What Happens Next?
Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. So this one is the grand finale and will have a bit of everything in it. ^^ I am always happy to receive reviews, even long after a story is completed.
Viewers' Choice: With this story completed, I will choose another Sasuke x Hinata story to focus on. If you want to weigh in the choices are The Monarchy, Why Her, and Siren's Call.
Chapter Notation: Unless otherwise stated in a flashback, this takes place three years after the last chapter. There is also a very light passing reference to what happened to Naruto. For some reason, originally sometimes I typed Yumi instead of Kumi. I tried to go back and fix it. Kumi is their daughter's name. If you see any Yumi's, that was just at typo.
Chapter 28
"Sasuke, have you seen Kumi?!" Hinata calls out rather desperately to her husband.
"She's playing with Aoda." Sasuke replies and gestures for Hinata to look out their kitchen window.
Hinata blinks. She looks out the window and sighs in relief. Kumi was safe. It was a little odd that having a toddler riding on a snake the size of a two story building was considered safe, but it was Aoda. Aoda adored hatchlings, as he called them.
"Like father, like daughter." Hinata mutters and shakes her head in amusement.
"Mhm." Sasuke says proudly and kisses the top of his wife's head as they watch Aoda play with their toddler.
Kumi was two years old. Their daughter's name meant rarely seen beauty and Sasuke thought it was accurate. She had inherited Sasuke's raven black hair that was already rather long for toddler and silky, like her mother's. Her eyes were the trademark lavender color of the Hyuga Clan. She had inherited Sasuke's skin tone and Hinata's smile.
Hinata smiles. She could hear Kumi's giggling. She was only two, but he vocabulary was growing by leaps and bounds. Today's word was apparently, faster.
"Aoda, really does love children." She muses.
Sasuke nods. Aoda had been practically inseparable from Kumi from the day she was born. Sasuke remembered that day well. It forever burned into his memory with crystal clarity.
Sasuke paced outside the delivery room. Hinata had told him once the third contraction hit in no uncertain terms, that he needed to get out of there before she killed him. The expectant father decided to take his wife's word at face value and quickly made a hasty exit.
Hinata was such a kind and gentle woman. For her to make a death threat, was almost unthinkable. Yet, she had.
"Don't worry. All women are like that when they have their first child. She'll forgive you as soon as she's holding your daughter in her arms." Hiashi assured his anxious son-in-law.
Sasuke wasn't so sure about that. He winced when he heard Hinata cry out as another contraction hit. Childbirth sounded really painful.
"It does get a little bit easier after the firstborn. Don't worry, Sasuke. Hinata will be fine. She has Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune attending to her. You couldn't ask for better medical care." Fugaku said.
"Exactly. You're lucky in a way. Izumi actually kept me in the room and broke my wrist when she was holding my hand for support. It's nice of Hinata to get you out of the line of fire, really." Itachi observed.
Sasuke blinked. Hinata was actually taking him easy on him? He shuddered as he wondered what it would be like, if she wasn't.
"Well I think everyone is anxious to see the first Uchiha-Hyuga born. You were rather brave making the announcement at the New Year's Party." Hiashi observes.
Sasuke smirked. He knew that it was the best time to make the announcement. Most Uchihas and Hyugas would be intoxicated from all the free flowing sake and wine. Everyone would be in a good mood about the upcoming New Year. So he and Hinata had informed them all that they were expecting their first child.
"I don't think bravery had much to do with it. It was strategic. Sasuke probably realized that people would put up less of a fuss when they were drunk." Shisui chimed in cheerfully.
Fugaku rolls his eyes. The boy had no filter. He couldn't argue with Shisui's logic though. (Fugaku probably would have done exactly the same thing, if he was in Sasuke's position.)
What seemed an eternity later, Sasuke heard the loud cry of an infant. A few minutes after that Tsunade comes out. She gestures for Sasuke to follow her inside.
It seemed like the medics had helped Hinata into a cleaner bed and made sure that their daughter was healthy. Sasuke darted over to his wife. Hinata was holding a white bundle in her hands. He couldn't really see what their child look like because of how the blanket was wrapped around them.
"Did you really have to kick me out of the room, kitten?" He whispered as he caressed her cheek.
"Yes, it hurt so much. I would have hurt you if you stayed. She's so beautiful, Sasuke." Hinata said with a smile and handed the bundle to her husband.
Sasuke looked down and smiles. She really was beautiful. His daughter had inherited the trademark pitch black hair of the Uchiha Clan and his ivory skin. Her eyes were all Hyuga though, a beautiful shade of lavender and she had Hinata's sweet smile.
"Yes, she is. I think we should call her Kumi." He said and gently handed her back to Hinata, so that she could nurse.
"Kumi, I like it." Hinata agreed.
Aoda peeks his head through the window. He nearly frightened the medical staff to death by doing so. But the giant snake just wanted to see the hatchling.
"Such an adorable hatchling. I will never understand why hatching the hatchlings is so painful for humans. One would think you would have evolved a better reproductive strategy." Aoda mused.
"Me neither. But it was worth it, right Kitten?" Sasuke asked nervously.
"Of course it was." Hinata replied with a smile and snuggled into Sasuke's embrace as she nursed their daughter.
Soon the grandparents and uncle came in. Mikoto was clearly in love with her first granddaughter. It was difficult to convince her to allow anyone else to hold Kumi. Eventually, she did though.
"You named her well." Hiashi observed.
"Thanks. So what happens next?" Sasuke asked.
"Well we'll have to throw a celebration in honor of her birth, like we did with Itachi and Izumi's son." Fugaku said and Sasuke nods.
"And then the Terrible Twos will arrive before you know it." Hiashi said with a smirk.
"Damn." Sasuke grumbled.
"She's so fearless." Hinata observes as Kumi slide up and down on Aoda joyfully.
"She's like her mother that way." Sasuke says with a smirk.
Hinata shakes her head. She didn't think of herself as a particularly fearless person. But it was nice of Sasuke to say that all the same.
"How do you figure?" She asks.
"You married into the Uchiha Clan. That takes a sense of fearlessness to do." Her lover informs her and Hinata giggles.
Hiashi, Mikoto, and Fugaku head over to visit their grandchild. The Patriarchs blink. Neither was really sure that having a toddler use a massive serpent for a slide, was a very good idea.
"Are you sure that's safe?" Fugaku asks in concern.
"Yes, what if she falls off of him? From that height, she'd be crushed to death." Hiashi agrees.
Sasuke shakes his head. It was perfectly safe. Aoda would sooner pull his fangs out than allow harm to come to Kumi. Really, the snake made the best babysitter.
"It's safe. Don't worry. Aoda is very good at making sure she stays safe." Sasuke assures them.
The two men nod. Neither looked entirely convinced. But it seemed they weren't going to argue.
"Aoda, bring Kumi over here. Our parents want to visit with her." Sasuke shouts at the snake.
Aoda slithers over and gently sets Kumi on the ground. She smiles and bounds over to her grandparents. She knew what grandparents meant. Grandparents meant presents!
"You're growing so fast." Mikoto muses as she smiles and scoops her up.
"Grandma!" Kumi cries out happy and enjoys the snuggles.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. It was just then that he noticed that his father and Hiashi were each carrying a rather large bag. They had clearly brought something with them.
He shakes his head in amusement. Not this again. Fugaku and Hiashi were both very proud men. Neither would say it out loud, but there did seem to be an unofficial contest going on between them. Each wanted to be Kumi's favorite grandfather.
"What did you two get her this time?" Sasuke dares himself to ask.
"I got her a pink panda to go with that one you won for Hinata a couple years ago. Girls like pink." Fugaku reasons.
Mikoto kisses his cheek. She whispers something to her husband about not being stereotypical. Not all girls liked pink after all.
"I got her some new clothes." Hiashi says.
Hinata looks into the bag. She blinks. Some new clothes was a bit of an understatement. They could have started a child's clothing store with all the fabric inside that bag.
"Don't you think you overdid it?" Hinata inquires with a quiet giggle.
"Nonsense. Nothing is too good for my first grandchild. Besides, she's growing so fast. She'll probably outgrow half of them in three months." He states.
"Yay presents!" Kumi says and hugs the panda, while digging through the bag of clothes curiously.
Itachi laughs as he makes his way over to them, along with Izumi and Yumi's cousin. Their children were all going to be very spoiled, he was sure of it. But he didn't have the heart to protest.
"Well she definitely understands the word presents." He noted with unsuppressed mirth.
Sasuke nods. Oh yeah, that was one word that his daughter had learned early on. Mostly thanks to the favorite grandfather contest.
"Well it will be lots of fun to dress her up." Hinata muses.
"Yes, dress up is fun. For example, I really like dressing you up." Sasuke says with a smirk and Hinata blushes.
Fugaku chuckles. Well it seemed like the Honeymoon still wasn't over. He expected them to provide him with a third grandchild soon at this rate. (Itachi's son and Sasuke's daughter made two.)
Sasuke sighs and ducks. He had a sixth sense at this point. He just knew when Naruto was coming. The idiot tried to tackle hug him. Yeah, that wasn't going to work this time. Naruto ended up face planting on the ground.
"Can't you greet people like a normal person? Do you have to try to tackle hug me?" Sasuke questions him.
"Awe. Where's the fun in that! Hey, bastard. I just thought you ought to know that I checked your house first. Kumi kinda went wild earlier, it looks like." The blonde says.
Sasuke gulps. Kumi was in her terrible twos. The girl was getting into everything. She was a very…energetic child with a high capacity for destruction. She was a very happy and sweet child, but she could make the worst messes.
"I'll go look." Hinata says and heads into the house.
Hinata blinks. How could ONE toddler do this much damage? All of the walls had crayon scribbles, paint, and glitter scattered across them. It looked like Kumi had played with all of her toys, they were scattered everywhere and somehow she had torn apart some feathered pillows. So in addition to everything else, there were feathers thrown about the place.
"They weren't kidding about the Terrible Twos." Hinata says with a dramatic sigh.
Sasuke follows his wife into the house. He looks around their home in awe of the sheer destructive power that was his two year old daughter. It was unbelievable really.
"Guess not. She'll outgrow the destructive phase. I hope anyway." Sasuke says with a chuckle and wraps his arms around her.
"Me too." Hinata mumbles and leans into her lover's embrace.
"I'll just have some clones clean it up. You know if you wanted to try again, Kumi should be out of her Terrible Twos by the time we had our second child. It'd be nice if she had a brother or sister to play with." Sasuke whispers hotly in her ear.
"Sasuke! Our families and Naruto are right outside." Hinata squeaks and blushes.
Sauske smirks. That was what made it exciting. Though he knew better than to actually seduce his wife, when his father-in-law could see through walls.
They were married. They had a child. Hiashi had to know they were intimate, but still Sasuke supposed that was no reason to rub it in his face.
"Maybe later then." He says rather scandalously and rests his hand on the curve of her hip suggestively.
"Mmm you are almost as bad as Shisui in your own way." Hinata muses.
Sasuke shrugs. He didn't think so. Shisui was still as big a flirt as ever. Sauke only seduced Hinata. His cousin would try to seduce every pretty face he saw.
"Only for you, kitten. Only for you." He promises and Hinata smiles.
"Good. Because if another woman even thought about touching you…" Hinata growls.
"A kitten who has claws." Sasuke muses and pushes his wife against the wall, kissing her hotly.
Of course, it was at that moment that their family members decided to amble in. Hinata blushes scarlet and Sasuke sighs, getting off of her. Damn it. There were a lot of advantages to living in such a large Clan, but also some drawbacks. (There was a greater chance someone would walk in on them.)
"I'm assuming that Kumi is responsible for the mess and not you two?" Fugaku asks with a chuckle.
"…" Hiashi is speechless.
Itachi pats his shoulder consolingly. The poor prim and proper man just didn't know how to process that his daughter was regularly getting ravished by Sasuke. Honestly, he had to know it was going on. But Itachi supposed it was different seeing it in person than knowing about it in theory.
"Look at it this way, it's likely you'll have a second grandchild soon." Itachi says.
"I suppose that's one way to look at it." Hiashi says with a heavy sigh.
"Mommy!" Kumi scrambles over to Hinata and holds out her arms to be picked up.
"Kumi, you know the walls aren't a coloring book, right?" Hinata asks as she scoops up her daughter and smiles, holding her tightly.
Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. She was only two, but he could see that she was trying to look as innocent as possible. Kumi knew that she wasn't supposed to color on the walls.
"But it pretty!" She protests and snuggles into her mother's comforting hug.
"Yes, it is very pretty. But maybe we can get you some canvases to color on instead." Hinata muses.
It was impossible to stay mad at Kumi. One look at those big bubble eyes and you were doomed. Every member of the Uchiha and Hyuga Clan had come to accept this.
"I'll ask Hanabi and Kita to get some from Sai." Sasuke muses.
"You won that bet." Hinata pouts.
Hanabi and Kita were now Genin on the same team. The two were "dating." Well as much as kids that age could date anyway. Mostly it seemed confined to going to the Ramen shop together, swimming, handholding, and probably some kissing.
Sasuke knew that Hiashi hadn't caught them doing the last part though. Kita was still alive after all. The Hyuga Patriarch was VERY protective of his daughters. Sauske understood now though. It was going to be murder once Kumi got her first boyfriend.
"Of course, I won that bet. I always win our bets." Sasuke says with a smirk.
"Well not always. Remember the Land of Tea?" She asks and Sasuke could feel his face heating up for a change.
Yeah he had lost a bet to Hinata over who could eat the most rice. He ended up losing and got chakra cuffed for the night. Hinata was normally his adorable sex kitten. But that night, well she had been very…assertive.
"Oh trust me, THAT I remember." He whispers.
"Grandma!" Kumi calls out excitedly.
Mikoto smiles. She sits down on her knees to be eyelevel with the child. Clearly, Kumi wanted to show her something.
She tilts her head in confusion when she saw that Kumi had a seed in her hand. Then she watches as the seed slowly blooms into a rose.
"D-id you just see that?!" Mikoto calls out to everyone.
"I guess that explains why she had green chakra on the test. Her first affinity is Earth. Odd. Hinata and I are both fire and lightning." Sasuke muses.
"Your daughter just performed a genin level technique and that's all you have to say?" Hiashi demands in disbelief.
Sasuke smirks. He shrugs. She was an Uchiha (and had Hyuga blood in her veins.) Of course she was going to be gifted. That was almost a given.
"Pretty?" Kumi asks.
"Very pretty." Mikoto agrees and kisses her granddaughter's forehead.
"Well flowers are nice. Hopefully, she can find a way to use it offensively or defensively later." Hiashi muses.
"She's only two. Besides, perhaps she can always get a job working in Ino's shop later." Izumi muses.
Hiashi looks scandalized. A Hyuga working in a flower shop?! It was outrageous. Honestly, what was wrong with these Uchihas? They came up with the notions.
"She's probably not going to work in the flower shop, but whatever makes her happy." Sasuke says.
"Of course. Her happiness is paramount. I just hope that her happiness isn't found working in a flower shop. It's hard to be taken seriously as a ninja when spend most of your day playing with flowers." He observes.
Neji walks into the house. He shakes his head when he hears what his uncle said. He was walking into a landmine. Luckily, Neji was there to get him out of it.
"It's impressive that she can already control her chakra to such an extent. You must be very proud." He offers.
"Extremely." Sasuke agrees.
Kumi smiles and reaches for Neji. Mikoto carries her over and lets the prodigy hold her. Sasuke and Neji were still on aloof terms at best, but no one could doubt that Neji doted on Kumi.
"You are going to be the most spoiled child in the entire Leaf Village at this rate." He muses.
"Presents?" She asks and smiles up at him with her big bubble eyes.
"I pity the boys in this village in the next decade or two. Those eyes are lethal." He chuckles.
Sasuke nods. Oh yes, he well knew the power of the Bubble Eyes Jutsu. She was still a toddler, but he was almost positive that Yumi knew exactly what she was doing. She was after all an Uchiha-Hyuga. Who really knew what was going on in her mind?
"Me too." Sasuke agrees.
"Well I guess I better get back home. I just wanted to stop by and see my favorite bastard and everyone else. Anko wants me to get her some mangos." Naruto says.
Sasuke smirks. Ah pregnancy cravings. Yeah, he remembered those. He didn't envy the loser. He had no idea what he was in for. If Hinata had been vicious during childbirth, he could only imagine what Anko would be like.
"Good luck, loser. You are going to need it." Sasuke says as his friend bounds off.
"Well I guess it is a little late. We should probably let Kumi get her rest." Mikoto observes and the others nod.
Everyone exchanges their goodbyes. Sasuke shuts the door after they leave. He scoops up his daughter and carries her to her bedroom, setting her down gently.
"Story!" She says happily and Sasuke nods, with Hinata watching in the corner.
"Alright. A long time ago there was a man named Orochimaru. He wanted to take over the Leaf Village. So he used a forbidden jutsu that made everyone tell the truth." Sasuke begins.
Kumi nods and listens excitedly. Hinata had no idea if she understood anything that Sasuke was talking about. She got the impression that Kumi just liked hearing her father's voice.
Hinata did too, but for different reasons. Actually, Sasuke had a very seductive voice. That was one of the reasons why they had Kumi in the first place, she thought with a smile.
"It kept our family very busy. During this time, Ino and Sai decided to be sneaky. They decided that they were going to play matchmaker for us." Sasuke continues.
Somehow Sasuke was able to summarize what had happened, while making it appropriate for a child to listen to. It was really a gift.
"What happens next?" She asks at the end.
"You go to sleep. That's what happens next." Sasuke said and kisses her forehead, tucking Kumi in, and then goes to join Hinata in their room.
Hinata smiles and shuts the door behind them. She kisses Sasuke and wraps her arms around his neck. Sasuke returns the kiss and not so subtly casts a soundproofing jutsu. (There really wasn't much of a point in putting Kumi to bed if she was going to be woken up by loud noises a few minutes later.)
"Were you serious about wanting to give Kumi a little brother or sister?" Hinata asks, after breaking the kiss.
"Very serious." Sasuke says with a smirk.
By the time they were done with their lovemaking, Sasuke saw the Sun rising through their window. He smirks as he realizes his father had been right about one thing. There was no reason for the Honeymoon to end.
With that thought in mind, he yawns and falls into a contented sleep next to his wife. He knew they could handle whatever happened next. As long as they were together, anything was possible.