Chapter 151 - Puff Pastry

Ino announced Sasuke's impending arrival for New Year's to the family only the day before he was due to come. Telling the children too early, she felt, would only cause bad emotions to stew. Too late - or not at all - would only cause outrage. It would all be fine.

She told herself.

At least Karai seemed excited, in the aftermath of the family dinner she had called together, though she always seemed excited. "It's been forever since Dad's been home! Like… what, two years?"

"Mm," Hajime said. Ninako was beside him, at the table, with Kumori on her lap. He was almost two, now, and had developed an active and curious mind, with hands that touched everything they could.

"Did he give any reason why he was coming now? And not, say, sooner?" Takeru said.

"Your father has been… doing a lot of work that's kept him from coming home," Ino said.

"Oh, come on. That's a lie and you know it." Inou had his arms crossed. "You probably guilt-tripped him into coming. He'll be here a night, bitch at all of us like he always does, and then never come back."

"Inou, please…" Ino said. "Give your father a little credit. He's been very good to me and I'm sure he'll be good to all of you."

Inou made a dismissive noise, and flipped his hair as he crossed his arms tighter.

"At least he'll have a chance to meet Kumori," Ninako said, and her son burbled slightly at the mention of his name. "I mean, my dad's had plenty of time with him, so it's only fair Sasuke gets a turn."

"He'll only be here a night, right?" Hajime said, as if he hadn't heard her.

"I told him he could stay longer if you were all okay with it," Ino replied.

"Good. He'll be out of our hair sooner, then," Inou said.

Ino decided not to tell Sasuke any of this when she went to fetch him on New Year's Eve. He seemed to be holding himself together remarkably well, acting perfectly stoic and composed, though she knew how nervous he truly was.

He also had a thin package under his arm, tied with ribbon. "What is that?" Ino asked.

"Birthday present. You know, for… Kumori. Thought I'd bring it with me."

"Oh, of course! Great idea." Ino took his arm in hers. "I'm sure he'll love it."

"Mm." He held firmly onto her arm as they walked together in the winter streets.

They stopped, together, at the gate of the house, so Sasuke could gather his breath. "You okay?" she asked.

Sasuke took a few breaths in. "Yes. I'm fine. Let's go in."

And they did.

Karai was first to greet him; she was wearing the fuzzy, highlighter-pink sweater Sasuke had made for her, which caused Ino a small note of distress - she'd been wearing a completely different outfit earlier that day.

(Sasuke felt a similar pang of distress, though more out of nervousness. She still wore the sweater? Wait, had she worn the sweater before? Was she doing this to appease him?)

Her hair had grown, since he last saw her; it was to her shoulders, now, tame bangs in the front, but wild and unruly behind. She was taller, also, which he noticed most strongly when she skipped forward with her arms outstretched, her head almost above her shoulders, rather than his mid-chest.

"Father!" She hugged him for the briefest of moments, before suddenly jumping back.

(Remembering how things used to be.)

"Oh, I'm sorry, Father, I just got a little too excited…" she said, but trailed off when she saw Sasuke, after handing Kumori's gift to Ino, hold his arms out.

"Don't apologize. It's been a long time, Karai." He smiled.

(And Karai knew, in her heart, that he meant it.)

"It has!" She leaped forward and hugged him, pressing her ear against his chest. "I missed you so much, Father."

"And I… missed you," Sasuke said, hugging her back. He pulled away slightly to get a better look. "You've gotten taller. And you're wearing my sweater."

"Yeah! I love it! It's just so… me!" She bounced away and linked her hands behind her back. "I'm glad I finally get to thank you personally."

Sasuke smiled again, and began to take off his coat.

"Mom, you need help with dinner tonight, yeah?" Karai continued.

"Yes, Karai." Ino hung up her own coat.

"Good, 'cos Ninako an' Nadeshiko are already getting things started."

"Oh, Ninako's here! Good, good." Ino clapped her hands together. "Sasuke, would you like to help with dinner? I'm sure you'd love to show off what you've learned."

"Mom says you've been cooking dinner for her, at your place," Karai said.

"She said correctly," Sasuke replied, and went into the kitchen.

Ninako had her sleeves rolled up and was washing rice in the sink; Nadeshiko was peeling vegetables nearby. She'd begun growing her hair out again, and it had reached her mid-back by then. She kept it gently tied back just below the nape of her neck with a white ribbon.

"Anything I can help with?" Sasuke said.

"Oh! Uh, hi there!" Ninako looked up from her chores and smiled, if a little nervously. "We just got started, so… I dunno, you feel like cutting some veggies with Nadeshiko?"

"Don't see why not," Sasuke said.

He hesitated for a moment, looking for space beside Nadeshiko at the counter; she went about her chore as if he weren't there, carefully pulling her knife under the skin of the carrots.

Until, with a smooth gesture, she stepped aside and put a peeled carrot to her left, followed by a knife. "Do you know how to cut them in cherry blossom shapes?" she asked.

"I… do, actually," Sasuke replied. He took his place beside his daughter, and rolled up his sleeves as he prepared to cut.

"That's good. I'll be cutting lotus root next," Nadeshiko said. "It's all for the hot pot."

"I'll do my best to make it look good, then," Sasuke said. He began to slice, carefully, and silently.

Ninako sent Ino a glance over her shoulder, another smile, though more confused than nervous. Karai, meanwhile, went about getting soba started for her and Ino to cook, humming as she went.

The first son to appear was Inou, since he still lived in the house full-time. He had been well aware of Sasuke's entrance, and wanted to make it very clear that he was his own person and that he did not approve of his father being there. He leaned against the kitchen door-frame with his arms crossed, after he came down the hallway, face away from the people in the room.

"Oh, Inou! Wanna gimme a hand with this?" Ninako called to him from the sink, draining the rice for the last time. "I gotta start getting the mochi ready."

Inou glanced at Sasuke, back at NInako, and sighed. "Sure, I guess." He took the rice pot from her and filled it with water, before putting it in the rice cooker.

"Is that Inou?" Sasuke said.

"Yeah, it's me," Inou replied, his lip curled. "What about it?"

Sasuke looked at him briefly, pausing his hands. "You've gotten taller."

"Well, yeah," Inou replied. "What did you expect me to do, shrink?"

"Of course not," Sasuke said, which Inou sighed at, loading the rice cooker with the pot. "You pierced your ears, too?" Sasuke continued.

Silver studs - the traditional sign of a chuunin-level Yamanaka - had indeed been placed in Inou's ears in Sasuke's absence. He wasn't around to say it was unbecoming or girly, and damn it if Inou wasn't going to make a decision for himself for once.

"Yeah, I did! You got something to say about it?" Inou replied, crossing his arms again.

"It suits you," was all Sasuke said. Nadeshiko, beside him, smiled slightly.

Inou's mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to find a come-back, but he resigned himself to sitting at the kitchen table, arms crossed, as usual, on top of the surface.

The busy work of cooking was nearly done by the time Takeru came in, all the soba rolled and cut, the vegetables set aside for the hot pot. The rubber tips of his braces thumped in rhythm with his heavy feet, and he paused as he took stock of who was in the room.

"I imagine Hajime's still at home with Kumori?" he finally said.

"Yeah, they won't be long, though," Ninako replied. "Hajime will come over once he's done with his afternoon nap."

"Sounds about right," Takeru replied. He cleared his throat, and seemed to wait for a while before settling at the table across from Inou. They exchanged glances, though Inou huffed and looked away shortly afterward.

Hajime arrived a bit afterward, with Kumori in his arms, bundled up against the cold. "How long 'til dinner?" he asked, helping Kumori with his boots.

"Half an hour," Ino replied. Ninako left her station to take Kumori from him, cooing as she went.

"Look, Kumori, your other grandpa is here to see you today," she said, wiggling one of his little hands in Sasuke's direction.

"Gampa?" Kumori said. His head turned in response to his mother's voice, then towards his hand.

"It's good to see you, Hajime," Sasuke said. He was getting things out with the rest of the girls, at that point, setting up the hot pot and getting the sauce simmering.

"Same to you, I suppose," Hajime replied, dryly. "Mother, anything I can help with?"

"Everything's almost out already. Just get Kumori's high chair, if you need it," Ino replied.

Hajime went about his business as if he were alone in the room, getting the high chair from against the wall and bringing it nearer to one of the tables that had been set up for the massive dinner.

And Sasuke went to Ninako, and the grandchild he'd sent gifts to, but never met. "So this is Kumori, then?" he said.

"Mhm!" Ninako smiled. "Kumori, say hi to your grandpa." She waved his right hand at Sasuke, and guided it to one of Sasuke's hands. Kumori held on tightly.

"Gampa…" he said, almost thoughtfully. He was looking in Sasuke's general vicinity, but the complete blank grayness of his eyes gave nothing else away.

"What a head of hair," Sasuke said. "I think I remember having a cousin with curly hair like that."

"I had a feeling it came from Hajime's side of the family!" Ninako said. "I mean, nobody on my side has hair like that."

"Mm. He has your eyes, though. They're very beautiful," Sasuke said.

"...yeah, aren't they?" Ninako said, and though she was smiling, everyone heard the pause.

"Yes, is that where his name came from?" Sasuke continued. "Reminds me of clouds."

"Did Ino tell you that?" Ninako said.

"She might have," Sasuke replied.

"I did," Ino said.

"Ha! How did I know?" Ninako laughed a little.

Kumori, meanwhile, was squirming, holding his arms out towards Sasuke. "Up, wan' up," he said.

"Oh, uh, I think he wants you to hold him," Ninako said. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, uh, not at all," Sasuke said. "Been a while since I've done this, so…" He took Kumori from her, and the boy sat up on his forearms, bracing his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. Sasuke, a little baffled, let him stay there for a while, until Kumori began putting his hands, one by one, on his face.

"Ah, I should have warned you, he does that sometimes…" Ninako said.

"I don't mind-" Sasuke began, before one of Kumori's hands landed on his mouth.

"Gampa," Kumori said, rather satisfactorily, putting another hand on Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke said nothing, his eyes closed, a bit of a grimace on his face.

Kumori tired of this fairly quickly, apparently, because he put his hands on Sasuke's chest and blinked a few times. "Hey-oh, Gampa."

"Um… Hey-oh," Sasuke replied.

"I'll… take him back," NInako said, putting her hands under Kumori's arms. "We'll have more time after dinner, yeah?" Kumori fussed as she settled him back into her grip, but eventually clung to her like a monkey.

"I'll put him in his high chair," Hajime said, coming to her with his own hands out. Ninako passed the baby over, and Hajime took to the task of getting him settled in with practiced movements and a dead look in his eyes.

Inou broke the still sighness with a groan. "Are we gonna eat already?"

"Well, everything's out, so…" Ino began.

"C'mon. I'm starving." He leaned back in his chair and groaned again.

"If everything's ready, I'm fine with getting started," Sasuke said.

"Because we just can't start without your permission, hm?" Takeru said.

Sasuke opened his mouth, like he was going to say something, but instead lowered his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets.

"...let's all get settled in. Before everything goes cold," Ino said, a smile of appeasement on her face.

The dinner went about as badly as she had expected.

The table sat eight people, and Sasuke and Hajime took either side, at Ino's insistence, though absolutely nothing was mentioned about who was the "true" head of the family. The siblings and wives were divided almost predictably; Karai and Nadeshiko sat at Sasuke's right, with their mother, while Takeru and Inou allied themselves on Hajime's side. Takeru took his place near Sasuke with prickly self-righteousness on his face, as if he were making some great sacrifice for the family.

Karai kept conversation going, as Ino knew she would, asking Sasuke about his students and his life and what he'd been doing lately. Nadeshiko was quiet; Ninako was polite, when she wasn't wiping Kumori's face and helping him with his fork and spoon; and the boys sulked, oscillating between concentrating deeply on eating their food, or picking at it.

Ino had heard all of Sasuke's stories before; how his student Kyou had gotten a chuunin-level certification by taking on an apprenticeship in the Konoha Archives; how the one named Sunao was working at a jounin qualification to become a teacher; how the last one, Go'on, was using his skills on relief missions to assess loss of wildlife and foliage in areas devastated by conflict or natural disaster.

He spoke also of friends; Naruto, naturally, but also the man named Juugo, and his son Asaoto, who had begun school and seemed to be developing a gift with computers. They were a new addition to the school system, and he made immediate sense of them while his teachers struggled with the rosters and documents within.

"Even I'm a little lost, when it comes to them," Sasuke admitted, after this report. "He ends up teaching me whenever I visit. Speaking of which," he continued, "Hajime, how is your work?"

Hajime was halfway through a slurp of noodles at the mention, and sauce spilled on his chin as he finished. "My work? Same as it always is, I suppose. Curse Seal monitoring." He wiped his chin. "What does that have to do with teaching?"

"I hear that… many people take to teaching after they have children, because the hours are better. To have time with them," Sasuke said. He looked at his hands. "I suppose I was wrong."

"Hey, that's not a half-bad idea, you know," Ninako said. "I mean, right now we kinda have to take turns being home if it's not a holiday like this. We worked it out with Enbi-san, see."

"Ah, you're still doing Curse Seal work too?" Sasuke said.

"Mm! Can't imagine doing anything else," Ninako replied.

Inou cleared his throat. "Feel like asking me about my work?"

"Of course. Please, tell me," Sasuke said.

Inou tossed his hair a little, tucking the shorter of his bangs behind his ear. "I currently have the highest success rate on the force for closing cases. They're thinking of promoting me to detective soon."

"That's fantastic," Sasuke said. He smiled a little.

This didn't seem to satisfy Inou, because he casually returned to his meal after that. "I guess it is."

"You know, Gaara-sama's thinking about naming me Ambassador of Leaf over in Sand," Takeru said, interrupting in everything but timing. "In talks with Naruto about it. He says I'm highly qualified."

"Is that so?" Sasuke said. He kept his eyes down. "I'll see if I can talk to Naruto about that."

"So you don't think I'm qualified?" Takeru said, flatly.

Sasuke looked up for a brief moment. "I'm sure you are. But a little outside help can't hurt."

"Sounds like the perfect job for you, in my opinion," Karai chimed in. "I mean, you're a total people person, big brother."

Takeru responded with a small "Hmph," and took a drink of water.

Karai spoke about her chuunin work, once it was clear that Sasuke wasn't going to talk to Nadeshiko, and thus everyone had had their turn. There was almost nothing else for conversation, afterward.

The washing up after dinner was similarly stilted. Everyone had a duty, though Ninako and Hajime were excused so they could clean up Kumori, whose face was covered with seaweed bits and other sticky things. One by one, as chores were finished, the family gathered in the living room. Karai and Sasuke were the last to arrive, since they volunteered to do the majority of the heavy scrubbing.

In their absence, the family talked.

"So, raise your hands, anyone surprised at how this night's going?" Inou said.

"How do you mean?" his mother said.

"How Dad's acting. It's exactly what I expected."

"I think he's been pretty friendly, to be honest," Ninako said, shrugging. Hajime held Kumori in his lap, beside her, his expression somewhere else.

"Yeah? He hasn't said a word to me all day," Takeru said.

"Yes he has," Ino said. "At dinner, remember? He said he'd talk to Naruto for you about the ambassador position."

"Only after I spoke up," Takeru said. "And I'd hardly call that meaningful conversation."

"Same," Inou replied. He sighed. "Can we, like, have him leave, already?"

"Everyone, please." Nadeshiko had barely said anything the whole night, so the sound of her dull voice seemed odd in the air. "We shouldn't judge so quickly."

Silence laced with shame fell for a few moments.

"...yeah, I mean, he's only been here a few hours, and talking during dinner is always gonna be a little awkward," Ninako offered.

"I promised him until the end of the night," said Ino, after exhaling. "Please, boys, give him at least that?"

"Fine," Hajime said.

"I'm not taking any insults from him, though," Inou added, snappishly. "Not one."

"Inou, he hasn't insulted you…" said Ino.

"Yeah. But he might."

Karai and Sasuke appeared a few seconds afterward, hands and sleeves wrinkled and damp from washing. Sasuke had Kumori's gift under his arm.

"Everything okay here?" Sasuke said.

"Oh, just fine," Ino replied.

"Ah. Well, since everyone's together, I thought it might be a good time for… me to give this to Kumori." He sheepishly lifted the package a little. "Would that be all right?"

"Oh, for his birthday?" Ninako said. "Hajime, let's open it!"

"Would be it all right if… Kumori opens it for himself?" Sasuke said. "The gift isn't in much danger of being broken if it's handled roughly, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem."

Ninako had a sunny smile. "Oh, wouldn't that be fun? Kumori, you wanna open your birthday present from Grandpa Sasuke?"

"Wha?" Kumori was experimentally pulling on his hands.

"Here, let me hand it to him." Ninako held out her hand, and Sasuke gave her the package, sitting down with Karai on the couch across from them. "Here, Kumori, a present!"

"Prezzen." The edges of the package touched one hand, and he soon had both hands on the thing. The paper wrinkled under his fingers, and then tore as he began to pull.

"Yeah, that's right, tear it up, honey!" Ninako said. Kumori giggled as he tore off more of the paper, the metallic stars on the wrapping making a crackly sound as they folded.

The gift turned out to be a picture book; it looked old, some of the brown cardstock showing at the corners of the cover. "S'a book," Kumori said.

"Yeah, it's a book!" Ninako said. Hajime, silent, didn't seem to share her enthusiasm.

"Whassit name?" Kumori said. He was holding the book upside-down, and began flipping through pages with thick little movements.

"It's called…" NInako tilted her head as she tried to get a view of the cover. "Hm, The Monkey King! It's called Monkey King, Kumori."

"Mongee." Kumori closed the book and held it out to Ninako. "Read, Mommy, read!"

"Okay, sweetheart, I'll read it when it's bedtime," Ninako said. "How did you know he loves books?"

"Ino helped," Sasuke replied. "Though, the book… came from my family. One of the things I managed to save from when I was a child."

"I'm sure he'll love it," Ninako said. Hajime said nothing, just holding Kumori as he flipped through the pages again.

Kumori did love it, when the time came for bedtime stories. Hajime and Ninako left early, to put him to sleep; everyone else would stay up until midnight, somehow, to greet the year ahead.

(Though Takeru and Inou retreated to their bedrooms at 10, leaving the parents and the girls to watch the gala on TV.)

Hajime changed into his pajamas while Ninako read the book in Kumori's room; he'd graduated from a crib to a small bed on the floor, and both he and his mother sat on it after he'd been bathed and dressed, his curls wispy and damp.

The story itself was a simplified version of the classic Journey to the West, and fairly thick for a picture book, with many stories to choose from. Ninako got through two of them, reading loudly and animatedly, making Kumori giggle in between his yawns. He went down easily, after that, Ninako tucking him in and kissing him goodnight.

(And Ninako had noticed, on the inside of the book, a white paper sticker with neat writing that declared the book "Property of Uchiha Kumori.")

(Though her Byakugan revealed writing beneath the sticker: printed lines saying "This Book Belongs To:" and, written in crayon below, "UCHIA SASKE.")

(Somehow, it made the gift seem far more valuable.)

Hajime was waiting for her on the edge of the bed, fingers laced together, thinking. "Hey, you okay over there?" Ninako said.

"Mm."

"I'm guessing that's a bad 'Mm,'" Ninako said. She began taking off her sweater to get ready for bed. "What's on your mind?"

"What do you think?"

"Your dad?"

"Mm." Hajime leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"Okay, so… what about him?" Ninako said. "He seemed to be pretty well-behaved today."

"He's being passive-aggressive about… everything," Hajime said. "You, my brothers, especially Kumori."

"Okay…? How do you mean?" Ninako sat down next to him.

"Well, he hardly said anything to Inou and Takeru - practically ignored them all night - and he was only making an effort with me, probably, because my mom told him to," Hajime said. "Like, did you hear what he said to you?"

"Uh… meaningless small talk?"

"Yeah, exactly! That's totally not like him."

"Probably isn't. I think he was just trying to be nice, Hajime," Ninako said, leaning back against her hands. "Like, nice doesn't come easy to him, right? So that's actually kinda great of him."

Hajime sighed. "But you can't ignore what he did to Kumori."

"What, uh… did he do?"

"He called his eyes beautiful."

Ninako gave a worried smirk. "Uh, have you seen our kid lately? He's does have beautiful eyes."

"Yeah. Blind ones." Hajime shook his head, sighing again. "My dad? Was insulting him."

"...somehow I find that a bit of a stretch," Ninako said. "Especially if he was trying to be nice."

"Passive-aggressive."

"Nice. He even complimented his hair. Remember, his cousin?" she said. "He was playing up the fact that Kumori's related to his family too. If that ain't acceptance as part of his family, I dunno what is."

"Then explain the book," Hajime said. His voice was shifting down, like it did when he was feeling like an argument.

"It was a nice birthday present?"

"A picture book for a blind kid."

"Right, like none of Kumori's other books have pictures," Ninako said. "He loves being read to, Hajime. If it was just pictures then maybe you'd have a point, but there's more than that there."

Hajime sighed, and leaned forward, bracing himself against his forearms.

"Why can't you just take it at face value?" NInako continued. "Like… it's been two years, I really doubt there's ulterior motives underneath a little birthday present. And he, like, made clothes for Kumori last year too, and-" She made a little noise there, as the thought hit her, something halfway between a laugh and a scoff. "Oh, and, uh, don't forget kinda being responsible for us being together right now. In this house. That he gave us. That's kind of a big deal."

Hajime grumbled a little.

"Seriously, Hajime, you're just overthinking things because it's… been a long time since you've actually seen your dad, much less talked to him," Ninako said. She put her arm around him. "And honestly, what was the last thing he actually said to you?"

"He disowned me," Hajime said.

"Yeah, exactly. Not exactly a high note to pick up on…" Ninako patted his shoulder. "Just put yourself in his shoes for a bit, okay? If the last thing you ever said to Kumori was something like that, two years ago, and you wanted to make up for it, it wouldn't really help if he wasn't willing to meet you halfway."

"I would never do that to Kumori."

"I know, honey." She pulled him closer. "But just try for a bit. Be nice to him tomorrow. It can't hurt."

Hajime groaned again and left Ninako's arm to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling. "At least you're trying," he said.

"I can't make up for the both of us," she replied.

Sasuke, as it happened, was having a similarly stressful time.

He paced the bedroom that belonged to Ino - and, by rights, him too, though he had a hard time thinking of it that way. Ino sat on the bed, worriedly watching and listening as he vented.

"This is going horribly. This is awful. They all hate me. They don't want me here. I should just leave."

"Sasuke, calm down…"

"Did you see how Inou looked at me all night? He doesn't want me here. Nobody does."

"Sasuke…"

"And Takeru! I couldn't think of a single thing to say to him that couldn't be seen as an insult! Do they know I'm trying? I almost hope they don't. They should hate me."

"There, there… Come here, sit down." Ino made a space for him on the bed, and Sasuke took it, cradling his forehead in his palms.

"This just isn't going well," Sasuke said.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Ino said. "The girls seemed to like having you around. Karai especially."

"I wasn't worried about Karai," Sasuke said.

"Nadeshiko, then? She was smiling at you all night."

Sasuke groaned, slipping his head further down, his hands on the back of his neck.

"The boys just… need a little time, I think," Ino said. "Maybe tomorrow, after we visit the temple, you can have some one-on-one time with each of them? In private, so they can… get everything out that they need to."

"Funny," Sasuke said, "you're not the first person that's suggested that."

"Ah?"

"Just… you know, staying quiet and letting them tell me everything I've done wrong. That might be nice."

"For them, maybe, but you should be allowed to have your say, too," Ino said. "I know there's… a lot that's behind us, but the reason I called you home is so we can move forward. Can't really do that unless you get to explain yourself as well."

"I guess…" Sasuke sighed deeply, propping his head on up on his palms now. "Can't expect forgiveness, though."

"You might be surprised," Ino said, smiling. "Besides, I don't think anyone expects everything to be sunshine and rainbows after only a day back. It'll take time."

Sasuke groaned, and got off of the bed to take his shirt off. "I'm just going to start over in the morning."

"Good idea. It'll clear your head a little," Ino said. "Want me to help on the side?"

"No," Sasuke said, then, "Thank you, though."

He slept in a tightly-curled ball that night, and Ino kept her hand near him the entire time.