Disclaimer - I do not own anything about Naruto and nor do I receive any money or kickbacks from writing this.
Yep... I jinxed myself. No sooner did I get excited that my workload would shrink, did it pick up massively... T_T
Then when I was halfway through writing this chapter, I decided I didn't like the direction it was suddenly going in and had to rewrite it...
Either way, it's done now and I like where it went.
Big thanks again to my AMAZING Beta HeartSNS! Seriously, without you I can't stay on track!
Shout-outs!
LuvRosie - I think when anyone suddenly find out their accidentally pregnant, their first reaction is fear. ^_^ (mine was planned out 6 years in advance, right down to the month they were going be born in and I was still was overcome with fear when I finally found out I was pregnant, I can only imagine an accidental pregnancy...)
cassiejones07 - And the plot is about to thicken more! and only I know what he's carrying!... Mwahahahaha _
docsgirl14 - Thank you! I actually have trouble writing soft core scenes, it was a huge thanks to my beta for helping me with the emotion side that it turned out so well.
Guest - Thank you.
diamanteuzumaki - Love your reviews, they always make me smile. If you liked all the family stuff of the previous chapter, you're going to love Sasuke in this one!
"Sasuke, it can't be done!" Deidara argued.
"Why not? You're the CEO of the company." Sasuke fired back, determination written all over his face.
"As someone in upper management of their brother's company, you should very well know the snowball effect of just placing someone in a position! I'd have to do a major reshuffle of all my employees! And don't get me started on the ramifications of that." The blond Omega whisper yelled, not wanting to wake the sleeping child in his Alpha's arms or his fellow Omega down the hall.
"Please Dei. I need to do this, for Menma and Naruto." Pausing the raven took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say as he went down to his knees, hands firmly on his upper thighs. "I'll get on my hands and knees and beg if I have to. I'll take any position, right down to a lowly cleaner, anything if it means I can move closer to them."
"Don't you dare criticise cleaners, Sasuke." Deidara berated. "It takes everyone to make a company run." He huffed, turning away from the Alpha on his knees, only to lock eyes with his own Alpha. "What?" He growled at the expectant look he saw.
Itachi sat passively, legs crossed, eyebrow raised expectantly as he cradled the silently sleeping Menma. "Weren't you saying just the other day that you required a replacement on the 'H&R Response Team' because someone recently left?"
"But he's got no formal training and he's an Alpha!" The older blond Omega whined.
"And so are several members of the team." The older raven Alpha responded.
"But they're old, mated and well past their prime, so nothing affects them anymore!" Deidara continued to whine.
"And Sasuke is soul bonded to Naruto, so he's unaffected by other scents." Itachi sighed. "Just call Human Resources and see if the position is still available."
Deidara grumbled but listened to his Alpha, making sure he knew he wasn't impressed as he walked away to make the call. While he was gone, Sasuke who had been quiet the whole time got up and sat back down on the couch.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Itachi looked at him worriedly as he leaned back on his own couch.
"I do." Sasuke nodded. "I want to be there, really be there for Naruto this time and what better way than to move closer to him."
"Why not just have him move in with you then?" The older Alpha questioned.
"He's got a good thing going here, friends, family, job. I don't want to make him leave all that just for me, not when he's already done it once." Sasuke answered. "I want to prove to Naruto that no matter what, I want to be there for Menma, him and our soon to be addition and that means actually being here for them when they need me."
Seeming to think it over for a bit, Itachi finally smiled. "You look to be really trying, I'm proud of you."
Hearing that, Sasuke smiled. He was glad his brother approved of his actions rather than lecture him for being rash about the situation. It may have been a sudden decision on his part, but it felt right.
"Lucky for you," Deidara said as he came waltzing back into the living room, "The position hasn't been filled yet."
"Great, I'll take it." Sasuke answered with a grin as he stood.
"Fine, but I'm warning you," the blond grumbled, pointing an accusing finger into the raven's face, "it comes with a serious pay cut, you'll be working for someone – not as upper management – AND you're not allowed to bother Naruto while he's working!"
"Fine, I agree." Sasuke accepted with a nod. "When can I start and what training will I need?"
Sighing loudly, Deidara fell back onto the loveseat next to Itachi, the older Alpha instantly wrapping an arm around the small Omega, avoiding disturbing the sleeping child in his other arm. "I'll send you the paperwork tomorrow when I get into work, you can start in two weeks. As for training, all our training's done inhouse."
"Great." Sasuke smirked as he turned to his brother. "Itachi, consider this my two weeks' notice. I'll send you a formal Letter of Resignation first thing in the morning."
Smiling over Deidara's shoulder, Itachi answered, "Consider your Letter of Resignation accepted, but I still expect an actual letter on my desk first thing in the morning, plus a list of chain promotions and a structured plan on how you intend to train your replacement while managing the current workload and projects."
"Done." Sasuke answered with a nod as he made his way to the cabinet where his laptop bag was sitting. Taking a seat on the floor in front of the coffee table he pulled out his laptop and after turning it on, pulled out a notebook and pen and began to make a list of all the things he needed to do to make this move happen.
After handing in his letter and showing his plan of attack for the situation, Sasuke had called an emergency meeting with his team. There he announced his resignation, followed by his plan for the department and the promotions that were in order for it to happen. To no one's surprise, Shikamaru was promoted to Sasuke's position - which the man had answered with how troublesome it would be -, but what did surprise them was that Sasuke was leaving because not only was he mated, but soulbound.
After the meeting Sasuke had pulled Naruto's closest friends aside into a separate meeting and explained the situation to them a lot more in depth than what he had mentioned in the meeting. To say there were mixed reactions would have been an understatement.
Choji seemed to accept it for what it was and only asked if he could get in contact with Naruto to congratulate him personally. Sasuke had agreed to ask Naruto if he could pass on his number to him.
Shikamaru just answered that he'd figured something like that had happened, but also that he was happy that Naruto was happy.
Then there was Kiba…. Kiba blew up and almost launched himself at the raven Alpha - calling him every name under the sun -, the only thing stopping him from actually doing so was Shikamaru threatening to tell his girlfriend about what happened that one drunken night at a strip club. That seemed to shut the man up in an instant.
By the time Wednesday afternoon came round, Sasuke had amassed a duffle bag full of gifts and letters from several of Naruto's old friends - some even from outside the company, which was a mystery to the raven. It seemed that word of his reason for leaving had gotten around and several of them wanted to show their support and willingness to still stay in contact.
Sasuke knew that Naruto would probably be mad at him for telling people, but he also knew that the blond missed his old friends, so in this situation he felt it better to ask for forgiveness, rather than permission - granted he had at least kept the blonds whereabouts and contact details secret, giving the blond the choice when he was ready to talk to them all.
With gift bag in hand, Sasuke knocked on the door and was surprised when a stressed and tired looking Kushina answered it with a crying Menma.
"You're late." she grumbled as she let him in, closing the door behind him.
Ignoring the statement, because he was in fact on time, he instead asked, "Where's Naruto?" as he placed his bags on the floor next to the couch.
"In with our family doctor, he's been throwing up nonstop." she sighed tiredly as she tried to calm Menma. "What's wrong baby boy? You're not hungry, or wet. Maybe you're tired." she tried to rock him.
"He's over-stimulated." Sasuke answered. "And probably picking up on everyone's stress."
Turning a heated glare at the raven, Kushina snapped, "Well if you think you know so much, Mr. Alpha, why don't you just take him then!"
"Okay." Sasuke nodded, taking the crying child from her before turning out the lights and grabbing one of his light blankets. Sitting down on the couch he placed Menma across his chest so his head was resting on Sasuke's shoulder, then he placed the blanket over the top of him and began to softly pat his back while whispering sweet words to him.
In no time flat Menma had calmed down, not quite asleep, but just laying calmly on the Alpha's chest.
"Wow." Kushina whispered as she stared at the Alpha. "How did you know what he needed?"
"His cry." Sasuke simply answered.
"His cry?" she asked.
Chuckling softly he nodded. "Naruto taught me that there are three main cries to every child. One for food, one for wet nappy and once for over or under stimulation, which can also feed into tiredness."
"How did you know it was over-stimulation though?" she pressed.
"While you were holding him, he was trying to hide from the light."
Kushina smiled at him softly. "Sorry for snapping at you."
"It's okay." Sasuke answered. "You look tired and stressed."
Sighing, she nodded. "I am. Naruto's been sick ever since you left, so I've been here trying to help as much as I can."
"Why don't you go home and rest yourself." he smiled at the Omega woman, "I've got tonight covered."
"I think that sounds like a good plan." Kushina nodded.
"What sounds like a good plan?" grunted someone from the hallway.
Sasuke looked up and saw a very busty blonde woman walking in, carrying a large black bag that she dumped on the floor near the entryway.
"Sasuke's got tonight covered, so for tonight, I'm going to head home and sleep." Kushina smiled.
"This him?" asked the blonde woman.
"Yep." The red headed Omega grinned.
"I thought he'd be younger," she said as she looked down her nose at him.
"And you look like a hag," he replied.
"Got a mouth on him, doesn't he?" she grunted.
Laughing slightly, Kushina nodded. "Sasuke, Dr. Tsunade Senju. Tsunade, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto's mate." She introduced them.
"Pleasure, I'm sure," Sasuke said dryly as he looked at the blonde woman. "What's a doctor doing here?" he asked as he turned to look expectantly at Kushina.
"Tsunade is a leading expert in Omega reproduction and cycles," Kushina said gleefully. "And at our beck and call being a part of the family."
"With the way you over use me, I wonder if it's possible to divorce your own family." Tsunade grunted as she shook her head at the gleeful Omega.
"Oh come on, you love us." The redhead giggled.
"Hardly." Tsunade rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms.
"That doesn't explain why she's here." Sasuke deadpanned her.
"Oh, sorry." Kushina grinned. "Since Naruto's been so sick, I called for a house call."
"Is he okay?" he asked as he turned to look expectantly at the blonde doctor.
"He's fine - if not exhausted - he just has extreme morning sickness," she answered easily.
"But it's evening?" the Alpha said as he looked at the woman with confusion.
Puffing out her breath, Tsunade sighed. "Morning sickness is just a name for it. Really it can happen at any time of the day."
"When will he get better?"
"How long is a piece of string?"
"So you don't know?" Sasuke grunted. "Some specialist you are."
"Listen here brat." the blonde woman growled as she stormed up to him. "Morning sickness affects everyone and every pregnancy differently. There is no way to predict how the mother will react during their pregnancy. All I can do is help alleviate the symptoms."
Hearing her aggressive tone, Menma started to whimper.
"Shhhhh." Sasuke whispered to Menma as he rubbed the boy's back while glaring at the 'old' woman. "It's okay."
"Tch." The blonde woman clicked her tongue. "I can see you've got your hands full." Grabbing her bag from the floor, Tsunade made to leave. "I've given Naruto something to help settle his stomach. If he's not up in an hour, wake him and make sure he eats. Also, make sure he drinks plenty of fluids." At the doorway she stopped to glance back at the Alpha, "I expect to see you at every appointment he has, no exceptions." With that final comment, she left.
After the front door opened then closed again, Sasuke turned to Kushina. "Who does she think she is telling me what to do?" he grumbled.
"That would be Naruto's Godmother and favourite aunt. And for the record, she hasn't forgiven you for what you did at the start of all this." She looked at him knowingly.
"Why wasn't she at the Commitment Ceremony then?" he grumbled feeling embarrassed at calling out someone that was likely very important to his Omega.
"She's a busy woman." Kushina smiled.
"Too busy to come to her Godsons' Ceremony?" the Alpha grumbled.
"She was busy delivering a high risk baby." She smiled sadly. "But she's actually a nice person once you get to know her, just a bit rough around the edges." She laughed, trying to cover what could only be grief.
It was only a guess, but Sasuke got the impression something went wrong with the delivery that day and that was why Tsunade never made it.
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to make myself available for every appointment then, won't I?" Sasuke joked as he tried to lighten the mood.
It seemed to work because Kushina instantly picked up. "Well that'll be easy now, with you moving here and what not."
Sasuke just looked at her with complete astonishment. "How do you know that?" he accused. When all he received was a wicked smile, he groaned and covered his face with his free hand. "Mother told you didn't she….."
"I can not confirm or deny." giggled the Omega, putting on some sort of failed attempt at a high class accent. "And on that note, I'm going home and going to bed." standing she smiled at Sasuke. "Have a good night Sasuke."
"You too." Sasuke answered after a moment.
Once the older Omega had left Sasuke shifted Menma in his arms and went to check on Naruto. Seeing the blond sleeping peacefully, he smiled softly and decided to make him something hardy but easy to digest. With that he placed Menma into his crib and went to the kitchen.
When Naruto finally woke, he was greeted with the delightful smell of something meaty. Following that scent he stumbled out of bed and towards the kitchen.
"Mother! Seriously…. You didn't have to cook." He greeted warmly as he shuffled into the kitchen with a yawn.
"Well someone has to, otherwise you wouldn't eat." Came a deep chuckle.
Looking up at the familiar but not expected voice, he was met with raven hair and black eyes.
"Sasuke," he jumped with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"It's Wednesday." Sasuke answered as he smirked while shaking his head softly.
"Where's my mother?" He searched around the room as if she would suddenly jump out.
"I sent her home to get some sleep." Turning back to the stove, the raven poured whatever he was cooking into a bowl and offered it to the blond. "You must be hungry, sit and eat, we can talk more after." He pointed to the table, placing the bowl on it.
Naruto was about to argue that he wasn't hungry - more for fear of bringing it back up -, but his stomach chose that moment to let loose a loud grumble. With pink tinted cheeks, Naruto ducked his head and swiftly sat down, taking the offered spoon and quickly digging in.
As it turned out, it was a nutritiously packed soup and Naruto had to admit, he liked it. Normally he wouldn't like things like this, with all the vegetables and what not, but this…. This was amazing.
After finishing the rest of the soup in his bowl he looked around the suddenly empty room. 'When had Sasuke left?' the blond thought.
"I know you're probably going to be angry at me," came Sasuke's soft voice from behind him. Turning he saw the raven Alpha carrying a large duffle bag. "But they were your friends, and they deserved to know."
Naruto's eyes narrowed angrily at Sasuke. "What did you do?" he growled.
"Told your friends about what really happened." Sasuke said neutrally, face devoid of any emotion as he placed the duffle bag in front of the blond, removing the bowl in the process. Before Naruto could get in any rage filled words, Sasuke cut him off. "Right after I resigned."
Comments, Favorites and Follows are more than welcome!
So I'm thinking there'll be only 2 maybe 3 more chapters to this story, then I'm going to start moving onto one of my other stories. Feel free to checkout my main page to see what I have in the works and tell me your preferred story to see next.
With that said, this'll also be my last upload for the year, so I'll see you all in the new year!
Stay safe and drink moderately! ^_~