AUTHOR NOTES:
Hi Hello it's me with an update again. I know I said in last chapter the update won't come for a while but this has been on my mind and I typed it before just a bit of editing was needed. Also thank you so much for all the lovely reviews and Thank you so much for staying with the story, I won't disappoint.
Sasuhina a crackship? Yes they are in some way but that's what makes it worthwhile to work on them. They're dynamic and you can mold them in any genre you want. It's fun to work with them. On my profile there are so many variations I've worked on and I've enjoyed everyone of them. I hope you will too.
springmind, thank you for asking, I am well. Juugo will come soon, in fact team Taka will reunite shortly. I read your comment first thing in the morning and it made my day. I'm so glad my writings depicted emotions that's all I've wanted to achieve.
Thank you everyone else you appreciated my writings. I'll make sure I correct grammatical and capitalization errors. I'll revise it soon. Please have some patience with me and meanwhile enjoy the new chapter.
UNDER THE PRETENSE OF WHO SHE USED TO.
Shikamaru admittedly was not the most hard working person nor was he gravely determined for anything. There was a thick line between the ideal life he had initially wished for and the life he is living, idly. He was a clan head now, has a wonderful wife, a kid and most importantly Hokage's chief advisor.
The genetics he was endowed with made sure the balance was maintained; gifting him the brains and laziness. At an early age the calculations had been done- to live a pragmatic life he had to work. That was fine and the only way he secured a resourceful earning was to follow his father's, might he add, engraved path. Those were the times when Nara Shikaku was a name spoke with endearing respect. Shikamaru was no different.
Just like every other person, officials, commoners alike, he held mad respect for his father. Subconsciously the adoptions were done to follow his steps. He often caught himself asking, who was his father? What does he do to make everyone respect him? What does he do that made Shikamaru follow his steps? Why shall those works be done? What exactly is the better world he ought to create? What should be the corrections done to make this world a better place? What was bad in this world?
Little did the young lad know, a lot was wrong. Unconcerned regarding the voracious approach Shinobis used to swatch goals he was laid back. One hour nap never hurt nobody. And time would pass, he wouldn't know. The day he was acquainted with Asuma sensei was no other. Truly meeting him first time wasn't magical, it was gruesome, tiring and against his unheedy ideals. Over time a lot of things were learnt. Things that took months to bloom. The answers he had foraged for would make clandestine appearances. Good things take time, he assured himself again and again.
The demise of those two people left him hollow. It was as if someone with care, concern moulded the clay and then ruthlessly scraped those insides out. His mentors were stolen and all that was left was a man as hopeless as Shikamaru in the middle of nowhere. The people who mowed the arena to show him directions resigned.
It was a simple realization, painful no less that he had to scout his own way. He saw no reason to expend the energy and that was a notion he stood by firmly before meeting Naruto Uzumaki.
They've had met before but it took a great war to know him. Gradually he found the reason that was lost amongst grievances. For the hero that saved him, shikamaru took a silent oath to be the coach man for Naruto to conquer. The past years stood evident for that decision. They spent around three quarters of day muzzling village matters Shikamaru was too sure he knew that man like the back of his hand.
The staple 'only my wife can cure me' after a particularly hectic day was their language of a job well done. On many occasions Naruto connotated with his views on family and every time he did the love he held for them hopped across the conversation. So the day he saw him hovering over a woman who wasn't his wife Shikamaru quietly pretended not to.
He did however walk a few extra miles to deliver the message from the hokage to his wife that he wouldn't go home tonight, again. Days would be where it itched to slap some sense into Naruto, gurgle the secrets to the first lady to relieve the crippling guilt that was somehow just as part of him as the shadow. In his own way Shikamaru was self assured that this shit game was for display. People like Naruto and Hinata didn't fall out of love like that.
"Shikamaru! He's losing control!" Sakura had hissed, stumbling through wooden panels in a frenzy. Fear dripped in her tone and Shikamaru had ran before the uncertain shall occur.
Unfortunately all the training ditches executed by him to watch the fucking clouds came to bite in the ass. At the threshold he stood frozen as Naruto spat poison at his beloved wife and smacked her with divorce papers. He might have came in time but the awe was fresh to frost him. The events subsequent went in a blur when a lifeless, broken hinata moved through the streets to God knows where. She left, leaving a suddenly pained Naruto who seemed to have lost his footing. Shikamaru left the room.
He tried to not think about it, which was an impossible feat. An uncomfortable dread twisted in the pits of his intestine and against the better judgement he spent nights in the hokage building. They pretended as if what happened didn't. Hokage's legal wife was nowhere in radar and every time he met him it was as if hundred nights of sleep were lost and his only source of nutrition was stagnant dough.
On the 5th day while Shikamaru presented him the model of western Konoha extension along with budget debriefing a blur of black whopped across his eyes and it wasn't until a sharp sound that reverberated across the musty hall startling the dead that he realized it was a human. It was still so dangerously still that the papers trembled to fall on the floor.
On instinct Naruto burned in his staple colors with power leaking across his pores ready to blast away the intruder. He could've, really he could've, with no regards whatsoever if not for the immediate threat that followed along. This one hadn't even done anything and Shikamaru was shaking, goosebumps crawling across his body. He thought he was rusty but he could feel it, the macabre waved that overtook; ANBU was stalling.
It was an open invitation for anyone who dared to. The ANBU was ready to attack but they didn't, perhaps it was the time snitch they experienced or perhaps it their natural instinct to, a warning from depths of consciousness; don't move. They knew the moment their hokage would signal to attack they would and in the same moment itself they would be slain.
He gave up on physically watching them, they moved too fast for the optical nerves to catch and decode. 7,8,9,10,... The seconds hollered by. At 7th second Shikamaru saw the scene weaving in his mind. On the chair sat the seventh with his overwhelming chakra and his wife hovered over him with a poignant chakra of her own. Shikamaru vaguely remembered it was the same chakra that they experienced in moon, before it was cut in half. Behind her stood a killer.
His teeth clenched, Shikamaru fought his initial instinct to run. The intent was malicious, like phantom his chakra levitating around him at an inert distance from the only woman between them. It was a challenge, an open one to touch her again. It was probably 5hr deadly purple like snake venom or the red like bloodshed terror but Shikamaru after many years felt utterly overwhlemed. Sasuke probably knew exactly what Shikamaru was trying to hide.
"Where are my kids?" Hinata asked with no intent of going back on her words. She will fight if she has to.
"Yours? They're—"
"I have not signed the divorce paper. They remain mine. "
Naruto remained silent. A gesticulate was made for an ANBU to appear in the room. "Bring himawari. "
"And Sarada. "Hinata corrected to which Naruto raised his brows in question. "She's not yours."
"I take her in. On behalf of her disloyal mother I take Sarada Uchiha under my care for the time being. Bring her before I find her. " The veins on her temple strengthened, she leaned in just a bit to prove her point. Shikamaru thought the overbearing chakra and the devil she brought with her was enough of an evict.
Hinata collapsed on her bed, her joints were aching. After a very happy reunion and a promise to never leave again they were hauled back to the house. While the chaos lasted Hinata forgot she herself wasn't in a very encouraging situation. Hell it was a strict advice to take at least a week of bedrest with little to no physical exertion. Clearly Hinata was very good at being bad. Sprinting across konoha, arguing while maintaining a sheathe of chakra floundering all around her with a throbbing headache made things worse. She was not healed, not yet.
"We've a lot to talk you know. "Hanabi muttered while walking beside Hinata who was following the kids. She seemed ghostly.
"I know, imouto. "Pale eyes held a sheen of gratitude and an indescribable hope that the recognition gets through.
"I leave for a mission tomorrow morning. Later?" There was a brief hesitation in her voice as if debating her own words. Hinata wondered how long had it been since Hanabi had overthought?
Hinata hummed her reply trying not to think too much about her jello knees. They were at the threshold of the house, kids were already inside. With a gentleness Hinata thought she had trimmed for her sister she patted her head. "Stay safe. "
"Hana-née." Hanabi blushed at the affectionate display but maybe it was the sunset? "You're safe. " her voice trembled a bit before quickly coaxing it in the hard shell otousan had made of her. The days they were strangled in hokage quarters with all the necessities provided Hanabi worried herself sick for her sister, only sibling spared. Oh how the tables turn.
Those syllables washed ashore guilt Hinata thought she'd move on from. How could she leave her sister like that? Reflections of Hanabi modelled herself when Neji left the house; their humble abode and never returned. How could she be so cruel to let the dastardly fate toy with her sister the way it did with her?
Fiddling the hem of her black top she wriggled her toes. It pained, it pained a hell lot. The movements were a silent prayer of blood rushing needed desperately. She rolled over squishing her face in the pillows that damped a labored groan. How the fuck is she supposed to sleep amidst this prickling soreness?
Deftly she screamed when a little box smashed her back muscles. What the fuck? Digging out her head within the pillows she glared at the object of intrusion. There loomed Uchiha Sasuke giving her the most disdainful look mankind could manufacture.
"You dropped those. " He said without any hint of sympathy for the tormented woman lying semi dead. While sprinting across rooftop to fight the hokage of the very nation she lives in, while strictly ordered bedrest- the Supreme idiot dropped her only source of relief. Both husband and wife were dumb as fuck and seemingly both of them were admanat to burst his bubble of mental peace.
No words of appreciation were uttered but the hands slithering across the mattress to grab the pill bottle didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.
"I'm leaving. "Coolly he stated his business.
"What?" Came a hasty 'how dare you' mushed with a 'don't you dare' cross question.
She sat at the bed with a rough jerk, clearly irritated at the audacity. A look of noxious authority was thrown at Sasuke for her to pop a few pills in her mouth. Without any water the pill most probably corroded her throat or so it seemed by her contorted facial expressions. That wasn't even the issue, he remembered vividly how Karin warned to not take more than one pill at once. The woman is begging the suicide gods.
The water bottle he discretely brought and kept at the side table was tickling his self control. Should he let her die again just for fun? He threw the water bottle again. It hit her head this time. Goal!
"What the fuck Sasuke!?" As forgetful the woman seemed to be this time she didn't forget to curse him before greedily gulping down the water.
"I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon. " All personal issues aside, there had been disturbances in the previous locations he visited. The investigation was needed before another Kaguya popped babies that birthed ninja wars.
Hinata didn't say anything. She remained still as if caught amidst a game of statues. "Hyūga—-" before he could complete his quota of chiding the woman, the said woman jumped off the bed and came wobbling towards him.
"Kiss me. '' nimble hands clutched his shirt crippling the area of attention. The finicky woman had half lidded eyes, a sultry expression stretching its limbs to grab promiscuous motives encircling Sasuke.
"Come again?" He resisted the urge to comply.
"You like kissing me, don't you?" She leaned in, almost crashing into his chest. First off he has only kissed so many to compare the experiences. Second, yes he did. "Then do it." Right now if you'd ask Sasuke what was the sexiest thing a woman has ever done, he would definitely describe the paradigm of this fastidious woman.
"Go to sleep, hyūga. " He said with an equanimity that exhorts the opposite.
"Come with me." One of Her hands slithering across his chest to toy with his shirt buttons while another was sly enough to drag itself across his back. Sasuke had a tough time forgoing his moan while this guileful woman was hell bent to differ. When the pale eyes glanced to him again while the hand on his chest 'accidentally' brushed against his nipple, Sasuke had half a mind to fuck her through business days. A sense of dreaded amity puckered him, he threw an apathetic look.
"Coward. "The accusation was true on personal levels but highly favored on moral levels. Absent-mindedly he licked his lips. His hand waved across her back underneath the blanket of hair that has grown under laboratory conditions. A little push was all needed for her to crash into his chest. Hinata hummed as her arms wrapped around his neck in a deadlock but romantically.
Had it been anyone else they'd been on their way to the afterlife. Sasuke held no emotions whatsoever to any other person without prior chronicles. The regard that was mostly harbored was built around the fact that either one had owed something to the other. This woman however, made him do things that up until recently were extinct in his dictionary.
Hinata stood on her tippy toes and Sasuke was expecting a kiss, in this way he could blame her in his mind. The shrewd woman had plans otherwise. She kissed his chin and trailed slow, sensual touches across his neck. Warm air rhythmically hit his skin that suddenly became too sensitive. He pulled her closer, as humanly as possible and their pelvis seemed in a covenant to grind against each other.
Her touch was hypnotizing. In order to prevent any sort of voices -that he knew would be too encouraging- his hand grabbed the underside of her breast and with a bated breath started drawing circular shapes. Her hands too mimicked the same but in a more imperiled area of his neck and scalp. The soothing action made Sasuke lose his grip on self control as a small grunt escaped his mouth. On the account of his carelessness he froze.
As if the sorcery wasn't enough Hinata dragged her spry tongue across his carotid artery and sucked at the nape of his neck. Given her hyūga history and his own distraught she could've killed him instead she chose to make him moan.
This was the vocal reminder that one step beyond this and the woman in his arm was going to be pounded senseless. Uncaring of his predicament Hinata was more than willing to take the step as her needy little mouth was retracing its pathway back to his jaws. His actions were quick and the hand at her underside was now pointedly pressing itself in a sensitive neck zone. Normally he wouldn't apply chakra in this acupuncture such was his assurance of skills but this time he did. He couldn't simply afford the cacodemon waking up and amidst her high drag him along too.
Naruto stretched across the plush chair he was seated on, it bent a little and he sprung back up. His attention without any prior engagements was concentrated on the ceiling but a rather anticlimactic thought was plummeting in his mind.
His wife, Hinata.
And his treacherous best friend, Sasuke.
Atop his table under the weight of sturdy little rock was a bill, prepaid bills of his own house. All the utility bills were paid and the transactions were done from Uchiha accounts. He thought the Uchiha accounts were a forbidden source of livelihood for him, he made it clear he did not want to spend it on personal business. But eras were evolving and Konoha had been in worse economic conditions.
The railways when built had a lot of opposition from shinobis. Apparently it was a disgrace for the name of shinobi to travel in magnified children toys. The commotion resulted in withdrawal of many investors that presumably knew it was going to be a failure. Well the Hokage hadn't been eating shit all these years if he gave up that early. Adamant on his motives, he had begged Sasuke to invest on this project.
Eventually he relented. Naruto it was a win for all, with Sasuke's clear objections of not spending the capital and the rails success. He knew the rails would be a flourishing project, it was primarily for the non shinobi citizens and humans were lazy people. The profit was carved in stone and it would remain for Konoha because Sasuke would remain for konoha. Over time with no expenditure from Sasuke they had made a fortune. Naruto might/ might not have involved those stocks in other developmental projects too.
Well Sasuke made his intentions clear and that was evident when Uchiha manor was crumpled under Sakura, the mortgage was flaring and they shifted to an insalubrious flat and He made no moves to help them. He was a heartless uncaring bastard then why? Why was he breaking his own prototypes for Hinata? What was so special about her?
She was still his wife, the divorce was not done and truthfully he had no intentions to do so. Having her as a wife was convenient for Hokage and all he did previously by threatening for divorce was assurance that she wouldn't leave him. One or other she was supposed to come to him for help and Naruto would've kissed her again, swayed for her to be with him. Why then? Why the fuck was Sasuke interfering? Why the fuck was Sasuke adamant to wreck his home?
Or what relation did he have with her?
Was he training her? Was he fucking her?
They disappeared from the village for what? 5 days? And she comes back all healthy and glowing. As if her milky skin didn't have the scars he gave, as if her womb didn't create his children, as if her heart didn't already belong to Uzumaki Naruto. What was it that made her succumb to him? Why did he follow her here, in his office and openly challenged him to touch her again?
That was his wife and he had every right to touch her, grab her hair, kiss her or slap her. It was an intimate affair between two married people. Why did Sasuke stand behind her in the fury of a murderer?
What did Sasuke do to his woman? The meek Hinata who cried herself to sleep came and slapped him in the face. What did he do to her that she became so bold? The Hinata he knew would've cried, sobbed about how much she loves and to never leave her again. Why did Hinata had to rebel?
Why did she fight for Sarada? And why did Sasuke agree with her? Why was he so keen to let Hinata play mother mother with Sarada? How dare she love another child that wasn't Naruto and hers.
Naruto was Hinata's and Hinata's was his, there was no short cut to this nor was he accepting exceptions. Their fates has been tangled since the day they met on the snowy day, he saved her and in return she had fallen in love with him, irrevocably. That was a fact and everyone knew that.
But then again Sasuke had never been the one to accept facts either.
It's a wrap!
I know the chapter is going to trigger some people, 'NaRuTo WoUlD NEvEr Do tHaT' this is a fiction for fucksake. I respect Naruto, it had been my whole childhood just hold on tight we'll get to the part where everything makes sense. Trust your author on this.
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Can't believe I still say this but post your thoughts I love to read them. Review so update just as fast and surprising as this. Thank you for reading this far. I love y'all!