After work, Jero and I walked home. He said that the way I was going after that black op, I should be well enough to go back to S-ranked missions in two weeks.
That whole stupid experiment thing was still swirling around in my head, but I was totally looking forward to dinner and sleep, but low and behold, Watsuki Yoshino stood on the porch of our modest one bedroom house.
"Hey, you two love birds are in late! You guys on a date or something?!" the 12 year old said waving her arm in the air to get our attentions.
"What do you want, Yoshino?" Jero said, clearly annoyed at the surprise.
"I made Chunin!! And besides, I haven't seen you guys in a long time and I was hoping we could go to Ichiraku or something! It's my treat!"
"OK! Let's go!" I demanded, already half way down the road to Ichiraku.
At the ramen shop I ordered my favorite, miso ramen and slurped happily away as we caught up on things. ? Yoshino talked mostly…….
"……I'm so glad I made Chunin! Next week I'm headed for Kirigakure for recon missions! Ohh, this whole war thing is a drag though …Oh! And did you guys know Haruhi is preggers!! Guess who the father is? Go on guess! Blah blah blah blah…Ohhh…When are you guys gonna start poppin' out kids or adopting or whatever!
AGH! KAKK!!BLECH!!( sound of me choking on my ramen and chopsticks.)
Jero looked over at me and patted me on the back to un-lodge the now deadly, but still yummy noodles from my windpipe.
After my fit, Jero calmly put down his chopsticks and answered Yoshino's question.
"Well, Naru-chan and I have never really discussed it. I mean, we're both rookie black ops, so bringing a child into the picture is just not a good idea. Also, Naru- chan and I have only been married for a year and a half, and we're only 16. I guess you could say we're just not at that place in our lives right now."
"Well……If you were to have a child would you want a boy or a girl? Oh! And what would you name it? And who would you want it to take after?" asked Yoshino, unable to let it go.
"Yoshino, he already said that-," I butted in, trying to catch my breath.
"I would like a girl, and I've always liked the name Tsubame, and I hope she would take after Naru-chan, but have my common sense." He chuckled slightly.
Yoshino grinned at him and ordered us another round of sake on the rocks.
But I couldn't keep my eyes off of Jero. It sounded as though he had put so much thought into it. How could I not have known? The thought of children had never crossed my mind. Like Jero had said earlier; 'We're just not in that place in our lives right now', but I……
We came home a lot later that night. Yoshino couldn't even walk to her house so Jero and I had to literally drag her home and put her in bed.
Even though I was tired I wasn't sleepy, so I just laid in bed looking up at the ceiling, praying I wouldn't be too hung over to show up tomorrow. Jero who was just a
little less tipsy than I was, nearly killed himself trying to remove his pants, finally realizing that he needed to take his shoes off.
He crawled into bed and threw himself on the mattress, making it shake for a moment. I didn't know what I wanted to say, but I wanted to say something. Like my head couldn't put into words all the questions my brain was forming. Just then felt a warm, strong arm wrap around me and pull me closer.
'"You're troubled," Jero's voice was deep and solid. "What's wrong?"
"Am I a good wife!? Like, are you happy as you are?" I blurted out, even though that was not the question on my mind.
Jero held me closer, his warmth, almost unbearable, and the mist-like odor of sake, around him was calming me.
"Of course you are. What would make you think otherwise? Are you not happy?" he said sounding concerned. He snuggled down deeper into the covers "I love you Naru-chan."
I sighed, feeling sorry that I worried him for the slightest moment.
"Love you too, Jero." I said, turning around to face him and buried my head in his muscular chest.
"Good night, querira." He said sleepily, his warmth blanketing me. "'Night"………
The next morning as I sit at my desk, clutching my head with my good hand, I flipped through some of the medical text books I had on the big shelf behind my desk, trying to find some cure for hangover.
The door opened and the same black op agent from the day before cautiously stuck his head in. I glared at him.
"Hey, don't kill the messenger! I'm just here to report that, the Hokage says that if you continue to defy a direct order from the council of elders you could get demoted."
"WHAAATTTT!! OWWWW!! GET OVER HERE!! OWWWW!!" I screamed, which was no simple feat, considering the size of my headache, and chased the idiot down the hall.