He finds Kaede-san's home quite easily. He knocks, and a man, a beta, younger than Sasuke by a few years opens the door.
"Does Kaede-san live here?"
Shinobi probably don't visit or interact with this area of the village so far out, so the young man is frozen. "R-right, just—" he turns his head, but doesn't take his eyes off Sasuke, and calls for her over his shoulder. "Kaa-san! A shinobi-san is looking for you!"
Kaede appears just about a few seconds later. "Ah, Uchiha-sama! How lovely to see you again," she says, smiling motherly at him, ushering her son aside to face him. "Come in, come in!"
"Thank you," Sasuke follows her inside, trying to be inconspicuous as he looks around and makes sure there's nothing he can't disarm or take care of.
She leads him to their kotatsu and serves him hot tea. "Oh, I'd never imagined having Uchiha-sama visit! It's so nice, to have new clan head," she says as he pours him the tea.
Sasuke has enough manners to say thank you and take a sip before getting to why he's there.
"To what do we owe this pleasure, Uchiha-sama?"
He also notices the discomfort her son has with him, so he must get this over with.
Sasuke remembers servants at the old Uchiha compound, they're sealed to never speak about whatever they hear or see in the compound. When Sasuke asks to see her seal, she shows the inky marks on her shoulder, hidden by clothes, never to be seen by anyone but them and their partners.
"What does that do?" the son asks.
"It prevents her from revealing anything that happens between her and an Uchiha, anywhere and within the sealed and warded properties," he answers. "Will you mind me undoing it and applying a new one?"
"Undo it? A new one?"
"Yes. I've thought about your offer, and I would like to take it,"
"Oh, yes, please,"
She offers her shoulder to him. The son watches carefully. Sasuke undoes the seal by his father, and Kaede winces. When the ink has disappeared off the skin, he then instructs Kaede to reveal her other shoulder, where he applies the new seal.
"What if she wants to leave? Will you remove that?" the son asks.
"No," says Sasuke, "I can only loosen or modify it. There are secrets shinobi clans must keep, especially if it involves many lives,"
When he's done and her shoulders are covered, he hands her an envelope. "Please review this contract. You will essentially be my majordomo, and here lists your responsibilities,"
She takes it, opening the envelope and reading through its contents carefully.
In the document, Sasuke wrote down she will be responsible for the home and its upkeep, including cleaning and keeping food stocked. Laundry and cooking if needed. Caring for his mate and child.
"Uchiha-sama!" she exclaims. "Your mate and child? Truly? Oh!"
Sasuke might have made the right choice. She seems ecstatic over discovering Sasuke is about to become a father. "Yes,"
"Oh, how exciting! A baby. It's been so long since the last Uchiha child," she gasps when she sees the offered wage at the bottom of the document. "The wages, is this correct? There is no mistake?"
"Yes. Do you accept these terms?"
"Then, yes," Kaede reaches over to the dresser near them, pulls out a pen, writes her name down and signs, then returns the document to Sasuke. She faces him properly and bows. "I am happy to back in service of the Uchiha,"
The bowing and the formality of it all disturbs Sasuke, after being on his own for so long. But then again, marrying into the first family will probably worsen this. He'll have to suck it up. "Thank you. Kaede-san, my mate, my omega, he's… having difficulties carrying our child," Sasuke starts.
Worry washes over Kaede. "But he's alright? The baby? Healthy? Everything is okay?"
"No, Kaede-san. He is on strict rest. Many things can go wrong. Which is why for now, I'd like to be present at his side to help in any way I can. Since you've accepted, my first task for you is to acquire licenses and contractors, and oversee the repairs of the house, and furnish and prepare it for us when we move in,"
"I know some people," the son interrupts, now understanding the gravity of the seal his mother just received. "How fast do you need this done? Should all repairs and preparations be completed before your move?"
"In a month? Maybe even less," he turns to Kaede. "I know this is vague, Kaede-san, and not much help. All I ask is that you spare no expense. Everything must be of the best quality possible as fast as possible,"
Kaede looks over to her son.
"Tight schedule, but I can definitely help that," the son says. "Hajimemashite. My name is Sato Hiroki."
"Hajimemashite, Sato-san. I am Uchiha Sasuke,"
"I'll be helping with your repairs. I'm a construction worker and we just got off a job. I'll speak to my foreman for you,"
"Kaede-san will be the one to speak on behalf of me. Though I will come by as often as I can to inspect and suggest changes, if necessary," Sasuke turns back to Kaede. "I will be in constant contact with you through this. I will come back in two days to accompany you and your son, and his foreman, to assess the land and the house. And I will expect the initial cost in two days after the inspection, so that the repairs and construction can begin immediately. Please understand that construction and repair will not stop with the initial assessment," he turns to the son. "This may take a long time to complete,"
"Understood, Uchiha-sama," Kaede nods.
Sasuke pulls another envelope from his coat and sets it down on the kotatsu. "Here is a week's worth of your wages, Kaede-san. I hope this helps you in many ways. I will hand you another envelope next week, and your next wages will be handed over to you every two weeks,"
Kaede is shaking as she receives the envelope. Sasuke asks her to sign in a notebook with a date, proving she received her wages.
"Thank you for your time, Kaede-san, Sato-san,"
"Thank you, Uchiha-sama. Trust we'll care for you, your mate, and your home," both bow.
"Hai,"
Kaede accompanies him to the door.
"I was thrown out of the house," says Iruka in jest, helping Naruto prepare lunch for their significant others. "They better bring some ice cream,"
Naruto chuckles, popping the rice cooker on. "I have told Sasuke off for trying to look at the documents Baa-chan sent to have processed,"
"Sasuke's out in the mornings, right?" he asks, lighting the stove to get the miso soup going.
"Yep," Naruto grabs onto the dining table tightly and lowers himself down on the seat. "He says he's fixing things with the land acquisition, and that he's with Baa-chan and Kakashi-sensei. I'm so jealous. I want to work, too. I'm so bored. We went to the tower the other day and Baa-chan is swamped! She gave nee-chan the day off and she can't even look at the papers. I helped her but she probably didn't do anything after I left,"
"Watch out, Naruto," Iruka says as he seasons the sautéing vegetables in the wok. "It's easy to become a workaholic. You're already pre-dispositioned for it, wanting to finish everything you see. You need to learn how to stop,"
"Eh," Naruto shrugs. "I only worked that much because I didn't want to run into people while walking home,"
"If you need help for anything, call us," Iruka turns off the heat, places the vegetables into a serving plate, and sets it down on the table. He sits next to Naruto, pinches his cheek to show affection. "We'll always be here for you and support you in anything, no matter what happens, okay?"
"I will try,"
Because he doesn't want to be a bother to people. He's already being so much of a bother to Sasuke, relying on him so much for the littlest thing. Waking him up at night whenever he needs to pee, sit, or stand. Whenever his back or feet hurt, Sasuke is immediately there.
"Do you think… do you think Sasuke feels… obligated to stay with me?"
"Naruto," frowns Iruka, "You can't really think that?"
Iruka knows it's not just obligation, because Sasuke, a clan child who hadn't exactly been raised to be a clan head, to research clan etiquette when preparing for marriage, gathered enough courage to ask for Naruto's hand formally, and took it with grace when he was rejected.
"I don't know…" he chokes. "I mean… I've been nothing but a problem to him. Baa-chan threatened him, I guess? To take care of me… because this is his baby… and I… don't know…"
"Let me return the question to you, Naruto-kun," says Iruka gently. "Do you feel obligated to Sasuke?"
Naruto gasps. "No!" he answers immediately. "No, I've never! I love him!"
"Then there you go. Trust me," Iruka takes Naruto's hands to squeeze them. "Trust kaa-chan, trust tou-chan, trust Sasuke. He loves you," he stresses. Because Kakashi threatened Sasuke, too, but he's still here. "He loves you so much, Naruto-kun,"
"Okay," he trusts his parents. He trusts Sasuke. "Okay,"
Sasuke turns up at the hokage's office at ten, gets quick instructions from Shizune as she hands him some scrolls and folders. Wordlessly, he receives them and flickers out of the office, headed out to the Hatake compound.
"Ah, there you are," Kakashi says when he opens the doors to the compound. "I thought you'd be earlier,"
"Osoku natte sumimasen," Sorry for being late, says Sasuke as he enters. "Ojamashimasu,"
"No need to be," Kakashi leads him into the genkan, then into the living area where they make themselves comfortable on the kotatsu where tea is waiting for them.
Kakashi closes the door, then seals the room to make it soundproof.
Sasuke hands over the sealed scrolls.
Kakashi unseals them, then reviews the documents. "Sasuke, remember we are essentially officers in training. I know you are aware that there are always ANBU trailing after you and monitoring my house and your apartment,"
"They're not subtle at all," Sasuke knows exactly where they are at any given time.
Kakashi snorts. "Honestly, if they had the drive and harmony you and Naruto have, less of them would die on missions,"
That might be the closest thing to a compliment Kakashi will ever give him as his child's suitor.
"Anyway, any documents we have here are copies of what the hokage has in her office," he points to a mark on the edge of the documents that indicate they're copies to be burned. "All documents, including the scrolls they come sealed in are to be burned. If you don't burn them within the allotted time frame, opened or not, they will burn themselves,"
"Hai,"
"Is the apartment warded?"
"Hai,"
"Sealed?"
"Only for sound,"
Kakashi hums. "Iruka is already there helping Naruto with lunch, so we better get a move on with these. We don't want to be late. After lunch Iruka and I will teach you how to seal and ward the apartment even further. Naruto, for his short term as an assistant, has really absorbed much; I'm sure you've seen him work on some less important and confidential stuff. Basically, he and Shizune-san, the first assistant, are filtering through the documents, deal with them, before they get the most important ones to the Godaime. That's where you, she, and Naruto, and Shikamaru, too, will come in later for me,"
"Naruto mentioned he does much of the administrative documents,"
"Yes. For now, Shikamaru handles missions and dispatch. Shizune takes care of the more urgently political ones, and Shikamaru is the one to handle missions and seeks approval for them. Naruto is the one who handles the documents that come with these missions," he shows him a sample of the mission approval process document. "Like this, while Shizune handles the reports," another sealed folder, marked clearly as an A-Class mission report. "Like this. Clear so far?"
It's an hour of discussion. Kakashi tells him to burn the papers as soon as Sasuke verbally confirms he understands. By the time they're done, Sasuke's burning the scroll used to seal the documents.
"Alright, that's as much as I'm willing to absorb right now," Kakashi sips on his cooled tea. "Did the Godaime give you a hard time this morning?"
"Ah, no," Sasuke answers, also finishing his cooled tea. "I was looking for contractors to fix the house on the land I bought for Naruto and me,"
Kakashi's brows rise slightly. Huh. He didn't expect Sasuke to have already settled so well.
"I wish for Naruto to be settled in the new house before the baby arrives, where it's safer behind a warded gate and with a caregiver for when he advances in pregnancy,"
"A caregiver?"
"Hai. A civilian woman who used to serve my father came up to me. In her words, she asked to come back into service of the Uchiha. I allowed her return, removed the seal she received from my father and gave her a new one,"
"Your father sealed civilians?"
"He was the head, and the leader of the police force. The seal only meant they can't speak or write of anything that they hear or see, or remove anything from the property unless given to them. I removed and reapplied a loosened version of it. If someone's life is in danger, she can speak. I'm still thinking of whether to apply anything regarding lying to it,"
"She's had the seal this whole time?"
"Hai,"
"Huh,"
"I asked her to be my majordomo,"
Kakashi nods. These are already some clan head things.
"Hatake-dono,"
"Mm?"
"We're late,"
"Ah,"
"You're late!" says Iruka when Naruto opens the door to Kakashi and Sasuke.
"Can I get a kiss?" Kakashi pulls down his mask.
"No. Wash your hands, Danna-sama," Husband, Iruka hisses as he turns his back on him and heads to the dining area.
Naruto giggles at Kakashi's frown, then welcomes Sasuke home with a kiss. "Okaeri,"
"Tadaima," Sasuke replies automatically. "What's with them?"
"Ah, you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago,"
"That's early compared to what we had to go through as genin,"
"Yes, well, the future Rokudaime-sama should learn how to show up on time," says Naruto as they approach the dining area.
Sasuke sees the prepared lunch: stir fried vegetables with shiitake and oyster mushrooms, karaage, miso soup, rice, and fermented cabbage and cucumber. His stomach grumbles.
"Hai, Papa-san, let's eat!" Naruto tells Kakashi.
Kakashi sighs as he takes a seat. He only gets called husband and papa when they're making fun of him.
While Iruka and Naruto clean up, Kakashi and Sasuke go around the apartment sealing every door, wall, and window just to be sure.
"I'll help you with the new house and the gates, too," Kakashi says as he and Iruka slip their shoes on at the genkan, then bids them goodbye.
"How was your day with sensei?" Naruto asks as they cuddle on the sofa, Naruto pressed to Sasuke's left side, after lunch, glasses of cold tea accumulating condensation on the coffee table.
Naruto has his attention on a baby book, while Sasuke is busy thinking of what else the new house needs. He still hasn't asked Naruto if he wants to go shopping for the baby, but he's seen some baby things here and there. Naruto's been stocking diapers, buying when he's away in the morning, and he finds new baby clothes while folding laundry. But going for a shopping trip is going to be difficult when Naruto can't be outside on his feet for too long.
"There's a lot of paper. And I saw copies of documents you signed off on. I burned them after reading,"
"I wonder how high the stacks of paper are now in Baa-chan's office," Naruto muses aloud.
"Repairs on the house on the land I bought will start soon,"
"Really? That's fast!"
Sasuke hums in reply. "I've gotten help in contacting contractors who can assess it, and help in acquiring licenses, and requested the repairs be started as soon as possible as fast as they can, so that we can move in and you can settle before you're too far along,"
"Don't rush, okay?" Naruto leans into Sasuke and gives him a kiss to his cheek. "We're going to be just fine taking it slow,"
It's not that Sasuke wants to move fast, it's just that he wants Naruto out of the center of the village so he can properly rest.
"How did you find out? That you were pregnant?"
"Mmm," Naruto hums thoughtfully. "Remember when I told you about that lady telling her daughter not to spread her legs like I did? In that store? When she said that, I was halfway through a sick week off, since I'd been feeling so bad, and hadn't put on a scent blocker since I was off duty and forgot to put one on before going out to buy food. I ran to Baa-chan and she took one whiff of me and yeah, she knew. That was my first bleed,"
"Baa-chan!" Naruto sobbed, begged, "Don't let me lose Sasuke's baby!"
"10 weeks, I think? I didn't know. Lost weight, couldn't eat anything, always nauseous even water tasted disgusting, and when I asked Kurama, he wouldn't tell me because he kinda hates you. But he did say I might finally stop chasing you. I didn't get it at that time. But I did when I showed up at the Baa-chan's office, practically yelled at me that I was pregnant. I had a hunch I had your baby in me for five minutes and I loved him," he brushes fingers over the curve of his belly. "I loved him like I didn't know I could love and need someone so much. I woke up and Baa-chan looked the worst I've seen her after healing someone,"
"You shouldn't have moved out. You should've let them help you,"
Naruto shrugs. He's never been good at asking for help. "I guess… their words poisoned me too easily. That I did this to myself. I wasn't thinking. That I was dumb slut. Pregnant and no mate, no bite, no ring. I… didn't want Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei hearing all of that. No parent… wants that for their child. I didn't want… them to look at their failure every day,"
"You're not dumb nor are you a slut. Don't ever call yourself that again. And this is not failure, Naruto," Sasuke lifts Naruto's chin so that their blue eyes meet black. "You, one of the most powerful and accomplished shinobi in history, raised by your own teachers, how is that a failure? You only loved, that is not a failure or a mistake. That's being human. Your teachers, your parents are proud of you. Never think otherwise, dobe,"
But Sasuke can't help but think Naruto's life would've been easier if he had loved and bedded someone else, someone who could do the things right, and in the right order. He knows he's not easy to love, with the amount of baggage he has and the wrongs he's done; and Sasuke, like Tsunade, can't fathom how Naruto could still love him after every heartbreak he ever gave him. If anyone's a mistake, it's him.
"And I'm sure it takes two to make a child. You didn't go and get yourself pregnant. I did that. If I hear them say this, I will tear them limb from limb,"
Sasuke is greedy. Much like he'd been greedy for the power he now possesses, he'll be greedy for Naruto—for his love, attention, touch, and body. It makes him angry, thinking about Naruto with someone else who could have done things the right way.
Naruto chuckles, pulls him down again to kiss his cheek. "Teme, must you always show affection through violence?"
"I will when I have to be,"
Naruto might give him sweet, innocent pecks to his cheek, but Sasuke will give him passionate, burning kisses that will leave him breathless.
If he ever, ever finds anyone who looks or touches Naruto wrong, or like he does, he will hold up his end of the promise, to tear them apart, gouge out their eyes, and scrape their disgusting germs off Naruto with the sharpest kunai he has.
Sasuke-papa is working hard to get that house for Naru-mama!
I forgot to put the meanings of the names in the last chapter so here you go:
彦 (hiko) means boy or prince.
Akihiko あきひこ – Autumn (秋彦). Can also be written with 明 (aki) or 昭 (aki) both meaning "bright" but I chose 秋 (aki) meaning autumn.
Fuyuhiko ふゆひこ – Winter (冬彦)
Haruhiko はるひこ – Spring (春彦). Can also be 榛 (haru) meaning "hazelnut" or 晴 (haru) meaning "clear up" but chose 春 (haru) meaning spring.
Natsuhiko なつひこ – Summer (夏彦)
If you replace 彦 (hiko) with 子 (ko) meaning child, it turns into girl names! That's why Naruto says they can shorten it if the baby turns out a girl instead of a boy. Though I'm not sure about the unisex qualities about these names.
Akiko あきこ - Autumn child (秋子)
Fuyuko ふゆこ - Winter child (冬子)
Haruko はるこ - Spring child (春子)
Natsuko なつこ - Summer child (夏子)
Also another thing I forgot that I will also add to the first chapter intial notes, is that Naruto is my short queen! Look I just wanted a short Naruto who people underestimate because he's short and cute, but then he can absolutely fuck you up. Also wouldn't Naru-mama be so cute if he had to tiptoe to kiss Sasuke-papa? And Sasuke-papa has to bend down a little to let Naru-mama kiss him. ?
Here's how I think the height difference between him and Sasuke is: (Also Kiwi Pug-san's art is gorgeous but they also draw some really intense NSFW things, so please take care. I hope you enjoy their art!)
(twitter)
/kiwi_pug/status/1541601815485186048
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And more cute shorter Naruto:
/kiwi_pug/status/1607082585620119552
/kiwi_pug/status/1550182296224940035
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