Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Heaven's Rain: Side A

A/N: The first of the two epilogues. It feels like a millennium since I last posted anything. But in my defense, I had to rewrite the whole thing, make seven different versions of this epilogue, till I was satisfied.

I'd love to know what you think!

Three Years Later

I knock softly on the door before I hear him call me in. Hashirama Senju, my boss, looks up from whatever it is he's writing and looks at me. "Come in, Naruto. Please take a seat."

I close the door quietly behind me and walk in. Hashirama-san, caps his Mont Blanc pen and puts it on his desk. "You've been working here for a year, haven't you?"

Trepidation runs down my spine. Did I do something wrong? Am I going to be fired?

"Yes sir."

Hashirama-san laughs. "How do you feel about working overseas?"

"I would love to!" I don't gloss it over. I'm too full of the possibilities between us.

He claps and pulls out a folder. "Perfect! There's a need for a translator in one of Japan's branches and you were recommended. So, would you like to go?"

"Very much, sir." Japan is enough. For me, as long as we're inside Japan, even if we were to be on two different ends, I'd cover it in a heartbeat to see him. It's hard to quell my excitement. "Sir, if I may ask, where in Japan?"

My breath feels thick as it clogs up in my throat when Hashirama-san peers down at the papers in front of him. "I think the request came from the Saitama branch." He taps the paper. "Saitama, yeah, says right here!" he smiles at me. "So, what do you think? You're to report there in a month. And I think it's a great place to start!"

Saitama shares a border with the prefecture where Itachi is, to our home. Saitama is not home, but it is close to home. Hell, I was even willing to settle for Hokkaido or Mie Prefecture if that's what it took. I nod, fighting to hide my excitement. "Thank you very much, sir. I'll take it." I stand up and bow, dying to exit the room and make the call. "I'll take my leave now."

I'll burst if I don't tell him right this second. My hand twitches over my phone in my pocket. I'm already brimming with joy as the prospect of seeing his face. I don't care that I might wake him up. I know he'll want to be the first person to know.

Hashirama-san laughs. "Don't you want to know your designation or your salary?" he asks.

I shake my head. "I…uh…maybe later. Tomorrow." I look down at my watch and at him.

Something on my face must give away my desperation because Hashirama-san laughs like he understands. "Go."

I dash out like a madman.

I have to call him.

He has to know.

I am coming back to him.

I am coming home.

Home. The thought of being back there brings me so much happiness and all because of the person who gave it all to me.

I pull out my phone and hit video, knowing I want to see his face when I tell him. It rings for a good three rings before there's sound of shuffling followed by him turning on his lamp. His face comes to focus when he looks at me. "Naruto? Is everything okay? Why are you crying?"

When did the tears start?

"Never mind, that. Itachi-sama, have you been to Saitama?" I wipe my tears and look at him.

"Saitama? Yes, but…" he trails off with a yawn.

Soon I'll have him in my arms again. I won't let go of him for even a second. "How do you feel about me moving there, next month?"

"You are moving to Saitama?" he parrots, all traces of sleep gone when he turns to look at me. He smiles at me and then laughs and then looks at me.

"It just got decided." I smile at him, happily. "So, what do you think?"

He laughs. "Congratulations! I'm overjoyed at your promotion. Kiyoshi will be delighted. I'm so… just so…" He beams when he looks at me. "You're coming back home, Naruto. What more could I want?

His eyes gleam when he looks at me. Tears line them. "I am! I am finally coming back home, Itachi-sama! It feels surreal."

"This is a very pleasant surprise to wake up to." He laughs and sniffles simultaneously. "Ah shit! A month, huh?"

"Which is going to feel like a year."

"And to think we survived almost three years like this." He laughs again. "I mean, I can't wait!"

And when Itachi immediately begins to chalk out the things I need to do, I'm torn with this need to kiss him. One month more of waiting is going to kill me already. I'm willing to go down on a knee at the airport itself. And I know he'll say yes.

"One month is going to kill me."

Itachi laughs. "That makes two of us."

The thirty days between us remind me of the wait between Valentine's Day when I confessed to him a second time and White Day was the day he replied. That time I was only desperate for his love, thinking that would suffice. But now I was going to get it all. The greed that this man has invoked, can only be satisfied with him. I'll work tooth and nail to make it happen.

The words I've said to him a million, probably a trillion times by now, rise to the surface. "I want to hold you so bad right now, I feel like I'll die. When Hashirama-san called me into his office, I was dead scared, thinking I'd messed up. And when he told me, I just had to tell you. I only wanted you to know first. I knew it would make you happy."

"It does. It's excellent news."

I look at my watch. "Sorry, I have to rush back and finish a report. I'll be home in an hour. I'll call you back, then."

"I'm only going to have to wait a month. What's an hour more?" Itachi makes a face.

"Itachi-sama, I love you, but right now, I love this opportunity more. So I'm going to go before I let you distract me."

He laughs. "Go."

"I'll come back soon," I greet in Japanese.

He laughs. "Go and come back soon. Idiot." he replies and hangs up.

Idiot?

Yeah, me too.

Throughout my flight here, I've been on pins and needles. I'm too excited to sleep and my flight is of twenty hours. At this rate, I'm going to die. I look down at the blue jeans I'm wearing for the occasion. They're a twin pair to my goodbye gift to him. And they still fit me perfectly.

While changes between us are inevitable what with me working from Saitama and he being home, it's a new life I'm going to adapt to. But that's not what scares me. Though I've noticed no particular change in Itachi's demeanor, while we talk, being in his space might change things. Even Kiyoshi and Sasuke might think differently.

But I know the magnitude of his feelings hasn't changed. The love he bears hasn't changed. His faith in me hasn't changed. And it only worsens the anticipation. My mind conjures images after images of even the impossible.

The stewardess with the drinks cart passes. "Whisky, 30ml, no make it 60." Her blond eyebrows lift up a little but she dutifully pours me my drink. I finish it in a couple of gulps before she can even move away and dump the paper cup in the trash and close my eyes.

This wait is killing me.

When I wake next, the pilot is making some announcement over being over India. Several people at the window seat, peak out over the heaps of clouds. I close my eyes again.

When I open them again, I look at my watch and my heart skips a beat. We'll land in twenty minutes.

Somehow, I manage to pass the twenty excruciating minutes and the hour thereafter clearing customs. My heart picks up pace at every step I take towards the exits. By the time I make it to the Arrivals, pushing my cabin luggage, carelessly beside me, I can't wait. There's a huge group of people in front of me who just won't let me pass. I eye them in pure frustration. Finally, finally the group passes to show people who are awaiting the arriving passengers.

My eyes land on him and the world ceases to exist. I see him before he sees me. He's busy talking to Sasuke who's typing something on his phone. For a stunned, heart-thudding moment, I just take in him in. His glorious hair in the loose ponytail, his back tapering to a thin waist. His black trouser clad legs, the cream shirt he has on over it. He's here. Steps away. Just a few steps away.

Sasuke looks up but doesn't notice me. He doesn't till I move behind Itachi and cover his eyes. "Itachi-sama," I say it quietly in his ear. His breath hitches when he removes my hands and turns around. His arms around me are bands of steel when he holds me. I clutch to me like my life depends on it and close my eyes.

The sheer pleasure of holding him in my arms is a tangible proof of the fact that he's in my arms. His hair, his face, his smell, the soft dip of his back, his strong shoulder bones, the feel of him, the touch of him, every little part of him I love and worship, right here. I take him in, like a junkie getting the finest drug. "Itachi-sama, I'm home," I whisper in his ear, lighting him up, making him squeeze me tighter once.

He breaks away and looks at me. "Welcome back, Naruto," he takes my name with an emotion I know only too well.

I take him in my arms again. He says nothing. He just holds me to him.

I can't help it. I bend down and kiss him.

He freezes for a second and then his mouth opens.

Our first kiss is the softest, the gentlest kisses we've given each other. It morphs into a desperate one when I get my tongue involved.

Sasuke coughs rudely behind me and Itachi hides his face in my chest for a second before he lets me go, grinning like an idiot. The tips of his ears are red. I grin at him too. Sasuke walks over and hugs me for a second. "Good to see you again!"

"Good to see you too! How've you been? Where's Kiyoshi?"

Sasuke laughs. "Slow down! Kiyoshi is with our parents since your flight was landing late."

I make a face. "Aww! He's going to be so mad when he finds out!"

"We're saving you as his surprise. Meanwhile, we have a drive to make, so let's hurry back."

Itachi tugs my arm and I use it to pull him closer. "Ready to take me home, milady?"

He smacks me on the butt. "After you, sir."

I turn and kiss his cheek.

The way back is anything but silent. Even Sasuke participates excitedly. No one shuts up for a minute and I love it. My hand finds Itachi's on the gearstick, I rest mine on it. He smiles at me when he grabs it and shakes it, making me smile. I think I need this touch to center me once again. Somehow it feels too good to be true. But then Itachi's thumb brushes against the back of mine and it's real.

The drive home feels like it's too short yet too long. Sasuke lets out a loud yawn when he gets out of the car, once we reach and Itachi parks. "I'm going to bed." He bends down and smirks, "But still, keep it low."

"Sasuke!" Itachi almost hollers before Sasuke laughs and closes the door.

I don't even wait till he makes it to the door.

I'm undoing my seatbelt and moving across to his side. He only manages to undo his seatbelt before I push the lever of his seat all the way back. I lean over him, pressing a couple of kisses to his face. "Hi," I whisper softly, making him look at me.

"Hi," He smiles and it's the sweetest thing ever. I kiss my favorite spot on his neck, pleased to find no change in the smell of him. He still smells divine.

"Ugh, I've missed you." I lick that strip once before placing kisses there. My hand moves lower between us. "You're hard." I kiss his neck again, fondling him gently.

His hand moves to my back, pressing me closer. Then it snakes lower and squeezes my butt. He grins at me. "You wore these blue jeans. I've been hard since I saw you in them." He squeezes my butt. "Or maybe just this?"

I lean up and take his mouth again. My hand moves down to his shirt, to undo the buttons, kissing along as I go. His hands wind in my hair. I lean up and kiss him again. I reach for the buckle of his trousers and work on removing them. He stops me when my fingers are about to slide into the waistband of his boxers. "Come here," he pulls me up, forcing my hands away from the tent to the side of the seat to hold my balance. I bend down and take his mouth again. He gives in before breaking the kiss. His eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks when he blinks, looking away. I kiss those cheeks. He covers his face with a hand and leans back completely. "I know this is going to sound silly, but, uh…" He lifts his hand to look at me. My heart is racing when I look at him, all serious. "Don't look so serious," he gently takes my face and kisses me. "I might have a surprise for you," he pointedly looks at his crotch.

"Down there?" The seriousness gives way to anticipation. I grin at the thought of what he could possibly be hiding, down there. "Can I?" I gently skim the top of his waistband with my little finger and look at him.

He smiles and slowly nods. Gently I lower it, scrutinizing every inch of skin I've fantasized about. I don't really have to go very far. He's shaved down there. He covers his face with his hand again and lets out a nervous laugh. "Holy shit!" I trace my hand over the newfound piece of land. "Smooth as a baby's butt!" I bend down and press my mouth to it. His cock jerks in response. "I love it!"

"You do?"

I lick the strip all over again. He lets out a strangled laugh when I move past his cock and kiss his thighs, moving down to the two identical moles he has in a slant, very close to each other. I kiss each one of them. He groans, pushing my head to where he wants me. I lick the underside, then stop, and look at him. "Wait."

"I've waited enough. And if I have to wait another second, I'll explode even before you-"

I bend down, take a deep breath, and take him in my mouth. His thighs clench painfully, when I lick the wet slit of his penis. "Oh fuck," his voice is muffled under his hand. I remove it from his face and his eyes meet mine. The moment they do, I take him in and close my throat around him and get to work. His chest rises and falls. "Then again, I forgot you were like this," he pants. I lick the tip once before I look up at him and move down to lick his balls, never taking my eyes off him.

"Like what?"

He groans once before he pulls my head up. Our eyes meet. "Insatiable."

I lift is legs and put them around my shoulders, pulling him lower on the seat. I smirk around his cock, before he pushes my head down. His breath stops, his thighs shake around me and his balls draw up. "Close," I reacquaint myself with the desperation in that low, whiny tone. His hand in my hair is brutal before he plunges in and let goes.

He groans loudly when he comes, going stiff as a board and then lets out several full body shudders when his heat floods my throat. I savor it. It's thick. He's been holding back.

He quivers when I release him. He's still hard. I bend down to kiss his thighs which shake around me. I lean up on the seat, over him. "You've been holding back, haven't you?"

Before he can answer I kiss him, teeth, tongue, and all. He pushes my face away and makes a face. "It's been a while since I tasted this. Ugh…"

I laugh then gasp when his hand finds my boner. "Now that we've taken care of me, it's your turn." He moves around and pats my bum.

I hold his hand and bring it to my mouth to kiss it. "Not here. I want my turn on our bed."

He nods and I move away while he rights his clothes. "By the way, where's the rest of your stuff? None of your suitcases have come here." He asks, buttoning up his shirt.

I look at him. "Oh I shipped them directly to my dorm in Saitama. They must have arrived by now."

Something passes over his face. "Oh, I see."

"You thought I'd ship them here?" I don't get what I did wrong.

He nods. "You just told me you'd shipped them so I naturally assumed it would be here." He exhales. "But that's practical in its own way." He gets out of the car and I follow suit. I move to pull out my suitcase from the trunk.

"Have enough change of clothes to last the week in there?" he points towards it.

I laugh. "Nope. This one only has gifts for Kiyoshi. Besides, I don't need my clothes when I have yours."

"I suppose I could lend you a t-shirt." He gives me a sideways look.

"And pants."

He nods. "And pants," he repeats.

"And underwear."

He shakes his head. "My darling, with the plans I have in mind, this week you won't be needing those."

I grab him and kiss him.

Stepping through the doors and walking inside after removing my shoes makes my hands shake. I look around at the nostalgic space and smile. "I'm home." I say it in a revered whisper and then I look at him. "I'm home, Itachi-sama."

He nods. "Welcome back," he greets before depositing his keys on the table and coming around to hug me.

"Mind if I indulge in a quick tour? Alone?" He smiles.

"Don't let me keep you." He gestures and gives me a brief kiss.

I grin and he starts moving towards the kitchen, leaving me to enjoy the feeling of coming back home. I walk around the house, familiarizing myself with the little changes I notice. Kiyoshi's room now has a different bed. I don't go into our room. That I want to do with him. I step into the kitchen only to find him on the way out. I stop him with a hand. "Where are you off to?"

"Going to the washroom." He smirks at me, "Please make yourself at…home."

I smack him on the butt.

Once I come back to the living room, I immediately walk to the love seat where pictures sit. I'm overjoyed to see many with me in them. First there's that family portrait, I insisted on having. Seeing us in a tiny frame in our suits tickles my heart. I have a framed copy of it on my bedside. There are pictures of the three of us. Even his favorite with us in the park, smiling up at the camera. There's even one with Sasuke, taken a few days before I left. Pictures of Kiyoshi and me. There's even a solo of me. And only one picture of Itachi and me. Itachi and I stand in front of the house with me behind him, arm around his waist. My face is next to his and we're both smiling. The stunning autumn colors are vivid around us.

"Done with the tour already? His hands encircle my waist, holding a water bottle when he gives me a back hug. He places a kiss to the center of my back, over my t-shirt before he lets go and offers me the bottle. I finish it in a gulp, nodding at him.

He points to a picture Obito took at Disneyland of the three of us. "That one is Mother's favorite. These," he points to another one of us three and then to the ones of Kiyoshi and me, "are Kiyoshi's favorites. He couldn't choose which picture he liked more."

"And my solo picture? Whose favorite is that?" I look at him and smirk. I'm wearing his favorite blue jeans too, rolled up till my knees.

"Ah, that wasn't my idea. You can ask Kiyoshi about that. Threw a tantrum for an hour when I refused. I'm not very keen on putting solo pictures of yours, anywhere in public."

"You fear you'll get jealous if someone checks me out? I mean, I am wearing those jeans you like…"

"Oh please! Just because I like them over you, doesn't mean everyone does. Get over yourself!" He laughs and smacks me. I know he's trying to deceive me.

"I mean, have you seen anyone look more dashing against the crashing waves?" I point to the solo picture of me. "I mean, behold this specimen of perfection!"

He lets out a startled laugh. "Ah…this unparalleled level of narcissism! My peacock is here! I've missed you so much!"

I crush him to me like I should. "During my rather quick tour, there was a place I skipped."

"Uh-huh. We need to remedy that. Let's get going." He automatically turns towards the direction of our room.

I don't hide my smile when I follow him. He presses down the handle and I bend down and lift him up till he's bent over from the waist and goes face-down against my back. He squeals in surprise and grabs on to my waist like it's a lifeline. His leg rises, which kicks the door open and I step into the bedroom with my beloved whose fingers have now taken perch on my butt, laughing in surprise.

He squeezes lightly before I bend down and set him upright on the floor. "Weren't you supposed to carry me princess style or something?"

I put my arms around him and look at him dubiously. "Eh? You'd let me do that, princess?"

His hands move slowly when he first rubs my waist and then squeezes my butt again. "I'll let you do anything you want, my darling." He taps me on the forehead, making me look at him. He smiles. "And I have some ideas that might please you."

I smile and take his mouth in a kiss. "Ones that involve a bed I hope."

Itachi takes my hand and leads me to it.

Itachi gently sponges my backside while I lie on my belly like a dead fish.

"I brought you something. It's in my backpack."

"I said you didn't have to bring souvenirs!" Itachi says, before he disposes off the towels, washes his hands before moving to fetch my backpack.

"Look for a small square box. It's gift-wrapped."

"Really, you didn't have to."

"You'll like this one."

He carefully opens the somewhat crushed ribbon and parts the paper to see the ring box. He opens it slowly and gasps at the matching rings. They are simple bands of rose gold, white gold and yellow gold entwined within each other. Three small diamonds encircle the white gold. He turns to look at me, his eyes misting over. I sit up with effort and pluck out his ring. "May I?"

I slide the ring on his slim finger. Needless to say, it fits perfectly. He picks out my ring and I put out my hand. He slides it in and then bends down and places a kiss on it. I lift my hand and kiss the space he kissed.

He brushes his other thumb over his ring. "It's beautiful. It's simple but timelessly artistic." Then he pulls it out to look at it.

I smile at him. "Though it doesn't have the huge diamond you wanted, you'll find that it has a lot of significance."

"How so?"

I smile. "You see, this ring is called Trinity. The rose gold band represents Kiyoshi, I represent yellow gold because I'm Kiyoshi's sunshine and the white gold represents you. The diamonds are our links to you, to the bond we have. Woven together, rock solid." I smile at him. "I saw it one time in the window of a Cartier store and I wanted it for us ever since."

"Cartier?" He sees the name engraved and balks. "Naruto this must have cost a fortune!"

"Yup. So don't lose it."

He closes his hand over mine. His thumb traces my ring. "I could never." He turns and kisses my neck. "Who'd have thought you'd be this thoughtful?"

"Hmm, I may have picked up a thing or two from the expert. And the expert deserves the very best." I kiss his temple and then his forehead.

I look at him. "I love you."

He smiles sweetly. "I love you too."

We make love once more before we drift into slumber.

Holding him tightly in my arms in a bed that smells entirely of us, I sleep like a baby.

Opening my eyes to the wooden ceiling is a pleasant surprise. My head immediately turns towards Itachi who's sleeping beside me. The nostalgic sensation of his body fitting mine is the perfect bonus. If this is a dream, then I never want it to end. He stirs when I bury my face in his neck and immediately turns around. His eyes land on mine and he smiles. I don't say anything. I only move forward and lift a lock of his hair away from his face to plant a kiss to his cheek.

He gasps. "You're really here in my bed. Honestly, I thought I was dreaming for a second." He smiles at me. His smile grows wider when I bring my lips close to his for a kiss.

"That makes two of us," I kiss him. "Is that proof enough for you?"

"I'm not sure. Let's try this one more time."

I laugh and bend down. "I made it, Itachi-sama. We made it." I smile at him. "I was crazy to think I could settle for a short-term romance." I shake my head at him. "And every second beside you, the greed came out. Before I knew it, there was no going back. That there's no going back from you, from this. The greed to just have this place beside you. It is my only place in the world."

He blushes. "You love me that much, huh?"

"I love you beyond everything I've ever loved, and everything I'll ever come to love. There can be no one but you. These three years have made me realize that. The rest is all up to how much you want me. What is your greed?"

"Does wanting to possess each inch of you count? I want everything of yours. You want to know my greed? You may be happy at the prospect of being in Japan again and getting to work in Saitama. And I'm happy for you. Beyond measure," he smiles at me before sobering again. "I'm not okay with it at the same time. I'm not okay with you going at all." He lets out a mirthless laugh. "Which is funny since I've been doing it for three years. I should have learnt my lesson. Your country, Saitama, what difference would it make. You won't be here, anyway." He shrugs.

"Talking about parting when I've just come home is cruel, Itachi-sama. We're going to be together as much as we can. You should be glad I'll be out of your hair doing something productive rather than coaxing you into going another round," he laughs in memory. "Plus I'll be home every weekend I can. Every vacation, every free day. Let's go traveling. Kiyoshi will love it."

"Turning the conversation around? Uzumaki Naruto, you're learning." He smirks.

"Ah, I'd like to correct you there," I tap his nose. "It's Uzumaki Uchiha Naruto, Itachi-sama."

He crosses his arms across his chest and raises his brow. His ring winks at me. "I haven't said yes, yet."

"You're wearing my ring on your finger. Enough said."

"Goodness, you're surpassing me!"

I lean forward and kiss away the rest of his laugh.

"Speaking of vacations, there's a place I'd very much like to go to with you and I sort of got excited and booked us an inn there for this weekend?"

His eyes narrow. "In Atami?" he asks, very seriously.

I nod. "Yes. Please say yes!"

Amused eyes turn to look at me. "I'd have seriously broken up if you'd booked us a place in Hakone or somewhere else."

I look at him with hurt eyes. "Broken up? Really?"

"I'd have seriously considered it."

"And now you don't have to. Atami belongs to us. We need to reclaim it."

"Exactly!"

"I got us the room with the best view."

"In the same inn?"

"Yes." He smiles.

"So, will you go?"

"Yes! Fuck, yes!"

He leans forward to kiss me.

I knew I'd found it the moment I stepped into his shop in October and looked into his eyes for the first time.

My place in the world.

When we wake up next after going another round in the morning, he laughs at something I say.

"Us, you mean?" he bites a shoulder. "We are inevitable."

I press my forehead to his. "Thank you for waiting."

"Thank you for not getting sloshed at parties and making mistakes. Unless you…" his eyes narrow at me.

I laugh. "I don't get hard for anyone else. You've put a spell on me."

"One I don't intend to ever break."

I grin like a loon and snuggle with him for a while. Then I lean forward and place a kiss on his neck. "How were these three years without me?"

"You're asking me that even after I've told you in grave detail about every day?"

"But if you had to summarize it, how would you?"

He thinks about this. "Hmm, while I had a fair share of events these three years, it felt…monotonous?"

"Monotonous? How so?"

"Let's see. For example, assume for a moment that you can see every color across the spectrum. All but one color. If you could see that color too, the picture would be complete. Does that make sense?"

"I think so," I reply tickling him. "Also, did you just use Murakami's work as an analogy?"

"You've read Losing Blue?"

I nod. "But that work, seriously? I mean it's a satire on the injustice caused to an innocent man! Mr. Okada, the government is with you." He laughs.

"You're quoting it now! Wow!" he looks at me with genuine admiration. "I thought you hated him."

"I do. But even he has his exceptions."

"Like a social satire?" he raises cute brows.

"But your take on it is something else. So, I'm the color blue, huh?" I grin at him.

"Yeah, definitely something like that."

"How did you get to be so smart?"

"You bring out the cheesy in me."

"I'm lovin' it!" I quote McDonalds, making him laugh.

"That's terrible!" he wheezes, "even for you!"

"I could make it worse. Probably put my hand in your underpants and "Just do it."

Itachi is cackling with laughter when I'm done. "Stop! Please!"

I bend down and kiss him. "How were they for you?"

"I had days which made me so miserably lonely when I thought about how much I wanted you to be there. But I held it in. And now I've come out with a fancy degree and a job that pays well."

"And I've come out with a husband who has both a job and a degree. Who's the bigger winner?" he raises a brow at me.

"Husband, huh?"

"I have your ring on my finger, enough said." He shrugs.

"One day I'm going to beat you at this game."

"What game?"

"This game in which you say things that make my heart stop for a second."

"I didn't know it was a game. But did I say something weird?"

"You do that every time you call me your spouse or your husband. And you do it so casually like it's okay."

"That's because it is. Unless you want to be called wife. I mean, isn't the world fixated on pronouns? Just know that it'll be a little awkward to introduce a giant, blue-eyed wife. Other than that, I don't really mind."

"You can call me anything you need. And if height is an issue, then I'll bend my knees. I didn't know this was an issue. Don't get me wrong, you're very tall yourself. But I mean we all have our complexes, don't we? As a kid, I had a serious complexion about my penis because this bastard of a classmate teased me about it. And…uh…I don't think I should have told you about this," I say more under my breath than to him because of the complex expression on his face.

"Penis complex?" I'm glad that's his take. He looks down at my crotch, "when you have that between your legs?" he points rudely towards it.

"It didn't start to turn into that till puberty hit. Shut that little asshole up for life when he saw it again." I laugh then wince when I see his face. Now a complexity of a different kind hits him.

"What need would he have to see your penis again, I wonder."

"We played basketball together. We shared the same shower room." He nods then blinks.

"Can I ask you a question without meaning to sound rude?"

"You know I won't take offense."

"Wasn't it hard for you, you know to control yourself in situations like the showers. I mean, seeing so many naked guys in peak puberty must have been hard, so to speak."

I laugh. "I was not interested in anyone of them. Though I do remember checking out some ass worth appreciation, I don't really remember getting boners there. Practice usually wiped us out."

"Ass worth appreciation, I do understand."

"Yup. Supple and juicy, just like this. Ready to be bitten into." I squeeze his butt. "The only reason I'm glad we weren't together since childhood is because walking around with a constant boner would have killed me."

He scoffs. "As if! Wouldn't practice wipe you out?"

I smirk. "Nah. As it is, even as a grown man, when it comes to you, it takes me seconds to react. Walking next to you in the prime of my youth would have been both physical and hormonal torture. And I definitely would have gone to jail."

"Whoa! That escalated quickly! Jail?" he laughs.

"I'd have pounced on you one day for sure."

"Ehh? But if we were to think about it, wouldn't you have gotten used to me at some point? Maybe you wouldn't have felt anything for me at all!

"I'd have known what you're going to mean to me from the second I saw you. Told you, I'd never leave your side."

"Though there is the rest of our lives…"

"Did you know?"

"That we'd go absolutely insane together?" He looks at me and smiles. "Deep down, I think I did."

"How could we have thought we could go without this?"

"Our insanity?" he lifts his eyebrow.

"That too but for now, the sheer bliss of having to wake up to you in my arms."

"Which you're soon going to have to remove because I really need to use the toilet."

"Five more minutes."

He squirms away. "I'll be back in a minute."

"No," I moan but he's gone already.

Once he goes, I turn and plant my face smack dab into his pillow and inhale his scent in quick impatient breaths.

How I've missed this!

I sniff an unhealthy dose again. Laughter sounds behind me, but I don't care.

I bury my face in it.

I love it too much.

He pats my bum. "Sure you want to make do with that when the real thing is right here?" he looks at me and smiles.

"This is a different love affair. If I had to make a run, I'd take my phone, passport, and this pillow with me, I swear."

"You're so cute."

"Don't you have to make your cute wife breakfast in bed?"

"Oh so you do want to be called wife, I see. And your pronouns are…?"

"Shut up, Itachi-sama," I laugh and grab his face again.

"Ehh…I don't think anything you said qualifies for a pronoun. Losing your touch, Naruto?"

I burst out laughing at the formal Japanese. "How do you…? You wicked sensei!"

"Your sensei has ten minutes before he cooks his wife the breakfast he wants in bed. You better make it count."

I show him how I haven't lost my touch.

Itachi is painstakingly explaining me the mechanism of his coffee machine which I keep getting wrong when Sasuke walks in. He scratches his head and opens the fridge to pull out a bottle of water. Sleepily, he walks over to us. Though we all got in late last night, it's almost eleven in the morning and he looks like he's barely slept.

"Ah I forgot you were here!" Sasuke does a double take.

"Good morning, Sasuke," I greet, smiling at him.

He drinks his water before he returns the greeting. Itachi flips the button on and turns to him. "Good morning." He grins at him and then at me.

I grin back. Sasuke's eyes zero in to the ring Itachi is wearing on his hand and he grabs his wrist. He turns to me and sees the twin ring on my finger. "Exchanged rings already, huh? Couldn't wait, could you Naruto?"

I shrug. "The Mister wouldn't take me back without a ring so I came prepared. Did you know, he wanted a diamond this big!" I gesture to show him and Sasuke bursts out laughing.

Itachi nudges me and laughs. Sasuke examines the ring and then looks up at us, genuine happiness shines in his eyes when he looks at us. "You've got good taste, I'll give you that."

I look at Itachi and nod. "I know."

He slaps me on the back of my shoulder. "Stop with the faces before I kill you brother-in-law." I smile and he grins. "Congratulations! I'm very happy for you." He smiles at Itachi. "Both of you."

Itachi smiles and holds out his arms. Sasuke moves forward and grabs him in a hug. "Thank you."

I join them both. "Thank you."

Sasuke's gone by lunchtime and we get the house to ourselves. It doesn't take a genius to know what two virile men could be doing in their house, against every surface available. We've fucked like rabbits throughout the house. I've gone hours entirely naked, though my prim boyfriend is more conservative about strutting around in his birthday suit, unlike me. But I might never get an opportunity to enjoy making him blush like this, so I use it to my full advantage.

We've only gone out twice.

Itachi claims that both of these outings have been my dates with the supermarket and the convenience shop near our house. I can't deny it because I loaded my cart with ramen and other snacks I've missed. Itachi laughed, watching me. I watched him watch me with a smile. He is happy. So happy. And seeing him happy brings me joy beyond measure.

Needless to say, it's been amazing days. As promised, I haven't left him alone for a second.

He shrieks when he sees me walking in on him taking a dump. He orders me to get out and I just flap my hand carelessly. "Continue doing what you're doing. Just pretend I'm not here."

He eyes me dubiously, looking around no doubt looking for something to throw at me. "Get out!" he hisses.

"What're you getting all shy for?"

"Because there are lines even you can't cross. So get out."

I laugh. "Oh c'mon! It's nothing I haven't seen before. Anal sex involves shit too, you know."

His eyes widen. "Naruto you have two seconds to get out before I ship you back in that very plane you came here on!" drop dead silence follows before I sigh, shake my head, and get out.

A second later, the curses that flow out from inside drown my laugh.

"Asshole! Fucking asshole!" He gasps at the double entendre and then sighs.

I only laugh harder.

Okay so maybe I shouldn't have barged in on him or said what I said. Freud says taking a dump is one of the most private moments for a human and I think Itachi lives by it.

He's been fuming in rage ever since he came out of the toilet in the morning. He even rejected the coffee I made for him for a whole minute. Physical intimacy is off the charts. Each time I approach him, his eyes glare hard enough to cut. "I'm sorry!" I apologize for the hundredth time.

Itachi moves towards the fridge to pull out some leftover rice and vegetables. He piles them on the counter and then looks at me. "Stop. I'm not mad at you, okay? I'm embarrassed and vastly disturbed by it."

I nod. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would have this reaction. I won't do it again."

"Look, it's just, I don't want to get used to more things right now. I mean, I don't want to be thinking about you when I'm taking a dump!"

"But I think about you all the time."

He makes a disgusted face at me. "Are you into scat too? Should I be worried?" There's no trace of humor on his face when he looks at me, absolute alarm.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? What brought this on? Yeah, I think about you on the john but it's not always dirty thoughts. What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, I need a second to process this."

"Why is it so weird? Don't you have thoughts while you're doing it? What do you think about?" I exhale loudly when he looks away and doesn't say anything. "Look I get it, okay. I'm sorry I overstepped."

"And I said it's okay. Don't do it again."

I nod. "Noted."

"If it's um…okay with you, can I start chopping the vegetables? I'm kind of hungry…" I blink up blue, blue eyes at him, the paragon of innocence.

He frowns before nodding. He moves to pull out a pan and I look at him. "Can I use your fridge, if that's alright?" I point a thumb towards said fridge, making him turn to look at me. My grey oversized t-shirt looks like it was made for him.

A look passes between us. "Do as you like."

"That includes a lot of things. I need you to narrow it down for me. Wouldn't want to overstep again."

"Jesus Christ! I thought we just covered that!"

"So only that."

"Only that."

"Everything else?"

"Is yours."

"All of it?"

"All of it."

"All of it?"

He laughs. "All of it. Now get moving before you tell everyone I starved you to death."

"On the other hand, I consider myself quite satisfied?"

That smirk I love is back. "Already?"

He resumes his task of beating the eggs. "I'd say for the time being."

"I'll increase that time if you don't get to chopping the vegetables. I want a partner to carry their own weight, so I'm not going to easy on you when it comes to the household chores. It applies to when you're home for the weekends. Ah and speaking of, you can resume your charge of Kiyoshi's English and Japanese lessons when you're here. It'll be better to teach him in person."

"Understood. Anything else?" I look at him, moving towards him.

He turns off the heat and looks at me. "Once a month, maybe twice, I want a date in the park, on our bench. Just us."

I smile. "For life," I promise.

"Then that's it. Oh and resume your duty of doing the dishes."

"Is that being asked in general interest or a personal one?" I raise a brow at him.

"What can I say, I like seeing you standing there."

I lean forward to kiss his forehead and my stomach gurgles loudly. He taps it. "Satisfied, huh?" he laughs. "Let's feed you first." He turns the spatula threateningly at me when I move towards him. "Get back to the vegetables or I'll tie you up and take you to Saitama myself."

"Tying me up is okay but I'm going to be living in the company dorm. My colleagues might…uh…learn of your fetishes. Besides, I know you wouldn't want anyone else to see me tied up, would you?"

"Sure that's not a fantasy of yours? Though I quite like the thought of you tied up."

"Any time you want baby," I wink at him. "Now let's get back to making breakfast happen."

He smacks me lightly on my back with the spatula. "Is this another field we're going to explore?" I look at him excitedly. "Spanking, I mean?"

He looks away, his ears turning red.

I hear it, clear as day.

"Asshole! Fucking asshole!"

Days pass in a whirl. When we're not busy getting handsy with each other, we talk and talk and talk. It's funny how I've spent almost three years doing just that, I never seem to run out of things to say to him. Everything new, everything I haven't already said. It's amazing how he just keeps the conversation flowing.

I can see us do it every day. I'll never lose interest in the things he has to say. I love him best when he just claims his place beside me and strips himself of all his titles and just becomes his raw self. It's the person I fell in love with. Someone who considers me his safe haven. I listen to each and everything, answer each question, work together towards fixing problems.

I hide my laugh when I hear him asking me to leave him alone in the shower. I turn and go. We have rules about lines and if he doesn't want me to cross one, I won't.

My ever observant lover catches up in no time. "That's not why I said it."

I nod at the door. "I get it. Enjoy your shower."

I close the door a little hard and fight the urge to giggle. I wait till he turns on the shower.

Then I move to the kitchen and get to work.

He doesn't give me more than ten minutes to assemble the goods and light the candles. Something gives, he's going to like it.

His bare feet sound on the floor and I quickly tie the red bow around my neck.

"Naruto, what the fuck-" his tone changes, expression too. It solidifies into absolute neutral when he takes in the champagne chilling in the ice-bucket, two flutes ready next to it. He takes in the chocolate dip and the strawberries and finally looks at me.

"You are an asshole, Uzumaki Naruto!" Finally, he says it out loud. I grin at him.

I walk forward to him and show him the bow with a flourish. "Too bad, I'm good looking."

He pulls me by it. "You really didn't stand a chance, otherwise."

"Do you…uh…like your present?" I look at him with a smile.

"I'm still mad at you."

"I'll make up for it, tonight." I wave my hand around. "Let this be a start."

He smiles and looks around. "I've only seen this in movies but it feels weird. Cheesy but good."

I move to the champagne and fill the flutes, passing him one. "Will you do me the honor tonight to do more cheesy things?"

He laughs. "I'd love to."

I gesture to the bed. "After you, sir."

I dip a strawberry in chocolate and bring it to his mouth. He takes a bite and grins at me. "I used to think the whole strawberry and chocolate thing was the corniest thing romance writers could ever think of, but now that I'm at the receiving end of it, it feels quite nice."

"That's what she said," I raise my eyebrows at him.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about! Though I quite like that too." He smacks me on my leg.

"Can I ask you a question?" It's probably been the hundredth time I've asked him this before asking him something. But each time I ask this question, his lips rise. It's almost involuntary. He's happy I remember.

His lips tilt up and he looks at me with complete honesty. "Yes."

"Before me, did you seriously never want to play with your backside?"

Itachi gives me a weird look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, weren't you ever curious about your prostate or wanted to experience how it would be if you uh…stuck a finger in? Or have a partner who wanted to? I know men who've received anal pleasure from their female partners, most of them straight. But everyone at some point was interested in it."

"Your point?"

"When we…uh…got together in Atami, you were so eager to bottom. Weren't you reluctant to do it? Scared? If you'd never been interested in touching yourself there, wasn't it weird for you?"

"Well, I did do my set of research too, you know. Watched videos. Took interest."

"You know, if doing that makes you uncomfortable, I can bottom for you my whole life!"

"After teaching me pleasures of a miraculous kind, you're now trying to take it all for you? No thank you."

I shrug. "I'm just saying…" I dip a strawberry in chocolate and feed it to him.

"Besides, it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be. It only seemed like a fitting conclusion. I've never thought of not bottoming for you. Even when I knew my whole body will ache the next day or what it would entail to my stance as a man." I open my mouth but he puts a finger on it. "But I've come to realize, it feels powerful, in its own right."

"I didn't know you were into power dynamics in bed."

"I'm not. But this power, I like."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"As you should."

He looks at me and smiles.

One night, we're curled up on the sofa watching a movie which involves a bikini parade for a reason I cannot remember. I stare at the screen in front of me, gaining no particular excitement at the sight of women in skimpy bikinis. On men though…I look at Itachi. On him though…

A woman walks past on the screen clad in a black bikini and I imagine it on him. Simple? Lace? I imagine him in black lace. It's not that hard. I know his body like the back of my hand. How it would look in white lace. I am not going to give up on the lace. I imagine what other color would look good on him, finally settling on red. He'll be a dream in red. Instantly, my dick takes interest.

Now I need this. Need those two identical moles on either side of his left nipple to hide behind a veil of lace. In red. I know where I can get him one. I want it customized. I must have let out some sound, too far gone with my imagination of him in lingerie.

He doesn't even bat an eyelash when he pauses at a close-up of a lady's…parts and turns to me. "If you're silently judging me for watching nearly naked ladies in bikinis on screen, I'm going to punch you."

I lift up my hands. "Worse. I'm thinking about you in one."

"In a lady?" He looks baffled as if he suddenly doesn't know how to read my thoughts.

"In a bikini…no lingerie."

He doesn't say a word, only looks at me like I'm a problem he's trying to figure out. "I've been thinking…" I say again.

His lips twitch. "Or rather glaring at me for the past minute."

"Shush, listen. I have a wish. I want to see you in a bralette and thongs. In red lace."

He turns to me and blinks owlishly, bringing his hand to his flat chest. "I don't have breasts, Naruto. In case you forgot."

"Which makes it hotter." I kiss him behind the ear before brushing my nose against my favorite spot. "Please! It's my first time asking someone this! I'll get everything ready and you can take your time, think it over. You don't have to answer right now. Just once? For me?"

He doesn't say anything, going back to picking up the remote. He pauses, then turns to look at me. "Your first time?"

I look him in the eye. "Yeah, I've never asked anyone to wear lingerie for me."

His lips twitch before he nods. "I'll think about it."

"Thank you."

"Sure you weren't judging me for watching something like this?" he raises a brow.

"Oh, I'd never. And I won't even get jealous if you ogle them, I promise."

He blinks twice at me. "While that's somewhat progressive to hear, I'm vastly disturbed that it doesn't bother you. What if I was really checking out one of them?"

"And wondering about the good old days when women got you going? That's completely okay since it's your natural inclination. Why would I judge you on that?"

"Yeah, there's that but since you get mad when I even look at others for a second longer than required, I figured you'd be more worried about it." He pauses, blinks once and then looks at me. "Does that mean you check out men too, while watching movies?"

"Will you get jealous if I say yes?" I ask, smirking at him.

He makes a face. "I don't know."

I laugh. I have to. "Fine, I'll ease your pain. I usually don't. If I do it's momentarily. Appreciation, if you will."

"And you've never thought of them sexually?" God, that disbelieving tone.

"I have. But like I said, it's momentarily. It's like how you'd covet a limited-edition hardcover in a bookstore without really wanting to take it home."

"Hmm, that kind of makes sense, but not really." Itachi laughs, looking at me. He is sitting crossed-legs, one of his elbows propped on a knee, holding the remote control. He hasn't looked once at the screen.

How in the world can I ever take interest in someone else when this man ruins me for anyone else?

"Maybe because that's the level of interest I take in them. And I know you're the same. Drawn to the book, not the jacket."

He blinks once and then bites me under my chin. "Now come watch some naked ladies with me. I promise you it's fun." He hits play and watches the movie quietly while I watch him.

He's right. It's fun.

Our trip to Atami was great. Atami was magical. Atami was confined to our room at the inn. Atami was Itachi and me, eating, fucking, talking, and sleeping; and not in the same order.

By the time we had to leave, we were planning our next trip there.

The train ride back was fun.

Atami was great. Atami was perfect.

And yes, Atami still belonged to us.

The next day after we returned, we were horsing around in the living room when Sasuke walked in. Shit! I'd forgotten he was back. I look up from where I'm planting little bites along Itachi's neck.

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Not to burst your blissful bubble but aren't you supposed to like go and pick up Kiyoshi? Mother texted to remind."

"Yes. I was just about to leave." Sasuke frowns at us when Itachi answers.

"Aren't you two going together?" He looks at me. "I thought you were dying to meet Kiyoshi…"

I shrug. "Well, he's going. I'll be staying here." I scratch the back of my hair.

Sasuke nods then, understanding where this is going.

"Would you like to come with?" Itachi offers, smiling genuinely at him.

Sasuke shakes his head. "Nah. I've got my part-time to go to."

"Alright then."

"Itachi," something stops us both to look up at him. "You remember Father's not home today, right?"

Itachi nods, frowning slightly. "Yes, he's gone on a mountaineering trip with his friends."

"Yup, so it's just Mother and Kiyoshi in the house, today. Besides the trip is long and you could do with some company."

"Are you suggesting I can introduce Naruto to Mother?" Itachi looks excited.

"I don't think it's right to just spring me upon her like this. I mean these things require prior notice."

"Dude, Mother is dying to meet you." He shrugs when nervousness starts surfacing inside me. I was okay with the idea of staying here to wait on them but suddenly getting introduced to his Mother, is a lot of pressure. "I mean if Naruto is okay with it. Poor guy looks green."

"But meeting her when your father is not home, doesn't seem…right."

"I'm sure Mother will think it's alright." Sasuke smiles at me.

Itachi's eyes express his deepest desire for the fraction of a second before he masks it. "You don't have to go if you're not ready for it, Naruto."

Maybe if I hadn't seen it, I'd have declined. Passed up a chance like this, to prioritize myself. But between us, it's always him. The selflessness he's taught me rushes past the nervousness. I manage a genuine smile too. "I'd love to go."

He smiles then. The smile I love beyond anything. A smile that promises me it's only me in his eyes.

I know I'll get through.

"You know what, now I'm very curious to know too. I'll come with!"

They exchange a look and Itachi nods.

"Let's go!"

"Now remember Mother might try to harass you a little bit…" Itachi injects mild worry into his tone when he looks at me.

"And by harass, stupid Itachi means, bullying. She'll try to come off as strict and cold but secretly, she's in love with you." Sasuke winks at me.

Itachi shakes his head. "Don't listen to him. Take it seriously, Naruto. I want you on your best behavior today."

Sasuke snorts. "It's just Mother! Naruto can relax."

"No he can't! Mother can be…relentless."

"And by that he means, she will pester you into details you definitely don't want to share."

I turn to look at a distressed Itachi. "Did she…did you…?"

Itachi shakes his head and makes a face. "Of course I didn't tell her anything about that!"

"Ugh! That's not what I meant," Sasuke makes a face. Then he shakes his head. "You know what, I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there."

"So as I was saying…" Itachi goes back to skyrocketing my anxiety. But I work it through.

I'll do it. I'll charm the daylights out of Uchiha Mikoto, even if it kills me.

Because she's that important to him.

I've seen Uchiha Mikoto before in pictures. But nothing prepares me for the petite woman who opens the door and spreads out her arms to her sons who greet her enthusiastically. In a pretty pink floral blouse and cream colored lounge pants, the lady who is standing in front of me is stunning. She smiles and it's his smile.

Itachi turns to me and places a hand on my back. "Mother, this here is Uzumaki Naruto, my boyfriend." Itachi speaks clearly with no shred of hesitation.

I bow deeply before smiling at her. "Nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Itachi-sama and I are in a very serious relationship. I look forward to getting along with you."

She bows back but I see her mouth "sama" to her younger son who shrugs.

Before she can say a single word, my little boy's little feet running towards us can be heard. He's visible a second later and then his eyes meet mine. Mine fill up in an instant. Six years old and so much taller than when I'd left him. A growing up miniature of his father.

"Surprise!" I manage a laugh when he pauses, his mouth turning into a big smile.

He covers the distance between us in a heartbeat before he launches himself into my arms. He's heavier but he smells the same. Of our home, his father, the laundry detergent but the same baby smell which is uniquely his wafts through him. I adjust his weight and familiarize myself with it.

"Sunshine!" the happiness this little child can bring me is just beyond measure. He hugs me tight and then giggles when I kiss his cheek. I notice his missing front two teeth. I've seen his toothless grin of course, but I now notice the sliver of new teeth growing. My throat clogs at the years I've missed.

"I'm home, my little man," I whisper, joining our foreheads together.

Hands bigger than I remembered them to be, wipe my tears away. "Welcome home, pretty Naruto."

There are ohs and aahs when everyone around us watches our reunion and melts. Mikoto looks at Itachi and I see her mouth, "sunshine?" to him. Itachi only nods, smiling. His eyes have misted over a little.

She catches my eye and I smile at her. "Sorry about this. I just hadn't seen him in years so I got..."

Mikoto smiles back. She looks at Kiyoshi who's giggling at me in pure happiness when he makes baby talk and I listen. "Come inside, Naruto. You're most welcome."

I smile at her warmly. "Thank you."

She nods before heading inside with Sasuke. Itachi presses his forehead to mine too. "You're most welcome, she said."

"I can't believe it. It feels like a dream."

He grabs my hand in his and chastely pecks my lips. "It isn't."

I look at my son beaming up at me with his lips puckered. I bend down and press my cheek to it. "Let's go inside Naruto," he says, patting a lock of my hair with his hand.

"Not till you use the magic words."

Kiyoshi looks up at me coyly and blushes. "Naruto Papa," he says and I nod, before kissing the top of his head.

Itachi bends down to pick up the mountain of gifts I insisted we buy before coming here. I bend down and kiss the top of his head as well.

"Promise you've got my back?"

He smiles. "Always."

It's my first time in their house and I don't know how to behave. I've been to a lot of friends' houses, spoken to their parents, charmed them to letting their kids go to parties, been on my best behavior, etc. And now, I fidget like a shy kid in a new friend's house. Which is not to say that the house feels like that, but the petite lady who I almost tower over, is making me nervous.

Mikoto said she was going to pour us some tea and Sasuke decided to join her. Itachi only stayed enough to show me where to sit. The kitchen is not very far from where I'm seated so it is no doubt that there's a furious discussion underway about me, no doubt. Often, I can hear a giggle or two.

Kiyoshi looks up at me from where he's been talking endlessly about some friend in kindergarten. When he's done, he looks at me and smiles. I follow up. Of course I was listening!

"What do you think they're talking about in there?" I ask him as I finger comb his hair to order.

He looks at me and grins. "They are talking about you. They always talk about you!"

"Did your Grandmama say anything about me to you?"

Kiyoshi looks at me and smiles. "She says, you are awesome."

I laugh. That's reassuring to hear.

Their voices draw closer and I begin to fidget again. Kiyoshi bounces on my lap when my leg starts to shake. He looks at me quizzically. "Naruto, do you need to pee? Should I take you to the washroom?"

I shake my head and smile when Itachi comes into view.

He walks up to us, all casual suaveness I'm crazy about and smiles at me. "C'mon, I'll give you a tour."

I hesitate a little. It may be their home, but to it I am an outsider.

"Is it okay? I mean, your mom, will she be okay with it?" I look at him.

He grins cheerfully. "She sent me here with that intention." He turns to look at me. "Aren't you curious about my room?"

Truth be told, I don't know if I am. His parents lived in our hometown till his father transferred to Kanagawa and bought this house. They sold their childhood home and moved here. By this time, Itachi was newly married. They were living in our house; the house he inherited along with the shop from Grandpa Madara. Ergo, and from what I've heard, the three often visited his parents. I know it was all years ago but it doesn't feel nice. Had this house been his childhood home, I could have another motivation to study his life through the years. But here douses the curiosity a little.

My face must give something away for he looks at me. "C'mon, let me show you." Then he turns to his son. "Your Grandmama has a surprise for you in the kitchen." He jumps off my lap and runs towards the kitchen.

He holds my hand and walks me to it, briefly showing me around other areas like I should know. That knot in my chest dissolves a little. Once we climb the stairs and reach the landing, he stops in front of the first door. The door is painted a chocolate brown, just like all the others in the house but there's no sign on his room. The other door is similar but has a "Keep Out!" poster in English and I don't have to guess. I know it is Sasuke's.

"After you," Itachi gestures to the door. I press down the handle on the wood door and enter his room only to get hit with a feeling that's completely alien. A sense of foreboding perhaps, like I'm intruding. I've never thought of the ghost of her in our bedroom at home. But here, I'm not so sure. But that was years ago. And yet, this room met her first.

One glance around the room shows it's simple, immaculate, minimal, and so him, a warm feeling fills my chest. There's a desk near the window with books neatly piled up in a corner, held together by book-ends. A simple full-length mirror stands to a side beside a wardrobe.

My eyes fly over to his bed which is situated to the left of his desk. I can't bring myself to look at it without thinking about him with someone else…her in it. And that thought burns even though his past is none of my business. Even when I know it should not affect me. And him here, thrusting into someone else who's not me, showing her that face… I exhale loudly, forcing myself to stop thinking about it.

Instead, I change trajectories and take the freedom to walk around. There's a small pin board with two photographs of him and Kiyoshi.

No her. There's an inner beat of relief.

No me either. Hurt blooms in my chest but I push it down. I know his reasons.

I force myself to let go. I shouldn't be having thoughts like these. I focus instead on the things I see around me. My ever meticulous Itachi-sama exists in every corner. I poke and prod at things, nosier than I've been in his room back in our home. I walk up to his wardrobe only to find clothes of his current size.

"Looking for my high school uniform in there?" Itachi comes to stand beside me and watch me rattle some hangers.

"Yes."

He laughs. "We disposed it off, you know."

"Too bad," I laugh, closing the wardrobe. "I'd have definitely made you wear it. Maybe I'll buy you a set."

"Cosplay next? Can I start making requests too now?" he walks over to the bed and I think it's cruel when he sits down on it. He pats the space beside him nonchalantly and looks at me.

"It's just a fantasy I want fulfilled." I focus on answering as I remain standing.

"Why?" His brows knit.

"I just want to see it for real. You'd have looked so hot."

"You've seen pictures." He doesn't stand up.

"But pictures never do justice to the real thing." I look at him.

"Well, there's that. And there's also the sad realization that you weren't a part of it."

"Is it weird that I'm jealous of your past?"

"Honestly, a little."

I look away and don't say anything.

"Naruto look at me." I hate this silent command. I hate it so much because automatically and almost against my will, my head turns in his direction and I look at him. "What's bothering you?"

I let out a breath. "It's nothing, really. Like you said, I'm just being weird."

He laughs under his breath and shakes his head. "So, did you like my room?"

"What can I say? It's so you that I could build a nest and live here." I glance once at his bed. "Though I'd get rid of that bed first."

He laughs. "What did my bed ever do to you?"

I look at him. "You really don't get it?"

His eyebrows come together. "Get what?" He looks at his bed and then at me.

"Nothing."

"Why so cryptic suddenly?"

If he's fucking with me right now, I'll really kill him. That bewildered expression looks genuine as hell. But hey, we're talking about someone who deadpanned about having a fake heart condition.

"Did you ever sleep with her on this bed?"

"And what will knowing that achieve?" I hate that shuttered expression on his face but more than that I hate myself for asking this. For putting him in this position.

"I'm just wondering how I'm someday going to convince your parents and our son to go on a vacation just so I can do unspeakable things to you here."

"Competing with my past now, are you?" his expression eases.

"It's either that or setting this bed on fire." A chuckle escapes him. This conversation is a lot of things, funny it isn't.

"So extreme." He reaches out and takes my hand and yanks me closer. "Come sit down here."

"I prefer to stand," I pull my hand away like a pissed off petulant toddler.

He grabs it again before I can retract it completely and pulls. I go face first into the bed. "Sometimes I forget how you can get all up in your head and become a jackass when you're jealous." He watches me right myself but before I can move away, he sits me down next to him. He points to something behind me. "Look there," he says, pointing to the wall. There's an enlarged family portrait of the three of us. I was so busy avoiding the bed that I didn't see the wall.

Then he points to the other side. "That's my bedside."

There's a single photo of me. A candid close-up of my face. The sun catches my hair which is shining like a lion's mane and I'm smiling at him. My eyes are shining and my teeth are on full display.

"That's my favorite photo of you." I look at him. He touches the photo briefly. "There was nowhere else I wanted to place this."

Tears clog my throat. I feel so petty, so cheap as compared to him. He lifts my chin, forcing my eyes to meet his. "When I imagined me showing you my room, I expected excitement and a lot more action." He laughs. "You really are unpredictable."

"I'd like to think I'm transparent where you're concerned." He makes a sound when I wind my arms around him and push him down. "Although I cannot make up for the lack of excitement, the latter we can remedy."

He's laughing when my lips land on his. He breaks away and then smiles. "And for all the stuff you've imagined, I've never done it here." He looks at me seriously again. "With my parents downstairs? Seriously? No thank you."

"Then we need to christen this virgin bed! Where would your parents like to go?"

"Whoa! Hold your horses! A minute ago you wanted to set my bed on fire and now you want to have sex? You haven't been here twenty minutes. I told you to stay on your best behavior."

"What can I say? My switch turns on within seconds of thinking about you."

"And how pray tell me is sending my parents on a vacation going to solve matters?"

"We can stay over here and fuck like rabbits all day and all night long on this bed. You want that too, don't you?" I palm his ass leisurely and squeeze it. "You'll have to hold back your moans, though, when I pound into you. Will you be able to do that, Itachi-sama?" I squeeze his ass again. He clenches it in my palm.

"What makes you think it's you who'll be pounding me? My bed, my rules."

On this bed, I feel like its instinct that I should be the one fucking him. I want him staining his sheets with semen that flows out against his will. I want this to be an exact opposite to how he would have been with a girl. He doesn't know the pleasure of taking a female here. And I never want him to. The only memory he should possess of sex on this bed should be of me melting him in mindless pleasure. I want to conquer this bed with him in it. And I don't think I want to bottom on it till I'm satisfied. But if he was to top, I'd go spiraling out of control. That's the kind of hold he has on me.

I turn around and look at him. "But don't you think, this bed needs the sense of debauchery that involves you on your knees, getting fucked like there's no tomorrow." My hand snakes to his front where he's beginning to react. "When that day comes, you'll be begging me to fuck you."

"And why can't I top?"

I smirk at him and shrug. "This is the only way it's going to be. So, whenever you're ready."

He slaps my hand away when it moves to his face. "That day is never coming!"

"Hmm, this down here says otherwise."

"Don't pay it any attention. It has a mind of its own." He looks down at my crotch. "Speaking of, you might want to something about that before you offend Mother."

"You could lend me a hand," I grab his hand and rub it against the straining front of my pants.

He makes to yank his hand away. "Get your head out of the gutter! We are never doing it here."

I smile as I kiss his hand before letting go. "Never say never."

He clears his throat, adjusts his boner, and leaves me standing there, laughing.

I walk down the stairs to see quite the banquet laid out. Mikoto instructs Sasuke on where to put which cup while my little boy neatly places table mats. He looks at me and giggles. I walk over to him, right beside his grandmother. I lift him up once he's done with his chore and hold him in my arms. "Learning how to set the table, already?"

Kiyoshi nods. "Daddy makes me do it at home too. I like it."

His cuteness fills me up with warmth. I nuzzle him, making him squirm. I bend down and safely land him on the floor. He smiles and hugs my leg. I laugh and ruffle his hair, asking him if he wants to come up. He shakes his head. Mikoto watches the whole exchange with a smile. I look at her and let out an unabashed smile of my own, too caught up in the love Kiyoshi showers over me. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I'm back to the best of my formal Japanese. Itachi smiles proudly at me like I expected him to.

She shakes her head and points to a chair at her table, smiling warmly at me. "You don't have to be so formal Naruto. Feel free."

I stand there, stunned, simply basking in her acceptance. Itachi pats my back lightly. "You heard what she said. Now sit down before her smile freezes," he mutters in my ear before sliding into the chair beside mine. Mikoto sits at the head. Kiyoshi to my right, and Sasuke opposite me. He carefully pours the hot tea into cups and places them neatly in front of us. He smiles at his Mother before he takes his seat.

I sip my tea to ward off the nerves, and end up scalding my tongue. I swear I hear Sasuke laugh under his breath. "So tell me about yourself, Naruto."

And I do. Initially, it's hard to shed the formal Japanese, but her questions or remarks ease the nervousness. Kiyoshi is my biggest support and Itachi and Sasuke the best wingmen. "He's an excellent basketball player, Mother!" Itachi says while Kiyoshi interjects with a nod. Even Sasuke is silently agreeing. I beam up at them and they grin back.

I didn't think till that moment that I would need them. Though I'd lightly asked Itachi if he would have my back, I didn't think this involved him. If his mother raised questions, I'd try to talk my way through it. There was no problem communication couldn't solve. And even when I know she's accepted me, there was a sense of nervousness. I modestly shake my head at her. "I'm not that good."

Mikoto laughs, probably having realized the same thing. She holds out her hand and I look at Itachi once who's smiling before I reach forward and clasp it. Small and frail in my hand, it tightens with surprising strength. "I don't know what Fugaku has to say about this, but this house is mine and you're most welcome in it."

She loosens her grip and I clasp her hand tighter. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

"What's with Uchiha-san? You can call me Mikoto-san."

"Mother is fine!" Both brothers let out in unison, nodding at each other. Mikoto rolls her eyes and smiles at me. Then she nods slowly.

Everyone turns to look at me when I promptly burst into tears.

"Oh and a crybaby, too." Mikoto smiles at me. Itachi ruffles my hair softly, complaining to his mother about making me cry.

I manage to smile through the tears.

Once we were done with the tea and cake, Mikoto insisted I stay. She asked me directly, knowing I'll not say no to her. Itachi and Sasuke probably have plans for they frown and shoot me murderous looks. Itachi gives me a 'what the fuck' look and his brother is not far behind. I gulp nervously, looking at both the brothers.

Mikoto walks forward and sweetly clasps my hand. "You'll stay, won't you son?"

Oh shit.

A second ago, I was ready to go back home and have some alone time with him and Kiyoshi. Celebrate homecoming all over again with my whole family. But now, I don't know what to do. Being bestowed this pleasure feels too surreal.

I smile and nod, admitting defeat. She cackles with glee when both brothers groan in unison.

"Mother, no!" Followed by, "That's low even for you, Mother!"

"I don't care. Tonight he's mine." I swear to god, Itachi's face crumbles in absolute disgust.

"No he's not!" He pulls me towards him and I don't hate being the center of attention.

"Aren't you, son?" My breath freezes in my chest.

You'd have thought I'd have learned my lesson but no. She uses the magic word and I melt all over like butter.

"Of course!"

"Of course?" he turns to me. His eyes widen when they look at me. "Naruto, we have plans after this, don't we?"

"You'll cancel them for me, won't you son?"

Itachi looks ready to pop a vein. I look at Mikoto and shake my head. "That won't work every time. I'm sincerely grateful to you and respect you like I do my own mother. But I love him more. So, if it's okay with you, I'd like to invite you to dinner at ours. Or…uh…maybe for tea…?"

"I'd love to." She turns to Itachi who's hovering over my shoulder worriedly. "Itachi why don't you go get the car started?"

Itachi's eyes meet mine and I only blink once and smile at him, before he turns around and walks out. I turn to Mikoto and smile.

She rounds on me, her smile vanishing. "Just because I've accepted you into the family doesn't mean I've forgiven you for leading Sasuke around by the noose. What you did was wrong. He argues that you didn't know…but is that true?"

I nod. "Sasuke has always been someone who's like a brother to me. Even if, Itachi and I didn't work out…it would never be him. I didn't get into this to hurt Sasuke, even if I did and I'll always be sorry about that. But Itachi and I…we…it's different."

"I could see that," she smiles. Itachi began talking to me and for a minute I sort of zoned everyone out. A long minute.

Apparently, someone else noticed it too.

I blush and scratch the back of my neck in embarrassment. The car horn sounds.

"Alright, seeing as my eldest is ready to throw a tantrum like his son, tonight I'll let you go." She pats me on the shoulder and I hug her. It's nice when she hugs me back. "Go have fun," she says quietly in my ear, before she separates.

I blush and let out a laugh. I look at her and nod. "I will."

"Naruto-kun, I mean what I said. Think of this as your home too and visit us often? Feel free to tag along with either of those two idiots and my precious grandson."

"Will do. You must come to our home too. It would be nice if you could bring Uchiha-san with you." I add hastily.

"Yes. Be prepared to get harassed and drunk."

"Harassed?"

She lifts her brow at me. "Their father is a conservative man. Though he knows of it, he hasn't acknowledged it yet. He's going to have his views on it. I've liked you since I've heard of you from Itachi. His father may think otherwise."

"While I may not be able to change his mind completely, I'll try my best in showing how precious his son is to me."

"That won't be too hard. He's happier than I've ever seen him. I can see why he likes you."

From the entrance, Itachi calls my name. "Naruto, we need to get going." She laughs.

"Is he always like this?" I just smile at her. "It's a wonder you two survived three years apart!"

"That was torture in its own right. But he just kept me together."

"Walk with me," She smiles and nods. I follow her quietly.

"From now on stay happy together. Put him above everyone else."

"You don't need to ask me that." I look at Itachi and smile. "He is."

She smiles and hugs me again.

"Now I can really see why he likes you so much." She smiles up at me. "I think I can entrust my treasure to you."

I quickly put on my sneakers and turn to her. "We'll come again."

She nods before waving at us once.

I wake up to a warm weight on my back. For a second, I think it's Itachi's leg but it feels different. I turn around to find Kiyoshi lying across my back, fast asleep. Carefully, I turn us around till he lies on my chest and settles himself. He mumbles my name, making me laugh. He shakes at the movement and grabs my t-shirt. Still fast asleep.

"I've missed you too, little man. I've missed you two."

I turn my head and look at Itachi. I run a finger over his mouth which is open slightly when he snores. Sound which is still music to my ears. I smile when he closes his mouth around it.

I remove my finger and pull him closer and he moves towards me.

Holding the two people I cherish the most in the world, I fall back asleep.

And that's how Itachi wakes me up. "Aww, would you look at that?" he smiles at me cutely before he looks down at Kiyoshi, fast asleep on my chest. One of my hands lies across his back, holding him securely to me. His hair tickles my chin. I move forward to kiss his father but he quickly snaps a picture before kissing me.

"When did this happen?" he asks, looking at me.

"I don't know. When I woke up this morning, he was sleeping on my back. Transferred him here and fell back asleep."

"Good thing we were dressed!" I grin at him.

He smiles, leaning forward and running his hand softly through Kiyoshi's hair. "He has really missed you."

"I've missed him too. I love it when I have you all to myself in our home alone but somehow the picture doesn't feel complete without him in it." I smile at him. "Like our home doesn't feel like our home without him." I look at him.

He smiles down at Kiyoshi. "That's because it's not. Just like how this place doesn't feel this alive when you aren't here." He looks at me. "When you won't be."

"And I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it."

"Who's to say Saitama won't change your mind?"

"Ten thousand miles couldn't change my mind, you think Saitama could?" I eye him dubiously. "You know I'm running back here every opportunity I can, right? It could be back home, it could be Saitama, it could be anywhere in the world, if it's not beside you, I'll always be running towards you." I yank his nose. "You keep forgetting what you are to me."

"Your only place in the world?"

I nod.

"Well done."

I grin when he smiles like a Cheshire cat. "Wasting time imagining something that can't happen." I tap the top of his head with two knuckles. "If you're that free, go make a list of all the places we'll now use our weekends to explore."

"Noted," he nods, looking excited.

I lean over and kiss his forehead. "And not just places on a map. I mean, each time I touch you, it feels like new territory. We can plan trips with Kiyoshi too but there are weekends I want us to keep free only for each other."

"Anything else?" he looks amused when he glances at me.

I think for a second. "Yeah, that's just about it." I look at him. "What about you?"

"Atami, once a year."

"Once a year? No-uh. Once every month."

He laughs. "No."

"Once every three months?"

"Twice a year," he bargains again.

"Once every quarter. Thrice a year is doable!"

"We'll see."

"Cool."

I wake up that morning to find Kiyoshi warm on my chest and Itachi leaning completely into me. He kisses me twice on my neck, before he reaches upward and kisses me again.

Kiyoshi stirs between us abruptly to look at me. "Naruto! You're still here!" He giggles delightedly, hugging me tighter. I've missed these hugs. How much I've missed him.

"Yup and not going anywhere for a few days."

Itachi's lips tilt up sadly, always better at reading his son. "No! You need to stay here!"

"I will…soon."

"Then you'll go away again? But you said…" I feel the sobs coming.

"I'm going to work, and it's a little far. But I won't be gone very long. And," I take his hand and smile at him, "I'll be home every Friday night. And we can spend as much time as we want. Won't we, Itachi-sama?" I draw him in. He hasn't spoken anything since Kiyoshi woke.

Kiyoshi turns excited eyes towards his father. I look at him as well. "Of course," Itachi leans forward and ruffles his hair. "You'll like that, won't you?"

Kiyoshi nods, looking at me and smiling. He rolls off me to go use the bathroom and I work out stiff joints. I sigh when I hear the snap when I roll my neck. Smiling, I turn to him. "I'm thinking of making pancakes for breakfast."

"Kiyoshi's favorite?" he asks dryly.

I look at him and smirk. "But I thought they were your favorite! Kiyoshi likes your French toast the most."

He looks at me and scoffs. "No he doesn't! He switched it to pancakes long ago."

"What're you talking about! He told me that himself yesterday!"

"I'm his father Naruto! I cook him breakfast every morning."

"Fine, we'll ask him when he gets here."

"You think you can beat me?" he asks.

"This isn't a competition, Itachi-sama." I feel like I'm toeing that line of a personal boundary between us.

His expression morphs into something ugly. "I know that!"

Before I can respond, Kiyoshi hops back on the bed then and perches himself on my chest. He looks at me first and then at his father. "Naruto is Daddy mad at you?"

I tousle his hair. "Nah, he's just grumpy in the morning."

Itachi glares at me, before turning to his son. "Between French toast and pancakes, which do you like more?" his voice is as ugly as his smile when he asks Kiyoshi.

I turn to look at him. This wasn't about this! This isn't where this was supposed to be going. This was about Kiyoshi's favorite breakfast. It wasn't about this choice at all. This isn't right. He's volatile now. As casually as I can, I move towards him, softly taking his hand in mine. I squeeze it gently, drawing his attention towards me. Kiyoshi looks like a cornered rat but he doesn't cower away.

Now it's my turn to face that glare. I don't even flinch. Kiyoshi must have sensed the tension between us because he fusses. "I can't choose. I like them both. But today, I want to eat the eggs that Daddy makes and the toast Naruto Papa makes." He giggles and Itachi melts like he wants to cry.

"Kiyoshi, why don't you go freshen up? We'll join you in a moment." I tousle his hair and smile.

Kiyoshi who is always reluctant to part, just nods and slides off me. He looks once at his father who lies face away and then to me before he walks away.

He hurts. Oh how much he hurts. I'm holding him to me before Kiyoshi even closes the door behind us. He's hurting and right now there's nothing I can do. So I hold him to me. He cries and I fight the urge to cry as well. I also know he doesn't cry in front of others.

"I don't know what I was thinking!" he says. "It's been three days since he's been back and everything has bounced back to Naruto this and Naruto that. From the time he's come home, it's only been you, you, you. When it was supposed to have been me. And I was jealous of that. Jealous of him always choosing you over me. And you Naruto? Can you recall a single hour we spent together during the day that didn't involve him? It hurts to share, Naruto. It hurts to lose you and to lose to you." He looks at me. "How did we do this before? I'm getting something wrong! I know it. I just can't seem to figure out what that something is." He groans in frustration.

"Kiyoshi means the same to me as he does to you. While we may not share the same DNA, I can't deny that my affection for him runs very deep. Probably as deep as yours does." I lift up his hand and touch his ring. "We're entwined around each other. You'll never lose me or him. I'm yours. First and foremost yours." I don't kiss him, not yet.

"As for Kiyoshi's fondness for me? If you didn't divorce your wife, she'd…she'd have received the same affection from him, if not more."

He looks at me with absolute disbelief. "You're not a stand-in for her. What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I know I'm not a stand-in for her," I visibly shudder, uncaring about showing my dislike for her. "I'll never be like her. I'll be a better parent than her. And with you beside me, perhaps the best version of what I can be to him, that I can guarantee you. All I mean is that, Kiyoshi gives me the same level of affection as he would, perhaps, someone who his father loves." I look down and take a deep breath. "Even if it was not me."

"That's the part you don't get. He doesn't love anyone the way he loves you."

"And it's almost as much as he loves you. His love for me is like that of a superhero. For you, it's blood thick and bone deep, remember that."

"Superhero, huh?"

"Figure of speech. Someone he idolizes. Something he'll grow out of. But it'll always be different with you. And you can't get mad at me for spending all this time with Kiyoshi. I have three years' worth of love I want to shower on him. You can't hold that against me." I pull him in closer and tangle my legs with his. "But I can't do that without you. And I don't want you to do this without me, Itachi-sama. And that's why, we'll do it like we always do everything. Together. This is not a race and I'm not fighting for your position in his life. He's my son in his own way."

He presses his forehead to mine. "I know, I'm sorry."

"Shush, it's okay." I tilt my face up and kiss his forehead. `

We lie in silence till he calms. I lie there softly combing my fingers through his hair. "I'll apologize to Kiyoshi too. It was harsh of me."

"He knows Itachi-sama. He can read into your moods just by looking at your face. And he knows how sorry you are. How much you regret it. He's perceptive, perhaps even more than you."

"He's just a child Naruto."

"Exactly why he's sensitive to you and your feelings. He told me how you'd get sad and quiet sometimes. How you would stare at my chair during meals, saying nothing even when they spoke to you." Itachi gasps.

"I didn't know he'd seen all that."

"And a great deal of other things too." I smile at him, softly stroking his cheek.

"What other things?"

"I can only divulge a few secrets. I've got to stay in his good books."

"Don't you want to stay in my good books too?"

I lean in. "I thought I already was?"

He opens his mouth to argue, then closes it softly when he cannot argue back. I lean down and press my mouth to his. "Alright, let's get going. Our little one is hungry and the menu has been set."

He twists the waistband of his pajamas and looks at me. "How do you want your eggs?"

I stretch my limbs and look at him. "Anything is fine." I lean an arm over his shoulder. "As long as I'm getting to eat something you've made." I smile at him.

"Very helpful." He raises those thin, midnight eyebrows at me. "You know how I like my toast, right?"

"Slightly burnt. It's my favorite now too."

Itachi smiles at me. And it takes me that second to realize that he hasn't shown me this smile in some time. And I know since when. It needs to come back often. In fact, it needs to come back all the time. Somewhere in my bliss to spend time with Kiyoshi, I truly was neglecting him. "I'm sorry."

His arms come around my back and he showers me with that smile, all teeth and heart. "It's okay Naruto. We're learning."

We are learning because Kiyoshi is cutely setting the dining table. I walk to him and wish him good morning, lifting him up to pepper kisses all over his face. He giggles and cutely greets me back. I gently put him down and move towards the coffee machine and brew us a pot while Itachi moves towards our son. He softly tousles Kiyoshi's hair and squats down. "I'm sorry about earlier."

The tiny lower lip trembles. "Daddy, are you alright?"

Itachi nods. "I think I am." He smiles up at Kiyoshi and I forget how to breathe. His eyes shine with so much love and hurt. "Are you alright?"

Kiyoshi presses his forehead to his father's. "I think I am."

I don't even think before I move in. "We're doing a family hug, now!" I grab them both and kiss their cheeks. "You two are adorable!"

Kiyoshi puts his arm around me and lays his head on my shoulder. I bend down and press a kiss to it. Itachi's hand moves around my waist and he softly lays his head on my shoulder too. I press a kiss to it too.

Sasuke chooses that moment to walk in. He moves straight towards us. "Are we doing group hugs?"

He stands behind me and Kiyoshi. "Any particular reason we're doing this?" he asks Kiyoshi, making me laugh. He turns to me. "Or were you just feeling feelings?" he looks at me, knowing the answer.

I shrug, giving in. "I'm allowed both Sasuke, feelings and family hugs."

"Family hugs, huh?" he obviously points to himself and coughs pointedly.

"Just get in here, you idiot!" I yank him closer and he joins us.

Itachi doesn't say anything. He just watches, smiling contentedly. Sasuke smiles before he kisses Kiyoshi on the cheek.

"Now that's better," Sasuke laughs.

I look at him and sigh. "You're so annoying!"

"Oh please! I am not annoying! If there's anyone who's annoying in this room, it's you."

Kiyoshi looks up. "Naruto is not annoying, Uncle Sasuke! You can't say that! It's bad."

Sasuke clicks his tongue looking annoyed. I feel a little guilty seeing as I called him annoying first. His eyes move to his brother and he rolls his eyes. "Yeah… I'm not even going to try." I laugh, playing with the ends of Itachi's hair.

My stomach growls, embarrassingly loud and I clear my throat and drop my hands, moving towards the toaster. "Alright everyone, breakfast now. Sasuke start chopping vegetables, Kiyoshi finish setting the table. I'll get the toast ready while Itachi cooks us eggs. And cook some bacon too."

There's no question asked, no extra word spoken. Everyone gets to their tasks and it takes fifteen minutes to put everything together. I don't flirt with Itachi more than I should. Sasuke doesn't even comment on me briefly touching his elder brother who just laughs and tells me to go away and that he wants his toast perfect. I guarantee, he did.

Kiyoshi bites into his eggs and toast simultaneously and grins up at us. "Yum!"

I share a smile with him and then at Itachi before I see him holding out his hand.

My hand moves automatically, gripping his. Itachi smiles my smile again. "Something about this chair and you…" he loosens his grip and smiles.

I smile. I know about his obsession with it.

It's the first time since I've been back that we've sat together and had breakfast like this, all four of us.

Famished, I dig in.

Sasuke, Itachi, and Kiyoshi launch into a debate about something while I listen. The sense of normalcy I used to feel three years ago returns and warms my chest. Itachi has a similar thought when his eyes meet mine and he smiles and swiftly pulls me into the conversation. Kiyoshi giggles at me cutely, making me smile. Even Sasuke grins happily. My eyes turn back to his to find his looking at me, filled with all the love he feels.

We're learning. And we're finding our rhythm again.

It feels good to be back.

It feels good to be home, surrounded by all of my family.

"I'll clean up. You run Kiyoshi his bath." Those eyebrows come together for the fraction of a second. Just this morning Itachi had his…uh…meltdown and now I'm going to make this right.

"You think he's going to agree?"

"Why don't you ask him?" I ask, picking up bowls of leftover food and moving towards the kitchen.

Itachi leans against the table and looks at his son. "Kiyoshi, shall we all take a bath together, today?"

"Yes," Kiyoshi's lips part excitedly. He doesn't even miss a beat. "Yay!"

Itachi looks at me as if I have something to do with it but smiles. "I'll go heat the water."

I bend down and tousle Kiyoshi's hair. "The bath will take some time to heat. Why don't you go watch that anime?" he gasps and runs towards the living room in a hurry. "No running, Uchiha Kiyoshi. You know the rule." He knows it's trouble when I use his full name. He slows down and begins walking as fast as he can.

He's adorable!

I'm grinning from ear to ear, putting away things and wrapping up food as I listen to him turn on the TV. Once he sets the channel, I speak, "Remember to maintain distance between yourself and the screen." I stomp my feet in the kitchen as if I'm moving towards him. He lets out a tiny squeak and tiny feet scramble instantly when he moves away. I laugh silently, placing a bowl in the fridge. I'm closing the door when Itachi walks in. I smile, having recognized his footsteps.

"Why are you torturing my son? He looks ready to shit his pants."

"He's mine too. It's for his better."

Itachi doesn't argue with that. "Anyway, uhm…I was wondering if you wanted a ride to Saitama, I could drive you there." He looks away.

I look at him. "Doesn't the drive take an hour and a half? Won't it be better if I go by myself? I mean, I haven't seen the place too." I look at him, trashing a few plastic wrappers.

He eyes the movement, then shrugs. "All the better to go with someone."

"I couldn't ask this of you," I shake my head.

He looks away. "Alright. The offer still stands."

"We need to buy a new car."

He looks at me. "Why?"

"It's a part of my dowry. It only makes sense to get one."

"You do know that and the ring were a joke, right?" He glances down on his ring then up at me.

"Not to me."

He sighs. "In that case, let's get a car when I say we want one. For now, the car we have suffices for the three of us."

"But if we get another car then won't that make things simpler? You know what, how about we go check out some cars this weekend?" I breathe deeply, thinking. "No, but not this weekend. This weekend we're going for a date to the park. So, maybe ne-," he kisses me more to shut me up.

"It's my dowry, I'll collect it when I want to."

"Miser."

"When it comes to you, I am."

"And how does me getting a car fit into all of this?"

"Don't ask me. It does."

"Aww, is it because you don't want someone else to see me driving?" I plant a kiss behind his ear, challenging him into correcting me.

He looks down. "Something like that." He looks away. "Look, I offered because I've been to Saitama before. It's no problem, really."

"Do you want to accompany me to Saitama that badly?" I smirk up at him.

He smirks back. "Yeah. I want to make sure you're gone. Maybe I'll throw you in that dorm room myself." Amused sarcasm drips from each word.

"So that you can pounce on me and christen my bed?" Oh, I'm not to be deterred tonight. "You know how I feel about christening virgin beds…" I watch him smile that helpless smile. We still have to ruin his bed in his parents' house but for now I'm all game. "All I'm saying is, you'll have to drive back alone and I don't want you to do that."

"I've done this before. I think it'll be okay." He laughs and kisses me when I frown at the hurt. I smile and let it go. I'm getting to have a life together with him, what more could I want?

"Why? Because now you have a mission?" I tickle his sides, watching him squirm.

The tone beeps from the bath, making him move away. "That too."

He calls out to Kiyoshi, exiting the kitchen before I can say anything. I grab his wrist and pull him to me. "I don't think I've said this before, but thank you." I smile at him sincerely. "Thank you for giving me this. All of it."

He covers my eyes with his hand and kisses me. "Idiot."

He frees himself and walks away.

I cover my face in my hand and laugh.

I turn over to find him lying lazily, half-asleep. I smile each time his eyelashes almost touch before he fights the sleep. I don't move closer, choosing instead to watch these moments before he finally falls asleep. It's cute when he's satiated and succumbing to all the endorphins dancing in his brain. His eyelashes kiss for two minutes before he whispers, "Ka-i-ru" and wakes up.

"Kyle?" I ask, looking at him.

"What?"

"You took his name."

"Pretty sure I was dreaming of a frog." He gasps and wakes. "Ka-e-ru, that's what I must have said."

Can't say I didn't hear it, but I'll let it go. "Speaking of, how's Kyle? He drop by recently?"

Itachi gives me a look. "Tell me again, why we're talking of him?"

"Because I suddenly remembered him."

"And why him?"

"Because he was interested in you, even when he knew I was teeth-deep into you."

"Teeth-deep, ugh." He looks at me and shakes his head. "Don't tell me you're still jealous of him!" he lifts a brow.

I make a face at him. "I was never jealous of him! I was wary of him."

He lets out a tired chuckle. "Yeah, you say that now but it wasn't me who called him Adonis."

"So you do remember that?"

"Look at you, turning this around." He shakes his head. "It's okay to admit you had a little crush on him. I won't take offense."

I scoff and look at him. "Are you for real? Me? Have a crush on Kyle? I'll take being jealous, over everything, thank you very much."

"And the Adonis?"

I sigh and look away, my ears turning red. It hurts my pride to say it out loud and I can't do that while looking at him. "That's because between us, he is better-looking, even though we have our fair share of similarities. So a little insecure, maybe?"

"Even when you two are worlds apart?"

"For your information, he's tall, as am I. He's blond, as am I."

"Two very different shades." He runs his hand through my hair. "What else?"

"He has green eyes while mine-"

"Are clear blue skies I'm partial to. Hair which is Kiyoshi's sunshine. And a face I adore, a body I worship. A heart I love."

I lean in close to him and put my arms around him. "I think my heart which you love turns into a tiny speck when it comes to others around you. Sorry."

He laughs and pulls me closer.

Kiyoshi preens like a peacock seated over my shoulders, enjoying himself. "Liking the view up there?" I ask my kid who smiles enchantingly.

"High…so high." He grins back. I turn to grin at Itachi who's walking beside me, staring bemusedly at Kiyoshi and me.

I hear whispers all around me and now I think I should have tried to fit in rather than standing out. But it's just little kids. "So tall!" "His hair is yellow!" along with some, "He's so pretty!"

My eyes turn to Itachi who's silently agreeing. And Kiyoshi…Each of these kids is saying something for me but he soaks up all of it. He's happier than me. I look at Itachi who politely hands over Kiyoshi's bag and bottle to a young woman who's really pretty. She turns pink when Itachi smiles at her.

I quickly bend down and safely land Kiyoshi on the ground. He giggles, happily. Then he spots his friends, and runs up to them. "Ken-chan! Ken-chan!" Kiyoshi takes a guy's name I've heard only as much as my own from Kiyoshi's mouth. In that tone, at least. "Meet Naruto Papa. I told you about him, right?"

Ken-chan, a fellow as tall as Kiyoshi with missing front two teeth, black hair combed neatly, assesses me from head-to-toe while I watch him silently. The sun shines on us and I hear Itachi laugh before Ken-chan touches my hair. "It's really like the sun! It's awesome!"

"Papa?" a girl with straight dark hair parted from the middle with two yellow ribbon-shaped pins on either side, says walking up to them. Itachi tenses beside me. I know why that makes him nervous.

Kiyoshi smiles. "Yes, papa." As if that explains everything. I don't know what to do suddenly. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty in wanting to put a label on my relationship with Kiyoshi.

"You have two fathers? That's awesome! I want two papas too! Mom only scolds me all the time." Ken-chan looks excited and heavily disappointed.

The girl with the ribbons in her hair looks at me too. "I want a papa like him."

"He's awesome!" Kiyoshi giggles happily. Itachi nudges me lightly.

Ken-chan grabs Kiyoshi's hand. "I want him too. Lend him to me."

Kiyoshi shakes his head sadly. "Sorry, I can't let you borrow papa. He belongs to Daddy."

I enjoy the blush on said Daddy's face when he looks away, embarrassed.

I smile my brightest and look at the little girl. "You must be Kiku-chan," I break through this conversation when I turn to ger and hold out a hand to shake. She looks up at me and her eyes are silvery-grey. She blushes and smiles. And I earn my first ever glare from Kiyoshi. I don't know who it's aimed at. "I've heard a lot about you from Kiyoshi. I hope you'll take care of him."

She nods and introduces herself. There's a joint murmur around us. Then Ken-chan walks up to me. "Is it okay if I take a ride on your shoulders? Kiyoshi says it's really high." Kiyoshi pats his best friend's shoulder and nods, giving him permission for me.

"I want a ride too!"

"Me too! Me too!"

The pretty lady teacher tries to fend them off. Some are tugging on my jeans, wanting a ride, not willing to listen. I look at Itachi to find him amused about the whole thing, his eyes on Kiyoshi. "Hop on!" I tell the little kids who eagerly grab whatever inch of me they can hold on to. I lift them all up once, laughing when some of them squeal in delight. Ken-chan nearly renders me deaf with how loudly he laughs. Itachi watches the whole thing with a smile on his face. I gently put them down and move towards our son, who's grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Alright, off you go! Have loads of fun!" I tousle Kiyoshi's hair one final time.

The teacher bats regretful eyelashes at Itachi who's looking at me before she ushers the little kids in. Kiyoshi waves at us one last time before he moves towards his classroom. Ken-chan joins him in an instant, both of them talking animatedly about me. My lips quirk up when Itachi walks closer to me. "Liked the attention, Naruto?"

I laugh. "Loved it. I think I was born for it!"

He laughs as well. "Charming everyone you meet, you mean?"

"What can I say?" I shrug and he watches the movement of my shoulder in the flannel shirt I'm wearing. "I'm irresistible!"

"As if!" He makes a face and watches me put on my sunglasses as we retrace our steps to the car. I hold out a hand to him.

"Keys, please?" He groans before he hands me the keys.

"Ugh!"

I smirk and open his door. "After you, milady."

He laughs before getting in.

I turn around and move to the bath after dinner. I return twenty minutes later and find him reading his book. The normalcy brings a smile on my face when I walk to the bed, over to his side. I stop and stand beside the bed and he looks up at me. "Your phone rang."

"It did? Who was it?"

He shrugs. "I didn't look at it."

Placing a knee near his on the bed, I lean over him to grab my phone, taking his face in a kiss. He laughs before moving his face away. I quickly check my phone. "It's Shikamaru. I'll just go call him back."

I move out of the room to call him. It doesn't take long. A quick question he wanted answered. It was something that could've been done over text but he chose to call me because, "I'm a douchebag for forgetting him the moment I was back with my Itachi-sama." His words, not mine. And okay, that is partly true, but hey, could he blame me for wanting to only spend time with my family after three years? So he laughed, called me a colorful word after his signature, "Troublesome" and hung up.

I return to find my better half still reading his book. Apart from looking up once when I walk into the room, he doesn't acknowledge me, too busy reading. I walk up to the bed and take off my t-shirt. I pick it up, rolling it into a ball before lightly chucking it at him. He catches it deftly before it can land on him. "Any particular reason for this violent behavior?" he asks, my t-shirt, still very much in his hand.

I laugh and perch near his knee, on the bed. "Spend time with me! You can read that boring book tomorrow when I'm not here." I pout cutely.

"I am not giving into your theatrics right now." He deftly tosses the t-shirt to my side of the bed and turns a page of his book.

"If you don't put away that book, I'll do something more violent."

"Uh-huh? And you think I'll let you get away with it?"

"Or what? You'll Akatsuki my ass?"

"No. But I could always make your last night here, a painful one."

I lift his hand and bite a finger. "Like this?"

The book is gone and I'm yanked by my shoulder before I can even blink. He's fast. A thrill shoots down my spine when I'm pinned under him. My legs pressed down with his powerful thighs, my hands in his. His mouth goes to my neck and he bites down hard. "Like this." He licks the hurt then admires his teeth work, so to speak. "Being back beside you all these days, made me forget I had to place my claim on you."

"Oh yeah?"

He bites me again before looking at me. Happy, my favorite midnight eyes look back at me, shining with it. He hasn't relented his hold on me. Even though the pressure of his body on mine is not too much and I can easily flip us over if I want to, I stay down pinned under him in absolute surrender.

I only lean up and kiss him. "I love it when you take charge. I love everything you do."

He smiles before bending down to press more marks on my body.

I revel in it.

"Good morning, Itachi-sama." Long eyelashes flutter when I lightly skim my lips against his cheek to wake him up. He opens his eyes just a fraction, makes a noise in the back of his throat and goes back to sleep. I continue kissing his face, his mouth but he doesn't move an inch.

"If you don't wake up, I'll continue kissing you."

His lips rise but he doesn't open his eyes. I know he's awake but I continue kissing my way down his neck before coming back to his face. "I know you're awake," I whisper against his mouth.

"No, I'm not. If this is what you'll do then I don't ever want to wake up."

"Shush, don't say that!" I shut him up with a kiss.

He finally opens his eyes and looks at me. "Promise me you'll wake me up like this every morning you leave for Saitama."

I gather him to me and kiss him.

One Year Seven Months Later

I knock politely before I enter. Nakajima-san gestures to the chair in front of him as he puts down his phone to look at me. My hands are sweaty when I bend to grab the armrest of the chair. My breathing is shallow. I know why I'm called here. My heart beats in my throat. Nakajima-san wears no expression on his face when he looks at me. I clench my sweaty hands in fists when the nervousness escalates. I fear I'll have a panic attack.

Nakajima-san, the head of the Saitama branch is a man in his forties. Tall and handsome, Nakajima-san is quite popular with the ladies here, despite being married. Not that he interests me. However, as a boss, he's an easy man to work with. I quite like him. Although, right now, I could scream at him to get on with it.

"Your interview with the team last weekend went through. You're being transferred there." Nakajima-san speaks and I pause for a moment to look up and stare at him. He grins, all even teeth when he sees my expression.

"I'm being transferred?" I ask, clearing my throat.

He nods, picking up a bunch of papers to hand them to me. "These are the particulars. You'll start there next month."

"Why not next week?" It pops out of my mouth without me meaning to actually say it.

Nakajima-san looks at me. "I thought you'd be sad about going to a smaller place to work. Most employees of your caliber aim for Tokyo or overseas branches."

I smile. "I'm actually overjoyed. I have my family there."

Nakajima-san smiles. "Well then." He stands up and holds out a hand. I shake it politely. "I'll see you on Monday."

I bow and get out.

Despite, possessing a key to our house, I ring the doorbell with nervous anticipation. And nervous I should be. I didn't come home last weekend and this whole week, he's been curt and brusque with me. And because I had things to do, I'm running an hour later than my usual time. He sounded so cold when I informed him that I got scared for a while. And I deserve his anger. I do. But there was a reason for it. And that's enough.

I hear his footsteps and I only have time to adjust the single red rose in my mouth before the door opens and he stands there looking pissed. His eyes move down to the rose in my mouth and I yank it out to present it to him with a flourish. Some of the anger melts when he takes the rose. He doesn't smile.

"Guess who's coming home for real?" I ask him.

It takes the words to register for a second because he laughs, then turns around and grabs me hard to pull against himself. He laughs once then twice then just squeezes me into himself. "Ah…I don't have the words," he says, drawing away and smiling. "I just so…so…"

"It's okay. I feel it too."

He nods, still smiling, still laughing still holding me in his arms. "Welcome home, Naruto. Though I have to say, it was about time you came home."

"Sorry about that."

He touches my cheek briefly and I grab his hand to pull him closer. "Seeing as we've conveniently got the house to ourselves for Obon, there's a ritual I need to complete."

I lift him up before he can say anything, all princess-style and look down at him demurely looping his arms around my neck and laughing up at me. "You're really going to the whole nine yards, aren't you?" he asks, shaking his head. His weight is a comfort in my arms. So familiar, so mine.

I lean down and kiss him once. "That and beyond. Anywhere to where you are."

He leans up and kisses me hard. "Congratulations! I'm overjoyed you're here. For real."

I smile, holding him to me like how precious he is. "Brace yourself, Itachi-sama. Once I cross this entrance with you, there's no going back."

"I think I'll take my chances."

I grins, bending down and pressing one kiss on his mouth before I climb the small step of our entrance and then walk all the way to the bedroom. I put him down near the bed.

"When did you learn of it?" Itachi asks, putting on his glasses to look at me.

"This morning. It had been in the works for a while. I'd applied the day a post I'd wanted opened here."

"And that was…?"

"About three months ago?"

"And you didn't say anything to me."

"How could I? I knew you'd get your hopes up and if I didn't get it, it would hurt you. And that is something I couldn't do. Anyway, it all worked out for the best." I smile up at him not willing to be deterred by the direction this conversation can take.

"Just tell me next time. I don't want you to carry something like this alone."

"There will be no next time. I'm not going anywhere."

He hugs me tight. "You didn't come home last week and you were late tonight. I was so mad at you." He looks at me so warmly, so happily, it makes me feel things. Then he laughs. "But you…you always have a surprise up your sleeve!"

"Last weekend was the final interview. I wanted to tell you all about it, but I couldn't." I look at him and smile. "The acceptance came in today. And I was late because I was shipping essentials home."

It sounds insane but I couldn't wait to start filling my space here. There are my clothes in his wardrobe, hung neatly next to his. A pair or two of my shoes and slippers neatly lined side-by-side beside his and Kiyoshi's. There's my toothbrush in his bathroom, my towels in there too. But I want to leave more of myself around.

"That much in a hurry?"

I shrug. "I can't deny that."

His eyes twinkle when he draws me closer. "We need to celebrate."

I eye him, wondering where this is going. One of his eyelashes falls on his cheek. I move to pick it up and he closes his eyes, lips opening unexpectedly. I very much know where this is going. Instead, I lift the lash, whisper something to it and flick it away. His eyes open in a silent question. Aren't we celebrating?

I look at him all honest and pissed and horny and mine. From now on every day, every night. I have a sudden urge to cry. This day, today, means so many things. It marks a beginning to all our beginnings.

It's all because of you. It's all for you. You who gives me direction, you who gave me a goal, you who became my goal. And today I know this happiness because of you.

My heaven's rain.

When my lips meet his, I pour every inch of this gratitude I feel in the kiss.

"I love you."

He pulls my face to his again. "I love you too."

Reviews would be lovely!