Chapter 117 Two, Too

About a month after the western road trip, Ren showed up at Kushina’s house for Naruto’s second birthday and found her standing in the hallway looking pissed.

“You didn’t see Naruto outside?”

Ren stopped. “No.”

Mikoto called from the garden behind the house.

Ren followed Kushina through the kitchen and out the back door. Naruto was crouched in the dirt near a low bush with Sasuke squatting right beside him.

They were both staring at a big green beetle sitting on a leaf.

Kushina marched over and scooped Naruto up by the waist.

Naruto looked over Kushina’s arm and stopped kicking.

“Big Brother!”

He twisted around and pointed his dirty finger back toward the bush.

“That’s twice already,” Mikoto said, dragging Sasuke out of the dirt and wiping his hands.

Inside, Kushina had somehow made way too much food before lunch. Half the chairs had been moved, bowls and plates covered the counters, and anything Naruto could grab had already been shoved onto the top of a bookshelf.

A small pile of wrapped gifts sat on the low table in the sitting room.

Sasuke walked straight toward the gifts and stopped at the edge of the table.

“Not yours,” Ren said.

Sasuke frowned at him.

In the kitchen, Mikoto moved between the counters as if she already knew exactly where Kushina kept everything. Kushina reached past her to steal a piece of sliced pork from a cutting board. Mikoto slapped her hand away without even looking.

Later, Kushina passed behind Mikoto with a stack of bowls and squeezed her waist. Mikoto kept working. While Ren was setting plates on the table, Mikoto pinched Kushina’s hip on her way to the sink. Kushina nearly dropped the spoon and shot her a look.

Kurenai arrived just before lunch.

Naruto dropped his wooden block and hurried over when Kurenai came in.

Kurenai gave him a little wooden animal puzzle. Naruto ignored the board and started stacking the pieces.

Kurenai stood beside Ren, watching the tower wobble and collapse.

“Working as intended?” Ren asked.

“Not remotely,” Kurenai said.

A little later, while Kushina was wrangling Naruto in the kitchen and Mikoto was cleaning Sasuke’s face, Ren passed Kurenai in the narrow hallway.

She caught his sleeve, pulled him around the corner into the empty laundry room, and kissed him.

Ren grabbed her waist and kissed her back before she pulled away.

“How was the western route?” Kurenai asked.

“Fine. Kakuzu hated the bill.”

From the kitchen, Kushina yelled Naruto’s name. Kurenai let go of Ren’s sleeve and stepped back into the hallway.

When it was time for gifts, Ren gave Naruto a big wooden activity set he’d ordered from an expensive carpenter in the capital.

Kushina looked at the thing. “You spent way too much on this.”

Ren ignored her.

Naruto tore the paper off and turned the wooden gears a few times. Then Mikoto handed him a little red wooden frog.

Naruto dropped the expensive set and started smacking the red frog against the table.

Ren stared at his abandoned gift.

Kushina laughed.

Sasuke noticed the expensive wooden set sitting on the floor. He walked over, sat beside it, and started playing with the gears.

Fugaku and Itachi arrived shortly after.

Naruto was sitting near the low dining table. He watched Fugaku sit down and stared directly at a piece of egg roll on Fugaku’s plate.

Fugaku picked up the piece with his chopsticks and set it on a napkin in front of Naruto.

Naruto grabbed it. Kushina caught Fugaku’s eye across the room and smiled.

Sasuke abandoned the wooden gears and hurried over with both arms raised. Itachi picked him up.

Sasuke pulled the wooden practice kunai from his waistband and held it up for Itachi to see.

“Still carrying that?” Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded hard, and Itachi tucked it back into his waistband.

Naruto watched them from the floor. He swallowed his food and pointed a sticky finger at Itachi.

“Brother,” Naruto said.

Sasuke frowned. He pulled his hands back from Itachi and looked at Naruto. “My brother.”

“Brother,” Naruto repeated, leaning forward.

“Mine,” Sasuke said firmly.

During the afternoon, the adults relaxed while the boys occupied the sitting room. A few thick cushions were already on the floor after Naruto kept trying to climb the furniture.

Naruto stood on one cushion, stared at the next, and tried to jump.

He missed and landed on his backside.

He scrambled up and tried again.

Sasuke watched for a while, then climbed onto the first cushion and made the jump on his first try.

Naruto stared at him, climbed back up, and kept trying until the cushions had shifted halfway across the mat.

Naruto finally got bored with the cushions and reached for a heavy ceramic bowl on a low shelf.

Kushina caught his wrist and took the bowl away.

Naruto dropped onto the floor screaming, kicking his heels against the mat and reaching toward the shelf.

Kushina folded her arms and waited.

Ren stayed in the doorway. Sasuke stood a few feet away and stared.

After a while, Naruto ran out of steam. He sat up, spotted the red frog under a chair, and crawled over to get it.

Kushina walked over and stood beside Ren in the doorway.

“Still want children around your office?” Kushina asked.

Ren looked at the spot where Naruto had just been screaming. “No.”

Kushina laughed and leaned against him.

They brought the cake out before evening.

Kushina set it on the table. Naruto reached straight for the candles. Kushina had to catch both his wrists and hold his arms down.

“Blow,” she told him.

Naruto stared at the fire.

Sasuke leaned over and showed him, blowing at the candles.

Naruto copied him. Between the two of them, the small flames went out.

Naruto looked thrilled. “Again.”

“No,” Kushina said, pulling the cake back to cut it.

“Again.”

“No.”

Ren silently reached across the table for the matchbox.

Kushina slapped his hand away.

After the cake, Sasuke wandered over and picked up the red wooden frog.

Naruto spotted it and marched over. “Mine.”

Sasuke pulled back. “Naruto.”

“Mine.”

Sasuke scowled but let go. Naruto dropped the frog almost immediately and reached for the wooden practice kunai at Sasuke’s waist.

Sasuke clutched it to his chest.

Itachi stepped in before the shouting started.

By evening, both boys were dead tired. Kushina and Mikoto put them together on a futon in the back room. They muttered at each other for a few minutes, shifted around, and finally fell asleep.

With the boys asleep, the sitting room finally quieted.

Fugaku and Itachi left shortly after. Ren, Kushina, Mikoto, and Kurenai stayed around the table, talking about the new Academy building, the road trip, and how pissed Kakuzu had been about the escort bill.

Kurenai left first. Mikoto stayed behind to help Kushina clean the kitchen.

Kushina wiped down the counter, stepped close, and kissed her.

She tried to pull Mikoto closer by the waist. Mikoto put a hand on her chest and stopped her.

“Ren’s still here.”

Kushina started to step back, but Mikoto caught the front of her shirt and kissed her again before turning back to the sink.

Ren was the last to leave.

He found Kushina in the hallway, carrying a half-awake Naruto against her shoulder.

Naruto blinked at Ren and reached for him.

“Big Brother.”

Ren stopped. “It’s your house.”

Naruto reached farther, opening and closing his hand.

Ren took him. Naruto dropped his head onto his shoulder and grabbed a fistful of Ren’s shirt.

Ren held him until Naruto started going limp against his shoulder, then handed him back to Kushina.

Ren stepped outside.

From inside the hallway, Naruto’s sleepy voice drifted out.

“Big Brother.”

Ren looked back once. Kushina smiled and shut the door.