5

He watched her sip her tea, a thoughtful look glazing her usually-sharp eyes. He also felt himself scowling, but there was no helping that. He was here too, after all. Inuzuka Kiba's feral eyes darted once to the backyard, where Uchiha Sasuke was being tackled by his daughter and both of them were being watched by his son, who sat further from both parties, keeping quietly to himself as always. Like his mother, the yellow eyes swiveled back around to look at her in profile, as she watched her daughter and her husband playing in their backyard, some inner emotion making her pale face soft and contemplative. Kiba's heart throbbed, and the only indication he made of his pain was the slight scrunching of his nose and a shift of his legs. The boy—Haku—glanced over from the other end of the porch, then shifted his eyes back to whatever he'd been looking at before.

Hinata blinked herself out of it and looked around at him too. "Oh, Kiba-kun, are you done with your tea?" she began reaching for his cup. He shook his head and held out one hand to settle her back down, the other gripping the ceramic tea cup as if for some sort of support.

"Hinata, when are you going to change your mind about this thing?" he grumbled. He didn't mean to sound like a little kid about the whole situation (although he knew he did) but even though the marriage had been consummated and two heirs had come out of the mixed bloodlines, it still didn't feel right. He was finally beginning to wonder if it was just him that was getting that vibe. Hinata surprised him, however, by setting her own cup down on the table between them and frowning down at it, a small crease forming in her brow.

"I can't very well leave, now can I?" she said softly, afraid her husband or the children could hear. Kiba was the one with the best hearing around anyway, so he picked up her mumble perfectly.

"I'm not asking you to abandon the kids," he shook his head. "I'm asking if you actually take this marriage seriously."

"I do," she nodded.

"He doesn't!" Kiba jerked a thumb at Sasuke's direction. Her eyes shot nervously after it, to check if he had noticed the motion. He hadn't. But Kiba knew Haku was looking again. He continued anyway: "I'm not trying to tear down your family life, Hinata, but you know he doesn't love you. And you don't love him, am I right?" She was silent. Kiba had a mini-panic attack; maybe, after spending all these years with him, she really was starting to fall for the Uchiha? He didn't calm down until she spoke.

"Whether we love each other was never a factor in the marriage," she said. "Sasuke knew I did not love him and I knew he did not marry me for it. In fact, I'm quite sure Sasuke doesn't really know how to love. But…" she looked out again, to the father and daughter pair tumbling across the grass. Her lips flickered in the trace of a smile. "Maybe he's learning after all." Kiba was a little lost. He stared at Hinata's hands around her tea cup and waited for her to continue, to ease his mind. "I can't do anything to hurt Hana and Haku, even if that means never being truly happy. I can't bring myself to do it." She bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Kiba-kun."

"Yeah," he turned his face away from the entire scene, staring at the doors leading inside the house, focusing on the frame as if he could bore a hole in it with his stare alone. Anything to get his mind off of her. "I know."

Knockknocknock!

"Come…" he realized his voice wasn't carrying over to the door. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Come in," he called. The crack he heard in his own voice made him inwardly wince. Two short figures whizzed into the room. One leaned itself on his desk and began talking a mile a minute while the other flew over his desk (or so he swore later) and clenched his waist with a vice-like grip. He had to blink and stare at the one leaning on his desk for several seconds until his brain kicked in.

"—and then after we left the zoo, Daddy took us for ice cream!" Hana babbled. "But then he told us he was going away on a mission again! Uncle Naruto, tell him he can't go!"

"Hana…" the familiar voice came from back where the door was. "I've already explained to you…"

"He can't go!" she ignored her father, instead, staring intently at Naruto's shocked face. "You can't make him go! He has to stay here, with us! Right, Haku?"

From his waist, Naruto felt a tiny head nod into the middle of his back. His lips finally twitched into an amused smile. He stood, holding onto the boy's shoulders to keep him balanced. He came around the desk and squatted, pulling both children to face him shoulder to shoulder. He took a deep breath, glanced over at their father (who wore a mixed expression of impatience and tolerance that was just priceless), and smiled at them both.

"Kids," he began. "Your father has a very important job. In fact, he's got the most important job in all of Konoha. And sometimes that job—"

"But I thought you had the most important job in all of Konoha," Haku blinked his wide white eyes. "I thought the hokage was the most important ninja in the village."

"He's the most important ninja," Naruto nodded and Sasuke 'che'ed, making the blonde's lips twitch. "But that doesn't mean it's the most important job; there's a difference. You've seen the game of shougi, right?"

They both nodded. "There's a creepy, tall, skinny guy that plays that game all the time in the front office," Hana frowned. Naruto had to fight to control his laughter at the mention of his tactician and his friend Nara Shikamaru.

"Yes, well, our city is sort of like that. The hokage is the 'king' piece and all the other pieces are the ninja below him, all the way down to the people, or the 'pawn' piece. Understand?" They both nodded. "Your father is the second-most important piece in the shougi game, the 'queen' who protects the 'king' with its life." There was a shifting noise from the doorway. Naruto ignored it. "All the other pieces fight too, but the 'queen' piece is the most elite piece, the one that can move in any direction and dominate the field, all to protect the 'king' piece, understand?" Another nod from the twins. "Your father is the best ninja in all of Konoha. I have to send him out on missions, not only to protect me, but to protect you guys too. Does it make sense that way?"

"I guess it does," Haku nodded.

"Daddy, you're a queen piece?" Hana turned to her father in the doorway.

He did not look amused. "It's an example, Hana."

"Now, I'd like to ask you guys a favor," Naruto fought to keep his sides from bursting. "I have to talk to your daddy about the mission he's got to go on now, so I'd like you both to sit outside on that big couch and wait for him, is that okay with you?"

"Okay," Haku nodded.

"Can we go watch the creepy guy play shougi, Uncle Naruto?" Hana asked.

Again, he had to fight the laughter. And fight it hard. "If it's okay with your dad, then it's okay with me."

The two looked to their father expectantly. He sighed. "It's fine, as long as you don't bother him, agreed?"

"Agreed!" Hana chirped. "Come on, Haku! Let's go ask the creepy guy to see if he'll use the queen piece so we can see how it works." They clasped hands and rushed out. Sasuke shut the door behind them with a grunt. Naruto couldn't take it anymore: he hit the floor and began to shriek with laughter. His legs kicked in the air with his mirth. Sasuke just stood there and scowled down at the other man.

"Are you done yet?" he snapped.

"NO!" Naruto rolled onto his side and giggled in pure glee. Sasuke gave in with a resigned sigh and waited until Naruto got the laughter out of his system. Several minutes later he finally stood up, red-faced and wiping tears from his eyes. "Aha…" he gasped for breath. "Ah… Sasuke, your kids are awesome."

"I can't believe you compared me to the queen piece," he said moodily. "Now Hana'll run around saying I'm a queen. Like I need that—" He had to stop talking because Naruto was on the floor screeching with laughter again. He waited with his arms crossed until Naruto came around again.

"Heeheehee," he sucked in huge lungfuls of air and expelled them with tapering giggles. "Queen. Heehee!"

"Oh, shut up," Sasuke growled.

"Ha…heh…whoo!" Naruto finally stood and brushed himself off. "I needed that. Remind me to thank your children."

"Did you really need to talk about the mission?" Sasuke asked him irritably.

"Yeah, I do," Naruto sobered up a little. He turned to the desk, grabbed a scroll off its surface, turned back and tossed it at the other man. He caught it effortlessly, making a slight face.

"Is this another mission statement?" he frowned. "I already got one from Shikamaru…"

"Read it," Naruto prompted. Sasuke shrugged and did so.

A few minutes later, he looked up from the letter, his brow wrinkled in thought.

"What's the mission, then?" he asked Naruto.

"I need you and a team to go to the Sand and pick up Temari and Kankuro. Gaara has to stay there, obviously." He frowned deeply. "I wish I could bring him here, but, it would look bad to Cloud, and I don't want to ruin what he's built up."

"Has the Raikage made any moves to come down here?" Sasuke glanced at the letter again.

"He can't move. Their country's absolutely filled with resistances. There have already been assassination attempts. They're trying to smuggle him into the Wave Country, but they don't want anything to do with it anymore, so they've practically closed off all their borders."

"Then we may have to escort him around through Rock," Sasuke said.

"I'm not sending anyone in there," Naruto shook his head firmly. "It's a suicide mission. His ninjas can get him out of there; that's their job."

"And if they can't?" Sasuke shot back.

Naruto was silent for a moment. "I won't let anyone die," he shook his head. "I won't send anyone to their deaths. For now, we'll bring Kankuro and Temari here as dignitaries and we'll have them talk to the council about what aid we can give them. Will you do that for me?"

"Yeah," Sasuke tossed back the letter. "When do you want me to leave?"

"As soon as you possibly can. Tomorrow, if you can manage it."

"I can manage," Sasuke turned to the door.

"Sasuke…"

He turned back. "Yeah?"

Naruto opened his mouth to say something. He closed it. He frowned, he opened his mouth again to speak but nothing came out. He sighed and shook his head. "Be careful," he said.

Sasuke's lips twitched. That hadn't been what Naruto had wanted to say, but he had no time to sit here and have an argument with the blond. He simply nodded and left the office. Naruto watched him go.

"Please come back…" he whispered to the empty room.