Chapter 100: Mikoto Notices
Kushina brought Naruto to the Uchiha estate on Tuesday afternoon. She had not visited Mikoto for several days.
She had barely raised her hand to knock when Mikoto opened the door and reached for Naruto.
"You finally remembered that Sasuke has been waiting for his friend."
"I was busy," Kushina said as Mikoto took him.
Mikoto glanced at the baby bag, then at the tiredness around Kushina’s eyes before stepping aside.
"Clearly."
Inside the main room, Sasuke was lying on a padded mat near the low table, kicking at a hanging wooden toy. Mikoto placed Naruto beside him.
The two babies mostly ignored each other at first. Naruto became fascinated with Sasuke’s long, dark sleeve, while Sasuke predictably tried to grab a handful of Naruto’s bright red hair.
Kushina settled beside the mat. "Naruto has recently decided that sleeping at night is optional."
"Sasuke follows a perfectly respectable schedule," Mikoto replied, preparing the tea.
Sasuke chose that exact moment to begin fussing for no obvious reason.
Kushina gave Mikoto a highly smug look. "Perfectly respectable."
"Be quiet and drink your tea," Mikoto told her.
A few minutes later, Naruto started fussing. Kushina loosened the collar of her wrap dress and began feeding him where she sat.
While speaking, Kushina turned to check Sasuke’s attempt to roll over. The movement pulled her loose collar aside, exposing the dark mark near the base of her neck.
Mikoto, who was in the middle of pouring a second cup of tea, paused. The stream of tea stopped.
Kushina noticed the silence and looked up. "What?"
Mikoto placed the teapot down. "Your neck."
Kushina reached up, touched the mark, and immediately realized which one Mikoto had seen. She quickly tried pulling the collar back into place, her face flushing.
Mikoto looked deeply unimpressed. "That works much better before someone sees it."
Kushina adjusted Naruto and attempted to steer the conversation toward Itachi’s first day in ANBU.
Mikoto allowed her to finish one sentence.
"Kushina."
She sighed. "It isn’t some stranger from the village, if that is what you’re worried about."
Mikoto watched her pull the collar higher. Kushina had spent most of the week near the commercial district, eaten at Ren’s house repeatedly, and avoided every question about why she had not brought Naruto to visit.
"It’s Ren."
Kushina’s hand stopped on Naruto’s blanket.
"I was asking," Mikoto said. "Your face answered."
Kushina pulled Naruto closer. "Before you start shouting—"
"I haven’t shouted."
"You have the face you make before shouting."
"You are sleeping with my eldest son," Mikoto pointed out.
Kushina’s defensive posture sharpened. "Ren is an adult, Mikoto. He is perfectly capable of deciding who enters his bedroom."
"None of that makes the sentence any less strange to say out loud," Mikoto replied.
Kushina looked down at Naruto.
"It wasn’t planned. After the attack, I started spending more time at his house. He helped with Naruto, kept me from sitting alone every night, and spoke to me normally when everyone else acted as though I might fall apart."
Her fingers moved slowly over Naruto’s back.
"Then one night we stopped pretending we were only talking."
Mikoto stared at her. "And since then?"
Kushina’s silence answered that.
Mikoto studied her for several seconds.
"Does he treat you properly?"
Kushina’s expression softened. "Yes. He doesn’t treat me like something temporary, if that’s what you mean."
"And what are you expecting from him?"
"Nothing he hasn’t already given me. I’m not demanding marriage or asking him to replace Minato as Naruto’s father. I like what we have."
Mikoto lowered her voice. "And another pregnancy?"
Kushina grimaced. "We had one careless night. It has been handled."
Mikoto closed her eyes briefly. "I am going to pretend that answer contained less information."
"What was I supposed to say?" Kushina fired back, recovering her usual stubbornness. "’Good morning, Mikoto. Your son left teeth marks on my neck’?"
Mikoto nearly choked on her tea.
The sudden noise startled Naruto, who briefly stopped feeding and looked up.
Kushina immediately used him as a shield. "See? You disturbed him."
"You disturbed me," Mikoto shot back.
Once the initial shock faded, Mikoto’s tone softened. "Are you happy?"
Kushina considered the question. She looked down at Naruto.
"I feel wanted," Kushina said quietly. "Comfortable. Less alone."
Mikoto had watched Kushina spend weeks moving through each day because Naruto needed her to. Lately, she had started laughing, arguing, and sounding like herself again.
The situation was strange, but Mikoto could not pretend the change was bad.
She did offer one warning. "Ren can become overly confident when women encourage him."
Kushina smiled. "That may be one of the things I’m encouraging."
Mikoto picked up a small cushion from the floor and threw it directly at her.
The cushion missed Kushina entirely and landed near Sasuke on the mat. The baby immediately grabbed it, laughing.
Their laughter distracted Naruto. He released her and immediately began fussing.
Kushina fixed her dress and passed him to Mikoto while she straightened the blankets on the mat.
As she leaned forward, the collar of her dress shifted again.
Mikoto noticed another faint, reddish mark near Kushina’s collarbone.
"There is another one."
Kushina checked the spot and cursed Ren under her breath. Mikoto’s amusement only grew.
Near evening, Ren arrived at the compound because Fugaku wanted him to review a proposed lease for a clan-owned warehouse near the commercial district. The document had been waiting in Fugaku’s study, but Mikoto directed Ren into the main room first.
He walked into the main room and found Mikoto and Kushina sitting comfortably at the table. Naruto and Sasuke were lying on the padded mat between them, both reaching toward the same hanging wooden toy without any real awareness that the other was competing for it.
Kushina stiffened the moment Ren entered.
He noticed, but Mikoto greeted him normally and poured another cup of tea. For several minutes, they discussed Itachi’s first day, Fugaku’s warehouse lease, and Naruto’s refusal to sleep.
Then Mikoto set her cup down and looked pointedly at the faint mark above Kushina’s collar.
Ren followed her gaze, then glanced at Kushina, who had become intensely interested in the opposite wall.
"So she finally told you."
Kushina covered her face with one hand.
Mikoto watched Ren sit there without the slightest embarrassment.
"At least one of you should possess some shame."
"Kushina had enough for both of us when I arrived."
Her foot struck his ankle beneath the table. Ren’s leg shifted, but he continued drinking his tea.
Mikoto noticed.
"I am not asking what happens inside your house," she said. "I am asking you to stop advertising it on her neck before she visits mine."
Ren glanced at Kushina’s dress. "She could wear a higher collar."
Kushina opened her mouth, but Mikoto cut across her.
"Do not make this her fault. You are the one leaving evidence where everyone can see it."
The sliding door opened before Kushina could add another threat, and Fugaku entered the room.
He stopped when he saw Kushina red-faced, Mikoto visibly exasperated, and Ren trying not to smile.
"What happened?" Fugaku asked.
Mikoto calmly picked up the property document and held it out to him. "Nothing you need to know."
"Nothing," Ren and Kushina agreed together.
Fugaku’s suspicion deepened, but Mikoto placed the document directly into his hands and began explaining the disputed property line.
As Fugaku examined the parchment, Kushina silently threatened Ren from across the table.
Ren touched the side of his own neck, reminding her that she had left evidence too.
Mikoto caught the exchange and pressed two fingers against her forehead.
"The property line," she told Fugaku, opening the document for him. "Let us discuss only the property line."
Mikoto caught the exchange and pressed two fingers against her forehead.
"The property line," she told Fugaku, opening the document for him. "Let us discuss only the property line."
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