"You know my husband actually picked up this delivery?" Temari said as he tied off the knot on the bulging burlap bag tightly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. They gave us the money way back when you accepted; we just had to hold it here for your return. Of course they couldn't trust me to receive the delivery, so he actually showed up to work," she began dryly, looking over her shoulder from the base of the stairs. Naruto stepped slowly to close the short distance, wondering what her point was. "I even told that damn bum that he should have kept the reward tied up in the bag, or at least separated it somehow. You know, so we wouldn't have to count it later,"

Naruto laughed. at that, scratching his head until he was reminded that the other hand was holding a heavy load. Temari giggled at it too behind pursed lips. Her eyes looking a little more vindictive as she turned to march up the stairs. The young man was reminded to be nervous by this. Gods help him if Sasuki smelled Temari's breath.

She didn't.

Fate smiled, as she didn't even ask about how much time the little errand had taken.

Temari's coy, lingering stare made those onyx eyes narrow a little, but she made straight for the door. Naruto smiled and gave her a quick wave before slipping out after Sasuki She didn't even pause her stride as he fell into step beside her.

"Where did the mayor live? You spoke with him one time, right?"

"I found him at the tavern. Fatass is probably there right now, if I had to guess," Naruto answered honestly.

"I could go for a hot drink," Sasuki commented idly, making Naruto blink. That was quite a luxury, wasn't it? To be rich enough to just buy something hot, delicious, maybe even alcoholic and barely register the expense. Who knows? Maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to convince Sasuki to retire after they built that estate.

You could buy a damn good life with 600 shinies.

The inn, unfortunately, was as bad as he remembered. Noisy, crampt, and dirty, the whole trifecta of shitty. This didn't deter Sasuki from her goal.

"You go look for the mayor; I'll get us drinks," she said loudly but barely audible. Naruto nodded and went about walking between the three odd rows of longtables. Choji wasn't hard to find, and not less so because of the tall, dark-skinned woman right where he remembered her. Standing tall, alert, back to the wall, and eyes sharply focused on the room.

She greeted him amicably enough.

"Ah, thought I might find you here," he half-joked, earning a similar half-grin from the tall, muscly woman.

"Can I help you?"

"Whose this then?" some fat drunk interrupted.

"A member of that hunter team with the giant. The one that cleared basically the whole region of our fangfolk problem?" she offered, sounding just a bit exasperated at the second reminder she had to list. Still it made the mans eyes light up. Recognition, respect even as he looked at Naruto.

Not something the youngster was all that use too, funny enough.

"Oh yes, I remember now! So your uh…. wait, what do you want?" he slurred out, seeming to lose track of his own words.

"Well, we wanted to talk about building an estate?"

"The estate! Yeah, yeah it's not two hours off the east path; you'll see it," before Naruto could correct anything his babbling continued. "Don- don't worry about not having a hard reward set though, really, Hyuugas are an old, old family; they'll do ya right,"

"I don't…"

"What's this about Hyuugas?" Sasuki interjected, pushing one tall mug into Naruto's hand as soon as his eyes were on her. The amber liquid was pleasantly hot and sweet enough to savor. It tasted faintly of honey. "Their hiring for something?"

"I already told your friend here young lady," Choji protested.

"You didn't, actually," Naruto dared complain.

"I will," Karui said in a tone that allowed no argument. "The Hyuugas have an estate about two hours east of town, an orchard, I think. Apparently their suffering from a haunting, and claimed they'd reward well anyone who slew their ghost,"

"But they didn't give an actual number for payment?" Sasuki asked in a tone that did nothing to hide her disdain. Karui didn't fault her for it. The disappointed, semi-quizzical look perpetually on the older woman's face was actually quite like his raven's default expression, which he now noticed seeing them side by side. It made him think about what kind of life she would have lived born a commoner. One could certainly do worse than being a mayor's wife, as this sellsword seemed to manage.

Though this particular mayor muddled that goalpost a bit.

"Hm. Well, we may just look into that tomorrow; discuss the matter with them at least," Sasuki decided for the both of them, nodding politely before shuffling away from their local rulers. At least far enough that Naruto felt safe asking his question. He had to speak loudly to be heard, and it wasn't one he wanted potential employers to hear.

"Can we even hurt a ghost?"

"My dagger should be able to; it's been magically enchanted," she offered. "The bigger concern is working for Hyuuga's. Their patriarch is a real rotten son of a bitch, but there's no way he's the one out here; we'd probably be dealing with one of his sons, if even that,"

"You're worried he'd stiff us?"

"Among other things, but it's still worth investigating. We'll set out and see the place tomorrow morning,"

"Why not now? It's not even noon; we could make it there and back before sundown,"

The deadpan look she gave him was confusing.

It became concerning when she grabbed his hand and dragged him off without an answer. The crowd parting like they knew she was a short-tempered royal as they moved across the inn. Moved towards the stairs.

Naruto grinned.

"You got us a room too?"

She didn't answer, and looking from behind, he saw only the smallest sliver of a blush through her ebony locks. This was a wonderful surprise. They'd had plenty of time together on the trip home; granted, that wasn't quite the same as a cozy bedroom to enjoy together, though it was much quieter.

Even in the room with the door shut, it felt noisy.

Sasuki didn't seem to mind.

Though she didn't just pounce on him either, she simply sat down on the bed with her mug in her lap until he met her eyes. The smile on his face stolen by the concerned look on hers. She looked so vulnerable with her big, onix eyes unnarrowed, all the way open like that!

"What's wrong, Naruto? You've been stewing over something since you got back from the fangfolk; why don't you tell me?" she asked plainly.

Naruto looked down at his own drink, still mostly full.

"The fangfolk are both pregnant," he admitted first.

"Do you think they're yours?"

"They definitely do," he offered, relieved that she wasn't upset yet. "That's not all though. Karin is also…." He trailed off as he realized those three words were a complete and accurate sentence. Even so, it took his raven a moment to process them. Then it took half a second for her eyes to harden in hate.

"Oh she is not; she's just lying you fucking idiot!"

"Well, she drank something green and bubbly that she claimed was a fertility potion before we- I don't think she's lying. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth sooner; she asked me not to until she was safe with the fangfolk,"

"What the fuck Naruto!?" she asked, slamming her mug on the end table and splashing carelessly as she shot up to her feet. "How could you do this? How could you do this to me?!"

"Well, the first few times…" he cut himself off, figuring those details weren't important. He thought of the morning after. The first time he fucked Karin as a he what was he thinking? "I'm sorry, she said that she really needed an heir for her research, and besides that… I don't know; she seemed so sad and lonely, I wanted to make her feel better,"

"Her!? That redheaded whore that kidnapped you?"

"Karin's not a bad person, Sasuki, she's actually doing something really selfless!"

"NECOMANCY?!" she screamed back, before both tensed at the word, the ambient chatter a reminder that they weren't quite as alone as they'd have liked. Sasuki reigned herself in. "So what? This is your nine-month notice? You're gonna go play house with some queen of the dead and your kid, oh I'm sorry, kids, and leave me to conquer a damn kingdom alone?"

"Sasuki no! I don't… I don't want that. I want to stay with you and see this quest through," he assured, earning only a seconds pause.

"Of course you do. I bet, every other week it leads you to some other slut you can fuck behind my back!" she said with a sneer.

"Can you really call it behind your back? It's not like I'm your betrothed or your boyfriend, is it?" he dared defend.

"I…. I mean….you're kind of my boyfriend," she mumbled, so soft and miserable that he'd have thought he misheard if not for the color on her cheeks. That and the general way she slumped in on herself, let the guard down, and revealed just how hurt she was feeling.

He felt like a bastard yet again.

"Still?" he dared ask as lightly as he possibly could, saying nothing at the pause that lingered for an agonizing five seconds.

"Yes,"

"Sasuki…" he'd only intended to rest an arm on her shoulder, but she practically fell forward into him. Her head pressed to his torso, and her own arms by her side as he held her. She stayed silent, almost catatonic, it felt like. "I love you; I don't ever want to leave your side,"

"…I don't either," she mumbled.

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