Chapter Text
CHAPTER 7
It was almost dawn and Naruto hadn't slept a wink.
Sasuke was curled against his chest, one leg thrown over Naruto's thigh, his breath warm and even against Naruto's collarbone. They were both naked. The sheets were tangled around their waists, half kicked off during the night.
Sasuke had a bad habit of avoiding conversations he didn't want to have by initiating sex. And it worked every single time. Not that Naruto could be blamed; what self-respecting man could say no to the most gorgeous person on the planet climbing into his lap and nibbling on his ear while grinding down with clear intent. Naruto was many things, but he wasn't stupid.
Sasuke had passed out not long after they finished, boneless and heavy against Naruto's side, his breathing dropping into sleep within minutes. Which left Naruto alone with his thoughts and the slow crawl of the clock on the nightstand.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Sasuke's arm.
The skin had been raw and blistered when they'd reached Tsunade. Sasuke hadn't made a sound during the healing, just sat there with his jaw set and his eyes fixed on the far wall while Tsunade's chakra knit the damage back together. She hadn't been worried, which was a relief. And while she did confirm the baby was showing minor signs of distress, she said it would settle now that Sasuke's body wasn't radiating pain.
Naruto stared at the ceiling, all the different what ifs playing on a loop.
"You know you’re meant to be the alpha in this relationship right."
Naruto's arm tightened around Sasuke's shoulders. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you have let him dictate everything in this relationship for so long he thinks he can walk all over you."
“Hey, he does no such thing.”
"No, then why did you let him go on an S-Rank mission you knew was dangerous? You should have just put your foot down.”
“It’s not that simple,” he let his frustration color his tone “He’s still fighting to prove that he is just as capable as any alpha and that he is worthy of forgiveness.” he brought his free hand up to rub at his eyes before continuing. “It doesn’t matter how many anbu want to join his team, or that every shinobi would run into fire with him. Or that he consistently comes out on top in the approval rating. He just can’t bring himself to believe that he has actually achieved everything he wanted to. And I can't for the life of me figure out why.”
“Well, that’s a lie. Do you want me to spell it out for you.”
"No."
"He thinks he's worthless. Always has. So why would he think anyone else sees him differently."
Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. Kurama was putting into words what he had been refusing to voice for years. Because this was something Naruto couldn’t fix. It was something Sasuke had to figure out on his own. And he hated that.
"You have a kit to think about now. Remember that and start acting like the head of the family you are about to have." Kurama’s tone held an edge.
Naruto looked down.
Sasuke's face was half-pressed into the curve of his shoulder, dark hair falling across his cheek. There was a slight frown on his face. Sasuke’s left hand, the one that had been healed, rested against Naruto's chest, the fingers curled loosely.
Naruto pulled back in his scent, realising that he was letting his anxiety leak out. Sasuke shifted closer, burrowing deeper against Naruto's neck. A small, discontented sound escaped him, muffled against skin.
Naruto pressed his lips to the top of Sasuke's head and held them there.
"You're right," Naruto said into his mind. "I know what I have to do."
***
Once Naruto had made up his mind, lying still became unbearable; his body wanted to do anything but stare at the ceiling.
He shifted carefully, sliding his arm out from under Sasuke's head and replacing it with the pillow. Sasuke stirred, his brow creasing, but didn't wake. Naruto tucked the blanket up over his head, Sasue was like a dachshund, he loved to burrow under a blanket when he was alone. Naruto had teased him about it once and nearly lost a tooth for the trouble.
He gathered his clothes, dressing in the dark, trying not to wake his sleeping mate. He eased the bedroom door shut behind him, wincing when the latch clicked.
The kitchen was cold. He pulled two bowls from the cupboard and cut up fruit, spooning yoghurt and granola over the top of each. He wrapped Sasuke's in cling film, wrote "eat this" on a scrap of paper, and left it in the fridge. Sasuke would ignore it if he didn't leave a note. He'd probably ignore it with the note, he was still experiencing morning sickness.
The village was quiet when he stepped outside, the sun barely clearing the treeline. He turned toward the training fields. He wasn’t ready to head to the office just yet.
He needed to hit something. A lot. First.
He shed his jacket and went to town on the nearest training post until his knuckles split and his lungs burned. Thankfully, Kurama was healing the damage as quickly as he could inflict it. He kept going until the sweat was running into his eyes and his mind had gone quiet.
By the time he made it to the tower, he was red-faced and breathing hard, his hair plastered to his forehead. His secretary was already at her desk.
"Good morning, Lord Hokage."
"Morning." He pushed his damp hair off his face. "Can you pull Captain Hawk's personnel file and leave it on my desk. And tell Commander Yoshito I need to see him when he has a moment."
"Of course, Lord Hokage. Right away." She stood, bowed and disappeared down the hall.
Naruto pushed the door to his office open and went straight for the en-suite. He stood under the shower for longer than necessary, scrubbing every inch of his skin twice. He knew he was stalling. But he took his time anyway.
When he finally sat down at his desk, the file was already there.
He flicked it open reading through page after page of commendation. The sheer number was astounding. He flicked back to the front page and stared at it for a long time. He signed his name into a box at the bottom and dated it. He closed the file and sat it aside.
He sat back in his chair and waited for the regret to come. It didn't.
Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
Yoshito crossed to the centre of the room and dropped to one knee, head bowed. "You wanted to see me, Lord Hokage."
"I did." Naruto picked up the file and held it out. "I wanted to make you aware of some changes I'm making."
Yoshito took the file and flipped it open. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. His gaze snapping back up to Naruto's face.
"May I ask the reason for this decision?"
"No. You may not."
Yoshito closed the file and tucked it under his arm. Whatever he thought about it, he kept those opinions to himself. "Would you like me to inform him?"
"No. I'll do it myself. Send him up as soon as possible."
"Yes, Lord Hokage." He stood. "Is there anything else?"
"No. You're dismissed."
Yoshito bowed and left, pulling the door shut behind him. The office was quiet again.
Naruto leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
***
Sasuke sat on the bench in the locker room, one leg up as he fastened the straps on his shin guard. Owl was tying up her hair in the mirror, twisting the red length of it into her usual high ponytail.
"I'm just saying," Viper was leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, "if you had let me use earth style, we would have been home two days earlier."
"And you would have collapsed the entire building on top of us," Wolf said from the far bench without looking up from the kunai he was sharpening.
"How long are you going to hold that one over my head?"
"You put me in the hospital."
"Oh please, you were out the next day. And, you scored a hot date with that nurse."
Owl snorted. "You mean the one who turned out to be completely crazy and spent most of the night licking his hair?"
"I think you’re all focusing on the wrong thing here. The mission was a success afterall."
"You brought a building down on your own team." Sasuke picked up his mask from the bench. "There's no version of that story where you come out looking good."
"See, this is the problem with this team. No loyalty."
"We are extremely loyal," Owl said, checking her weapons pouch. "We just have functioning memories."
The team burst into laughter.
"Hawk. Hokage's office. Now." the commander’s voice travelled through the door.
Sasuke frowned behind his mask. Naruto had been gone when he woke up, which wasn't unusual; he often had early meetings. But it was unusual for a captain to be summoned directly by the Hokage these days. While Naruto still liked to debrief high-priority missions personally, day-to-day orders came through the commander.
He swung his leg off the bench and stood. "I'll meet you at the training grounds afterwards."
"If you're not there in an hour, we're starting without you," Owl called after him.
Sasuke raised a hand over his shoulder without turning around and walked out.
***
The moment Sasuke stepped into the office, he knew something was wrong.
Naruto sat behind his desk, back rigid. He must have doubled up on his scent blocker since there wasn’t a trace of his scent in the air. That alone set Sasuke on edge.
He crossed to the centre of the room and dropped to one knee, head bowed. "You summoned me, Hokage-sama."
"Yes." Naruto's voice was tight. "I want to thank you for your exemplary service as Captain of Squad Three. Your record speaks for itself." He paused, clearing his throat. "However, effective immediately, you are being reassigned to the investigation unit. Your services in ANBU are no longer required."
Sasuke's breath caught behind his mask. His fingers curled against his thigh, nails pressing hard into skin. A desk job? Naruto was not only removing him from ANBU, he was assigning him to a desk.
His eyes burned. He pressed his lips together and forced the tears back through sheer will. He would not break composure in this office.
"Hokage-sama, if this is about my condit–"
"It is the decision of your Hokage and it is not up for discussion." Naruto's voice cut across him. "Is that clear?"
That bastard. He was using the professional boundary against him, the one line Sasuke would never cross in this room, and he knew it.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Good. Return your uniform and mask to the commander." Naruto's eyes stayed fixed on a point just above Sasuke's head. "Dismissed."
Sasuke ran his tongue over his teeth. He could feel the words pressing against the back of his throat. Naruto had actually dismissed him. Instead of using their agreed code words that would let him shed the anbu captain and stand before him as his mate.
He stood. Bowed. Turned on his heel and walked out, pulling the door shut behind him hard enough to crack the wood. Naruto’s secretary looked up in shock and the sound.
The second he was outside, he activated his rinnegan.
The house materialised around him. He ripped his mask off and let it clatter to the floor. Then he let out a blood curdling scream. A sound so raw that it actually hurt his throat. He drove his foot into the kitchen table hard enough to send it sliding across the tiles. It hit the far wall and shattered into pieces.
He stood in the middle of the kitchen, breathing hard, fists clenched at his sides.
How could Naruto do this to him. And to sit there, rigid and rehearsed, delivering it like it wasn’t a big deal. Like Sasuke was just any other operative being reassigned.
His legs gave out. He sank to the floor, fingers twisting into his hair, pulling hard enough to hurt.
He reached out for Naruto through the bond, hoping to find something that would make this make sense. All he could feel was Naruto’s worry. But there was no guilt.
That was worse than anything else. Naruto wasn't second-guessing himself. He'd made this decision and he stood by it and somehow that certainty hurt more than the reassignment itself.
A twinge in his lower stomach had his hand dropping to his belly. This baby was already causing him problems. And it wasn’t even here yet.
Guilt stabbed him in the heart. That wasn't fair. It wasn't the baby's fault that its father was too much of a coward to have an actual conversation with him.
He pushed himself off the floor. His hands were shaking. The kitchen table they had only bought a couple of months ago lay in pieces against the wall and he couldn't bring himself to care.
He went to the bedroom and looked at himself in the mirror. This uniform had been his armour in more ways than one, since first joining ANBU nearly five years ago. And now he was supposed to hand it all back like it meant nothing.
He couldn't do it today. He'd send it back tomorrow. Or Naruto could send someone to get it.
He stripped out of the uniform, folding in almost reverently and leaving it on the dresser. Then he made his way to the shower, hoping to clear his mind.
Afterwards, he pulled on a pair of old sweats and for the first time in a long time, reached for one of his own shirts instead of Narutos. He collapsed onto the couch. The anger had burned itself out, leaving nothing behind but a hollow, heavy sadness that settled into his bones.
His hand found his stomach again and this time he left it there.
***
Naruto braced himself as he pushed open the front door. He'd stayed late on purpose, wanting to avoid the confrontation he knew was inevitable for as long as possible. He'd felt Sasuke's turmoil through the bond all day; anger cresting into grief and back again.
Sasuke was in the sitting room, folded into the armchair with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were red-rimmed but dry.
"Sasuke–" he started.
"Don't." Sasuke's voice was sharp enough to cut glass. "Don't you dare 'Sasuke' me. Not after what you did today."
Naruto moved to the couch opposite and leaned forward, hands braced against the back cushion. "I know you're angry."
"Angry?" Sasuke’s voice was low. "Oh I’m way past angry. You made the biggest decision of my life without so much as talking to me first."
"I couldn't tell you beforehand. You would have talked me out of it."
"You're damn right I would have!" Sasuke stood. "Because it wasn't your decision to make."
"The hell it wasn't. I'm the Hokage. I get to decide the best positions for our shinobi."
"And that's half the problem." Sasuke's voice climbed, his eyes glassing over. "I'm your mate, Naruto. I'm carrying your child. And you sat behind that desk and treated me like I didn't mean anything to you."
"That's not fair–"
"Fair?" Sasuke stepped closer, fists clenching at his sides. "You want to talk about fair? You went behind my back, then called me into your office and delivered orders in a way you knew I couldn't refuse. You never gave me a chance to stand in front of you as your partner. You made me kneel there and take it."
“Because you wouldn't have listened otherwise!”
Naruto glanced away. Taking a breath to try and calm himself down.
"I couldn't risk losing you." His voice dropped, the frustration cracking to show the fear underneath. "You and the baby. If something happened on a mission–"
"Then assign me to village patrol. Let me guard the diplomats when they're here." Sasuke's own frustration bubbled over. "Why did you have to strip my rank entirely? Why couldn't I stay in ANBU and handle the low-risk work?"
"Because any mission carries risk. Even inside the village."
"So you made the decision for me!" Sasuke was shouting again. "Like I'm some fragile omega who can't think for himself."
"No, absolutely not"
"This morning I woke up thinking I had a career. An identity beyond being the Hokage's omega. And you took that from me!!"
Naruto tried to respond, but he couldn’t get his tongue to work in his dry mouth.
“You knew how much being in ANBU meant to me.”
“I know but you're pregnant and you seem hell bent on ignoring the fact that that comes with risks. What did you want me to do, keep sending you on missions that could end up with you both killed?”
"You were supposed to TRUST ME." Sasuke's hands were shaking. "You were supposed to sit me down and say, 'Sasuke, we need to talk about your ANBU status.' You were supposed to treat me like your equal. You were supposed to include me in a decision that affects my life."
"I couldn’t okay! If I'd talked to you about it—" Naruto's voice broke. "If I'd seen your face, if I'd had to watch you argue for something that could get you killed, I couldn't have gone through with it, Sasuke. And I had to go through with it."
"Then you should have fought harder to find a middle ground instead of taking the coward's way out!"
A cramp seized Sasuke's abdomen, sharp enough to double him over. His hand flew to his stomach. He sucked air through his teeth and held it.
"Shit." Naruto was around the couch in an instant. "Are you–"
"Don’t even think about coming near me." Sasuke forced himself upright, one hand still pressed to his belly. His breathing was uneven. "You don't get to comfort me. Not when you're the one who hurt me."
Naruto stopped, hands raised, every muscle in his body screaming to close the distance. "Okay, I’ll stay here but you need to calm down. This isn't good for the baby."
"How dare you try to use the baby against me! This isn’t about them. It’s about you not having faith in me."
Another cramp hit, worse than the first. Sasuke gasped. His knees buckled and he had to brace himself against the wall. His face had gone white.
"Sasuke, please." Naruto's voice was barely holding together. "I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you. But please, right now I need you to calm down."
“Don’t tell me what to do, you have done enough of that alr–Ahhh” he doubled over again, clenching his stomach with both arms, tears falling from his eyes at the pain.
"Calm down." Naruto threw every bit of power he could behind the command.
The cramping eased as Sasuke’s body surrendered to the command, the tension bleeding out of him as quickly as it came. Sasuke slid to the ground against the wall, his breathing evening out.
Naruto formed a hand seal. A clone appeared beside him.
"Get Tsunade-baa-chan."
The clones saluted before making his way towards the door.
Naruto crossed the room slowly, crouching down in front of Sasuke, but not touching.
"Can I help you to the couch? You'd be more comfortable there."
Sasuke looked at him before giving a sharp nod.
Naruto helped him up carefully, one arm around his waist, bearing most of his weight. Sasuke let him, but his body was rigid. Naruto settled him onto the couch and stepped back.
"Are you still feeling any pain?"
Sasuke shook his head, hand resting on his belly. “No. It’s stopped now … do you think the baby’s okay.”
“I’m sure they are. The old lady will be here soon and then you can stop worrying.”
Naruto sat on the couch beside him, leaving space between them despite the desperate need to pull his mate into his arms.
Tsunade burst through the front door less than ten minutes later.
"What happened this time?" She was already moving toward the sitting room, medical bag over one shoulder. "I swear I'm going to start charging you two double."
"We had a fight." Sasuke's voice was flat. "I had some cramping."
"It was bad," Naruto added from the far end of the couch. "I had to command him to calm down."
Tsunade knelt in front of Sasuke without comment, her hands already glowing green as she pressed them to his stomach. Her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Cramping at this stage can be dangerous. On a scale of one to ten, how bad was the pain?"
"A Seven." Sasuke was watching her hands. "Is the baby okay?"
Chakra flowed steadily as she worked. With each passing second, the anxiety of the soon-to-be parents grew, their breaths caught in their throats as they waited for any sign that the baby was okay. Tsunade wasn’t helping, her face remained unreadable as she concentrated.
After what felt like an eternity she finally spoke.
"The baby is fine. No lingering signs of distress." She said at last pulling her hands back, the glow fading. "The most likely cause was an adrenaline surge. Your body flooded the baby with it and put it under stress. The command would have dropped your adrenaline almost instantly, which is why the cramping stopped."
"Do we need to do anything?" Naruto asked.
"Rest. A few days at least, and proper sleep." She reached into her bag and set a small bottle on the coffee table. "I'm leaving some sleeping pills, but we don't know how the pregnancy will react to them, so I'd be cautious. Honestly, I'd prefer a command from Naruto. With a mated pair there are no side effects to worry about and your omega would take comfort in it."
She stood, brushing off her knees.
“Naruto, walk me to the door”.
Tsunade paused on the threshold, her voice dropping low enough that it wouldn't carry to the sitting room. "Whatever that fight was about, resolve it quickly. Stress like this is dangerous for both of them."
Naruto nodded.
She held his gaze for a beat longer than necessary, then left.
Naruto stood at the door for a moment before making his way back to the couch. Sasuke was rubbing his belly in slow circles, staring at nothing.
"Can I carry you to bed?"
"I can walk."
Sasuke pushed himself up from the couch. He swayed slightly and Naruto's hands came up on instinct but didn't touch. Sasuke steadied himself against the armrest and moved down the hall without looking back.
Naruto followed. He crawled onto his side of the bed, leaving the space between them untouched. Sasuke lay facing the wall, one hand still resting on his stomach.
"Is there anything I can do to make this better?"
"...I just need some space." Sasuke's voice was quiet. "It's hard to be around you right now."
"I can do that." Naruto's voice cracked on the second word. "Whenever you're ready. I'll be here."
Sasuke nodded into his pillow.
"Do you want the sleeping pill?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke didn't answer right away.
"No…You can do the command."
"Okay." Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper. "I love you so much. Now Sleep."
Sasuke's breathing slowed. The tension draining out of his shoulders, his hand going slack against his belly. Within seconds he was under, deep and dreamless.
Naruto stared at him for what felt like an eternity, before going to get ready for bed himself.
[end chapter]