"We can't just run off like this all the time."
"When we go back to Konoha, we won't have the luxury of babysitters like Kannon to look after the kids while we have some alone time. We need to make the most of it. Besides, I haven't seen you in nearly eight months- we need some time together too, you know."
I huffed as I lay on the bed of our hotel room, still feeling guilty about asking Kannon and Naruto to babysit Ayumi and Shisui so that Sasuke and I could spend the night together unencumbered. After our short trip to the pool, we grabbed lunch with Kannon and Naruto before heading back to our rooms, where we showered and cleaned up for an early night. Well, they got ready for bed- for once, Sasuke and I had mutually decided that we needed some space to talk, and that required time away from the children.
"You have a point," I mumbled, watching the Uchiha as he turned on the air conditioner. "Come on. Let's talk."
"Do you want the lights on or off?"
"On. I haven't seen you in eight months." Sasuke chuckled at my quip, and kicked past the pile of blankets lying on the floor as he headed towards me and joined me on the bed.
We simultaneously turned to face each other, smiling goofily as we did so. It was true, eight months had been long and hard- but even now, I felt butterflies in my stomach as we made eye contact, and all my longing and pining for him overtook me.
"I missed you," I said softly, propelling myself forward and pushing my body against Sasuke's. The bed shifted as he raised his arm and placed it over me, embracing me as he leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of my head.
"Thank god that's the last time we'll ever have to be separated for that long," he murmured, pulling me close as his body relaxed. "It must have been so hard for you."
"You're the one who went to war, Sasuke. I think you had a worse time than I did," I chuckled. "If you can, could you tell me about what happened? If you don't want to, then that's fine too. I can give you boring updates of what happened in Suna while you were gone."
"I would love to tell you, but it would take me forever to sum up what happened over the past eight months."
"That's okay too."
"... but I do want you to know." Sasuke's tone dropped, and I was brought back to full alert.
"No Uchiha were spared," he said in a steady voice. "They were all killed without hesitation."
"All?"
"Yes, for the most part."
"For the most part...?"
"The... children who were born from the project are being relocated into orphanages across Konoha," elaborated Sasuke. "Some of the women in the project have, quite bravely, stated that they would like to keep their children. Others... not so much. And I don't blame them, either."
"Oh- okay," I said weakly, knowing that even if I wanted to, there was nothing I could do to help these children anyway. "That's good, I guess. But are there enough orphanages for them to go around?"
"Well... not really. But since many of the children are young, there are high hopes that they'll be adopted fairly quickly."
"Alright, I guess that can't be helped."
"And I know I should have discussed this with you earlier, but... I requested that the Hokage bar Shisui's children from being put up for adoption, at least for the time being."
"So Kagura didn't want them, huh?"
"Actually... Kagura died a while back." My heart sunk at the news, and although I knew in my heart that something bad would happen to the young girl eventually, I didn't realise it would mean death for her. "After she gave birth to Tsukasa, she was reassigned to another man. She didn't want it, and... she took her own life."
I bit my lip as I curled up even more into Sasuke's chest, lamenting the young girl's death. It wasn't fair for anyone. Kagura didn't deserve to die the way she did, and neither did Shisui. And now, all that remained of the pair were their three children.
"I'm sorry, Tera," said Sasuke softly, stroking my hair as he comforted me. "I know you cared for her."
"It's not fair," I sobbed lightly, closing my eyes. "This stupid war is all over, but things still suck for everyone. We have all these children with no homes and no families, all these women scarred from their experiences."
"Everything will get better eventually. It just takes time, and a lot of effort from all of us."
I wiped my eyes, shaking my head clear.
"Okay. You asked Tsunade-sama to bar Shisui's children from being adopted. Back to that."
Sasuke leaned back so that he could look me in the eye, brushing my hair out of my face.
"I did it because I wanted to ask if you wanted to adopt them," he said tenderly, caressing my cheek. "I wanted to give you the opportunity to choose before giving them up completely."
"Sasuke, another three children is a lot," I said sadly, trying to figure out how I could possibly and realistically care for five children under the age of three. "And they're expensive, too."
"Don't forget, there's me, you, and Itachi," said Sasuke reassuringly. "Legally, they'd be ours, but honestly, they'd be just as much Itachi and Naruto's responsibility as well."
"Ours, huh?"
"I never stopped thinking of you while I was gone. And I realised something..."
"What was that?"
Sasuke's hand dropped from my face, and I looked him dead in the eye.
"I really want to spend the rest of my life with you," he said sincerely, a new kind of vulnerability visible in his gaze. "I know you said you didn't want to think about that kind of thing until later on in life, but... I wanted you to at least know how I feel."
I smiled as Sasuke reached out once more, but this time he grabbed me by the nose and squeezed it.
"Hey!"
"I missed you," he laughed as I shoved him backwards, covering my nose in defence as I glared at him from the other side of the bed.
"Okay, but seriously talking... let's think about adopting Shisui and Kagura's kids more when we get to Konoha, alright?" I sighed, knowing that we needed to address the matters at hand. "Same thing about getting married. I mean... five kids and a wedding... that's all so expensive..."
"Wait. You would actually... settle down with me?"
"I mean, yeah. If we're going to have to raise five children together, I've got to make sure you can't run away."
"So, theoretically, you want to adopt Shisui's children and get married."
"Theoretically, yeah. But we'll see what the circumstances are like when we get back to Konoha."
I giggled and pulled my pillow out from underneath me, lobbing it at the Uchiha as he stared at me incredulously.
"Don't look so surprised," I teased, rolling back to his side and resuming my initial cuddling position. "You look like you were expecting to be rejected."
"Well... I kind of was."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, huh?"
"Absolutely." We embraced once more, and this time I initiated the conversation.
"Well, could you explain to me more about how Itachi ended up here?"
It was then that Sasuke told me everything- from Itachi's desertion of the clan with Yuta, to the task Tsunade set him- and then the final realisation of his task.
"No way. Itachi- Izumi? No..."
I was mind-boggled as I attempted to picture Itachi ultimately taking Izumi's life, but found that no such image could render itself in my mind.
"Taking my father down wouldn't have mattered much to Itachi, but our mother and Izumi..." Sasuke trailed off in concern.
"We'll look out for him," I said reassuringly. "Him and Yuta."
"Definitely." Sasuke leaned forward as he clung onto me, resting his head on my shoulder. "So much has happened. I can't think straight."
"You don't have to. Take your time to recuperate and recover, and I'll do everything I can to support you through it all."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
We enjoyed a brief moment of silence before Sasuke sparked up conversation once more.
"And how is Suna?"
I gasped and sat up in a split second, reaching down and grabbing Sasuke by the front of his shirt.
"GAARA AND KANNON ARE A THING! THEY'RE A THING- LIKE US! THEY DO THINGY THINGS!"
Sasuke laughed as I violently shook him back and forth, the thought of Kannon and Gaara having completely escaped my mind throughout our entire talk.
"So your dream has been realised, huh?"
"YES! MY SHIP HAS SAILED!"
"At least one good thing has happened for you," smiled Sasuke as I threw myself back at him, smile so bright it could've been a reflection of the moonlight outside.
"Yeah," I sighed, closing my eyes as I arranged my thoughts. "Okay, here's the plan. We go back to Konoha, assess the situation. See if we can find decent work. And a house- god, we need a big one at that. Figure out the paperwork for Shisui and Kagura's children. And I know Itachi is an adult too, but to be quite honest, I feel like he's going to need just as much help with Yuta. It'd be helpful if we lived close to each other. Unless you don't mind living with them? Three adults and six children is a lot to have under one roof, though..."
"I wouldn't worry about finances if I were you. At least, not for the time being."
"Why is that? Do you happen to have a secret trust fund stashed away for a rainy day?"
"Actually, pretty much. My father was one of Konoha's leading politicians, Tera. And even though he didn't really show Itachi and I much affection, he still invested in us. Both of our parents did. Well, our mother invested in us because she loved us. Our father invested in us hoping we'd follow his path and continue his legacy after he was gone."
"Great, so we're going to be relying on money that your dead tyrannical father left behind for you to keep doing his dirty work. Cool, cool, cool."
"We won't be relying on it. It can help us settle down and get comfortable while we look for work. Well, that's another issue..."
"Yes, Sasuke, I am aware that you have no qualifications whatsoever for any type of job."
"No. Actually, it's quite the opposite," he countered. "Now that the Senju are back in power, they're working towards the integration of shinobi into the public. They've already started by making announcements and all that, but once things really get rolling, there's a high chance that the career choice of being a shinobi is going to become a thing."
"How do you make a career out of being a shinobi?"
"You'd be surprised. Anyway, to integrate the shinobi into the public rather than keep them hidden in the military, Tsunade's planned on putting them into specific sectors of the village."
"Like?"
"They're already secretly in the hospitals, where they employ the use of medical ninjutsu to heal patients with lesser medical issues. She's hoping to add them to our other emergency response services as well- firemen... police officers."
"Hmm, that sounds reasonable enough."
"Tsunade approached Itachi and I and asked if we would be interested in joining the police force as the first shinobi officers. Of course we'd still start from the bottom, but her goal is for us to train those who are able to control their chakra in ninjutsu and taijutsu to become a more efficient and formidable police force."
"Oh! Sasuke, that's great!" I exclaimed, surprised by how well things actually seemed to be faring. "A police officer, that's a good job!"
"Yeah, it's a good place to start."
"I need to find one too," I sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I never even finished university."
"If you want to... you could."
"As tempting as that sounds, I don't think I'm capable of raising children, studying, and working at the same time," I snorted. "I was only halfway through my degree anyway. It doesn't matter."
"You don't need to go back to work so soon," implored Sasuke, leaning back and looking at me seriously. "I know you want to take care of Shisui's kids, Tera. I can see it written all over your face."
"Okay, I guess I do," I admitted, putting my hands up in defeat. "But I can't live off of your money forever. I need to go out and earn some of my own."
"Tera." Sasuke's voice dropped, and he gripped me by the arm. "What's mine is yours. I know you value your independence, and when you're able to, I'd be more than happy for you to find work. But for now, I'm asking you to please, please rely on me. I can take care of us- all of us. Can you trust me enough to do that?"
"Of course I trust you, Sasuke," I said gently, reaching up and cupping his face with my hand. "But if we're going to get serious, I can't let you shoulder all the financial responsibilities by yourself. I'm going to have to earn my way as well."
"And you can, later on," he pressed, frowning at me. "It's okay for you to stay at home for now. If you want to raise Asami, Mizuki, and Tsukasa, you're going to need to earn their trust first. You can't build a relationship with them if you're always out working. Let me handle the money, and you can handle the children. Obviously, I'll still help you out around the house and with them, but I don't want you to worry about money. Okay?"
"As much as I loathe the idea of being a freeloader again, I can agree to that arrangement."
"You're not freeloading," mumbled Sasuke as I rolled over, prompting him to hug me from behind. "Those are my children too, you know. We're a team. We have to make it work somehow."
"I guess," I sighed.
"Besides... if you're so adamant about working, why not work for me?"
"Huh?" I looked over my shoulder at Sasuke, eyebrow raised skeptically as he smirked and lowered his lips onto my neck. "Oh. That kind of work."
"What do you say, Tera?" he said teasingly, running his hand down my side and resting it on my ass.
"Have we discussed everything that needed to be talked about?"
"Complete annihilation of my clan, integration of shinobi into Konoha, adopting Shisui's kids, Gaara and Kannon, our finances for the future, our living arrangements, and our possible-but-most-likely-to-eventually-happen wedding?"
"Hmm. Sounds like everything."
"Good. Since you're so concerned about 'freeloading', why not consider this your, ah... first shift?"
I smirked.
It'd been a long time since we'd been intimate, let alone seen each other, but I was ready to get right back into it.
"Yes, sir."