Hyuga Branch House-
Tenten smiled as she watched the Hyuga children interact. It seemed almost strange, given that Neji and Hinata had such a bad past. Kari twirled around happily oblivious to where she was going and tripped taking an unexpected Rini down on the floor with her. Kenji walked over, thinking it was a game, and hopped onto the pile as well, making the girls groan in pain before all of them burst into giggle fits.
Tenten muffled a laugh of her own, silently thankful that Hinata had decided to keep Kyo with her. It was hectic enough without the little Naruto in training. Kenji walked over to her saying some gibberish she couldn't really understand. It was odd that even though her son looked just like Neji, he acted nothing like him.
Neji.
When she had gotten pregnant she thought that Neji might have a little trouble getting into the father role, she would admit that. She had even talked to Sakura about. She had the same worry when she was pregnant with her first, Takuya, but as it would turn out Sasuke was, surprisingly, a natural- not that he didn't have his moments. That had calmed her slightly hoping that Neji would also surprise her. Unfortunately, that wasn't how it turned out.
Even now Neji didn't seem to be comfortable with being alone with Kenji and in return Kenji had become quite awkward in Neji's presence. He would go quiet and then just stand still waiting until his father left the room before become the rambunctious toddler he always was. It was frustrating. Tenten had refrained from saying anything to Neji yet, but it looked like she was finally going to have to. She couldn't put it off any more. She had already put it off for far too long.
"Tenten are you ok?" Tenten snapped out of her thoughts looking up at Hinata who was giving her a concerned look.
"Oh, Hinata…" The weapon specialist gave her a feeble smile, "I'm fine… I just got lost in thought for a second." She inwardly cursed; she hadn't even heard the younger girl enter, and she called herself a Kunoichi.
Hinata sat down next to her, turning to watch the kids as well. Kyo had somehow managed to tackle Kenji and they were now laughing on the floor. "Are you sure?" She asked her eyes not straying from the sight in front of her.
"Did Naruto ever have trouble connecting to Kyo?" Hinata turned to face her, a little taken aback with the question. When Tenten saw the look on her friend's face she knew she taken it the wrong way. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that Hinata." She said looking down, "I know that Naruto loves Kyo and I didn't mean that he wouldn't because of the….problems you had." Tenten whispered biting down on her lower lip. Then it all just spilled out, everything about her concern with Neji and Kenji's relationship or lack thereof and once she started she couldn't seem to stop.
"Well, to answer your question, yes."Hinata took a sip of the tea that Tenten had made near the beginning of the conversation as they sat at the kitchen table. Tenten turned giving the young heiress her complete attention, "But it wasn't with Kyo." Hinata had a soft smile on her lips, setting the cup down gently seemingly lost in thought. "It was with Rini. Naruto was so excited all through my pregnancy. But when I finally had her, he started acting strange. He didn't want to hold her and when he did it wasn't for long. But at the same time he would watched her all the time, even when she was sleeping, with this astonish look on his face. I was confused to say the least." Hinata shook her head, "So after almost a week I finally asked him what was going on. He tried to deny that anything was wrong but we both knew better. Then after a while of prodding he finally told me. He said he was afraid."
"Yeah, the man who faced and killed the Akatsuki was terrified by our week old daughter." She rolled her eyes, "I didn't understand at first…but he admitted that he was afraid if he touched her, he'd break her. Then he tried to make me understand by comparing her to ramen, which to this day I still don't understand." Tenten laughed, Naruto was definitely one of a kind. "My point is, you should really just talk to Neji about this. That's the only way you're really going to know." Tenten nodded lost in thought as she twirled the kunai in her hand in an age-old habit.
Hinata eyes strayed to the clock, "It's nine-thirty already!" Tenten's brown eyes also shift over to the clock. Hinata was just supposed to pick the kids up but she had ended up staying almost two and a half hours. "I was supposes to put Kenji to bed and hours ago."
"I don't think that will be a problem." Hinata gestured into the living room. Tenten walked over to her and smiled, all four children where fast asleep, laying cuddled up on the floor. "There so cute."
"Yeah, especially when their sleeping." Both women giggled. Then they started the process of untangling the children. Kari was curled up sideways her head resting on Rini's stomach. Rini had on arm behind her head and she was leaning into her curved elbow, her other arm on Kyo's back. Kyo was laying on his stomach with Kenji's legs thrown over his.
"I'm sorry for keeping you so late Hinata." Tenten pulled Kenji into her arms. He groaned in protest but otherwise stayed asleep.
"It's okay, I'm happy to listen whenever you need to talk." Hinata whispered as she eased Kyo to her chest, his blue hair tickling her neck.
"Thank you. Do you want me to wake the girls for you?" Hinata just shook her head, making a one-handed sign mumbling "Shadow Clone Jutsu." Two Hinata replicas appeared and each leaned down and picked up one of the girls.
Uzumaki House
Naruto sensed his wife's chakra and walked into living room just as she and her Clones were entering. He took Rini form one of the Hinata Clones which took a couple steps back before disappearing into a cloud of smoke.
"How did I manage to beat you home, ne Hinata?" Naruto asked lying on his back on their bed as she got changed. The kids were now tucked into their beds and fast asleep. They had worn each other out. Hinata came out in one of his old black fishnet undershirts that came down to mid thigh. Naruto's sat up a little straighter as he eyes wandered her body as she let her hair out of its bun and brushed her long hair out. The locks came down to her waist now, the longest her hair had ever been.
"Tenten need to talk and we sort of lost track of time." Hinata set her brush down on the table before climbing into bed. Naruto turned his body towards her. He pushed back the lock of hair that framed her face behind her ear cupping her cheek. Hinata closed her eyes leaning into his touch. He leaned forward pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. It rapidly became more passionate and hungry. She moved over him straddling his waist. His hands moved under her shirt running up her back bring the worn material with it. It wasn't long after that his old shirt found its way on the floor along with other various items of clothing.
Uchiha Residence
Sakura fell into her bed with a soft thump. It had been a long day. After Temari had left, an ANBU team had come to the hospital, all of them injured and two of them in critical condition. And of course it was the day they were short staffed because they had sent their experienced Medic Nin to a neighboring village who had been, for some unknown reason, attacked. So she had been ordering around a bunch of nurses and newbie Medics around as she ran from one room to another, using up not only her chakra supply, but her patience and energy. She had been almost two hours late to pick the boys up from the academy. And to think she had decide to become a full time medic to make it easier to be home with the kids. Well, it was a nice thought. When they got home and she finally made dinner, they all ate as she tried to keep herself awake and aware enough to continue normal dinner conversation.
Then she had to put Saki to bed, who complained that her brothers got to stay up later than she did. When she finally got her settled down and was just about to fall asleep the obnoxious beeping of the fire alarms started going off, successful waking the young girl back up, and the smell of smoke filtered through the house.
Takuya had been trying to help Ryu with his fireball Justu so that he could also wear the Uchiha fan. Sakura wanted to be mad, really she did. It was impossible however, with Ryu grinning happily from finally executing the Justu successfully for the first time. It would have been a waste of what little energy she had left anyway. She had merely opened the windows to release the smoke, congratulated Ryu with a smile, and sent both boys to get ready for bed.
To top it off Sakura hadn't been sleeping well. After spending so many nights curled up in Sasuke's arms it made it difficult to sleep without him. She closed her eyes. She knew she should get up and change but she could find the energy to open her eyes let alone get out of bed.
XXX
Sakura woke up what seemed like seconds later, by the presence of somebody in her room, behind her. The chakra was too strong to be one of the kids. She reached underneath the mattress slowly, feeling the Kunai she had stored there. Gripping the handle she pulled it out, pushing herself up, spinning around in one swift motion to pierce the intruder. A cool hand grabbed her wrist almost effortlessly, pinning her down on the bed with his body weight, pressing down on her wrist forcing her to drop the Kunai.
"You're awful jumpy." A voice whispered in her ear making her shiver slightly.
"Sasuke," She murmured, relaxing into his hold. "You startled me."
"I hadn't noticed," He released her wrist, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"You're not supposed to be home for another week. Why didn't you wake me?" She asked pushing her tired body up, leaning back on her arms for support, a motion Sasuke didn't miss.
"Your chakra level is very low." He got up removing his bloodstained shirt. She was about to object but he continued, "And seeing as you were so tired you couldn't even change." He said eyeing her clothes. Sakura felt a blush spread across her porcelain cheeks. Not only had she not changed, she hadn't even taken her hitai-ate off. He smirked knowing he had won. He climbed back onto the bed, in fresh clothes, and kissed her forehead, than lips. He reached behind her head untying the hitai-ate sliding it out of her pink hair. He pushed her down onto the bed kissing her with a need that had been building for weeks. He pushed down the strap of her undershirt so he could pepper soft kisses on her shoulder and neck. "I miss you, Sakura." He murmured into her soft skin. "Sakura?" Pulling back he found that the pink haired woman was fast asleep. He sighed, before letting out a soft chuckle, pushing her hair behind her ear. He pulled the covers back pulling Sakura into his arms as he cocooned the sheets around him. It looked like he was going to have to wait.
Akimichi House
Ino woke to her stomach throwing a fit. She groaned pushing herself upwards, rubbing her stomach. A wave of nausea overcame her. She slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom where she emptied her stomach. She flushed the toilet, resting her cheek against the porcelain. She was exhausted. She had been up most of the night with a stomach ache, and had thrown up more than she cared to remember.
Ino had taken care of many pregnant Kuniochi and civilians. She knew about morning sickness, cravings, mood swings, and whatnots of pregnancy but knowing about it was nothing like experiencing it. She had watched her friends go through their pregnancies, their stomach explaining with life and glowing more each day. They had never told her about the true harshness of caring a baby for nine months. She had come to find out that some pregnancies are just tougher than others. In fact Hinata always said she felt great during her pregnancies. She was even able to do her normal taijustu routine until she was about six months in, even went on to claim that it made her feel good to exercise. Ino on the other hand laughed at the idea. Exercising, she just wanted to be able to sleep through the night without her normal nausea.
Ino felt a large hand on her back that slowly began to rub circles in her sore muscles. The blonde turned to be met with Choji's concerned face. "Still not feeling good Ino?"
"No," She replied truthfully, "I think I'll go see Sakura later. She has to have picked up some sort of remedy for morning sickness." She forced herself up tiredly, and turned on the sink to brush her teeth.
"You should lie back down." Choji told her running his fingers through her tousled blonde locks. "You haven't been getting much sleep lately."
"Neither have you," Arms slid around her slender waist. She leaned back against his chest. Ino looked up at him apologetically in the mirror.
"I'm not pregnant. That stress on your body can't be good for the baby." Choji's hands moved to her rounding abdomen. He moved one of his hands moved down her side, her thigh, and in one swift movement picked her up bridal style. Ino would normally object, ranting that she was perfectly capable of walking herself but it felt nice and honestly she really didn't mind.
Choji gently set her down on their bed, lying down next to her. She twisted her body so that she could rest her head on his chest more comfortably her stomach pressing against his causing a small gap of space in between their bodies.
Uchiha Residence
Sasuke was awoken by light rhythmic tap of footsteps walking down the hall. He opened one eye, noticing that Sakura was still fast asleep next to him. He moved his body to see the clock, 4:47 glared back at him. Two and a half hours of sleep. One of the kids probably just had to use the bathroom. He closed his eye just to have both snap back open when he heard a distinct smash, the sound of liquid splashing, followed shortly by a surprised muffled voice.
Begrudgingly Sasuke pushed himself up, letting a sigh fall through his lips. He got out of bed, kicking the discard kunai with his foot upwards and catching it. He set it on top of the dresser as he walked by. He knew from personal experience not leave kunai lying around.
Kunai + Kids = Not good.
Enough said.
He pulled a shirt on as he walked out of room heading downstairs to the kitchen. The sight that greeted him made him stop in his tracks and stare for a moment stunned. The left side of the kitchen wall, which was painted a cream white color, was completely charred and what wasn't was stained with black ash.
"Dad," Sasuke's eyes flashed down to his Ryu, who ran up to him hugging his waist. "You're back!" He brought one arm around his son, still staring at the remains of his kitchen.
"Did your mother catch the house on fire when she was cooking again?" He asked pointing at the wall. It wouldn't be the first time, Sasuke thought with a chuckle. Sakura wasn't such a bad cook anymore but when they first moved in together he had had to put out quite a few fires. The kitchen had been redone at least three times before she had got the hang of it.
Sasuke was surprised when Ryu went quiet, shifting nervously in his arms, looking at the floor. "Ryu?"
The young boy laughed nervously, "Guess what dad? I finally did Fireball Justu."