"You're still leaving tomorrow?"

"I… don't really know, to be honest. Sasuki was pretty mad at me when I left, but I told her that she could pick me up here; I think she's probably leaving any day," he admitted, after a pause that lasted far too long. The question had come abruptly; the entire day had been happy and peaceful enough. They drank wine on the front patio, enjoying the spring air; Chocho knit while he whittled wood, and they talked casually about nothing important.

Not until they'd dined, dressed in their pajamas, and climbed into the bed together did this subject come up. Actually, it didn't for a good half an hour at least after that. Naruto had been spooned against his superbly soft wife, utterly content, for some time when she asked her question without moving an inch. His response didn't move her either.

"She'll want you to go with her," she mumbled with a somber, sour tone to her words. "You're useful to her after all,"

"Trust me, Sasuki doesn't need my help," he tried to sound jovial, to lighten her mood lightly as he craned his neck to dig through the wild hair on her scalp with his nose. Chocho made a happy noise, but it was almost reflexive, an animalistic response in her sleepy state. Just an involuntary sound that didn't reflect her thoughts, clearly.

"She wants it, though. She wants you with her, and she definitely doesn't want you happily living with me for months while she's gone again," the words were calm and even, but it was easy to hear the sadness in them.

"Yeah, she's jealous enough of you as it is," he admitted, even daring to crawl the arm around her wrist up to steal just a gentle patting of her enormous chest melons. It earned another squeak. Some more fun noises too as he began kissing and nibbling on her neck, leading him to speak again while she was dazed. "Jealous of how content and classy you are, jealous of this gorgeous, curvy body you have~"

He squeezed harder on her chest but released it quickly enough at her response.

"N-no Naruto, stop that please," she asked, even as a part of her was so reluctant to release the words. "I'm sore from earlier and n-not really in the mood for this anyway," she explained, making his stomach sink slightly as he pulled back to innocently spoon her. "It's all just… stressful and sad and especially when I don't even get to know for sure what's happening with her!"

"Okay love, I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything, really. You deserve better than this, a better husband than me," he grumbled, squeezing her tighter and grateful for the option to do so when she gave no reply. Cuddling her was a pleasure in itself, to say nothing of the divine blessing that was waking up on her chest literally using her breasts as a pillow; he wouldn't push his luck if that's all he was getting from her tonight.

Doubly so with what a bastard he'd been, with just how much he'd gotten that day around town.

Gods, Chocho really did deserve better.

"You'll come back, right?" she dared ask, after a silence far too long betrayed just how hard the question was to speak.

"Chocho, nothing short of death is going to keep me from coming back to this wonderful home I have with you. I promise,"

The words seemed to summon a deep sigh of relief, and that made his whole body feel lighter. So much so that he soon found himself slipping to sleep, still holding her tight and still burying his nose in her hair, drinking in her scent. Though it seemed to vanish in an instant.

He barely blinked and the sun was up, his wife was gone, leaving only the faint scent of her lingering on the silky sheets. It made him think of Tsunade and her words, her plain distaste for monogamy. His love for someone else clearly affected Chocho, and not for the better, besides that he'd admitted himself that she deserved more than he could give her. Hell, she could do better easily, find someone else who would worship her properly.

At the very least, she could easily find someone to warm her bed while he was gone.

It would hardly be unfair of her.

Still, telling her so felt like such a sharp step, something she might react poorly to even. Was it the right thing to do though? To have that talk with what might be his last precious few moments with her today? The young man was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice anything out of place while strolling into the kitchen for some cool water.

"Are you packed yet?" Sasuki asked in a dead calm tone that made him jump, twist, and lock in completely on her. She herself barely reacted, barely even looked at him as she continued sipping her coffee at the empty table. Even so, Naruto snapped out of it quickly, wary of waiting too long to answer.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready, if you still want me to come along,"

"Good, everyone is already waiting outside," she said, standing and strolling out in an instant, leaving her half-drunk drink on the tabletop.

"I'll be right there; let me just say bye to Chocho," he called without thought, not noticing the slight cringe in her step as she continued leaving without response. Her departure left the keep feeling empty, doubly so as he strolled through its wide stone halls looking for his only legal family. He found them in the den, in a most usual spot made somber by their uncharacteristic silence. His wife was still picking at her breakfast while Marui read.

Even with the way both grinned in greeting, he felt the tension, the sadness in the room.

All the same, Chocho allowed him to take a kiss and linger slightly into it. He lingered after they separated too. Stared into her sweet, golden eyes and gave his most comforting grin for some time before straightening to stand up.

"I'll see you two first thing when I get back; try not to worry too much; this is safer than the old work we were doing I'd wager," that earned a small laugh, and that seemed a good enough note to flee with. He couldn't very well discuss Chocho's permission to sleep around in front of her mother, and asking for a moment alone with her just felt wrong. It probably wasn't a coincidence that his wife found her way to her mother's side right at this moment after all.

That was his excuse anyway.

Naruto still felt so painfully uncertain as he found his way outside, greeted by the sight of his familiar team, plus Hanabi. The latter of which was actually sitting on Sakura's shoulder with a nervous but excited grin. It was hard not to smile looking up at such a thing. Between that and the fresh air, he felt almost good as they strolled along to the southwest, away from home but closer to civilization proper.

Confident enough to speak up shortly, at least.

"Are you going to wear that huge, heavy cloak for the whole walk?" he asked Sakura, referring to the thick chainmail that shielded her enormous form like a blanket of steel. The cloak that completed it and covered her head was absent, but only that. Even without it, the armor surely weighed at least a couple hundred pounds, more for all he knew. Sure, Sakura was strong, but that was hardly a light burden even for her.

"I'm training. Acclimating to its weight so that I'm slowed less by it in combat," she explained, staring down at him with disdain in her eyes and a tone that called him a damned fool. "You should do the same,"

Before Naruto realized what she was even referring to, she'd fished the pole out of her pack and heaved it none too gently toward him. The young man had to heft and brace just not to drop the strange scepter. It was more than half as tall as him, made of a solid steel pole, only at the end separating into a few jagged grips that held the onyx black sphere at its top.

That sphere had to be the size of a small melon, bigger than an orange at least.

Quite heavy in his arms.

"Uh-"

"-a gift from your generous war leader," Sakura saw fit to explain for her. "Since you decided to spread lies that you killed so many with stone, it was necessary to get you a proper weapon that included one. That's a real black opal on top. It wasn't cheap,"

Naruto believed it. Despite his surprise and the burden of its mass, he couldn't deny the weapon was beautiful. The rock on top was almost like a gemstone with the way it gleamed in the sun so visibly. It was an incredible gift and almost certainly the most expensive one he'd ever received, to say nothing of how nice it sounded to have a blunt weapon instead of a more deadly one.

"Y-yeah it's beautiful!" he agreed quickly, realizing that he'd been staring and silent too long. "Thank you Sasuki, really, it's great!"

There was no response, not even a pause in her stride.

He sighed, putting the weapon on his back made carrying it that much easier, not any harder than those massive food deliveries he carried at least. The weight of his raven's silence bothered him more. Without any idea how to break it, his focus turned to the rapidly changing world around them.

Indeed, it didn't take a single morning to notice the shift in the landscape. Small cottages and farms gradually gave way to larger and greater homesteads, longer, sturdier gates protecting the occupants within. By the time they paused for lunch atop a small hill, he saw estates that rivaled all of Ironhold in size on the horizon.

Vast fields, herds of cattle, and even a few small mansions.

Hanabi certainly seemed amazed, and that excitement proved infectious, so much so that the rest of the day's hiking wasn't at all unpleasant. Although the young girl's presence was no small part of why the night was so awkward. Not half an hour after they made camp, Sakura and her 'war leader' excused themselves into the large yurt that soon grew noisy with the sounds they made.

Sasuki, that is, she moaned and groaned with abandon for a good length of time while he sat around the fire with a child. Poor Hanabi looked aboslutely disgusted and all he could think to do was share a sympathetic smile with her. A fat lot of good that seemed to do.

He would just have to try talking to Sasuki about it tomorrow.

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