with a kiss. When they'd first started to get far, she could tell that he was very nervous about it. He didn't know what to do. She felt his hands twitch, and realized that he didn't know what to do with them.
She grabbed his hands and slowly moved them up to her breasts, giving him her permission to go further. It seemed that despite being in a relationship with Temari, he was pretty socially retarded when it came to relationships. Ever since then, however, Shikamaru had no hesitation to some petting and groping. And neither did she.
Still, they'd never moved below the waist before. Ino was starting to wonder if today was the day, until she heard Shikamaru's phone bing, confirming he had an e-mail. She was the one to pull away, hoping it was from the person who owned the apartment, and she was right.
"We can go see it tomorrow after 3," he said.
"Good," Ino said with a smirk, closing the gap between them again. "You know, I'm kind of excited to move in with you."
"Yeah," was Shikamaru's response before his lips were captured once more.
And, as it turned out, today was the day.
After giving Sasuke a pep talk about his relationship with their mother, he left the room to allow Sasuke to think about the situation. He had other concerns now – mainly the bar. Even though Mangekyo was owned by Sasuke and Itachi equally, they had agreed that he'd handle any issues there. Neither wanted Sasuke in much contact with alcohol or the bar.
They had a problem with the staff. After Madara died, only two bartenders worked there – Danzo and Zabuza. Zabuza quit, however, which meant they needed to either limit the hours or hire new workers. It worked out that he was able to hire Suigetsu and Kisame, who lightened Danzo's load. Itachi had also begun working on buying the small store next to the bar so that they could knock down the walls and expand the bar.
With that, however, they would need even more workers. Suigetsu, Kisame, and Danzo were able to handle the clientele that they had now, but if they expanded, they would need more people to work.
In addition to staffing issues, Itachi had begun wondering if they should rename the bar and give it a makeover. Mangekyo had and would continue to remind both Uchihas of Madara, which was ill-advised. It was a much better idea to change things around. He was considering naming the bar Obito for his lost cousin and brother, or possibly Sharingan after the drug that returned his mother to him.
He closed the door to his room and walked over to his desk, where papers and files regarding the income of the bar and the expenses it cost were strewn all over. He had been looking over numbers with his lawyer the last few weeks as well, making sure that in case of an IRS audit, the books were A-okay. The last thing they needed was to find out that Madara had been laundering money or having business dealings with some mob organization.
While the books didn't exactly add up as Itachi or his lawyer would have liked, there was nothing illegal, at least not on the surface. With a man like Madara who knew how the business went, there may have been some hidden dealings. As long as the IRS couldn't trace it, however, it was good enough for Itachi.
He was currently working on renovating Madara's upstairs apartment above the bar into an office where he could work on issues such as this. He was already spreading himself so far thin between school, family, and the bar, but he felt he needed to run it. If not for Madara, then for their family. While they were rich beyond imagining, they could use an income so that they don't blow through all their money. An income was always a good thing to be had.
Itachi had even spoken to his lawyer about starting up a chain of bars. It was a slow plan, and Itachi didn't feel much like spreading himself even further thin, but he was in the last semester of his penultimate year at college. Soon, he could use his business degree to start up a company. With more free time, he could open another bar on the other side of town, and even start thinking of expanding into Suna or Kumo.
But those were just ideas now. The only thing that was absolute was Mangekyo, which was still turning a nice profit. He would ask around the university to see if people needed jobs. He could use two or three part-time workers if he wanted to expand the bar itself, and there were always people on college campuses who needed jobs.
As he sat down to sort through the papers on his desk and reorganize them, his phone rang. He pulled it out and saw a number with a faraway area code that he didn't recognize. After a moment's hesitation, he answered. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this Uchiha Itachi?" asked a man's voice on the other side.
"Speaking," Itachi informed him. "Who is this?"
"I'm detective Greg Spence with the NYPD," was the reply. Itachi recognized the name and sat up straighter in his chair. "I was the detective responsible of the case against Senju Hashirama for a slew of crimes, including kidnapping and a host of international human testing laws. I'm calling to update you about what happened in court."
"The trial began already?" Itachi asked, a little shocked. Usually cases like these took years to build and months to try. Was it over already?
"It began and ended," Detective Spence informed him. "For some reason, despite having a large amount of evidence, the District Attorney threw out the case against him." Itachi was speechless. How could the man who detained and performed experimental procedures on his mother for years be free after all the evidence against him? Where was her justice? "I'm sorry to be the bearer or bad news, but I figured you had a right to know."
Itachi didn't answer. He made no reply, in fact, except to hang up and slowly place the phone on his desk. He turned his chair from the mess on his desk to his computer, which was still on from a few hours ago. He woke it by shaking the mouse and then immediately went on the internet. He pulled up craigslist and typed into the search engine.
Why would a district attorney throw out an easy case against such an awful man? There were no logical explanations. Well, there was one that stuck out to Itachi, but he hoped against hope that it wasn't true. Then again, what other reason would a DA have to jeopardize his case?
With Hashirama's arrest, his mob associates were probably worried about him spilling the beans to the authorities. They probably got the DA to drop the charges, whether it was through blackmail or bribery, Itachi didn't know. But the one thing he knew for sure was that something had to make the DA throw away this case, and it probably involved the mob.
The results of his search came up on the screen. An hour later, he was meeting a private investigator at Mangekyo, sitting in the back of the bar with sunglasses and a hat, trying to avoid being seen.
The man sitting in front of him was a top-notch private investigator. After finding him on craigslist, Itachi did some research and found that he ran one of the best PI offices in the area, and the money wasn't much of an issue at all. Besides, Itachi would need a good PI if he wanted good results.
"Tenzo Yamato," the man said with a nod as he sat down.
"You know who I am," Itachi said in a quiet voice. Yamato gave him a smile.
"I do my research about my clients, Mr. Uchiha," Yamato conceded. "It's a nice bar you have here. I hope it doesn't remind you too much of your Uncle Madara's suicide." Itachi wasn't surprised. The story was big a few months ago on the news, and if Yamato had done any research on him at all, his relationship to Madara, Mikoto, and Fugaku were well-noted.
"There's a case in the NYPD judicial system that was dropped," Itachi began.
"Against Senju Hashirama," Yamato replied. Itachi was a little more surprised this time, but realized that after everyone found out about Mikoto, there were some people with an eye on events in the NYPD. If Yamato read about her in his research, then he also read about Hashirama, and knew all about the case. "You want me to find out why the charges were dropped."
"I believe it has something to do with the mob," Itachi speculated. "At the compound in which she was being kept, there was a mob organization being run. The leader supposedly goes by the name 'Tobi.' It used to be run by Uchiha Madara before his death."
"I'll find out why the charges were dropped," Yamato promised. "You know my rate?"
"If you did your research, you'd know that isn't a problem for me," Itachi said coyly.
"Fair enough," Yamato said with a nod. He looked around at the bar. "It seems this wasn't Uchiha Madara's only legacy, was it?" With those all too true words, Tenzo Yamato stood and left Itachi to contemplate some of Madara's other legacies.
Author's Note: Sorry for the huge wait. As my followers on Twitter know, I lost my electricity during Hurricane Sandy, so I wasn't able to write any more of the story. I finally got power back late-Monday (the fifth), but then my power went out again on the seventh after the snowstorm hit. It's like it never ends.
Just going to plug some stories now. My series of lemony one-shots Konoha High Trysts is finished. I also began the rewrite of Life Moves On, entitled "Life Moves On: Back to Life" The story essentially starts out with Naruto living in Suna, with everyone in Konoha thinking he's dead. When Tsunade gets him to come back, he ends up face-to-face with his fiancé Sasuke Uchiha, who is now married with kids. The series will feature many long stories at various points in their lives (including prequel stories when they're teenagers).
Remember to Review and check out my blog at fanfics-sm . blogspot . com for updates, chapter previews, and information about past, present, and future projects.