I'll always love you (re-continued)

-✧ • 23 • ✧-

-✦-✧° Edited°✧- ✦-

-✧- ✦-✧- ✦-✧- ✦-✧- ✦-✧- ✦-

Naruto couldn't believe how lucky he got, up until recently he wasn't the biggest fan of blind dates, yet, here he was, going on three months with his now-boyfriend Sasuke. Their relationship was also a healthy one, they rarely argued, and on the times they did, they would talk it out, on top of that their children also got along well. What more could he ask for?

He liked him a lot, he liked being taken care of and having someone to care for, being with someone that he wanted to one day marry (even though the thought of marriage now scared him), he enjoyed their date nights, late night talks, being around him. He didn't dare say that he was in love with him, though he did like him a lot. His children also seemed to like Sasuke.

Outside of his relationship, Naruto just felt good, his cafe was taking off, he now had loyal customers and the income was steadying itself out. It seemed like everything was now working out for him. Even now, he sat on the couch, tea in his hand as he scrolled on social media, waiting for Sasuke to come over. His children were asleep, they had been for the last two hours which led to him being as quiet as possible.

It had been about two weeks since his mother last called him, and after that uncomfortable "conversation" neither of them reached out. He wanted to repair their relationship but there was so much more to the situation. He had so much hurt he had to work through and he didn't know where to start with it.

Just as he was about to scroll to the next video his phone began to buzz, he glanced over at the caller ID, he wasn't expecting any calls and while the number seemed familiar, it wasn't familiar enough for him to answer, so he decided on watching it ring. After the first initial call, the same number called him a second time, then a third time.

He stared the number when it called for a fourth time. Whoever was on the other side of the phone was confident that this was the correct number, or knew it was him and wanted to get in touch.  Unlike the first three times he decided to answer the call. "Um... Hello? Who is this?"

"Naruto? It's nice to hear from you. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good." He went silent, he recognized that voice. It belonged to his mother, he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "So um... why did you call me?" There were so many other questions he wanted to ask, questions that he told himself he'd never get the answer to. He didn't understand why she called him, he didn't even know where he stood with her.

"I... I don't know..."

He opened his mouth to speak, his mind trying to form the next sentence. It felt like he was desperately searching for something to say, but nothing came out. "You... you don't know?" That was the only thing he could think of, and it hurt, she called him and didn't know why.

"Do you still have the kids? If you do how are they doing?"

The question had caught him off guard. "Of course I do, I could never give them away." Not once has the idea of putting his children up for adoption crossed his mind, although he wasn't in the most ideal situation he wanted, he was able to provide for them. He never thought about putting them up for adoption, but he has thought about reaching out to their father. The idea came to mind multiple times, his pride would always get in the way of it, although there was one time, it had been about two months after he left unannounced, he had been having a rough time, and he felt like he was at his limit.

He had decided to sacrifice his pride in hopes of repairing things just enough so that his children could have a better life. The day he called, luck wasn't on his side, the person who picked up the phone wasn't Neji. "They're doing well." He couldn't bring himself to elaborate, why was she interested now? He pulled the phone away from his ear, checking to see if Sasuke texted him, to his relief he did.

"Listen, mom. I have to go, someone's coming over." He ended the call after she had said her goodbyes. The conversation drained him, he placed his phone down on the coffee table, going to lie on the couch. He felt nothing, was their relationship too far gone to repair? That thought alone was enough to hurt. He sat up, feeling as though he had no energy to do anything, he couldn't even go and make more tea. He turned on the TV and laid on the couch until he heard the doorbell. It felt like he had forced himself to stand up and answer it, a small smile made its way onto his face when he saw who it was.

Naruto took a step forward, wrapping his arms around his neck, and hugging him. "Thank you for coming." He whispered before pulling away. "Come in." Closing the door behind him, he couldn't deny that seeing him was like a breath of fresh air after the call. He walked into his room, closing the door behind them, he grabbed the remote, turning on the TV. He sat down on the bed, pulling Sasuke down with him. "Let's cuddle."

Cuddle time was something that he was in desperate need of, after a few seconds he moved away just enough for Sasuke to lie down, once he saw that his partner was situated, Naruto laid his head down on his chest, closing his eyes. He sighed, he couldn't bring himself to do anything else as of right now, all he wanted to do was lie in the moment. "Are you staying the night?" He knew the answer, yet there was no harm in asking.

Sasuke wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist. "Not tonight." He went silent, the only noise coming from the TV before he finally decided to speak up. "What happened?" It had been on his mind for a while- since he came in and saw how Naruto looked, he had decided to give the blonde some time to either naturally bring it up but when he didn't he decided to be the one to ask.

"My mom called. I guess I wasn't as ready to talk to her as much as I thought I was." He thought that he was over what happened all those years ago. Maybe those wounds ran a lot more deeper than he thought. "I tried asking why she called but she claimed she didn't know... then changed the topic in a not so subtle way." He didn't know how to bring it up yet. Instead, Naruto poked his cheek, smiled, then kissed him. "I'm sleepy. Stay with me until I fall asleep?"

The dark-haired man stayed silent, a little longer than normal, wrapping his arm around him a little tighter. "Always." He placed a kiss on his neck, pulling him closer. "Sleep, you deserve it." This was true, for the past few days Naruto has been working hard, and he was proud of him, even if they couldn't go on that many dates as a late.