Forgive me before I die

2: Grounded?

Sasuke had already noticed the chakra infused cord around his neck and wrists, and he knew that it meant that they would know instantly if he began to move. The raven-haired man tugged his hands behind his head as he continued to stare out the window from where he was lying on the bed.

He had stayed like this since Tsunade had left the room about an hour or so ago. The Uchiha was so consumed in his thoughts that he didn´t notice that someone was approaching the room.

A soft knock on the door before it was opened brought him back to reality. He turned his gaze to the door and felt his heart almost stop beating as he watched Kakashi and a certain blonde enter the room.

“Welcome back to the world of the living, Uchiha-san.” Sasuke felt a great sadness well up inside of him as Naruto used the formal tone. His beautiful voice was so cold and drained from emotion; so not like the blonde that Sasuke remembered from the past.

“… Naruto?”

“How are you feeling?” Naruto dragged a chair next to Sasuke´s bed and sat down on it. Kakashi took a stand behind his Hokage.

“… The wounds on my body have healed, if that´s what you mean.”

“I´m glad to hear that.” Naruto said. There was no warmth or care to be detected in his voice.
“Why did you come here, Sasuke?”

“I had something I needed to tell you before I were to die, Dobe.”

“Guard your tongue, Sasuke!” Kakashi told the raven.

“It´s alright, Kakashi… He doesn´t know yet, Baa-chan didn´t tell him.” The blonde explained.

“… What don´t I know? Why has everything changed so damn much since I left?” The Uchiha hissed in confusion.

“Well, life went on without you, Sasuke. People grow and things change. That´s the way things work.” Naruto said calmly.

“Naruto was accepted as Tsunade-san´s successor a year ago. He is the Rokudaime, Sasuke-kun.” The copy-nin told him.

“… You´re the new Hokage? Then you´re the one… the one that saved me? And you have learned healing jutsus from Tsunade…”

“Yes, that is correct. I was never as talented as Sakura nee-chan though.” The blonde told him, with a small smile creeping onto his lips. It made Sasuke feel so much better now that the dobe was looking more like his old self.

“Why did you save my life, Naruto-sama?” The Uchiha decided that he should better show some respect for the man he secretly loved.

“Naruto will do, Sasuke. I saved you, because the guard that found you told me that you kept on asking to see me. I wanted to find out why?”

“…Oh, I see.” The Uchiha stared down at his hand that rested in his lap. “I have come with important information… about the Akatsuki, Itachi and I need to tell you why I left in the first place.”

“… Why did you wait till now? Why did you have to wait to return till you were on the verge of death?” The silver-haired nin asked. “Do you know how hard both Sakura and Naruto worked on you to save your life?”

“I needed to be sure that the things I suspected were real… I needed confirmation that Itachi was under the influence of Uchiha Madara as he killed our clan. That Madara somehow got control over the nine-tailed fox and made it attack Konoha twenty-three years ago.” Sasuke had to stop to breathe. “That he´s still trying to get to Naruto to get his hands on the Kyuubi.”

“What?” Naruto asked. He was surprised to hear so much information from the Uchiha at once.

“I had to get strong enough for Itachi; to beat him, to free him from the control that Madara had on him. As I finally succeeded, he told me everything. Itachi is trying to gather more information as we speak.”

“I see. So your brother was under the control of Uchiha Madara all along. What about the Kyuubi? How are they planning to get it from Naruto?” Kakashi asked.

“That´s what we are trying to find out… I wanted to come sooner but… Orochimaru-“

“Hokage-sama!” An ANBU materialized himself next to the blonde. “An urgent message from team four.” The man with the painted mask handed the Rokudaime the scroll and left the same way he had entered.

“Excuse me for a second.” Naruto nodded at Kakashi who nodded back, as he rose to his feet and turned to leave the room.

“You can let her meet him now if you like, Kakashi. She´s been anxious to meet the Teme all day, I´ll be right back and you better behave in front of her, Sasuke.” The blonde Kage formed the seals for a transportation jutsu and was gone.

“…Her?” Sasuke asked. Who was this her and why was everything so damn confusing?

~ # ~

Naruto materialized himself in the middle of his office. Tsunade, who was working on depleting his stash of Saké, looked at him strangely.

“What is wrong, gaki? Is the Uchiha acting up?”

“No, he´s rather cooperative for once. He´s got a lot of classified information on the Akatsuki, the Uchiha clan massacre and the Kyuubi, but I tell you about that later.” Naruto told her. “I have just received note from Neji´s team.”

He opened the sealed scroll and read the message before he passed it on to the former Hokage. She read it twice before sighing.

“You know what this means, right?” She asked him.

“Yeah, Sasuke killed Orochimaru and nearly lost his life in the fight… Do you think that I can trust him?”

“I don´t know, kid. You´re the Hokage now and you´re the one who wants to take him home with you, not me.”

“Hmmm tough decision. Yes, I want him to stay at my place instead of at the hospital. He needs space and loves to be outside. I´m in control with the ´Nekkuresu no Hokaku`. He won´t be able to run off or hurt anyone… but he´ll be able to feel more like a free man, and if what he tells me is true… he really is a free man and a hero to our nation.”

The busty woman looked at her successor with a growing smile. ´He loves the bastard more than he wants anyone to know.`

“So tell me… what kind of information did the Uchiha share with you?”

~ # ~

“Tai-chan, you can enter now,” Kakashi opened the door and called out to the young girl who ran into the silver-haired man´s open arms. He lifted her from the floor and carried her to the chair that her father had been sitting on just a few minutes ago.

“Who is this?” Sasuke asked as he had watched in silence till the girl was sitting on the chair; looking around in the room, as if she was looking for someone.

“O-jiisan? Where is tou-san?” The blonde girl asked the copy-nin. Sasuke´s coal-black eyes grew wide as she asked for her father. ´Can it be… can it be that this child is… is...`

“Well, your daddy had to go to his office he had some urgent business to attend to.”

“Oh, o-k!” She flashed her brightly white teeth at him, and then turned her attention to the Uchiha.

“Hi, you must be the friend that tou-san talked so much about!” She extended a small hand towards the raven; who hesitantly took it and shook it. He wasn´t sure how to act around the lively child… but she reminded him so much of the one he came here to meet so he decided to try to be… nice.

“Sasuke, this little bundle of energy is Taiyô.” The girl looked up at Kakashi as he mentioned her name. “She is Naruto´s five-year old daughter! Taiyô, this is indeed Naruto´s old friend Uchiha Sasuke.”

“… Naruto´s… daughter?”

“Hi Sasuke-san. Don´t worry about being scolded by tou-san, he´s not going to be angry for long.” She told him. “If you behave really nice, you´ll be able to play with you friends again soon!”

“… What do you mean?” A slightly confused Sasuke asked the girl. ´Play with my friends? Do I look like a child?`

“She thinks that Naruto is going to ground you because you misbehaved and the punishment is normally to be grounded.” The copy-nin chuckled with a whisper.

“Hn!” The Uchiha said.

“Can I sit on the bed with you? This chair is really uncomfortable.” The blue-eyed girl asked.

“... Sure, Taiyô…chan.” Sasuke mumbled. ´She acts as if she feels comfortable around me… just like Naruto did when we first meet… Say if Naruto has a kid… then who´s the mother? Is he married? And to whom? Sakura?` Sasuke felt his heart sting at the thought of his two former teammates together.

Though… the child didn´t look like the pink-haired medic at all or any off the other women he knew that the blonde were close with.

“Is it true that you have known my tou-san since you were kids?” She asked with great interest.

“… Yes, I have known Naruto since we were at the academy together here in Konoha.”

“Cool, so you´re best friends then? He has told me so much about your adventures together.”

“Really, he did? You could say that we´re best friends” Sasuke was surprised to hear that Naruto had told his daughter about him and their past. ´Maybe he still considers me as his friend… maybe there is still hope.`

“… Say, if Naruto is your father… then who´s your mother? Is it Sakura?” He wasn´t sure if he wanted to hear the answer if the answer was Sakura.

“Sakura-obaachan is having o-jiichan´s baby!” She told him as if he should have known about Kakashi and Sakura. “No, my mom died last year.” The girl told him.

“… I´m sorry.” Sasuke looked from the girl who just smiled at him to Kakashi. He felt both bad and happy. He felt sad for her because she had lost her mother… it was never a good thing to lose a parent. He was happy though, that Sakura wasn´t with Naruto and that she wasn´t single either.

“You and Sakura-chan? Since when and how far along is she?” Sasuke was surprised by his own growing curiosity; he just couldn´t help to ask.

“Four years in May. We got married two years ago in June. ” Kakashi answered the Uchiha with a surprised look in his visible eye, since when did the Uchiha show interest in anyone except himself?

“Sakura has just entered the fifth month and is getting rather big. She used a lot of chakra as she and Naruto healed you… she will visit you once she is back to her old self.” He smirked beneath his mask as she saw the startled look on the raven´s face.

“Is she… alright?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah, she´ll be fine in a few days. It has been very nice and peaceful, so I should probably thank you, Sasuke. The mood swings and her enormous power have been giving me a hard time.” The copy-nin said. `It´s a good sign that he shows interest in our lives, though I don´t really trust his motives… is he only doing this to gather information on us?`

“Are you complaining again, sensei?”

They turned their attention to the man who had just appeared behind them. Taiyô squealed and ran to her father, who picked her up with a huge smile on his face.

Sasuke felt strange as he saw the blonde kiss his daughter on the forehead and lifted her up high in the air while the girl cheered happily.

´What was I thinking… of course he wanted a family. He´s twenty-three and so lovable, how could I even believe that he would want to spend his life chasing after me… that he would long for me… as much as I long for him.`

“I don´t complain, Naruto, I just tell Sasuke about the facts.”

“And what facts are those?” The blonde grinned at his former sensei.

“That pregnant women are dangerous!” The copy-nin said.

“Well, THAT is a fact! Kanae was really moody when she was pregnant with Tai-chan.” He chuckled and hugged his beloved daughter before putting her back down on the chair.

“When are we going home?” Tai asked her father. “I want to show Sasuke-ojisan (Ojisan = uncle) my room!” Sasuke eyes darted from the girl to Naruto with surprise.

´Ojisan… She really is Naruto´s daughter… a big heart and no people skills.., if she only knew what I have done to her father in the past… she would probably hate me. ` He thought. He was surprised to feel that he didn´t want the girl to hate him… it felt good to hear such friendly words from the young girl… if only Naruto would be this forgiving… but that would be to mush to hope for, wasn´t it?

“I just need to talk to Sasuke alone first, k. Why don´t you ask Kakashi if he wants to buy you some ice-cream and we’ll be right there.”

He waved at his daughter and Kakashi as the child dragged the silver-haired man towards the exit; to get ice-cream.

“You´re not going to throw me in jail?” Sasuke asked coldly when they were alone. He didn´t have the luxury to show his real emotions, as they could be used against him.

“Nope. If what you say is true and due to the information I just received… I think it´ll be safer and more comfortable for you to stay at my house, if you agree to follow my rules!” Naruto turned to face the Uchiha and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

“You defeated Orochimaru, didn´t you, Sasuke?”

“Yes, I didn´t want to give up on my body, I never did. I used Orochimaru to gain strength and to get the information I needed to find Itachi.” The raven said. ´He saves my dying ass, listens to what I have to say, let me meet his cute… eh…little daughter and now… he offers me to stay at his home… Does that mean that he understand what I was trying to do? That I did what I did to save him, my brother and Konoha? I have to do whatever I can, to repay everything he´s doing for me. My life is his, now and for eternity.`

“I know things have changed a lot and you´re probably still tired from the battle and the surgery. I´m sure that you´ll recover faster if you stay with me and Tai-chan.” Naruto leaned forward and looked seriously at the Uchiha.

“What are the rules?” Sasuke asked.

“It´s simple really. Don´t try something stupid or I´ll kick your ass. Be nice to Tai-chan, don´t make a mess and try not to break anything. I can´t allow you to go outside the gates and fences that surrounds my land… but you can use the entire house and the garden, we even have a small pond.” Naruto told him.

“I´m grounded then?” The Uchiha couldn´t help a small smirk to crawl onto his lips.

“Grounded?” The blonde Kage lifted a golden eyebrow at the reaven´s question.

“Your daughter told me that you´d probably ground me and that I should be nice to be forgiven.”

“She said that?” Naruto smiled. “Sounds like her. Yes, you´re grounded Sasuke, and good behavior would be nice.”

“Naruto, what are the chakra chains on my neck and wrists for? Is it there to punish me with some kind of pain if I don´t do as the Hokage wants?”

“Don´t mock me, Sasuke. The leash is not going to inflict pain on you, it is merely prevents you from hurting anyone or run off again. The council demands that I keep you under surveillance and the chakra leash is only detectable by four people in Konoha. Kakashi who is my back-up. Baa-chan because she is treating you. Yourself who is bound by it and me… who is the only one who can release you from it, Teme.”

“Alright Naruto, I can live with that.” Sasuke told the blonde. “… Thank you… for saving me.” He whispered. It was hard to thank anyone… he always acted like a cold prick; it was a lot easier to be hated and stay alone and don´t feel the pain of losing what you loved the most. But he didn´t want to be alone and unloved anymore.

He had faced death and had felt so alone and lost… he wanted Naruto to know what he really felt and that he appreciated what he was doing for him.

He hated small spaces and to be locked up inside them. He had hated it when the snake-bastard had locked him up in the dungeon to punish him or experiment on him. Sasuke loved the blue sky… it always seemed to remind him of the person he loved the most.

“Hey, I know how fond you are of the blue sky, nature and fresh air, Teme.” Naruto said. “Come on. Get dressed and may I suggest that you use a Henge to hide your true self as only a few people know that you´re here. I don´t feel like explaining why you´re here and walking around without chains, binding seals and a shit load of ANBU to guard your ass.”

Sasuke crawled out of bed and Naruto threw him the clothes that he had bought for the teme, as Sasuke´s clothes had been too torn and bloody to save. Besides that; Naruto didn´t want to see his former teammate walk around in a Sound uniform here in Konoha.

He looked at the clothes that Naruto had picked for him with a smirk; Black pants, similar to the ones the jounins´ wore. A dark blue t-shirt, a black sweatshirt with a hood and a huge white swirl on the back, black sandals and black bracers.

“Is everything o-k?” Naruto asked casually as the Uchiha just kept on staring at the white swirl on the back of the shirt.

“Hn… What? Yeah, it´s fine! Did you pick this out?”

“Yeah, Tai helped me as Kakashi still prefers to read the new Icha Icha Paradise, volume twelve. Tsunade swears that he´s referring to some of the passes he made on her before she finally gave in and moved in with Jiraiya.”

“Tsunade and Jiraiya? I guess I have missed a lot of things.” Sasuke whispered. “I never knew that you got a girlfriend and a child. I guess Orochimaru hid a lot of things for me.”

“Or maybe you were just too consumed with power and revenge, Sasuke.” Naruto said coldly.
“Kanae was my wife. She was killed last year by hired nuke nin. Taiyô barely survived.” He told the raven with heartbreaking sadness in his voice.

“I´m sorry for your loss, Naruto.”

“It´s fine. The guilty ones have been punished a long time ago… life goes on. There is no point in living in the past, Sasuke. Come. Let us pick up my little sunflower and go home.”

´Home… yes, I would like to live with you and your daughter…Forever.` Sasuke thought as he slipped on the black hoodie before changing his appearance with the Henge no jutsu, and followed the blonde to the streets of Konoha.

TBC

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