The Agreement

Just to clarify from last chapter, people noticed that Sasuke had noted: Waking up tangled up against Naruto's naked body had made his libido want to ignore three very important things one) he really should let Naruto sleep so that both their bodies could rest two) fucking Naruto while he was asleep would be like raping him – again. The third thing that Sasuke mentions isn't until towards the end of the chapter: Upon waking up that morning, the third thing that had kept Sasuke’s libido from taking over and jumping Naruto had been the sound of Hinata's quiet, heart-breaking sobs.

Thank you to the people who wanted to make sure I had counted correctly.

Special thank you to darkalbino. Your review made me crack up laughing. :-)


The Agreement

Chapter 25: So Many Questions

Awkward didn't even begin to describe the feeling in the kitchen as Hinata began to fix some more tea for Naruto and Sasuke. Clearly she had heard the two of them the night before, and Sasuke's conscious was finally starting to get to him. He had asked Hinata to help him, but neither of them had ever discussed what would happen if Naruto really decided to stay with them. There had been an almost silent agreement between the two of them that Naruto would be shared. They hadn’t talked about what would happen if Naruto only wanted one of them. Sasuke had always assumed that Naruto would respond to him physically. Naruto’s physical attraction to Hinata had been pushed to the back of his mind.

In all honesty, out of everyone, Sasuke would be okay sharing Naruto sexually with Hinata. Her love for him was so potent, and she had given birth to Naruto's children. Hell, she had given birth to his children. While Sasuke often times thought of the fact that Hinata had given birth to Naruto's children, he rarely put emphasis on the fact that she had also given birth to his children as well. The children were all of theirs.

And while Naruto didn’t appear to want Hinata physically, it was obvious he cared about her a lot which was made even clearer by the fact that Naruto looked rather guilty and ashamed at the moment. Sasuke truly hoped Naruto wasn't regretting last night, even if Naruto did feel bad for hurting Hinata’s feelings. It would be a bad thing if Naruto felt so ashamed that he went back to Sakura. Actually, Naruto leaving for Sakura would be beyond a bad thing because if Naruto left now, Sasuke doubted he’d return.

Hell, Sasuke would rather spend the rest of his life celibate, watching Naruto and Hinata having sex than to have Naruto go back to Sakura. With this revelation, Sasuke idly wondered if perhaps he had more of a grudge against Sakura than he ought to. After all, Sakura was the only other person that seemed to rival Sasuke in the role of important people in Naruto's life, so perhaps Sasuke was still too set on the whole must dominate, defeat, humiliate, and annihilate any and all opponents. Nah.

Hinata's sweet voice made Sasuke realize more time had passed than his mind had registered as she announced that the tea was ready. She poured their tea, and the action reminded Sasuke of his own mother, and his guilt began to grow.

"This is a tea that will help with sore muscles," Hinata said quietly. Sasuke and Naruto both blushed, and Sasuke's guilt built even more. She was making them tea for sore muscles because she worried that they had strained themselves having sex.

If he hadn't known Hinata as well as he did, he would have called her weak for not fighting more for Naruto. But Sasuke knew Hinata well enough to know that she actually had to be very strong in order to be so kind, overlooking her own wants in order to make the one she loved happy. It took a lot of emotional strength to be able to look past certain types of pain to bring someone else joy.

"Will you be staying with us-us Naruto? Us-us and the quads?" Hinata asked hesitantly as she poured her own cup of tea. It was heart breaking to hear the way she hesitated with the word “us” as though she wasn't sure that she got included in the equation. Her tone distracted Sasuke for a moment, and it took him a moment to realize that Hinata had asked the question that Sasuke wanted to know above everything else. Who would Naruto choose as his family?

Naruto, who had been about ready to take a sip (or in true Naruto style, more likely a gulp) of tea, hesitated for just half a second. Sasuke didn’t even realize he had stopped breathing as he waited for Naruto to speak.

"Of course," Naruto said. Sasuke watched Naruto blow on his tea before taking a gulp, watching the muscles in Naruto's throat move as he swallowed.

"I'm glad to hear it," Hinata said, smiling, truly sounding glad.

It took a minute for Sasuke to fully register Naruto’s response and start breathing again.

Somehow, some part of Sasuke felt he had become disconnected from his body. He knew that Naruto had just agreed to stay with them – after Hinata had asked him oh so nonchalantly – and Naruto was just sitting there swallowing his tea while Hinata smiled at him politely. It just didn't seem to fit.

Sasuke felt as though Naruto ought to be loudly professing that he would never want to leave them or the quads, being loud and boisterous as possible in true Naruto style. There were things that were Naruto style, like taking gulps instead of sips. Life changing events came with exclamations and over-exaggerated body gestures, not a calm of course.

Perhaps Naruto was just still feeling a bit guilty, but why didn't he look like it any more? Why did Hinata seem to have gotten completely over the fact that she had obviously heard the two of them pounding up against each other like there was no tomorrow, sitting there smiling like she didn't have a care in the world when she had clearly been upset that morning?

"What about Sakura?" Sasuke blurted out, sounding bitter. Naruto seemed taken aback at Sasuke's affronted tone.

"I love Sakura. I probably always will, but, well, I don't think I can be with her any more, not after I thought about it."

Sasuke couldn’t believe his ears. Naruto changed his mind, just like that?

"If Sakura ever wanted to, she could move in here with u-us," Hinata suggested quietly, once again stumbling on that little word. Naruto shook his head.

"I don't think so. Just doesn't seem like she would be happy here. It'd be too cruel for her," Naruto noted thoughtfully.

"Well, let her know the offer stands," Hinata said quietly.

"I will," Naruto promised.

"You already have a lot of things here at our place. We can set you up wherever you like," Hinata's quiet voice noted thoughtfully.

Sasuke truly couldn't believe his ears. The two of them were talking about everything as though they had everything all planned out. Everything was fine. Nothing was out of place. Everything would be absolutely perfect. After everything that Sasuke had gone through to get to this point, it was going fast and smooth. It didn’t feel right.

"The quads will be so happy to have you here all the time. They always ask about you when you're not here. It will be so nice for them to see you even more," Hinata explained.

"Yeah, I do really miss them when I'm not here," Naruto agreed, smiling gently back at Hinata.

Sasuke finally slammed his fists on the table, jostling the cups of tea, making the liquids slosh dangerously close to slopping out over the edge. Naruto and Hinata looked at Sasuke, shocked at his behavior.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Sasuke demanded angrily.

"Sasuke, what’s the matter?" Hinata asked, her white eyes wide and concerned.

"The two of you are acting like everything's perfect! Like everything's going to be wonderful. Naruto's going to move in here no problem even though he's still married to Sakura. Naruto," Sasuke said, turning to look at his beloved, "you chased after Sakura for years, years, and now after just two nights you're just dropping her like it's nothing? And Hinata," Sasuke said, turning to look at Hinata incredulously, "I know you heard the two of us last night having sex, and here you are, acting all cheery like it doesn't hurt you to look at us this morning when you love Naruto and wanted to be there having sex with him instead!"

Hinata flinched at Sasuke's words, and Naruto just looked stunned.

"Sasuke-" Naruto said, cutting off after his name as though not sure what else to say with shock and pain laced thickly in his voice.

"Why are you so upset? Isn't this what you wanted?" Hinata asked confused. Sasuke turned to look at the woman who had mothered his children, trying to curb his anxiousness and confusion at how easily things were falling into place. It just didn’t feel right after everything that had happened. He spoke much more calmly this time.

"But how can you be happy with this? This isn't what you wanted. And," Sasuke said, once again turning to look at Naruto, "it just seems unlike you to give Sakura up without a fight. Not to mention it seems foolish to think that she will give you up without fighting for you."

Even so, Hinata was right. It was what he wanted. Naruto moving in with them. Sakura out of the picture. Having Naruto sexually all to himself, yet having Hinata there with them as they raised the quads together.

It was what he wanted. Yet why did he feel so damned guilty about the whole thing? Why didn't what he want feel right? Why, when everything seemed suddenly to come to him so easily, couldn't he just let it come to him easily?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing. Sasuke relaxed slightly. That was a look that screamed Naruto, and it made Sasuke feel better.

"I-" Sasuke began, but stopped abruptly upon hearing a cry from one of the quads from upstairs. And if one started to cry and woke the others up, it was only a matter of time before –

Other cries began to join with the first one.

"You bastard. You probably woke them up," Naruto said angrily, and Sasuke was taken aback at the cold way that Naruto swept past him and up the steps. Half a moment later, Hinata began to move past him as well.

"Hinata," Sasuke said, catching her firmly but gently on the wrist. She paused, but didn't turn to look at him. "I didn't want you to get hurt," Sasuke tried to explain.

"I expected this in the end," Hinata whispered. Sasuke clenched his teeth together. It made it sound like she had known he would hurt her.

"I always thought you would be involved. I didn't intend to just-" Sasuke said, getting angry at Hinata. He tried to calm himself, knowing that he had no right to be angry with her, but she had every right to be angry with him.

"I never thought I would be involved. Even though you seemed to think so. I always knew that it would end up just the two of you."

"What?" Sasuke asked. Hinata finally turned to face him, her emotions clear in her eyes. She seemed sad, somehow, but not angry. And, like before, she seemed glad.

"You know, you're not the only one that realized that you two would be good together," Hinata said. "I've watched Naruto-kun since he was younger. You were his entire drive growing up. Having you as a rival to try and beat gave him something to focus on, a goal that he wanted more than anything to achieve. He claimed that he just wanted to beat you, but what he really wanted was for you to notice him. You, just you. When other people started to recognize Naruto for whom he was, he still wanted your notice. When you left-"

Sasuke suppressed a cringe. He always hated thinking about that period of his life.

"-he was obsessed with getting you back. All of his other dreams were put on hold. All he wanted was to make sure that you came back. And then you came back, and I’ve never seen him so truly happy. After watching him all these years has made me wonder if perhaps the thing he fears the most is you not being around any more. He would do anything to keep you around, and I think Naruto just doesn't know that that means he loves you more than he loves anyone else. I want him to be happy, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep him that way. B-but, if you ever hurt Naruto-kun from now on, I'll h-hurt you."

Sasuke didn't bother to stop Hinata as she pulled her wrist from his hand and slowly walked by him. He allowed her words to settle in, wondering how her parting threat seemed to be all the more threatening with her stuttering through it. Perhaps because he knew that she meant it if she were so nervous to stutter it out.

Her threat was pushed to the back of his mind as he registered everything else that she had told him. Hinata had seen things that Sasuke had always clutched onto: evidence that he felt proved that Naruto really cared about him more than anyone else. The fact that Hinata had latched onto the same things made Sasuke feel slightly elated. She'd never told him any of this before, never let on that she expected to be partly left out of the picture.

Perhaps she had been holding onto her own hope that Naruto would want her. Sasuke knew how she felt.

He looked through the kitchen door to the living room, seeing the bottom of the steps at the other side of the room. Hinata wasn’t like Sakura. She truly wouldn’t fight him unless he was hurting Naruto. He shouldn’t have expected her to get confrontational; it just wasn’t her.

And now, after years, Sasuke had what he wanted. Not just Naruto, but a family with Naruto. Hinata was part of that family now too. Maybe all Hinata had ever wanted was to be part of the family. She wasn’t like Sasuke where he had to have all of it; not just Naruto in his life, but Naruto as his. At the end, it seemed like it had come too fast, too easy. After all those years of planning, having everything right in front of him seemed too good to be true. Nothing could be that perfect. Something had to be off.

And then it hit Sasuke what he hadn't factored into the equation.

"Shit. Neji and Hiashi." Sasuke groaned. How the hell was he going to explain everything to them? He had a feeling they wouldn’t be as understanding as Hinata. In fact, he had a feeling they’d be downright pissed.


Next Chapter: Facing the In-Laws


Yes, the end is drawing near! One more chapter and then the Epilogue.

Otakon brief: I had a lot of fun at Otakon this year. On Saturday I dressed up as the “censored punk version” of sexy no jutsu. A few people asked to see my picture. Once I get around to it, I’ll post it on my Fanfiction dot Net profile.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

~ Jelp