Title: Of Love and Loyalty
Author: Moxie
Summary: Naruto and Sakura have grown up and started a family, and seemingly forgotten all about Sasuke. But what will happen when the missing-nin comes back?
Pairings: NaruSaku, NaruSasu, SasuSaku, and NaruSasuSaku
Rating: PG-13, but will probably work its way up to R
Genre: Romance, Drama, possibly some Angst depending on how it unfolds
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
-
It was a balmy summer afternoon in Konoha. Not too hot or humid, and just pleasant enough to take a stroll under the midday sun. Naruto grinned, tipping his head back and letting the rays warm his face, carefree as ever. Still clad in his ANBU uniform, the jounin whistled joyfully as he walked down the street toward the Nara residence. It was good to be back home.
"Hey, open up!" he shouted, knocking on the door. A tired Shikamaru greeted him.
"Back already, Naruto?"
Naruto chuckled. "What can I say, I can't stand to be away for very long!"
Shikamaru nodded, waving him inside. "Keh, what I would give to get away. Children are so troublesome. It's difficult enough having to deal with them all day long, but then I come home and have another to watch over," he sighed. "And women are even more troublesome."
"Having problems with Temari, eh?" Naruto grinned, tucking his hands behind his head.
"She's upset because Kankuro is coming for dinner tonight and I haven't gone to the market yet," he scowled. "As if I have any spare time."
"Heh, you wouldn't, you lazy ass!" laughed Naruto. Shikamaru shot him a bland look. "But at least the make-up sex will be good."
Shikamaru felt the blood rush to his cheeks. "Shut up, idiot. The kids are in the next room."
"Otou-chan!"
"Umphfff!" wheezed Naruto as a toddler-sized whirlwind of blonde clamped onto his left leg. "Well, not anymore, apparently."
The young child released her death grip and put her arms up in a silent request to be held. "Otou-chan! Otou-chan is home!"
Naruto smiled, bending down to pick up his three-year-old daughter. "Yep! I'm home, Takara."
Shikamaru sighed, walking toward the bedroom to look for his own child. "Shikami? What troublesome thing have you gotten up to n... oh fuck, Temari is going to kill me."
The Nara genius walked out with a squirming, paint-splattered daughter in his arms, looking worse for the wear. Naruto burst into laughter.
"You of all people should know better, Shikamaru! You can let 'em out of your sight for more than two seconds, man."
The Academy instructor groaned. "This is just too troublesome."
"Well, I'd better get going." Naruto chuckled, shifting his daughter in his arms. "Catch you later, eh Shika?"
His friend nodded. "Yeah, later."
The ANBU captain, still laughing, walked out the doorway and onto the streets of Konoha. He lifted Takara up on his shoulders and grabbed her two little hands, hearing her giggle with delight. Man, was it good to be back! Grinning, Naruto picked up the pace as he headed for their home.
"So, Takara, how much did you miss your otou-chan?" he asked, swinging her tiny fists from side to side. "This much?" Naruto moved her hands so that there was only a small space between them.
"No, more!" laughed Takara.
Naruto moved her hands a bit further apart. "How about... this much?"
"No!" she giggled, spreading her arms wide. "Takara missed otou-chan this much!"
"Oh, really?" he beamed as they reached the end of the street. "That's a whole lot."
"How much did you miss your Takara, otou-chan?"
Naruto raised a hand to his chin, feigning deep thought. "Well, I'd have to say I missed Takara even more than I missed—"
"Surely not as much as ramen, hmmm?" A lazy voice interrupted.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, seeing his former teacher appear out of a cloud of smoke, as he was prone to doing. The hyperactive ninja gave him a cheeky grin. "What's up? Aren't you supposed to be training your new genin team?"
Kakashi's right eye crinkled in recognizable mirth. "They failed the Survival Training Exam."
Naruto nodded, slightly smug. "Ah, I see."
"And how are you, Takara-chan?" Kakashi turned to the young girl sitting on his student's shoulders.
Takara gave the jounin a happy smile. "Good, Kakashi-jiichan."
Kakashi pouted. "Jiichan? Mou, I'm not that old..." 1
"Heh, well we gotta head home, Kakashi-sensei. Maybe I can catch you and Iruka-sensei at Ichiraku tomorrow, eh?" The silver-haired copy ninja nodded. Naruto flashed him a thumbs-up. "Okay, see you then!"
The blonde jounin quickly made his way toward the house at the end of the block, putting his daughter down when they reached the door and forming the select hand seals that would disable the lock. "Eh, Takara? D'you think I should surprise your okaa-chan?"
"Yeah!" she cheered, pumping her fist.
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do..."
-
Sakura stood alone in the kitchen, humming absently while she stirred the miso soup. She'd only gotten back from the hospital a half-hour ago and had yet to change out of her medic-nin uniform, but was adamant about starting dinner before she went to fetch Takara.
"Taidaima, okaa-chan!"
The pig-tailed blonde bounced into the kitchen with a weary Shikamaru behind her.
"Oh, Shikamaru, you didn't have to bring her... I was just about to leave." Sakura sighed, feeling a tad guilty about burdening her friend.
Shikamaru shook his head. "It wasn't troublesome at all. I had to go to the market anyway."
Sakura smiled. "You don't know how much it means to me, having you watch her. But Naruto should be back in a week or so, and then it'll be his responsibility."
"It's no problem, Sakura. Shikami loves the company," Shikamaru insisted, giving her a wide and somewhat uncharacteristic smile.
"Yeah, okaa-chan, me and Shikami-chan have lots of fun!" Takara piped up, nodding solemnly.
The pink-haired kunoichi bent down and smoothed the young girl's hair. "I'm sure you do. But I'm glad you're here, because now I can start on the tonkatsu."
"But, but," Takara pouted. "I want ramen!"
"You're your father's child, all right," laughed Sakura. She turned to Shikamaru. "Thanks again for bringing her over. You should probably be on your way though. I'm sure Temari will be, ah, irritated if you don't hurry those groceries home."
Shikamaru grinned again, taking a few tentative steps toward her. "Actually, would you mind if I stayed? I'm a little irritated with Temari myself. And you're such a better cook than her."
"Well, I guess... I mean, if you want to stay, you're more than welcome." Sakura frowned. This was so unlike the idle chuunin. Wouldn't it just be more troublesome for him to have dinner with her? Temari would be so angry...
"And you're a far better listener, as well," Shikamaru advanced toward her, making Sakura take a few steps back to keep her personal space. "Much prettier, too."
"N-now, Shikamaru, what's g-gotten into you—" Her eyes grew wide as he leaned in to kiss her, and Sakura froze, at a loss for what to do.
Poof.
"Heh, I think it's more like 'who's gotten into you,' hmmm?"
Sakura's jaw dropped at the realization that she was staring her husband in the face. And then she clenched a fist and hit him over the head. "You jerk! I have to do medic examinations at the Academy tomorrow morning! And now I won't be able to look at Shikamaru straight!"
"Itai..." moaned Naruto, rubbing the quickly swelling bump. "Didn't you miss me, Sakura-chan?"
"Of course I missed you, idiot!" She huffed, stepping into his arms and resting her head on his shoulder. "Why are you back so early, anyway?"
Naruto grinned, enfolding her in a loose grip. "Mission didn't take as long as expected. You know, it's good when you have a Hyuuga who can see any forthcoming ambushes."
"Baka," she teased lightly, running her fingers up and down his thighs. "Now why don't you show me how much you missed me?"
The blonde-haired jounin dipped his head to whisper in her ear. "Mmmm, Sakura-chan... though there are many things I'd like to do to you right now, I'm afraid none of them are polite enough to perform while our daughter is watching."
Sakura pulled away sharply, as if just remembering that Takara was staring at her with a wide grin hidden by small hands. The female ninja coughed delicately. "I'm going to start on that tonkatsu. Why don't you go show your otou-chan what you learned today?"
"Yeah!" Takara laughed, pouncing on her father. Naruto smiled; it was good to be back home.
-
In a place that was far from Konoha, a missing-nin tried to remember what home was like.
-
1 Takara's calling Kakashi 'grandpa' instead of the proper 'uncle'
Jii-chan Grandpa. Ji-chan Uncle.