What Happens Next?
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I guess the battle scene went better than I thought it did. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Just Curious: At some point in in the distant future, I was considering doing a Mikoto x Fugaku story. A how they got together one. Perhaps some time traveling, like Itachi, Sasuke, or Naruto goes back in the past to try to prevent the Uchihas from organizing the coup or something. ^^. Let me know if you have any interest in this plot bunny. Possibly side pairings involved.
Chapter 18
A few weeks later and things had gone back to normal in the Leaf. For the most part, everyone's battle injuries had been treated. The Uchihas and Hyugas were very relieved when the Uchihas were able to head back to their district.
Relations had improved somewhat. But it was still like fire and ice. Thankfully, they were down to only the occasional fireball or gentle fist attack. Hiashi considered that progress. Speaking of progress…
"How's your shoulder?" He hears Sasuke asks Hinata from their position of sitting by underneath one of the trees by a fish pond.
"It's still a little tender. But the worst of the damage was repaired." Hinata replies with a sweet smile.
Hiashi was extremely relieved that Sasuke didn't seem to mind an old fashioned courtship. Most of the time, he would come to see her at the Hyuga Estate or take her into the village to spend the day together. (Hiashi approved of this choice because he knew other people would be around and Hinata would likely return home with her virtue INTACT!) Sometimes they would go the Uchiha District, which he wasn't as keen on. But again, he assumed Sasuke wouldn't try anything too scandalous with his family surrounding them.
"Does this help?" He asks in a whisper and places gentle kisses along the shoulder that had been attacked.
"Sasuke! My f-ather is standing only a few yards away from us." She blushes as red as an apple.
Sasuke was now up to 14 shades of red and counting so far. He smirks. The Uchiha was certain that they had passed the world record by now.
"Hinata, we've been courting for weeks. I'm sure that he knows we are kissing and affectionate with each other by now. Kitten, you need to relax. Now if he finds out what happened on our mission, then I will be worried." Sasuke concedes.
With that, the apple red was upgraded to a tomato red. He chuckles. Sasuke loved to tease his kitten. He smiles and cuddles into her.
"I still don't like it." Neji mutters to Hiashi.
"Nor do I. But I would feel he same way, no matter who was courting her. He's conducted himself properly. I see no reason to object towards them being affectionate towards each other. He has not done anything particularly scandalous yet." The Hyuga Patriarch muses.
Hinata shakes her head and returns the cuddling. It was always nice to be held by Sasuke. She enjoyed it. But she wanted more.
Unfortunately, she was unlikely to get more. They were always being watched. If it wasn't her family, then it was his. If it wasn't the Clans, it was the rest of the village. So far other than kissing and embracing, their relationship was completely chaste and it was driving her crazy!
"How is your mother doing?" She asks to try to distract herself from her frustration and because she was genuinely worried about the Uchiha Matriarch.
"She's doing much better now. I think she is secretly enjoying father fussing over her. Half of me suspects she is pretending to be in more pain than she actually is." He says with a chuckle.
Hinata nods. She could see Mikoto doing that. She was a very sweet woman, but she was also extremely sneaky when she wanted to be. Mikoto had told her how she got Fugaku's attention originally and it was enough to make the Hyuga Heiress blush.
"Most likely." The Hyuga woman agrees.
"And I already scared Naruto, Sai, and Ino straight. I don't care for them meddling in our lives." He mutters.
The bluenette wasn't sure she wanted to know what constituted scared straight in Sasuke's mind. Sometimes it was better just not to ask questions. Judging by his smirk, he was rather pleased at whatever method of punishment he had come up with.
"I guess I better be going. My shift starts in an hour at the police station." He says with a sigh and kisses her.
Hinata kisses back. In a way, she was grateful he was on the police force now. It meant he had a regular schedule. Most ninjas didn't and she really liked the way he looked in his uniform.
"I'll see you later then." She replies and Sasuke nods, heading off.
A few hours later after his shift, Sasuke heads into Fugaku's study. Itachi mentioned that his father wanted to talk to him about something. Curious, he knocks on the door.
"Come on, Sasuke." Came the voice of his father.
"What did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asks as he walks inside, not sure what the Uchiha Patriarch wanted.
Fugaku glances at Sasuke up and down. It was hard to believe that both of his son's were grown. He wondered if Mikoto had actually been joking about the wrinkles or not. He'd check in the mirror later.
"I see that your relationship with Hinata seems to be progressing nicely. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the two of you to find any privacy. You are both from the two largest Clans in the village after all." The elder Uchiha muses.
Sasuke nods. It was. Honestly, it was getting very frustrating. The last time he got to do more than kiss her was on that mission to Eros. He briefly pondered the possibility that Hinata might be feeling equally as frustrated.
"I thought as much. It was difficult enough for myself and your mother to find private time when we were courting and we were both from the same Clan. Consider this an early birthday and Christmas present." He states and tosses Sasuke something.
Sasuke blinks and catches it. He looks down and notices key. He looks at his father in confusion, not getting it.
"Those are the keys to your new home. It's still in the District, but no one else has those keys. You can make as many copies or as few as you like. It will be YOUR castle to do with as you see fit. You're a man now and you deserve your privacy." Fugaku states.
"You're giving me an apartment?!" Sasuke asks in disbelief.
"No, not an apartment. It's a house. Granted it is not as large as this one. But as I imagine it will mostly be you and Hinata, I didn't see the point in getting a massive one. Still it is big enough for you and should you decide to have a family of your own one day, them as well." He continues and umpfs when his youngest son tackle hugs him.
Fugaku pats Sasuke's back awkwardly. He was not a man who was used to giving hugs. He does smile though. Sasuke did seem rather grateful for his gift. (It was only fair though, Itachi and Izumi had their own place. Sasuke and Hinata should as well.)
"It's perfect. Thank you." Sasuke says.
"Well perhaps you should see the house first." He chuckles.
"Does it have four walls, a roof, and a door with a lock on it?" His youngest son asks.
"Well yes. That is generally the point of a house." His father replies with a chuckle at Sasuke's question.
"Then it's perfect." Sasuke responds.
Fugaku chuckles. Well Sasuke had always been rather easy to please. Itachi was the opposite. He often challenged Fugaku about everything. Sasuke conversely was always happy with whatever affection he saw fit to bestow upon him with. He loved both of his boys dearly, but Itachi could be a handful sometimes and Sasuke a little too eager to please.
"Well I'm glad you think so. Though it would probably be best if you didn't inform Hiashi of this development. He is rather traditional and I don't think he would approve of you and your intended alone together." He muses.
"Wasn't planning on it." Sasuke says with a smirk and heads off to go see his new house.
Mikoto blinks when she saw Sasuke dart to his room. She raises an eyebrow and heads to Fugaku's study. He must have told Sasuke about the house.
I take it, that you told him." She says with a giggle.
"I told him. He's quite pleased. Poor boy. I can certainly understand his frustration." Her husband replies with a laugh.
"Do you know what this means, my love?" Mikoto says as she sits in his lap and wraps her arms around his neck.
He didn't know what this meant. But he liked where it was possibly heading. The Uchiha Patriarch smiles and wraps his arms around her waist as he encourages her to continue.
"No. What does this mean?" He asks.
"We are officially empty nesters. We have our house all to ourselves." She replies with a knowing smile.
He smirks. Ah there could be some advantages to getting old after all. The rest of the night passed in a rather enjoyable fashion.
Meanwhile Itachi returns from his quick trip to the market. It seemed Izumi had been craving a ice cream. At this point, he just tried to go with it. Pregnancy was a strange journey. He almost pitied Sasuke when he finally got to deflower his little Hyuga Princess and merged the bloodlines. Itachi imagined many chakra lockings in his future.
"Izumi, I'm home. I got you your ice cream." He calls out as he walks into their house.
She smiles and bounds over to Itachi. Izumi really wanted her ice cream. The pregnancy cravings were driving her crazy. That and she was of course happy to see him.
"That was fast. Here you go, my love." He says and hands it to her, as he kisses her forehead.
"Thanks. You want any?" She asks as she grabs a spoon and shoves it into the frozen treat.
"I'm good. Watching you eat it is enjoyable enough for me. I do admire how…flexible your tongue can be." He says and Izumi swats him playfully for that remark.
"I hope that Hinata knows what she is getting in for, if Sasuke is anything like you." She says with a giggle.
Itachi shakes his head in amusement. Sasuke WISHED he as smooth as him. Oh well. He was still young. He'd become better at seducing sooner or later.
He smiles and places his hand on his wife's slightly rounded stomach. She was just beginning to show, if you looked closely enough. He knew that she was worried about looking fat. Itachi was constantly reassuring her that was a ridiculous concern.
The Uchiha man was quite pleased about it though. Now to a certain extent he could "see" their son or daughter. It was still too early to tell the gender. But they would know soon enough. Itachi was rather curious to find out. He had no preference either way, he was just curious.
"Oh it takes time to hone one's seduction skills to perfection, as I have. I'm certain my foolish little brother will get there with time though." Itachi offers.
Izumi giggles. Itachi was normally so serious. It was nice to see him relax now and then. She enjoys her ice cream and snuggles into the arms of the man she loved with all her heart.
"Mmm someone is feeling rather arrogant tonight, I see." The Uchiha woman observes.
"I don't view it was arrogant. I prefer to think of it as realistically confident." Itachi says.
She shakes her head in amusement. Realistically confident? Uh huh. She pats her stomach.
"Your father is being silly today." She murmurs.
"I am not being silly. That's how you got pregnant in the first place." Itachi protests his wife's declaration.
"And he's losing his memories before thirty. That's not a good sign." She continues talking to her belly, enjoying egging her normally stoic husband on.
Itachi raises an eyebrow. Oh she was asking for it. He gives her a nice swat on her bottom for that one. His seduction skills were exceptional. Thank you very much!
She squeaks at that one. Oh that was it. She tackles him to the couch and straddles his waist, pinning his hands above his head.
"You asked for it." She whispers hotly into his ear.
"Indeed I did." Itachi replies with a smirk.
Elsewhere in the Leaf, Naruto, Sai, and Ino were still shivering. Sasuke could be quite scary when he got mad. The morale of a story? Never mess with an Uchiha's love life. They'll figure it out.
"I can't believe he did that." Naruto mutters.
"Well to be fair. We were being rather deceptive. But it was horrific." Sai agrees and Ino nods.
"Can't argue with the results though. I've seen them walking around the village. It worked." Ino says cheerfully.
Naruto nods. He couldn't argue with that. Sasuke and Hinata went everywhere together. They were the new Izumi and Itachi.
"And I'm really glad the Truth Jutsu disappeared with Orochimaru's death. That was getting exhausting." Ino murmurs.
"Oh I don't know. There were some benefits to it." Sai muses.
Naruto shakes his head. Never again. He really hoped no one ever used that cursed jutsu again. The village had only been a breath or two away from all out Civil War. It was crazy.
"No. Just no. Well it looks like the Uchihas are back to normal. They just needed some rest. That had be exhausting." She observes.
"Yeah. Who knew that many affairs were going on?" Naruto asks.
That was one of the biggest headaches during the Truth Jutsu, according to Sasuke. Dealing with people whose spouses were cheating on them. The young Uchiha claimed once a woman threw a glass bottle into the street after finding out about it and it hit him.
"Well I am glad that fidelity isn't an issue for us." Sai says with a smile and wraps his arm around Ino.
"Of course." The blonde woman replies and kisses his cheek in agreement.
Naruto still had no idea how that worked. Sai and Ino were like night and day. But he decided it was probably best not to question it. He couldn't help but feel like he was a Third Wheel.
"Don't worry, Naruto. You'll find someone, when you least expect it." Sai says, apparently discerning what his friend was feeling at the moment.
"I'm not worried!" The blue eyed ninja protests.
Sai just shakes his head. Well there was no use arguing about it. He had read that in a book once. Sai read that persisting would likely only make Naruto more uncomfortable. As Naruto was his friend, he didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable.
"Hey guys!" Kiba says as he jogs over with Shino.
"Hey, Kiba. Hey, Shino." Came the chorus of replies.
"I guess it looks like the Uchihas and Hyugas are tolerating each other better these days. Hinata says that it was chaos when they lived together though." Kiba muses.
Shino nods. He couldn't imagine how those two Clans hadn't killed each other. He knew that his own Clan probably would have gone crazy and sicked some fire ants or killer bees on other Clan at some point. His family deeply cherished their privacy. When you had that many people in one place, privacy no longer existed.
"I think they kinda have to. Hinata and Sasuke are together." Naruto says with a shrug.
"Maybe. Don't particularly care for it. I swear to God, if Sasuke hurts her, I will find a way to hurt him ten times worse!" Kiba says.
"Kiba, you know you are more bark than bite in this instance." Shino chides him gently.
Naruto laughed and nodded. Say what you want about the bastard, he was tough. Sasuke also didn't hold back when it came to fights. Kiba would be dog food if he even thought about trying to start something.
"Pft. Please. He aint so tough!" Kiba grumbles.
The next day, Sasuke goes to see Hinata. The bluenette watches her boyfriend curiously. She could tell he was really excited about something. She just wasn't sure what exactly.
"Hinata, you want to go for a walk with me in my District?" He asks.
"Sure?" She replies and almost squeaks when Sasuke excitedly tugs her off.
That wasn't like him. Yes, he was definitely excited about something. He leads her to a section of the Uchiha District she had never really seen before. While these houses were large by most of the village's standards, they were medium or even small by Uchiha standards. (Uchihas tended to have large families, Mikoto and Fugaku as Clan Heads were more the exception than the rule.)
"Sasuke, what are we doing?" She asks.
"I'm showing you my new house." The Uchiha replies and inserts the key into the door of one of them and lets Hinata in.
"You bought a house?" The bluenette asks in a stunned voice.
"My father gave it to me. But yeah, basically. I mean I still have to move stuff in. But other than that, it's all set. Honestly, I think my parents are happy to have their house to them-" Sasuke doesn't get to finish that sentence as Hinata tackle hugs him to the ground.
"This is wonderful news!" She says.
"I thought so to." Sasuke agrees and kisses her.
Hinata couldn't believe it. They were actually going to have some privacy. It did look like a nice house. But she honestly wouldn't have cared if it was a shack. The bluenette just wanted to be able to be alone with her most precious person, without worrying about their family members walking in on them.
"We can't tell my father about this. He'd never let me come here." She whispers.
"Wasn't planning on it. This is our little secret, kitten." Sasuke says with a smirk that made Hinata shiver.
She smiles and nods. Sasuke gently nudges her off of him and shows the bluenette around the place. Hinata noted it had a "master bedroom," four guest rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, what looked like a study, living room, and a laundry room.
"That's a lot of guestrooms." She muses.
"Father probably figures we'll have a big family someday. Better to have too many than not enough." Sasuke says and wraps his arms around her as she looks at the kitchen.
Hinata eeps and blushes. Sasuke couldn't help but laugh. She was such a sweet, innocent kitten. He kisses her cheek.
"Not for awhile and only if you want to, of course." The young Uchiha clarifies.
"G-ood to know. I can't believe he gave you a house." She muses.
"He says it counts as my Christmas and birthday present." Sasuke says.
"For like 20 years!" Hinata states.
"No, just for this year. I think he just said that though to make me sound less spoiled. So if you want to bring anything over, feel free. It's your place to." He continues on.
Hinata smiles and nods. Her mind was swimming with the possibilities. They had absolute privacy here. Thank God, she was going to go insane soon if something didn't change.
"Why are the houses smaller on this side of the District? I mean this house is perfect for us. But I noticed that there is a difference." She asks.
"This is sort of the newlywed section. Houses are smaller because they generally don't have large families yet. They don't mind though. This is the most privacy anyone is going to get in the District. Izumi and Itachi live just down the street. " Sasuke explains.
Hinata nods. Oh well that made sense. She wondered if he had brought any food over yet. She looks in the fridge.
There wasn't much in it. But there was enough to make a few sandwiches. The Hyuga Heiress proceeds with making one.
"Hungry, Kitten?" He asks in amusement.
"I didn't eat breakfast this morning. You want any?" She inquires.
"I'm good." Sasuke answers her and watches her eat.
It was nice. Quiet and private. They didn't have to worry about being walked in on. That meant he could get away with certain things, he would never dream of doing with his family or hers around.
He decides to indulge in it. Sasuke swats her ass lightly. He smirks at her little squeak of surprise. He had been waiting to do that for ages.
"SASUKE!" She cries out in surprise.
"Sorry. Been wanting to do that for awhile." Sasuke smiles and caresses it apologetically.
She blushes deeply. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had been frustrated by the lack of privacy. Then again, Sasuke had always been bolder than she was.
"It's okay. You just surprised me." She mumbles and leans into his arms.
"You did say you liked it when I touched you everywhere." He reminds her with a smug smile, that made the Hyuga Heiress giggle.
Hinata nods shyly. She bit her lower lip as she considers her options. The Hyuga woman could wait and see what he'd do or she could take things further. She summons up all her courage and tugs on his shirt.
Thankfully, Sasuke seems to understand what she desired because he tugs off his shirt the rest of the way. Hinata curiously runs her hands along his chest.
"It's really not fair if I'm the only one who is topless." Sasuke points out in amusement.
"That's true." She says and slowly slides her shirt over her head.
Sasuke smiles. He knew that Hinata was a shy kitten. She just needed some coaxing. That's when he saw the red silk bra. Or not..
Maybe she wasn't that shy after all. Well they always did say, that it was always the quiet ones. He gets behind her and unhooks her bra.
"You're beautiful. Hold that thought. Just in case, I'm looking the damn door." He mutters and heads off to do exactly that.
Sasuke knew his luck. This time, no one was going to interrupt them. He locks the door rather determinedly with that thought in mind, as he makes his way back to his soon to be lover.