AN: Heyyy! Sorry for the slow update, hehe. I've been quite caught up with a few things lately, but I am glad i still managed to find time to write chapters! I still am writing for Hireath, my ongoing story and hopefully none of these died out... For now, fire is still going strong so no worries! Honestly, i am relatively quite curious how this story will play out too, am a little worried with regards to how i am going to write about the relationship between the couples because i really hate writing anyone as the villain :( I will see how this all plays out!

I promise for more interactions between Sasuke and Hinata soon, probably in the next chapter! i do want to explain the who appearance of Third Mitsuki more, and not rush into things hehe.

Do review and enjoy!

.::.

"Mitsuki, do you want to eat anything?" Sasuke halted, staring at the lines of food stalls. "Are you hungry?"

Third Mitsuki lifted his unanimous black orbs and shrugged. "Hmm… Is there yogurt?"

Sasuke felt his eye twitched. Suigetsu's preference must had rubbed off the kid, but it wasn't exactly a surprise since he spent most of the time with him. "There should be. But that should be for dessert, do you want to have your dinner?"

"Are you going to eat with me?"

Sasuke never really gotten the chance to fully explore Konoha after its renovation, most of the times returning home to his wife's cooking just so he could spend the maximum amount of them with them. And it was rare that he came back too.

They could take the time to explore the village together, but he got to go home to meet his family first to let them know he had returned. Yet, with the kid following him to his home would only mean that he needed to explain and the entire talk with the Hokage and his assistant took almost two full hours. He did not have the energy to repeat his entire story again, and again.

Thankfully Naruto had allowed his son to stay, and also suggested to break the news to Hinata himself, knowing how fainty she could get when she gets flustered. He stared at the direction of his home, torn between the decisions he had to make.

"Otou-san?"

He still wasn't exactly use to having another child. Feeling the priority and need to explain the presence of his new son to at his family, he decided to go home first. "Mitsuki, we can have dinner together. But can you follow me to my home first?"

"Hai!" The boy grinned.

They took the usual route, walking down the lanes of newly built restaurants and food stalls he had never actually got to see. The entire street was luminated by the bright lights of the stalls, night air filled with noises of employees shouting across the street in hope to garner more customer.

Konoha was becoming a lot better, and even Ichiraku had heavily upgraded themselves. They must be doing well, not surprised especially with Naruto supporting them. Sasuke thought maybe he should not introduce his son to ramen first, just in case he fell hard for them and had to have him have ramen every single time he return. As if having one ramen addict isn't enough in his life, he did not want to increase the count.

"Ah!" Third Mitsuki stopped in his tracks and waved into the fast food restaurant. "Boruto!"

Sasuke followed his attention, eyes landing on Naruto's son, the Akemichi kid, Orochimaru's son and finally, his daughter. Her eyes widened a little when they made eye contact, causing her to instantly dropped the burger that was in her hand and dashed out of the restaurant.

"Otou-san! You're back so fast? Why didn't you tell me and kaa-chan? When did you return?"

Chocho pushed the door opened and smiled towards Sasuke, before averting her attention towards the newly made friend who had ditched their appointment. "Mitsuki? Ehhh, you're a rude kid aren't you? You dare to show up here after making me and Boruto wait for almost an hour?"

"Otou-san!" Sarada frowned, ignoring her best friend.

"Otou…san?" Third Mitsuki mumbled, gaze exchanging between Sarada and his father. "Are you… Sarada?"

The glasses girl blinked and turned to face the new kid. She nodded before continuing. "How do you know my name?"

Third Mitsuki's eyes lit up, face filled with happiness when he finally got to meet the daughter of his father, which only meant that she would be sister. "I'm Mitsuki! He's my father too, so that makes us… siblings."

"What?" Chocho and Sarada exclaimed in unison, before the tanned girl took over. "Aren't you Orochimaru's son too?" Pointing towards the tousled white haired boy in the restaurant, she continued. "That's Mitsuki inside, isn't he supposed to be your brother?"

Sasuke was so close to casting infinite tsukiyomi onto all the kids and made them stay there for at least a year. He grunted softly to himself. The commotion outside had caused the other two kids to exit themselves from the restaurant.

"Oh Mitsuki?" Boruto lifted his brow as he jogged up towards the group. "Why didn't you show up the other day! Me and Chocho waited for an hour."

"Mitsuki?" The golden eyes boy stared at the other clone, eyes narrowing. "We share the same name."

"Of course you do! He's your brother because he's created by Orochimaru."

"Ah… not really. Orochimaru is not my parent but he did create me." Third Mitsuki smiled, feeling a sense of warmth from having a new group around him. He turned his attention to the other clone who the sanin created. "I heard from Orochimaru that you're training to be a shinobi in the Konoha's Ninja Academy."

"Yes." Mitsuki returned the smile. "What made you show up here? Are you looking for something, or someone too?"

Sasuke for the first time, felt like he was being absorbed in by the environment that nobody actually cared about his presence. The kids were heavily talking among themselves, cutting each other off while trying to get their answers and even his daughter had completely forgotten that he was someone she could clarify her doubts with. All of their attention was on his son.

He took a deep breath in. "Mitsuki is..." His voice was intimidating.

"I'm his son" Third Mitsuki finished, smiling despite the serious tension in the atmosphere.

Everyone stopped talking for a brief moment as their eyes laid upon the Uchiha before returning to the new kid. They all could tell it was serious, and it was real.

"Tou-san?" Sarada broke the silence.

"Who are you?" Boruto quizzed.

Whacking the blonde in his head, Chocho continued. "He's Sarada's father!"

It was as if glitter started appearing in his eyes as he begun to admire the adult in front of him. "Are you the one who fought next to my father during the war?"

The conversation was drifting off to a different topic, and it was so messy. Sasuke couldn't keep up with the flow of everything. "Sarada, I was about to return home to greet you and your mum. Mitsuki's following me, I will explain more at home."

"But otou-san!" Her eyes dropped at the new kid, eyes narrowing a little before returning to meet her father's.

"Let's get back home first, okay?" He requested gently. "Mitsuki, you'll come along."

"Which one?" Boruto asked, jokingly a little before realizing the seriousness of the atmosphere. It then dawned upon him that the entire short moment, the kid was revealed to be Sarada's brother. "Ah, yes… See you tomorrow, Sarada."

"I'm sure everyone know which one he meant." Chocho rolled her eyes. "We will see you tomorrow then, Sarada."

.::.

Naruto could hear the soft washing sounds coming from the kitchen as he had one hand against the wall for support while taking off his shoes. He knew his wife would be surprise by his early return, though it wasn't early enough for dinner. He inhaled softly, unbuttoning the collar button of his Hokage's cloak and made his way towards the kitchen.

He stopped at the entrance when his eyes laid upon his wife, a gentle smile adorning his tired face as he watched her silently worked around washing the dishes and placing them onto the drying rack. She was wearing her classic light brown shorts, but the usual purple jacket she had wasn't on her. Summer must be getting to her a little.

"Hinata." He called, causing her to jump a little.

She off the tap and wiped her wet hands against her white long sleeve top out of habit. "Naruto-kun! You did not tell me you'll be back for dinner. I just kept the dinner in the fridge. Should I heat it up for you first, or do you want to take a shower?"

"Hinata… will you come over here?" He pulled the chair out to settle himself and tapped on the table. "How's Boruto and Himawari for today?"

She tilted her head a little, a small chuckle leaving her lips as she sat beside her husband. "Himawari is sleeping. Boruto is out with his friends to have dinner. Do you need anything?"

"I could always get something from you." He grinned cheekily, hand resting on hers as he caressed it subconsciously. "But yes… I do. It's regarding…"

Naruto wondered how was he going to spill the news to his wife. Nobody in this world could ever accept the breaking news calmly of having a child they never knew they had. Especially someone like Hinata. But he had promised to Sasuke that he would take this on, and he wanted to take it on himself personally to explain it to her. There was no way she could ever be able to accept it coming from his best friend's nonchalant and stoical way of explanations.

"Naruto-kun, is there something that happened?" Removing her hands, she took the chance to place it on his instead when she felt the stress emitting from the male.

"It's regarding…" His thumb rested beneath his chin as the rest of his fingers seemingly covered his mouth, unable to bring the words out properly. "Uh… Sasuke returned today, unannounced."

Hinata nodded slowly. As a wife, and a mother, she never really enjoyed the idea of her husband leaving the village to partake in dangerous missions or getting into fights. But she still trusted the strength within Naruto, and that he would make it back for the kids every single time. "Are you heading out of Konoha again?"

"Oh no." Scratching the side of his cheek, his eyes darted towards the ceiling. He thanked kami for silence in the house, making it easier for him to break the news without having anyone lurking around to listen to their conversation. "He came back with a child from Orochimaru's hideout."

"A child?" Despite being a homemaker, Hinata still had her shinobi senses within her. She was from the Hyuga's clan after all, where everyone was destined to be a shinobi the day they were born. "Is he a sibling of Mitsuki?"

Shaking his head, Naruto responded. "Not exactly. Orochimaru used the usual cloning technique, but he did not use his own DNA to create this particular clone."

"Did he use Sasuke-kun's then?" She inquired.

"How did you know?"

She shrugged, laughing a little. "You mentioned that he came with Sasuke-kun, so I thought Orochimaru must had used his DNA. Plus, who could have forgotten that the sanin used to be obsessed with him?"

"Yea, it's true." Naruto chuckled, agreeing to her words. "Hinata, um… this might sound really ridiculous, but…"

"Naruto-kun." Her voice got a little firmer. "Is everything okay? Is Sakura-san not accepting the kid?"

"Not really." He pulled his hand away and rested it on her thigh, eyes meeting hers directly. "Sakura doesn't know about it yet. Sasuke is going to tell it to her."

"What's the problem – " Hinata cut herself off and leaned back, elegant brows knitted perfectly together as she breathed out through her nostrils. There got to be a reason as to why her husband was having such a tough time spilling the things he wanted her to know. And it had to do with Sasuke at least. "Naruto-kun… does the kid need a place to stay? That's okay, he is more than welcome to join us if it's too much for Sakura-san to handle."

Naruto smiled, appreciating the kind nature of his wife. He shook his head, internally knowing how understanding his wife would be even to a stranger's kid, he would not have to worry about how the new child of hers would grow up motherless. He just needed to get through that hyperventilating and fainting episodes of hers.

"Hinata, thank you. Actually… " Maybe he wasn't ready. "Nothing. I just want to know if you'll be fine if ever he needs a place to stay."

Hinata smiled kindly, hands placing on his shoulder and stroke it gently. "The child's definitely welcome."

.::.

"Kaa-chan, okaeri!" Sarada kicked her shoes off and dashed towards the kitchen. "Otou-san is back again!"

Third Mitsuki slowly pulled his shoes off and placed it neatly onto the shoe rack. He looked towards the nonchalant male beside him and smiled, picking up the shoes of his half-sister. "Sarada must be really happy you're back. Are you away often?"

"Yea." He smiled, watching the well-mannered side of his son. "Sakura is my wife, and Sarada's mother. You will greet her nicely?"

"Hai." Third Mitsuki turned his attention towards the female who had popped out from the kitchen, pink haired flowing nicely as she greeted her husband sweetly.

"You're back!" Shock consumed her tone, seemingly unable to hide her happiness. "I thought you won't be back so soon! You did not mention anything so I did not buy additional groceries – "

"Kaa-chan." Sarada patted the pink kunoichi's back, calming her down. "Otou-san just got back today and…" She stopped, eyes falling onto the younger boy next to her father. "That is Mitsuki."

"Mitsuki?" Her eyes narrowed a little. "Aren't you the kid from the market earlier on?" A small smile appeared on her face as she made her way up to him.

"You know him?" Sasuke stepped up the mini single stair and took his cloak off, signalling Third Mitsuki to follow.

"Mrs Uchiha." He bowed politely, allowing his hair to along the side of his face. Sasuke thought he could purchase a band for him to tie it up, just like how his brother used to do.

She patted the boy's head and looked towards her husband. "Yea. Me and Hinata was at the market today and he came to visit the village with his dad."

Sasuke almost choked. "Oh…"

Now it just seemed a little hard to even break the news.

"Where's your father then?" She knelt down to the kid's level. "It's late, did you lost him?"

Before Third Mitsuki to reply, he was cut off by a rather panicky Uchiha. "Sakura, could you get us some water?"

The thing is, an Uchiha rarely panicked. Not even in war did Sasuke flinched in such a way. Sakura could tell by the body language of her husband, eyes darting everywhere except for hers as if he was avoiding something. It was indeed a little late, and a whole lot of a surprise for him to reappear back home in such a short period of time with a kid.

Her glances exchanged between the two males, and for a moment she took notice of the slight resemblance, like how she had mentioned to Hinata how his eyes reminded her of Sasuke's. She frowned, mouth slightly opened as she turned to face her husband.

"What… Wait…" She shook her head, breathing a few times before to maintain her composure. "No."

Sakura was speechless. She never thought of her husband in such a way where infidelity was even in his dictionary. She thought he would be so caught up in travelling between dimensions to the point he had no possible way of getting in forms of relationship with another female. And there was no way he could have done this to her. She narrowed her eyes at the form of betrayal, feeling the tears within her finding its way to her tear ducts.

"Sasuke-kun… why?"

Was she not enough? It wasn't like she had the choice to follow him. She had been trying her best to be a good mother, a loving and supportive wife to her husband whenever he returned. Was it not enough?

"Why?" Sasuke returned the question. "Oh wait, no Sakura. This isn't my son – wait."

Third Mitsuki stared at his father when he heard the words, causing Sasuke to curse mentally as he took note of the presence of children.

"That's not what I meant. He is my son but – "

"Am I not enough?" Sakura was beginning to sob. Her nose was turning slightly red as she bit her lips, unable to believe the betrayal her husband had done to her.

"Sakura. He is my son but I did not create him. So he isn't really my son."

"I'm… not?" A soft voice spoke.

Sasuke closed his eyes, taking a deep breath in as he quickly cracked his brains to settle the mess around him. "Mitsuki is a clone created by Orochimaru. I did not engage in any actions that would have ruin this family. Sakura, I am busy all the time to protect Konoha, I do not have time for that."

Her sobbing slowed down, last few tears running down her cheeks as she quickly rubbed it off with her forearm. "No? Are you sure?"

"Of course I am sure." He assured. "Mitsuki was created using my DNA. So he is biologically my son." He thought he could hold out the last bit of information.

"Is he like our Mitsuki then?" Sarada questioned, stroking her mother's arm.

Sasuke responded calmly. "Yes. He is biologically your half-brother too."

The young Uchiha blinked a little, finding it hard to accept the appearance of a brother. She just hoped he would not be as annoying as Boruto. "Oh… am I older or is he?"

Realizing that he still did not know the age of his son, he felt a sense of guilt as he probed the question. "How old are you, Mitsuki?"

"Orochimaru told me I was biologically twelve when I woke up so I think I am thirteen this year." Third Mitsuki explained softly. He peeked a little at the pink head, feeling slightly stressed at how his appearance had caused the woman to break into tears even though he did not understand why. "Mrs Uchiha, did I do something wrong to otou-san?"

Sakura exhaled before putting up a smile. "No, it's not you. I just had a little dust in my eyes. And Sarada will be your younger sister. Would you like to have that?"

The boy beamed. "Are you my kaa-chan then?"

"Ah, no." She shook her head calmly. "Like Sarada's friend, Mitsuki. Sasuke-kun will be your otou-san and – "

"Actually Sakura." Sasuke stopped her. "He… has a mother."

Sakura pressed her lips tightly, too tight in fact her lips turned a little pale at the amount of pressure. She breathed out through her nostrils loudly, tryng not to allow the shock within her to escape. "M-Mother? Orochimaru can use two DNAs?"

"Orochimaru was trying out this latest technique and Mitsuki was the only successful creation out of the ten he had created." Sasuke placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I promise you I did not engage in an act of copulation with other female."

"Okay. Okay." She let out a puff of air. "That's a lot for a late night. Who's the mother, do you know her then?"

Indeed it was a lot. Sasuke could not deny. And he wasn't exactly keen to see the reaction of his wife's when he exposed the mother of the kid. "Yea. She hasn't meet him yet. She probably did without knowing."

"Kaa-chan has seen me?" Third Mitsuki quizzed.

"Who is it?"

Sasuke felt like there was a mini chibi within him that was jabbing his heart, forcing him to spill the news as fast as possible. He just needed to get through the surprised anger, or maybe a possible fainting episode. "Hinata's the mother."

A plop was heard. He could tell his wife had been hanging around the Hokage's wife a little too often.

.::.

Naruto paced around his room, heads filled with the thought of how he did not manage to tell his wife about the appearance of her genetically created son. The worst wasn't the fact that Shikamaru had been nagging him for the past ten minutes. The worst wasn't the spoiled air conditioning in summer but it was the fact that Sasuke would be showing up with his new kid any time soon for the promised meet up for Hinata and the child.

But how could he be ready, or even any close to accepting. He knew the child wasn't the cause of infidelity but it still irked him to a certain extend that his wife had a child and it wasn't his. He stopped his pacing and faced the door when a knock was heard. Classic move of the Uchiha as he entered the room without knocking.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called. "You came early."

"I was on time." Sasuke replied.

The kid slowly appeared next to him, hands holding onto an ice popsicle. Naruto felt his eyes softened when he saw him, reminding him a little of the usual ice sticks he used to share with Jiraiya. "Sasuke, I…"

A loud exhale could be heard. "You did not tell Hinata."

Naruto felt his eyes twitched. He wasn't expecting Sasuke to understand him completely, but at least he could have been a little more empathetic towards how he feel as a husband. Of course it was hard to break it to Hinata, especially for someone who seemed to faint at almost anything.

"It was hard." Naruto replied.

"She needs to know."

He needed to find the right words, and perhaps the right time. Maybe a little more encouragement and a little more push for him to get those words but only because it was in fact very hard to spill it. He had yet to even fully comprehend this completely ridiculous new information and he had to do revelation already? It just didn't make sense.

"I know." Naruto tried to calm the burning anger. "Can you give me more time then?"

"How long?" Sasuke asked, rather impatiently. "The faster she knows, the easier things will work out. He's curious about the mother."

"So what's next? You're going to throw this kid to Hinata?" Naruto blurted out, and regretted when he felt like he was in no position to talk about responsibility.

Sasuke cocked his brows lightly. "I have told Sakura. You need to tell it to Hinata. I can do it for you if you can't bring yourself to do it."

"Sasuke." Naruto curled his fingers into a fist as he made his way towards his desk. "I'm going to tell Hinata this. I just needed time."

"This kid needs a mother."

"Oh really?" Naruto felt the rage in him trying to break out. It would be the same. Both of them had not been the greatest father, and it was clear that Sasuke would be away again to fulfil his duties in protecting Konoha.

And what would be left? The kid predictively would be left with his wife, and just like Sarada, he would only get to see his father once perhaps every three years. He was just ditching responsibility, finding a vessel or a place to push the kid there and go.

"You're just intending to dump this kid with Hinata and continue on your mission." Naruto argued. "Hinata's not a maid!"

Shikamaru clicked his tongue, not keen in being part of the argument. "Guys, the kid is still here in the room."

"She's his mother." Sasuke protested, a frown marring his face. "Don't you think she deserves to know?"

"I am going to tell her, but what's the rush?"

Sasuke scoffed. "What's the rush? If you know your parents are alive, will you be in a rush to find out where they be at?"

Maybe bringing parents up in the conversation wasn't exactly the best for both parties who did not have one. Naruto slammed his hand onto the desk. "How would you feel if one day Sakura has a new child that's not even yours?"

Sasuke kept mum, brows still knitted together as he listened to Naruto.

"Mitsuki seems like a great kid, but… Sasuke, I will tell it to Hinata. This information is still fresh in the head. Give me some time." Naruto finally admitted, dropping himself onto the chair and slumped his shoulders. "I don't know how Sakura accepted everything in – "

"She didn't." Sasuke cut him off. "She passed out and when she woke up, she did not want to see me. Give her some time."

"I need the time too." Naruto requested. "Mitsuki can stay, or he can return to the sound but everything will be settled by this week, I promised."

"Sasuke." Shikamaru added in. "Come back in two days with Mitsuki. Bring him back to Orochimaru first. Get his details from him and get back to us. It will be a lot easier if in an event Mitsuki ever wants to stay in Konoha."

Nodding his head, Sasuke turned to face the boy next to him. He was there, innocently eating his ice popsicle as he listened to the adults conversation as if it did not affect him in any other way.

The boy lifted his black orbs to meet his. "Am I not going to see kaa-chan today?"

"Not today, Mitsuki." Naruto interrupted, smiling assuredly. "But I promise it will be soon, okay?"