RESTLESS

It was always strange coming back.

No matter how many times Sasuke Uchiha left Konoha and returned, it felt odd. The village was his home, more than any other place ever was, but he couldn't help but feel a peculiar restlessness whenever he came back.

Maybe it was he was used to constantly being on the move or habitually being alert for attacks, especially when he was going to sleep. The security of Konoha was unbearable.

The feeling lessened when he married Sakura but didn't truly go away.

Sakura noticed. Of course she did.

She had laughed one day when placing a plate of dinner in front of Sasuke. He glanced at his wife in confusion. She only laughed harder.

"You've been back for two weeks, but you still have the look of a lost puppy."

Sasuke scrunched his eyebrows together, not enjoying the analogy that she had used.

Sakura smiled and stooped down to plant a kiss on his forehead. She turned to walk into the kitchen to serve a plate for herself.

Sasuke felt his shoulders loosen. He kept his eyes on his wife, carefully watching the way that she moved about the kitchen, the way her hips swayed and the gentle smile on her face. He tore his eyes away to look down at his plate of food. For a moment, he took in his surroundings completely: the small living room, the few picture frames that were positioned about, the smell of home cooking.

After swallowing a mouthful of chicken, he spoke, "I'm leaving."

Sakura poked her head out from the kitchen. "What?"

"I'm leaving again for a mission for the Hokage."

There were a million things that Sakura wanted to ask him. Instead, she smiled and asked, "What would you like to eat when you get back?"

He allowed himself a smile as he continued to eat his dinner because he knew that in a few days, he wouldn't be able to taste it again.

"Yo, Sasuke!"

The dark-haired Uchiha spun around. He let out a loud sigh, hoping that the person who called his name would hear it.

Naruto clicked his tongue. "Jerk," he muttered under his breath.

The blonde caught up to his best friend and gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder. "When did you get back?"

"Just now. I'm going to the Hokage's office to report," Sasuke replied, turning to resume his walk.

Frowning, Naruto walked beside him. "You haven't even gone to see Sakura yet?"

"I can go home after I finish my report."

"Uwah," Naruto's frown deepened, "you're so serious."

"And you're still an idiot," Sasuke retorted without missing a beat.

"I'm just saying," Naruto continued, ignoring Sasuke's insult, "you were gone for four months this time."

"I'm aware."

Annoyed at the lack of response, Naruto leaned in closer to his best friend. "You're going to lose Sakura."

That struck some sort of cord. Naruto saw the faintest twitch of Sasuke's left eyebrow. The blonde grinned, happy to have made some sort of breakthrough. He leaned his head back to look at the clear sky. How far could he push this?

"Now that I think about it, Sakura's been hanging around the Hokage a lot these days. I hear that they're going to dinner regularly."

Sasuke kept his gaze locked straight ahead.

Naruto tapped his chin, still feigning innocence. "Sakura was telling me that the Hokage took her to some fancy restaurant last weekend. I guess that when you're Hokage, you have some pull with the nicest places in town," Naruto finished with a grin.

Sasuke's lips were pressed firmly into a thin line.

"She said that he just kind of spontaneously asked her. She was excited too since she said that she just bought this new dress that wrapped nicely around her legs and-

"Naruto."

The duo had stopped walking and Naruto blinked owlishly, trying his hardest to hide a face-splitting grin.

"Are you about finished babbling?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto raised his hands defensively. "Yep! I gotta meet up Hinata for some lunch anyway." He turned with a wave. "Glad that you're back. Say hi to Sakura for me!"

As Sasuke watched him trot off, he entertained the idea of throwing a kunai at the back of his head.

"…That's all," Sasuke finished his report.

Kakashi hummed, fiddling with a stack of papers on his desk. "I see," the Hokage muttered. After a moment, Kakashi leaned back onto his chair, lazily lolling his head back. "Thank you for doing this mission for me, Sasuke. I'm sorry that I had to send you away for so long."

Sasuke clenched the fists that he held behind his back. "It's no issue," he replied formally.

Kakashi watched his ex-pupil with listless eyes. "Now will you tell me why you're glaring at me?" he asked as he closed his eyes.

The question took Sasuke slightly off guard. Was he really glaring? "I don't-" he began then shut his mouth. A heavy silence hung in the air.

Kakashi really wasn't good with awkward situations. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Did you go out to dinner with my wife?"

Kakashi couldn't even remember the last time that he had been so surprised. Sasuke, on the other hand, had a face of indifference. The Uchiha was staring at the wall slightly above the Hokage.

So that was how he avoided eye contact.

"I go to dinner regularly with Sakura and Naruto," Kakashi replied smoothly. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. He intertwined his fingers in front of his face. "I have a soft spot for my old team."

"Have you ever gone to dinner alone with… either one?"

Now Kakashi was just curious. "Yes," he answered, "Naruto takes me out to ramen quite often."

"And Sakura?" Sasuke asked, his voice slowly losing its tone of apathy.

Ah. It clicked in Kakashi's mind. He was glad that his mask hid his smirk. "Yes, I actually took her to dinner last weekend."

Sasuke's shoulders were so tense, he could almost feel the knots being created in his muscles. "Why?"

"Because a young woman deserves the chance to get dressed up and get taken out to a nice dinner." Kakashi watched Sasuke carefully. "And, she really enjoyed it."

Sasuke was at his desk in a flash. A heavy hand came crashing down onto the wooden desk. The stacks of papers jostled and threatened to fall over but soon settled. Kakashi didn't even flinch.

"Please contact me when you have another mission," Sasuke spat out through gritted teeth.

Kakashi smiled.

Sasuke spun and marched out of the office. He slammed the door behind him so hard that Kakashi swore that he saw a crack form near the doorknob.

"Ah, they're still kids," he commented to no one in particular.

Sasuke let his front door close behind him. The house was quiet.

He slipped his shoes off and began to shrug off his poncho.

"Hello?"

Sasuke looked up to the stairs, surprised that anyone was home. The sound of feet moving about neared until a familiar figure stood at the top of the stairs.

"Sasuke!" Sakura beamed. She practically threw the laundry that was in her arms onto the floor. She rushed down the stairs and only stopped just in front of Sasuke.

For a moment, he was disappointed that she didn't jump into his arms. He frowned at his own frustration.

"Welcome back! I thought you said that you weren't coming back for another few days." Sakura tucked her hair behind her ear. She was nearly bouncing with giddiness.

"Ah. I'm back."

Sakura noticed Sasuke's mood. She faltered. "Is something wrong?"

Sasuke locked eyes with her. Just when she thought he was going to say something, he brushed right by her.

"H-Hey!" she called out to him as she watched him march up the stairs. She trotted after him. "Sasuke! What are you doing?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he continued his march until he reached their bedroom. He made a beeline for the closet. He slid the door open and began to move the hung clothes about.

"What is going on?" Sakura demanded, exasperated. She watched her husband rifle through their closet. She crossed her arms, quickly becoming irritated. "Are you going to tell me what you're doing or what you're looking for?"

Sasuke pulled a hanger out of the closet. From the hanger hung a short dark blue dress. It was made of fabric that slightly shimmered when moved. It was sleeveless and had a low sweeping back. Sasuke frowned deeply.

Sakura was only growing more confused. Her husband was examining her dress closely. "Uh, I bought that with Ino a few weeks ago," she said slowly, unsure of the dress's significance.

Sasuke looked between her and the dress. He scowled and threw the dress onto their bed.

"Put it on."

Sakura sputtered. "Excuse me?"

Sasuke stepped closer to Sakura. "I said 'put it on'," he ordered.

Sakura stepped back. "Wh-why?"

Sasuke reached his arm out, placing it on Sakura's side. She froze at his touch. What was going on?

In one fell swoop, Sasuke tugged her close. Sakura let out a faint squeak of surprise. Then, she realized that Sasuke's hand was quick at work at unbuttoning the front of her shirt.

"S-Sasuke!" Sakura pushed his chest, but he didn't budge. Instead, his mouth descended onto the crook of her neck. She gasped as he began trailing kisses up and down her neck.

Sakura wasn't sure when they had moved, but her legs were pressed against their bed frame, threatening to buckle and make her fall backwards. Her shirt was completely unbuttoned and open when she gave her husband one hard shove. He pulled his face away from her neck but looped his firm arm around her waist.

He rather enjoyed the frazzled and flushed look on her face. Her exposed pink bra was also a plus.

"What is going on?" Sakura asked through heavy breaths.

"Nothing that we haven't done before." Sasuke answered, expressionless.

Sakura blushed deeply. "I mean," she stated firmly, "why did you come home and ask me to put on a dress?"

Sasuke looked down at the blue dress that was still lying out on their bed. Oh yeah. That. He frowned as he turned back to his wife.

"I've never seen you in it."

Sakura's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Since when did her husband care about what she wore?

Sasuke seemed to understand the question on her mind. "You wore it out to dinner with Kakashi."

Sakura blinked.

Sasuke tightened his hold around her waist. He moved his face back down onto her neck. She gasped as he began to kiss just below her ear. That was always her weak spot.

"You wore such a revealing dress with a man that isn't me."

He rubbed her stomach with his fingers and felt her shiver.

"You went to a fancy dinner with a man that isn't me."

He trailed his kisses lower until he reached her collarbone, and he could feel her knees wobble.

"It sounds like you went on a very nice date with a man that isn't me."

He lifted his head and caught Sakura's wide eyes with his own onyx eyes.

"So, I want to see you in the dress that you show men that aren't me."

He swooped down and captured her lips. Sakura's knees finally buckled, and she fell backwards onto their bed. Sasuke made sure to catch himself, so not to crush Sakura, but not once did he stop kissing her. Tilting his head, he deepened the kiss. A low rumble came from his throat, and he realized just how much he wanted Sakura.

Sakura moved her arms to wrap around his neck but caught herself. In a moment of extreme self-control, she broke the kiss. Sasuke looked more than a little annoyed.

Sakura stifled a giggle.

"Is that what this is all about?" she asked, her voice more hoarse than she expected.

Sasuke frowned.

She smiled. "Sasuke," she breathed, placing a hand on his cheek, "Kakashi-sensei took me out as congratulations."

Sasuke's eyebrows knit together.

"I'm pregnant."

Naruto burst out laughing, having to put his glass of beer down in front of him to avoid dropping it.

Sasuke glared at his best friend over the rim of his own beer glass.

Naruto began to slap Sasuke's shoulder, and the Uchiha was really wondering how hard he could punch the blonde without causing permanent damage.

Finally, the laughs began to die down. "Are you an idiot? Of course she and Kakashi aren't dating behind your back!" Naruto wiped the tears that formed at the corner of his eyes. "I was just teasing you."

"But you knew from the beginning."

"Of course." Naruto waved. "Hinata's been excited about it for days. She said that she hopes that our kids will become good friends."

Sasuke scowled. "I hope not."

"Hey," Naruto snapped.

Sasuke took another sip of his beer and nearly choked when Naruto slapped his back. He glared at his best friend as he wiped the liquid around his lips.

"Congratulations." Naruto beamed.

Sasuke regarded him for a moment before turning down to the ramen bowl in front of him. "Ah."

As Naruto ordered another bowl of ramen, Sasuke couldn't fight the smile that grew on his face.

He was going to be a father.

He never felt restless in Konoha again.

You could almost say that he dreaded leaving.

Hoooo boy.

Guess who marathoned Naruto: The Last and then Boruto the Movie.

Me. I did.

Guess who has homework and a ton of other fics to update.

Me. I do.

No regrets.

Until next time.