Chapter 25
"How was the appointment?"
"Fine," Itachi smiles serenely, making everyone at the table sigh with relief.
"Now, Naruto," Kisame mocks the blond who is take deep breaths to calm himself. "Don't tell me you want Itachi to live."
"I don't." Naruto would never admit he wants his brother-in-law to live a happy, healthy life. "I am just a caring person."
Sasuke snorts, spraying water all over his salad. Beside him, Bani shrieks, clapping his hands joyfully. "Don't do that when I am eating." He snaps at his mate, and at Deidara's warning look immediately apologizes, "Didn't mean it, dobe."
"So," Deidara cannot believe his ears. "The results came back positive, un?"
"Positive would be bad, sister wife," Kisame shakes his head condescendingly at the worried blond. "They were negative."
"Accurate." Itachi nods at Kisame. "Now about your brothers…"
"Lalalalala," Kisame slaps his hands over his ears, and runs out the room. Itachi stands and follows him out.
Once the duo has disappeared, Sasuke looks at the blonds, "Did anyone buy that?"
Deidara doesn't even bother trying to get Mink to release his possessive hold on his mother's hair, just mumbles a 'no.'
"What do you mean?" Naruto scoffs, "He's fine, he seems fine. Besides," he covers Bani's ears, who giggles because it tickles, "won't the d-a-m-a-n protect him?"
"Firstly," Sasuke shakes his head at the giggling child. What an idiot. "This child can hear and spell better than you. Secondly, Itachi is lying, I can tell."
"Something is wrong." Deidara hasn't slept all night because he has been pacing and worrying. It made the night awkward as hell for Naruto who has been sleeping in the parent's room. He had to crawl off bed and cuddle with Sasuke on the floor. It was either that or accidently ending up in Itachi's arms. That would be bad. Naruto tells himself. Itachi is bad. Even if he looks like Sasuke and smells like him and walks like him and those eyes are so pretty and…
"Dobe," Sasuke frowns, "Why are you blushing?"
"I had a sex dream about Chouji." Naruto nods, "Oh no, that's you."
"You know what," Sasuke stands up abruptly, "I have had enough of this." That said, he storms out the dining room. He came home from the strip club and had a dream about Chouji, so what? He promised Chouji he would call him later tonight. He has to remind himself to hang up before Chouji starts trying to have phone sex again. That food porn rumour is for real. Sasuke is not sending a picture of himself in an intimate position with dessert.
"Everything will be fine." Naruto tells Deidara who nods slowly. "He will be fine. He cannot get sick, remember?"
"Right," Deidara forces himself to stand up, and grabs Mink, who rests his sleepy head against his mother. "Grab Bani, and don't give him anymore cake, Naruto. He is hyper enough, un."
"I promise," Naruto pouts. He loves giving the kids cake! "Fine." He has to be obedient but it's kind of hard. He didn't get pregnant by resisting his urges. "Come here Bani bunny, whose a good bunny?"
Bani knows at this stage, because he is smart and observant enough, that younger mommy is more inclined to give cake. He reaches a chubby hand toward the fridge, hoping for more dessert.
"Fine," Naruto says quietly, "Don't tell mommy." He offers some of his dessert still sitting on its plate to the baby, who coos and waves his arms excitedly. "You are so cute and fat!" Naruto kisses Bani's cheek, feeding him more cake.
"Hi," Sasuke takes the call, "Chouji, you better be wearing pants."
"It's me," Shikamaru's voice surprises Sasuke. "I heard he's been spending time with you?"
"That's one way of putting it." Sasuke woke up in Chouji's arms. That was harder to explain than why was he at a fucking strip club last night. The boy cried himself to sleep in Sasuke's arms, and woke up twice to throw up, not even making it to the bathroom.
"Can you explain why he's upset with me?" Shikamaru asks, sounding troubled. "He's completely blocked me out."
Normally Sasuke would just hang up, but he did involve himself and all by trying to kidnap Shikamaru. "Why do you think he is upset with you?"
"I told him I'm marrying Temari." Shikamaru explains, "And asked him to be my best man. He just freaked out. Do you think there's something going on with him and Temari?"
"Oh for fuck's sake." Sasuke is done with this shit. "Congratulations, Shikamaru." He knows the boy is going to the same university as Gaara, where Temari and Kankuro are seniors. Now he knows why. "Good luck with all that."
"Wait," Shikamaru says before he hangs up. "If you see him, can you tell him I miss him, and I love him."
"Do it yourself," Sasuke says before hanging up on the selfish Nara. He immediately dials Neji's home number, and makes an awkward, annoyed sound when Hinata picks up. "Oh fuck, I mean, is Neji there?"
"Yes." Hinata sounds upset on the phone. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," Sasuke sits down where he's standing on the stairs.
"I don't want you meddling in his life anymore." Hinata says, surprisingly not shy, and uncharacteristically bold.
"I mean well," Sasuke has problems with caring about people, he knows that, and the demon doesn't exactly make it easy to empathize, but what little he can do, he does it. "You know that."
"Stay out of our lives." Hinata says, firmly, and hangs up, leaving Sasuke staring at his phone with shock. He wasn't expecting the Hyuuga princess to act all icy like that. He kind of likes it.
"What's up?" Naruto comes downstairs after putting Bani to bed and finds Sasuke at the bottom of the stairs, seemingly in shock, "Are you okay?" Their relationship is not as advanced as Itachi and Deidara's but Naruto is starting to sense it when Sasuke is distressed.
"Shikamaru is marrying Temari."
"Oh," Naruto frowns, lowering himself beside Sasuke on the stairs with some difficulty because he is bigger now. "How's Neji taking it?"
"I don't know." Sasuke waves his phone, "He is not responding."
Naruto knows how close Gaara and Neji are to Sasuke. They were both best men at their wedding, and have been with Sasuke at every step of the way. "I am sorry." Is all Naruto can say.
Sasuke stands, "I will go over there, and I will…"
"Hey," Naruto tries to stand and stop Sasuke from leaving. "That's enough. If he needs you, he will reach out."
"But…" Sasuke helps Naruto stand, holding the small blond's body against his own. The uke's scent is so comforting, considering he is carrying Sasuke's child. He makes Sasuke feel complete. "I can't leave him alone at a time like this." Sasuke groans when Naruto reaches between them and grabs his crotch, feeling unusually bold.
"You can't leave me alone at a time like this." Naruto places kisses on Sasuke's throat.
"Dobe," Sasuke know he needs to leave the house, he just can't remember why right now.
"He is grown," Naruto knows Neji is over eighteen, and so is Shikamaru for that matter. "He can make his own decisions. So can you." Sasuke and Naruto needed their parents' permission to get married because they were both under eighteen, their peers have no such problems. A lot of them are tying the knot before going off to university.
"Right," Sasuke feels all his problems slowly melt away. Naruto is like a drug to him.
"I think we need to focus on our own family now." Naruto takes Sasuke's hand, and places it on his stomach, making his husband focus on the life growing inside him.
"I am," Sasuke feels a pleased shiver go down his spine. It seems that Naruto is the one doing the controlling now. How did his cute, soft idiot get to be so manipulative?
"Good." Naruto presses another kiss on Sasuke's jaw. "After a certain point you have to start putting me and the baby first." Now that Itachi seems to be having health issues and Deidara is worried sick, Naruto needs Sasuke to bring his A game. "Okay?"
"Okay," Sasuke feels aroused, and ready to fuck his precious dobe, gently of course because his mate is pregnant and Sasuke would never hurt the precious life in there. "Fine," He moves in to kiss Naruto.
"What…" Naruto pushes Sasuke away. "..are you doing?"
"Kissing you?" Sasuke is all for skipping foreplay but usually Naruto complains nonstop about the lack of it. "Isn't that what you like?"
"I need to put the babies to bed," Naruto scoffs and starts walking upstairs, "And you are going to help me. Deidara is too tired to do it."
"Aw fuck," Sasuke complains but follows. It's just like his dobe to rile him up and not follow through.
"What's wrong?" Kisame has been Itachi's friend for a very long time. He knows how to read that blank expression. Whatever news the doctor bitches gave his friend, is bad. "Be honest."
"I need you to do me a favour." Itachi makes sure they are outside Sasuke's hearing range, or anyone's really. People will occasionally try to bypass security and stalk the family. "Kill me when the time comes."
"I have so many questions." Kisame sits down beside a statue of Madara overlooking the main lawn. "Why?"
"It's my immune system." Itachi is suddenly reminded of high school. He remembers meeting Deidara, and wondering if Sasuke would ever be happy. "It's giving out on me."
"How is that ever possible?" Kisame scoffs, "That thing is bullet proof, I have seen it. You should not even be alive right now."
"I don't know," Itachi shrugs, "Maybe it's the demon, playing tricks." The stronger the demon, the more likely it is to try and take over. It's probably what happened with Madara.
"It would be bad," Kisame remembers when the thing took over the first time, now it's trying again. "Damn it."
"He will burn everything to the ground." Itachi shudders at the very thought.
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Kisame knows world domination is usually what these things go for, so what's the point? It's basically what every powerful family, including the Mist wants anyway.
"Ask Madara," Itachi reminds Kisame of their resident demon ancestor. "Ask him how it went."
"Ask him yourself," Kisame makes a face at the very thought of the Uchiha ancestor. "Gross."
"What do I do?" Itachi asks Kisame who blanches at the question
"You tell me what to do, remember?" Kisame reminds Itachi who places his head in both hands. "You have leadership qualities, and brains and I'm the good-looking one."
"If at any point," Itachi massages his aching skull, that would explain the headaches; the demon is trying to get out. "I get to be too dangerous to Deidara, Sasuke and the kids, I want you to take care of me, get your brothers involved, call Sasori if you have to, just fucking take me out."
"So killing Naruto is okay, got it." Kisame nods, making Itachi laugh brokenly. "I am not calling Sasori, he will have a field day with this."
"Deidara should have picked him." Itachi stares at Madara's liking with distaste. It's what Itachi will become eventually. "He would be better off."
"Don't be stupid," Kisame pauses, "He is not that much richer than you."
"I would be dead," Itachi remembers thinking if Deidara is making a mistake by becoming his mate, and now it's confirmed, "And they would be happy."
"I promise you, no one can be happy with Sasori," Kisame knows the bastard as well as he knows anyone from their group of social degenerates, "That man makes you look good in comparison."
"Tell me what to do." Itachi pleads with Kisame.
"Itachi," Kisame sighs, "Is going to Madara an option."
"No," Itachi would rather slit his own throat. "Absolutely not."
"Then ride it out," Kisame suggests, "Control is your specialty. I think this is your time to prove you have it." Itachi is so powerful, intelligent and rich. He could have been anything, but he chooses to live a modest existence. He chooses not to go the Madara way. "Prove you can resist him." He pokes at Itachi's aching head, where the demon is banging to get out.
"What if I fail?" Itachi looks so vulnerable, it makes Kisame uncomfortable a little. He is not used to seeing his friend so… weak. "Will you take me out when the time comes to it?"
"No," Kisame answers truthfully. "I didn't sign up for this racket, Itachi. Even if I was strong enough to kill that thing, I wouldn't hurt you."
"It wouldn't be me." Itachi pleads, "It's…"
"A big part of you." Kisame has never felt anything for anyone, ever, but if he could love another person, it would be Itachi. Part of why it will be hard for him to take a mate. Itachi isn't uke and Kisame likes the asexual, spiritual connection anyway. He will settle for companionship with Itachi over romance with anyone else.
"So you will let me terrorize my mate and children?" Itachi cannot believe his ears.
"Here's a crazy idea," Kisame says mockingly, "Talk to them, maybe they will know how to deal with it."
"I…" Itachi cannot burden them with this, can he?
"Have an escape plan ready." Kisame advises, "And when times comes to it, they can leave, and we can stick around and take over Konoha, and then Mist." Kisame stresses, "Promises me we will take the Mist." That will show his fucking brothers. Fuck Raiga.
"You would stay with me?" Itachi is so anxious and Kisame always knows what to say during these awful times. Just like when Sasuke was in jail, and Deidara hadn't said yes yet. Kisame is such a ride or die.
"Where else would I go?" Kisame asks, "Home?" He makes a disgusted face. "God I hate my family."
"This is your home," Itachi refers to the mention with open arms, "You belong with me."
"That I do, demon sir." Kisame nods, "Too soon?" He says at Itachi's offended glare.