Naruto reentered the world of the living with a drawn out, low groan. He first noticed that he was not breathing out of his nose but his mouth, which had caused his throat to dry up while sleeping. His head pulsated in pain like he had the worst hangover of his life. His arm came up so he could clasp a hand over his forehead and eyes. Feeling this part of his face, he could tell that the damage was already well on its way to bring healed. There was no more swelling, and the cuts were mere bumps now. He rubbed his temples with his thumb and fingers, trying to alleviate the headache. It seemed to help, so he stopped massaging them and opened his eyes. His sight was very blurry at first, either from him being asleep or the damage they sustained. He blinked a few times, each one making his vision clearer. Soon the image of a white ceiling was discernable, and Naruto realized that he had been moved to the couch in the living room.
He sat up slowly because even though he was healing quickly, his head was still hurting somewhat. Sitting up, he tried yet again to breathe through his nose. Barely any air came through, and what did made a whistling noise as it passed. Knowing that it would set crooked if left alone, he decided to fix his nose. He put the heels of his hands on both sides of his nose, and with one quick motion, snapped his nose back to where it should have been. There was a loud crunching noise when he did it, followed by the sound of him sniffling to test if he had cleared his airway. Feeling the cool air flow through his nostrils was oddly refreshing. With watery eyes, he then looked down and noticed that someone had partially clothed him. He couldn't imagine the trouble they must have went through to slide boxers onto an unconscious man, but he knew it would have been an ordeal.
Moving his sight from his boxers to the other end of the couch, he saw Mikoto sitting the farthest she could from him. In an instant he knew that she was not doing well in the slightest. Her legs were pulled against her chest, and her head was resting down on her knees. A blanket covered her clothed form, further protecting her. Beside her, on the end table, were balls of crinkled up tissues. All together, the sight made Naruto's heart constrict with sadness and regret.
"Mikoto" he quietly said. It was barely a whisper, but it was surely able to be heard in the dead silent living room. Though it was, Mikoto did nothing in response. She remained unmoving in her pose, like a statue embodying sadness. Naruto looked to see if she was still breathing out of curiosity and a smidge of worry. He could see the ever so subtle movement of life within her, but her silence was unnerving. He moved off from his seat to get on the one closest to her. The cushions shifted when he put his weight down on one. She still didn't react, even when he put a hand on her shoulder. He spoke again, this time louder but still timid.
"I'm so sorry." The words seemed to catch her attention, as her head lifted slightly, just enough to allow her to turn her head and look at him. Her face was dry, but the redness around her eyes gave her sadness away. Naruto's heart clenched again. She sniffled before speaking.
"Why did you lie to me? You said you'd be fine." In the past, Naruto had heard plenty of mean comments tossed his way and let them flow off his back, but the words she muttered out made him feel worthless. It hurt to admit it, but he had done something he never thought possible. He had broken his promise. His hand slid off her shoulder to fall by his side. His head falling aswell. The blue eyes of his squeezed shut like he was remembering a bad memory.
"I... I know. I'm such an idiot. I didn't mean to get hurt."
"You got more than hurt! You were knocked out, bleeding everywhere! I was seriously worried." She was getting worked up again, reminded of the stressful event she had experienced not too long ago. He shot his head up to look at her, catching the beginning of tears forming. He wanted to put a stop to that.
"But I'm ok now" he quickly said, trying to put her at ease. The look she gave made him instantly regret saying it. She pushed his shoulder with little effort.
"That's not the point, asshole. You may be fine now but that sure doesn't mean you weren't a bloody mess before. You told me last night but seriously, what were you thinking?" He shook his head back and forth, deeply displeased with himself.
"I don't know! I thought it would work... It has in the past at least" He explained. Inside, he hit himself for making an excuse.
"Well, your tried and true plan was probably the worst thing you could've done. Not only did it get your shit kicked in, it also didn't work! Oh, and If you didn't notice, Sasuke's gone, and who knows when he'll come back... a-and the worst part..." She trailed off into silence, catching his attention. Her face turned back to hide it away and stare straight down onto her knees. Moments later, the quiet sounds of sobbing began. Like before, Naruto put his hand on her shoulder to try and console the woman. This time though, she immediately shrugged it off. His hand recoiled at the unexpected reaction.
"It'll be alright" He said. There wasn't a response from the woman for a few moments.
"I don't want to talk anymore" she eventually whispered into her legs. Naruto heard her loud and clear, causing a frown to form on his face. He awkwardly looked around the room, mind full of thoughts.
He quickly stood up and walked down the hallway to enter his room. Two minutes after he entered, he came out of the room while sliding his arm through his jacket. He then went into Sasuke's room, and after a minute of being in there, he came out holding one of the Uchiha's bunched up shirts. He then began walking towards the door. The blonde walked slowly passed Mikoto, and gave her a rub on the back in passing. When his hand twisted the door knob, he hesitated to open the door because he heard the sound of fabric being rubbed. With a slight turned head, he looked behind himself to see Mikoto looking at him.
"Where are you going?" She questioned. Her defeated tone made it sound like she didn't even need the answer to it.
"I'm gonna go get him."
"What?"
"I'm gonna bring him back... Wouldn't be the first time."
"You don't even know where he is."
"No, but I know where to start. I'm gonna have to ask for a friend's help." He presented the balled up shirt in his fist. Mikoto looked at it for a moment, at first wondering what it was. Her head fell back down after seeing what the object was.
"Bring my boy back, please" she whispered.
"Oh, he's coming home. That's a promise."
The door opened with a gentle push, and out went the determined man. It closed as soon as it opened, and Naruto looked down at the shirt in his hand. His grip tightened on it, making a determination for himself. With a new mission, Naruto began to sprint away from the Uchiha residence. Once he blasted through the main gate, he instantly began using any building he could to further launch himself along his path. Speedily jumping from rooftop to rooftop, the harsh wind blew through his hair and deafened his ears. Before long, he was entering the part of the village reserved for the prominent clans of Konoha. He continued to jump, soaring on his way to his first stop. The buildings then became too spaced apart to be useful, so he dropped to the ground. His legs bent down from the impact of landing, causing him to crouch just in front the gate to the clan residence he was looking for. There, wrapped around the top semicircle of the gate, was the name Inuzuka. He stood up from his crouch and began walking along a path he had been on many times before. Not too long after, he was knocking on the door to the clan head's residence. There was a brief moment of muffled noises coming from the inside before the door opened and revealed the Inuzuka matriarch.
"Oh, hello Naruto."
"Hello Miss Tsume. Is Kiba here?"
"Sure is" she answered. On queue, Kiba walked into Naruto's view from behind Tsume. He was about twenty feet from the door, inside the kitchen. The brown haired man, noticing the noise coming from his front door, looked in their direction and instantly locked eyes with the blonde, who was right next to his mother. The blonde gave a subtle wink, causing Kiba to stop whatever he was doing and sprint for the door. His arms flailed wildly as he covered ground. He practically pushed his mother away from the door so he could get between her and Naruto.
"Nah-uh pal, you stay away from my mom. Ya manwhore." His words caused the blonde to smirk with amusement, and his mother to raise an eyebrow.
"Relax mutt. As much as I wish the opposite were true, I'm not here for your mom. I'm here for you. Your help, specifically" Naruto responded. He showed the shirt in his hand. Kiba let out a sigh of relief before stepping outside to talk with the blonde. After he closed the door behind him, his nose twitched as he noticed the subtle smells Naruto carried.
"You were with your lady friend again." Naruto gave him a bored stare. He wasn't too keen on Kiba's chronic snooping.
"Do you sniff all of your friends or just me?" The one he questioned scoffed.
"Just you" Kiba joked, probably.
"I feel so special" Naruto said, words dripping with sarcasm.
"Anyway, what do you need help with?" His answer was thrown to him from Naruto's hand. He caught it and let it unwrap into the shirt it was.
"I need you or Akamaru to hunt down the scent" Naruto explained as Kiba inspected the shirt.
"Ain't this Sasuke's?" Kiba asked, holding the shirt by both sleeves.
"Yeah." The answer made the brown haired man's brows jump in intrigue.
"What happened this time?"
"Long story, but he got a little angry and decided to run away."
"Can't wait to hear about this one at the bar later" Kiba mentioned before sniffing the shirt. His head recoiled from the scent, surprised at something. He put the shirt down and instead got a whiff of the air around Naruto. Confused, he sniffed the shirt again. His forehead scrunched in concentration. He mumbled on as he processed what his strongest sense was relaying to him.
"This smells really similar to how you do. There's definitely a difference but it's almost as if..." He trailed off, deep in thought. Suddenly his eyes widened.
"What's up?" Naruto asked, intrigued.
"No way. No way!"
"What dude?!" Kiba's hand came up to point an accusatory finger at the other man. His digit was practically scratching the tip of the blonde's nose.
"You crazy sonovabitch! You've been banging Sasuke's mom!" He yelled with excitement, proud that he had deduced something so profound. Naruto swatted the other man's finger away.
"Don't just yell that out loud, ass-hat. That isn't something everyone should know."
"Well, I guess Sasuke knows now though, and that's why you're here right now. Am I right?"
"Dang, you actually used your brain for something. Yeah, that's why he left. Will you help?" Kiba cracked his neck.
"I've been itching to do a tracking mission for a while, so for sure."
"Are we ready to go then?" His answer was a quick shake of the head.
"Ah, we'll actually need Akamaru for this. His nose will be able to reliably tell the difference between the two scents, unlike mine" Kiba explained. Naruto nodded.
"Alright, that's fine with me. Akamaru's good company." Kiba opened the door again and turned his head inside.
"Aka, yip-yip!" He called out. A second later the large white hound was bounding through the house straight to the front door. Kiba crouched down when Akamaru got to them, and he gave the dog the shirt to smell.
"That's... a strange way to call for a dog" Naruto commented. Kiba shrugged.
"I haven't used that one before, just thought I'd try it. Anyway boy, do you got it?" His answer was a happy bark. He nodded and let Akamaru start to lead them.
"Let's get started then" Naruto said as he began to walk with the other two.
They left the gate moments after they started, and Akamaru was given full control of the pace they kept. Whenever the dog had a good grasp on the scent, the two humans were bounding to keep up with the nearly galloping canine. When the scent was weak, Akamaru would slowly creep along, nose to the ground to stay on the trail. With a combination of these two speeds, the trio covered a sizable distance within the walls of their village, all in a relatively short time span. With each minute they were getting closer, as their animal guide would take less and less time to orient where they should be going. Suddenly, Akamaru stopped and sat down, tail wagging happily. Its head turned toward the docks that extended into the body of water at the bottom of the hill they stood atop. Naruto looked down onto the docks and saw a familiar form, sitting on the end of one.
"Wow, he didn't really go that far" Kiba noted.
"No, he didn't. Not complaining though. I didn't feel like crossing national borders today."
"Tell me about it... I guess that's it for me and Aka now.
"Yeah, thanks for helping out," he started as he crouched down to pet Akamaru, "and thank you buddy for being such a good boy. I'm gonna have to bring you some treats next time I'm around."
"Ahem" Kiba sounded. Naruto looked up.
"Oh, you can have some too." The brown haired man fist-pumped.
"Sweet."
"Now get outta here, I gotta run some damage control."
"Got it. Good luck, man. Akamaru, let's go home, bud." With that, the two turned around and began retracing their steps to get back home. Naruto stared down to the water, watching the man sitting at the end of the dock. He let out a sigh.
"Well, I can't just stand here. Here goes nothing." He lifted his right foot and moved it forward, starting the short but intense walk down the hill and to Sasuke. Soon his feet transitioned from walking on grass to walking on the wooden planks of the dock. Every so often one would creak from the pressure he put on them. He definitely wasn't trying to be quiet about his approach, but each time they squeaked, he stepped lighter for a few steps. The blonde began to hold his breath as he closed in on his stationary friend.
When he reached the end of the dock, he looked down at the sitting Uchiha, who hadn't moved at all. Sasuke's dark hair was being tossed around by the wind blowing across the water as he stared into the horizon. After looking down on him for a few moments, Naruto fell down to sit by Sasuke. He swung his legs over the edge, where they hung inches above the water's surface. The blonde also took a look out to the horizon, and had to squint from the bright reflections that beamed his eyes. He could feel tiny droplets of water, picked up from the gusts of wind, hit his face. He sat there by his side for a comfortable amount if time, completely silent. Naruto understood that he was on thin ice and wanted to take things as slow as possible. If that meant he had to sit around for a bit and enjoy the weather, he would do it.
"Why?" Sasuke asked with a monotone voice, his eyes trained on the water. Naruto looked at the side of Sasuke's head, surprised that his friend would be the one to talk first.
"Why?" Naruto repeated.
"Why my mom, out of anyone?"
"Well, it wasn't on purpose. It just sorta happened."
"How did it happen?" Sasuke turned his head to look at the blonde.
"It's a long story, you sure you wanna hear it?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
"Right... Where do I start? The beginning I guess. I met her at a bar, right after I got my promotion..." Sasuke interjected with a question.
"It's been going on that long?" His answer was a nod, followed by Naruto continuing.
"The details are fuzzy past meeting her there, I had a lot to drink, and I'm sure she did too. Next thing I know, I wake up in her bed at your place. I was still kinda confused at everything, and then someone knocked on the door. I didn't know it at the time, but that was you."
"I remember. I thought someone had broken in."
"Yeah? Sorry for giving you a scare. Anyway, I thought that was gonna be the end of it. Just a drunken night that neither of us would remember or repeat. Then you stopped by later and invited me over. That's when we met again. At first I thought she didn't recognize me, which I was totally fine with. But later that night, she caught me getting water in the kitchen and told me she remembered. She told me how lonely she was in her house all day. How you would barely ever be there with her. I don't think it was her intention, but I felt bad for her and wanted to help. I decided that since you were out on missions all the time, I would be the one to spend time with her so she wouldn't be lonely. I thought I was doing the right thing."
"I see."
"Keep in mind this wasn't anything sexual. I would just stop by once in a while and hang out with her. We would sit inside and talk and joke, or we would disguise ourselves and go see a movie or something. Harmless, fun stuff, just so Mikoto wouldn't have to be so lonely all the time. Y'know?"
"How often did you two meet?"
"Well, it was always during your missions, but it started out being not so frequently. As time went on, I would visit more and more until it was to the point where I was there every day I could be. And on the days I wasn't there, I was thinking about the next time I would be. I was having so much fun spending time with her that after a while, I was falling for her. Then, we celebrated her birthday together, and one thing led to another. You know how things go. It wasn't long after that night that I could confidently say I was in love with her, and I was ecstatic to find that she was in the same boat as me. Then there was the trip with you and Sakura to the land of Iron."
"Where you told me to take more time off to spend time with my mother."
"Yeah. Which I think kinda came back to bite me in the ass." He laughed as he said it. Sasuke had the slightest upturn in his lip.
"I should have put two and two together. Not only did you seem to have an interest in my mom, Sakura said that you were dating someone who looked like me."
"I thought for sure I was caught then, but I wasnt. I'm pretty lucky to have kept it a secret for this long."
"But why keep it a secret? Why not tell me from the beginning?" Naruto stopped to think, putting a hand under his chin.
"Looking back on it, I could have told you right after the second time I met her, but I didn't. It could have been because of shame, but who knows. Then, as time went on I became more and more invested. Eventually I was too scared to tell you. I feared losing all that I had grown to love, and I feared losing your friendship... Which now looks like a dumb worry to have because I was jeopardizing our friendship whether you found out or not." Sasuke seemed to find his answer satisfactory.
"I can understand that."
"Just know that even though I kept it a secret, I was never using your mother. I love her."
"How much?" Sasuke asked.
"How much do I love her? Naruto asked.
"No. How much does a bowl of ramen cost?"
"Like a thousand yen. For a good one at least." Sasuke slapped his forehead with his hand.
"That was sarcasm, idiot."
"I know it was, I was playing along." He smiled.
"So?"
"Hmm... how much...," He spoke to himself before saying, "I love your mother so much that you're gonna have to start calling me "dad" pretty soon." Sasuke's eyes widened at the concept.
"You want to marry her?"
"It's all I want." Sasuke slowly nodded his head and turned back to look over the water. The blonde did the same. There was a healthy gap in conversation before Sasuke spoke again.
"She was telling me this morning, while you were out of it, how much you mean to her. I didn't want to believe it at the time, but what you said a bit ago... I guess it's true. Not only that, but I've noticed how she's changed since you've been around. She's the happiest I've ever seen her. It's been really fun having you around too... I've been thinking about it since I got here... maybe I'm okay with all this."
"Seriously?" Naruto asked with wide and curious eyes. Sasuke nodded in response, causing the blonde to extend his arm and pull the Uchiha into a sideways hug. During the hug, he thanked the man repeatedly before letting him go. They both stood up after the exchange, and Naruto stretched his legs. They looked at each other for a moment before Sasuke spoke up in a voice trying to imitate a child.
"Let's go home daddy" Sasuke said. Naruto responded by immediately putting a fist over his mouth as his cheeks swelled. He paused for a brief moment before letting his hand fall from his face.
"I just threw up in my mouth. I take back that thing about calling me dad." The words caused Sasuke to let out a hearty laugh, one that caused Naruto to join in not long after. When the chuckling subsided, the two made their way back to their home.
Sasuke was the one to open the door to the Uchiha residence. When he did, Mikoto, who was still where she was when Naruto left, slowly raised her head to look at who it was. Seeing her son in the doorway, she immediately shot up from the couch and quickly made her way to him. She hugged him with enough momentum behind her to make him take a step back to balance himself. He embraced her back, happy to see her. The hug lasted for a decent time before she let go of her son and looked over to the other man who had a smile from seeing the two reunite. She opened her arms, offering one to him, which he gladly took. He tightly squeezed her with his arms.
"I told ya I'd bring him home" he whispered. She burried her head into the space between his neck and shoulder.
"You did." she responded, her voice muffled from where her mouth was. Naruto could feel a subtle wetness on his neck, and when Mikoto pulled her head away he could see just a small amount of water around her eyes. Despite having tears, a wide smile adorned her face. He brought his hands up to her face and used his thumbs to gently wipe the area around her eyes dry. When he was done, he gave her a peck on the forehead. After doing so, Mikoto wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him. It was an ordinary kiss, but it still got a reaction from Sasuke.
"Get a room you two" he joked.
"Oh, we will" Naruto said, causing Sasuke to squint his eyes in acute discomfort.
"He doesn't need to know that, Naruto" Mikoto playfully chastised.
"I think I already know all that can be between you two" Sasuke mentioned as he fell down onto the couch.
"I guess so" Naruto said. The three shared some laughs before Mikoto spoke.
"Actually, there's something that you don't know" She said.
"What?" The two men asked in unison.
"Naruto, do you know how I mentioned Tsunade said I had a high sex drive?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"That's not all she told me."
"What else did she tell you?" She took his hand in hers and guided it to touch her stomach.
"That I'm pregnant." Both men's eyes widened in surprise. Sasuke let out an indescribable soind out from his throat. If he wasn't already sitting, he would have fallen to his haunches. Naruto looked up from his hand and into the deep black pupils of Mikoto's eyes.
She had a face-splitting smile.
So did he.
