Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Facilitating Between Heaven and Hell	By : ChaCha92 Category: Naruto AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 6098 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Don't own anything in the Naruto universe. Some dude in Japan does. Make no money on my stories either.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
Naruto struggles to keep smiling pleasantly through the particularly long-winded toasts, which are not surprisingly made by the daimyo and a couple of other dignitaries. Ibiki periodically glances over and smiles that slight smile of his, squeezing her hand whenever he notices her eyes are glazing over so she can refocus and pretend she's taking in every word.
At the sound of applause, Naruto comes to her senses again and looks around apprehensively, wondering who else is going to step forward to give them a rambling toast.
"That was the last one," Ibiki murmurs loud enough for her to hear, correctly reading her mind.
"Really?" she asks in hopeful disbelief.
"Really," he nods, his eyes lighting up in amusement.
"Great," she sighs in relief. "Then can we get the hell out of here?"
"Not until you say 'thank you' to the daimyo and his wife for attending one more time, gaki," Tsunade replies sweetly, grabbing the redhead's elbow in a vice grip and guiding her to her feet and dragging her away.
"But we already thanked him, baa-chan!" Naruto hisses back while her new husband follows behind in amusement.
"Tough shit because here we are," the older blonde murmurs back in that same sickeningly sweet tone.
Tsunade looks on in triumph as Naruto smiles brightly at the daimyo when he turns around. She and Ibiki thank him and his wife again for coming while mentally adding Tsunade to her growing prank list. She might've considered removing the blonde from it entirely if she and Ibiki didn't also end up re-thanking several other notable dignitaries before finally being allowed to leave. Minutes later the new couple are escorted out of the tower by four Hyuga men and head directly to their new home. Pausing before the traditionally styled home, Ibiki and Naruto turn to their escorts.
"Thanks for going through the trouble of escorting us here, guys," Naruto smiles at them.
"It was our pleasure and honor, Naruto," their leader, Hideyoshi, bows. Like Neji, the older man sports a silk cloth bound around his forehead to hide the mark of the branch house. "On behalf of all of us, I thank you for inviting us to participate in your reception and hope you'll both visit the compound from time to time."
"You're welcome," Ibiki nods.
"Definitely count on us stopping by, especially when I'm Hokage," Naruto grins.
"We all look forward to that day," Hideyoshi smiles. The other three Hyuga follow his lead in bowing before heading back to the compound.
Gently taking Naruto's elbow, Ibiki helps her navigate up the short steps of the front porch and into the house. While he closes the door behind them, Naruto moves around the living room.
"Wow, they did a great job in here," she marvels, turning in place 360º to take everything in.
Coming to stand behind her, Ibiki wraps his arms around her waist.
"They really did," he agrees. "There's still enough of the original charm, but it no longer feels like your parents' former home."
"It feels more like our place now, doesn't it?" she muses softly.
He merely hums in agreement before suggesting, "Why don't we save exploring what Yamato and the others have done until tomorrow? Unless you're too tired, it's our wedding night and I haven't seen you for a week. There are other things I'd rather be doing with you."
"Sure," Naruto grins up at him over her shoulder. "Need help getting out of this kimono first, though."
"Always happy to do that," he murmurs, turning her around so he can kiss her full on the mouth.
She molds her body into his, enjoying the sultry kiss until they break for air minutes later. Reluctantly stepping away from him, she turns and heads toward a doorway in the far right corner of the room and walks down a hallway with him trailing behind. Stepping into the first room on her right, she pauses to smile appreciatively at the changes made to the guest room.
"This is giving me more reason to look forward to exploring the rest of the house tomorrow," she muses as she starts pulling at her kimono.
"Indeed," Ibiki agrees while stepping behind her to untie the obi.
Once she's free of the obi and the under belts he steps back to let her take care of the rest while he begins removing his own kimono.
"Did you enjoy today?" he asks from the other side of the queen size bed.
Naruto pauses in carefully laying the silver kimono on the bed to look at him.
"I did," she admits with a smile. "The most stressful part was setting everything up, but the actual ceremony and reception was fun. The puppet performance troupe Kankuro and his siblings hired were fantastic and really made the reception a party rather than a whole bunch of people talking about nothing over dinner."
"Do you regret any of it?" he asks, slipping into a house yukata that had been draped on the bed for him.
"I'd like to have had something less complicated," she explains while removing the rest of the undergarments. Reaching over to the armchair located on her side of the bed, she picks up her yukata and slips it on. "Not the ceremony so much, that was pretty easy, but maybe having fewer guests restricted to the people we actually know well."
"True," Ibiki nods in agreement while arranging the parts of his kimono on the bed into a neater pile. "In that case, we might've only had about a hundred guests total. All of them residents of Konoha."
"Certainly would've been a lot cheaper," Naruto points out while arranging her kimono so it doesn't wrinkle. "The ceremony was a lot more fun than just signing the papers and being done with it. It felt like something we wanted to do instead of something we had to do and tried getting over with as soon as possible."
"Which we did at first," Ibiki nods before walking around the bed to pull her back into his arms. "Do you regret getting married to me?"
Incredulous, Naruto gapes in shock before becoming angry.
"Why would you ask that? If I didn't want to marry you, I wouldn't have."
"I know that," he sighs. "But you just said it felt less like something we had to do. I want to make sure I understand right. That you're not just feeling obligated to marry me. We can easily get the marriage annulled and live together if you'd like."
Naruto's frustrated sigh matches his as she glances away briefly.
"I agreed to marry you because there were more pros than cons. It still feels more like something I should do. I said I'd raise the baby by myself, remember?" she reminds him with a smirk before smiling softly. "Ignoring the fact the sex we have is great, it's been nice having you to come home to and talk to. You don't let me fool you that everything's okay. You don't call me an idiot or criticize me or make fun of me if I don't understand something. Honestly, I don't think I can go back to living alone. So, no, I don't regret marrying you. It's just going to take some getting used to.
Ibiki nods in understanding.
"I never intended to get married. Hell, I hadn't been on a date in years," he smirks, earning him one in return. "The nature of my job doesn't lend itself to a happy family life. The hours are erratic and long and often the job has to come first before anything else. You've already seen that firsthand," he points out with an arched brow. "But now that we'll be around each other all the time you'll see it even more. I'll try to be around as much as possible, but chances are there will be times you'll be taking care of the baby alone."
"Yeah, figured as much," she nods in acceptance. "But it isn't a big deal. You're not gonna be gone all the time. I'm mostly worried about protecting the baby. A lot of villagers have been a lot nicer, especially once they heard who my dad was, but I still don't trust them. Retiring and being a mom really isn't an option either. I hadn't planned on retiring so soon and the Akatsuki are still after me. And who knows if any of my dad's enemies will jump out of the woodwork, y'know?"
"I don't want you to retire," he gazes pointedly into her eyes. "Your career is important to you. Plus, you still want to become Hokage." A mischievous grin spreads across his face. "There would be some definite perks being married to the Hokage."
He waits while Naruto laughs before continuing more seriously.
"As much as I'd like to think I'll be enough protection for you and the baby, it eases my mind knowing you're capable of doing that when I'm not around. We both know it's necessary when I'm gone so much, especially with Sasuke still out there. You're not the only big target in our relationship, so I'd rather have you active, keeping your skills sharp than losing your edge staying at home."
Naruto closes her eyes briefly and sighs in relief.
"I'm glad you weren't expecting me to retire," she admits. "We hadn't really discussed it. Just like we haven't figured out how we're going to handle it when the baby is born."
Squeezing her in reassurance, Ibiki states, "We will talk about it now that we're married and moved into our home. We now can focus on that since we're on our honeymoon." A seductive smile spreads across his face. "Enough serious talk. How about getting back to actually enjoying our wedding night before you get too tired?"
Naruto leans in to kiss him tenderly, which quickly becomes more passionate because of his burning need. Breaking apart, she looks up into his eyes, the intensity of his gaze sparking her own desire.
"I'm definitely up for whatever you've got in mind," she whispers before taking his hand and leading him to their bedroom.
She only gets as far as three steps through the doorway when he flicks on the light switch and in one swift motion pulls her against him. Engulfing her with his arms, he overwhelms her with a searing kiss. She's barely aware of her yukata being loosened and falling from her body before his also becomes a silky puddle on the floor. While his tongue deeply delves into her mouth, his hands seductively caress and smooth ceaselessly all over her body. She gasps into his mouth when her world shifts as he lays her on the bed.
Straightening up, Ibiki adjusts her ass close to the edge of the bed with her feet flat on the mattress and her legs bent. Standing next to the bed between her legs, his smoldering gaze holds smokey blues while his hands gently caress in and around her thighs. Dropping to his knees, he pushes her knees down to the mattress, spreading her wide.
His right hand gently rubs her belly while his left mirrors the same motion over her dusky mound, watching her eyes close with a soft sigh. Teasing strokes along her seam causes her muscles to twitch. Sometimes he presses his fingers deeper into her folds then resumes massaging her crotch or thighs.
"You're gonna make me beg, aren't you?" Naruto grits out in annoyance.
"No, not tonight," Ibiki answers.
Lifting her head in surprise to gape at him, she sees his leering smirk.
"I just plan on showing you how much I missed you and how happy I am to be married to you."
Touched and overwhelmed by his answer, Naruto swallows and is about to reply when she slams her head back against the mattress, arching with a pleasured cry when his mouth latches onto her.
Ibiki drags his tongue as deeply as possible through her slickening folds. Using his elbows to pin her bent legs to the mattress when her wriggling increases with her cries, the fingers of one hand invades her anus while the other seeks out her clit. He feels her hands alight on his bare scalp, lightly tracing over the deep perforations and scars while ceaselessly keening or gasping at his ministrations. She cries out whenever he pinches her clit between his fingers and massages it with his tongue. Mostly he sticks to tongue fucking her. Rhythmically he thrusts his tongue as deeply into her as possible before alternately tracing the outer edge of her entrance.
By this point his left hand disappeared into her asshole up to his wrist, relentlessly pounding into her while his right continues abusing her clit. Hearing her breathing change to shorter gasps and feeling her muscles tightening, he's certain she's about to explode.
To her whimpering dismay he stops all movement. Gently easing his hand out of her ass, he climbs on top of her, pinning her to the mattress and seals his mouth over hers. Feeling his fingers intertwine with hers as he moves their hands to rest on both sides of her head, she relishes the taste of herself on his lips and the feel of his hard cock gently rocking against her crotch until he's cuddled within her hot folds.
Languidly he kisses a randomly sultry pattern from her lips all over her face, paying particular attention to the scarred lines adorning her cheeks. Dropping below her jaw line, she angles her head to give him more room. Still clasping her hands in his, he gently suckles and nibbles her tender flesh, marking her with subtle welts. The pressure within her boils just below the surface, demanding release his sensuously slow torture isn't giving her.
"Ibiki?"
"Hmm?" he hums without stopping nibbling along her collarbone.
"Please," she softly groans. "I can't take anymore."
Chuckling against her skin, he adjusts himself to gaze into her desperate eyes.
"Ready?"
Swallowing, she nods fervently.
"Yeah."
Smiling tenderly, he leans in, licking along her lips before delving into her eager mouth. Lifting his hips slightly off her, he reaches down to guide himself into her. Without breaking their kiss, she sighs in satisfaction through her nose while wrapping her legs around his waist as he thrusts steadily into her. He randomly thrusts hard; earning a sharp cry, then continues pistoning in short bursts.
Breaking off their kiss, Naruto rolls her head on the mattress, moaning as the pressure builds. Pausing briefly, Ibiki straightens up into a standing position, pulling her against him and begins pounding hard into her. Drawing his cock nearly completely out before slamming in again.
He watches her repeatedly arch and writhe before screaming out her climax. At her tight clenching and spasming around his cock, he drops his head and cries out his release. She continues milking him to the last drop. Without pulling out, he eases down on top of her, supporting himself on his elbows while lacing his fingers with hers and kissing her senseless.
Breaking off minutes later, Naruto gazes into his dark eyes while reaching up to caress his face.
"Holy shit, you've just about taken me out of the game for the night," she laughs breathlessly. Her smile turns tender as she adds, "That sure as hell makes up for the past week."
"Not even close on both points," he replies, leaning in for another kiss. Pulling back, he leans to touch his forehead against hers, stating, "It's time for a short break so you can rest. I plan on spending all night and as much of tomorrow as I can get away with to make up for lost time."
"Well, that is what married couples are supposed to do on their honeymoon. I don't mind following that tradition to the letter," she leers up at him.
"Me neither," he replies, engaging her in another kiss.
Breaking off he reluctantly pulls out of her before helping her to her feet. Together they pull down the covers and settle in together for some sleep before resuming one of their favorite pastimes several more times that night and well into the next day.
They spend the next couple of days exploring their new home, marveling at the work their friends put into it. There aren't many significant changes, but painting the rooms different colors and rearranging the furniture they didn't replace makes a huge difference. Now all they have to do is incorporate their personal items to make the move complete.
Ibiki walks into the nursery and chuckles when he finds Naruto bent over studying the painted border along the wall at waist level.
"Still marveling at Sai's handiwork?" he asks, stepping over to the changing table to set down the storage scrolls in his hands.
"Yeah," she replies, straightening up. "It's pretty damn cool he painted the animals of zodiac."
"He did a great job. I like the shade of yellow they chose for the walls," he comments, sorting through the scrolls. "It's not obnoxiously bright and the blue/grey paint he used for the animals stands out nicely against it."
"Reminds me of butter," Naruto replies, stepping over to join him at the table as he unpacks one of the scrolls. "I really like it."
"Me too," he agrees while sorting out the baby clothes, prompting Naruto to start putting them into the drawers of the nearby armoire.
"I was thinking that as soon as baa-chan gives me the go ahead, I want to resume my training immediately to get back into shape."
"Good idea," Ibiki agrees, unpacking another scroll.
"There's a slight problem with that, though."
Pausing in sorting through the unpacked baby clothes, he looks over at her, but she's deliberately focused on putting the clothes in her hand away and not looking at him.
"Oh?" he prods.
Releasing a soft sigh she continues.
"I'd like to keep the baby around me as much as possible, but sometimes my training sessions get a little wild. I hate even considering this, but we'll need babysitters." Stepping back over to him, her concerned gaze meets his. "I don't like the idea of strangers taking care of our baby, comrades or not. There haven't been many, but comrades turned on me before and I don't want to risk anyone hurting the baby because of me."
"What do you mean, 'comrades turned on you'?" he frowns. "The incidents against you I investigated mostly involved civilians with a couple shinobi. You were sought out and attacked. To say someone 'turned on you' implies you trusted them to an extent before they tried harming you."
"There might be an incident I never reported," she reluctantly admits.
Ibiki arches a brow. She ignores him and takes the clothes on table in front of him and returns to the armoire.
"And are you going to share this incident?"
"No."
"Naruto…"
"It's in the past, Ibiki, leave it alone," she quietly interrupts while pointedly rearranging the items she just put away.
Choosing to leave it alone for the moment, they continue working in a comfortable silence until all the baby clothes, supplies and toys are in place and the room is ready.
Placing her hands on her hips and looking around, Naruto smiles.
"Other than maybe stocking up on some more wipes, I think we're all set."
Ibiki steps behind her and winds his arms around her waist, pulling her close.
"We can get that later," he points out. "So before we continue putting things away, how about you tell me about those comrades who turned on you?" he suggests nonchalantly.
Growling in irritation Naruto pulls out of his embrace and stalks toward the door.
Sighing softly, he steps back over to the changing table and gathers together the empty storage scrolls. After putting them away, he heads into the kitchen.
He stops just inside the doorway and watches her work at the countertop island located in the center of the room. She pointedly ignores him as she sorts through an assortment of dried foods spread out in front of her, occasionally moving to different parts of the kitchen and ducking into cabinets to put things away.
Since it's close to lunchtime, Ibiki crosses over to the left side of the room and disappears into the fridge. He pulls out an assortment of lunchmeat wrapped in butcher paper, which he places on the kitchen table located to the immediate left of the doorway. Returning to the fridge, he takes out the condiments, cheese, tomato and lettuce, carrying them over to the table.
Naruto immediately notices what he's doing, but keeps putting things away. It's not long before he breaks the silence.
"Naruto, come and eat."
Reluctantly she joins him at the kitchen table. Ibiki slices a hoagie roll in half on a plate then sets it onto the table in front of her. He then busies himself with cutting open a roll for his sandwich, prompting her to relax a little. She occupies herself with preparing her sandwich from the assortment on the table, slathering on the mustard and layering her favorite deli meats before adding the lettuce and tomato. They eat in companionable silence for several minutes until he breaks it.
"I'll help you finish up in here after I clean the dishes."
She swallows the food in her mouth before answering.
"There's not much left, just one scroll of the kitchen stuff we had been using at your place before I went to stay with Hinata last week."
Ibiki nods then asks, "What do you want to work on afterward?"
He lets her consider his question, following her lead and taking another bite of his nearly finished sandwich.
"We already took care of putting our shit into the bathroom and bedroom. The nursery is done. We pretty much have everything done in here. I think I want to wander outside the house and start figuring out what to do."
"What do you mean?" he asks in confusion. "I thought it looks fine outside. We'll probably have to yank the occasional weed, but there's nothing to maintain."
"It's too barren," she states. Reluctantly she admits, "I never thought I'd ever own a house, but I've always wanted a garden. Originally I just wanted flowers because I love all the different colors when they're blooming, especially how they look when it's raining, but I also want to try growing some vegetables and herbs."
"Vegetables and herbs? I know you're trying to eat healthy because of the baby, but you vowed to ban all healthy crap from the house on pain of death after giving birth."
Naruto glares at him hard.
"Yeah, well, maybe it'd be good to eat some of that shit afterward," she tersely bites out.
"Kakashi and Iruka got you to promise to keep eating healthy, didn't they?" he grins at her. He starts laughing when her glare intensifies. Reaching out, he clasps her hand and massages her knuckles with his thumb. "Admit it," he prods in amusement when he calms a little, "You actually like all that healthy shit."
"Considering how much Iruka and Kakashi practically crammed it down my throat during all the times I've stayed with them over the years, I had to develop a taste for vegetables," she sullenly grouses, prompting him to bust out laughing again. Giving him another heated glare, she grits out, "You're not encouraging me to keep eating that shit."
Calming again, amusement still gleams in his eyes as he grins.
"I'm only restating the obvious. Landscaping outside and starting a garden are great ideas. You do love your plants. Finish putting the rest of the dried foods away and I'll clean up, then we can go outside and you can show me what you have in mind."
Naruto is somewhat mollified and sullenly nods while carrying their dirty dishes over to the sink in the far corner near the fridge. Ibiki gathers up the leftover food and takes them back to the fridge. After they both finish their tasks, they spend the next hour leisurely walking around the outside of the house.
"So I want the front and the sides of the house to have the flowers and stuff," Naruto explains as she walks with Ibiki toward the back of the house. "They're more shaded and the herbs and veggies I want to plant require a lot more sun, so the back of the house is perfect." When he only nods, she gives him a flat look. "Don't you have anything to say?"
"What do you want me to say?" he shrugs, nonplussed.
"How about sharing what kind of plants and shit you like? This is our house, y'know," she huffs irritably.
A grin spreads across his face as he pulls her into his arms. Leaning down he works on kissing the scowl off her face before pulling back and gazing into her dazed eyes.
"I know squat about, as you put it so eloquently, plants and shit. I may look at something and think it's pretty, but don't care whether it's a rose or a weed. I'm fine with whatever you want, but if I have anything to say it's don't over do it. One of the things I liked when we first checked out the house was the flat, open area surrounding it. Makes it easier to spot anyone approaching."
"Yeah, that's true," Naruto agrees. "I don't plan on planting any shrubs or bushy trees. They're way too easy to hide in and take a lot of work to maintain."
"So long as we still have visibility, I don't care what we plant." Nodding toward the open area in front of them, he asks, "So is this whole area going to be one big vegetable patch?"
"No," she shakes her head and steps back from his embrace. With both arms she gestures toward the perimeter. "I want to create long rows bordering the edge along the tree line."
"Won't that make it difficult to keep pests from eating your garden?" he frowns in confusion. "Nara land borders those two sides," he adds, pointing to the back and off to the right. "The deer alone will be attracted to anything edible."
"Shikamaru gave me some suggestions on how to keep their deer away." Her expression becomes sinister when she adds, "Especially when I mentioned that we would be eating a lot of venison if the deer were too much of a nuisance."
Ibiki laughs and shakes his head.
"What about the rest of the yard?"
"I want a grassy area for the baby to play in or for us to enjoy on nice days."
Studying the yard, he considers it before saying, "I like that. Maybe we could erect a canopy for some shade for us to sit under and possibly build a fountain nearby. You seemed to really enjoy the ones at the Hyuga compound."
"That's a cool idea. I just don't want to go as elaborate as what they had, but I wouldn't mind something simpler. I don't know why," she shrugs, "but I just liked staring into them and listening to the running water."
Stepping back over to her, Ibiki pulls her back into his arms.
"Fountains are good distractions when you don't want to think. Maybe we should get creative and set up more of a patio area to go with the play area? We could get a grill and create a nice outdoor dining area that can also be used to read and lounge in for whenever we feel like being outside."
"Isn't that going overboard?" Naruto arches a brow up at him.
"Not really" Ibiki shrugs. "I don't know about you, but I don't plan on moving anytime soon. We might as well make the most of it. Especially since we have the time to do it and nothing else to occupy it since the house is completely renovated and we're moved in."
"Good point," she concedes.
"Since you've got a good idea of what you want to do, why don't we go into the village and stop by Inoichi's shop? He has catalogs of garden accessories we can look through. It'll probably take us the rest of the afternoon, so I'll take you to dinner afterward."
"Ramen?" she asks hopefully before scowling at his pointed look. "Fine," she huffs irritably. "We'll get some healthy shit."
He laughs again before swooping in to kiss her breathless again and steering her into the house to get ready for their excursion.
The light jingling of bells prompts Inoichi to look up from the paper he's reading and smile at the couple walking in the door.
"Well, I wasn't expecting to see you two anytime soon." He folds up the paper and sets it aside as Naruto and Ibiki approach the counter. "I thought you'd both still be busy getting settled in."
"Didn't take long to get our shit put away," Naruto shrugs, prompting Inoichi to chuckle.
"How do you like the renovations?"
"They came out awesome," she smiles warmly. "I don't know how I'm going to thank everyone, but I love what they did to the house. It feels like our place and not my parents' old home."
"Now that you've got everything settled, maybe you can have a dinner party to thank everyone," Inoichi suggests.
Naruto blinks in surprise as Ibiki states, "That's a good idea, but something we should do after finishing our next project."
At Inoichi's arched brow, Ibiki begins explaining what they plan to do outside the house before letting Naruto take over and more specifically detail what she has in mind. He trails behind as Inoichi leads Naruto outside the shop to the landscape plants, watching in amusement as the two get caught up discussing and debating which plants will work best. Afterward, Inoichi leads them back inside the shop to a small sitting area he has set up toward the back.
"Here, Ibiki, have some tea."
Ibiki turns from where he stood nearby gazing out the window to look at Inoichi's wife.
"Thank you, Saki," he nods, taking the cup from her.
"Why aren't you sitting with Inoichi and Naruto? It's quite the involved project they have in mind and you're going to be enjoying this garden too. Don't you want to offer your input on it?"
Ibiki glances over to Inoichi and Naruto hunched over the sketch he's doing of the layout of the landscaping, figuring out what plants will go where, how much top soil they'll need as well as how many climbing trellis and other accessories are required to complete the project.
Returning his gaze back to Saki, he smiles, "I'm fine with whatever they come up with. Those two know a hell of a lot more about plants than I care to." He waits for Saki to finish chuckling before continuing. "Most of my involvement will be in doing the digging and heavy lifting."
"Inoichi had absolutely no interest in flowers when he married me, but when my parents retired I wanted to take over the shop. In the beginning it took a lot of my time and he started helping out to spend more time with me." Saki fondly looks over to her husband and Naruto. "You'd never know it now, but it didn't take him long to develop an avid interest in plants and flowers." She turns back to Ibiki with a knowing smile. "Once all the heavy labor is done, you'll find yourself enjoying gardening."
"We'll see," Ibiki nods.
"Hey, Ibiki," Naruto calls out, interrupting their conversation. "Did you have anything specific in mind for the barbecue grill or the patio furniture? Inoichi has a couple of catalogs and there's a lot to choose from."
"Excuse me," he tells Saki.
She watches him step over and settle into a chair next to Naruto. Smiling to herself, she quietly leaves the room.
Not noticing Saki's departure, the trio promptly begins discussing ideas for the back yard and patio area. Eventually they settle on installing flagstone before spending a few minutes discussing and deciding on the patio set, consisting of three rattan chairs, a matching sofa and a low, teakwood coffee table.
Ibiki and Naruto fell in love with a customized barbecue grill shaped like a fire pit. Over the center is a raised grate perfect for grilling vegetables. Circling that is another series of grates closer to the flames for grilling meat. Wood planks bordering the outer edge and level with the meat grills double as a serving area.
While Inoichi fills out the order form for the grill, Ibiki glances over to Naruto who listlessly flips through the catalog for garden fountains.
"Not finding anything you like?"
"No," she admits looking up at him. "They're all either too pretentious or prissy looking."
Taking the catalog from her hand he begins flipping through it.
"Hmm, you're right. I don't like what I'm seeing either. Maybe a fountain wasn't a good idea."
"You can build your own," Inoichi suggests, finishing up the last line of the order form before looking up at them. "You can create a nice little cascading water feature out rocks." Taking another blank sheet of paper he sketches out his idea for them. "Place a few, small, craggy rocks together in a pile and at the base you can have a pool to drain the water before it recycles back into the fountain."
Naruto studies the sketch for a moment before pulling out the one Inoichi did for the back yard.
"What if instead of a pool the water feeds a stream that meanders through the garden?" she asks, tracing along the boundary of the drawing with her index finger. "The Hyuga sorta did the same thing with some of their fountains, but this one would help water my plants. We could have little grooves cut in the ground around certain planting beds and if we increase the amount of water, it'll overflow into the grooves and water the plants." She pauses in thought before adding, "I almost forgot, but when Shikamaru was giving me ideas on keeping the deer away from my plants he suggested using sózu. We can add a couple among the plants and when they empty the water will just drop into the stream."
Ibiki considers it before adding, "We can take it a step further. We can build a low wall that can double as a bench seat from here." He points on the drawing at the corner of the house before partially encircling the patio area nearby. "It could curve and border here since it's near where we're putting the barbecue. At the end of the wall we can place the waterfall. It would hide the pump and hoses, but make them accessible for maintenance."
"If you add in some built in light fixtures along with some garden lights, you two will have a really nice outdoor dining area during the summer months," Inoichi adds while sketching the wall and fountain into the drawing.
Naruto and Ibiki lean in for a closer look at the finished drawing.
"I like it," Ibiki nods.
"Me too," Naruto grins before teasing Inoichi. "You should retire as a ninja and go into landscape design full time."
Both Inoichi and Ibiki bust up laughing.
Calming, Inoichi grins, "It'd be a lot less stressful than T&I, but I do like my job."
Before Naruto can reply, her stomach cuts her off with a loud growl.
"On that note, let's tally up the damage so I can take Naruto to dinner," Ibiki informs Inoichi while grinning at her annoyed glare through her embarrassed blush.
Still grinning, Inoichi rises to his feet and leads them back to counter in the main part of the shop where he rings up the total for everything. As Naruto reaches for her change purse, Ibiki whips out his wallet and pays Inoichi.
"Hey! the garden was my idea, I should pay for it," she protests, glaring at her husband.
Inoichi watches in amusement as his friend calmly eyes his wife, noting Ibiki is amused by Naruto's outrage.
"You provided the house for us to live in and I didn't help with any of the renovations, so think of this as my contribution," he points out.
Naruto opens her mouth to protest, allowing him the shameless opportunity to kiss her. Grinning to himself, Inoichi busies himself with counting out the ryo Ibiki handed him.
Breaking for air moments later, Ibiki smirks down at the dazed look on Naruto's face.
"I want to do this for you. Now if you don't have any further objections, how about I take you to that dinner I promised?"
"Fine," Naruto grouses with a slight pout.
"Here you go, Ibiki," Inoichi states, amusement coloring his voice as he hands the younger man the receipt. "I'll have the plants and accessories I have on hand delivered the day after tomorrow. The flagstones for the patio should arrive next week. Depends on what the quarry master tells me when I contact him. The rest that's on back order will arrive in two weeks, about the same time as the furniture and fire pit."
"Thanks for your help," Ibiki nods.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Inoichi. I'll see you next week at our next session," Naruto waves while heading for the door.
Inoichi waves back as Ibiki follows her out, shaking his head in amusement at them.
Ibiki takes Naruto to a nice teppanyaki restaurant where they enjoy the deft performance of their chef as he prepares their food. Then they chat about the garden over dinner. It's nearing dusk when they finally leave the restaurant.
Draping an arm around Naruto's shoulder as they head home, Ibiki asks, "So are you finally going to tell me about that incident you mentioned earlier of comrades turning on you?" Feeling her stiffen, he sighs wearily. "Naruto, I'm not badgering you because I feel like being a prick. It was significant enough for you mention and cause you to be concerned about who will baby sit our child." He looks down at her, adding, "I want to know what happened."
Naruto doesn't look at him, but feels the weight of his steady gaze. Despite her tension, he lets the silence stretch out, knowing he got her thinking.
Minutes later when they're passing the pond, Naruto pulls away from him to stop and gaze out at the shimmering water, crossing her arms across her chest as if cold. Coming to stand next to her, he patiently waits, enjoying the beautiful scenery bathed in rich golden hues and striking shadows until, much to his relief, she softly takes a deep breath before speaking.
"When I was in the academy there was a chuunin assigned to be an aide for Iruka. She was doing that shadowing thing they have to do before they're allowed to take the test to become an academy sensei. She seemed really nice. Actually," a sheepish look crosses her face, "I thought she was a lot nicer than Iruka, but that was long before nee-chan acknowledged me. Anyways, she tried helping those of us lagging behind academically. She often oversaw detention, so she'd tutor us when we were in there."
"Which must've been everyday for you," Ibiki quips.
"Shuddup," Naruto grouses, giving him a playful glare. "Anyways, she invited me for a sparring session along with her genin teammates. They were also shadowing at the academy, but with different sensei. She said it's one thing to be really good at hitting stationary targets, but if I could get good during a spar where anything could happen, it'd improve my skills in the long run as a ninja and make it a lot more likely for me to graduate."
"I said 'yes' without thinking. Real ninjas wanted me to workout with them. It doesn't get any cooler than that, y'know?" Ibiki doesn't answer, watching her profile as she takes another deep breath before continuing. "We met every weekend for nearly two months. It was rough. They didn't go easy. I got hurt pretty good a couple of times. Not enough to land me in the hospital, though. I didn't realize until much later that they were trying to hurt me because being in a spar with a pre-genin they could've easily held back a lot more than they did. They weren't even trying."
"I didn't want to see what they were doing, though," she quietly continues. "I didn't want to admit they were just like everyone else at that time. I just kept dusting myself off and rushing back into the fray. I was going to prove I was their equal."
"Then she asked me to break into the main office at the academy and steal a study guide for the written portion of the sensei exam. She said she could easily get a copy herself, but she thought it'd be a great way to see how good my skills were developing and she could evaluate what I needed to improve on. I stupidly believed her."
"The next day after I did it, I overheard Iruka talking to that traitor Mizuki about it. She was really upset, so it wasn't hard to eavesdrop. That's how I found out it wasn't a study guide I stole, it was the exam questions. Iruka had been asked by Jiji to oversee the exam that year." Naruto pauses to look at Ibiki. "I was a lot of things, but I never was a cheater. And I didn't like being tricked into helping someone cheat on something so important."
"So I went to confront her about it," Naruto continues, returning her gaze back out to the pond. "When I asked if that was a test I stole, she asked me how I knew. I played dumb and said it looked more like a test with the answers than a study guide." Rolling her eyes, she grouses, "Like everyone else, she pegged me for an idiot and easily bought into that routine because she said that's how the study guide for the sensei test is supposed to look like. So I just said, 'Oh, okay,' and pretended to wander off, but I ended up following the bitch when she went to meet up with her cronies."
"They had a good laugh over my stupidity and thought they had a free pass for the written part of the exam. Then they argued as to when the practical portion would be since none of them could bother themselves to keep track of the date. She said she'd check the date and time when she went to work at the academy the next day. So later that night I broke into the academy again and went to the big, hanging wall calendar in the staff room and changed the date and time of the practical exam." A malicious smirk spreads across her face, prompting him to smirk back. "Combine that with the fact they didn't know that Iruka planned on rewriting the entire test, they were royally fucked."
Naruto can't resist smiling as Ibiki busts up laughing, waiting until he calms before continuing.
"I kept playing dumb for the bitch over the next week or so. She had no clue. She acted the same toward me until after the test. She was livid when she cornered me at the academy, asking what the hell did I do to the test? I asked wasn't it a study guide? That stopped her dead cold until she got really angry and reared back to hit me when I told her Jiji doesn't like it when people hit me. That made her think for a moment before she remembered who it was I called 'Jiji.' She dropped her fist and told me I better not tell anyone or else. I didn't say anything and just let her stalk off thinking her threat worked. It's not like I had to deal with seeing her sorry ass again since she failed the exam and couldn't shadow any sensei again for another year and by then I was out of the academy."
The silence stretches out, but Ibiki patiently waits, watching the dark, golden hues fade further into shadows, knowing she has more to say.
"Before you ask, no, I never told anyone. They didn't pull back like they should've during our spars, but they didn't try killing me either. And it was dumb of me to believe I'd be tested like that. No academy test was like that. But I believed it that time and later when Mizuki-traitor fed me the same bullshit. So there was no point ever telling anyone. But it's why I can't trust just anyone with babysitting, comrade or not. I just don't know what they'll do."
Noticing Naruto shiver as a light breeze picks up, Ibiki gently takes her hand, causing her to look at him.
"It's getting cold. Let's head home."
At her nod he guides her away in the dusky twilight. She breaks the silence again minutes later.
"I'm kinda surprised you haven't asked what their names are, yet."
"Because you'll resist telling me."
"Yeah."
"And I can easily find out who they are later."
Naruto stops dead in her tracks, yanking her hand free of his. Her angry glare burns into his calm gaze.
"This is why I don't want to share this shit," she grits out, crossing her arms across her chest. "You're going to track them down and give them hell and for what? I sure as hell am not going to feel any vindictive satisfaction from it. I got that by making them miss the practical test, making them look like bigger fools in front of Jiji. And Iruka will catch wind of it and that'll make her feel guiltier at her old behavior towards me since she's always been friendly with that bitch, especially with what happened with Mizuki-traitor."
Ibiki studies her for a moment, noting the pain simmering below her anger. Sighing softly, he steps forward and pulls her into a hug.
"I hate when criminals get away," he explains into her hair. "What those chuunins did may not have violated Konoha laws, but they were violations against the shinobi code of honor, especially against the 'Will of Fire'. If it's going to bother you, I won't do anything to them, but I won't keep quiet if I see them undeservedly up for a promotion if they haven't bothered changing for the better since then."
"But it's in the past," she protests, pushing back slightly from his chest to look up at him.
"And if they're pulling that shit on someone else?" He gives her a moment to think about it before adding, "Either way, thank you for telling me."
When she gapes in surprise he smiles at her and shifts to wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer and guiding her toward home.
"Now's the time you need to be open about these incidents," he explains, looking at her pointedly. "It's not healthy for you to hold all that in, regardless of whether you feel it should stay hidden in the past or not. That aside, I agree with your reluctance and am not keen on the idea of strangers, even comrades we casually know, watching our baby. We're going to have to rely heavily on our friends to help us."
Naruto looks away guiltily. "I feel like all I do is impose on them."
Ibiki gently grabs her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"That may be, but we really have no choice and our friends will want to help us. Most of them will probably want to spend time with the baby too."
Reluctantly, Naruto nods before smirking.
"Are you sure about wanting all our friends to help?" At his arched brow she points out, "Do you really envision Kotetsu, Izumo, hell, any of the Konohamaru corps handling babysitting duties very well?"
Ibiki blinks before hardening his gaze.
"It'll go well if they know what's good for them," he growls.
She laughs as they walk up the front steps of their house.
"It'll be worth it just to see how they'd do with the threat of T&I looming over them."
"True," he grins, not denying it while holding the front door open for her to step inside.
Naruto flicks on the lamp next to the sofa before easing down on it while Ibiki draws the curtains closed to the picture window across from her.
"Either way it's a good idea to establish a routine among our friends and trusted comrades," Ibiki reasons, crossing the room to settle next to her on the sofa and pull her close. "Once you're cleared for missions Tsunade will start sending you out more, especially with the Akatsuki still out there. Plus, with my hours, we'll need help taking care of the baby."
"I want to be around as much as possible." Naruto shifts more comfortably in his arms. "But if anything happens to us, at least our friends can take care of the baby for us."
"Yeah, we both have plenty of enemies," he sighs heavily with a nod. "Also, if our child shows an early aptitude, I'd like to enroll it in the Academy."
Blue eyes widen as Naruto lifts her head from where she rested it on his shoulder to gape at him.
"What? No, we're not…" she begins to protest.
Ibiki cuts her off with a gentle finger to her lips. "As much as I'd like for our child to grow up carefree and innocent, with so many enemies waiting to strike it'd be safer for them in the long run. It's not for bragging rights," he emphasizes, boring into her eyes. "I only want to give our child the chance to protect themselves should all the defenses we set up fail."
He feels her body rigid with tension when she looks away. Reaching out again, he gently guides her face towards him.
"Just consider it. If it bothers you too much, we won't, but I will be teaching our child how to protect themselves with basic moves when they're old enough."
"Okay, I'll think about it," she reluctantly agrees.
He smiles when she rests her head back against his shoulder as they enjoy the rest of the evening together quietly talking about their future.
The next morning Naruto searches the house for Ibiki, finally finding him in the study reading. He looks up and returns her smile as she crosses the room toward him.
"You look right at home in that chair," she comments, easing into his lap when he pushes the chair back in silent invitation.
"It's very comfortable," he comments, wrapping his arms around her. "I came in here to read a couple of urgent reports that were dropped off to me this morning before signing off on them." Reaching up he brushes her hair off her shoulder, baring her neck so he can explore it with his lips and tongue. "Your timing is perfect as I needed a break," he murmurs into her skin.
"If those reports aren't that urgent, then let me be a bit of a party pooper here 'cause there's something important I've got to show you."
Grinning at his confused expression when he pulls back, she slides off his lap and moves in front of the desk. As she pushes the area rug off to the side, he stands up to better observe what she's doing.
Biting her thumb, she flashes through the hand signs Kakashi had shown her and surprises Ibiki when a ring appears in the middle of the floor.
"Can you lift this open for me?" she asks, breaking him out of his shock.
"Yeah," he replies, coming around the desk.
He's stunned when the hatch reveals the short flight of steps. Naruto pulls a flashlight from her pocket and maneuvers down the steps, prompting Ibiki to follow her. Within moments he's gazing around the converted cellar in disbelief.
"Weren't expecting this, were ya?" she asks with a grin.
He merely shakes his head slowly before recovering his senses and arching an expectant brow at her.
Taking her cue she starts explaining. "My dad turned this into a secret vault to guard stuff he didn't want anyone being remotely aware of. A lot of it is his research on potential jutsu or scrolls of ones he already developed. Stuff only a ninja with a lot of chakra like me could pull off."
"Which means almost no one else can attempt them without risking killing themselves," Ibiki astutely points out.
"Exactly," Naruto nods. "But some of these scrolls my dad wanted hidden because it's stuff he thought humans shouldn't be messing with. It's crazy shit Orochimaru was working on. Kakashi told me about this room when we first looked at the house. Aside from my parents, only Jiji knew about this room and decided to leave it safely unknown. The contents are sort of my inheritance and my responsibility to protect now."
"Does Tsunade-sama know?"
"She does now," she huffs irritably, rolling her eyes.
Ibiki frowns in confusion before she starts explaining what happened nearly two months prior.
"You haven't told her?" Naruto incredulously asked in disbelief.
"A secret is only as safe as the number of people who know about it," Kakashi shrugged from across the table.
Resting her elbows on the surface, she groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"You're not helping any!"
"There wasn't an urgent need to tell her. There were more important things going on," he pointed out. "I'm only suggesting that now might be a good time for you to tell her."
He merely smiled benignly at the murderous glare his redheaded former student threw at him.
"Suggesting my ass," she growled. Jabbing a finger at him in emphasis, she added, "If I'm stuck telling her, you have to go with me."
"The room is your inheritance, so it's your responsibility," he reasoned, irritating her more.
"True," she conceded through gritted teeth, "But unless you want me to tell Iruka about the risk you're putting me and the baby in, you'll want to seriously reconsider coming along with me to tell Baa-chan." More sweetly, despite the malicious gleam in her eyes, she added, "It's the least you can do."
Kakashi's eye narrowed in scrutiny, trying to determine if she was bluffing before sighing in defeat.
"Fine, I'll go with you."
Naruto grinned in triumph, earning her a glare in return.
The following day Kakashi reluctantly accompanied an even more reluctant Naruto to the Tower. The blonde was eerily calm while Naruto informed her about the room. When the young woman finished, gold eyes lock on Kakashi, narrowing dangerously.
"And you couldn't bother to mention this to me in the past ten years because…?"
Naruto resisted the urge to bolt, choosing instead to take a couple precautionary steps away from him.
Rolling his eye at Naruto, he turned to Tsunade and calmly pointed out, "The contents of the room were safe, Hokage-sama. I was the only one who knew about it. Plus, in light of everything that's happened since you became Hokage, telling you was low priority, wouldn't you say?"
"Maybe," she grudgingly conceded. "But you still could've mentioned it."
"It just never came up," he shrugged.
"Now that I know about it, I want a list of the contents of that room by tomorrow," she irritably ordered.
Pulling out his Icha Icha from his pocket, he slipped a sheet of paper from the cover and handed it to her.
"Here you go," he replied, stunning the blonde.
Taking the proffered paper, she spent a few minutes scanning it. Her scowl became more pronounced as the blood slowly left her face when she understood exactly what some of the scrolls contained.
"Damn," she breathed. "No wonder Minato didn't want this stuff in the Tower vaults. More shinobi would've been aware of them if they were." Turning to Naruto, she added, "I'd like to have access to these scrolls should the need arise, gaki. Some of Orochimaru's notes could help if we ever come across a jutsu we need to counter."
"Sure thing, Baa-chan, anytime you want," Naruto agreed, relieved Tsunade wasn't mad at her and she'd live to deliver her baby.
"I didn't have the chance to tell you about this room before 'cause of the wedding and Yamato wouldn't let us anywhere near here during renovations," she explains while Ibiki browses through the scrolls and notebooks. "But I knew I had to tell you once I told Baa-chan."
"You had enough stress going on and the contents of this room were safe," he reasons, not looking up from the scroll in his hands. "However, you really didn't have to tell me at all."
"Yes, I did." When his questioning gaze meets her, she smiles warmly. "I need your help to protect all this." She gestures at the shelves around them. "I wanted someone else I trust to know should anything ever happen to me or Kakashi."
Returning her smile, he sets the scroll aside and steps forward, wrapping his arms around her while indulging in a tender kiss. Pulling back moments later he reaches up to cup her cheek.
"I'm honored you want to share this secret with me. I'll do my part to continue protecting these scrolls," he assures her.
"I know," she nods. "This is our home now. That means everything inside is ours jointly and we're responsible for keeping this stuff safe."
"I definitely want to take a closer look at these scrolls and notebooks."
"I know I'm doing that," she smirks up at him. Becoming serious, she adds, "I don't like the idea of having such dangerous materials around and not knowing exactly what makes them dangerous. I might be able to come up with some useful jutsu based off my dad's notes." Sheepishly she admits, "I doubt I'd make heads or tails of Orochimaru's research. Probably only you and Baa-chan would understand what the bastard was doing and, honestly, I don't think I want to know either."
"I might be able to understand," he agrees, glancing around them. "I've had to go over some of Orochimaru's research materials before on the Third's orders. We've actually been able to put some of it to good use. However, you're right, you don't want to know what Orochimaru was researching. We've got the time, so we have to organize and catalog this room."
"Later," Naruto adds. A lusty glint lights up her eyes as she fingers the lapel of his shirt. "How about you go and finish those reports to send them out so we can spend some time organizing our bedroom?"
Leaning down, he meets her mouth for another passionate kiss. Breaking for air minutes later, he leers down at the slightly breathless redhead nestled in his arms.
"It shouldn't take me long to finish. Organizing our bedroom does require some intense concentration and I certainly don't want any distractions."
"Let's get out of this stuffy room then," she smiles.
Nodding, he gently grasps her hand and leads her out.
A/N: According to Wikipedia: "Sōzu is a type of traditional water fountain used in Japanese gardens. It consists of a segmented tube, usually of bamboo, pivoted to one side of its balance point. At rest, its heavier end is down and resting against a rock. A trickle of water into the upper end of the tube accumulates and eventually moves the tube's centre of gravity past the pivot, causing the tube to rotate and dump out the water. The heavier end then falls back against the rock, making a sharp sound, and the cycle repeats. This noise is intended to startle any herbivores such as deer or boars which may be grazing on the plants in the garden."
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Facilitating Between Heaven and Hell