Chapter Text
“Menma”
Sasuke tilted his head to look at Naruto. He had one hand behind his head while the other clutched Sasuke against his chest. Their clothes were still scattered around them. They’d long since learned that no one ever stumbled upon this part of the woods.
“When we have our first son, I want to name him Menma.” Naruto continued, ignoring the way his words made Sasuke stop breathing.
“We’ve only been engaged for about an hour and you are already naming our children?” he rolled his eyes and turned his face away to hide his smile.
“Best hour of my life!” Naruto laughed and dropped a kiss on top of his head, making the omega snuggle closer to him. “But then I started thinking about the wedding, and the kind of house we want, and while I was thinking about that I thought to myself, well how many rooms do we want? And then, I realized that we should buy a house big enough for us and our twelve kids and tha—”
“Twelve kids!!” He ripped himself away from his alpha, who pouted and tried to pull him back down, “are you out of your damn mind idiot! Who said we are having twelve fucking kids?”
“Um, I don’t know. I just always figured we’d have a large family, you know?” he laughed, “I’m an only child and I always wondered what having brothers and sisters would be like. I guess I always kinda figured my kids would have them.”
“I have a brother, it’s really not that great…”
“Liar, you love Itachi!”
“AND… as the person who will be carrying them, shouldn’t I get to decide how many children we have?”
“What?! Sasuke! Come on! Just think, eleven little boys, all with that Uchiha black hair and sharingan eyes, and one perfect little girl for all of us to spoil and protect. She’ll have my moms red hair! And be a total badass! And sh—”
“No. One little girl, and one little boy. That’s it.” He scowled and began getting dressed, throwing Naruto’s clothes his way. “And one will have my hair and your eyes, the other can be all Kushina.”
“Awww come on Sasuke! The more the merrier, right?!”
“God, I hope that they inherit my genes because I fear for their future should they be as dumb as their dad.”
“What did you just say you asshole!” he laughed as Naruto tackled him back to the ground. “I am plenty smart!”
“That priestess from the Land of Demons once propositioned you, and you thought she was inviting you over for tea.”
“…Well, it’s what made you jealous enough to kiss me and it led to us being here. So if anything, I’m a freaking genius!” The omega laughed again and tried to get away from Naruto’s grip, rolling around until they were out of breath and lying side by side, holding hands.
“Hey Sasuke”
“What now?”
Naruto smiled at him and leaned in for a kiss, and just like always Sasuke melted into it pulling him closer and running his fingers through his hair, until Naruto pulled away, still smiling at him.
“I love you so much. I can’t wait to marry you.”
————
Sasuke’s eyes snapped open, a knot in his throat and the distinct feeling of loss. He let out a shaky breath and turned his head towards the empty space beside him. No warm smile or sparkling blue eyes to greet him, just cold empty sheets as it had been for the past four years.
At least he’d stopped crying after the first year.
“Sasuke,” his mother’s voice came through the door as she knocked, “are you awake?”
“Come in.”
“Good morning sweetie,” she smiled and sat beside him on the bed. “We’ll be leaving in an hour so you have to get ready. I laid your kimono out last night.”
“Do I have to wear that?” Sasuke groaned.
“It’s your brother’s succession ceremony, you must look the part.”
“How could I forget? It’s all father has been able to talk about for the past month,” feeling guilty at the sight of his mother’s smile dropping.
“Sasuke, you know your father loves you an—”
“Mom, it’s fine. Truly. I’m sorry for how that sounded, just ignore me.” He jumped out of bed, avoiding her gaze. “I’m taking a quick shower then I’ll be down soon. I know you have too many things to take care of today, so don’t worry about me.”
It was fine, everything was as it should be.
————
The ceremony took longer than Sasuke had hoped, but at last they finally get back home. He began shedding layers as soon as he could, eager to get back to his room, when an all-too-familiar voice called out to him.
“Sasukeeee!”
Damn it, he’d been so close.
“Tch, what do you want, Shisui?”
“Is that any way to talk to your favorite brother-in-law?”
“You guys are not married yet, I still have some time to talk some sense into my brother.”
“Wah! You are so mean, Sasuke. Where is that cute little genin that used to follow me around and ask me to teach him how to use a sword?”
“That never happened,” Shisui raised an amused eyebrow. “And is there a point to this or were you just looking to annoy me?”
“You are so boring now!” Shisui lamented, draping himself dramatically over Sasuke and began leading him towards the sitting room. “I am here because your brother has called a meeting.”
“Already? He’s been clan leader for less than a day.”
“Well you know what an overachiever your brother’s always been,” Sasuke scoffed at the lovesick pride in his voice.
When they finally arrived, the room was silent, his parents and uncle Madara sat across from Obito and two empty seats left for Sasuke and Shisui.
“Ah, Sasuke, there you are,” his brother smiled at him and Sasuke rolled his eyes in response.
“Must you always be so impatient?”
“Your brother is our clan head, have some respect, Sasuke.”
“...Of course, Father.”
“Alright,” his brother cuts in clapping his hands together, “thank you all for coming in such short notice. Truly, I would not be where I am if it wasn’t for the support you all provide.”
“You’ll do great things,” Mikoto smiled proudly.
“Thank you, I hope to continue protecting our clan just as you have for so many years.” Itachi looked around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes. Sasuke straightened up even more. “I also hope to lead our clan to a better future. For decades, we’ve isolated ourselves and worked alongside Konoha, and not with it. We’ve stood back as other clans gained more political power and influence. We chose to stay behind and protect Konoha during the last war when our skills and prowess were better suited for the front lines. We’ve left behind our pride as warriors and forgotten why we joined Konoha in the first place.”
Silence fell over the room. It was the elephant in the room that no one in the clan acknowledged. When war had been about to break out four years ago, all Konoha shinobi had begun mobilizing, but the Uchiha clan elders and his mother had decreed that they would stay behind to protect the village and those who remained. It was clear the Hokage and other clans disagreed with the decision, but it hadn’t exactly been a surprise to them. The Uchiha had been isolating themselves for decades by then.
Sasuke’s gaze flicked towards the tick in Madara’s jaw. It made sense, after all it had been his fallout with Hashirama Senju that had triggered the move towards the outskirts of town.
“The Uchiha are a clan of warriors, and we’ve let this go on long enough. It is time we began working with the village and leave behind our differences.”
“Danzo still distrusts the Uchiha, you and Shisui know this better than anybody. Do you truly think we can count on Sarotobi for this?”
“Actually,” Obito said, his remaining eye flicking towards Sasuke, “a new Hokage was appointed just this month, and he’s very open to working with us.”
“A new Hokage? Since when?!”
“Who is it?” Sasuke asked.
After handing over leadership to his sister Mikoto, Madara had moved to the farthest corner of the Uchiha district. The same corner where Sasuke had decided to take refuge after… after everything. He’d avoided all news coming from the village. He focused instead on helping Madara with his garden. The rest of the time they’d trained, learning everything he could from one of his clan’s most skilled warriors. Perhaps, he should have paid some attention, he hated being the last person to learn things.
“The new Hokage is Minato Namikaze.”
Well, fuck.
“Who the hell is that?” questioned his uncle, oblivious to the fact that Sasuke’s whole world had turned upside down.
“The Yellow Flash, he rose up during the previous shinobi war. Only shinobi in history to hold a flee-on-sight order.” Obito boasted. Sasuke stared down at his tea, trying to figure out how no one else could hear the screaming in his head.
“What clan is he from? Let me guess, married into one of the big clans.” His uncle’s bitter tone snapped him out of his mental breakdown.
“He’s from the Uzumaki clan,” someone said, and Sasuke blinked again when he noticed everyone’s eyes had turned to him.
Oh.
So he’d been the one to say it.
“He’s married to Kushina Uzumaki.”
“Their kid was in your genin team, wasn’t he?” Sasuke ignored the elbow his mother sent Fugaku at his question.
“Naruto,” he confirmed. He saw his uncle’s eyes finally light up in recognition, “Naruto Uzumaki”
“Sasuke,” the young omega forced a smile and waved off Madara’s concern.
“Frankly, I barely remember who you are talking about.” Itachi cleared his throat and continued, and Sasuke cleared his face of any expression as he pretended his world had not just turned upside down.
———
When the meeting ended, Sasuke avoided his brother’s attempt to stop him and he rushed for his room. Unfortunately, his peace did not last as someone knocked lightly before allowing themselves inside.
“Little brother, it’s been four years,” there was a small pause before he continued “do you truly still —”
“Yes. You know, you lied when you said that time would heal all wounds.”
“Time does not heal anything, it just teaches us how to live with the pain. I only,” his brother let out another sigh and Sasuke raised his head from where he’d buried it in his pillow. “I only worried that the two of you were too young to make such life altering decisions. You were eighteen Sasuke. Not only that, but the war was about to break out. You wouldn’t have been able to join him in the battlefield. Do you truly believe that your love would’ve withstood the separation?”
“Of course,” love had never been the issue.
“Then why hasn’t he tried even once to contact you now that the war is over?”
Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’d like to be alone now.”
“He’s the hero of the shinobi world now, the man that won and unified the villages. He’s not the same boy you once knew. War changes people.”
“How would I know? I’ve never been in one” he bit out.
“You shouldn’t be so eager to fight.”
“It’s not that I wanted to fight, I just wanted…”
“You wanted to be with him. I understand but would that have really been the best idea? Would that have changed your decision to break off the engagement.”
“…no.”
“There is something else I’d like to talk to you about.”
“What more could there possibly be?”
“I talked to the Hokage about finding ways to mend the broken bonds between the village and our clan. He made a suggestion I plan to accept.”
“What is it?”
“He proposed that the Uchiha clan host the next village summit. The clan heads, would all come to stay within our district for a week…of course this would also include the Hokage and his family.”
“...”
“The summit will take place at the end of the month.”
“…his family. When you say his family…”
“Yes, Naruto will be joining us as well.”