Chapter 11: The end
Notes:
Ahhh the (pretty much) ending of this story makes me feel some type of way. It's not the longest chapter by far, but it's what I have. This is my first "long fic" as I often refer to it, and I'd like to really thank everyone who stuck with me the last sevenish months while I wrote it! So anyway...happy reading :)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
"Sasuke," Naruto's eyes were full of tears, his voice trembling ridiculously, as he looked at the crying baby on Sasuke's chest. Sasuke felt his own emotions welling up, his throat getting sticky, tears dripping down his cheeks, and for once he didn't feel like holding them back. He really had done it. The wailing baby he was holding was proof of that.
He felt a disconnect as he looked down, at the mess that was his son, and felt overcome with love. He'd heard so many times that it was a feeling no one could truly describe to him until he experienced it for himself, and so many times over he could say it was right. His gaze flicked briefly to Naruto, before landing back on his son, and it hit him then how truly terrifying it was to have something so precious to him exist at all. Sasuke had never planned on loving anyone else after his family, but then Naruto had smashed those expectations to bits, and here he was again feeling woefully unprepared for the daunting giddiness that was loving one more.
"Naruto!" Sakura's startled voice pulled Sasuke back to reality, and he quickly realized that he was surrounded by fiery chakra, warmed by the power flickering around him.
"I'm sorry! I'm not even trying, it's—"
"Healing," Sakura mumbled, obviously stunned. Sasuke was somehow less surprised. They hadn't talked about it of course, but feeling the effects of Naruto's chakra now, it seemed like there was no other way he could have been expected to act. It wasn't the first time and he was sure it wouldn't be the last time that Naruto healed him. Their connection was an intimate one, open emotionally in ways neither of them were with anyone else, so no, Sasuke couldn't see Naruto managing to hold back at such a sentimental time.
It wasn't long though before Sakura shook off her surprise. "Finish wiping him then, Naruto. He needs skin to skin time with Sasuke."
Looking down now at his son's sleeping face, he could smile at the memories of that hectic day. The way everything worked out in the end, how he and Naruto had taken turns staring at the chubby little face for hours on end, how even the most raucous cries were met with tenderness and affection.
And while the newness of cries and diaper changes had certainly worn off, now that their son was six months old, both of them still took the time to marvel over his every expression, every new sound, the way seeing either of their faces was the best part of his day. Or like now, when he was due to wake up from his nap, and both of them had found their way into his bedroom so he never even got the chance to cry.
"You know, I really expected his hair to be black like yours." Naruto's whispered from where he stood behind Sasuke, obviously watching the sunlight play over the mop of chestnut hair on his son's head.
"It might get darker when he gets older still. His hair got a little of us both." Sasuke could smile at the irony of it, at how full their hands would be if he got a mix of any other characteristics of theirs. There would surely be a way to test his chakra nature soon enough, but Sasuke liked the idea of waiting for a while.
As their son's eyelids fluttered and blinked open, he heard Naruto's breath rush in beside him. "But those eyes…"
"Violet." When he looked over, there was a soft smile on Naruto's face. "Your mom's."
"Come on Arashi," Naruto said, bending to scoop their already grinning baby out of his crib, "papa missed you anyway." It always made Sasuke feel all mushy inside to see Naruto with their son, to watch him and hear him babble gooey nonsense to such a tiny person. Who knew the best way to bring a powerful ninja to his knees was to give them a baby to love. "Maybe we should keep having babies until one of them has red hair like mom too. I always did love it."
He was glad Naruto was walking ahead of him down the hallway because he visibly cringed. "Yeah maybe save comments like that for a couple years because I definitely just threw up in my mouth." Naruto's laugh immediately echoed down the hall, making Arashi giggle in his arms and Sasuke thoroughly wish he was joking.
"I just really don't feel comfortable with it," Naruto said, his voice low in the darkness of their bedroom. They were wrapped around each other, the way they always were when they went to sleep, naked and warm the way they were whenever they got the chance.
"It's been six months. It's not like you're leaving right after he was born, and I'm sure there will be times when I'll have to leave too. You'll only be in Konoha, barely five hours away."
"But Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu will be gone. Just because we haven't heard any news of enemies developing, doesn't mean there aren't any."
"You have to go, and I feel like I can defend Arashi at least long enough for you to get back." Naruto could tell by the tone of Sasuke's voice he would be well advised to drop the subject. It wasn't that he didn't think Sasuke could defend himself and their son. It was just that he didn't want him to ever have to fight such a battle alone, not to mention his protective instincts that were still in overdrive. "Plus we have our seals. I can let you know the second something's not right."
Sasuke did have a point. It hadn't taken Naruto long after Arashi was born to start thinking up ways for them to communicate, as a family, no matter how far apart they were. He'd eventually turned to his clan history and developed a seal, one that he and Sasuke both now had on the inside of their left wrist, that responded to their chakra when they chose. The seals were exactly the same, and when they focused their chakra correctly, the seal would change on both of their arms.
So if Sasuke activated the seal on his arm, Naruto's would also change, alerting him immediately that something was up. He'd developed the idea with the plan to eventually give Arashi the same one, so they would be able to communicate as a family. It definitely had soothed some of the worry from Naruto's mind but not all of it. Even if he could know the second Sasuke was in trouble, he was still hours away, and with the possibility of an unknown threat, he was incredibly uneasy.
The morning that Naruto was set to leave, he woke up much earlier than he needed to and just laid in bed awake. His mind was unsettled even though he knew the time he would be spending in Konoha was important. Kakashi had requested them both originally, to discuss plans for changes that Naruto had made very clear needed to happen before he would ever consider becoming hokage. They also needed to discuss any news Kakashi may have heard about anyone plotting against them for any reason.
When the message had been brought to them by hawk weeks ago, Sasuke had immediately shut down the possibility of traveling with Arashi. He'd only just gotten comfortable taking him to the market in the small town they lived near and wouldn't be comfortable traveling to Konoha with him for a while yet. They'd made the decision together for Naruto to go since Sasuke couldn't be made to part from Arashi so soon.
And so there Naruto was, all of his things packed away. He was leaving before Arashi normally even woke for the day, but Sasuke got up to tell him goodbye. He let his kisses linger, as if it already wasn't obvious he didn't want to go, but he eventually pulled away and managed only to turn back once at the edge of the road before leaving.
Arashi was cooing and drooling all over his fist in the carrier strapped to Sasuke's chest. He was wandering his way through the outside market the town had on certain mornings during the week, already chastising himself for having to go while they were alone, but they'd run out of a couple of things, so he had no choice.
He and Naruto had made acquaintance with a few of the townspeople, which was mainly inevitable but also helped by Naruto's overly social nature. It made him feel a little better about leaving while they were even slightly more vulnerable than usual.
That's why when someone walked up beside them while he was looking over the tomatoes, he didn't immediately recoil. The second they started to reach their hand toward Arashi though…
"Don't touch my baby." Sasuke took a step back to move his whole body away. The stranger looked sheepish enough, but Sasuke had no idea who they were and he doubted he'd ever seen them before.
"Oh sorry! He was just smiling over at me, I forgot myself." The stranger was smiling too, but the interaction made Sasuke so uneasy he just turned on his heel and went straight to the check out. He was pretty sure they'd met most of the people in the little town and a stranger feeling bold enough to touch his baby immediately put him on edge.
As soon as it was his turn to check out, he was greeted with a familiar face.
"Hey Sasuke, how are things?"
"Everything's good, just a quick grocery run."
"We all know how that is. Heard Naruto left a couple days ago. When's he get back in town?" Sasuke felt his stomach sink to his toes. He was sure he was overreacting, that someone had just mentioned to her in passing that they'd seen Naruto leave, but he couldn't help looking around, hoping that the strange man was nowhere in sight. Of course luck wasn't on his side, and there in line behind him was the man, smiling still. "Sasuke what's wrong?" He was sure his face had paled when he looked back, but he was trying his best not to react outwardly.
"Oh nothing, just remembered I…think I left a candle burning." He was thinking quick on his toes, wanting nothing more than to leave the store as fast as possible. He was unsettled and deeply regretted going out at all.
"Oh no! We can't have that. Here hurry on home now." She handed Sasuke his bag and smiled as he hurried away.
The whole walk home his mind was running a mile a minute. There's no way he could justify activating his seal now, when nothing had actually happened. Even if he knew Naruto wouldn't fault him for calling him home on a hunch, he'd rather not interrupt the meetings Kakashi had planned for nothing. Naruto had only been gone four days and he was supposed to have stayed away for a week.
That was until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, his body automatically picking up on someone following, even from a distance. The second he tried, he could sense their chakra not far behind him, and he was willing to bet it was the strange man from the market. Their house was only a mile outside of town, but he was well on his way home. He made the split second decision not to go back, knowing that there was no way he could just sit in town for the next five hours.
He immediately sent chakra to the seal on his wrist, alerting Naruto, which he was sure would send him hauling ass home. Even if it was a false alarm, Sasuke had every reason to believe the chakra signature of a shinobi conveniently taking the exact path as him right after the weird occurrence in the market, was no coincidence. He'd never stopped walking, but he doubled his pace after that, sparing a glance down at Arashi who had gone silent and was staring up at him owlishly, his eyes opened wide. His son was no doubt feeding off the energy Sasuke was putting out, sensing the unrest that was rolling in his stomach like the storm he was named after.
But just as Sasuke was getting to the edge of their yard, he felt the presence disappear, as if he wasn't being followed anymore. For a second, he felt stupid. Stupid that he'd signaled Naruto, stupid that he'd panicked. And then he realized, no shinobi that knew who he was, that knew who Naruto was, would attack while they were together, nor would they attack alone. He was suddenly sure that he only had a short amount of time before there would be more than one person after him.
Sasuke thundered into their house, his mind suddenly on overdrive trying to prepare for an unknown number of enemies to show up at any time. He could fight, he had no doubt about that, even though he was months out of practice. If it really came down to it, he didn't care what happened to him, but anyone hurting Arashi was out of the question. He knew he wouldn't hesitate risking his life fighting to protect his son, but before it even came to that, he had to have a plan, a way to hide Arashi so he could fight.
Just inside the door he paused, trying to pick through his thoughts was like trying to sip from a fire hydrant. But just as quickly as he'd stopped, he caught an idea, and his body was back to moving just as fast as his mind.
Sasuke was just laying Arashi down, bundled and napping in his crib, when he felt chakra signatures come into the farthest reaches of his sensory range. He'd already called one of his smaller hawk summons to stay in the room, but his gut was roiling against the plan.
"If you feel my chakra get too low for any reason, leave and take him to Naruto, or Sakura or Gaara if you can't get to him. You'll have genjutsu to protect you for as long as I can."
With those words, Sasuke was forming the hand signs for the multilayered genjutsu he had planned, to cover Arashi's room, his hawk summon, and their house as a whole, then leaving and locking every door he passed through to get outside.
He was already on a genjutsu kick, so he didn't even have to call up much more chakra to set up another one, forming a boundary within the forest surrounding their house. If any of the ninja that were sent after them were even a little worthy, they'd be able to break through it, but just in case there were some to get caught. Dwindling their numbers in any way would aid Sasuke by himself.
So he stood, sharingan activated, wearing shinobi gear he hadn't in months, and smiled when he felt the ones that were halted by his jutsu. Not all of them were, of course. Many made it through, slowed or not by the barrier, and they were converging ever faster on his location, in a clearing as removed from their house as he felt comfortable going.
The second he could hear movement, his hand went to the grip of his sword, but before he could even withdraw it, there was a disturbance in the air beside him and then, a flare of familiarly warm chakra.
He didn't startle, too comforted by the presence to react past a widening of his eyes and raising of his eyebrows. "Naruto." His appearance sent Sasuke's mind reeling to catch up, figure out how he got there so fast before he had to be told. The question didn't even need to be asked.
"Sasuke." Naruto's voice held more emotion than Sasuke had managed to convey in his. His relief was obvious, even as enemies moved in on their location, and the strength of the chakra wafting toward Sasuke was a good indication of his opinion on that development. "I've never been more appreciative that I'm the son of the yellow flash."
There was his answer. Naruto must have hidden seals to travel between. Around their house was no surprise, but the idea must have struck him to add additional ones on the path to the village. Sasuke was…impressed. "You're home early. Missed you," he said, as the first of their enemies came within long range striking distance.
Both of them moved into defensive stances as Naruto snorted beside him, "bet you did."
"It was clear that their motivation was the potential of using your son as a weapon of power. His genetics seemed to be their only confirmation of such a potential, but no one, of course, would doubt the validity of that." Kakashi's voice was directed at the handful of them sat around their kitchen table that was now more closely resembling a conference one.
Sasuke's eyes flicked quickly past all of them, Kakashi, Yamato, Sakura, Sai, Karin, Jugo, Suigetsu, and Naruto beside him. The people who had quickly arrived not long after Naruto, though surely not in enough time for any enemies to be left for them.
"It would be disillusioned of us to assume no future plots will be made with similar goals in mind, so we'll need to meet again soon to set actual plans in place—"
"So he can be guaranteed to be a future weapon of Konoha instead." The interruption left Sasuke's mouth on a wave of irritation, his tone making it clear that he wasn't really asking a question. Blame it on the left over adrenaline from the fight leaving him keyed up or whatever, he felt the truth of his words couldn't be denied. Naruto tensed quickly beside him before Kakashi's gaze locked onto his.
"Because protecting him from falling into enemy hands and being blindly reduced to a weapon, would be in the best interest of everyone including Konoha."
"He won't be getting turned into a jinchuriki either," Naruto said from beside him. He moved his legs as he spoke, widening them so his knee brushed Sasuke's. It was meant, he knew, as a reassurance, to let him know they were on the same page and it wasn't Sasuke speaking his concern on his own.
It wasn't that either of them suspected Kakashi of any such plots, but the village had an ominous history, one that both he and Naruto had felt the effects of more heavily than most. For their son, assurances had to be made. No exception.
"As I said, it is in the best interest of us all that he be raised by his parents and allowed to lead as normal a life as can be expected for the son of the two strongest shinobi of our time." Kakashi's expression only varied from his ordinary one of boredom by a fraction, but his message was more than clear. He would be an ally for them going into the future, and another glance around the table told him Kakashi wouldn't be the only one.
That at least allowed Sasuke to relax and drop his argument. There was no doubt that this confrontation would only be the first in a long line of difficulties they would have to face, but in no way to him would their son ever not be worth it. Years ago if anyone would have asked him of the possibility of him even settling down at all, he would have laughed in their face, but now he couldn't see himself living any other way. Without Naruto by his side and the son that they'd made together, life would pale in comparison.
There was no going back now. Their lives were changed forever, and he knew no matter what that it would be for the better.
Notes:
This story is far from perfect, but I can't help feeling at least a little accomplished at managing to finish it! There are parts I love and parts that I would definitely change if I could go back, but I'm choosing to be happy that I followed through! Thank you to all my readers (even my silent ones), to those who took the time to give me kudos, and especially those who encouraged me through comments!!
For any who are curious, I thought it was super cool that my outline alone for this story is 8k words!
But anyway...I do have a stand alone epilogue type part to this story in the works, and I also definitely have multiple ideas for new stories brewing so until then :)