Thanks for reading and thank you to Akenhod, Samairi, lunlun, and Magical Reality for reviewing.
lunlun: I really do like that aspect of Sasuke, and I'm glad you find it interesting. He's a strange creature and a beast to write, but it's fun trying to find different ways to explore his personality.
...
Chapter Five
As usual, Kakashi withheld from giving any direct answers and made Sasuke all the more irritable for it. Kakashi implying he knew the contents of the scroll didn't bother him. And while the way Kakashi went about it did bother him at the time more so than it did now, it was rather the simple fact that Kakashi pointedly refused to say anything more that left Sasuke feeling more than irate the next day.
Sasuke had collapsed onto the bed, preoccupied by thoughts of the implications posed by what Kakashi hadn't said and woke up in the same, weary state of mind. And nine hours of troubled sleep, even if it was nine hours of uninterrupted sleep that Sasuke couldn't remember much of, wasn't enough to prepare Sasuke for the shock that followed when he found himself seriously considering Naruto's idea of possibly, maybe one day, eventually looking for a bigger place to live.
Because it was only a little after seven, and with Hotaru standing on a stool and sandwiched in between Sasuke and Naruto, all three of them trying to squeeze their reflections into the less than adequate width and height that was a single bathroom mirror, Sasuke didn't think he could take another morning like this.
Besides, a bigger place closer to the Academy would be one less thing to worry about when Hotaru was enrolled in school.
"You left me hanging last night, Sasuke," Naruto said. His voice was laced with sleep as he lathered shaving cream in between his hands. He daubed it on his chin, onto the stubble hardly worth acknowledging that he tried and failed to convince Sasuke could pass as facial hair. "Seriously, what happened to that thing you promised for you and me—as in, you and me?"
"And me, Naruto?" Hotaru piped up, twisting off the cap of his toothpaste.
Sighing, Naruto wiped his hands on a towel and reached for one of the disposable razors in the cabinet. "Yeah, you, too, Hotaru."
"You were sleeping with Hotaru," Sasuke said, spitting into the sink. He licked his teeth and swallowed, tasting the residual flavour of mint in his mouth. "Who was I to wake you up?"
After Kakashi left, Sasuke hadn't been in the mood to indulge Naruto for something he would have done regardless. Even if there was nothing particularly off-putting about the sight of Hotaru lazing across Naruto with his stubby limbs touching nearly every part of Naruto, the sight of the drool trailing down Naruto's mouth and collecting on the back of Naruto's arm, however, was.
Naruto paused, giving Sasuke an incredulous look before he scoffed and moved his face closer to the mirror, his elbow barely dodging the top of Hotaru's head in the process. "Now you're just being a smartass. Since when did the idea of my beauty sleep prevent you from waking me up? Hold on—let me rephrase that: since when did you care?"
"When I realised how much you actually needed it," Sasuke said. He covered Hotaru's hand with his own, slowly directing the bristles of the small green toothbrush into a gentle and circular up and down motion over Hotaru's front teeth. "You don't have to scrub so hard."
Naruto opened his mouth to speak but then closed it as an afterthought. "Okay, what did Kakashi have to say last night?" he said, slowly guiding the razor down the side of his face. "Because, you know, you're more…you know…than usual."
It was an abrupt breach into the subject and awkward only for Sasuke because Naruto could be annoyingly perceptive when he wanted to be.
"Nothing important," Sasuke decided to say.
"In other words," Naruto translated, tilting his head upward, "Kakashi said something you didn't want to hear. What was it?"
"Nothing."
"I'm going to get it out of you sooner or later, so you might as well tell me now." Not exactly smug, Naruto's voice was matter-of-fact, as if the statement was simply a matter of relaying some kind of self-evident truth. Maybe it was.
There was a cycle he and Naruto went through, a sporadic sequence of pushes and pulls. It was almost like a twisted game in a sense. Naruto would drive forward, shoving Sasuke toward that boundary Sasuke had set for himself, and Sasuke would yank them both back. They were carelessly edging around that invisible line they inevitability would cross every so often.
Sasuke had, what Naruto liked to call, a masochistic streak that he claimed tempted him into trying to force Sasuke to step outside of his comfort zone. In reality, Naruto had, what Sasuke liked to call, a tendency to nag about something until Sasuke either did something to forcibly shut Naruto up or let Naruto have his way. But when he thought of Hotaru, attempted to establish a connection between Hotaru's appearance and the scroll, Sasuke remembered one of the conditions of accepting the mission from Tsunade included not discussing the contents of the scroll with anyone else.
And, in this case, because it was something Sasuke did want to talk about willingly, the stipulations included Naruto, as well.
He didn't appreciate the irony.
"It's better to bring it out in the open," Naruto continued, "instead of dragging it out and making it turn into something you can't handle, which—and let's be honest here—you won't be able to, so I'll have to step in anyway and make wrongs right, blah, blah, blah, and once again restore balance to the world."
As annoying as it was when Naruto was perceptive, it was even more aggravating to Sasuke when Naruto felt that perception, when it came to Sasuke, gave him the right to be overconfident about it.
"And at the end of the day, you—whoa, watch it." Naruto cut himself off when Hotaru began to wobble on the stool, he and Sasuke steadying him before Hotaru had a chance to fall. "Be careful."
Unfazed, Hotaru grabbed Naruto's shirt and turned to Sasuke. He opened his mouth, giving an exaggerated grin and revealing two small rows of teeth. "I'm finished?"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Sasuke took the towel draped over Naruto's shoulder. "Let me wipe your mouth."
"Sakura-chan was right." Naruto ran his razor beneath running water, rinsing any remaining shaving cream off the blade and placing the razor back in the cabinet. "You really are spoiling him, you know."
Ignoring Naruto, Sasuke tried to wipe the smudges of toothpaste on Hotaru's chin, tried being the operative word since Hotaru kept turning his head away when the towel came too close to his face.
"Sasuke, I want…" Grunting, Hotaru tried to turn away again, but Sasuke grabbed his chin. "Wait, Sasuke. I have to…"
Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh. "What?"
Hotaru held up his toothbrush and began sliding it down the side of his face. "I have to do it like Naruto."
While Sasuke found himself spluttering, Naruto laughed when he saw Hotaru trying to mimic the act of shaving with a toothbrush. "You're going to have to wait a few more years on that one. Hopefully you'll be able to actually grow hair on your face, unlike some people, and be a real ma—"
The wave of charka that appeared and subsequently made Naruto fall on the floor lasted for no more than two seconds. Sasuke stood innocuously by the sink, wiping Hotaru's face, and gave no indication he had anything to do with the fact that Naruto was now twitching on the floor.
"You didn't have to…go so far," Naruto said. Carefully, he stood from the floor, rubbing his back in an inflated exhibit of pain that Sasuke took for the ruse it was.
The moment Sasuke let go of Hotaru's chin, Sasuke had already anticipated Naruto moving to stand behind him. The towel barely made it back onto the rack when Naruto grabbed both of Sasuke's arms and turned him around. Sasuke returned the favour, awkwardly grabbing both of Naruto's wrists but placing enough pressure on them, almost enough to break them.
This was good. Fighting for the sake of fighting was always good. In fact, the potential of taking out any latent frustration carried over from his lack of conversation with Kakashi last night was more than good, and Sasuke knew Naruto needed a way to channel the kind of pent of up energy he tended to build rather quickly. Doing this kind of thing—fighting—it was comparable to rustling with Naruto on the bed, Sasuke losing himself in between sheets laden with sweat and trapped beneath the heat that was Naruto's body. But they couldn't afford to get worked up and have it escalate into something that would be better accomplished outside. Not in such a confined space and under no circumstances when Hotaru was staring at them, watching Sasuke and Naruto intently with a dangerous kind of curiosity that reminded Sasuke just how impressionable kids could be.
Yet, at the same time, there was something distracting about standing so close to Naruto, the two of them stilted in some kind of deadlock waiting for the other to make the first move. And the way Naruto was smiling, he must have caught the shiver from Sasuke.
"Not in here," Sasuke found himself gritting out, surprised by just how much Naruto's proximity was affecting him.
"Yeah, well…" Naruto grunted, his fingers curling around Sasuke's forearms as he leaned close enough to touch the tip of Sasuke's nose with his own. There was this look on his face, a haughty kind of excited grin that seemed exceedingly boyish even with the remnants of shaving cream on Naruto's chin. "You're the one who started it. No problem if we're both holding back, right?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the challenging tone in Naruto's voice, daring Sasuke to pull away. They both knew not to fight in the house. It was an unspoken rule Naruto was constantly trying to break—or bend, whichever one he tried to get away with at the time—and Sasuke wasn't planning on remodelling the bathroom anytime soon. Once was enough.
"No."
"You're still not letting go," Naruto whispered.
Smirking, Sasuke responded by reversing Naruto's position. Briefly loosening his hold on Naruto's wrists, Sasuke quickly reapplied enough pressure to make Naruto wince and unfurl his fingers from around Sasuke's forearms. Sasuke wriggled out of Naruto's grasp and lifted Naruto's arms above his head, wrenching Naruto's arms back down while twisting them behind Naruto and forcing Naruto to turn around. Sasuke pressed his foot into the small of Naruto's back, pulling on Naruto's arms with a look of satisfaction on his face that disappeared as soon as Hotaru reminded Sasuke that he and Naruto weren't alone.
"Can I play, too?"
Sasuke froze at the sound of Hotaru's voice. His grip on Naruto's arm slackened, and he took his foot off Naruto's back, allowing it to fall back on the floor. Naruto began to stumble as soon as Sasuke let go, falling back against Sasuke, who caught Naruto out of reflex. Thrown off-kilter by the sudden addition of Naruto's weight in his arms, Sasuke nearly tripped trying to regain his balance while Naruto tried to detangle himself from Sasuke.
"Sasuke," Hotaru said when Sasuke and Naruto were finally able to break apart. "I want to play like that, too, but Naruto told me Sasuke wasn't—"
Naruto was quick to cover Hotaru's mouth and said, with an overcompensating grin, "We'll teach you how to play like that when you're older."
When Naruto removed his hand, Hotaru said, "When I'm older?"
"Yep. I'll teach you some really cool moves and buy you even cooler stuff. Like in that movie we saw, I'll show you how to throw a—"
Sasuke cut in before Naruto had a chance to give Hotaru any ideas. "When you're older."
"When you're older," Naruto repeated.
"Okay, older," Hotaru said in agreement. He nodded, pausing to peer at Naruto and then settling his gaze back on Sasuke. Only a few seconds passed before he spoke again, his words making Naruto choke and Sasuke cough. "Am I older now?"
...
Since they didn't see each other as often as they used to, it was easy for Naruto to forget Sakura had a key to his and Sasuke's house. To make sure she, Naruto, and Sasuke would always stay close was what Sakura said, the supposed reasoning behind the whole thing. In fact, he and Sasuke had a key to her place, too. Not that they used it as much as she used her key, but again it was Sakura's idea, and Naruto could admit it wasn't a bad one since it gave them an excuse to see each other with having to come up with an awkward excuse every so often when they did try to catch up and put effort into sustaining their friendship.
But as he stepped through the door, Sasuke gracelessly bumping into him when Naruto stopped without warning, Naruto could say seeing Sakura sitting in a chair she obviously brought from the kitchen, with Ino and Shikamaru on either side of her sitting on chairs also obviously brought from the kitchen, wasn't usually part of the deal.
The small cake on the coffee table wasn't something that usually came along with Sakura' spontaneous visits, either. The white round cake with halves of strawberries decorating the surface along the border as well covering all sides of the cake—the same small cake that barely managed to stand out against the aftermath of confetti and streamers that had apparently attacked the living room in Naruto and Sasuke's absence. There was a gift by the cake, too, which Naruto noticed had escaped the colourful onslaught. A little smaller than the cake itself, the gift, in the shape of a rectangular box, was wrapped in light blue paper and topped with a pale yellow bow.
Naruto's gaze trailed across the other items on the table, the short pile of plates alongside a handful of forks and napkins set next to a large knife Naruto distinctly remembered taking away from Hotaru this morning after he found Hotaru going through the drawers in the kitchen and pretending to be a ninja with whatever sharp objects he could find.
Hotaru had almost made a hole in the wall with that knife, and it was only when he heard a collective shout of surprise from Sakura and Ino, with a less than enthusiastic echo from Shikamaru forced by a nudge from Ino, did Naruto take his eyes away from the knife and his eyes settle on the banner hanging on the wall behind his friends.
"Happy Birthday, Hotaru-chan," Naruto said slowly, reading out loud the characters on the banner written in light blue on a backdrop of white paper. It took a moment for the words to process, to make sense of the situation and for the implications to come to his attention, and Naruto nearly dropped the bag of groceries he was holding when he heard Hotaru repeat the words he just said.
Naruto looked at Sasuke with wide eyes, following the other man as the three of them entered the living room. Sasuke looked as surprised as Naruto felt, maybe even somewhat horrified, and Naruto found himself stammering when he turned to Sakura. "How did—how did you—"
"I was upset at first, I'll admit," Sakura said thoughtfully, clasping her hands together and paying no attention to the expressions on Naruto and Sasuke's faces. "But I can't believe you told Kiba before you told me," she added, clearly sounding disappointed. "I haven't told anyone about it, and I at least expected you to keep me aware of what was going on."
"That's not exactly what happened, though," Naruto said, feeling a pull on his pant leg. He looked down to see Hotaru had taken refuge behind him, remembering how Hotaru was selective in how he chose to behave around people he didn't know and far from being consistent about it. "Kiba wasn't—"
"It's true." Ino nodded, kneeling down in front of Naruto to get a better look at Hotaru, who peaked at her from the space in between Naruto's legs. "She didn't even tell me. And I didn't know until Shikamaru came complaining to me about the fact that Kiba was complaining to him about it, which centred around, and I quote, the spawn of Naruto and Sasuke who kicked him."
Sasuke tensed, and Naruto made a mental note to remind Kiba to avoid Sasuke in the future. Of course, he didn't agree with Kiba's choice of words, either, but Naruto was also aware Kiba had a habit of saying things before he actually thought about what had the potential of coming out of his mouth. Sasuke was already aware of this, too, but Naruto had a feeling that Sasuke would still be more volatile during that encounter than if Naruto confronted Kiba and simply told him not to refer to Hotaru as his and Sasuke's spawn anymore.
Shikamaru snorted, placing his hands behind his head as he slouched against the stiff chair, somehow still able to look comfortable. "It was annoying, and no—I wasn't complaining to you about anything."
"Right, that's why you were moping around in my apartment." Ino rolled her eyes and stood, flicking a strand of hair out of her face. "Anyway, like I said, Sakura didn't even tell me. And you know…because that means a lot when she can keep her mouth shut about something like this."
Sakura made a half-hearted cry in protest that Ino brushed aside with a wave of her hand. "Hotaru's cute, though. I'll give you that. It's strange how he looks so much like you, Naruto, but then not so much. I think it's because of his eyes. They're still that kind of blue, like yours, but…something about them—I don't know what—but there's something there that really does remind me of Sasuke."
"I'll take this to the kitchen," Sasuke muttered, filling in the brief silence that followed Ino's words as he took the bag out of Naruto's hands. He headed toward the kitchen, leaving an open-mouthed Naruto to deal with the unexpected appearance of their guests, or hosts as it was, and a Hotaru who seemed content to hide behind him indefinitely.
With a resigned groan, Naruto watched Sasuke disappear with his tail between his legs. It figured that Sasuke would pick the most inopportune time to be anti-social, which was most of the time really, but at least Ino and Shikamaru seemed to tolerate the idea of Hotaru. Although Naruto almost wished they hadn't accepted it so easily. "Really, I don't know what to say."
"A show of appreciation would be nice," Ino said. "We know it's not much on a modest living, but we really did take our time to put this together on such short notice."
"Ino…"
"Come on and have a seat over here. I want the three of you to sit together," Sakura said excitedly, patting the couch with her hand. "That means you, too, Sasuke," she called out. "I'm not going to let you hide in the kitchen until you think we're gone."
Naruto put a hand on Hotaru's head, ruffling his hair in an attempt to coax Hotaru to come out from behind him. "So, Ino and Shikamaru, you aren't…?"
Ino shrugged. "It is weird, yes. Not as weird as you as Sasuke being in a relationship, I'll say, because that will never stop being weird, but the two of you raising a child?" She paused, adding, with a tinge of grudging respect in her voice, "You don't even know how this happened, yet going by what Sakura told me, you're already so accepting of it. If the same thing happened to me, I don't know if I could do it."
"It's not as hard to adjust as you'd think," Naruto said. "And when I got used to it, things started to feel normal."
"It hasn't even been a week, though."
"It just feels right. I think that's the only way I can explain it now."
"Who would have thought you guys would have been the first ones out of all of us to have kids?" Shikamaru said. "Or that you would have kids at all?"
"Together or…?"
"Frankly, neither," Shikamaru answered a little too honestly. "You two seemed like the least well-adjusted in our group." He gestured his head in the direction of the kitchen. "Especially, Sasuke."
"Shikamaru," Sakura scolded while Ino elbowed Shikamaru in the side. "You shouldn't say things like that."
"Considering how things turned out," Naruto said, "I'll take that as a compliment." He looked at Shikamaru thoughtfully. "I guess I can see where you're coming from, but it's not like we saw it coming, either, and this …." Naruto paused, extending his arm out to the side. "This is..."
"Just think of it as more of a belated birthday party or something," Sakura said. "We were going to do this in the kitchen, but it really was too small for more than three people. That's why we brought the chairs out here."
"Plus, it would be more fun to celebrate in a bigger room," Ino said. "So stop trying to look so cool about it."
"I'm not trying to look cool about it," Naruto said. And really, he wasn't trying to appear indifferent or anything like that. He truly didn't know how to take it.
It was a sobering thought: that the three people in front of him made up the majority of people who hadn't completely turned away from Naruto simply because he wouldn't abandon Sasuke. It had nothing to do with his intimate relationship with Sasuke, which was pretty recent, considering, but those friendships he had built in the past had still suffered, fading with time and no more than a shadow of the bonds he once held, the ones that were deceptively secure. He still kept in contact with them, though, people more than just acquaintances that he couldn't quite call friends. They only chose to associate themselves with Naruto when Sasuke was out of the picture, preferring to ignore Sasuke's existence entirely. He didn't blame them for not forgiving Sasuke, but Naruto had worked hard to find Sasuke, fought so hard to bring Sasuke back and that much harder to make sure Sasuke wouldn't leave him again, and it had forced Naruto to…
But people like Sakura, Ino, and Shikamaru, people who he could still call friends, as long as he had them. And people few and far in between like Kiba, Lee, and Chouji, if he was still here—
"By not saying anything, are you still trying to be cool?" Ino asked.
"No," Naruto said softly. "I do appreciate this. And Sasuke does, too, even if he won't say anything. That you'd be willing to put this together for us, for Hotaru, it really does mean a lot."
"Then smile and look happy," Sakura said cheerfully. "So Hotaru can stop hiding behind you long enough to try some of his cake and open his gift."
"He doesn't like sweet things," Sasuke said as he came back from the kitchen. He took a seat on the couch, and Hotaru immediately left Naruto's side, running to jump in Sasuke's lap.
"Really?" Sakura said.
Naruto followed Hotaru and sat down beside Sasuke. "From what we know, but he may change his mind. He can be picky like that."
"Like Sasuke," Sakura agreed, sharing with Naruto a smile that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.
"Wasn't Kiba supposed to be here?" Sasuke said, and Naruto wondered why Sasuke would even ask.
"Akamaru's been sick, and Kiba's been taking him to see his sister," Shikamaru said. "And well…he still helped with the gift, though."
"That's why Akamaru wasn't with him, yesterday," Naruto said. "I meant to ask, but then Kiba kind of ran off on us."
"We know," Ino and Shikamaru said in unison.
"Considering Ino was the one who told me, complaining about how Shikamaru was complaining to her about Kiba complaining about Naruto and Sasuke and Hotaru-chan—I'd prefer not go down that path again," Sakura said in one breath. "Do you want to open your gift first or eat a piece of cake, Hotaru-chan?"
Hotaru looked to Naruto. "Naruto, which…?"
"It's up to you," Naruto said.
"Oh, before we start, you already know Lee-san isn't back from Iwagakure yet, but he still wanted to give his regards." Sakura picked up the red envelope lying on the table and handed it to Sasuke. "Here. It's for you and Naruto."
"So you did tell someone after all?" Naruto said, noticing the faint blush creeping into Sakura's cheeks.
"Don't try to tease me like that," Sakura said, gently nudging Naruto on the shoulder. "You know Lee-san doesn't count. He really does support you and Sasuke, and he was truly sorry he couldn't be here."
"Is he doing okay?"
"Other than missing home, he's doing well…" Sakura trailed off then shook her head. "What does the letter say, Sasuke?"
Sasuke had already lifted the flap of the envelope and had taken out a small postcard with a picture of clouds tinted by a backdrop of a sunset coloured with hues of violet and red on the front. He turned it around and read it out loud in a flat voice that ironically contradicted the tone of the original sender.
"I shall spread news of this joyous event. Such dedication and enthusiasm to the bearing of youth shall not go unheard. I congratulate Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san on this most wonderful and exciting endeavour and promise to celebrate and express the full extent of my own enthusiasm upon my return to Konoha."
"Oh, wow, um..." Naruto licked his lips, able to easily interpret the…passion in Lee's words. It wasn't hard to visualise Lee saying it, imagine him kneeling on the floor with a hand clutched to his chest, and Naruto was only partially glad he wasn't able to see it in person. "I'll—we'll," Naruto corrected, emphasising his inclusion of Sasuke and Hotaru, "make sure to say thanks when he gets back. Or, you know, if you could send a letter for us, Sakura-chan?"
"Never mind that, Naruto," Sakura said a little too quickly. Blush returning, she added, in a hasty move to change the subject, "Who wants cake?"
Ino snorted, trying to hide laughter that Naruto didn't see the reason for. She covered her mouth but didn't say anything about why Sakura looked so embarrassed by what Lee had written. "Hotaru-chan, you would get the first—oh, we don't have candles."
"Do you really need candles?" Shikamaru asked, seemingly bored with the turn of events.
The red in her cheeks fading, Sakura said, "No, but it would be nice."
Naruto thought back to yesterday, recalling Hotaru's panic-stricken reaction when he saw the oven mitt on fire and the frantic screams that followed when the smoke detector went off. Naruto had scarred Hotaru, and it was probably best not to try and recreate what happened if only for the sake of Naruto's ability to hear in the future. "Maybe it's better without candles, or anything to do with fire, really. It's not even traditional, so it doesn't matter as much."
"But still…"
"It's better to drop it," Sasuke said.
"I'm assuming there's a story behind this?" Sakura said.
"One that would take way too long to explain," Naruto chimed in quickly. "Let's just skip straight to singing happy birthday then."
"No," Sasuke cut in, the same time Shikamaru drawled, "We're not even sure if it is Hotaru's birthday. There's no point to it."
"Whether it's really Hotaru-chan's birthday or not, that doesn't mean it has to be any less fun," Ino said. "And since you're already here, Shikamaru, would it hurt you not to be such a killjoy?"
Seeing Sasuke about to open his mouth, Naruto held up his hand in time to cover it. "Because I know you, I'm begging you not to answer that."
Sasuke remained silent, pulling Naruto's hand away from his mouth and giving a careless shrug, which Ino snorted at and Sakura ignored in favour of starting the short countdown from three until the cue to sing.
By the slight wince shared by both Sasuke and Shikamaru, Naruto could only conclude that he, Sakura, and, Ino were completely tone deaf, trying to sing in a language they weren't exactly familiar with. However, Hotaru was clapping along, making up words to murmur as the song continued, and rocking from side to side in Sasuke's lap in a way that proved he had no sense of rhythm whatsoever.
The song was over as soon as it had begun, much to the apparent relief of Shikamaru and Sasuke, who Naruto not so playfully nudged on the shoulder for not participating in what Sasuke—whispering low enough in Naruto's ear that no one else would hear—referred to as a cacophony.
"There. That wasn't so painful, was it?" Sakura said sardonically at Shikamaru, deeming Sasuke as a lost cause before she turned to Hotaru with a renewed smile on her face. "So, what did you think about your first birthday song? Did you like it?"
Hotaru gave a bashful smile in response. "I like Sakura's singing."
"You do?" Sakura gasped, then cooed, then made some odd sound that was a strange mixture of the two that Naruto thought was almost as bad as her singing. "And you know my name, too. Aren't you just the cutest little—I guess we should have asked before, but how old are you, Hotaru-chan?"
Hotaru held up three fingers, the smile on his face widening as he added, "Three years old."
Naruto stared at Hotaru and shared a startled glance with Sasuke that was oddly similar to the one he shared with Sasuke yesterday when Hotaru told Kiba his name. It was only somewhat comforting when Ino asked about when his birthday was and Hotaru only shrugged his shoulders, turning his attention back to Sakura and asking for a piece a cake.
"You want a piece of cake?" Naruto asked, mindful of how Hotaru spit out the last piece of cake he ate. "I thought you didn't like sweet things?"
Hotaru climbed over Sasuke, making the short distance to Sakura while shyly mumbling something about how much he liked strawberries. Naruto didn't catch all of it.
"Oh, you're even more adorable now that you like me," Sakura said, picking up Hotaru and nuzzling her cheek against his in a gesture Hotaru was more than happy to return. "I take back what I said about you being as socially stunted as Sasuke."
Naruto took notice of the annoyance on Sasuke's face, but really, Naruto could relate to what Sakura was going through. His own feelings toward Hotaru grew the moment he discovered that Hotaru did like him. However, with Kiba and now Sakura, Naruto was at loss trying to figure out why Hotaru wouldn't reveal to him or Sasuke—the people taking care of him—something as important as his name or even his age if he knew it all along.
Still, Naruto kept an eye on Hotaru's wandering hands, not quite forgetting the incident with Tsunade. The moment he saw that telltale smirk on Hotaru's face and saw those small, chubby fingers reaching for one of Sakura's nipples, visibly hard and straining to get out of her tight shirt, Naruto was quick to step in and snatch Hotaru from Sakura's arms.
Hotaru frowned, actually had the nerve to frown, and tilted his head at Naruto in confusion. "Naruto…"
Sasuke, his face displaying a hint of the shame Naruto was terrified to let show, presumably saw what had almost happened and simply shook his head. Yet it seemed Sasuke and Naruto were the only ones who saw that Hotaru was after more than just strawberries, and Naruto was content to deal with the screeching in his ears from Sakura and Ino thinking he was being selfish rather than the more adamant screeching that would result if they found out Hotaru was a pervert.
He could only hope Hotaru appreciated the things he was willing to go through for him, Naruto on the receiving end of Sakura's fist being one of them.
Holding Hotaru around the waist with one arm, Naruto used his other hand to rub the spot where Sakura hit him on the back of his head. "Why do you always have to hit so hard?" Naruto hissed, though he really was exaggerating. It didn't hurt.
"I didn't hit you that hard," Sakura retorted. "It was a tap more than anything, which you already know. Besides, why did you take Hotaru away from me? I more than get the hint that he's not mine, but are you really going to be one of those overprotective parent types?"
"Trust me on this one," Naruto said, not bothering to correct Sakura over the fact she was calling him a parent. "It was for your own good, and you'll thank me for it later. Remember what we talked about the last time, when I said why I thought Hotaru didn't want you to hold him?"
"What are you—oh." Sakura's eyes widened with a sudden realisation, sparing a quick glace to Sasuke, who didn't quite meet her gaze. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, trying not to appear too self-conscious as she straightened her shirt. "About the hitting thing, I'm sorry. I'll forgive Hotaru since he's so young, but if I had known—oh, Hotaru really does take after you, Naruto."
Naruto grimaced. The way Sakura said it wasn't exactly a compliment. Then again, he was incidentally doing the same thing Hotaru was. Except Naruto was more subtle about it, only looking with his eyes since he had no intention to touch Sakura's breasts—Sasuke being the only reason he needed not to and Sakura's fist alone being another one good enough to deter Naruto from any idle fantasies.
Ino and Shikamaru looked at Naruto and Sakura strangely, Ino voicing the confusion on her face. "What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing important." Sakura gave a forced smile and shook her head as she picked up the knife from the coffee table. "Time to cut the cake, right? Hotaru-chan, since you get the first slice…Ino, hand me a plate, please."
Handing Sakura a plate, Ino said, "No, really, what were you guys talking about? I want in on it, too, especially if whatever it is makes you actually apologise to Naruto for hitting him when he clearly deserved it."
"What do you mean I clearly deserved it? What kind of stuff is that?" Naruto said. "I'd like to see you get hit in the back of the head for once."
"I don't do anything that tempts anyone into hitting me in the back of the head."
"If you ask me, nobody deserves getting hit in the back of the head."
"Good thing I didn't ask you then."
"But I'll make an exception in your case since clearly you don't listen to the things people say about you."
"What was that? Are you trying to insinuate—"
"Here's your cake, Hotaru-chan," Sakura cut in, still wearing the same forced smile on her face as she shoved the plate at Naruto, giving him no choice but to accept it. "Hold this for Hotaru-chan, Naruto. You can share it with him."
"…um, okay." Naruto blinked at the plate in his hand, his arm around Hotaru's waist loosening. Hotaru climbed off Naruto's lap to stand on the floor and propped his elbows on Naruto's thigh. "Thank you?"
Sakura nodded her head at Naruto, but her voice was alarmingly calm when she spoke to Ino. "Would you like a piece, too?" she asked slowly, holding the knife upright next to her face. The light from the ceiling reflected on the blade in an eerily threatening manner, and if Sakura's smile appeared just a little bit brighter because of it, no one brought it up; although Naruto really was trying to ignore the way Hotaru kept reverting his attention back to the knife.
"Sure," Ino said cautiously, and, like Naruto, accepted the piece of cake shoved in her direction.
"And I know you don't usually eat cake, but," Sakura began, cutting a small slice for Sasuke that was more of a slither and nowhere close to being generous, "you do like strawberries, don't you?"
Reluctantly, Sasuke took the plate Sakura handed to him, and Naruto noticed Sakura had scrapped off most of the frosting from the cake.
"What about you, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked.
Shikamaru sat up in the chair and reached for a plate, holding it out for Sakura. "If you don't mind."
"Of course not. We're all here to celebrate a day for Hotaru-chan, right?" Sakura said with another of those forced smiles that Naruto was beginning to find more intimidating that reassuring. "And since you did make the cake, it would be a shame if it went to waste."
Snorting, Shikamaru grumbled about not mentioning the fact he made the cake.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ino said, licking the cake crumbs on from her lips. "So you made a cake. It's not like we didn't know you could bake, and besides, it's really good."
"It is," Naruto agreed. He cut a small section of his piece of cake with his fork and raised it in front of Hotaru's mouth. "Want to try it?"
Hotaru made a face and turned his head from the piece of cake, pushing the fork away with his hand.
"Sasuke likes it," Sakura said, though by the expression on Hotaru's face, the fact that Sasuke was eating the cake didn't appeal to him.
Blinking at Sakura, Hotaru said, "I don't want cake."
Sakura set her plate on the table, beside the small box she then picked up and gave to Hotaru. "Okay, what about your gift, then? Would you like to open that?"
"Is it…?"
"You'll have to open it to find out what it is. Here." Sakura leaned forward and peeled off some of the blue wrapping paper. "You start like this, see?"
Hotaru looked at her blankly, fiddling with the box that Ino then took it upon herself to help him to finish unwrap when he continued to stare at Sakura.
"There," Ino said. "That's how it's done."
"Oh, wow." Naruto peered at the box. It was a camera, and the colour was a purple just dark enough to look blue. It was far from being the latest piece of technology, an older model that came out a few years back, but it didn't keep Naruto from finding the gift incredibly thoughtful. "You guys really didn't have to do this."
Sakura smiled in reply. "It's nothing fancy, but since it's no longer just you and Sasuke, we thought you'd like to make new memories." Better memories, was the part she left unsaid.
"I don't…" Hotaru moved closer to Sasuke, his brows furrowing in concentration as he narrowed his eyes at the box. "Sasuke…it's a—it's a carame?"
"Camera," Sasuke corrected, repeating the world slowly with a pause in between each syllable as he used his finger to point out the corresponding characters on the box.
Interested, Shikamaru looked at Hotaru appraisingly. "He can read that well already?"
Naruto nodded. "Hotaru's good with stuff like that. I know he seems quiet now, but that's because he doesn't know you guys. Usually, he asks a lot questions and picks up on things pretty easily."
"I guess being a teacher's assistant does come in handy," Ino said.
Sakura ran a hand through Hotaru's hair, smiling while she watched Hotaru continue to examine the box. "No, Sasuke's just that good with kids."
Sasuke focused his attention on picking up the scraps of wrapping paper Ino had dumped on the couch, the slight tension in his body telling Naruto how uncomfortable he was with the sudden attention from Ino and Shikamaru. Although Sasuke had been working with Iruka for the last two years, the idea of Sasuke being able to work well with kids, that the job consisted of more than doing menial tasks for Iruka, was something most people still had trouble believing.
"How about we get this thing open," Naruto said loudly, bringing Ino and Shikamaru's gazes on him while he held out his hand to Hotaru. "Let me see it for a sec."
"Can Naruto open it?" Hotaru said.
"Do you really need to ask?" Naruto scoffed in mock disbelief. "Of course, I can op—Sasuke, can you open this?"
As Sasuke snorted and took the box, Sakura stifled her laughter with her hand. "So, have you and Sasuke made it official, yet?"
"Huh?" Naruto turned to Sakura. "Made what official?"
"Adopting Hotaru."
"Well, we already picked up the paperwork from the family registry this morning."
"Have you decided on which name Hotaru will take?" Ino asked.
"Ah, that…" Truthfully, they hadn't. The last attempt, though not serious on Naruto's part, had led to tackling, kissing, and nothing really productive. Naruto wasn't going to be a pushover about something as important as passing along his name, and Sasuke wouldn't be one, either. Paperwork they had, but as far as actually filling it out was concerned, there would be some time before that happened.
"We haven't exactly—Hotaru, what?" Naruto looked at the plate of cake Hotaru didn't want to eat being shoved into his lap. Except for a few bite marks that were too small to be Naruto's, Hotaru hadn't touched the cake, but apparently that didn't include picking off the strawberries.
"I'm finished," Hotaru said proudly.
"You ate all of the strawberries?"
Hotaru grinned. There was a trace of white frosting covering his upper lip like a moustache. His teeth were stained pink and a trail of red juice was dripping down the side of his chin.
Naruto reached for a napkin to wipe Hotaru's face. "We were supposed to be sharing. You didn't even leave one for me?"
Hotaru opened his mouth, and Naruto could see the chewed up pieces of strawberries floating around near the back of Hotaru's throat.
Sakura looked appalled, and Ino disgusted, but Hotaru immediately closed his mouth when Sasuke told him to do so.
"Sorry, Sasuke."
However, Naruto was still trying to get over the fact that Hotaru hadn't left him any strawberries. True, there was more cake on the table, but Hotaru didn't leave him anything. "I can't believe—didn't you tell Sakura-chan you don't like cake?"
"I like strawberries, Naruto," Hotaru said, like the statement was supposed to explain everything.
"What about the rest of the cake? You already ate all of the strawberries. Why give it back to me if you don't like it?"
Hotaru scrunched his nose, uncurling a fist at his side to reveal a napkin he'd been holding. He opened it, showing Naruto where he had spit out the piece from the cake he'd bitten into.
"All right, that's even more..." Sakura sighed. "That's not a nice thing to show someone, either, Hotaru-chan."
"No?"
Naruto shook his head. "Well, that and showing people the food in your mouth is definitely something you're generally not supposed to do. Yesterday was an exception, all right?"
"Oh." Hotaru lowered his head, and Naruto was quick to place a finger beneath Hotaru's chin, gently lifting his head back up.
"Hey, don't worry too much about it, though. Learning what not to do is part of growing up, and Sakura-chan is just being dramatic."
"Like Naruto?"
Naruto felt his right eye begin to twitch. "Now, I wouldn't go that—"
"Yes," Ino cut in, and though it was said in an attempt to appease Hotaru, Naruto couldn't help but feel she was taking a jab at him, too. "Just like Naruto."
"Although constantly being around someone like Naruto, it only makes sense that you wouldn't know better," Sakura told Hotaru, gently squeezing his arm in reassurance. "Sasuke's presence can only do so much."
"Why is it always me? Doesn't Sasuke ever do anything wrong in your eyes?"
"He's still Sasuke," Ino answered, not able to hide the teasing note in her voice. "That hasn't changed."
Without breaking eye contact with Hotaru, Sakura said, "I didn't mean to make you upset, but try not to do things like that, okay?"
"Okay," Hotaru said softly, reaching for a few slices of strawberries on the rest of the cake. His fingers dug into the frosting, puncturing the cake and inadvertently putting Naruto off from wanting another piece before he plopped the strawberries in his mouth. Frosting was smeared on his lips, coated with cake crumbs, and neither did much to take away from the smile on Hotaru's face that Naruto wanted to call defiant.
Shikamaru snorted, mumbling about troublesome kids when Hotaru opened his mouth again to show everyone what was left of the food he hadn't yet swallowed.
...
Sasuke paused mid-step, standing in the doorway and torn between amusement and bewilderment. Honestly, he'd expect this kind of thing from Naruto. Catching Naruto studying himself in front of the full length mirror in their bedroom wasn't something new to Sasuke. Naruto wasn't one to shy away from an audience, especially if the audience consisted solely of Sasuke, and considering how much time they spent together, Naruto engaged in this kind of activity more than Sasuke cared for. It was almost as bad as Naruto's habit of walking around naked in the house, exposing his so called glory to a Sasuke who was unfortunately desensitised by now.
However, it was a kind of vanity that Naruto was evidently passing on to a disturbingly eager Hotaru susceptible to Naruto's antics, which Sasuke, in good conscious—what was left of it—couldn't ignore. More and more Sasuke was beginning to see Hotaru truly as an amalgamation of both himself and Naruto, with aspects of Naruto becoming more prominent than before.
Hotaru was a pervert, knowingly obnoxious, Sasuke was convinced, only with Naruto around to promote it, and it was this seemingly drastic change from the quiet kid Hotaru used to be that Sasuke didn't know what to do with.
"What are you doing?" The question was rhetorical, but at Naruto's self-indulgent expression, Sasuke immediately regretted asking it. Bearing in mind Naruto lacked the decency of wearing a shirt, clad only in his blue and white striped boxers with a similarly dressed Hotaru at his side, Sasuke should have known better than to have bothered asking at all.
"What does it is look like I'm doing?" Naruto said.
"Teaching Hotaru there's nothing wrong with having no understanding of the concept of self-respect?"
"Okay, ouch." Naruto feigned a wince that quickly turned into a grin. "But that just means you see something you like. Admit it, Sasuke," he said slyly. "You can't deny this." Turning to the side, Naruto clenched his teeth and flexed his right arm out to the side, his left arm curving in front of his stomach as he leaned forward slightly to reveal the definition in his back.
Naruto wasn't bulky by any means. His muscles were firm, but like with Sasuke, were mostly lean and compact. It really wasn't anything impressive, which Sasuke was sure to let Naruto know despite how many times Naruto tried to convince Sasuke otherwise.
"Yes," Sasuke said, "I can."
"Tch. Yeah, right, you know you like the idea of us posing like the strong men we are." Naruto tapped his arm with two fingers and glanced at Hotaru. "There's no way you can resist these babies. Right, Hotaru?"
"Right," Hotaru said, nodding his head, and doing what Sasuke could only think of as a comical impression of whatever Naruto referred to as posing. He studied his reflection carefully, brows furrowing as a look of intense concentration overcame his face.
"Show Sasuke what I taught you so far."
Really, Sasuke did want to protest, but Hotaru then beamed at him, a disarming smile on his face that conveyed how much he wanted to impress Sasuke.
"Watch me, Sasuke, watch me," Hotaru said excitedly, raising both arms above his head and contracting the undeveloped muscles in his biceps. He growled, or at least made a noise that Sasuke assumed was supposed to be a low growl. Instead, it sounded more like a constipated and garbled mewl. It was only fitting since the same could be said of whatever kind of guttural noise Naruto was making, as well, but Sasuke refrained from commenting on the scene entirely, wary of the strong temptation to say the first thing on his mind. "Look at my muscles—see?"
"I…see," Sasuke said slowly, unable to think of a suitable response, but it was enough to appease Hotaru, whose smile, if possible, was even wider than before.
"Good job," Naruto said. "Do the next one I showed you."
Hotaru nodded at Naruto with a frightening amount of conviction, the same amount of conviction Sasuke found that was beginning to appear more frequently on Hotaru's face that began the moment after Hotaru saw that movie—the one where Sasuke fell asleep during the beginning while Naruto and Hotaru had finished watching it together—the day before yesterday, when the three of them lounged on the couch. And it was the same amount of conviction, Sasuke also found, that precluded instances that demonstrated how quickly Hotaru became devoted to the idea of becoming like the ninja depicted in said movie. Of those instances, from only this morning, included was Hotaru's intent of trying to scale the kitchen wall with a knife that was supposed to substitute as a rudimentary kunai.
Or at least that was what Sasuke envisioned and was told had happened after he walked in on Naruto trying to explain to Hotaru the difference between the kunai he saw in a movie and a knife he found in a kitchen, and why Hotaru couldn't use either to climb the walls in the kitchen or any walls in the house, and going back and adjusting his explanation to include that Hotaru was too young to use any kind of knife at all.
Not wanting to encourage the possibility of Hotaru making any holes in the wall as well as wanting to prevent the almost certain kind of accident that came whenever kids and knives were not mutually exclusive, Sasuke's response was to hide the knives in the cabinet, high above where Hotaru couldn't reach them.
"Look, Sasuke." With an audible inhale, Hotaru placed both arms in front of his chest, elbows facing outward and fists opposing each other. Body taunt as much as the body of a three year old could be, he began to take short, quick breaths. His cheeks were puffed and held a tinge of red in them. There was a determination in his eyes as his breathing became more erratic. The flush on his cheeks extended to the rest of his face, travelled down to his neck, and Naruto stepped in before Hotaru had the opportunity to render himself unconscious.
"Wait a minute—wait a minute, breathe, Hotaru." Rubbing circles on Hotaru's back, Naruto laughed. "You don't have to hold to your breath, okay?"
Hunched over, Hotaru nodded. He was still huffing, frame slightly trembling from the overexertion, but his breathing was more regulated.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Naruto said.
Silently, Sasuke wanted to replace the notion of tonight with never doing again. "If you take a bath now, you'll be ready for bed by the time Naruto comes back."
"Sasuke…" Hotaru shimmied into the green and blue boxers big enough for him to grow into and pulled the waistband up to his chest. "Can I train with Naruto tomorrow, too?"
"Train?" Sasuke blinked, gave Naruto a strange look, and then blinked again. "You're calling this training?"
"To be a ninja, Sasuke," Hotaru explained.
"To be…"
Although they picked up the forms to submit Hotaru to the family registry office this morning, Sasuke and Naruto still hadn't discussed which family name to give Hotaru, and Naruto was already thinking about training? Before Hotaru could even be enrolled in school, he would first have to be legally recognised to be integrated into society. More importantly, what happened in the bathroom this morning withstanding, it was so…irresponsible, even by Naruto's standards, to make such a premature decision and encourage those kinds of thoughts in the mind of a three year old.
In the last five days, the most significant conversation he and Naruto did have concerning which name to give Hotaru consisted of Naruto making various suggestions on how they should decide: playing jankenpo, which caused Sasuke to stare at Naruto incredulously at the thought of a game of rock-paper-scissors ever being an effective means of making an important decision like choosing a name; rolling a die, with the highest number determining whether Hotaru took the name Uzumaki or Uchiha, which brought Sasuke out of his temporary stupor and prompted him to punch Naruto in the arm for merely coming up with the idea, much less thinking Sasuke would be agreeable to it; and drawing either name out of a hat, for which Sasuke's attempt to hit Naruto somehow ended up with both of them on the floor.
From there, a brief wrestling session ensued and had led to Naruto making use of his mouth for means decidedly better than talking by sucking on Sasuke's neck. It was only when Hotaru, who was convinced at the time that Naruto had been trying to eat Sasuke, tried to save Sasuke by jumping on Naruto's back, did Naruto and Sasuke pull away from each other, after which Sasuke finally realised that Naruto had been purposely goading him.
Choosing a name would be difficult enough taking into account that their relationship wasn't recognised in the registry, and it would come down to Hotaru being registered under only one of them.
Restoring the Uchiha name wasn't the priority it once was, superficial as it seemed to Sasuke now, and something he preferred not to dwell on, not since Itachi...
It wouldn't have made a difference even if the continuation of his family name held as much of an influence over Sasuke as it used to, though. Other than by appearance, Hotaru had little to do with Sasuke or Naruto, which Tsunade had already confirmed from her tests last Saturday. Hotaru wasn't biologically related to either of them. However, deciding Hotaru's family name was something he and Naruto did need to have an in-depth discussion about and something that should be discussed before they did any other kind of major decision making.
Flatly, Sasuke said, "You're training Hotaru to be a ninja."
Naruto made a frazzled gesture with his hands. "About that…see–"
"There is no see. You're making decisions without me. We haven't talked about that, and it's far too early for this kind of thing, regardless. He's only three, Naruto—three. Remember how he tried to climb the wall in the kitchen this morning…with a knife?"
"I know. You don't have to tell me because I was there. And okay, yeah, the knife was going a little overboard, so we'll limit what movies he can watch from now on, but I don't see the problem with teaching him about something that's unavoidable. Plus, it's not like we're training in the literal sense of the word. You know me better than that."
"That's not the poi—never mind." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "You should go before the store closes."
"What are you talking about?"
"There's no film for Hotaru's camera."
Naruto looked at Sasuke expectantly. "Which means?"
"Which means you're going to buy film for Hotaru's camera."
"This late?" Naruto glanced at the clock, which read a quarter after seven. "It can't wait until tomorrow?"
Sasuke looked at Naruto with a blank expression on his face. "You're the one who said you would get it earlier because you couldn't wait until tomorrow to take pictures."
"I did?" Naruto tilted his head to the side. "I don't remember this."
"You said it when we were taking care of the mess in the living room," Sasuke answered, which, the act itself, was pretty vindictive considering the people who made the mess had given them petty excuses not to clean the mess they'd made. Sakura had claimed she left her dryer on, still insistent when Sasuke pointed out the flawed logic since the dryer would have automatically cut off by that point. Ino had suddenly remembered about a show she wanted to watch, which Naruto pointed out wouldn't come on until the day after tomorrow. Shikamaru actually had the gall to say that cleaning would be too bothersome. All three of them had left before even offering to pick up the confetti and the streamers they littered on the furniture and on the floor in the first place.
But Hotaru had enjoyed himself, and it was the only thing keeping Sasuke from thinking too much into the situation while simultaneously keeping at bay his displeasure at having to pick up a mess that he hadn't made.
Barely.
"Really?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke ignored the scepticism in his voice.
"You said it twice already because you said couldn't wait until tomorrow." Sasuke placed both hands on Naruto's shoulders, tightening his grip yet miraculously resisting the urge to shake Naruto into remembering. "I'm reminding you this time," he said slowly.
"I shouldn't, but I guess I have no choice but to take your word for it."
With a sigh, Sasuke released his grip on Naruto's shoulders in a not so subtle gesture of surrender. "Come here, Hotaru," Sasuke said, extending his hand to Hotaru's. "Go get your bubble bath, and I'll run your water."
Hotaru didn't move.
"Hotaru," Sasuke said again, pronouncing the name deliberately in an uncompromising tone of voice.
"But Sasuke," Hotaru whined—whined—and no matter how much Sasuke wanted to deny it, the whine in Hotaru's voice was unmistakable.
Feeling a swell of anger rising within him, Sasuke felt it was only reasonable when he came to the conclusion that Naruto's influence was the cause of Hotaru's behaviour. Any thoughts of Hotaru behaving normally as any kid would were pushed to the side, and Sasuke levelled a glare at Naruto.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" Naruto said, glancing at Sasuke warily as he took out a t-shirt hanging in the closet. "Stop looking at me like I did something wrong. It's not always my fault."
"Most of the time it is," Sasuke shot back.
"To hell with it, Sasuke, stop trying to make me feel guilty for something I didn't do. Most of the time does not mean all of the time, and then it's not even that," Naruto retorted, walking toward the dresser.
"And now you're saying that it's something I did?"
"No. No, that's not what I said. Sometimes, I'm the one to blame, but I can't come up with a good reason for you to be mad at me this time. Seriously, I don't even know what you're talking about, and you know what…" Naruto trailed off. After finding a pair of black pants and snatching them out with his hand, he slammed the drawer shut. "Look, I get why you're always bitchy whenever Kakashi comes over. He pushes your buttons. I understand that, and normally I wouldn't mind, but could you lay off me a little—just for now?"
Sasuke scoffed in disbelief. "And again you're putting it back on me. I'm the one looking too much into things, is that it? Is that why—?"
"Later," Naruto interrupted, flopping on the bed and lifting his foot to pull the hem of his pants over his ankle. "Can we do this later, all right?" Naruto sighed. "I don't want to ruin Hotaru's day. He shouldn't see us like this."
Sasuke pressed his tongue against his teeth, letting his silence concede as the closest he would get to an apology. Naruto was…right. Kakashi's words from last night had more of an impact than he initially thought. He was using Naruto as a convenient means of taking out his anger, but it wasn't something Sasuke was going to readily admit aloud. Not when the one time when he was actually willing to speak to Naruto about what was bothering him, his suspicions of Hotaru's connection to the scroll and Kakashi's possible involvement were something Sasuke was obligated not to bring up.
As if he were acutely aware of Sasuke's conflicting emotions, Hotaru ran to Sasuke and gripped Sasuke's shirt. He reached for Sasuke's arm, motioning to Sasuke that he wanted to be carried. "I'm sorry, Sasuke."
"You don't have to apologise." Sasuke leaned down to pick Hotaru up and sighed when Hotaru's arms made their way around his neck. "It's not your fault, Hotaru."
"I don't want…"
Sasuke hugged Hotaru a little tighter, closing his eyes and pressing his face against Hotaru's shoulder. It was almost like meeting Hotaru for the first time again, standing outside of the front door, bombarded with an armful of this strange kid appearing to be a younger version of Naruto who refused to let him go, and it scared Sasuke how much five days could suddenly feel like five years.
"It's okay," Sasuke said softly, startled when he felt another pair of arms around him. He looked up in surprise to see Naruto had placed himself in front of Sasuke, putting Hotaru between them as he rested his chin in the crook of Sasuke's neck. "Naruto, what are you—?"
"Just let me have this moment," Naruto said, voice muffled by Sasuke's shirt. "I never really get to see you like this. And I know you don't want people to see you like this, but this is me, and I like this part of you, too, just as much as I like the rest of you, all right?" He nudged his cheek against Sasuke's neck. "So do me a big favour and don't say anything for a few seconds. And if you give this to me, then…then, I promise I won't bother you for an entire thirty minutes."
Sasuke felt himself relaxing and silently counted to three. "Promising not to bother me for anything more than five minutes—or is that just wishful thinking on my part?"
"If you want me to be honest, probably—okay, yeah, but will you accept me not bothering you until I get back from the store?" Naruto grinned into Sasuke's shoulder. "Does that work, too?"
Sasuke snorted, and the sound developed into a light laughter. It intermingled with an irritatingly persistent and intermittent choking noise originating from the back of his throat and gradually faded behind a smile that was gone by the time Sasuke pushed Naruto away. "Are you leaving or not?"
"Isn't this the part where I'm supposed to stay, and the three of us are supposed to—?"
"No," Hotaru said with a shake of his head. He motioned for Sasuke to put him down, and, when his feet hit the floor, immediately ran to grab the camera on the bed.
"What do you mean no?"
"You said we can take pictures before I go to sleep." Hotaru opened the back of the camera, pleased with the fact he could prove to Naruto that there was no film inside. "Sasuke said I don't have film. See, I don't have film."
"I do see," Naruto said. "It seems you're in on this conspiracy, too."
Hotaru nodded impatiently, as if he was trying to instil into Naruto how dire it was that they took pictures before Hotaru was supposed to go to bed. "You have to hurry up, Naruto."
"You have to hurry up, Naruto," Naruto mimicked teasingly, breaking out into a grin when he saw the beginnings of a pout on Hotaru's face. "Okay, I'm going—I'm going."
"Now?"
"It's amazing how bossy you are." Naruto gently tapped Hotaru on one of his temples. Glancing at Sasuke, he added, "How bossy the both of you are."
"And you still haven't left yet?"
...
"Naruto?"
"Iruka-sensei, I just, um…"
"I'm on my way home, but what are you doing out here by yourself?" Iruka asked, taking a seat next to Naruto on the swings. It couldn't have been comfortable, squeezing into such a small space, but he managed to steady himself on the narrow piece of wood.
"Just thinking about some stuff, you know." Naruto tightened his hold on one of the ropes suspending the seat. "I can't remember the last time I actually sat on this thing," he said softly.
In truth, Naruto had come here on a whim, going with a sudden urge that flashed in his mind the moment he left the store. Bringing Hotaru here just seemed like something he and Sasuke should do. Running around on a playground was something kids did do, and Naruto could imagine Hotaru laughing, wearing that contagious grin so familiar to his own and the wind blowing in his face like he was flying instead of merely going back and forth on a swing.
But then he and Sasuke would have to be careful because Hotaru would probably try to jump off the swing if given the chance. It seemed like the kind of thing Hotaru would do; it was the kind of thing Naruto watched other kids do when he was younger, pushing each other as high as they could and jumping off even though the adults told them it was dangerous. And Naruto would have done it, too, but back then, he didn't have anyone to push him.
Iruka cleared his throat. "Where are Sasuke and…?"
"Hotaru," Naruto filled in.
"Right," Iruka said uncomfortably. "Hotaru."
Naruto frowned but stopped himself from making a comment. Given that Kakashi had been at the house last night, Naruto had assumed he would have told Iruka about Hotaru's name. It only made sense; the two of them had some sort of fringe benefit relationship Naruto couldn't begin to understand. Kakashi had almost no regard for privacy towards anything that involved Sasuke and essentially passed on any information to Iruka, with Iruka doing the same thing when it came to Naruto. He supposed it was mostly due to Kakashi's strange roundabout way of showing that he cared, which didn't necessarily excuse Iruka, who was more than willing to voice his concerns directly to Naruto. And while Naruto did agree with Sasuke, although not as often, that it tended to get annoying after a while—they were too old to need baby-sitters, however negligent Kakashi and Iruka actually were—a small part of Naruto did think there was something reassuring about simply knowing that someone cared.
"Didn't Kakashi…?"
"He did." Iruka shifted on the swing. "I…forgot."
"Oh." Naruto didn't need to mention that Iruka wasn't a forgetful person. Iruka not caring enough to remember the name of someone who'd become an important person in Naruto's life said much more than Naruto wanted to hear.
"Well, they're at home. Ino and Sakura-chan threw a surprise birthday party for Hotaru, and he should be out of the tub by now. He's waiting for me before he goes to bed."
"That's…nice."
"Yeah, Shikamaru came, too, and don't let him know I told you, but he was the one who made the cake. It was really thoughtful of them even if they didn't stick around to clean up." Despite Iruka's apparent unease with the topic, Naruto couldn't help the small smile that came to his face. "Everyone pitched in to buy Hotaru a camera but didn't remember to get film, and I…" With his toe, Naruto prodded the small plastic bag sitting by his other foot. "I came out to get some film so we could take pictures soon. According to Sasuke, I said something about it earlier, and he and Hotaru kept pestering me, so…"
"Naruto…"
"Yeah?"
"I know I shouldn't say anything else about it, but…"
"About what?" Naruto's forehead scrunched in confusion. "Hotaru?"
"Maybe it's because I'm not able to handle the fact that you seemed to have moved on without me."
"Iruka-sensei…"
"Something like that, I suppose is part of why—" Iruka cut himself off with meek laughter. "This thing—whatever is going between you, Sasuke, and…Hotaru—still seems too rash to me. Can you honestly say you're prepared to take care of someone else, to have someone else fully dependent on you?"
"Yes," Naruto said without hesitation.
"Who's going to take care of him while you're gone on missions?"
"Sasuke."
"Is that really fair to him?"
"But I'll do the same thing," Naruto protested, trying not to let Iruka's words affect him too much. "I'll take care of Hotaru when Sasuke's gone. We've decided we're going to share the responsibility, and when we're both gone, Sakura-chan and Ino have already offered to watch him if they can. And because that's not going to work out all the time, we've already started looking for a part-time nanny or somebody qualified to take care of Hotaru. Yeah, it's really going to cut into our budget, but even when Sasuke and I get the whole registry thing straightened out, it'll be a few years until Hotaru can go to the Academy."
"You've thought that far ahead?"
Somewhat disheartened by the words, Naruto said, "Why do you sound so surprised, Iruka-sensei?"
For a moment, Iruka looked haggard, worn, so much older than Naruto could ever remember seeing him, and Naruto felt some of his frustration fade away.
Using his feet, Iruka propelled himself backward on the swing. "I guess that means no more calling him kid or brat," he tried to joke.
Naruto wiggled his eyebrows. "Only when Sasuke's around."
"Naruto," Iruka began to chide, faltering when Naruto started laughing.
"I'm joking. No, really, I am." Naruto dug the heel of his shoe into the ground, laughter settling into a smile. "I know I used to call him that a lot, but the weird thing is that now I can't seem to stop saying his name. There's just something about saying Hotaru, you know."
"That's unexpected."
"It is, isn't it?" Naruto squinted then opened his eyes wide in surprise. "Oh, did I tell you? This morning, Hotaru saw us fighting. Me and Sasuke."
"You weren't really—"
"Nah, it wasn't anything serious because there's only that much space in the bathroom." Naruto held out his hand for Iruka to see, putting no more than a few centimetres between his thumb and index finger to give Iruka an idea of how small the bathroom was.
"But Hotaru was really excited about it—even said he wanted to be as strong as me and already has it in his head that he's going to be a ninja by tomorrow." Naruto lowered his head in an attempt to avoid meeting Iruka's eyes. He didn't want to seem arrogant, but having someone look up to him like that was definitely…something that made him feel good. "Sasuke, too, but he was looking at me when he said it," he added, looking up with a wide grin that Iruka didn't return.
"It's already hard for me to accept this, Naruto, and when you say things like that…"
Naruto frowned, slightly defensive as he leaned over his legs. He rested his arms on his thighs and sat forward on the swing. "I thought we were over this. You're the one who even fought to give Sasuke a second chance. Is that what this is about? Why you're having problems with Hotaru? I'm trying to ignore it. Really, I am, but if you're trying to imply something about Sasuke—"
"That's not what I'm saying. I shouldn't have to remind you I have your best interests in mind, and it's because of it that I'm still not fully convinced you're taking this seriously. There are too many repercussions involved with such a decision—for both you and Sasuke."
Naruto looked at Iruka warily. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing you don't already know, Naruto." Iruka closed his eyes. "So…how are you coping with this new responsibility?"
"It's…"
"Fun?"
"That wasn't the word I was going for," Naruto said wryly. "But yeah, it's a lot more fun having Hotaru around than I thought it would be."
"I'll admit that's one of the reasons I'm having trouble coming to terms with how things are progressing with Hotaru in the picture."
Again, Naruto frowned. Even though he was older, he still saw Iruka as his mentor and took to heart much of what Iruka said. He couldn't understand why Iruka was still going back to this, what about it made him so unwilling to accept it. It wasn't a secret that Iruka didn't support Naruto's relationship with Sasuke, yet it bothered Naruto that Iruka seemed so set against the idea Hotaru living with them and was uncharacteristically stubborn enough to keep bringing it up at every turn in the conversation.
"Even if we wanted to, which we don't, it's a little too late to change our minds," Naruto said.
"I'm not against it, per se, but a child is not something you can throw away when you're no longer interested. It's a commitment. To raise a child takes …"
"Other than the obvious?"
With a sigh, Iruka opened his eyes. "…it takes sacrifice."
There was a long silence between the two, and Naruto fought not to fidget under Iruka's penetrating gaze. More than ten years later, and this man could still reduce him to feel like that brash little kid he used to be, no matter how much he thought he'd changed since then.
"You know, Iruka-sensei, I get what you're saying. I do. And if I hadn't spent the last four nights being Hotaru's personal punching bag, I probably wouldn't be looking forward to being it again tonight. It's like…yeah, we still don't know where Hotaru came from, who or even what he is, and it's all this jumbled mess because we know everything's happening too fast, but at the same time—when Hotaru looks at me, when all he sees is me—that one moment becomes so real that I wonder if it fills a little part of me I didn't know I was missing."
"I didn't know you felt so deeply about it."
"…I didn't know, either." Naruto rubbed his forehead, taken back by his own words. "But isn't it okay to just let things happen every once in a while?"
"I'm afraid I can't offer any advice." Iruka looked at the ground. "Not this time, I think. I know I've been voicing my doubts to you, but as much as I'd like to give you a straight answer—what I think you should do—I also know it's something you'll have to find out by yourself."
"Helpful as always, huh?"
"Believe it or not, you're still growing up. You may be older physically, but growing up emotionally is one of the few constants in life, and full maturity of the mind is one of those things we never quite achieve."
"It's amazing how you can sound so profound and still manage not to say anything useful," Naruto said dryly.
Iruka held his head back, picking his feet off the ground and letting the momentum of the swing carry him forward. "I have my moments."
"Can I ask you something?"
Iruka placed his feet back on the ground to steady himself. He gave Naruto his full attention. "Always."
His voice hesitant, Naruto said, "Monday, when you saw Sasuke, did you notice anything different about him? Could you tell there was something—not off, but just…different?"
Iruka shook his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary. However, I don't know Sasuke as well as you do. He's not the easiest person to read."
"No kidding." There was a slight quirk to Naruto's mouth. "I don't think that's it, though. I can't really explain it, but it's like..."
"Is it something you've noticed before?"
"Kind of. Remember when Sasuke first started working with you? Looking back, I didn't understand it at the time, but I saw a little bit of it then, too. It was sometime during the fifth week, actually. That Thursday or Friday, when you left Sasuke alone in a classroom with a bunch of kids because Sakamoto-sensei was sick, and you had to substitute for her on short notice."
Before Iruka could open his mouth to speak, Naruto held up his hands and waved them in front of his face. "And before you say anything, yeah, I know I wasn't supposed to be there, but I was going through this stage where I had to make sure Sasuke was there. I was really…even though it was already a couple of years since Sasuke came back, and I…
"Kakashi caught me that time, and I'm guessing he didn't tell you about that one since you've never brought it up."
Iruka made a noise in agreement. "I didn't know until now."
"That's because I asked Kakashi not to tell you. When it came to Sasuke, though, at one point, I practically had to beg Kakashi not to tell Sasuke. But it wasn't because I was embarrassed of what I was doing. I started watching over Sasuke a long time before that day. And even though we were a little less than friends then, I wasn't afraid of what his reaction would be if he found out.
"I've never told anyone this, but…that day, when I saw Sasuke in that room, doing something so—so unlike the image of Sasuke I already had engraved into my mind, I remember feeling angry. Seeing all those kids looking up to him, treating Sasuke like he hadn't done anything wrong, and seeing that he didn't try to push them away, there was this...this raw anger."
Naruto placed his hands in his lap and began rubbing his palms on the sides of his pants. "Sasuke, who turned off pretty much everyone he met because he couldn't be bothered to interact with another human being unless he was forced to, could have a likeable personality around these kids he barely knew. But me—me—the person who had been chasing Sasuke for years, the person who had done everything possible to make him stay and the person who had fought anyone who tried to take him away—Sasuke wouldn't give me a damn minute of his time."
"Naruto…"
Naruto gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Maybe part of that anger was resentment, too. I felt like I was eleven again. Despite everything Sasuke had done, all the things he put everyone through, put me through, I still got the short end of the stick. On top of Tsunade letting him back in Konoha, being a natural with kids was just another thing on the long list of things Sasuke had going for him that I didn't. And I could only reason it with the fact that Sasuke was Sasuke. There I was, not even sure I'd be able to manage my own team one day, and there he was, like he'd been taking care of kids his entire life. I didn't get it then, what you saw in Sasuke that made you think he'd be good with kids."
At Naruto's pause, Iruka said, "To be honest, I didn't think Sasuke would be. Very few people were willing to give him another chance, so I thought that was something I could do. It seemed like the right thing to do."
"Whatever made you do it, I…thanks."
"There's nothing to thank me for."
"Still…"
"And you've never told Sasuke about any of this?"
"I don't have the nerve to tell him."
"It's no secret I'm not exactly supportive of your relationship, but if you still feel that way…"
Naruto placed his hands back in his lap, ignoring the lingering warmth from his palms. "I won't lie. A small part of me is still holding onto that anger. But after it hit me that day, I stayed to see what would happen because I didn't know what to do with it. I was looking for a way to make that sudden surge of emotion disappear, an excuse to see Sasuke mess up. I wanted him to yell. I wanted him to make someone cry and maybe even lose his job because of it. And I know it wasn't fair of me, but I was looking for anything that would show me Sasuke was only pretending to be this person he wasn't. So, I watched him. I watched him for the rest of the day until all of the kids went home, and when that anger hit me again, you know what the worst part of it was, Iruka-sensei?"
"What was it?"
"When I realised most of that anger stemmed from me having to acknowledge how much I didn't know about Sasuke."
"You really do…"
Naruto sighed. "I know I kind of went off there, but yeah, that's when I first noticed it. Sasuke being somewhere between happy and content, and with Hotaru, the way he looks sometimes, that's the thing I can't explain. You wouldn't be able to tell by looking at Sasuke without really knowing him, but I think after Itachi…"
Naruto stopped to clear his throat. That was something about Sasuke too personal to share, even with someone like Iruka. "I want to say it's because Sasuke's happy, but it's deeper than that. I don't think it's selfish of me to say that I already make him happy."
Scratching the back of his neck, Naruto gave Iruka a sheepish grin. "It's embarrassing to admit, but when Sasuke's happy, I'm happy, too. And Sasuke's happiness—that's something very…important to me," he whispered. "Yet lately, he's...it's different. But it's a good kind of different. It's not like Sasuke and I are married or something conventional like that. And taking care of a kid was the last thing I expected. I'm not saying Hotaru's our son or anything, but he's someone we really want to take care of so we can give him the things that were taken away from us."
"Naruto…"
"Besides, who wouldn't want another one of me walking around, right?"
"You'd be surprised." Iruka snorted. "Are you sure that's not your ego speaking for you?"
Naruto stuck out his tongue, smiling alongside Iruka at the childish gesture. "You haven't been this mean to me in a while, Iruka-sensei."
Iruka sighed. "Thank you, Naruto."
Naruto blinked in surprise. "For what?"
"It makes me happy knowing you still feel comfortable enough to talk about such things with an old man like me."
"You're having one of those emotionally maturing revelations?"
"Maybe, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept. I can't help but worry when it comes to you," Iruka said softly.
"I am grateful for that, you know. And I can understand because that's how I feel about Sasuke. I've always worried about Sasuke, and now I have Hotaru, too. But I think…I think whatever happens in the future, it'll be more than worth it in the end."
Iruka gave a pained smile and gripped Naruto's shoulder. "I hope it is, Naruto."