***
Chapter 15: :Nokorimono ni wa fuku ga aru
Luck exists in the leftovers
***
Kiani… There is a great misunderstanding about pain. We are taught to fear it, to avoid it. But pain is a vital part of our lives. For it is simply a reminder to our body that there is a world beyond our simple shells. We are not autonomous beings. Separate from that which is around us. Everything is connected in life.
Fathom (Michael Turner)
***
Present Day
: :Hatake Kakashi's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
Kakashi's internal clock wakes him just before sunrise. His limbs still heavy with exhaustion, and his vision fuzzy at the edges.
His body tells him to rest more, but his mind won't allow it. Up and running as soon as he opens his eyes.
The village was attacked, they need to implement new defenses before another enemy decides to take advantage.
They need to tally and dispose of the dead.
Add the names to the Memorial Stone.
The wounded need to be treated. Those not requiring a hospital bed need to be shifted to fill the gaps.
Someone needs to keep an eye on the Council and whoever this Kikyo is.
They need to start organizing the rebuilding.
He needs to check on the child he found in the rubble and make sure someone tracks down his parents and finds out why the hell he was alone in that house.
Fuck, he needs to check in with Shizune about that filing cabinet and the Hanta masks she found.
They need to figure out what to do about all those newly returned shinobi. Mostly Uchiha, a few Aburame and Inuzuka.
And, of course, the one-off Hatake Sakumo.
….
Obito is back, too.
And Minato-sensei. He's the only one Kakashi is actually excited to see. Not because he doesn't love the other two but because Minato is simple. He was good when he was alive, and he died doing something good. Everything around his father and Obito is so twisted and complicated, and those short conversations during the war didn't solve anything.
If they'd stayed dead, maybe, but even then….
No.
There's a lot of work to be done rebuilding and defending the village, and there's a lot of work to do emotionally reintegrating the Uchiha and all these loved ones that have suddenly returned.
Just thinking about it makes him want to run off and find a cave to hide in.
Of course, he'd have to get Iruka off him first.
This is a first for Kakashi, which is impressive in and of itself. He's far from young and inexperienced now. Thirty-five and older than most shinobi ever see. He's been to the ends of the world in most directions and seen the great sights, and eaten the amazing things people talk about when they come home.
Granted, it had all been a side effect of whatever mission he was on, and he frequently returned home exhausted and injured, but still, he'd seen it and done it, and there shouldn't be any firsts left.
Not for him.
And yet….
And yet…..
Here he is.
Being used as a pillow by a Chūnin sensei, who, just a few weeks ago, spent most of their in-person interactions screaming at him.
Saying Kakashi is off balance is like calling the Uchiha's blistering katon warm.
It's not like it's just Iruka's head on his chest, either. Naruto's beloved teacher and the long-lost son of the Uchiha is sprawled on top of him.
They're pressed together, chest to knee, Iruka's face tucked into Kakashi's neck, and Kakashi's head pillowed on his arms.
Kakashi's been tied and chained up by his enemies less effectively.
There was no way to escape without waking him up.
And Kakashi had felt like being nice enough to sneak out without any awkward talk….
Good intentions and all that.
"Oi, sensei," he dug a finger into Iruka's rib. "Time to wake- ow!"
Apparently, Iruka was ticklish, and his immediate response was to curl up and squeeze the breath out of Kakashi in the process.
He blinked blearily as Kakashi wheezed. "Wha?"
"Off!" Kakashi squirmed, got a knee between them and shoved. Iruka landed on the floor with a groan as Kakashi crawled out of bed, stood up, and immediately joined him on the floor.
"Ha," Iruka's feeble laugh was not appreciated. "What the fuck, Kakashi. Neither of us is fit to go anywhere."
He stared up at the ceiling and tried to catalog the most serious pain. Once he identified them, he could counter them and get up. "There's work to do, Umino. Pain's not an excuse."
Iruka's face appeared in front of the ceiling, exasperated and amused. "No, it's a caution. How useful are you actually going to be in the shape you're in?"
Kakashi scowled at him. "Calling me weak, sensei?"
"Don't call me sensei in the bedroom. Let's take a bath."
Kakashi took a breath to argue, but Iruka cut him off before he could start.
"Then you can go in. Come on, the hot water will help with the pain."
Well…that was true.
***
Iruka was right.
Not that Kakashi was ever, ever going to admit that out loud.
The one plus of his stark Jōnin apartment was the bathroom. Who'd ever designed the barracks after the last overhaul had understood what exhausted, drained shinobi wanted when they returned from a mission, and that was hot, hot water and enough space for even the tallest one of them to stretch out.
Kakashi's bath was long enough that his feet and his head didn't touch the ends when he laid flat, so there was more than enough room for Iruka to lean against the back with Kakashi against his chest. The heat radiating from Iruka's body combined with the heat from the water left Kakashi feeling like he was wrapped in a steaming hot towel and turned his muscles to jelly and his brain to 'guh'.
He barely had the presence to mutter, "We're done once it's cooled." when they'd first crawled in, and Iruka had only hummed in response.
The tub was well insulated, too; it would take about an hour to cool to the point of not being useful. An hour wasn't too much of a delay so he let his eyes fall closed and his mind float and dozed off with Iruka's heartbeat steady at his back.
Over the years, all those missions and all those people trying to kill him have helped Kakashi hone a finely turned awareness. He naps just long enough to regain some energy and never for very long. He can either nap for ten minutes or sleep like the dead for hours, there's no in between.
The next time he blinks his eyes open, the water is still steaming, so he lets his eyes fall shut again.
He does that two more times before his internal clock starts to feel confused.
The water is steaming, Iruka hasn't moved a muscle, and his toes, when he shifts and stretches, are so pruned they look like chunks of skin should be falling off.
...
How the fuck-
Son of a bitch.
"Iruka."
"Hmm?" He sounds half-asleep, tucking his face into Kakashi's neck, and being cute will get him nowhere as Kakashi glances at the small window above the sink. One of those tiny, rectangle things that don't serve any purpose as an actual window but apparently make a room more attractive.
Bright sunlight streams in.
"How many times have you reheated the water?"
Iruka stiffens. Apparently, he can hide, but he can't lie.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Hatake. Did you take a blow to the head yesterday?"
A terrible, terrible liar.
Kakashi tries to summon up the energy to feel angry, resentful, even just annoyed, but nothing comes.
Is he really that tired?
He takes stock.
Physically, he could probably get up.
Mentally…Kakashi has always just forged ahead in everything. He'd always prided himself on his ability to push through any obstacle, more than he'd ever been proud of the sheer strength of his chakra. There's never been a moment, even those times when he was bleeding out when he wasn't able to pick himself up.
But the water is so warm, and Iruka is warmer, his arms wrapped around Kakashi, and it's almost ticklish the way he's nuzzling Kakashi's shoulder.
There's something light nestled in Kakashi's chest and he doesn't know what it is. He's never felt it before, but he knows what it's not.
It's not resentment.
It's not apathy.
It's not hatred.
They're all too heavy.
But it's not fondness, either. Or simple affection.
It's not respect or responsibility. Iruka may technically be one of his soldiers, but they've always been so far removed in the chain of command that he can barely imagine him as a subordinate.
Also, that would be a giant headache, given Iruka's tendency to argue about pretty much everything.
So what is it?
The answer doesn't come to him. Not today. Even though he spends the rest of the day relaxing with Iruka, first in the bath and then in bed, where Iruka pretends not to be reading confidential reports over his shoulder.
Eventually, he just puts it out of his mind. There are more important things to focus on.
…..
That was a mistake he realizes later, but for now, he enjoys his ignorance.
He probably should have noticed how quiet his Sharingan was, too. How it was reaching for something.
***
They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
***
Present Day
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
The battle went….weirdly smoothly? If you can say that about a fight that cost hundreds of lives and that they couldn't afford to lose.
Sasuke's not entirely sure it's okay to think positively about it, but the village is still standing, and Naruto is unharmed, and Itachi and Iruka and a whole bunch of Uchiha are back, and no one tried to stab Sasuke in the back, although that one fucker did stab Toji.
But he's dead now, so it's not something Sasuke has to worry about avenging.
Tsunade's an idiot for handling it like that, even if it was the right decision. She seems determined to commit political suicide at this point, not that Sasuke particularly cares, but there are a lot worse people who think they're in the running for Hokage, and Naruto is still too young, and Sasuke's not swearing loyalty to this fucking village again until Naruto is wearing the robes.
He's just going to sprawl around Iruka-sensei's because it's way too soon to call him brother, apartment, and ignore all the mistakes everyone else is making.
They can fix their own fucking messes this time.
And Naruto's bed is the most comfortable place he's been in years.
Naruto comes in, acting like a thief in the night and clutching a box of condoms to his chest.
Incredulous, Sasuke watches him carefully close the door without making a sound, something any shinobi should be able to do with none of the effort Naruto is displaying.
"Dobe, what the hell are you doing?"
"Shhh!" Naruto kills the lights and leaps onto the bed, which, what was the point of all the sneaking around if he's going to do that??
"I'm out of condoms. I had to steal Iruka-sensei's stash!"
There was probably more than one thing in that sentence that Sasuke should have paid attention to, but he's only human, and the jealousy roars loud and ugly.
"You had a stash?"
To Naruto's credit, he's getting smarter, much smarter than when they were in the academy together, because he seems to realize just from Sasuke's tone that he's in trouble.
"Uh…."
"Who the fuck were you using them with, dobe?"
"Er-"
"Kiba? Shikimaru?"
"No! Seriously, Sasuke?"
"I'll kill you if you touched the Byakugan."
Naruto's gotten brave, too, because he puts a fake thoughtful look on his face, "Are you talking about Hinata or Neji?"
Sasuke's growl makes him laugh, but he stops laughing when Sasuke tackles him back onto the bed and attempts to smother him with a pillow.
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" And he's grinning as they wrestle across the bed. "It wasn't anyone, I swear!"
"Then why'd you have them?"
Naruto turns scarlet when Sasuke finally pins him.
"Dude, seriously? There's no way you never… you know…by yourself…It's a totally natural thing to do!"
And then it clicks, and it's Sasuke's turn to feel his cheeks heat. It's been a long time since Iruka-sensei's intro to sex ed classes before they were all too young to really grasp it. Most shinobi learn through experience; knowledge of intimacy and relationships is firmly the responsibility of the family in Konohagakure, for better or for worse.
Naruto had had Iruka. Sasuke hadn't had anyone, and aside from some baldy talk with Team Taka, which hadn't been all that informative because they were all homeless orphans with no idea what the fuck they were talking about, his only knowledge is gleaned from the handful of books he bothered to read on the subject and the few relationships he's seen in his small social circle.
And none of those relationships were worth emulating.
Iruka hopped from bed to bed but never seemed serious until he'd apparently picked Hatake. So, his judgment wasn't to be trusted. So did Suigetsu and Jugo. Karin obsessed over someone until they liked her back and then promptly lost interest. Sukuna and Ino were fan girls and Hinata was so shy Sasuke didn't think she'd ever be able to kiss someone. The rest of the Rookie 11 weren't any better. They were all kind of a mess in the personal relationship department. Itachi had spent more time apart than together with his great love. And the less said about Obito pinning for a dead woman, the better.
Did Kakashi even know what romantic love was?
Probably not, given that he couldn't figure out how to love one of his own students.
That way lies rage, so Sasuke pushes the thought aside and returns his focus to the one person who's never willingly left him… who is stripping off his clothes while trying to open a condom with his teeth and hopping around on one foot.
This is the fool in Sasuke's heart.
Naruto manages to trip on one foot and pinwheels, nearly swallowing the condom as he goes down.
If he chokes on it, Sasuke's not going to help him.
Also, this fucker seems pretty confident Sasuke's going to lay back and spread his legs for him.
When did Naruto develop such an ego?
Sasuke's going to have to beat it back down to respectability. The dobe might have saved the world, but that doesn't mean he should just assume he gets to mount whoever he wants.
Even if it was amazing and the idea of Naruto touching anyone else made Sasuke want to light something -someone- on fire.
Naruto finally frees himself from his clothes without choking to death on the condom, and only then does it seem to register that Sasuke is still fully dressed.
Sasuke can practically hear the screeching sound his brain makes as it catches up.
"Ur, do you not want to….?" He looks so pathetically disappointed that Sasuke feels something fond twinge deep in his chest.
This fucker has never wasted an opportunity to turn Sasuke's world on its axis and never lets Sasuke return the favor.
Well, that changes today.
"Kneel," Sasuke snarls and the idiot looks confused and then very, very turned on and throws himself at Sasuke's feet with way too much enthusiasm. "You into this shit, dobe?"
"Uh, maybe?" Naruto looks a little surprised, too.
"Been practicing with someone?"
"What? No! It's in Pervert-sensei's books."
"What books? The one's Hatake reads?"
Naruto nods and then inches backward. "Ur, Sasuke? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." There might be flames coming off him, he feels hotter than normal, or maybe it's the killing intent. What are those old fucks doing giving Naruto dirty books?
"I only read them so Jiraiya-sensei wouldn't feel bad. I didn't like them or anything! I won't read them again!"
Couple of old perverts trying to ruin Naruto. Sasuke shouldn't have let either of them live.
"You've never done this before?"
"No! Have you?"
Sasuke can feel the blush steel across his cheeks. "No."
Weirdly enough, that seems to make Naruto even more aroused. His cock pulses as he swallows.
His eyes darken, and Sasuke feels something inside him roar in response.
"Come here." And Naruto crawls until he's practically in Sasuke's lap. He's nothing but miles and miles of sun-kissed skin and bright blue eyes turned dark as the night sky.
All balanced in Sasuke's lap like a lifetime's worth of dreams all crushed together into one package.
Sasuke doesn't stop him when he leans forward and nuzzles Sasuke's neck, breath warm, tongue wet, teeth sharp as he worries skin Sasuke didn't realize was sensitive. "Come on, Sasuke. We survived, we should celebrate."
"We're always surviving."
"So? More reasons to celebrate."
"Like we need excuses for that."
Naruto's laughter tickles and doesn't let up when Sasuke reaches up takes a firm grip on his hair, and tugs.
The unrepentant asshole.
"Undress me."
Naruto throws himself into his task with his normal enthusiasm, and resignation hits Sasuke.
He's going to have to stay with the dobe forever now. If Naruto loses his awareness just from a little hair-pulling and a commanding voice, god knows how easy it would be for someone to get him into bed and kill him.
Sasuke can never leave him now.
Naruto will end up dead at the hands of whoever he dates next if Sasuke leaves him.
He looks down as Naruto gently pulls off his pants and finds wide, guileless eyes looking back at him.
Yep.
The dobe will die without Sasuke.
"So much for leaving Konohagakure to burn." He didn't mean to say it out loud, but Naruto's fingers dancing over his hips is distracting.
"You're still thinking about leaving?" Naruto sounds dangerous and hurt.
Sasuke wants to hate him more than he ever has before, but apparently, he's just not made that way. He couldn't hate him in the academy, and he couldn't hate him in the Valley of the End, and he couldn't hate him on the spare bed in Iruka's apartment.
"No."
Naruto is, at least, smart enough to look doubtful.
"Was thinking that you're too stupid for me to ever leave. You wouldn't last a day."
Outrage tears across Naruto's face until what he said actually sinks in, and then it's like watching a sunrise break on the horizon.
Sasuke needs to go out and kill something; he's turning into a complete sap.
"Oi, don't you have something to say back, dobe?"
"Don't oi me, teme! You didn't actually say it!" He shoves Sasuke back as he says it, climbing on top of him.
"Say what?" Sasuke lays back, relaxed as all get out, for the sole purpose of driving Naruto up the wall.
It works, too.
Outraged, Naruto starts putting his fingers in interesting places, and it takes all of Sasuke's effort to look unaffected.
"Look here, teme."
"Hm? Sorry, did you say something? I dozed off."
Naruto sticks his face in Sasuke's. Their noses bump.
"Sasuke, you were my first kiss." He lifts Sasuke's hips. "The only one I've kissed." And slides home. "And you'll be the last person I kiss."
Sasuke's back arches, his legs lock around Naruto's waist. "Such a sap."
Naruto growls. Sasuke didn't even know he could make that kind of sound, but it sent a shudder all the way to his toes.
"Say it, Sasuke." And he backs it up with a hard thrust that makes Sasuke's eyes roll back.
But he's still got the breath to say, "Make me, Naruto."
***
Present Day
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
Shikimaru's life has become unbelievably troublesome lately.
He knew it would always be troublesome to a certain level. Of course, everything about Naruto is. In the best possible way, but still troublesome. Shikamaru had dreams of a quiet, simple life before he met the Kyuubi host, and now they were facing a war against the immortal source of all chakra, and people were coming back from the dead.
And there was a giant chakra monster running around like a house pet.
Shikimaru had only been days old when the Nine-Tails had attacked the village, but he remembers the rumors and the grief that had pervaded the village for years after.
The Nara and the Uchiha had never been particularly close. The Uchiha had been one of only four noble clans in the Land of Fire, and the Nara had been allied with another, the Akimichi, whose ancestral lands were far enough from the Uchiha's that the clans had rarely interacted outside the Damiyo's court.
But news of their demise had sent his clan into a tailspin for days, though most of what Shikimaru remembered was his mother's terrified face as she made all the children stay in the main house on the compound and hadn't even let them leave to go to the academy.
He'd heard the whispers between the elders and his father. If a warrior clan like the Uchiha, a co-founder of the village, wasn't safe inside its walls, how could anyone be?
Given what he knows now, he thinks that was part of the reason the Council did it. They got rid of a clan that openly defied them and made it a warning to all the others. There was no doubt in his mind, too, that they'd secured the loyalty of at least a couple of other clans in the process.
He hasn't been able to find out for sure who's with the Council, though he knows who's against them. It's difficult to tell if those who follow the Council's vote do so because they share their beliefs or if it's just survival. And one is far harder to predict and far more dangerous than the other.
There's also the issue of any blackmail, and Shikimaru's found enough so far to make him a little queasy. He's got a list of people to arrest as soon as they don't need every possible body for the fight against Kaguya.
He'd also love to be able to finally have a fucking strategy meeting with the two most important people in their little underground rebellion, Iruka and Naruto, but pinning them in one place for longer than a few seconds has proven to be impossible. And since he isn't stupid enough to show up at Kakashi's apartment, he's resorted to ambushing Naruto at Iruka's apartment with Choji and Ino as extra muscle.
It's concerningly quiet when they arrive? Ino said Sakura was still at the hospital helping to treat the last of the injured ANBU members from the battle, and no one had missed Iruka's chakra signature blazing next to Kakashi's in the Jōnin quarter.
The recently returned Uchiha had returned to their compound and no one, no one, had been brave enough to knock on the doors. The Aburame and Inuzuka were likewise locked down.
But to be fair, most of the village was too exhausted to leave their homes at the moment.
Jiraiya had even been handling Tsunade's duties in the Tower so she could help at the Hospital. Asuma-sensei and the few Jōnin still standing were limping defense of the village along as the rest of them healed.
The Council hadn't shown their faces since the day of the battle, off scheming somewhere, and that was enough to make it impossible to sleep.
"The kitchen's empty," Ino said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. A habit she'd developed since she'd let it grow back out after the war.
"They're here," Choji muttered around a mouthful of jerky. Shikamaru and Ino had long since given up telling him to chew with his mouth closed.
They followed him down the short hallway to the spare room.
Later, Shikamaru would look back on the final moments of his innocence fondly.
He would dream of these beautiful days before he knew what Naruto and Sasuke looked like having sex.
Alas, he didn't know any of that at this moment, so he opened the door without a care in the world.
Shikamaru is not afraid of his feelings, his mother is far too strong of a woman to raise a son afraid of emotion, and he can readily admit that he loves Naruto and even Sasuke when he's not being an ass like his brothers. They are part of a select little family among their peers, the confounding Rookie 11, as they've been called.
Seeing them have sex is traumatizing.
All it takes is a glimpse of a pale leg over a tan shoulder, fingers clawing at sheets, the glistening of sweat in the sunlight streaming in through the window, and the desperate gasp…of an argument?
"Take that, teme."
"Was I supposed to feel something, dobe?"
Choji chokes on his jerky, and Shikamaru's brain just…shuts down. It's never done that before.
Only Ino retains any sense, but proving she's as crazy as ever, she looks intrigued instead of horrified.
Choji and Shikamaru end up having to pull her away and slam the door, which does absolutely nothing to slow down Naruto and Sasuke from the sounds of it.
"Hey!" Ino actually sounds upset, pouting when they don't let her open the door again.
"Shouldn't have gone in there," A raspy voice cackles, and they turn to find Kurama, tails dancing, in the doorway to Iruka's room.
Behind him, the little white-haired boy Iruka-sensei had just taken in and two other kids. A beautiful young girl and a smirking young boy, both of whom looked like they hadn't had a proper meal in a while.
The girl grins, "They've been going at it since they got in."
"Where were you thirty seconds ago?" Shikamaru growls, but it just makes her laugh.
"I'll never sleep again," Choji mutters, looking mournfully at his jerky appetite gone.
"I think they looked hot," Ino announced, causing her teammates to look at her like she was mad. "What? They are. A perfect contrast of coloring and form. I bet Sai would love to sketch them…" She trails off with a concerning glint in her eye.
Kurama cackles and then turns, demanding, "Feed me."
"Starve," Shikamaru tells him. He absolutely let them open that door, knowing what was happening on the other side.
Someone's tummy rumbles.
"Iruka-sensei said we're not allowed to cook without an adult present," the smirky boy says.
"Did he say that for a reason?" Ino asks, and the four guilty expressions are all the answers she needs. "Come on then, I'm sure Iruka-sensei has something in the fridge."
It's a bit surreal to watch the four of them follow her like excited ducklings to the kitchen. Like they plan to eat even though they know what Sasuke and Naruto are doing behind that closed door.
Iruka-sensei's got some impressive wards, he realizes because they can't hear a thing once they get a few feet from the door.
In a daze, Shikamaru lets Choji tug him towards the kitchen and mourns the loss of his innocence.
Ino is making her way through Iruka's cupboards and not looking very happy, while the demon fox and three orphans watch expectantly.
What the fuck happened to Shikamaru's life?
***
The words 'I Love You' kill, and resurrect millions, in less than a second.
Aberjhani
***
Hours Later
: :Umino Iruka's Apartment, Konohagakure: :
First, Itachi thought he'd make someone a widow.
Then, when the plan had coalesced better, Itachi thought he'd die a widow.
Had been rather convinced of it until Iruka had set eyes on his husband stuffed in one of the forgotten cells in the darkest depths of T&I.
And even then, there was never any guarantee they'd get to share the same air ever again.
It was something Itachi had resigned himself to years before when he'd first started to uncover the depths of Kaguya's reach and realized how far the rot had burrowed in.
They hadn't had much time, not that they'd ever had dreams of peaceful days and well-tended gardens.
Their's had been something built of respect and commiseration and a like-minded determination to see the world bettered despite what the world itself wanted.
And a burning thirst for a hard body and contrast.
And love, but that was such a forgone conclusion he always forgot to add it to the list.
He hadn't even said goodbye before maneuvering Sasuke into killing him, but he also hadn't ever expected to be face-to-face with his husband again.
Kabuto was just wild enough, just brilliant enough, to get himself killed, so Itachi had figured they'd reunite in the Pure Land, finally shed the last ties of the land of the living, and be free.
And then Iruka had set eyes on Kabuto in a cell, and Itachi's Sharingan had forced the image to the forefront of his mind with such ferocity that he'd lost his breath, and Shisui had nearly lost his footing on the cliff-side to catch him.
Only the need to see his brothers had outweighed the need to see his husband and bolstered his patience enough to wait until Iruka had found a way to free him without causing more problems.
The small, hopeless part of Itachi hadn't thought it would ever happen. That Kabuto would be killed, or Itachi himself would die again before they could reunite.
He hadn't expected Kabuto to show up at Iruka's window only a day after a battle none of them had expected, but here he was.
Perched on the sill and free of any chain or seal that Itachi could see. There were the faintest hints of scales on the skin on his arms and the back of his hands, which meant he'd fucking about with resurrection jutsu while Itachi was gone.
So, Itachi had something to lecture him about while he was lecturing Itachi about going off to die without telling him.
Kabuto blinked, eyes big behind his worn glasses. Itachi made a mental note to buy a new pair. "Do you still love me?"
They'd planned to be dead by their next anniversary, so it was a fair question.
"Yes. Do you still love me?"
"Yes."
This was why their marriage worked. That was all it took, and they were on the same page, and Kabuto was climbing off the window sill and into Itachi's arms.
It was a good thing Itachi was in the habit of locking the bedroom door whenever he closed it because Kabuto didn't give him a chance to breathe before backing him up until he couldn't go anywhere else and ended up climbing Kabuto like a tree instead.
Not that Itachi's grip was any looser than Kabuto's, fingers digging into his back so tightly he could already smell the blood welling.
He started ripping away anything between their skin as Kabuto's teeth started working their way down his neck, and it didn't take long before the heat inside them was too much, too hot, too strong, and then they were on the floor, straining against one another.
And it's been a long time.
A LONG TIME.
Which is probably why they stayed on the floor for a few hours before the haze lifted enough to remember Iruka's bed was right there…
What were brothers for, after all? If not, to lend you their bed when you wanted to get lucky?
Whatever, he'd wash the sheets after.
It was a good thing they'd stopped using condoms, though, because apparently, Iruka and Hatake were too busy going through them to restock.
***
It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy;—it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.
Jane Austen
***
Present Day
: :Main House, Uchiha Compound, Konohagakure: :
The deal struck between Fugaku and Hiruzen after the mess with Mari and Danzo had three points hashed out over the course of a volatile night, in which the village came closer to civil war than it would ever come again.
In exchange for not leading the Uchiha against Danzo and the village, the Uchiha were freed of any debt, oath, or tax incurred by any one of their blood to the village. Including Madara or the surviving Senju.
In exchange for the Uchiha's silence about Danzo, Mari, and Root, Hiruzen and his cohort concealed the truth about Madara's existence, destroyed any recorded information about the Sharingan and the Uchiha, and ceaded approximately fifty-two scrolls from the Forbidden Jutsu archive to the clan.
In exchange for Hiruzen and the Sarutobi clan surrendering any blood claim on Obito and Iruka, the Uchiha would never acknowledge them as members of the clan.
At first glance, and according to Danzo and his ilk, the Uchiha came out far ahead.
Fugaku did not agree.
Shocking, given his tendency to agree with Danzo about everything else.
Not.
The Uchiha had been bound to silence and barred from interfering with a known threat to the village.
Hiruzen had ripped out the fangs of the village's best guard dogs and made them useless.
And that uselessness had made them enemies of the village.
And Fugaku hadn't been smart enough to realize it before he'd agreed.
For a conqueror, Hiruzen had been rather lackluster. After that initial agreement, he'd been placating and almost manically apologetic, granting freedoms that no half-decent leader would ever allow those that were supposed to follow him.
But he'd never budged from the original agreement.
And Fugaku hadn't been able to stop thinking about it since.
Even now, lying in bed with his wife for the first time in a decade, and it came back to him.
And Mikoto was only so understanding.
He glanced over, not at all surprised to find her watching him with a raised brow.
"Did I bore you, husband?"
Her tone made him smile. She always had the same tone when she was picking a fight for fun. "Never."
How could he when she was at his side, naked and unashamed of the scars from their shared career.
Fugaku had wanted to be a teacher before his father had made the decision for him.
Mikoto had always been destined for the battlefield. And leadership of the clan.
She was a woman even Danzo feared. And not only because her temper made her more unpredictable and impulsive than Fugaku could ever be.
It felt good, beyond good, to feel her skin against his. Mikoto ran cool, and Fugaku ran hot, and it still surprised both of them that they'd fallen in love with others instead of one another.
Not that they didn't love one another now, but theirs had been a slow thing, born of a shared mission and friendship. They had worked hard to make a successful relationship and succeeded in light of Fugaku's failures.
The days Fugaku needed to step back and be by himself, Mikoto stepped in flawlessly to lead.
Sometimes, she did it on days when Fugaku didn't even need a break, but since she'd been slated to lead the clan long before Fugaku and he'd never actually wanted the job, he just left her to it.
They'd both known they wouldn't live long anyway.
She sprawled over him, tucking her head under his chin. "You need to talk to the boys."
"I know."
"Talk. Not argue."
His lips twitched up, and she pinched his ribs in retaliation.
"We may need you to moderate."
She sniffed, "Of course you do."
Mikoto loved nothing more than being needed by her children, and Fugaku was forever grateful that she loved Obito and Iruka just as much as she loved Itachi and Sasuke.
"You need to talk to Tsunade, as well."
"I thought I would leave that to you."
"You are the clan leader, Fugaku. And her cousin."
"And you are my wife. If she does not treat you with the appropriate respect, she is a waste of time."
Mikoto sighed. She had a better head for politics than he did, but sometimes Fugaku thought she sacrificed too much for it. You didn't change anything by staying inside the lines and playing solely to the tastes of others.
Feint footsteps made them both tense until they recognized the soft, confident footfalls that stopped outside the sliding doors that opened to the garden beyond.
A barely there knock, and they shared a silent look. Waiting. Because they were both trolls when it suited them too.
Another reason they should have fallen for one another in the beginning.
"Come on, guys, I know you know it's me." Minato hissed. "I'm coming in."
He barely waited to finish speaking before he slid open the doors, and Mikoto barely had time to lift the sheet for him before he was diving onto the futon.
Mikoto tucked the sheet around him as he wriggled his way into their arms. She'd always found his need to cuddle adorable. It was what had eventually thawed her towards him when he'd refused to abandon his close friendship with Fugaku in the early days of their marriage and then his own to Kushina. The four of them had spent more than a few nights wrapped up in one another, talking until the sun began to rise again.
Privately, she and Kushina had agreed that both Minato and Fugaku needed that intimacy, that connection, to ground them since they'd both lacked that closeness with their own parents. Minato hadn't known his and while Jiraiya had been a father figure, he wasn't father material by his own admission. It hadn't been until Minato and Fugaku had met that he started to understand. Fugaku's father was not…a kind man, and his mother had been focused on being Lady Uchiha. Too focused, in Mikoto's opinion. Only Fugaku's older brother Izuna had been openly affectionate, and they all still mourned him.
"Where is Lady Kikyo?"
"Being a bitch somewhere else," Minato growled, and the vibration tickled Mikoto's shoulder.
Mikoto and Fugaku shared an amused look over his head.
"It's not funny." He knew them both far too well.
Lady Kikyo was an acquired taste.
Which made sense. Most gods were and there wasn't much else you could consider her. She'd lived too long and seen too much to be a nice person. She had a mission that required her to fight against her own great-grandmother to protect her own children, who didn't always welcome her with open arms.
She'd adored Madara, and his journey had broken her heart. Mikoto believed there was a great amount of guilt there that Kikyo would never admit to.
Privately, she wondered if that wasn't why she'd taken in Minato. There were so many similarities between Minato and Madara, not that she'd ever say that out loud.
Her ears would never recover from Minato's outrage.
But like the rest of her clan, Mikoto carried the memories of Madara from before Kaguya's infection, and he'd shared Minato's deep need to protect and to achieve. The same arrogance born of skill and dedication.
The same deeply internalized fear of being alone from a childhood spent so far apart from their peers. Like Madara, who had developed the Sharingan at the age of six, Minato's abilities had left a gapping chasm between him and the other's his age.
Minato had Fugaku and Kushina. Madara had had Izuna and Hashirama until he hadn't.
If he hadn't died before Fugaku and herself, Mikoto was convinced they would have seen Madara all over again.
She stroked a hand over his hair and watched his eyes flutter in pleasure.
Minato always worried he was overstepping, not because he thought it bothered Fugaku but because he thought he was encroaching on what was legally Mikoto's space. No amount of assurances could erase it completely, he had too rigid an understanding of relationships.
Which was ironic given how similar he was to a Uchiha in all other ways.
Nothing about him threatened Mikoto. That Fugaku could inspire such a deep friendship in someone outside the clan made him more attractive. That it was someone of Minato's caliber doubly so.
And his boy with Kushina.
Well, Mikoto could love him just for that.
***
Present Day
: :Konohagakure: :
Hoshi had been patrolling the village in the hours of darkness at Iruka's request. The pup worried, always, but knew better than to bring something to Moro he couldn't prove.
Hoshi had no problem indulging him. He reminded her of Petal, except he wasn't emotional. He was just angry.
And he was the Tenshi Heisoban. His kindness had saved the world.
He deserved more respect than he demanded.
He did seem a bit happier now. His pups were back, and his bed was occupied, though Hoshi had opinions on dogs.
Humans were weird in their insistence on not being alone but always being independent at the same time.
She kept to the shadows mostly, not out of fear, of course, but because even she tired of the constant impulse of children to pull her ears while their parents pissed themselves a few feet away.
Again, humans…weird.
Disappointingly, she'd only run into a few low-level yokai. Hardly worth her time, let alone her effort.
Good news for the village, though.
Kuromaru had some of his ilk patrolling as well, along with their shinobi. And Okuninushi had set up a warning system, though none of them were supposed to tell the humans about that. There was always a fine line between helping and doing it for them.
Hoshi had wanted to stay with the pubs initially, but Kiba was the only other pack member in full health, and he was a bit too temperamental to patrol alone. She'd made sure he knew she'd been getting his treats for the foreseeable future.
Every once and a while, she picked up a strange scent. Metal and ink, followed almost immediately by the complete absence of scent.
Seals. Most likely used on a metal door. Which was odd in Konohagakure since the village lent itself to organic materials rather than man-made.
She hadn't gotten a good enough whiff before to follow it, but tonight, it lingered just long enough to pull her into the Forrest of Death.
She lost it a few times in the regrowing vegetation, but she was curious now, so she turned towards the Naka and sought out the King of the Forrest.
When Petal had grown this forest, he'd not realized who would come to occupy it. His blood had turned from the Old Ways so long ago. Maybe he'd do better in his new go-around, but it was a moot point in this one.
He was at the water's edge, illuminated by moonlight and reflected in the crystal clear water.
Hoshi touched her nose to the ground in deference, raising it only when he padded over and pressed his own to the top of her head.
No one could speak to the King anymore. Long ago, back before Kaguya's blood had come to the planet and everything had been wilder, Moro could. Kuromaru and Okuninushi and the other great gods could, but he had fallen silent as humans had grown and Kaguya had planted the God Tree.
Moro always said he had lost his voice fighting Kaguya. Another reason to kill that bitch.
But even without his voice, he knew what Hoshi wanted and led her through the underbrush to the section of forest mostly undamaged from the battle.
The smell of metal became rank as they entered a small clearing. Too small and too out of the way to be noted on any map, but something made her fur stand on end when she stepped inside.
Even the King kept his head lowered and his horns at the ready as she sniffed every inch to find the origin.
She found it tucked between two trees that had grown together over the years. To the normal eye, there was nothing but bark and leaves, but when she called forth the Sharingan, a metal door, concealed by extensive seals, revealed itself.
Painted in its center was the Root seal Iruka and Itachi had burned off the dog's tongue.
She bared her teeth.
Infants. Thought they'd hidden so well, but now she knew exactly where they were. and she could rip them limb from limb at her leisure.
***
To run with the wolf was to run in the shadows, the dark ray of life, survival and instinct. A fierceness that was both proud and lonely, a tearing, a howling, a hunger and thirst. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst. A strength that would die fighting, kicking, screaming, that wouldn't stop until the last breath had been wrung from its body. The will to take one's place in the world. To say 'I am here.' To say 'I am."
O. R. Melling
***
~tbc~