Sorry for taking so long! I'm glad that so many of you are on the watch for this story; I'm trying out some things for this story but I didn't think it would take this long to show it to you! I hope that you guys like this, again I'm trying some things out at the moment so I don't know if it's right or not.
Well anyway, enjoy the chapter!
A Promise: Chapter 2: A New Home
After a few trips from the car to the apartment floor on the third level, Itachi brought in the last bag into the living room before finally locking the front door. "Now that I think about it," Naruto muttered as he looked down the hall, his hand on his hip and the other on his chin, "the boys will have to move if you want them to have a room of their own." Itachi raised his eyebrow to the blond before him; eyeing the different change of clothes he now wore. In replacement of his suit was an orange t-shirt that was loose on his thin frame with loose fitting black sweats that had once lived in Itachi's dresser several years ago. "Yeah, for some reason whenever Kurma or Menma would visit or stay the night they would crash on the couch but leave their stuff in the bedroom..." Naruto sighed dramatically before turning to Itachi who had a smirk on his face.
"Will there be enough space for them?" Itachi asked, his face growing serious when he thought of his children. A look that Naruto loved in secret.
"Yeah," Naruto turned to the hallway, "come on."
The first door to the right in the hallway was to complete bathroom, across the hall was a guest room that would now be Itachi's room and where the children were currently sleeping. A few feet from the bathroom was a wide room that held two plain bright orange twin beds with the foot of the beds facing each other; between the beds was a medium sized window with pale blue curtains pushed to the sides that revealed the moon slowly peeking in. Behind the door was a large six drawer dresser with a single white lamp in the center; the room was a soft orange color, the room was plain but simple with off-white carpet that matched the other bedrooms. "We can paint the room whatever they want," Naruto stood in the middle of the room; Itachi stood just inside the room, his tired mind coming up with ideas on how to set up the room for the boys. "It's not that big but they'll have their own beds and stay nearby; I never wanted to be too far from the two fools," he chuckled, a sad smile slowly showing itself on his usually bright face. Shaking his head to rid of the memories, Naruto turned to look at Itachi; Naruto's face grew serious, "You sure this is what they need?"
"Yes." There was no hesitation, no uncertainty in his voice; "You are what they need, Naruto," a small smile growing on his thin lips, "you are, after all, the one who broke the Wall." Before Naruto could say a work to respond, Itachi turned and walked out into the hallway. "By the way," Itachi glanced behind him to Naruto, "is that room being used?" he nodded to the closed door directly across from the boys' new room.
Passing by Itachi out the room and down the hall, not glancing towards the door, Naruto responded, "Not at the moment." Knowing that he wasn't going to get another response, Itachi made sure the door behind him didn't close before going back to the living room to grab his boys' belongings and laying them in either side of the room for the moment. Closing the door after the last bag had been placed on the carpet covered floor, Itachi grabbed the last of the bags that were his own and headed to his room; standing in front of the door, Itachi turned to the kitchen to
see Naruto making a list of some sorts while walking around, biting on the lid of the pen. Turning to his right at the closed door, he slowly dropped his bags on the hardwood floor against the wall, making sure they didn't fall. Checking that Naruto was busy, he walked to the other door; opening it wide enough to stick his head in, Itachi noticed that someone practically lived there, but not at the moment. Looking around carefully, he smirked at the numerous posters that were nailed into the walls -from the little light that came in from the window on the other side of the room- that practically covered it up. To the right of the door stood a familiar looking desk that held a couple of picture frames in the corner; grabbing the closest one, Itachi's heart stopped at the sight of the picture, it was all three of them years ago. Itachi -who fell asleep while reading on the bed, Naruto -who curled into him, using him as a pillow while watching a movie, and Natsu -who sat between them, smiling as he took the picture with Itachi's phone. How he missed the young boy he thought of as the brother he never had, he was like a mini-Naruto without the birthmarks on his face... 'He was around four when the picture was taken, he has to be around ten...'
Placing the picture back on the dark desk, he now knew whose room it is; closing the door, Itachi turned back to his own room, bringing the bags in before closing the door shut for the rest of the night.
The door at the end of the hall, left of Natsu's door and right of the boys' door, was the master bedroom, where Naruto gently closed the door after Itachi returned to his room.
Naruto noticed the sad and guilty look on his face when he saw the picture.
"*Chichi," a gentle push with small hands could be felt on Itachi's left arm, "Chichi," Itachi opened his dark eyes to see his first born bouncing on his legs on the bed.
Waking up immediately, Itachi shifted from laying on his stomach to sitting up from his stop at the foot of the bed, feeling a shift on his right where Sasuke must have moved some time during the night; "What is it, Sai?" Itachi whispered, pulling Sai into his lap, his hand running though his short rumpled hair.
Having his father hold him close, relaxed Sai a bit; "I need to go potty, Chichi,"
Sai rushed, looking at his father with desperation in his eyes, tears slowly forming at the pain that is steadily growing.
Giving a small smile to the boy, Itachi picked Sai up and placed him on the bed -away from a still slumbering baby- before getting up from the bed without moving it in any way gracefully; taking off his jacket, that now held wrinkles, and tossing it onto the bed, Itachi reached over to Sai, pulling him back into his arms and left the room, leaving the door open. Walking across the hall to the bathroom a few feet from the bedroom, Sai was placed on the cold tile floor while Itachi told him about the room next door. "When you're done, I want you to go to that room, ok?" Itachi pointing which way to go; as Sai nodded, Itachi stepped away to let Sai use the restroom. When the door closed, Itachi returned back to his room he found a whimpering Sasuke who rolled off the bed when he spotted his father.
"Daddy!" Sasuke cried, running to Itachi's legs; having his tiny arms around his father's legs, Sasuke rubbed his face in the material before looking up, cobalt eyes shining with fear and happiness. Itachi knelt on the carpeted floor, Sasuke letting go of the clothing material and held out of his hands to Itachi -demanding to be picked up, not that Itachi wouldn't anyway.
Placing him on his hip, Itachi was able to feel a full diaper, "Someone needs a new diaper," Itachi gently poked Sasuke on the forehead just between his wide eyes, causing a round of giggles from him, erasing the fear from his eyes. Walking from the room once more, Itachi turned to the room next to the bathroom and entered; looking from one bed to the other, he realized that he had yet to choose which was whose. "I'll have ask Sai when he comes," Itachi said to himself, looking down to the squirming boy in his grasp, "let's get you a new outfit while I'm changing you." A few minutes later, a fresh diaper on Sasuke, Itachi was chasing him around the narrow room when Sai walked into the room; "Sai," equal dark gray eyes turned to him, "which bed would you like?" Itachi motioned to the twin beds, one having a large lump moving under the covers.
"That one," Sai replied after a minute, pointing to the bed that is first seen when the door opens, "so Ototo can sleep longer."
Itachi nodded, pride growing at the thoughtfulness of his eldest son for his younger sibling, watching over him without even being told to do so; "Now," Itachi turned to Sasuke, smirking when the youngest tried to hide under the blankets of Sai's bed, "help me dress your brother." Sai gave off his own smirk, nodding before slowly walking over to Sasuke's hiding spot; Itachi turned to one of the suitcases that held the boys' clothing and pulled out a set of clean clothes for them. Turning back to the boys, he noticed that they were staring at the door -Sasuke mouthing something too soft for him to hear, Itachi placed the clothes on Sai's bed -beside the exposed naked Sasuke- and turned to see what had their attention.
"Hey," Naruto blushed under the amount of stares he had his way, "I'm going to start breakfast and was wondering what you wanted to eat." Naruto looked to Sai, a smile on his bright and nervous face, "What do you say, little guy?"
Sai turned to Itachi, his eyes showing uncertainty, this is the first time he would get to choose what he would like to have; "We'll have whatever you normally have, Naruto," Itachi answered for them.
Naruto sighed softly, "You sure?" When Itachi responded with a nod, Naruto turned to leave but stopped, remembering something, "Oh, is there anything that you guys need? Any kind of snack you like or favorite food since I'm going to the store after breakfast."
"Not at the moment," Itachi turned to grab the clothes, "I will mention if there is something that we need before you leave." He turned to the blond with a smile smile before slowly walking over to Sasuke, dressing the fidgeting child that was held in place by his big brother that was tickling him.
"Alrighty then," Naruto smiled at the trio, continuing his walk down the hall towards the kitchen; when arriving, Naruto started pulling out what he could make for breakfast. On the counter were a row of eggs and a bag of rice, ready to be used; sighing to himself, Naruto muttered about the extreme need to go to the store. Pulling out the necessary equipment, Naruto started working, humming to himself; Itachi walked into the kitchen, having told the kids to watch some cartoon on the TV in the living room, after changing clothes.
Now in a black t-shirt and low riding pants, he leaned on the island that separated the kitchen from the dining room, watching as Naruto swayed his hips, nodding his head to a song that only he could hear. "You know what you're doing?" Itachi smirked, trying to hide the tightening in his chest as second long flashbacks started to show past Naruto doing this years ago, when he could pretend to be carefree.
Naruto froze before recovering quickly, regaining control of himself he whipped his head around to face a smirking raven, his eyes glaring at the man; "Of course I do!" he huffed, turning back to the eggs on the pan.
"I'm just asking," Itachi could imagine the face that Naruto was making; sky blue eyes completely concentrated on the eggs in the pan, making sure that they were perfectly rolled with his pink tongue peeking out of his lush lips, "out of worry. I don't want to feed the boys a monster instead of actual food," Itachi covered his mouth, trying to hold back a chuckle when Naruto snapped his head up, "that you made last time."
Naruto completely turned to him, face red with anger or embarrassment Itachi couldn't tell, but it pleased him; having been forced to be surrounded by emotionless people for nearly five years made him realize just how much Naruto had made an impact in his life. "That was one time, Teme! And I told you to never mention it again!" Naruto fumed, threatening to throw the metal spatula at him, "Besides, I learned how to cook; you're not the only one who took care of a kid."
Itachi felt cold water wash over him; it suddenly became hard to breathe. "Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow at the change of tone; Itachi looked away, a blank mask falling easily just as it did all those years ago, "You have your own?" Itachi clenched his hands into fists; 'If he's happy, that's all that matters... Should have asked before I came over, I'm such a fool!'
"No!" Itachi looked back to Naruto, worry shown in his turquoise eyes, "Well, not exactly," Naruto muttered, shaking his head he turned back to the stove to turn it off just as the rice cooker beeped that it was done. Naruto pulled out the plates and small bowls from the cabinets right of the stove; Itachi sighed, knowing that he'll have to be patient if he wanted Naruto to come out and talk to him. He had an idea who the child was, the evidence is all over the room he saw last night; the little boy who could have been his long lost younger brother. 'Someone else has filled in the gap that I created.' Itachi turned to leave the kitchen and enter the living room just next to the kitchen; Itachi was able to grab the boys' attention, telling them that breakfast was ready. Naruto had already set the plates down on the dining table when the trio came in, and was returning with drinks for them; "Sorry, I normally have more food for breakfast," he gave a small smile.
"This is fine, Naruto," Itachi said, picking up Sasuke and placing him at the end of the table where a booster was placed, "here, Sai." Itachi sat at the corner of the table, Sasuke to his left, Sai to his right and Naruto sitting across from him. Naruto smiled before passing out the cups, Naruto was thankful that he had kept Natsu's sippy cups; he cleaned it before placing it in front of Sasuke, filled with orange juice like the rest of the cups.
"*Itadakimasu," all four said -one way or another- when they broke the chopsticks, except Sasuke who had a spoon.
They ate silently, if one ignored Itachi nagging at Sasuke to eat instead of playing with his spoon and Naruto chuckling at the sight; Sai kept his head down, facing the food, but kept a close eye on Naruto. He had been told about this man, seen pictures of his, by his *Obaasan when they would visit and his his Chichi was busy with *Ojiisan; this is the person that Chichi wanted to be with, not his *Haha. "Sai," dark eyes widened for a moment in shock, turning face to his father, "if you're done, you can go and play," Sai looked down to his bowl, seeing that he had eaten everything in it. Sai nodded, slowly getting up from his seat, "Drink your juice before you leave." His father told him softly, pointing with his chopsticks; Sai noded once more, picking up the cup and draining the contents.
Itachi had noticed Sai staring at Naruto, he wondered if he should have told him about Naruto, but at the time he didn't know if Naruto would let him in. Perhaps now is the time to tell him, he hates to keep things from his boys, even if they wouldn't understand the situation at the moment or at hand. "Daddy!" Itachi turned to Sasuke, seeing the boy wave his spoon in the air, an innocent smile on his face with bits of rice sprinkled on his chubby cheeks. "Daddy!"
From the corner of his eye, Naruto could be seen trying to hide his laughter by eating a slice of egg, Itachi didn't mind that he was being laughed at by Naruto, it made him question how he last five years without hearing it. "Good boy, Sasuke," Itachi reached out and rubbed the food from his face -seeing that most had landed on him than in his mouth, "you want to play?" Sasuke dropped the spoon on the floor as his arms came up, his tiny body jumping up and down on the booster seat. Itachi scooted back in the chair some so he had enough space to get to Sasuke without getting up; plucking the baby up and set on the floor, Itachi told him to pick up the spoon and lay it on the table by his bowl. When Sasuke ran after Sai, Itachi leaned to the back of his chair, yawning and rubbed his face.
"Didn't get much sleep?" Naruto asked, placing the chopsticks on top of the bowl, he whispered "*gochisosama deshita" under his breath; looking at Itachi, elbows on the table with his head in his hands, Naruto Itachi his full attention. "So what happened?"
Itachi too whispered the same words before lacing his fingers on his knee, legs crossed, his back to the chair; "I finalized my divorce yesterday, I -as of now- have full custody of the boys," he said, his voice lacking emotion that Naruto quickly picked up, "in exchange that I give up the house given by my parents as a gift and *five million yen for herself." Naruto widened his eyes, "That's cheap, but it doesn't matter now; I have my boys and they won't see her again." Itachi spat out.
Naruto nodded, "She didn't do anything to them, did she?"
Itachi sighed, looking out the window to his right, "I heard that she would say things to Sai when I was not with him or if he was alone," Itachi grit his teeth, "I was not aware until we were in court when the judge asked him some questions..." Naruto nodded once more, "I didn't think that you would still be here or even allow us to stay here," Naruto froze at the sound of a thankful Itachi before blushing and giving a laugh while rubbing the back of his neck, waving it off, "I didn't want this to happen to them, I had intended to file for the divorce years before, just after Sai turned six months, but things kept pushing it back."
Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, "So soon? I mean, your marriage had just started then and you were starting a family with the one you wanted-"
"Kami no!" Itachi shifted forward, hands slapping on the table shocking Naruto, "The one that I wanted to marry, even now, is sitting across from me..." Naruto blinked, his mind blank at the statement, "I never wanted to marry someone other than you, Naruto," Itachi said softly, sorrow reaching his eyes, not understanding that he has to explain this to Naruto. Shaking his head mentally, 'I left him with a note, not explaining anything...' "The only good things that came out of it, were the boys and -thankfully- being able to be with you again, even if you're with another." 'Natsu could be the other person living here, but I need to make sure...'
Naruto sat up, his heart pounding at the sincerity that rang in Itachi's voice; "What do you mean? I'm not with anyone, Itachi," Naruto breathed out. Looking down at the table, biting his lower lip, trying to figure out when he told Itachi had come to this conclusion; an epiphany occurred when he remembered seeing Itachi turning away from Natsu's room and the question about his cooking. "Oh," Naruto smiled and looking at Itachi, "I don't exactly have a child of my own, I kind of took on Natsu," Itachi relaxed in his seat, "he lives with me, or well us, now."
Itachi closed his eyes, a small smile emerging on his face, "I see," he whispered, 'perhaps there is still hope,' opening his eyes, he looked at Naruto with something that he couldn't quite place, "I had hoped that someone would stay with you; I know how much you hate being alone or being surrounded in silence more than necessary." Naruto felt his chest warm, looking away from the happy eyes that caused him to blush more. After a few minutes, with the sound of Sasuke trying to talk to Sai who was asking him about the cartoons on the TV, Itachi coughed in his hand, "If I may make a request," Naruto snapped back to him, feeling the awkwardness filling the room, "it seems that Sasuke is low on diapers..."
"Oh!" Naruto got up from his seat, looking around for his list of items to buy, "Here," Naruto handed the list to Itachi along with a pen when found, "just write whatever you guys need." Naruto nodded, "Do you want to come with?" Naruto asked, shifting from foot to foot, "In case you see something that you might need that you didn't think about before..."
Itachi chuckled at the flustered Naruto, "No, this is all that I need at the moment, I need to help the boys unpack and fully settle in."
Naruto nodded, "Right, right," rubbing the back of his neck, a bright smile shining at the next question, "Perhaps next time, then?"
"Next time," Itachi promised, handing back the list with his request.
Five minutes later after a red faced Naruto had fully left -having to return when he forgot his keys, then his wallet and phone- Itachi sat by Sai who was laying down in the corner of the L-shaped couch; Sai turned away from watching Sasuke, who was standing fascinated by the TV a few feet away, to his father. "Chichi?" Sai sat up.
"What do you think about Naruto?" Itachi asked slowly after a minute; he had an idea on how he should tell Sai of the new arrangement.
Sai moved to sit on Itachi's lap, his head laying on his father's chest, hands curling onto the shirt; "I like him," Itachi blew out air he didn't know he was holding, "he's not scary like *Oji Deidara," Itachi couldn't help but snicker at the reason, "he's umm," Sai scrunched his eyebrows trying to look for the right word.
"Bright?" Sai nodded, "I know, I thought the same when I first met him when I was a little older than you." Itachi leaned back into the couch, his eyes moving to Sasuke who giggled before turning to them and ran to the empty spot next to him on the couch.
"Really?" glancing to his eldest, Itachi smiled a bit at the amazement shown on Sai's face; Itachi nodded, "Did you like him?" Itachi froze, "Do you like him, Chichi?"
Itachi closed his eyes, a soft sigh coming from his lips, "If Naruto was a girl, I would have her be your mother instead of that other one," Sai blinked, not fully understanding, "but sadly Naruto is not a girl, so it is not possible; I had hoped to have you with Naruto when you were still just a baby like Sasuke is but that didn't happen." Laying his head onto the shoulder again, Sai watched as Sasuke tried to climb to the couch to sit next to them; "I'm happy that Naruto let us stay here, I don't want you or Sasuke to go through what I did when I was your age, Sai," Itachi whispered.
"Daddy!" Sasuke cried, his upper body barely reaching the top of the couch, his sapphire eyes watering, "Daddy..." the voice wavered as the tears started to fall over, his breathing sounding like little hiccups.
Shaking his head, Itachi reached over and picked up Sasuke with one arm and helped him get his knees to touch the couch cushion, "Better?" Itachi brushed away the tears, Sasuke giggled before curling onto Itachi's side, his thumb going into his mouth as he returned to watching TV. "Naruto is willing to help me raise the two of you, Sai," Itachi ran his hands through both of their hair, receiving a sigh of contentment.
"You're not leaving are you?" Sai asked hesitantly, eyes drooping at the slight message.
"Kami no," Itachi bent and kissed Sai on the forehead, "you two are a part of me, Sai, I will never leave you alone!" He whispered into the soft, puffy hair, "I love you two too much to do such a thing."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
*Chichi -Father
*Itadakimasu - I gratefully recieve
*Obaasan -Grandmother
*Ojiisan -Grandfather
*Haha -mother
*Gochisosama deshita -Thank you for the meal
*Five million yen -$49,004.60 in USD (7/5/14)
*Oji -Uncle
I hope you guys liked the chapter, again sorry that it took so long; had to do some research and write down ideas for much much later chapters down, lol. I hope that the next chapter will come out soon for you guys.
Don't forget to review!