CCNote: Guess who's on an upswing? This girl! My fiance surprised me with tickets to return home for Christmas! I thought I could be a tough cookie and not shell out the money but I'm sooooooo relieved. I've been on cloud nine for the last week and haven't been able to sit still enough to write. I just can't wait to get home and eat my weight in good southern cooking and be with my family for the holidays. Thanks so much to the people who reached out to me when I mentioned feeling funky over Thanksgiving. Your messages were really kind while I was in my funk and they really meant a lot to me.
Anywho, second years are finished with exams and off to Okinawa this week for their school trip. First and second years are now up for their exams which means two whole days of desk warming. This chapter is another one that's been bouncing around in my head since the beginning. Plus since Itachi and Hanabi got a long chapter, this one will also be lengthy. So I hope you enjoy!
L is for N. K. C
(Nat King Cole)
Friday, May 28, 2019, 9:30 am
Uchiha Penthouse #2
...
"Oh, Sasuke are you sure about this?"
"They will be fine."
Hinata wasn't so sure. Hajime and Hiroto were utterly unaware of the trauma that would befall them once she left the room. They were at a stage where they had...attachment issues. They trailed behind her like little shadows throughout the penthouse but as soon as they lost sight of her for even a second they would scream bloody murder. The only time she truly got a break now was when they were sleeping but even then, Hiroto had a tendency of waking up in the middle of the night and crying until one of them picked him up. It'd gotten to the point that the twins now slept in their bed with them just to get them to sleep through the night, an unwelcome blockade in their usual nighttime activities.
Currently, the boys were contentedly watching a children's show on the floor of the living room in their grandparents' penthouse. The beauty of having grandparents so close was that they were always willing to take the twins. Well, Mikoto was willing, Fugaku was more so regulated to the sidelines and left to his own devices. Hinata sniffed pitifully as Hajime sucked on his fingers, fully entranced by the bright colors of the children's program. Hajime was going to hate her for this she just knew it. She was a terrible mother! A horrible mother! How could she even think to leave them for so long? A few hours was fine but three days? That was just too cruel.
Mikoto waved frantically from the couch for them to leave but Hinata stayed firmly rooted to her spot. Hiroto yawned and tumbled onto his back for a moment. She had to fight the initial urge to pick him up and make sure that he was alright which of course she knew he was but logic was not on her side today. The fallen twin shifted himself back upright, knocking into his finger sucking brother as he did so. The sight of the two of them huddled so closely together made her heart ache. They were so innocent. So trusting. So-
"Come on Hinata." Sasuke hissed in her ear but she waved him away.
"Just five more minutes."
Sasuke slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand but he relented against his better judgment. There wasn't much in this world he was able to deny her. When five minutes were up Hinata wanted to ask for five more but even she knew that was asking for too much. Slowly they started to back away towards the front door, their sons none the wiser of their treachery.
"Sasuke I...I can't do it!" Hinata whimpered just as they reached the front door. Hajime clumsily leaned against Hiroto to try to turn himself around.
"Dammit." Sasuke cursed under his breath and quickly wrenched open the front door.
"Mah-mah." Hajime called across the room, clearly perplexed as to why his parents were so far away. Hiroto turned his head to see what his brother was calling for. Two identical sets of obsidian orbs innocently blinked, unaware of their parents' impending betrayal.
"Dah!"
Wet little fingers reached out to them and Hinata finally broke. She tried to take a step towards her sons but Sasuke caught her around her waist. Before even a word of protest could escape her lips, Sasuke had her outside and the front door slammed behind them. It was then that they heard the screams.
…..
Friday, May 28, 2019, 9:35 am
Uchiha Penthouse #2
...
The penthouse had been fairly quiet for most of the morning just like it was every morning. Fugaku reached for his still warm cup of coffee and paused for a moment to enjoy the rich aroma of his favorite brew. Mikoto knew how to brew the best coffee, truly a work of art in every cup. Sure he could always make his own coffee, when he was away from home he was forced to, but it always tasted better when she made it. He took a long sip from his mug before setting it back down on his desk.
Now that Sasuke had taken over the role as head of the company his desk was much less cluttered with pressing matters. There were still old documents piled up here and there but that was more due to his own laziness since he was prolonging the inevitable purge. The thought of his desk completely clear left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. A cleared desk meant that he really was retired. Fugaku shuddered as the word entered his mind and reached for the solace his coffee mug provided.
He brought it to his lips and closed his eyes. This day was supposed to come eventually. He was supposed to step down and hand over the reigns, sometimes he'd even fantasized burning the corporation to the ground when he'd become too overwhelmed with work. Mikoto always talked him back off of the ledge when he was at his breaking points though. That was another thing he appreciated about her in addition to her coffee prowess. Fugaku sighed and spun around lazily in his leather chair. Even though the job as Head was stressful he actually missed the rush of being in charge. He missed being needed. He grunted at the thought and smirked.
"I'm getting sentimental in my old age." He mumbled to himself and he took another sip of coffee.
In the next second, three things happened simultaneously. The first was a loud slam that nearly caused the former head to spill his coffee in his lap. The second were screams that actually did make him spill his coffee albeit on his desk and not his lap. The third was the realization that the peace of his home had been irrevocably shattered. Leaving the mess on his desk he hurried out the door to his office and down the hall, the sound of screaming getting louder as he approached the living room. There he found his wife rocking one of his inconsolable grandsons while the other was pulling on the edge of her skirt and crying.
"Christ, Mikoto why are they crying?" He asked, refraining from covering his ears by the death glare she sent his way.
"Why else do babies cry, dear?" She snapped before turning on a dime to coo comforts to the baby in her arms.
Unsure of what to do as his grandsons continued to cry, Fugaku picked up the one on the floor. Being picked up didn't stymie the baby's wails. If anything it sounded like he and his brother were in a competition to see who had the greatest lung capacity. With a huff, Fugaku held the boy out at arm's length and frowned.
"Which one are you?" He asked and his deep voice surprised the baby into quieting for a moment although his bottom lip was still quivering. Fat tears continued to fall from big black eyes.
"Haroto?" He guessed and the boy let out a small whimper. "Hijime?"
At that the baby started full on crying and in an effort to defy the impossible, his brother began crying even louder. Mikoto glared at him as she balanced one twin on her hip and took the other from his possession.
"Their names are Hajime and Hiroto." She hissed. "They are staying with us for the next three days or have you forgotten that as well?"
Fugaku winced at her double-edged barb. He actually had forgotten that Sasuke and the Hyuuga girl were leaving the twins with them for a few days. Mikoto turned away with a huff and tried her best to rock both boys at the same time.
"Don't just stand there. There's juice in the kitchen. Please get it." Mikoto directed and before he could contemplate his wife's new commanding demeanor, he was already off to the kitchen.
Quickly he scanned the countertops to find them littered with various grocery bags. There had to be juice in at least one of them right? He grabbed the first bag within his reach but inside there were only various kinds of snacks. Undeterred he looked in another bag to find even more snacks. The rest of the bags contained baby diapers, wipes, and more pacifiers than should be necessary. He'd found three different kinds of puffs but not a single juice box! The babies' crying continued steadily in the living with no end in sight. The Uchiha ran his fingers through his hair. He had to be overlooking something. Resigned to his own carelessness he went through the bags again.
"What are you doing?" Mikoto asked, her arms baby free and now crossed over her chest. "Getting juice shouldn't be this hard."
"There's no juice in any of these bags-" Fugaku retorted but immediately regretted his tone when his wife's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Without tearing her eyes away from him, she angrily yanked open the fridge and pointed her finger at the half-full container of apple juice in the inner door.
"The twins don't like warm juice."
"How was I supposed to know their juice was in the fridge let alone that they don't drink juice warm?"
"Their juice has always been in our fridge!" Mikoto hissed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "If you pulled your head out of your ass and paid attention to your sons you'd know what was going on!"
"Sons?" Fugaku paused. "Don't you mean grandsons?"
"Sons. Grandsons. It makes no difference"
The exasperated woman grabbed the jug of juice from the inner shelf and slammed the fridge door shut. Fugaku crossed his arms over his chest, the soundtrack of the twins still crying played in the background. He watched as she rummaged around the kitchen cabinets to quickly find two sippy cups to pour the juice into.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked tersely and his wife shrugged her shoulders.
"Take it however you want."
"Mikoto. Explain."
Her fingers tightened around the sippy cups in her possession, dark eyes brimming with unshed tears that he hadn't seen in years. Fugaku took a step towards her but she took an even bigger step back.
"Its just...you weren't there for Itachi and Sasuke-"
"You know what was happening. I thought you understood-"
"I did. I do!" She snapped, turning on her heel and angrily marching into the living room. Fugaku trailed in her wake. "But you're doing the same thing then as you're doing now. You've gotten so used to being detached that you don't even know your own grandsons' names!"
"It was only a slip of the tongue." Fugaku sighed, rubbing a tired hand over his face at the memory of his mistake.
"You're unbelievable."
Mikoto shook her head and pushed the sippy cups into his chest, Fugaku barely had time to catch them before they fell onto the floor.
"Spend time with your family for once." She growled before turning away to stomp down the hall.
He winced as the sound of the master bedroom door slamming shut echoed through the large apartment. What in the world had gotten into his wife? He looked down at the sippy cups in his hand and back up again at the path Mikoto had retreated down. Lost in his own thoughts, he felt little hands tugging at his pant legs. He looked down to find Hiroto, or perhaps this one was Hajime, trying to use his leg as leverage to stand up on his own.
'At least they aren't crying anymore.' Fugaku sighed mentally as he crouched down low to the floor.
Small fingers opened and closed, his eyes trained on one of the sugar-filled cups he held in his hand.
"Bah!" The baby said, reaching as far as his little arms could to take possession of the sippy cup.
Fugaku handed it to him and he happily sucked on the top, all previous woes were forgotten. He then went over to the other twin who also eagerly accepted his own cup. The elder Uchiha sighed as the sound of sucking had replaced the incessant crying from earlier. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and watched the boys carefully with calculating eyes. Their juice would only occupy them for a short time. When they were finished drinking what was he supposed to do? Pour more? If they drank a lot of liquid they were sure to need a diaper change so that wasn't an option. Fugaku couldn't remember changing more than a handful of diapers between both of his own sons. Mikoto had mostly taken up that duty.
'Mikoto.' He thought and glanced down the empty hall she'd stormed down.
"Spend time with your family for once!"
That fiery look in her eyes as she'd yelled those words was tinged with a sadness that had resided within her for a long time. His wife was a bottler. He'd always possessed a quick temper. Quick to anger, quick to forget. Mikoto, on the other hand, bottled up her emotions to mainly keep the peace in their household. She'd been the pillar that he and his sons had leaned on. Fugaku looked back at the twins who continued to drink peacefully. It was unlikely that he was going to be unable to lean on her today.
"Now what am I supposed to do with you?"
…..
"There we go." Fugaku mumbled as he finished tapping the notecard to the front of his grandson's onesie.
The other twin was clumsily trying to climb up into one of the leather office chairs in front of his desk. Before he could fall, Fugaku caught him and placed him in the seat. He then grabbed the newly labeled twin and sat him down beside his brother. They'd barely been placed in the chair before one tried to climb up to the arm while the other tried to remove their label.
"Now behave." Fugaku said, swatting curious hands away from where they didn't belong.
These labels were going to save his mental state while Mikoto continued to cloister herself off. Sure he now knew that the twins' names were Hajime and Hiroto but he didn't know which was which. Twins didn't typically run in the Uchiha family and he hadn't spent enough time with them to tell them apart. They looked like carbon copies of his second son and while he loved Sasuke he hoped that his grandsons didn't also possess his rueful personality. With any luck, their looks were the only thing they inherited. Fugaku crossed his arms over his chest, satisfied with the labels he'd created.
"Thing One." He said proudly to the baby in the red onesie on the right before turning his attention to the one wearing blue on the left. "Thing Two."
"Dah!" They replied in unison.
Fugaku's eyebrow twitched. Was 'dah' the only word they knew? He wasn't quite sure how fast babies developed but they should know more words than that. Wait...how old were they again?
"Spend time with your family for once!"
Mikoto's words reiterated in his mind but he pushed it aside. He had to figure out how to ensure that these two didn't turn out as disrespectful as his second son. He straightened up the seated positions of the squirming boys before slowly pacing in front of them. Their dark eyes followed him back and forth.
"You two are the heirs to the Uchiha clan. Do you know that?" He asked.
"Dah." Thing Two said. Thing one continued to suck his fingers.
"As heirs, you will have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. That day will be a long time from now but it's best to prepare you early."
"Dah!" Thing Two said again while Thing One still sucked on his fingers.
The finger sucking habit Thing One had going on was starting to create drool, a healthy stream of which was dripping onto his expensive leather chair. Fugaku frowned and tried to gently remove the fingers from his mouth but the boy kept jerking his arm away.
"You have to stop sucking your fingers. Who's ever heard of a finger sucking Uchiha head?"
"Dah!"
"Exactly, see Thing Two gets it!"
Thing one's eyes got glassy, unappreciative of his grandfather taking his fingers out of his mouth. His lower lip quivered inwardly causing Fugaku to panic. If Thing One started to cry it would no doubt trigger Thing Two to cry as well and he refused to have a repeat of this morning. His ears would bleed. Thinking fast, Fugaku gently put the fingers back into Thing One's mouth. He released the tiny wrist and froze as though waiting for a bomb to go off. Thing One's eyes were still glassy but he didn't start wailing which was all he could ask for.
Fugaku let out an audible sigh of relief and was surprised to hear a bubbly laugh, it was short at first but grew louder. He narrowed his eyes at Thing One who had removed his fingers on his own and was laughing even more now. Thing Two also joined in on his brother's amusement and soon his office was filled with the sound of their laughter which was much better than crying.
'These two.' Fugaku frowned and the babies laughed louder. 'Are going to kill me.'
….
Friday May 28 12:10pm
Konoha Airport
...
"Do you think they're okay?" Hinata asked hesitantly looking at her phone.
The flight attendants hadn't yet asked them to turn their phones off yet but Sasuke was skeptical if Hinata would even obey that order. She'd been nervously checking her phone for messages every five minutes as if the babies would explode if she didn't. Sasuke reached over the armrest and took her left hand in his right so that she would stop her incessant swiping and she looked up at him wide worried eyes.
"Hinata they're fine." He sighed and grabbed her phone out of her other hand. "My mother raised my brother and I essentially on her own and we turned out okay."
Hinata's eyes got even wider at that statement and frantically tried to get her phone back.
….
Friday May 28 2019 12:20pm
Uchiha Penthouse #2
...
Fugaku smirked to himself as he finished washing his hands in the bathroom sink. So far the boys had been great and hadn't caused him a lick of trouble. They were easily entertained with markers and paper and had been fairly quiet for the last hour, happily scribbling away. He looked at himself in the mirror, pushing some of his dark hair off of his forehead. His eyes widened as he noticed the amount of gray hair he had now. With a frown, he vainly ran his fingers through his hair repeatedly as if that would make the telltale signs of his age diminish. Was it normal to start going gray in your fifties? At least it was just gray hair, he wasn't going bald.
A loud crash from down the hall broke him from his age-induced anxiety and sent an even worse feeling into the pit of his stomach. Quickly he raced down the hall, the sound of laughter and banging getting louder the closer he got to his office. Each step brought with it an increasing sense of panic. He'd only left to go to the bathroom and now the twins were hurt. Mikoto was going to skin him alive if those boys sustained as much as a papercut. Shaking his head of the violent visual, he wrenched open his office door to find Thing One pulling books down from the lowest levels of his bookshelf and tossing them onto the floor behind him. Thing Two had taken his artistry away from the parameters of the paper Fugaku had given him and was contently drawing on the front of his grandfather's desk.
Panicked at the destruction of the heirloom desk, Fugaku rushed forward to stop the wayward twin but ended up knocking the metal trashcan near the door over in his haste. Old tissues and crumpled pieces of paper littered the floor, adding to the mess that was already there. Ignoring his own contribution to the messy office, he crossed the room and snatched the marker out of the child's hand and tossed it over his shoulder. Thing Two's dark eye's widened and fat tears immediately started brimming up to the surface with each quiver of his bottom lip.
"Wait wait, don't cry!" Fugaku said quickly but it was too late.
Thing Two's tears were already starting to stream down his cheeks. Fugaku picked up the crying child, unsure of what exactly to do with him. Sensing his brother's distress Thing One stopped grabbing books and looked around the room. He crawled over to where Fugaku was trying to comfort his brother and once he reached them, tried to pull himself up to standing. The eldest Uchiha hadn't been paying attention to the other twin underfoot and when he took a step in the opposite direction it caused the boy to fall on his face. Luckily he'd fallen one of the many pillows that were scattered all over the floor but that was a small comfort to the boy. His cries added to his brother's and soon the entire office was filled with a repeat of this morning's tantrum.
Fugaku crouched down to grab Thing One while still balancing Thing Two but was finding it difficult to maneuver. He'd seen Sasuke grab both of them simultaneously before and he made it look relatively easy but it most certainly was not. The screaming in his ear and little hands pushing on the side of his face wasn't helping matters either.
"Knock, knock." A soft voice called from the open office door.
The Uchiha looked up to see his wife leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest and a disapproving look in her eye. Thing One stopped crying immediately and reached out for her to pick him up which she did quickly and the twin buried his face in the crook of her shoulder.
"There there, Haji." Mikoto cooed as she soothed the twin in her arms. "Did grandpa do it?"
Black eyes narrowed in his direction and Fugaku glared back at the child. The twin in his arms also started to settle down at the sound of Mikoto's voice and reached out for her to hold him as well. Mikoto cut an angry look at her husband before stepping forward and taking the second twin from him as well.
"Come on boys. It's time for lunch." Mikoto announced and started stepping over the debris on the floor to get out of the office.
Fugaku's stomach growled at the mention of lunch and began to follow his wife out of the room but she glared at him from the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" She asked coldly, her eyes tearing away from him to survey the destroyed office. "You have a mess to clean up."
….
"You missed a spot." Mikoto said from her perch of observation atop the kitchen counter furthest from the sink. She lazily swirled her a glass of red wine in her hand as she kept an eye on his dishwashing skills and the twins watching television inside of their playpen.
"You missed a spot." Fugaku grumbled under his breath as he went over the plastic highchair tray once more with a sudsy sponge.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The former Uchiha patriarch had learned long ago that when his wife was in a mood it was best not to test her. Today she seemed to be in a particularly bad mood and it hadn't lessened at all since that morning. Sure she was all smiles when she was around the twins but as soon as her eyes met his she was nothing but cold. It didn't matter what he did to try to help, his brand of 'help' always made things worse. She especially didn't appreciate the labeling of the twins as 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two'.
He glanced over his shoulder at his haughty wife. She was content with watching him clean all of the gunk off of the high chair trays from the twins' dinner. Their food had a propensity of ending up everywhere except for their mouths. Fugaku was surprised his grandsons hadn't starved to death by this point in their lives since they would rather play in their food than actually eat it. He supposed that the copious varieties of puff snacks were what gave Thing One and Thing Two their life force. If he recalled correctly Sasuke had also been a fussy eater and for a time he remembered Mikoto being worried that the only thing he ate was tomatoes. He wasn't sure how long it took for his son to grow out of that phase actually.
Fugaku frowned as he ran warm water over the plastic tray. He didn't remember too much of Itachi or Sasuke's childhood. When Itachi was young he was mostly in and out of the hospital while Fugaku was tamping down an internal sabotage. Once he was at home for a solid period of time, Itachi didn't need him around much. Itachi was content being left to his own devices, uninhibited by the expectations of what he should be capable of doing. Despite his condition and age, his eldest son flourished on his own, excelling in nearly everything he attempted.
Looking back on it, Fugaku had expected the same outcome from his second son. He expected that same internal drive and independence to present itself within Sasuke but it didn't. Sasuke was...soft like his mother. Not inherently a bad thing but at that time in his life, Fugaku was too busy to deal with a soft child. Itachi didn't need him and he didn't have time for Sasuke and that was the norm they lived with. It was a status quo that had never bothered him before but now the fact that he couldn't remember when Sasuke grew out of his picky eating phase nagged at him. Shutting the water off he looked around for a towel to dry the tray off.
"Mikoto." He started as he dried off the wet tray. "Sasuke only ate tomatoes for a time."
He turned away from the sink to see her take a sip of her wine. A small, wistful smile graced her face as she thought of their youngest son. Fugaku couldn't help but be impressed at the fact that his wife didn't look a day over thirty-five while he was aging rapidly with each passing day.
"I'm surprised you remember that." She laughed and pushed some of her dark hair behind her ear. "He refused to eat anything that wasn't red and squishy for I don't know how long!"
Fugaku didn't respond to that statement. He actually didn't remember the events in question, just her mentioning it in passing. He wasn't there for the fits Sasuke threw when she tried to get him to eat other things. He supposed it was similar to the twins refusal only an hour ago...
"The only way to get him to eat meat was to cover it in tomato sauce and tell him it was a tomato. I think he has trust issues because of that now that I think about it."
"He was a difficult child."
"No." Mikoto said with a smile, her eyes becoming glassy. "He was sweet."
"Sweet?" Fugaku snorted. 'Sweet' was not a word he'd ever think of associating with his second son. Disrespectful? Yes. Intelligent? Debateable at times. Sweet? Never. Mikoto noticed his skepticism and took another healthy sip of wine.
"If you got to know him better you'd see his sweet side." She admonished and slid off of the countertop.
Her eyes had lost that dreamy look, the bad attitude that she'd had for most of the day returned. As he watched her leave, her words from earlier crept back into his mind.
"Spend time with your family for once!"
This time he could shake those words away.
….
Saturday, May 29, 2019, 2:48 am
Hakone Hot Springs
...
Sasuke groaned as his phone vibrated violently on top of the bedside table. Blindly he felt around until his fingers clumsily found the device. He cracked his eyes open a bit to look at the screen, the blue light illuminating the darkness of the room. He shut his eyes again, unwilling to subject himself any longer to try to look at the phone. He swiped to accept the call.
"Hello?" He grumbled, his voice still thick with sleep.
"Sasuke."
A sudden surge of energy ran through him as he heard his father's voice through the phone. Something was wrong. His father wouldn't call him unless something had happened to the twins. Quickly, he slipped out of the bed, Hinata protesting mildly in her sleep as he did so, and tiptoed out to the balcony of their hotel room. The cool night air ruffled his messy hair
"Sasuke are you there?" His father asked.
"Yes. What's wrong?"
There was a bit of rustling on the other end of the phone but soon he could hear crying.
"Thing Two-"
"Hiroto." Sasuke mumbled as he ran tired fingers through his messy hair. "Wait, what did you call him?"
"How can you tell which one it is?" His father demanded, a slight edge of exasperation in his voice.
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders even though his father couldn't see him do it. Sure the twins were identical but their cries, as well as their laughter, sounded different to him. He wasn't sure when he'd acquired the skill to tell them apart, it didn't even seem like something worth mentioning. In any case, they cried for different reasons and since it was so late at night he knew automatically which fussy twin was awake since they went through this ritual often.
"Nevermind. We put them down for the night a couple of hours ago but this one woke up and won't go back to sleep."
Sasuke smirked and switched the phone to his other ear as the crying continued. That sounded like Hiroto alright.
"Did you give him some milk?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, but he didn't want any."
"Of course he doesn't. Did you try changing him?"
"Yes. Twice. He still won't sleep."
"Hmmmmmm." Sasuke hummed, enjoying his father's frustration immensely.
However, if Hiroto continued to cry he might wake up his brother. Hajime was a fairly deep sleeper but it was only a matter of time before his brother's crying triggered him. It was best to put his father out of his misery sooner rather than later.
"Take off your shirt." Sasuke instructed and his father sputtered his outrage.
"What the hell boy? What are you-"
"Do you want Hiro to stop crying or not?"
There was a tired sigh on the other end of the line before the telltale rustle of clothing being removed.
"Now what?" His father asked through gritted teeth.
"Pick up Hiro and go sit down somewhere." Sasuke instructed. His father grumbled and Hiroto cried but eventually, his father complied. "Are you sitting?"
"Yes but he's still crying."
"I know, I can hear him." The Uchiha smirked, he could almost see the death glare his father was giving him through the phone. "Hum something."
"What?" Fugaku snapped, his exhaustion getting the best of him. The angry tone of his voice made Hiroto cry louder and Sasuke's fingers inadvertently clenched around the balcony railing.
"Calm down. Hiro feeds off of your energy." Sasuke said.
He couldn't believe he was spouting 'Mommy and Me' mumbo jumbo to his own father. At first, he thought that the books were all bullshit but after having Hinata remind him on multiple occasions to check his own anger, he noticed a marked difference in the twins demeanors as well. Even if it was bull shit, it worked. His father inhaled and exhaled slowly a few times but Sasuke wasn't so sure he was calm. It was a start though.
"Now put Hiro on your chest and hum." Sasuke instructed after a few moments of heavy breathing.
"Hum what?"
"Anything."
"How is this going to make him stop crying?"
"He likes the vibration."
"The vi-what?"
"The vibration father. Just hum something dammit so we can all go to sleep."
He could see his father's face turning red with anger but somehow the man kept from lashing out over the phone. He took a few more deep breaths before a weird gurgling reached his ears. Sasuke paused as he pressed the phone closer to his ear just to be sure he was hallucinating. His father was actually doing it. Sure he was bad at it, Sasuke couldn't even place whatever tune he was struggling to hum, but he was at least trying. Just as Sasuke had predicted, Hiroto's cries turned to whimpers. It wasn't long before his fussiness died down completely.
"He stopped crying." Fugaku whispered and Sasuke smirked.
"He's not asleep yet. Keep doing it till he falls asleep." He said and had to keep from laughing at the strange, strangled sound his father made.
"You do this until he falls asleep every night?"
"Hm. Not every night." Sasuke yawned.
It was more like every other night. It used to be every night but Hiroto was getting better sleeping through the night on his own. Eventually, he'd grow out of this phase. The time he spent with Hiroto at two in the morning would become a thing of the past and the more he thought about it the more it unsettled him. Sasuke rubbed away at the tightening of his chest. It hadn't been a full twenty-four hours yet but any thought of his sons made his chest tighten uncomfortably in a way he'd only previously felt when apart from Hinata.
"Ok." Fugaku whispered tiredly into the phone. "He's asleep now."
"Good." Sasuke yawned again, stepping away from the edge of the balcony. "He should sleep through the night now."
Sasuke moved to take the phone away from his ear. Now that his father had gotten assistance he wasn't one to dally with small talk. He paused though when he heard his name whispered through the phone.
"Yes?" He said, confused as to what else his father could want. There was a long pause of silence as though his father was searching for something to say but couldn't bring himself to say the words that came to mind.
"Nothing."
With that his father hung up the phone and Sasuke was left perplexed. His confusion only lasted for a second before he shrugged his shoulders and went back to bed. He had learned long ago that he would never understand his father. Inside of the hotel room, Hinata was awake, rubbing her right eye groggily.
"H-Hiro woke up didn't he?" She mumbled sleepily. "Is he okay?"
"Hn." He grunted as he approached the bed. "Go back to sleep."
Once he slipped back into the bed Hinata immediately latched onto him for warmth. She mumbled something incomprehensible as she squirmed closer to him for comfort. Sasuke sighed to himself and wrapped his arms around her small frame. He enjoyed the feeling of holding her close but something was missing. More specifically, two fussy somethings that liked to kick him in the middle of the night.
"I miss them." Hinata sighed as sleep took over and her breathing evened out.
Sasuke pressed his lips to the top of her head and let out a deep breath.
"Me too."
…..
Saturday, May 29, 2019, 1:59 am
Uchiha Penthouse #2
...
Fugaku frowned as he closed the door to the guest room where the twins were both finally sleeping soundly. If all it took was a little humming he should have called Sasuke a lot sooner. He paused to stretch his sore muscles before he headed down the hall towards the master bedroom. It was only the first day with the twins and already he felt as though he'd been run over by a truck. He had no idea how Sasuke and Hinata managed dealing with them every day but they were going to have to employ a nanny sooner or later. Those boys were too much to handle without one. Fugaku made a mental note to look into which of the retired women among the clan would be a good fit for the twins later on. Yawning, he opened the door to the master bedroom to find his wife still awake, leaning against the window sill and gazing out at the lights of the city below.
"You should be asleep." He said as he walked over to hesitantly, unsure if she even wanted him around.
She turned to him with a sad smile on her lips, her eyes taking on that glassy quality again with tears that she refused to let fall.
"Mikoto-" he started but she turned her head away from him and sniffed.
"You got Hiro to sleep." She whispered. "That's good."
"You don't sound happy about it." He said and Mikoto let out a short, almost choked, laugh.
She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her hands up and down as though to warm herself even though it wasn't cold. Her tough aura from before had finally dissipated but that didn't sit well with him. He'd rather have her yelling at him again then looking so...defeated. He took a few steps closer and wrapped his arms around her, part of him afraid that she might pull away. Instead, she sank back into him just as she had a million times before on nights just like this one. On nights when she was tired. On nights when she was lonely and he'd returned to bed in the wee hours of the morning. On nights when their children had driven her up the wall. She always sank back into him without prompt or hesitance.
"I wish..." She whispered, her words catching in her throat. "Things had been different..."
Fugaku rested his chin on top of her head and took a deep breath. She smelled the same as she always had since the day he met her. That cinnamon scent that clung to her skin and distracted him even when he was buried under the weight of his responsibilities.
"You regret marrying me."
His words hung heavy in the night air between them. A soft hand caressed his forearm gently, slowly, as though trying to convey a sense of comfort she knew he needed.
"You gave me two wonderful sons. I couldn't ask for more."
….
Monday June 1 2019 1:00pm
Johoku Park
...
The next two days passed by in a blur for Fugaku. The twins constantly kept him on his feet but he was starting to not mind it so much. It was far better than stewing in his retirement in his office alone and the twins weren't so bad when he spent more time with them. In fact, they were a lot better than the other children that were currently screaming their heads off in the park. Fugaku's right eye twitched as he watched a chubby little boy with curly brown hair sit on the edge of the sandbox and eat the sand inside.
Other children were tumbling around on the playground equipment and every so often their squeals of amusement were pierced with cries of pain. Inevitably a parent with find their child in the fray of other tiny beings and comfort them until they were up and playing again. The twins were not big enough to play on the playground equipment nor were they curious about the sandbox like the other small children their ages. Secretly Fugaku was proud of that fact since it meant they weren't eating sand like some children.
No, Thing One and Thing Two were much happier sticking close to each other and playing near the many flower beds that dotted the park. They pulled at the vibrant petals and stuck their fingers in the dirt but they didn't mess up the flowerbeds too much. Much to his surprise they were fairly well behaved when they weren't cooped up in the house, a fact that he wished he'd known on day one instead of finding out now.
"We're by the sandbox...oh can you see us? No?"
Fugaku looked over at his wife who had her cell phone pressed to one ear and her finger in the other. Were they supposed to be meeting someone? Mikoto stood up from the park bench and started waving one of her hands around frantically.
"I see you! I see you! I'm the one waving, yea!"
The former patriarch turned his head to see who Mikoto was waving to. He was met with the sight of his son and the Hyuuga girl entering the park from the sidewalk. Sasuke's eyes met his almost immediately before he tapped the shoulder of his companion to point her in the right direction. Her pale eyes widened when she saw Mikoto waving and she rushed forward. Fugaku thought she would have stopped to acknowledge them, which was what proper manners dictated, but the Hyuuga girl was too excited to stop. She gave them a quick, half-hearted bow in passing before she ran over to the twins.
Once the boys caught sight of their mother they stopped playing in the flower bed and cried out for her with big grins on their faces. The Hyuuga girl was spurred on by their excitement and hurried to get closer to them. She kneeled down in the grass and Thing One and Thing Two immediately started trying to climb all over her. Fugaku huffed at the display, a bit miffed that the twins were being so affectionate. One would think that the trio had been separated for years instead of only a few days.
"You're back a little early." Mikoto said, her voice tearing Fugaku away from the twins being showered with kisses. "We did expect you to return until tonight."
Sasuke smirked, bending at the waist so that he could lean against the back of the park bench with his forearms.
"Did the Hyuuga girl rush you back?" Fugaku asked and Sasuke shook his head.
"She's not a Hyuuga. At least not for much longer." He said flatly and Mikoto let out a gasp of surprise.
"Sasuke!" She cried and rushed around to the other side of the park bench to throw her arms around his neck. "Congratulations!"
"Mother." Sasuke protested, bristling slightly at his mother's flamboyant affections. She kissed his cheeks and ruffled his hair despite stiffness.
"Oh! I'm so happy! Tell me how you proposed! I want all the details!" Mikoto rambled but suddenly let go of Sasuke as if he'd set her on fire. "The ring! Oh, I want to see the ring!"
The corner of Fugaku's lip twitched as Mikoto took off towards her soon to be daughter-in-law and grandchildren, nearly tackling the younger woman to the ground when she reached her. The Uchiha men watched on with mildly amused looks on their faces although to most onlookers they appeared impassive.
"Have you informed your brother?" Fugaku asked stiffly as Sasuke straightened his stance.
The younger Uchiha shoved his hands into his pockets, dark eyes trained on his small family by the flower bed. Fugaku raised a curious eyebrow at his son's body language. The boy was selfish and entitled on a good day but if he wasn't mistaken he appeared almost...protective.
"Hinata was able to get ahold of Hanabi on the phone just before she and Itachi set off for the summer."
Fugaku nodded his head, biting back the frown that was threatening to emerge. His eldest son spent far too much time with the other Hyuuga girl. If it wasn't for the fact that the girl had to return to school every fall he'd be more concerned about the amount of time they spent together. One Hyuuga in the family was more than enough. Fugaku shook his head and ran a weary hand through his hair.
"I suppose it was for the best that the Hyuuga girl rushed back then." Fugaku sighed and Sasuke shook his head, the tips of his ears turning red.
This caused the older man to let out a gruff chuckle at his son's reaction. Sasuke was blushing! He would have never believed it unless he saw it for himself. He looked away from his embarrassed son and back to the flowerbeds. Thing One and Thing Two were climbing all over their mother and grandmother, eager for attention as the two women adamantly discussed the news of the engagement. The sun caught the light on the Hyuuga girl's ring making it sparkle and captured the twins' curiosity. They grabbed at their mother's fingers and Thing One tried to put the ring in his mouth but found the taste of metal unappealing. The Hyuuga girl didn't even notice the drool on her hand, she was too absorbed in Mikoto's rapid line of questioning.
After another hour in the park, the family packed the twins back into their double stroller and started to head back towards home. Mikoto gushed over the twins departure even though she was going to see them again soon. They only lived one floor up after all! However, Fugaku couldn't fault his wife's attachment to their grandsons. Thing One and Thing Two were a handful but he was going to miss the sound of them tumbling around the apartment. Their presence kept him out of his office and on his toes instead of contemplating his rapid aging. They kept him near his wife and made her smile in a way that he hadn't been able to accomplish in a long while.
He looked down at the woman in question, her eyes watching the receding backs of her son and his soon to be wife. Her teeth nibbled on her bottom lip, abusing the soft flesh as she was lost in thought. Once again he was reminded of why he fell in love with her in the first place. Her thoughtful nature and patience...the fact that she remained just as beautiful as the day he met her without even trying. Slowly her eyes tore away from their son's departure and she looked back at him. Dark eyes softened as she looked at him and her eyes crinkled with the spread of a broad smile.
"What are you looking at?" She asked.
"Nothing." He said, the corners of his lips twitching upward as his wife leaned closer with a skeptical look in her eye.
"You know I always know when you're lying Fugaku." She chided. "You were looking at me, weren't you! Is there something on my face? Oooo Fugaku you have to tell me these things! You'd let me walk around looking silly, wouldn't you? You're the-"
The former Uchiha head silenced his worrisome wife with a short kiss. When he pulled away she looked up at him with wide eyes before a slow, sweet smile spread across her face.
To be continued...
M is for Loyalty
The only thing that kept the night from spiraling wildly out of control was the fact that Ino had made Naruto vow to abide by one simple rule. No strippers.