Giving Into You

Chapter 18

Sasuke woke up with a feeling of numbness in her lower half. She could hear the heart monitor and she looked around the darkened room to see Naruto sitting in a chair close to her bed and her babies in an incubator. They were sleeping peacefully and Sasuke felt warm watching the scene. She carefully sat up, grunting softly as she held her lower abdomen. It was still slightly swollen but she knew it would go down in time and she was glad she had a safe delivery. 

She swung her legs slowly over the edge and tested her strength before standing. Vertigo hit and she cried out before she was swiftly pulled upright by Naruto's strong arm. "You should have woken me up," Naruto murmured softly as he guided her back to sit on the bed. 

"You seemed tired," She tried to explain but Naruto shook his head. 

"You gave birth, that eclipses my being tired," Naruto ruffled her hair with a tender expression. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" 

Sasuke nodded, flushing under Naruto's tender action as she was led to the bathroom where Naruto helped her wash up. When he led her back Sasuke pulled him down into the bed with her. "You need all the space, don't be stubborn." 

"I just want you close," Sasuke murmured. "I'm feeling a bit clingy." 

Naruto chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Alright, I'll indulge you a bit." 

Naruto watched as Sasuke slowly fell back asleep, her tense shoulders relaxing with every movement of the blonde massaging her waist. When she fell asleep again Naruto removed himself and headed back to his place in the chair. He leaked his chakra to cover them and his heart ached from the two small bodies that instinctively reacted well to his chakra. He was still unsure a bit about being a great father but he promised to ensure they never felt the loneliness he and Sasuke felt growing up. 

'I promise to never fall in battle,' Naruto vowed. He couldn't imagine his children growing up with only Sasuke handling that burden. He would never leave his family in a situation like that, over his dead body. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he got up and headed down to the hospital kitchen with the bag of ingredients he had brought in a storage scroll. 

During the months of Sasuke's pregnancy, he had sought the help of Iruka, a father figure in most cases of his life. He mostly sought fatherly advice since the man dealt with children of all natures over the years including himself. He learned a seaweed soup from him during one of his visits. It was said to be a proper pregnancy recovery soup and it was probably the most homely meal he'd ever had. 

For a moment he lingered on the fact that it should have been Sasuke's mother doing this for her but circumstances left it in his hands. He had thanked Iruka for this recipe and had started looking into other meals that could help Sasuke heal her body. He found a popular one in magazines which was pumpkin porridge which helps with softening the skin and lightening stretch marks. He didn't know if Sasuke would be insecure about it but he wanted to at least feed her a solution to it if it bothered her. 

He found the stretch marks alluring, seeing them curve around her swollen stomach made him giddy and he often traced the pattern when she slept. It made him feel intimately close to her in a way sex could never. He didn't want them to go but if it made her uncomfortable in her own skin he was willing to help her ease them out. 

The hospital kitchen was quiet when he went there and set up his work area. He washed and prepped his veggies before chopping them up and getting the salted water on to boil. His movements were practiced, with familiar motions Naruto got to cooking as he broke up the seaweed and gutted the pumpkin. He kept a careful eye on the clock as even when pregnant Sasuke still got up at the same time. Her internal clock wouldn't stop for something so unfamiliar as pregnancy. 

He smiled a bit, he felt smug for knowing his own wife better than her. 

When he finished preparing both dishes he poured them into large thermoses and stole two bowls from the kitchen before cleaning up and heading back to their room to wait for Sasuke to wake up. Naruto heard soft cooing and carefully placed his bag down as his daughter's eyes followed him. Seemed she had woken up. Naruto nervously went over to the incubator and lifted her out. Both twins had his eyes and whisker marks but shared Sasuke's dark hair. He gently traced his baby girl's whisker marks, remembering a time when he felt like a freak for having those marks as it meant he was different. 

But seeing them on his children he vowed to never let that insecurity creep in on them. They were so beautiful and Naruto knew they would grow into beautiful people in the coming years. They were special and Naruto would ensure they felt that way always.