𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

38

"[Name]! I'm home!"

Kicking off his shoes, Sasuke grimaced as he walked into their home, ruffling the back of his hair with a sigh. Dusk had fallen a while ago, and although he had tried hurrying home to help out [Name] by at least fetching water for Sakura and Sarada's baths, he had an inkling that the Kouhage would have gone ahead and done the job anyway.

"Welcome home, dear husband!"

Sasuke gawped as Shisui appeared from the kitchen, waving at him with a broad grin.

"Shisui?! What are you doing here?!"

At the Uchiha's exclamation, the door to Sakura's bedroom opened up, and a woman who Sasuke recognised as one of the elderly midwives who had delivered Sarada poked her head out with a finger over her lips.

"Shh!!" she hissed in annoyance, glaring at Sasuke. "Sarada is sleeping!"

Taken aback at the sudden appearance of both Shisui and the midwife, Sasuke's jaw dropped as the cranky old woman shut the door behind her, leaving him to stare incredulously at Shisui.

"You must be hungry," chuckled the older Uchiha, arms crossed as he waited for Sasuke to approach. "Come on now. Sakura and Michiko-san have both eaten already."

"Where is [Name]?" demanded Sasuke, alarmed by the sudden addition to his household. Since he had arrived, he had felt no sign of [Name]'s presence, no chakra signature, nothing.

He couldn't be anything other than worried, especially since the first thought that came into his mind was: Madara has to have done something to her.

"Oh, yeah. The thing is..." Shisui laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, turning on his heel and heading back into the kitchen, waiting for the raven to follow before providing an answer.

"Shisui!"

Sasuke stormed into the kitchen after his house guest, wanting answers for why [Name] wasn't here, but Shisui and the old midwife were.

"Sit, sit, eat first," waved Shisui lazily, indicating the food he had laid out around the irori. Sasuke remained standing as the other Uchiha sat down, beginning to help himself with a hum.

"I swear to god, Shisui," said Sasuke angrily, his voice rising with every word. "Where is [Name]?!"

"She's, uh, on a little holiday."

"What does that mean?!"

"Shh! Can you at least rage quietly?!" exclaimed Shisui in a hushed voice, glancing warily at the door. "They only just got Sarada to sleep!"

"I don't care! Where is my wife?!"

"Your primary wife is enjoying some downtime of her own," sighed Shisui, unable to eat with Sasuke barking in his face. "Madara-ji told her to himself."

"He what?"

"Before you get mad," said Shisui, holding out one hand as he used the other to stuff his mouth with rice, "she really needed it. I don't know how you could've missed it, Sasuke, but [Name]'s been working herself to the bone! It was nice of her to want to take care of Sakura at such a crucial time like this, but since she's taken on teaching Izumi's classes as well as her own, there's just no time for her to have any decent rest! She's been running low ever since Sarada was born, and since it began impacting how well she was teaching the students, Madara-ji stood her down from her duties for the next three days."

"HE WHAT?!"

"Sasuke," sighed Shisui as Sasuke threw into a rage, kicking aside the cushion Shisui had intended for him to sit on. "[Name] will be back tomorrow morning. There's really no need to be mad about anything; we all just wanted her to get at least one night of decent rest."