Satoru was right about keeping the kids a surprise; it's hilarious to see them react like this. Naruto cradled her sleeping son closer to her chest and grinned at the sight of Kakashi and Sasuke gawking at the toddler in her arms. Their eyes drank in the pure white hair of her sleeping son, which fluttered with the cool wind inside the office. She leaned back in the seat, rubbing soothing circles around her youngest child's back. As the cool summer wind carried the scent of lush green leaves, Naruto studied the reactions of her mentor and former boyfriend. Six years. It had been six years since the incident as she had dubbed it in her mind. Six years since Kakashi had informed her with a kind, empathetic tone that she should take a break. That she should travel the world. Although, he probably had not envisioned her coming back with a toddler.
If only he knew, she didn't come back with just one kid. Naruto exhaled and fiddled with the ring on her finger. The diamond glittered in the faint sunrays, distinctly noticeable but her mentor and ex-boyfriend did just have a minor explosion in their head about her son. They would have a heart attack if they saw Akari with Satoru. Kazue took after Satoru, a miniature version of him in looks, while Akari had Satoru's hair but her mother's eyes. She shook her braided hair, glanced down at her iris necklace, and then cleared her throat.
"Y'know if I knew Sasuke was going to be in the room, I would have rescheduled this meeting for a different day when Sasuke isn't here," she said lightly, breaking the silence in the room. They jerked their heads. Sasuke stared at her with a frown, but she just offered him an indifferent look. "Don't give me that look, I still don't want anything to do with you after what you did," he looked away from her like the coward that he had always been, and she rolled her eyes. "I only came here so that Kakashi-sensei doesn't hear from the gossip mill about my return."
Kakashi cleared his throat but did not reprimand her for her comment, he just studied her sleeping child with curious but concern eyes. "I'm glad you were so thoughtful," her mentor smiled with his eyes and inspected her, no doubt trying to find some clue about her martial status. His eyes showed subtle relief when he caught sight of the sparkling diamond ring on her finger. "And I believe a congratulations are in order?" She hummed and smiled goofily at her mentor while Sasuke glanced at her hand, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the diamond ring in her hand. "You got married and had a child while you were gone?"
Naruto grinned and held out two fingers. "Children," she crackled when her mentor jerked his head at her while Sasuke stared at her with wide eyes. "My oldest is with my husband," she explained and even after two years of being married, her heart still fluttered at the ridiculous knowledge that Satoru was her husband. "Akari doesn't like being stuck in the office for a long time, so Satoru told me to come here with Kazue while he takes Akari to the park."
There was a moment of silence. "Two kids," Kakashi repeated with a tone of disbelief. "I could understand hiding one child from me but two kids, Naruto? And on top of that, you didn't tell me that you got married." She maintained a smile but inwardly, she winced at the hurt tone. It did dawn on her that her mentor would look at her with hurt eyes for not saying she had two children. "Why didn't you tell me about this?"
The simple answer would have been that she trembled and quivered whenever she thought of telling him that she was pregnant. But it would have been a half-truth. "Because I knew you would judge me if I told you that I didn't know who Akari's father was," Kakashi raised his eyebrows and looked at her with those parental eyes like he expected better from her. This was why she didn't tell him from the beginning. She sighed. "Please don't look at me like that," he blinked at her polite manner and she sighed. "I have to set a good example for my children which means I need to be polite," Kakashi nodded with understanding and Naruto twisted the wedding ring on her finger. "I got pregnant with Akari when Satoru and I got…insanely drunk," Both Sasuke and Kakashi raised their eyebrows at her term. "Satoru is a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and I wasn't coping with the fact that my loving ex-boyfriend of three years," she paused and watched with a amused eyes at Sasuke's flinch, "has cheated on me with our former teammate and got her pregnant. Satoru, for some reason, had been drinking that day!" She brushed her son's hair. "And well, no one should be making any decisions on having sex when they're that drunk!" Naruto ignored the look from Sasuke. Their situation had been different from his situation. She chuckled. "Honestly, all I remembered from that night was that we flirted, I thought he was handsome and funny, and I went back to his hotel. I left in the middle of the night and…well by the time I found out I was pregnant; I was told that it was way too late for me to abort Akari."
It had been an absolute miracle that Akari had came out without any lasting damage from her drinking. No, her daughter had come to this world with a loud pair of pipes and the beautiful violet eyes of her mother. Naruto glanced at the photo of her father. To abandon her daughter when she had her mother's eyes had made her quiver. For that one wild moment, she recalled her mother and the way she uttered words of affection to her, and it made it difficult for her to give her daughter up to an orphanage. She glanced down at her sleeping son, brushing her fingers against his whiskered cheeks. Japan had a better system than Konoha when it came to taking care of orphans, but her daughter's violet eyes looked at her with affection and she didn't want Akari to be in a situation like she had been. To wonder if her mother had ever loved her. She loved her daughter from the very beginning, but she hadn't considered herself to be a worthy Mum. A good Mum. But she tried for her sake.
"But you kept her and raised her," Kakashi pointed out, glancing at the photo of the Fourth Hokage. His tone held a weight of curiosity but his eyebrows furrowed together like he hadn't expected her to keep the child. It was understandable. Admitting she wanted to abort Akari would give that impression. Naruto glanced down at her son, tousling his soft hair as her mentor looked at her with soft eyes. "And somehow you ended up meeting your husband again and having another child with him."
Naruto chuckled and nuzzled her nose against Kazue's cheeks, her heart fluttering just a little bit at the reminder.
"Kazue wasn't planned either," Naruto admitted with a chuckle. "At least when we had Kazue, we were dating but that had been a stressful time for all of us," she glanced down at her baggy shirt and admitted with a grin. "At least this time, we planned for baby number 3." Kakashi and Sasuke jerked their heads at her, and she shrugged. "With how much Satoru keeps singing me praises for raising our kids, how easy they have been to me and how my pregnancies weren't anything like my Mum's pregnancy…well I kinda wanted a big family," Kakashi laughed, and she grinned. "And Satoru likes kids as well…or rather he likes our beautiful kids," she smiled. "My husband keeps telling me that my wish is his command, but I know he likes seeing our kids running around even if he complains about them hogging my attention." Her smile softened. "He is a good Dad to our kids."
Throughout the conversation, Sasuke had been entirely silent. He just stared at her with unreadable eyes before glancing at her sleeping son and then to her stomach. She was barely showing but then again, she never had that large baby bump associated with pregnant woman. She was still in the early stages of her pregnancy, where it wasn't that obvious, although Satoru would argue otherwise. She smiled and looked down at Kazue. Up till now, her children grinned and whispered loving words to their unborn sibling, and she hoped that Kazue wouldn't get jealous of the attention that his little sibling would achieve. Satoru and her already made plans on how to handle it but kids were unpredictable.
Kakashi looked at her, smiling faintly, and then to her sleeping son in her arms, and settled deeply into his chair. His dark eyes focused on her hidden pregnancy bump and then to her eyes. There was a sense of relief and joy in his eyes. Perhaps at the knowledge that his decision had led to her happiness. She smiled and looked down at her iris locket. His actions, she decided, might have hurt her but it led her to a man who gave her all the love that she never thought she would ever get.
"I want to hear how you ended up meeting your husband again," her mentor smiled and let out a little chuckle. "I'm sure it must be some story if you're glowing with happiness."
Naruto grinned and nuzzled her nose against Kazue's hair.
"I'll tell you the story of how I fell in love with Satoru and how he made me have a less cynical view on love."