Broken

Chapter 56: Freedom

Five Years Later . . .

"Oka-san!" A girl hollered before running from her cousin. Keeping an eye on the younger person, she didn't watch where she was going and bumped into her father's leg. Falling to the ground, she looked up at him with her five-year-old cousin running into her.

"Why you stop?" He asked then looked up. "Sasuke-oji!"

Sasuke smirked at his nephew, picking up and putting his daughter on her feet. "Let's go. Time for lunch you two."

Sadao cheered and grabbed a hold of his uncle's hand with a smile. Mikoto latched onto the other hand and followed her father to where her uncles and mother were sitting at. Once he was close enough, Sadao let go and glomped his father who carried him for nine months.

"I'm hungry oto-san." Sadao complained as he looked up at the blond.

Naruto smiled and held up a dish that had a sandwich and other items on it that Sadao could eat. Turns out that his son got his stomach but wasn't very fond of vegetables unlike Mikoto was – who was crazy about them. Handing the plate to his son, he watched him sit down between him and Itachi.

Mikoto sat on her mother's lap, taking her plate and started to eat the sandwich they prepared for her. Looking up while chewing the bite she had, she blinked at the clouds. "That one looks like an elephant."

Everyone else looked up as she pointed to the cloud she mentioned.

"It does!" Sadao squeaked. "That one looks like a . . . a dog?"

Itachi laughed before taking a bite of the macaroni salad that Maiko prepared for the trip. It was the company picnic which was one of the ideas that Sasuke and he came up with while he was bedridden at home. So here he was in a park with his employees and their families.

"Hey Ita. I've been thinking lately. How about we try for another kid?" Naruto brought up as he set his plate down and flicked a lady bug off the container of salad he brought.

Itachi blinked repeatedly as everyone else was silent. Letting go of his plate and setting it on the ground, he scooted around Sadao and hugged his blond husband tightly. "That's a great idea! How about tonight after Sadao goes to bed?"

Naruto blushed at the devilish thoughts that were going through Itachi's mind. "You know he has that tendency of getting up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare."

Itachi shrugged and looked at his brother and sister-in-law. A grin came onto his face as he thought of the perfect escape plan. "Hey otouto-san would you like to babysit tonight?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his brother and went on eating his food. Looking at him some more, he answered, "no. Not really. I have a life of my own you know."

"But he's your nephew!" Itachi whined.

"All your doing is dumping your own son on us because you wanted to get freaky in the sheets. I refuse that. There'll have to be a good reason for us to take him off your hands for a night or day." Sasuke said with a full mouth, earning an elbow to his ribs from his wife.

"Sasuke quit being a jerk. If they can, that'll mean Sadao will have a sibling and . . ." Maiko trailed off, looking for what else to say.

"Oto-san." Mikoto said, looking up at her father.

"Hm?" He asked, returning the stare to his only child.

"I want a brother." She blurted out, causing her father's head to fall and bow at the words.

"Fine nii-san. We'll take him off your hands but only tonight. The rest of the time it's either Dobe's parents." Sasuke agreed then pointed a finger at his brother.

Smiling, Itachi nodded and went on eating. At least Kushina and Minato love it when they bring over Sadao, along with Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"So how's everything going?" Shisui and Izuna asked as they stopped by.

"Shisui-oji!" Sadao called and latched onto his blood relation that wasn't really his uncle.

Ruffling the dirty blond hair, he put the kid back so he could eat.

"Fine. How about you guys?" Itachi asked, looking up at his friend and uncle.

"Same here. It's a great success. We need to do this again next year." Izuna said with a pat on the back for his relative before leaving.

Shisui smiled at them and left also so he could be with his family.

"I'm full oka-san." Mikoto said, holding up her plate to her mother, showing that she tried to eat most of her food.

Maiko smiled at her only child and took the plate. Picking her up, she let her sit on the blanket they set out to sit on.

"So what else do you guys have planned?" Naruto asked with his gaze switching between Sasuke and Itachi.

"There's a water balloon toss. The one that doesn't bust it is the winner. Then there's the dunk tank where you can choose to dunk me, or any of the other board members." Itachi said as he set his empty plate down. Even though it's been a few years since he was stabbed by his uncle, it seemed like he's still reliving it at times with the cold weather. The doctor said it was normal to get aches in broken bones, and stuff like that.

"So what's for dessert?" Maiko inquired as she opened the basket and pulled out a carrot cake that she and Naruto worked on together. Smiling, she set it down and knew that Mikoto would want a piece of it. Cutting a small piece, she handed the small plate to her daughter while Sasuke looked at her.

"I'm still convinced that my child got switched by accident. I'm not a fan of sweets but she's eating it." Sasuke said to himself which earned him another elbow to the ribs. "Will you quit doing that? That hurts you know?"

"I know. That's why I'm going to still do it until you quit saying that about our daughter. Just because you don't like sweets doesn't mean that she doesn't have too."

Slouching, Sasuke watched everyone else have a piece of cake while he gnawed on his plastic fork that he used. He just didn't like sweets like everyone else.

"So besides that, what are we doing today?" Maiko asked, looking at the sky again with a smile.

"I'm not sure. Enjoy our families' company." Itachi suggested with a shrug, feeling Naruto lean on him.

"I like that idea Ita." He whispered before taking the piece of cake that was on Itachi's fork and ate it. With it still in his mouth, he kissed his Uchiha gently with a smile.

Itachi returned it, stealing a piece from Naruto while he was occupied. At least he was happy now. He had in-laws that were amazing people with a family he couldn't give up if someone asked him to. He had a company that was prospering, what his father made, and had a life he would keep.

Naruto felt the same as Itachi. And he and his Uchiha lover knew that they had each other to keep the other happy and not dwell in the past.

He also found out that last year Prane and Zenda tied the knot in Maryland since Ohio never adopted the same sex marriage policy like some of the states have. They're also planning on adopting a child soon once they get done remodeling the house.

Hinata and Gaara were expecting their third child – which was a complete surprise to the two since they had twins three years ago – but they were welcoming the child. Everyone else either went off, got married, having kids, and work now but he was happy that his friends were happy.

So that's it. I hope you liked it. It's a happy ending at least. Oh, I need to thank you guys for sticking with me through this. Please review for the final time.

Happy - Leona Lewis

What's Left of Me - Nick Lachey

Beauty from Pain - Superchick

Broken - Seether and Amy Lee

Everything is Fine - Josh Turner

Freedom - Love and Theft