Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Mother's Son ❯ Green Is Yucky ( Chapter 17 )

Truth be told, it wasn't that impressive. But that was the point of a bunker, Sakura assumed, to be stealthy. But to be honest, she had expected something a little grander than a hole in the ground.

Well, it was a trapdoor, but who's keeping score?

The trapdoor opened to stairs, which went down for a while, before leading to a door. A large one, but not impressive by anybody's standards. Sakura was just not in the mood to be impressed. Sasuke was carrying her son, while she was bound, gagged and kept from running by Itachi's powerful hands. It was not pleasant.

They moved through the door, and that was when Sakura became impressed. Dark red walls were accented with black, which Sakura found to be predictable but effective. They led her through the long hallways until coming to another door, considerably smaller than the last.

“Call me if she gives you any…trouble.” Itachi told his brother, before turning around and leaving. Sakura couldn't hear his footsteps, so she didn't know if he had actually left. She looked up at Sasuke. He smiled at her. She frowned back. Was he actually nervous? He looked like it. He was holding Daisuke, who was only opening his sleepy eyes for the first time in hours, with both hands and pushing open the door with his shoulder. Sakura followed him in, mostly because he held her son in his hands and for lack of anything better to do. She was greeted with a large room, with doors leading off in different directions. Sasuke moved over to the couch and set Daisuke down on it, who was now nearly fully awake.

Sakura was still while Sasuke cut the ropes binding her hands, and pulled the gag from her mouth. Stretching her fingers, Sakura stayed motionless before pulling her arm back and launching a punch at Sasuke's face. He should have been expecting it, but wasn't, so he flew back a couple yards, landing on his ass. He scowled up at Sakura, who stood smugly with her hands on her hips. He grumbled to himself and stood again, walking into an adjoining room. Sakura went over to Daisuke on the couch.

“Hey baby,” she whispered. “You okay?”

“My head hurts. I'm hungry.” Daisuke replied loudly.

“I know Dai, I'll get you something.” She kissed his forehead gently. Sasuke came out of the room, a silver band in his hand. He held it up, looking at Sakura purposefully.

“If that's what I think it is…” she warned, looking at what she figured was a collar.

“It's not.” Sasuke said. “It's a bracelet.”

“Yes, because that's so much better. I love the idea of being tagged.” Sakura replied. Sasuke moved to put it on her, but she stood. “I'm not going to just let you!” she said indignantly.

Sasuke shrugged. Then, surprising her, he moved close, invading her space. His free hand hovered along the side of her face. She tried to keep control, but his dark eyes pierced into her, doing more than the Sharingan ever could. His lips captured her in a kiss. Sakura knew better than to fall for the same trick twice, and pulled away quickly.

“Hey!” she said hotly. She looked down at her wrist. A silver band decorated it. “Oh. Shit.” She looked at Sasuke, who was smiling, looking pleased with himself. “You can't just go kissing me. I'm engaged, you know.”

“What?” Sasuke was shocked. Why had this not been mentioned before?

“Well, not really.”

Oh. Wait. What?

“Naruto was going to ask, I saw the ring in his drawer. I think he was going to ask me the day you showed up. And I would have said yes. So it comes to the same thing. No kissing.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “No. You're either engaged, or you're not. There's no halfway. Therefore, kissing is allowed.”

“I'm hungry!”

Sasuke looked down, and was reminded that Daisuke was there. The boy looked up at his mother grumpily. “Hungry.” He repeated, when he had her attention. Sakura smiled, and looked at Sasuke.

“You heard your son. Feed him.”

“Me?”

Sakura smiled. Sasuke knew he was doomed. He turned and picked the boy up. “Alright, Dai, what can Daddy get ya?” he asked Daisuke wrinkled his nose at Sasuke.

“You're not my dad. You smell weird.” He told Sasuke. Sakura had to choke back a laugh at the glare Sasuke shot at her.

“Have fun,” she said, waving her hand as she walked away, moving to explore the other rooms in the suite. Sasuke was left standing, a less than pleased Daisuke in his arms.

“Ookay.” He said. “Uh, kitchen then, I guess.”

Daisuke said nothing, but crossed his arms and glared. Sasuke nearly yelped at this. Daisuke looked exactly like Sasuke's own father when something wasn't going his way. It was a startling resemblance.

“Okay, okay.” He muttered, leaving the suite with Dai.

Sakura counted to twenty after the door closed before she threw herself onto the king sized bed and screamed into a pillow. She let the sound tear through her lungs, through her whole body, until she was exhausted. She lay, limp, on the plush comforter, head buried in the dark pillow. She slowly sat up, examining the bracelet circling her wrist.

It was wide, plain, and cold. Like any other metal she had ever touched, it was slowly warming on her skin. She stood, moving over to the stone wall and balled her hand into a fist. She swung her arm in a wide arc, striking the stone wall with the edge of the bracelet. A loud clang rang through the room and Sakura felt her arm muscles protest, but after inspection, she saw that the bracelet was unharmed.

She sighed.

This sucks. She thought to herself, sitting on the bed, and laying back. Her eyes studied the stone ceiling. Obviously, Sasuke had not bothered to cover the stone with drywall, or wall paper, or anything. Maybe he liked the cold, dungeon feel. The thought gave her shivers. In reality, she was in a dungeon, jailed by the father of her child.

This sucks.

She sighed, and closed her eyes. Surprisingly, she fell asleep quickly.

“What is it?” he whispered, looking down at the object on his table.

“I'm not sure,” Sakura replied, looking at it as well. “I think it's macaroni.”

“Yes. But why?”

Sakura looked at her two year old son, freshly home from daycare. He was smiling proudly at his macaroni creation. “I dunno. Let's be supportive, okay?”

Naruto rolled his eyes. “Sure. I'm all over that.” He muttered, before his face split into a wide grin. “Did you make this Dai? That's great! What is it?”

“Space ship!” Daisuke cried, his hands flying out to show a spaceship launching off.

“Wow! Really? That's so cool!”

Sakura smiled at Naruto, who crouched next to her two year old son, who sat on the kitchen floor, the macaroni art now in his hands. He smiled happily to his mother, who grinned back.

He waddled over to his toy corner, abandoning his art. Naruto stood next to Sakura again. “What the hell are they teaching him at that place?” he muttered to her, causing Sakura to break out in giggles.

“Nothing! That's the point! But this is rather…abstract, isn't it?”

“I love it.” Naruto decided. “It stays on the table, the rest of the week.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “Naruto, you know I invited Aniline and James over this week.”

Naruto shook his head stubbornly. “It has to stay.” He insisted, a smile tugging on the corners of his lips.

“Fine!” Sakura said, exasperated. “I wash my hands of you, insane man.” She turned away in a mock huff, watching her son.

A few seconds later, she felt Naruto's strong arms snake around her. “Aww, don't be mad.” He whispered huskily in her ear. She giggled, and then regained her composure, taking on her role.

“I'll be mad if I want.” She said haughtily. “I don't think that we should keep it up - ah!”

She yelped as he picked her up, spinning her quickly, before setting her down. She whirled around on his, her eyes sparking, laughter bubbling from her lips. “You jerk!” she cried. Naruto nodded his agreement before capturing her mouth in a kiss.

“Naruto…”

The small sigh from the pink haired girl made the dark haired man frown as he stood in the corner. The girl rolled over, and said no more. Itachi, bored, moved out of the room, contemplating his new knowledge.

Sasuke Uchiha was a worldly man. In his eighteen years, he had seen a lot, done a lot. He had been to hell and back for revenge, and had that revenge never sated. But never, in his lifetime, had he been stared down by a person who didn't clear his knees.

“No.”

The voice was firm, no chance of compromise hidden it its depths. Daisuke was dead serious.

And Sasuke was at a loss.

“What's wrong about it?” he asked, completely bewildered. Confusion was not an expression commonly seen on Uchiha Sasuke's face, but it was present then. His eyebrows were raised, and he looked completely disbelieving, holding the apple in his hands.

“It's green.” Daisuke explained stubbornly. “Green is yucky.”

“Green is a color. It doesn't taste like anything.” Sasuke said, frustrated. Daisuke didn't respond, but it was obvious that he was not budging on the subject. The two Uchiha locked eyes for a few long moments before Sasuke admitted defeat. He considered using the Sharingan, but realized that Sakura might kill him for it. He rolled his eyes, sighing. “Well, what do you want?”

“Ramen!”

No way. No freaking way.

“No.” Sasuke's voice was clipped. “You're only three. Ramen would send you up the walls.”

Daisuke frowned, his face troubled. “Daddy lets me have it.” He said, not understanding. “He says it's good for me. He says I'll be a ninja one day! Are you a ninja? My mom is!” He smiled at the end of his burst, and then frowned again, remembering the topic.

“I don't care what Naruto says. And it's not good for you. And yes, you'll be a ninja. Yes, I am one. And I know that your mother is.” Sasuke answered. He moved away from the countertop where Daisuke sat, his legs swinging over the edge. Sasuke rifled through cupboards, coming up short of anything a child would eat.

“Trouble, brother?”

The deep voice startled Sasuke, who was used to being snuck up on by Itachi, but had expected him to be elsewhere in the house. “I thought I asked you to watch Sakura.” Sasuke said, ignoring the question. Itachi shrugged, looking at the by on the counter. He made no expression or movement, but Sasuke could tell he was curious.

“The girl is boring. Sleeping now. Mumbling about that Naruto boy.” As expected, Sasuke scowled at this news. Daisuke, however, piped up at the name.

“That's my Dad's name!” he told Itachi, who gave a small smirk to himself and watched his brother's ears go faintly pink.

“Is it?” he asked, moving towards his nephew. The boy nodded quickly.

“Yeah! He's really old, did you know?” Daisuke said, momentarily distracted from his hunger by Itachi.

“Hm. How old are you?” Itachi asked in response. Daisuke thought for a moment.

“I'll be four soon.” He said proudly.

Sasuke was silent during this exchange. Half of his mind was still thinking about the meal he needed to make, the other half was wondering how to get Daisuke to stop thinking of Naruto as his father. The first thing that had to go was the shirt with the Uzumaki swirl, of course. This thought made him pause. Neither Sakura nor Daisuke had anything other than the clothes on their backs. And, if things went to plan, they would be staying here for a while. They would need things.

He sighed to himself, and tried to pay attention to the proceedings in his kitchen. Daisuke was chattering happily away, while Itachi listened passively. He seemed to have found a large reserve of patience for his nephew, for Sasuke didn't remember Itachi ever letting him ramble on like that. Any time Itachi was annoyed, he would just poke Sasuke on the forehead and leave. Sasuke frowned at the memory, rubbing his forehead in remembrance.

“Ramen you wanted then?” He asked suddenly, now too preoccupied with his thoughts to continue arguing about nutritional value. Daisuke looked over, face lighting up. He was pleased to have won.

“Yes!”

Sasuke nodded, and turned back around to root through the cupboards some more. His abhorrence of ramen and Itachi's apathy towards shopping made finding the instant noodles very challenging. After a few tense minutes, he finally extracted something passable and began preparing it.

“This has to stop happening.” Naruto said sullenly, sitting cross-legged on his bed, across from Kakashi, who was stretched out along the end. The older man nodded. “Really. This is getting old. He has to…I dunno, fall off a cliff or something.”

“Is his death really necessary?” Kakashi asked. He would prefer if all of Team 7 stayed alive, even if one was a missing-nin and betrayer of their village.

“No. But I'm going to kill him anyway. I just can't wait to sink my teeth in, rip him apart. For what he's done to Sakura. What if he hurts her while she's there?” Naruto stopped, swallowing nervously. “What if he…forces her to…?”

“He won't.” Kakashi assured Naruto firmly.

“How do you know?” Naruto shot back. He was frightened, massively so. He was not allowed to leave until morning, for Kakashi wanted to come with him.

“Because, things aren't concrete yet. He knows that you'll come for her, and he thinks there is a chance you will win. He won't do anything to her until he is sure that you aren't ever going to be around to take revenge.”

Naruto nodded. It made sense. He shooed Kakashi from his room and lay back on his bed, feeling desolate. He lay on Sakura's side, sinking into the small dent that her body had left in the mattress. Inhaling deeply, he breathed in her scent. Daisuke's smell was there too. Mud, and glue and paint, that was what he smelled like. He was such a creative child.

Personally, Naruto was hoping that he could convince Sakura to put Daisuke into the art school, instead of the shinobi training school. It would be safer, and Naruto always wanted that. He just wanted Dai to be safe.

But, now that his son was with Sasuke and Itachi, he was everything but safe.

His fist clenched in the bed sheets and he fought to keep himself from destroying everything he could get his hands on. He did not think he would sleep at all that night.