Her Face
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: I'm not sure how big the Uchiha Clan was. I'm presuming because they had their own District and thought they could take over the village, that they had a lot of people. So the number 500 may or may not be cannon.
Chapter 23
A month had passed since Sasuke returned to his era. It was the strangest sensation. He had two sets of memories and every day, the original began to feel more like a dream than anything he had actually experienced. The horrors of the past were slowly being left behind.
The surreal sensation of his new existence was only further increased by the fact that he was discussing possible Honeymoon locations with his brother. Itachi was alive! Itachi was alive, healthy, and happy! He still couldn't believe it!
"Foolish little brother, you look as though you're about to cry. We're planning your Honeymoon. This should be a happy occasion. I'm aware that some people cry at weddings, but I have never heard of a man crying over a Honeymoon before." Itachi teases him as he pokes his forehead.
"Owe! Will you STOP doing that?!" Sasuke grumbles.
"I'll stop doing it when you stop being foolish. That day will likely never arrive and thus, I shall continue to poke your forehead. It's all very simple. Foolish little brother, it's my way of saying that I love you." The elder Uchiha says.
Sasuke smiles. This was the way that Itachi should have been able to live both of his life. Happily married, healthy, and teasing him. Just like it was always meant to be.
"I love you too, but the forehead thing is annoying." He says.
"Well on your Honeymoon you can poke your wife instead." He states smugly and Sasuke could only gape at his elder brother.
He couldn't believe that Itachi had just made a dirty joke. The world must have tilted on its axis. Sasuke couldn't believe his ears.
"I can't believe you just said that!" He growls accusingly at Itachi.
"Foolish little brother, it will be your Honeymoon. What do you think married people do on their wedding night? I suppose that I could explain Kunais and Pouches to you. I would have thought that father, mother, or even grandfather would have done so by now though." He continues with a smirk.
Unbelievable! Now, Itachi was teasing him about consummating his marriage. Any moment now, Sasuke was certain that he would see a pig flying by their living room window.
"You're such a jerk! Of course, I know about THAT! Father gave me that explanation years ago!" Sasuke grumbles.
"Good. Now, let's see here. What about the Land of Tea? It's popular choice and rather well known for its hot springs." Itachi suggests.
"Yeah. That'll work. Someplace peaceful and far away. We can have some actual privacy there as well. That will be good because I'm essentially marrying a stranger." Sasuke says with a sigh.
Itachi shakes his head and embraces Sasuke. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Sasuke was only in this match because he had already found love with Izumi by the time the Uchihas and Hyugas decided to make their alliance more permanent.
"You know, you really don't have to go through with this. Our parents would never force you to marry someone that you didn't want to marry." He says.
"I know. I want to go through with it though. I want to do my part to protect our Clan and Hinata is nice. She's beautiful and thankfully, quiet. I'd sooner stab myself with a kunai than marry someone like Sakura. She's a good person, but she's far too…abrasive for my tastes." Sasuke observes.
"She is a bit like Kushina in that way, yes. Naruto seems quite fond of her though." Itachi muses.
Sasuke winces as he's hit with the image of a pink haired boy with blue eyes and more energy than common sense. The boy would also have Sakura's monstrous strength. Oh Dear God, that was a terrifying thought!
"Can you imagine if they had children?" Sasuke asks.
"I'm imagining a pink haired boy. That poor child would be teased for life." Itachi observes and Sasuke could only nod in agreement.
Meanwhile in the past, Jirayia was pretending to do paperwork. He was now Hokage and that meant that he had lots of responsibilities. There were some aspects of his job that he greatly enjoyed, but there were others that were rather tedious.
"You asked for me?" Minato asks with a smile, once he was inside his Sensei's Office.
"Yes, I did. I have every hope of training to you to take over for me in a few years. I think that we both know that I'm too much of a free spirit to really be tied down to such an important job for long. So I thought that we'd get started on your training early." The Sannin says.
Jirayia chuckles at the joyful look that his words caused to appear in Minato's eyes. The kid really had no idea what he was getting into. That was alright though.
"Really? Master Jirayia, I'm sure that you'll make a wonderful Hokage. You don't need to sell yourself short. You're still pretty young. You could be Hokage for decades and still perform the job ably. I am flattered that you have such faith in me though." The Yellow Flash says.
"Yes, really. I'd much rather travel the world and focus on my novels, truth be told. Anyway, do you still want to become Hokage? There's no harm in training you early. If I change my mind and decide to keep the post for a longer period of time, it won't hurt anything. Better safe than sorry, right?" The Toad Sage inquires slyly.
"That's true! Well that's great news! When can we get started?" The blonde asks cheerfully.
Jirayia couldn't help, but smile at the kid's eagerness. This was almost too easy. He felt a bit guilty about taking advantage of Minato like this, really.
Oh well. He was tired of paperwork and it would provide the kid with a lot of useful experience when it came to the more mundane aspects of being Hokage. Experience that would serve him well in the future.
"Right now. I'm going to show you how to handle some of the more technical aspects of this job." The Hokage says.
"Technical aspects?" Minato inquires in confusion.
"You'll see. Just stick with me, kid. We'll get you ready to be Hokage in no time." He says with a sly smile.
Elsewhere in the past, Mikoto smiles as she pushes Itachi's stroller and heads to the market. It was a beautiful day and she wanted to take advantage of it. That and she was pretty sure they were having a sale on tomatoes. She liked tomatoes.
"Mikoto, there you are. I've been meaning to talk to you." Orochimaru says as he walks over to her.
"Orochimaru, I am enjoying a day of shopping with my son. Kindly do not ruin it. If you persist in doing so, I will do something far worse than turning your Summon into boots!" She huffs.
Itachi giggles in his stroller. He didn't know what his mother was saying to the strange looking big person, but the big person was making a funny face. He looked so mad!
"Mikoto, I know that we had an unfortunate incident awhile back. I'd like to move past it though." He says as he looks down at Itachi.
The Uchiha Matriarch finds herself twitching. She didn't particularly care for the way he was looking at her son. Orochimaru was about to be pleased in another Genjutsu, if he didn't back off.
"I would like for us to ignore each other's existence and for you to get as far away from my son as possible." She says sweetly.
"Now, Mikoto. Please be reasonable. Sarutobi has been helping me with my research lately and I think that the Sharingan would be fascinating to study. It would benefit your Clan as much as it would me and the village as a whole. What do you say?" Orochimaru inquires.
Mikoto just gapes at him. She couldn't believe the nerve of him. He wanted to use Uchihas as his guinea pigs for his experiments!
The dark beauty bristles at the mere idea and was about to tell him exactly what she thought of his proposal, when she senses two familiar chakra signatures. The first was Sarutobi's and the second was her husband's. She smirks at the knowledge.
"Orochimaru, it doesn't seem as though she is interested in such a possibility." Sarutobi says, clearly trying to prevent an incident.
"That's correct. Though it does seem very much the case, that my wife wants you to leave her alone. Failure to comply with her request will result in your being thrown through the nearest window." Fugaku warns him as she strides over to his wife's side.
Mikoto smiles at her husband and kisses his cheek. He was such a protector. She knew that her only real hope of beating Orochimaru was to capture him in a Genjutsu again. Fugaku had always been more of a Taijutsu Specialist than her.
There was a reason why her lover had been considered as candidate for Hokage, after all. Fugaku Uchiha could more than hold his own against almost any opponent. It was one of the biggest reasons why he had survived the war, really.
"Fugaku, I wasn't threatening your wife. So kindly do not threaten me." Orochimaru says.
"You may not have been threatening her, but you were disgusting her. That's more than enough of a reason to throw you through a window and do not think that I have forgotten about you attacking Daisuke." Fugaku growls at him.
"Alright, everyone. While there could be enormous medical benefits to researching the Sharingan more, I can certainly understand why the two of you are against the idea. Orochimaru, leave them be. Besides, we have plenty of projects going on already." Sarutobi observes.
Mikoto sees the Sannin nod in agreement and sighs in relief as the elderly ninja escorts his bizarre student off. That man gave her the creeps. She certainly not going to allow him to go near her son(s). Ever!
"Are you alright, My Love?" Fugaku asks.
"I'm fine. How could I not be when I have such a dedicated protector?" She inquires with a sly smile as she kisses her husband's cheek and Itachi giggles in amusement.
"That's true. Well hopefully, that snake will leave well enough alone now. His fixation on our family is most unsettling." The Uchiha Patriarch observes.
Mikoto nods in agreement as Fugaku heads off to finish his patrol and she goes back to shopping. Though in the distance, she thought she heard Orochimaru ask about the Hyugas. She mentally groans and slaps her forehead at this. That man will never learn.
"Itachi, determination is a good trait. Sadly, like anything else you can have too much of a good thing. Whatever you do, don't grow up to be like Orochimaru." She informs her son.
Back in the present, Gaara heads to the Leaf Village. It had been a month since the "realignment" as he called it. The red head figured that enough time had passed that the brunt of the damage would be known by now. That or conversely, everything good about all the timeline changes would be known.
"Ah good morning, Lord Kazekage." Minato says with a smile from behind his Hokage Desk.
"Good morning, Lord Hokage. I was wondering if I might speak to Naruto or is he away on a mission?" The young Kakage inquires.
"Oh no. He just got back from a long bodyguard mission. Most likely he's at his house or the Ramen Shop. I suppose we did walk into that one. Naming him after ramen." Minato says with a playful wink.
Gaara nods in agreement and heads off. Minato was a good man. He was a more than capable Kage. That and if his already formidable abilities didn't deter threats, his beautiful wife's temper would! (Now, that was a fiery red head)!
It didn't take him long too get to the Ramen Shop. That's when he saw Naruto having Ramen with his mother. This was going to be awkward. He was going to have to be subtle in his attempts to get information.
"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto calls out excitedly.
"Naruto, Lady Kushina." The red head greets them with a smile.
He liked Kushina, it was just that he didn't want to inform her that in another timeline she wasn't here. She would have been dead. That would make for a rather unpleasant conversation and it was one that they all strove to avoid.
"It's good to see you again, Gaara." Kushina replies with a smile.
"Yeah! Come sit with us!" The blonde calls out and so, Gaara does exactly that.
"I'd love to. I hope that things have been going well in the Leaf?" He asks subtly.
They had all decided never to tell anyone else about the new timeline. It was just easier that way, especially when so many people had been "revived" from the dead. That was why they spoke in subtly inquiries when others were around.
"Yeah. Everything is going great. Did you know that Granny Tsunade is training Sakura to take over the medical program at the hospital?" Naruto asks.
"I didn't hear that. That's wonderful news." Gaara replies with a smile and just then he feels someone "sneak up" on him.
His sand always prevented such things. The person in question soon gets wrapped in sand and the Kazekage turns around to see who had snuck up on him. He blinks when he realizes it was Arisa.
"Sorry, it's an instinct." He says, feeling his face heat up.
Arisa's name was due to the fact that she had sandy blonde hair. Hair that came down to her waist in straight silky strands. Gaara was almost positive that she was the first "blonde" Uchiha. Though calling her a blonde was stretching it a bit. Her hair was more like his mother's color than anything.
"It's alright. I probably should have known better than to sneak up on a Kage." She says with a bright smile.
She was Sasuke's and Itachi's distant cousin. Gaara wasn't entirely certain but he thought she was either their second cousin, three times removed or their third cousin, two times removed. He could never keep removals and gaps straight. He had no idea how the Uchihas managed when their Clan number five hundred strong.
"Yes, you should." Gaara agrees as he releases her from the sand and kisses her cheek.
"Wait to go, Gaara!" Naruto tells him happily.
While the Uchiha Clan wasn't as identical in looks as the Hyuga Clan was, there was definitely a strong family resemblance. She had Itachi's eyes. Her face strongly resembled Mikoto's and she also had Sasuke's fair skin.
Skin that Gaara liked very much to mark up with lovebites. It was rather easy to do and he acknowledged that he was probably a bit more possessive than was normal. Though she didn't seem to mind indulging him in this quirk. So he supposed that it was okay.
"Oh don't embarrass them. Though Arisa might want to start wearing high collars." The other red head observes merrily, causing both them both to blush bright red.
A few hours later, Mikoto, Aiya, Rin, and Izumi head back into the Uchiha District. The four of them had been out the majority of the day with Hinata, Hanabi, and Emiko. They had been shopping for wedding kimonos!
"The four of you look incredibly pleased with yourselves." Kenji comments cheekily.
"Why shouldn't we be? We just helped our future granddaughter-in-law, select her wedding kimono." Aiya says smugly.
Kenji shakes his head in amusement and kisses his wife's forehead. Did people really say granddaughter-in-law? Well he supposed they did now.
"That's nice. I'm sure you got yourself something quite pretty to wear to the ceremony as well?" He asks slyly.
"Of course. You don't get to see it until then though." She states firmly.
"I believe that superstition only applies to the bride, but very well. I'm sure it's lovely and I'll love take it off of you even more." Kenji replies with a smirk.
Shisui, Obito, and Itachi could only roar in laughter, once they heard that. It apparently didn't matter how old the elderly couple got. Kenji would always be well Kenji.
"Kenji Uchiha!" She says as she swats him lightly.
"I was only thinking what we were both thinking. Come, My Heart. It's late. There's a big wedding coming up soon. We should be well-rested to ensure we don't fall asleep in the middle of the proceedings." He suggests.
"Well I suppose that's true, but really you carry on like you're a teenager." Aiya grumbles as she heads off with her husband.
Mikoto laughs quietly. Well that was certainly a lively marriage. Hopefully, both her sons would be fortunate enough to still have that when they were old and gray.
"Those two never change." Izumi muses.
"That much his certain, My Love." Itachi says as he walks over and wraps his arms around his pregnant wife protectively.
"When are you due?" Shisui asks brightly and he owes when he gets a light swat from Obito, after asking that question.
Obito sighs and gives the younger Uchiha a dirty look. The man was a rather cheerful person, but also a casual one. Well when he wasn't on a mission or protecting their village/Clan anyway. Sometimes too casual.
"Have some tact. She's going to assume that you're saying she's already showing and think she's fat." He informs him.
"Oh boy." Rin says with a groan as she smacks her forehead.
Her husband meant well. He really did, but sometimes he was a little too blunt. This one of those times.
"I'm only two months along." Izumi grumbles as she snuggles into Itachi's embrace.
Upstairs Fugaku was helping to make sure that Sasuke would be ready for his wedding. He and Mikoto still remembered the other timeline. He imagined that in the older time line the "third" (or "second") Sasuke wouldn't remember his previous life, but Fugaku certainly did.
He knew that in the other life he had been at best inattentive and had strove to remedy that in this life. That was why, he was giving Sasuke advice for his impending marriage. Advice that he was sure that would serve him well.
"Indulge her. Women appreciate the little things. Most are fond terms of endearment. These endearments can be embarrassing in public, but in private just indulge her." He states.
"Terms of endearment like what? My Love? My Heart? That's not too bad." Sasuke says, not sure where his father was going with this.
"No. The private ones get progressively embarrassing. Your mother greatly enjoys calling me her Teddy Bear for instance. It is utterly emasculating, but it brings her joy. So I allow it." He says.
Sasuke raises an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine anyone calling Fugaku Uchiha their teddy bear, but whatever. He could let Hinata call him some silly name in private.
"Alright. That's not a big deal." Sasuke says as he checks his wedding kimono in the mirror.
"Next, most women do enjoy being held. They often refer to this as snuggling or cuddling. I prefer to call it embracing." Fugaku states.
"Yeah. Embracing is less…cute." Sasuke agrees.
Fugaku nods in agreement. Hmm. What else was there? There was obviously the small stuff.
"Compliments and small gifts tend make them happy. That's rather basic. Flowers and the like. Whatever you do, do not forget her birthday or your anniversary. Should the two of you conceive, never joke about her weight while she's in pregnant and humor her strange food cravings. Your mother enjoyed cabbage when she was pregnant with Itachi." He offers.
"Cabbage? That's weird. Though I guess that does explain why Itachi likes it so much." Sasuke says thoughtfully.
It was difficult for him to imaging "conceiving" with Hinata. The woman was just so shy. She used to faint whenever Naruto even looked at her. Thankfully, his Clan was massive.
If their marriage was to be more of a friendship, it wouldn't matter. They had five hundred members, after all. Itachi and Izumi were already expecting their first child. So mercifully, they didn't have to have children right away or ever.
"Yes, it was strange. As far as actual intimacy goes, you'll figure out what she likes and what she doesn't. Most of that is instinctual. I would say that your wife would tell you her preferences, but she strikes me as a rather modest woman. She'd likely be too embarrassed to tell you such things. Well at least initially." The Uchiha Patriarch continues.
"Most likely." Sasuke concedes.
He couldn't imagine Hinata telling him what she liked or anyone, really. She was just that shy. That was fine though. He didn't mind.
"It varies from couple to couple. So don't take it as a blow to your pride or that you're doing something wrong, if you have to initiate most of the time. Your mother and I, both initiate about half the time." He continues.
"This conversation just took an incredibly awkward turn. I don't really want to hear about you and mother, initiating anything." Sasuke says, looking rather uncomfortable.
"Right. Right. Well I am just trying to do my duty to you as your father and ensure that you got into your marriage with your eyes wide open. You are really doing a great thing for our Clan, Sasuke. Never forget that. Your marriage may not be based on romantic love at the moment, but it is still based on love. Love for your respective families." The Uchiha Patriarch reminds him.
Sasuke nods. That was less awkward. He could live with his father talking about the love of your Clan. The whole second Kuanis and Pouches Talk though, that he could live without.
"I know. Besides, who knows? Maybe, it'll grow into something more later on. That and it's not like I'm in love with anyone else." Sasuke says.
"Well that's as fairly optimistic view. Good. If nothing else, you know that you are marrying a beautiful woman who puts the needs of her family above herself. That's more than most people get. I did the same and it worked out wonderfully for us." His father assures him.
"I got my family back and a wife out of Time Traveling. There are definitely worse things than ending up getting married because of unexpected changes to the timeline. Do you think the rest of our family will behave at the ceremony?" Sasuke asks nervously.
Fugaku chuckes. Sasuke really should know better than to ask that question. The odds of them behaving for the ceremony were essentially zero.
"Not a chance." He says with a smirk.