Vixen
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Naruko talking to Kyuubi is in bold.
Kyuubi talking to Naruko is in bold italics.
Chapter Notation: This was a fairly light/humorous chapter.
Chapter 2
"So who are we going to tell first, sweetheart?" Naruko asks and Sasuke makes a face.
"First of all, you are not calling me sweetheart. Secondly, I suppose we might as well tell your family first. Your mother has a tendency to be very loud. She's a nice woman, but loud. So we should probably get the harder set of parents out of the way." Sasuke reasons.
Naruko pouts at her first offer being rejected. Alright. The bastard was right. Sweetheart wasn't going to work. Nobody was going to believe that an Uchiha had rightfully earned that nickname. She'd just have to keep trying.
The busty blonde frowns when she heard her fiancé talking about her mother. Naruko wanted to argue on her mother's behalf, but Sasuke was right. Kushina could be very loud when she wanted to be. Well at least he had softened the "insult" by saying that she was a nice woman. That was something, right?
"Alright. I guess we can go tell my parents first." She agrees as Sasuke walks her home.
"Good." Sasuke says and a few minutes later, he knocks on the Uzumaki-Namikazes' door.
"I'm glad that we made our first official decision as a couple together. It makes me feel really hopeful about our future, baby." Naruko says with a grin.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. She was really going to try this. Naruko was probably going throw every stupid pet name in the book at him, until she stumbled upon one that he could tolerate.
"Alright. No baby then." She says with a sigh.
"That's right. No baby. We'll figure something out later. For now, it's probably just best to stick with my real name." Sasuke informs her.
Naruko pouts, but she nods. Well she was still going to come up with a totally awesome nickname for him. Believe it!
"Naruko, you're back." Kushina says happily as she hugs her daughter.
That was when Minato walks over to greet Naruko and blinks. Sasuke was with her and he had his arm wrapped around her waist. He decides to take that as a good sign. Normally, this would be the point where he would give Sasuke The Speech.
"Hello, Sasuke. Would you like to come in?" Minato asks.
Every father worth their salt had one prepared the moment that they realized they were having a daughter. Teenage boys should beware. This was especially true, if the father in question happened to be a ninja.
Minato liked to think that the fact he was Hokage would suitably terrify any of his daughter's suitors into behaving. It was his secret guilty pleasure. He loved being Hokage. The job did come with a lot of responsibilities, but it also came with many wonderful perks.
"I'd like that." Sasuke says as he forces a smile.
He knew what was coming. This was going to be awkward. Very awkward. It really wasn't fair that he had to "meet the parents" of a woman that he hadn't even been dating until five minutes ago.
"Wonderful." Minato and Kushina say as they move out of the doorway and let the young couple come through.
"Mom, dad, we talked about everything. For the good of the village, we decided that we'll go through with it. Yeah, he's a cocky bastard. He is hot though. I can always gag him, if worse comes to worst." Naruko beams happily.
Sasuke twitches and then he blinks. He didn't know whether he should be annoyed at being called a cocky bastard or ponder the matter that Naruko had called him hot. Usually, he didn't really care what women thought of his physical appearance all that much. Naruko was different though. She was going to be his wife. Her opinion actually mattered.
Minato rubs the back of his head sheepishly. It looked like Naruko took after her mother when it came to love. She played rough with whoever she liked. He really hoped that Sasuke could handle her.
"Yes, I suppose there is always that option." He says as he gives Sasuke a look that pleaded with the Uchiha just to go with it.
Maybe he should have prepared the speech for Naruko instead. He almost pitied Sasuke at the moment. The poor boy likely had no idea what he was getting into.
Sasuke shakes his head. He saw the look. Whatever. He could humor his Vixen for now. He was going to expect compensation for assault to his dignity though in the form of her getting a new wardrobe.
"If I'm getting gagged, you are getting new clothes. You're going to be an Uchiha. You should dress the part." Sasuke says smugly.
"What is that supposed to mean?! What's wrong with my clothes?!" She demands.
"Nothing. Well nothing other than the color. Orange, Naruko? Really? You might as well write HIT ME on your back. You can't possibly camouflage yourself on missions. It's a wonder that you've lived this long really." The young Uchiha informs her.
Kushina giggles. Well it was certainly going to be a lively marriage. They already bickered like an old married couple. Maybe that was a good sign.
"Her clothes are perfectly acceptable, but he has a point. It might be easier for you to blend in with your in-laws, if you made a few new additions to your closet." Kushina says.
"Mom! You're supposed to be on my side!" Naruko grumbles.
"I am on your side. I'm just saying that things might be easier for you, if you were a bit more willing to compromise. I mean I indulge your father occasionally and then he indulges me." Kushina says.
Naruko raises an eyebrow. Instinct told her that she probably shouldn't ask. Curiosity got the better of her though.
"How do you two humor each other?" She asks.
"I'll tell you later. Before your Honeymoon." Kushina says and Sasuke raises his eyebrow.
THAT sounded interesting. Well he wasn't going to ask. Embarrassing his future in-laws probably wasn't the smartest move.
"Welcome to the family, Sasuke." Minato says.
"Thank you. I'll try to take good care of her and ensure she eats something other than ramen, once in a blue moon." Sasuke replies with a smirk.
Minato shakes his head. Oh yes, this was going to be a most spirited marriage. He could just see it now. Something as simple as what to have for dinner was likely to turn into a battle.
"Good luck with that. Despite my best efforts, it's a rare day when she doesn't have at least one bowl." Minato say swith a chuckle.
"Hmpf! Hopefully, his family embarrasses him as much as you guys embarrassed me. Come on, Sasuke. We still have to tell your Clan." Naruko says as she drags him off.
Sasuke blinks and is dragged. Damn. She was a lot stronger than she looked.
He sighs as she drags him off. Sasuke was sure that they were making quite the grand spectacle of themselves. Naruko was just dragging him around like a rag doll and he wasn't in the mood to protest too much. After all, she was doing what he wanted her to do. (He could overlook the fact that she was doing it a bit more aggressively than he would have preferred.)
"Um which house is yours?" Naruko asks once they arrive in the Uchiha District.
"The one in the center. My father and mother are the Clan Heads." Sasuke says and Naruko ohhhs.
"Oh. Yeah. Of course, that makes sense." She says and rubs the back of her head sheepishly.
Sasuke takes the opportunity to stand up and shakes his head at her antics. Damn. She was hyper. He wasn't exactly sure how their marriage was going to work. He was far from lazy, but he couldn't imagine getting that excited about EVERYTHING.
"Yeah. That's generally how it goes when you are the Head of a Clan. You get the biggest house." Sasuke notes in amusement as he leads his fiancée into his parents' house.
"Mother, father, brother, I'm home. I brought a guest. We have news." Sasuke says.
He didn't say good news because Sasuke wasn't entirely certain how this would turn out. News was accurate without being too pessimistic. Naruko didn't seem to notice his rather careful parsing of words though. Thank goodness for small miracles.
"Oh there you are sweetie!" Mikoto says as she walks over to welcome home her son.
"Wait. She can call you sweetie, but I can't get away with sweetheart?" Naruko demands in outrage and she places her hands on her hips in outrage.
"Well yeah. She's my mother. You're going to be my lover. BIG difference." Sasuke replies with a shrug.
Fugaku and Itachi certainly get a big laugh out of that. Naruko face suddenly felt like it was on fire. She knew that she was blushing. Damn, bastard. He just had to go and make her blush in front of his family.
"I can't believe that you said that in front of your family!" She hisses at him.
"Naruko, we are getting married. I think that they all know what married people do together." Sasuke says with a shrug.
Naruko twitches and she was about to lunge at him when Itachi wisely steps between them. He could see that the blonde was at her limit. If Sasuke continued to tease her, their living room was probably going to get destroyed.
"Foolish little brother, you shouldn't embarrass your future wife like that." Itachi says as he pokes his forehead.
"OWE! You always do that!" Sasuke grumbles.
Naruko smirks. Ah ha! So that was how to annoy Sasuke. It looked like her fiancé hated having his forehead poked. She could work with this.
"Because it annoys you and you need to be reigned in now and then." Itachi says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Mikoto just shakes her head in amusement. Well it looked like family dinners were about to get much more lively. Idly, she wonders if the grandchildren would have Naruko's eyes They really were such a pretty shade of blue.
"Welcome to the family, Naruko. We are very happy that you decided to accept Sasuke's proposal." She says with a smile as she walks over and gently embraces her future daughter-in-law.
"Thanks. That's really nice of you." Naruko replies with a smile.
"We are very happy to hear that you are joining our family. It's unexpected, but a welcome surprise." Fugaku says and Naurko nods.
Well at least Sasuke's family was nice. He was a bastard, but it wasn't like he was cruel. Sasuke was just a bit too cocky. Once she smacked him around a few times, he'd understand who was in charge. After that, everything should go smoothly.
"Oh. The Naruko is here. I guess this means she said yes?" Izumi asks as she walks into the room.
"Naruko, this is Izumi. She's my brother's wife. Izumi, this is Naruko. She's going to be my wife." Sasuke says.
"Nice to meet you!" Naruko says brightly as she shakes her hand enthusiastically.
"The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure." Izumi replies and tries not to giggle at how energetic the other woman was.
Sasuke was definitely going to have his hands full with her. Well at least he'd never be bored. Her brother-in-law would never be bored with such a lively wife.
"There is so much that we have to plan. The venue, the food, the music, the invitations, and oh we'll have to get you a wedding kimono!" Mikoto says.
"Itachi, Sasuke, come with me. I think that is our cue to leave. Women can be rather fanatical when it comes to planning their weddings." Fugaku reasons as he gestures for his sons to follow him.
"WE HEARD THAT!" The women all shout together.
"You were supposed to hear it." The Uchiha Patriarch says with a smirk as he leads Itachi and Sasuke out of the house.
A few minutes later, Fugaku had led the boys to one of the fields. Ah peace and quiet. They would be safe from the wedding preparations for now.
"Your mother is a lovely woman. Don't get me wrong. I love her with all of my heart and I always will, but there is just something about weddings that makes women go crazy." Fugaku says.
Itachi nods in agreement. He remembered how Izumi had been before their wedding. She had almost hit him with a fireball when he nearly saw her in her wedding kimono before the big day. Actually, Sasuke should be grateful that Naruko didn't have a natural fire affinity.
"That's true. You are in for a rough few weeks or months. Well I suppose it depends how long of an engagement period the two of you decide to have. Considering that you haven't actually courted, you may want to wait awhile before you actually exchange vows." Itachi reasons.
"I haven't really thought about that yet. I mean this is all so sudden. I wasn't even dating her and now, I'm going to marry Naruko?" Sasuke asks.
His brother nods sympathetically. He loved to tease Sasuke. Itachi would never deny that. It was his sacred duty as his elder brother, but he certainly did worry about the younger man now.
There was no telling how an arranged marriage like this was going to work out. He knew that underneath the surface, there had always been an attraction between them. They were like magnets. They were polar opposites, but would always react when they were around each other. They might not have interacted often before now, but when they did it was always explosive.
This could end very well or very badly. He was hoping that nature would eventually take its course. Otherwise, this might be a very unhappy marriage.
"Yes, you should probably speak with Naruko about things like that. It's always important to discuss important decisions with your wife. If you don't, well it tends to end badly." Fugaku warns him.
"Yeah. Got it. I mean I don't really have a preference. I've known her since I was a kid. We don't really know each other that well, but it's not like she's a stranger. Does it really matter if we get married next month or next year?" Sasuke asks.
"It might matter to her." Itachi says.
"That's true. Yeah. I'll ask her. Well I'll ask her once she escapes from mother and Izumi." Sasuke agrees with a smirk.
The next day, Naruko was still more than a little traumatized from all the wedding planning. The two women were interested in going over every little detail. Sure, Naruko wanted a beautiful wedding kimono and an awesome cake. She didn't really care what color napkins or what kind of silverware they used though.
"Naruko, are you alright?" Hinata asks in concern.
The Rookie Nine girls had a tradition. They always went out for lunch together, the last Friday of every month. Well they went as long as they weren't sick or didn't have missions, anyway.
Currently, Naruko was eating at the Ramen Shop with her friends. She smiles when she hears the concern in Hinata's voice. The bluenette was by far the most empathetic of the Rookie Nine. She was usually the first one to realize when someone else was having a hard time.
"Yeah. I'm okay. I don't want you guys to freak out or anything, but I have big news." She mumbles.
Naruko wasn't really sure how she was going to tell her friends that she was engaged to Sasuke. The fact that she was engaged hadn't really registered yet. It still all felt so surreal. She was going to marry a guy that she barely knew.
"We won't freak out. What is it?" Ino asks.
"Well you know how the Uchihas are kinda separate from the rest of the village?" Naruko begins cautiously.
Ino nods her head. She had always thought that was a little weird. It was just the way things were though. She had never really stopped to wonder why that was the case. It just was.
"Yeah. So?" The other blonde asks.
"Well they don't want to be separate anymore, but they are worried that people might not trust them at first. So my dad came up with a plan to fix that." The busty blonde continues as she eats her ramen.
Sakura raises an eyebrow. Minato was meddling with the Uchihas? Oh boy. That might not end well. The Hokages and Uchihas didn't exactly have the best history. She could only hope that Minato was somehow able to pull off a miracle.
"What's the plan?" The pink haired woman dares to ask.
"Well dad thinks that if an important member of the Uchiha Clan marries someone outside their Clan, that might help. It'll show that they are really willing to go outside their comfort zone. That other person has to be important though. Someone well known." The orange loving ninja says.
Tenten nods. Well that made sense. If they were going to marry off one of their own, it would have to be a good match strategically. Political marriages were slowly falling out of style, but they did still happen. Usually they occurred amongst the Nobility Class these days. People like the Daimyos were expected to enter political marriages. It wasn't as common for ninjas as it used to be, but it still happened every once in awhile.
"So are you asking for volunteers?" Tenten asks cautiously.
There wasn't a girl in the village who at one point hadn't wondered what it would be like to be with an Uchiha. The Uchihas were so secretive. They kept to themselves. If they happened to show an interest in a woman outside their Clan and married here, she became an Uchiha and moved into the District with them.
"Not exactly. My dad already set up the match. Sasuke and I agreed to do it. I mean it is for the sake of the village and all. If we don't, things will just get worse. That might trigger a Civil War inside the Leaf. We can't allow that to happen." Naruko says determinedly.
The other female members of the Rookie Nine looked at Naruko in shock. .They couldn't have possibly heard her right, could they? Naruko was going to marry Sasuke Uchiha?!
"Wait. You are marrying Sasuke?!" Sakura demands.
"Yeah. It looks like it. He agreed. I just spent most of last night with his mother and sister-in-law. They are really nice. Both of them are a little obsessive about details though. We started to plan the wedding. It was intense. You wouldn't believe the things they think of. Can you believe that they actually care what color napkins we'll use at the wedding?" Naruko asks with a nervous laugh.
"Naruko! You're getting married and you're worried about napkins?!" Ino asks in disbelief.
Naruko shakes her head. No. She wasn't worried about napkins. Her future in-laws were.
"No. I'm just telling you what they were worried about, but yeah. I'm getting married. I never thought that I would be getting married to Sasuke. Maybe it'll be okay though. He seems to be at least trying, even if I want to strangle him half the time." The young ninja observes.
The reaction was rather mixed. Hinata and Tenten were offering their congratulations. Ino and Sakura wouldn't stop asking her questions though.
"That is so not fair. Every girl in our class wanted to go out with him, but he never paid attention to anyone who wasn't an Uchiha. Now, he's just agreed to marry you just like that?" Ino asks.
"It is a little weird. I can't believe he actually said yes. Naruko and Sasuke used to fight all the time in the Academy. Aside from that, they barely know each other." Sakura agrees.
Naruko grumbles. She wasn't really happy about Ino's insinuation. It was like the other blonde though that she stole Sasuke from her or something. Sakura's musings weren't much better.
Yeah. What Sakura was saying was accurate, but the Hokage's daughter didn't really need to be reminded of it. The pink haired woman probably didn't mean any harm by it, but it still stung.
"I wouldn't pay them much mind. Whether or not you acknowledge it, you did secure the best male in your age group when it comes to breeding. It's only natural that they would be jealous." Kurama tells her.
"I mean yeah, Sasuke is attractive. He's still a bastard though. I don't know why they are so jealous. At least Tenten and Hinata are taking it pretty well." Naruko mumbles.
"We might not know each other that well, but we'll get to know each other. Besides, this isn't about us. This is about our village. He wants to help his Clan and I want to help the Leaf. So we have that in common. That's a start, right?" Naruko asks.
The other girls nod and Naruko sighs in relief. Sakura and Ino might be jealous, but it didn't look like she was going to lose any friends over her engagement. That was a close one. She had been worried there for a minute or two that some friendships might be broken.
"I'm s-ure that you and Sasuke will find a way to make it work." Hinata tells Naruko with a shy smile.
"Thank you, Hinata. It means a lot to me that I have your support." The blonde replies.
Sakura and Ino sigh. They didn't like it, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. That and it wasn't really fair to hold this against Naruko. It's not as though she planned any of this.
"Hinata is right. Somehow you two will find a way to make it work. I mean if you are going to be in an arranged marriage, it might as well be to who is cute." Ino says knowledgably.
Naruko rubs the back of her head sheepishly. She wasn't really sure how to respond to that. Mostly though, she was glad that Ino had decided to be supportive.
Sakura bites her lower lip. She was a little upset that Sasuke was marrying someone else, but Naruko was her friend. She knew that she should at least try to be supportive.
"He's lucky to have you." Sakura adds.
"Yeah, he is! Believe it! He better remember that too!" The young Jonin exclaims.
"Well I suppose that leaves one very important question." Tenten says with a sly smile.
Naruko tilts her head curiously. She wasn't really sure where Tenten was going with this. The brunette looked entirely too pleased with herself though. This might not end well.
"What question is that?" The blonde inquires cautiously.
"Well who is going to be your Maid of Honor, of course!" Tenten replies and Naruko gulps.
Uh oh. Yeah. This definitely wasn't going to end well. She had four very good friends. Any one of them would make a great Maid of Honor, but she could only choose one.
"I'll have to think about it. I mean you are all amazing and it doesn't really matter who I pick. You're all my best friends." Naruko says and she mentally gulps when she saw the competitive looks in her friends' eyes. (Oh boy. What had she just gotten herself into?)