8
When the two friends arrived at the large house on the hill, the air within the courtyard was already filled with delicious smells. Hana and Haku chased one another across the wide courtyard studded with vibrant yellow flowers and overgrown with tall grass. Neji and Sasuke watched them from the front doorway, a pot and two steaming mugs between them; Sasuke leaned back on his hands, his eyes far away and Neji hunched over, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together beneath his chin. As they approached, a sudden flash of forest green sped across their vision and careened for the aforementioned man. With his eyes closed, Neji dug two kunai out of his hip pouch and flung them at the green arc one at a time (but so quickly it merely looked like one flick of his pale hand). Blood flashed in the air and a black-haired man fell out of his attack toward the floor. Hana and Haku stopped running and watched, wide eyed.
In an abrupt poof of swirling smoke, the green figure was replaced with a wooden log with two kunai sticking out of it. The children exclaimed in surprise. Rock Lee came out from behind one of the empty apartments, his arms crossed and a frown on his round face.
"And what if you really had killed me?" he asked his teammate.
"Kunai don't kill you, Lee," Neji snorted. "And I'm sure you're fast enough to dodge that, after training with TenTen for this many years."
Lee grimaced. "Don't remind me. Hey, Uchiha," he nodded at the raven-haired man, who had seemingly missed the whole thing. He blinked and looked up at the man addressing him.
"Oh," he said. "Hi, Lee."
"Did I scare you guys?" Lee called over to the children.
"No, but you scared the hell out of me," Naruto grumbled, clutching at his heart as he came within earshot, Gaara right behind him. The red-head gave Lee an appraising look.
"You've improved very much," he commented.
"Hokage! And the Kazekage!" he exclaimed, opening his arms wide. "Didn't see you there! How are you?"
"Recovering," Naruto scowled.
"It's good to see you again, Lee," Gaara nodded.
"Uncle Lee!" The five men present looked toward the voice. Hana and Haku were standing there and staring at the green-clad jounin intensely.
"Er, yes?" he asked hesitantly.
"Do it again!" Hana exclaimed, clenching her fists. "I wanna see it this time! Do that smoke thing again!"
"What? You mean the kawarimi jitsu?" he raised a thick eyebrow. "But that's a genin-level technique."
"Pleeeeease?" the two of them chimed.
"Not right now," Hinata came to the open doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. "Time to wash up for dinner."
"Mom!" Hana wailed. "I wanna see it! Please?"
"After dinner," she nodded, stepping aside. "Come on."
The thick and warm summer night wrapped them all in a peaceful cocoon as they sat in a row on the back porch, talking amongst themselves. Sakura was curled up against Lee's side, her eyes half-closed in a doze. He watched her from the corner of his eye sometimes as he talked with the other men, and Hinata sat beside her cousin and her husband, refilling their tea cups every so often. Her white eyes drifted from their conversation to the full moon above occasionally. Naruto also seemed to be thinking of things. After a while of sitting between Sasuke and Gaara, he abandoned their conversation and went over to the children, who were playing further down the yard. They were doing some light sparring, and he sat down to watch them, his chin resting in his hands. His blue eyes stared both at them and through them, both seeing and not seeing. He was thinking about what Gaara had said in his office earlier.
Maybe I have changed, he mused. But isn't that a good thing? I'm just trying to do what's best for Konoha, right? I had to change; I couldn't be that loud-mouthed little brat forever, could I? No. I had to grow up. I have to protect all the people who live here. And now, especially… His eyes focused on the children. They were trading half-hearted blows, trying to fight the drowsyness their full bellies were giving them. His glance shifted sideways, to the small knot of friends talking softly amongst themselves. Hinata was laughing at something Lee had said. Neji was smiling. Even Sakura, who had been half-asleep, was giggling and hugging her fiancée tightly. Uchiha Sasuke, however, was looking right back at him, his dark eyes full of intensity. Naruto felt a chill rush up and down his spine and he broke eye contact, withdrawing back into himself. I had to, and especially for him. I went through hell to get him back. I endured nine years of watching him build a family and I waited patiently, knowing that he would almost certainly never return my feelings. And besides… he pouted to himself, not knowing he did it. Sasuke's still in another world. It's hard to have time to ourselves, much less do anything with that time. He wore the sulking like a second coat. We've only kissed, dammit.
"Uncle Naruto?" a tiny voice broke into his thoughts. He snapped his eyes up to the twins who were standing in front of him, holding hands and looking at him in concern.
"Ah… Sorry, guys," he chuckled. "I guess I just ate too much."
"Is something wrong?" Hana sat on his right side.
"You look upset," Haku sat on his left side.
"It's nothing," he waved it off with a smile. "I told you, I just ate too much. Your mom and Aunt Sakura cook really well, huh?"
"Mommy's preoccupied lately too," Hana pouted, wrapping her strong, slender arms around one of Naruto's biceps. She leaned her head against his arm with a frown. "The only one who pays attention to us anymore is Daddy, and he's never home," she frowned.
Naruto felt a pang of guilt wash over him. That's right. I'm taking all of Sasuke's free time now, so these kids…
"We may be young, but we're not stupid," Haku said quietly, almost angrily, "and we're not blind or deaf. We know that Mommy and Daddy had an arranged marriage and they probably don't love each other. We accepted that already, because they do like each other, and they both love us, so that's alright, isn't it?"
Naruto blinked in shock. "Where did you hear that?"
"People in school talk about us," Hana said in a small voice, completely different from her usual confident tone. "They say the Uchihas are a cursed clan; that Uncle Neji is the only good thing to come from the Hyuugas. The adults pity us and the other kids stay away from us. We see it all. We hear it."
He felt his hands curling into fists of rage. He had sudden vivid, angry flashbacks of his own childhood: being teased, being called a monster, being avoided, being hated, for no other reason besides the thing inside of him. Judged before they knew who he was and ignored and rejected as the monster who had killed the beloved Fourth Hokage…his own father. Hot tears filled his eyes and each one that dripped down represented another memory of being yelled at, hit, pushed down, spit on, cursed at, hiding alone in a dark corner of some place. When he looked down into the eyes of the twins he saw his old pain reflected back at him. Loneliness, sorrow, alienation, harsh and bitter words taken like jagged little pills of glass and hate and swallowed without a word, without a complaint. Hana and Haku tried their hardest, and the only one who noticed was their father, who—ironically—had never noticed things like this before in his entire life. His shaking arms went around the children and he held them close, pressing choked, wet kisses on the tops of their heads as they shivered and shook in his embrace, trying their hardest not to cry aloud. A shadow fell over them, and the three looked up into the worried face of Uchiha Sasuke—the only man who seemed to love all three of them simply for who they were. The only man in the whole world who showed them love, respect, admiration, and joy.
"Are you three okay?" he whispered gently, his eyes betraying his calm voice. "Hinata said she thought you were crying and she wanted to know what was wrong…"
"Your children are amazing, Sasuke," Naruto choked out, standing up abruptly and lifting the children to their feet. "So amazing in fact, that I was thinking of taking them on a little training expedition this weekend." The two kids looked up at their uncle in amazement. Sasuke blinked, startled. "I mean, I know I have a country to run, but Gaara's here, and I have an entire office full of people that can handle my duties for a month or so," at the mention of 'month', the children's eyes got impossibly bigger. "I mean, we have to start training them formally, right? And I really don't feel like sitting in my office and waiting for the Chuunin Exams to start in the Fall. And I know you don't have any pressing missions that you can't pass on, right?"
"No…" Sasuke could only blink again.
"Then that settles it!" Naruto clapped his hands on Hana and Haku's shoulders. "Let's go ask your mom for the okay, how about it, guys?"
"YEAH!" they both shrieked with happiness and broke from him, rushing over to the startled adults and attacking their mother from two sides. Sasuke slipped his hands into his pockets and gave a slight frown, his brow furrowing.
"Naruto…who's going to take over for you?" he asked.
"Gaara, probably," he shrugged. "Maybe I'll ask baa-chan to come in as a favor. I'm not sure yet."
"Are you sure this is a good idea, leaving Konoha at a time like this?" the other man lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Aren't you at all worried about the Raikage?"
"Of course I am!" Naruto shook his head. "But Gaara's really the only one who knows how to contact her, and I really don't feel like just sitting around in my office and waiting for something to happen! You can feel it too, can't you? Everything's come to a halt."
"True, we've had a decline in the number of mission requests…" Sasuke admitted. "Even the Anbu don't have much else to do at the moment."
"So, you agree then!" he clapped his hands together. "That's great! It'll give me a chance to clear my head, too."
"Now, hold on…" Sasuke faltered.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Naruto leaned forward, his fists on his hips and a mischevious grin painting his scarred face. "Are you afraid of being alone together with me?"
"Ehh!" the black-haired man took a hurried step back, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "That's—"
"Daddy!" the two children came rushing back and latched themselves onto his legs, one for each. He looked down at them and shook his head to clear it: "Huh?"
"Mommy said it was fine with her if it was okay with you!" Haku beamed up at him.
"So, can we go? Will you come?" Hana squealed. Sasuke looked back and forth between their glowing, eager faces. His lips twitched in an uncertain frown and he glanced up at Naruto, who merely smiled happily, his eyes closing as he turned and went back to the others.
"I'll ask Gaara to office-sit for me. You three should pack early tomorrow," he waved back over his shoulder, leaving Sasuke standing there confused as his two children hugged and squirmed at his legs.
"That… that dobe!" he snarled, his left eyebrow twitching slightly. Who's afraid of being alone? I'll show him!
Whoa! Wait! Stop! Another side of himself jumped up at that. Show him what, exactly? What the hell do you think is going to happen when the two of you are alone? The kids will be there, remember?
"Yeah," he sighed. "Nothing'll happen."
"Hm? Daddy?" Hana blinked up at him. "What's wrong?"
"Your face is all red," Haku peered up at his father. "Are you not feeling well?"
"Geh…" Sasuke sighed, giving up. "Let's go you two: bedtime."
"Aww!" they pouted. Sasuke glanced up at Naruto, who was leaning down and laughing happily with Hinata and Sakura, Neji and Lee shaking their heads and Gaara looking at the blond with something akin to relief. He sighed again. That…damn…usuratonkachi, he mentally cursed. He still does as he pleases; I suppose I should be glad that hasn't changed. He gave one last look before heading inside with the kids. He's already changed so much, so at least with this, I'm back in familiar territory. I don't know how to handle a serious Naruto. Maybe he's right. Maybe this will be good, for all of us.