Sasuke's Secret

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I do appreciate all the support this story has been getting and I believe that together, we will finally shatter the 500 review mark! For those of you interested, feel free to check out my profile for information about upcoming stories or to read old ones. Anyway, I hope that you all enjoy the grand finale of Sasuke's Secret!

Chapter Notation: This is set a few years after the last chapter.

Chapter 48

Hinata laughs softly as she watches Aiko come running back over to them after her match at the Chunin Exams. "I did it!" Yes, she most certainly had.

Of course, the crowd couldn't really see what Aiko was doing to her opponent because she relied on Genjutsu, but she was still a fan favorite nonetheless. After all, as Sasuke was so fond of saying, who could resist an Uchiha Princess?

"Yes, you did." The bluenette smiles as she embraces her eldest child tightly.

Ami smiles at her sister. "Good job." While she was licking on her ice cream. A fact which was far too interesting to some of the nearby boys for Itachi's liking. "I'm sure we'll both be made Chunins. After all, we won our matches." He looked positively murderous.

Wisely, the boys quickly made themselves scarce and Ami remained thankfully oblivious of this. She was still far too young for such things too matter much.

"Boo!" Neji reappears and shoves one of the boys. "That's for staring at my sisters!" Before Flickering back to his family's side.

Honestly, Hinata didn't know who was worse. Her husbands or her sons. In a few years, this was going to become particularly problematic. That poor boy looked positively frightened by Neji's sudden appearance and disappearance.

She really needed to have a talk to her son about using his Invisibility Jutsu responsibly. Hinata shakes her head at that thought. Oh well. That could wait until another day. For now, it was time to celebrate her daughters' grand performances!

Shisui snickers at his brother's antics. "Good one." Well Hinata supposed that she should be grateful that her son hadn't joined in the fun. Shisui loved playing with fire.

"Shisui, behave." Itachi shakes his head in amusement.

Her husbands more often than not, were actually willing to encourage such antics! It was both endearing and infuriating at the same time. Something about it being good training.

Asa smiles as she looks around excitedly, enjoying her lollipop. "So is it over?" She wanted to support her sisters, but Asa was also tired of having random strangers pinch her cheeks.

Mother said she was supposed to tolerate such things because people were trying to be nice. She liked attention, just not cheek pinching!

"It looks like it." Sasuke nods at her. "The examiners have to convene with each other to discuss who is getting promoted. That takes time."

Asa didn't understand how it was complicated. Didn't they already have their records from the matches and the other exams? Couldn't they just average them out or something?

Oh well. It didn't matter. Her sisters had won their matches and she was sure they'd become Chunins now! Plus, her parents were in good moods now! So that meant lots of training when they got home!

So the youngest Uchiha just nods at that as she pets Shadow. "I saw a really juicy looking steak at one of the booths." Who apparently, wanted food.

"We should probably get Shadow some food." Kazumi laughs.

That was true. If there was one thing that Asa had learned over the years, it was a bad idea to keep a Ninja Dog waiting when it came to food!

That's when she notices some white out of the corner of her eye. "Uncle Suigetsu! Uncle Jugo! Auntie Karin!" She smiles widely as their family friends make their way over to them.

"Damn, Sasuke." Suigetsu shakes his head in amusement as he sits on one of his knees to get a better look at Asa. "I'm surprised that Hinata can even walk. Six kids?" He shakes his head. "Do you guys ever stop training?"

That's when Neji smirks. He knew exactly what Uncle Suigetsu meant by training now. So did everyone, but Asa and Kazumi.

Sasuke swats him upside the head. "Shut up." Which to be fair, Uncle Suigetsu really deserved. "You idiot. Don't talk about that in front of Asa and Kazumi!"

"You already gave the other four, The Talk?" Karin blinks in surprise.

Oh this was going to be good. Really, really good. Neji was trying his best not to snicker like Shisui did earlier, but it was so hard not to!

Itachi's eyes narrow and that's how Neji knew that the red head was on thin ice. "Yes, we did. We believe it's better for them to be fully informed about such things at an early age, but not TOO early." Well that made sense.

"What talk?" Kazumi looks around in confusion as his parents rub the back of their heads sheepishly.

Hinata sighs and kisses Kazumi's cheek. "You'll find out when you're older." Yeah! That was one way to put it!

Jugo laughs softly as he shows Shadow a steak. "We were looking for you." Of course! "So I figured it was best to be prepared. Here you go, Shadow." The dog's tail wags a mile a minute as he practically tackles the gentle giant for a piece of that steak!

"There you are, Bastard!" Naruto's voice rings out as Shisui smiles.

He smiles because the bubbly Hokage was a good friend of the family and so was Sakura. He still didn't understand how a ninja could have pink hair though. (Wasn't that a liability on missions where stealth was involved)?

Sasuke rolls his eyes at the other man. "I can't believe you're still calling me a Bastard like we're Genin or something." He smirks. "You're such a Loser."

Uncle Naruto and Sasuke sure had a funny way of bonding. Hell, even his mother couldn't understand it most of the time. Still, Shisui supposed that didn't really matter. Whatever made them happy.

This time it was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes. "You can't scold him for talking like a Genin and then talk like one yourself!" Alright. That was a fair point, but this was Uncle Sasuke. The normal rules didn't apply to him!

"Hey, Auntie Sakura and Uncle Naruto!" Aiko smiles and bounds over to them. "Did you see our matches?!"

Of course, they saw them. Naruto was the Hokage! He wasn't going to miss any of them, but whatever. His sister just wanted to show off and he couldn't entirely blame her. (It was her and Ami's special day, after all)!

Naruto laughs and messes up her hair. "Of course." He smiles at her. "You both did amazingly!"

"Do you think they'll promote us to Chunin?" Ami looks up at the man with hopeful eyes.

The blonde's laugh was positively infectious. "Well they'd be idiots not to." To which the proud Uchiha Parents all nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile Hiashi and Hanabi were currently slinking off with Guy, Tsunade, and Kakashi from the stands. They had been there watch the matches. Even Hiashi Hyuga couldn't pass up the chance to join in all the excitement today.

"You should be really proud of them." Tsunade smiles at the Hyugas. "They've all grown so much."

That was true. They had. His grandchildren were all enormously talented. Of course, Hiashi was sure that every grandparent felt the same way, but that was particularly true when it came to his grandchildren.

Hanabi beat him to the chase though. "We are." She smiles at the medic. "Extremely proud."

Guy shakes his head and pats Kakashi on the back. "Well I would say that you managed to win the bet, after all." Oh Gods and Goddesses, Hiashi really hoped that the spandex lover wasn't going to start spouting nonsense about the Power of Youth!

"Of course, I did." Kakashi smirks. "I know my student best, after all."

Kakashi smirking was actually worse than the Power of Youth nonsense! It was just disturbing to witness such an expression adorning the usually cheerful ninja's face!

Hiashi manages to shove his unease to the side though. "Well yes. I suppose you did have an unfair advantage when it came to your silly bet." He had heard about the bet over the course of the years. There were times when the silver haired ninja just couldn't resist bragging about winning it.

Speaking of over the years though, Hiashi smiles as he sees Hinata and her family. Over the years, the Uchiha Clan had certainly grown and so had his eldest daughter. Gone was the shy wallflower that had one been his skittish Heiress. She had been replaced by a proud Matriarch, mother, and wife.

Speaking of Matriarchs and Clans, Hanabi had also grown into her role as Clan Head. Hiashi wasn't entirely sure how, but she had managed the transition from a Clan with two houses to a Clan with only one rather seamlessly for the most part.

"That's true." The CopyCat Ninja winks. "Though I still won."

There were still tensions of course, but with every passing year those lessened. There were now Hyuga Children who had never known what it was like to live in a Clan with a Main and Branch House and frankly, it was preferable to the old way. There were other ways to protect the Byakugan.

He shakes his head. "Through using an unfair advantage." Hiashi wasn't going to let the man win that easily.

"Eh, only a fool wouldn't play their hand when they hold all the right cards." Kakashi chuckles and well, privately Hiashi concedes that the other man had a point.

Perhaps, that is what Sasuke and Itachi had been doing all along. They had merely been playing the right cards and it had worked out well for them. After all, they each had a beautiful wife and wonderful children (or nieces/nephews). Things had turned out well for them, despite the fact they were both deviants!

He didn't care what Hinata said. Hiashi was still thoroughly traumatized from walking on them one day! Though his relationship with the deviants had improved over the years, they were still deviants and that was that!

Meanwhile Kazumi smiles, after Shadow finishes eating. He still didn't know what talk they were talking about, but that was okay. He'd figure it out later.

"We should probably hurry, if we don't want to get crushed by the crowd." He smiles at his father and jumps onto Sasuke's back.

He liked riding on his father's back, but he knew that it wouldn't belong before such a privilege was revoked. One could only do it for so long before they looked ridiculous. So he was going to make the most of it while he could.

Sasuke smirks at that. "You're right." Then he turns his attention back to the rest of his family and friends. "We'll see you guys later. It's been a long day."

Yeah. It had been a really long day, but exciting! Kazumi had never seen so many matches before! Usually training was just done at between family, friends, or at the Academy. This was different though.

The Chunin Exams had people from all over competing! You could feel the excitement in the air. There were so many interesting people from all over and so much good food! (Some of which he didn't recognize, but he was willing to give some of the more exotic looking foods a try)!

"Alright." Naruto laughs. "See you guys later."

Sakura nods at that. "Be good and try not to burn the village down while you're training." She winks at them.

Suigetsu just smirks as the other members of Taka shake their heads. "Or flood it." The Hozuki looks at Asa with a knowing smile.

Asa has the decency to look embarrassed, Kazumi notes. He wasn't really sure why, but his little sister was the only one who possessed water for her primary chakra nature and more than once, she had flooded the house during her Terrible Twos!

"Oh stop teasing her!" Hinata shakes her head in amusement as she leads her family off.

A few minutes later as they were walking into the Uchiha District, Ami smiles. She could see Aoda waiting for them with his Mate. Yes, the giant snake had found a Mate. (Most people didn't want to ask too many questions about how such things happened, but she was a lovely snake named Kara).

"Aoda!" She beams at him as she races over to the male snake and hugs him.

The other Uchiha children soon followed suit. Naturally, Garuda flew down to see what all the fuss was about. So he was pulled into the Summon Glomp as well.

"I still can't believe that the Summon Glomp is a real thing." Itachi chuckles as he watches the chaos.

Sasuke smirks and shakes his head. "Well it is." His smirk only grows. "As Naruto would say, believe it."

There was something kinda disturbing about listening to her father say Uncle Naruto's catchphrase, but Ami brushes it off in favor of cuddling up to the snakes while Aiko pets Garuda. Her twin had always had the best relationship out of all of them when it came to the hawk!

"Did you do well on your exams?" Aoda smiles at them.

Shisui laughs and nods. "Yeah! They kicked butt!" To which the snakes nod approvingly.

Aoda was a very encouraging Summon. Her parents and Uncle Itachi always said that he was a golden retriever stuck in a reptile's body and well, that was definitely accurate Ami muses to herself.

"Oh look!" Aiko smiles as she sees a much smaller hawk come flying down towards them and holds out her arm to it. "We've got a letter and flowers?" She tilts her head at the last part as she stops petting Garuda momentarily in favor of reading the letter out loud to her family.

Dear Uchihas,

We saw Aiko's and Ami's matches! The two of you did great and we're sure that their little brothers and sisters will do just as well when it comes time to do their Chunin Exams!

Now, surely you must be wondering how the rest of Team Eight is doing. So we'll tell you.

I've personally got my hands full with Mirai, but otherwise I'm enjoying my new position as a fashion designer. (Being a combat ninja and a mother just wasn't working out for me)! ~ Kurenai.

Got my hands full with my own kids and wife, though Akamaru is now a proud father. Maybe, Shadow will enjoy having some playmates. Hope Itachi and Sasuke are still treating you right. ~ Kiba.

I'm enjoying my new position as an Intelligence Gathering Specialist and as Kiba says, I hope that things are going well for you. ~ Shino.

Oh and the reason why we're writing this letter is because we were tasked with informing you that Aiko and Ami have both been promoted to Chunin! The flowers are to celebrate.

Love, Team Eight.

PS: Hinata, I hope you still have that present I got you all those years ago. It seems like it would be a really good thing to wear to commemorate the occasion. Oh and Anko wants to know, if you want to go shopping with us soon.

"Hmm. That's weird." Aiko tilts her head at that. "I wonder what Auntie Kurenai got Mother and why Auntie Anko wants to go shopping so much?" And why did her father's look smug?

A couple hours later, Itachi watches his family at dinner. He always enjoyed this. Family dinners.

He knew that wouldn't be the case forever though. The children were growing up so fast. Aiko and Ami were now Chunins and their younger brothers and sisters were well on their way to following in their footsteps. Which meant that soon enough, they'd all be grown with children of their own and too busy to eat dinner with them every night. For now though, Itachi would enjoy it.

"So you guys never really told us how you got together." Shisui looks at them curiously as he takes a bit of his fish. "I mean I know it was considered pretty scandalous back then. Triads."

This got everyone's intention. If there was one thing that their children didn't like, it was being left out. There was no way that one of them was going to know the answer to such a question without the others also knowing.

Which was fine with Itachi. It was really only fair and he always strove to treat them all equally.

Hinata's blushing though was obviously making them suspicious. "Well it's a very long story." That was one way to put it.

"Yeah. Very long." Sasuke was also blushing, which certainly wasn't helping matters!

Not surprisingly, it was Aiko who truly took the lead. "We've got time." She really was such an Uchiha Princess.

The woman knew what she wanted and she certainly went after it. Like her father, the girl was endlessly determined. Itachi didn't know whether to be impressed or mildly terrified in all honesty. Gods and Goddesses, he suddenly pitied the boys in this village!

"Yeah!" Ami beams as she backs her sister up.

That was hardly surprising though. The twins were all very close as one would expect. Though all their children were on good terms, there was a special bond between twins that was hard to replicate. Which meant Ami and Aiko always teamed up in their endeavors. Just like Shisui and Neji did.

Apparently, even little Asa was getting in on the action though. "Yeah! Tell story! Tell story!" Hmm. Aiko must be rubbing off on her. Asa was being rather bossy today.

"You might as well tell us." Neji laughs. "You aren't getting out of it now." And now the boys were joining forces with their sisters.

It truly would have been a beautiful sight, if it wasn't so terrifying. Damn. How were they going to make this story appropriate for children to hear?!

"That's right." Kazumi grins and Sasuke looks like he wanted to hide under the table.

Itachi just shakes his head at this behavior. He was tempted to do the same, but he had a reputation to protect. He supposed that he would have to start.

He smirks at that thought. "Well it all started a long time ago with some tomatoes of all things." The children all knew about the Massacre, but that didn't mean he was going to go into details about why Hinata had give Sasuke tomatoes.

"Itachi, stop!" Sasuke shakes his head. "It might be better, if I tell them."

Gods and Goddesses only knew what his brother was about to say! Most of their children had already had the talk, but that didn't mean that he was going to allow his brother to go into graphic detail about how they had both ended up married to Hinata!

As soon as he said that though, Sasuke regretted it. He really regretted it because all of his children were now staring at him.

How did he get himself into these situations?! "Your mother gave me some tomatoes on a day that I was feeling very sad and I appreciated her kindness very much." Oh right. Itachi!

This was all Itachi's fault and Hinata's giggling wasn't helping matters. Though he could feel her hand on his thigh under the table. Well that helped a bit.

"It's alright." She smiles at him encouragingly.

Shisui tilts his head, looking more than a little skeptical at that. "I know that you love tomatoes, but I didn't think you fell in love with mother because of them." Sasuke feels himself twitch. That wasn't what he meant at all!

"It wasn't the tomatoes themselves, but what they represented that made me fall in love with her." Sasuke sighs heavily. "Though at the time, I wasn't ready to make friends and thought it would be best to leave Hinata alone. For years, I was…away and she developed feelings for Naruto. Of course, Uncle Naruto is an idiot and didn't realize this." He scoffs at that.

Hinata blushes deeply as the children all look at her widely. "It was Puppy Love. It was nothing like I have with your fathers'." Damn straight, it wasn't!

Thankfully, the children seem more than willing to accept that and prod Sasuke to continue. Gods and Goddesses, this was so embarrassing!

"Anyway, your mother ended up being our medic and Itachi discovered my feelings for her." He gives Itachi a dirty look. "And well, things got complicated for awhile. Eventually though, we all decided we loved each other and got married. And had all of you." Sasuke smiles at them proudly.

Itachi chuckles at Sasuke's rather innocent explanation. "What he means to say is that I helped him seduce his Byakugan Princess because he was too shy to make a move and your mother ended up falling in love with both of us as we did her." Causing Sasuke to twitch again.

He was going to strangle his evil brother! How dare he embarrass him in front of the children like that?! What was wrong with Itachi?! Didn't he have any sense of decency?!

"Oh. That makes sense." Asa smiles. "Wait. What's seduce mean?"

To which every other member of the Uchiha Family, falls out of their chair. Yes, even Shadow and Summons were now flailing outside.

Hinata rubs the back of her head sheepishly, after everyone had composed themselves. "We'll tell you when you're older." That only causes Asa and Kazumi to pout though.

"They always say that!" Asa sulks.

Kazumi nods in agreement. "Yeah. It's not fair." Well it may not be fair, Sasuke thinks to himself, but it was the truth.

"So that's how it essentially happened." Sasuke smiles at them. "I kept my feelings for your mother a secret for years and Itachi helped me see that I shouldn't have." He rolls his eyes. "He might be a pervert, but his heart is always in the right place and I'm very glad that I ended up listening to him or else none of us would have gotten our happy ending."

This of course causes Aiko's eyes to sparkle. "Like all the pretty princesses and handsome princesses in the stories?!" Gods and Goddesses help him, his eldest daughter was a romantic with her head in the clouds sometimes!

Hinata just laughs though. "Yes, exactly." She smiles at them. "Now, it's time for all of you to go to bed!"

There was some customary pouting, but as always his wife's words were like magic. Sasuke wasn't sure how, but she was able to corral them all with astonishing ease. It was a gift really, Sasuke thinks to himself as he watches them all head to their respective bedrooms.

"That was just like magic." Sasuke chuckles.

Itachi smirks. "Speaking of magic, I believe that we still have that purple number that Kurenai generously gave our dear wife at her the twins' baby shower all those years ago." Yeah. That purple number really was magic!

His brother was right about that much. Sasuke's Sharingan and Rinnegan activated at the very thought and so did Uchiha Pouncing Mode. For both him and Itachi, causing Hinata to squeak.

"I'll g-go soundproof the bedroom." His wife really was such a smart woman. "Soundproofing Jutsu!" She already knew what was about to happen.

Itachi counts to ten before they give chase. After all, it was only fair to give their Byakugan Princess a had start. She was outnumbered!

It didn't take them long to follow her or for Sasuke to corner her against the wall though. "Got you!" He smirks rather triumphantly at the thought.

"I locked the door." Itachi smiles slyly. "And seeing as Hinata used the Soundproofing Jutsu and the kids are in bed, we shouldn't have any disturbances for the rest of the night."

It did take some planning to enjoy playtime with your beautiful wife when you had six children in the house, but Sasuke wouldn't have it any other way. He loved his children, niece, and nephews more than words could ever say.

Hinata blushes beautifully. "Well I see that you've both got this all planned out." Though it did amaze him that she still blushed even after all these years. It was endearing, really.

"Of course, we did." Itachi smirks as he nods at Sasuke. "We would be very poor excuses for geniuses, if we didn't."

Hinata just laughs and kisses them. "Mmm. I suppose that's true." Naturally, they each returned it as Itachi looks for that purple gown.

"I love you." Sasuke smiles as he caresses her cheek.

It didn't take his brother long to find it though. Kurenai really did have such excellent taste. It was no wonder, that the Genjutsu Mistress decided to become a fashion designer!

Itachi holds up the gown victoriously. "And I love you as well." Not that Sasuke could blame him. Purple was such a flattering color on Hinata!

"And I love both of you." She giggles as she takes the gown. "I guess that I should go change." Causing them both to nod their heads rather vigorously.

Hinata just laughs and saunters off into the bedroom to change. Damn that was gorgeous saunter.

Itachi watches, just as enraptured as Sasuke as. "Thank you." He smiles at him. "For sharing her, when you didn't have to."

"You're welcome, but it was her choice." He shakes his head. "And I don't mind. Besides, I guess it didn't hurt to have some extra help with restoring our Clan."

His brother shakes his head and pokes Sasuke's forehead. "You're such a wonderfully foolish little brother." Not that again?!

Why did Itachi insist on poking his forehead?! "You're never going to stop poking my forehead, are you?" He always did that!

Itachi smirks at him. That damn smirk that Sasuke didn't know, if he'd ever be able to copy. One that he was secretly a big jealous of.

"I told you that I would stop poking your forehead when you stopped being foolish." He chuckles. "Which you are never going to do. So you're correct, the forehead pokes are not going to stop anytime soon."

Whatever. He could live with the forehead pokes, he guessed. Besides, he had far more important things to focus on right now. Like Hinata in that lavender gown.

"So how long do you think it will be before one of the kids knocks on the door?" Sasuke tilts his head at Itachi.

His brother just smirks at him. "I'd say not till early tomorrow morning at the very least." Ah. That was good. That was plenty of time to enjoy being with their wife.

"Good." Sasuke smiles as Hinata comes out and the two of them pounce, pinning her to the bed playfully.

Hinata laughs and smiles at them. "Over a decade of marriage and you two still pounce me as quickly as you did on our Honeymoon." Damn right they did!

Itachi smiles and kisses her. "Well who could blame us when we have such a beautiful wife?" Yeah!

Not to be outdone, Sasuke also kisses Hinata. Luckily, their Byakugan Princess was used to this treatment and eagerly returns their kisses. Quickly. (Which was good because neither of them possessed much patience when it came to waiting for their beloved's soothing touch)!

"You're both such sweet talkers." She giggles.

"Only for you." Sasuke smiles at her because it was true.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of passion. Heated moans and tangled limbs. The three of them becoming one as they had so many times before. Hinata was right. They were still just as desperate for each other now as they had been on their Honeymoon.

When the Sun's light filtered through the curtains the next morning though, Sasuke was struck by one thought. He had really meant it when he said that. For him, there had only ever been Hinata. The Uchiha had never seriously considered anyone else and Sasuke had never regretted it.

He'd been in love with her since the day she gave him those tomatoes, whether he knew it or not and Itachi had quickly fallen for her as well. How could they not? She was their Byakugan Princess. And to think, all of this had started with just one little secret.

"That's one secret, that I'm glad I wasn't able to keep." He smiles as he watches Hinata and Itachi sleep.

True, their marriage might be a little unorthodox, but Sasuke wouldn't have it any other way. He and Itachi both had gotten to marry the love of their lives and sired six wonderful children between them in the process. What could be better than that?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. "Perfect." Absolutely nothing could be better than this.

He thinks to himself as he settles back down next to Itachi and Hinata. Intent on catching a little more sleep before their Uchiha Army woke them up, demanding breakfast. After all, he had nothing to worry about anymore. This time things were different. This time, he had gotten to keep his family and nothing would ever separate them. He'd make sure of it.