Disguised Curses

Hello! I'm back with a double update!!!!!  I don't do them often, but I was truly working both chapters at the same time, as the muse struck. I finished this chapter about three days ago and held out until I could finish the next one. I figured y'all wouldn't mind.

Please note 'Disguised Curses: Outtakes' will be getting a new chapter. That will have notes of its own that MUST be read, and ought to be read after the next chapter. I am also debating a little TLC for the next update after this double. Depends on the movement of characters; this story is for plot, not smut, and should be treated accordingly. *wink wink*



Thanks, as always, to all my readers, and double to the solitary reviewer for the last update. Djargo: of course. Yes, a little. And hope you enjoy this chunk of fic.



On and up!!







 

Chapter 46

 

 

Tsunade tosses back the dregs of tea from her cup and frowns at the brilliant bars of sunlight filtering through the window. It is too bright for her mood, when she has far too much on her plate already. Of course, even in chaos the world is bound to keep going around in circles, the sun keeps rising and falling, and life continues. It is up to her and the people of the village to make sure Konoha keeps up with the rhythm of life.

“Shizune.” The woman pauses on her path from the side office toward the outer door, turning to her mentor. “The morning reports. Any changes?”

“Sakura Haruno is covering this morning’s shift at the hospital. She inferred that she would be willing to stay the day unless you needed her for any missions. No changes in the patrol reports,” Shizune gestures pointedly at a pile of scrolls. “And I believe those need your attention. Everything else has been quiet.”

Tsunade sighs. ‘Quiet’ was always a mixed blessing this early in the morning. It usually meant her day was going to get progressively busier. She reaches for a scroll at the top of the pile, intent on getting anything that has to be signed taken care of immediately.

“And there’s a summons on the window behind you.”

The door closes behind Shizune as she leaves, her parting words making Tsunade turn in the chair. A small black and grey snake is curled on the windowsill, a scrap of cloth dangling from its jaws. The Uchiha clan symbol mars the material. Tsunade relieves the snake of it.

“My master requests a meeting. He says it is important but not an emergency, and it can wait until you have enough time to spare for personal matters.” The soft sibilants make the words flow together, but not so much it can’t be understood. It waits, patient and uncaring of that patience, as if the whole world could pass before it would move. She’s seen the damage a snake that patient could do.

She glances to the desk, keeping the summons in the corner of her vision as she assesses how long it would take to do the morning’s pile demanding her attention. “Tell your master he is welcome to come by in no more than an hour.” Any longer than that and someone else would take her time, she knows, regardless of whether she’s gotten this part of her duties done. “But he should give me another fifteen minutes, at least. Plenty enough time for him to walk, I’m sure.” Her sarcasm is lost on the snake, which merely nods, a strangely human gesture on that body, and slithers away.

Tsunade closes the window firmly and turns back to her paperwork, not daring to debate with herself about what the Uchiha would consider important enough to pre-request her attention and still not be an emergency. His brother, perhaps, but not likely. It would most likely have to do with him, or Naruto. Or the both of them.

 

 

*****

 

Nearly half an hour later there’s a firm knock on her door, and she calls out without looking up from another whining note from a council head demanding she find a way to solve the most recent chaos stirred up from the Hyuga incident. She shoves it away. The village is hers to manage, regardless of how much influence the council tries to abuse, and she is cleaning up the lingering effects of the disaster as fast as possible.

Sasuke steps in first, but he only nods to her before he moves to the side, and both Hinata and Naruto follow in his wake. She doesn’t miss the way the men purposefully put Hinata between them, or the way Naruto seems to stay tense. He usually has no problem relaxing in the solitude of her office, providing he’s not already angry or stressed.

“Please tell me you at least left shadow clones behind to cover your part of the patrols.”

“Several, one shadowing Hanabi and three on perimeter patrol. The rest are available as needed.” Naruto shrugs, and Tsunade lets the matter drop. She knows Naruto could make a hundred clones and not run out of chakra, not dent it even slightly. She’s more concerned about the three of them showing up together in her office.

“So. What’s the important issue today?” She can think of several topics, most individual to each of them. There’s only a few that could stretch to all of them and be considered immediately important. All of those options are like exploding tags just waiting to go off.

There’s a moment where all of them look at each other, the last a lingering look between Naruto and Hinata, and Tsunade braces herself against the gut-dropping feeling of impending doom.

Hinata starts, weaving words calmly but simply, telling about accusations and slurs about herself and the relationship she has with these men. Comments made by her father and clan elders, ones that Tsunade can see affect Naruto just in the retelling. He’s twitchy, and not in any good way.

But it’s in- clan business, and she has no problem pointing that out when Hinata finishes. “I let the clans take care of personal business as much as possible. If it’s not a threat to the safety of this village, the Hokage is supposed to leave such matters alone.”

“I will not-!”

“Naruto.”

The voices cut each other off like clashing kunai, Naruto’s irritated tones chopped short by Sasuke’s smooth, cold voice. Tsunade has the intuition to watch the two of them closely, and is rewarded with the sight of Naruto baring his teeth in something that cannot be called a smile. Sasuke tips his head and bares a line of his throat, but there’s no submission in his eyes. The  two men stare each other down, violence a promising echo in their bodies.

But Hinata moves from between them, reaches up to wrap her arms around Naruto’s chest as she curls one tanned arm around her shoulder. Another second ticks past and then Naruto wraps Hinata into both arms, the tension melting from his body. The look he levels at Sasuke isn’t any nicer, contrasting with the gentle reproach on Hinata’s.

It’s only been a handful of seconds, but more than enough interaction that Tsunade is suddenly much more aware of how these three work. And it does work, atypical as it is, but she can see how people might infer there’s something more between them than two best friends and an engaged couple. She can’t see any sexual tension between Hinata and Sasuke, but there’s too much fluidity for this to be completely new to any of them. “What do you want from me?”

“A legal way to tell the village to fuck off and leave us alone to live our lives as we see fit.” Sasuke has not broken eye contact with Naruto, but the tension is nearly gone. He smiles, a lop-sided gesture that looks resigned. “I would become an Uzumaki if that’s what it takes.”

There’s a choked whimper at those words; Hinata’s eyes are wide with shock and Naruto is staring boldly, edged in wonder. Whatever aggression and irritation had been leftover from moments before is now gone. Something so simple, a few words, but Tsunade can read the situation from the reactions. Whatever they have talked about, Sasuke taking on Naruto’s surname was not one of the topics.

“I don’t care if you’re in a strict pair or fucking your way around the village.” The crass wording gets their attention, three sets of eyes lock on her. Tsunade continues without hesitation. “Konoha village does not care what weddings are forged within its walls, providing the safety of the inhabitants is undisturbed and things remain consensual. There are regulations for alliance marriages to clans and villages from outside Konoha and the land of Fire, but those do not apply here. Providing all three of you are in agreement and mutually consenting to form an official union in the form of a triad, I cannot hold any judgment as Hokage. However, I will admit that certain members of the village would be more than willing to raise trouble over such a triad forming, given who you are.” She ruffles through her desk for a blank piece of paper and starts drawing, explaining the sketch as it sprawls into three points.

“Uchiha and Hyuga have never been on the best terms, the clans arguing about whose skills are better, which duo-jutsu reigns most supreme. An alliance marriage between the clans could be beneficial, especially considering the current state of the Uchiha clan. However, since Sasuke is known for having gone rogue, regardless of his penance, both the clans and the village elders would be set strongly against it. Maybe, at a stretch, to a lesser branch member; but it is unlikely. Naruto is already well enough known to have claimed the heart of a Hyuga. Regardless of clan pressure, the only serious concern expressed would be about Naruto’s status as jinchuuriki. From what I understand of the current relationship, Hinata has been affording Naruto more control, not less. It is not a difficult match to support. And regardless of however intimate the two of you are,” she gestures between Sasuke and Naruto, a knowing eyebrow raised. “The town will ignore you all the way up until they think Sasuke’s going to lure the Kyuubi’s keeper away or one of you kills the other. All anyone will want is gossip, right up until blood flows.”

“I wouldn’t-”

“I couldn’t!”

The voices nearly meld together, so fast and immediate is their response. But there is a note of raw, raw honesty in Sasuke’s voice, an emphasis Tsunade isn’t sure is for her. Sasuke’s attention is off her, focused on Naruto, and it’s alarming how maskless these three are in this moment. Hinata has a hand on each arm, glancing slowly between them. She holds the control of balance between them, the mediator, the calm force in the storm this relationship could so easily become. Hinata leans into Naruto’s hand as he reaches to cradle her cheek, and the look he passes to Sasuke is full of heat. Tsunade wants to kick them out and tell them to get a room, but she’s far more practical than that.

“Naruto should hold the family surname. It deters people from saying he belongs to any clan but himself, subsumes any political influence so that it falls under his name. It’ll cause a little chaos. But from what I’ve seen today, you three can handle it.” They fall in line, a unified front that has managed to escape this meeting so far. There’s little secret glances between the three of them that really aren’t so secret, and Hinata’s wearing a tiny smile that looks completely, genuinely happy.

“If you really want to make sure no one will dare touch the three of you, Naruto; you should seriously considering taking your father’s name instead of your mother’s maiden name. Kushina Uzumaki was a wonderful woman, but very few would challenge the name Namikaze.”

There’s a long moment of dead silence, where Hinata and Sasuke go pale and Naruto’s eyes widen until he loses his control and simply drops to the floor. He can’t seem to be able to talk, random sounds choking in his throat. Hinata’s at an angle where she can look out the window and see Hokage mountain, and her eyes are flicking from the mountain to Naruto’s face and projecting various amounts of surprise, shock, and then something Tsunade would call pity.

Naruto is still sitting on her floor in shock. If Jiraiya wasn’t already dead Tsunade would kill him herself for putting off telling the boy. He was supposed to make sure Naruto knew everything, updated while they trained together. And now Naruto would have to hear this from her.

“Namikaze. Kushina and Minato Namikaze?”

“The Fourth Hokage, and his wife, yes.”

She’s prepared for an outburst. A meltdown or explosion would be expected right about now, with that look of shock written all over him. Most likely the explosion, and she’s drawing chakra to her fingertips already, anticipating having to knock him unconscious to keep all of them safe.

A sharp keening, the lost puppy sound of total emotional collapse, fills her office. It drops off into a series of broken whimpers, and she releases the chakra in her hands. Sasuke has rushed to wrap his arms around Naruto’s shoulders, makes the other young man lean against him. Tsunade can’t hear the words Sasuke whispers to Naruto. All she knows is that Naruto looks broken, and she can’t do anything about it. There’s no consolation she can offer.

 

****

He’s the Fourth’s son. Child of the man that spared the village from Kyuubi’s rampage. The son of the man who sealed the nine-tails into his body and sacrificed his life in the process. His parents hadn’t left him because they didn’t want him, or because he was jinchuuriki, cursed with the seal and full of the demon. They had died with dozens of other ninja that night, defending the village. And they protected the village by sealing the demon away in him. He can hardly guess as to why they chose him.

But regardless of their intentions, he’d still been left alone, abused, mistreated. He grew up an outcast, an abomination. It wasn’t right. His parents could have protected him if they’d just survived. Or they had used him as a host because they didn’t want him. He was just a tool as a baby, a victim as a boy, a danger as a man.

He isn’t even aware when he starts crying, but the aching hole of lost and alone that had scabbed over has been ripped wide open again. All those times he’d let himself wonder what life would have been like if he’d had a family, and now he he has faces, names. He couldn’t have imagined this to be anything close to real, in a lifetime of wondering. Not this.

Warmth surrounds him, arms holding him close and he gives into the embrace and the need to be held. There is no shame or embarrassment, just momentary escape into the comfort. It takes him too long to register his mate’s scent, longer to figure out the words Sasuke has been murmuring against his ear. He melts, though, centering on Sasuke’s voice, on the soft reassurances.

He has a family. He has mates who love him, who will not betray him. Mates that don’t care if he’s nameless, or if he’s the son of the Fire Lord. They want him because he is Naruto- lover, fighter, friend. It does not matter if he has no clan, or is Uzumaki, or Namikaze. He is theirs, they are his.

It does not matter to him, or them, not between the three of them. But it will matter elsewhere, and the ripples are something he will deal with. Something they will deal with, as a family, regardless of what anyone says. And if the village turns its collective back on them…

If your Council is so blind, come here. You will always be welcome in Suna.

They had a place to retreat to if things went badly. Allies, friends, family; all the things he needs, even if he didn’t really have them when he was a child. He’s still lost, still hurts and sometimes a little lonely, but he’s not alone.

He squirms enough to wrap his arms, one around each of his mates and tips his head toward Hinata to collect her scent. With his mates in his arms and far more confidence than he’s had so far, he stands.

“What do I have to do to claim the Namikaze name, and get us established as a legal couple- threesome, whatever- family?”

He isn’t sure what’s going through Tsunade’s mind; she’s relieved, and a little proud, but Naruto can’t read anything else from her. He can guess why those reactions, of everything, considering the edge of a breakdown he just had, right here. He stands, supported on both sides, and waits to see if judgment falls on him for his moment of weakness.

“Paperwork. Probably some blood work for the records. More paperwork.” She grimaces, and Naruto ignores the half- formed urge to chuckle. He’s known she hates paperwork since the the day he met her. “There will be at least two different forms just for the name change and claiming relationship to such a famous name; no one will deny you look like him but blood will prove it. I can only guess how many will be needed for the marriage before everything is addressed.”  Tsunade paused and offered the trio a warm, sad little smile. “I am sorry you had to find out this way, Naruto.”

Hands squeeze him, Hinata’s against his ribs where she circled them, and Sasuke against his shoulder. Their silent version of support, the close comfort keeping the nasty little demons of childhood at bay. The worries, the hungry hole in his heart; these two have helped him more than he realized before now. Now he is aware, on another level, just how much he needs them. “I’ll be okay. But I think it’s time for a new start.”

“Good.” Tsunade sits back in her chair and offers them a dim smile. “Now time for the embarrassing questions.” The smile grows at the blank looks, until there’s a smirk on her lips and Hinata suddenly blushes. Good, the girl is not so wrapped up in issue number one that she can’t think of everything else on her list of things to address.

“Who actually is getting laid?” The blush crawls down Hinata’s throat, but both young men fix Tsunade with a glare and Naruto actually growls at her. Tsunade lifts both hands in a defensive, supplicating gesture. She may have pushed her luck with that line. “Scratch that. I will assume you three have at least talked about sex and who’s going to be fathering children? I don’t care, personally, as long as it’s all consensual. But certain people will press for the by-lines and extra rules to be upheld. Sasuke, that mostly applies to you.”

Sasuke nods, with a quick glance at Naruto that doesn’t escape anyone’s notice. “If I am no longer Uchiha, then I cannot be rebuilding the clan, can I?” The twist of lips isn’t a smile, it’s bitter and sarcastic and half a dozen other things he doesn’t need to put into words.

Tsunade raises an blonde eyebrow and debates the point. Surely it can be used as a hidden card if anyone gave her more than the token argument she expects for the situation building before her. “For the record, you are still working under the premise of asking permission rather than begging forgiveness.”

Sasuke stiffens at the reminder and he scowls at the floor. The whole mood has changed, drawn away from Naruto’s shocked, somber surprise by Tsunade embarrassing Hinata, drawn to slow aggression, and it’s now degrading further as stormclouds of emotion sweep through Sasuke. And this, too, is cut short; Naruto’s hand slides up Sasuke’s back and clamps down on his nape. Sasuke falls still, eyes riveted to the floor but emptying of the haunting emotions.

“If you can find and sort the paperwork, I’ll get on it as soon as possible. The rest of it we will talk about later.” Naruto doesn’t release Sasuke, and Tsunade is only mildly surprised that Sasuke hasn’t pulled away yet. The interplay between the three of them will take some getting used to, but there is a sort of strength they share and build together. Even despite the recent revelation, Naruto already looks  more confident, ready to take the situation by the throat.

Tsunade hopes only his enemies will stand in his way if Naruto ever loses the iron control he’s been building the last several months. “Go. I will summon you back or deliver the paperwork myself.”

They leave, and she watches them, aware of the storm brewing within her village. She just has to wait for the other shoe to drop.

 

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