Summary: Marriage, Wedding Night and Children

AN: Disclaimer in Chapter 1

AN: I freely admit I have no experience with Japanese cultural traditions when it comes to weddings. Any faux pas are completely unintentional.

AN: The wedding night section has lemon/lime. Skip if you are under age

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...ooO Celebrating Unions Ooo...

Tsunade smiled, a small appreciative true smile, as she watched the newly weds accept the congratulations and affections from their more trusted acquaintances invited for the more public reception. Given it was the wedding of a Clan Head (even one of a minor new clan) and a highly respected ANBU Captain there were other guests of a more political nature present; Clan and Council representatives (heads, heirs, or trusted advisors) who consisted of supporters and detractors of the new clan, and its new Matriarch. Tsunade pushed the niggling worry away and focused on the newly weds.

Kagome was beautiful in her pale mint green kimono embroidered with purple flowers, dark green and black vines and its matching bronze obi. Itachi was dressed in subdued traditional clothes of navy blue accented by white. The striking motif of geometric white sakura blossoms on the shoulders and cuffs stood out against the dark blue. Tsunade wondered if it was going to be the new clans signature sigil.

"Tsunade-hime!"

"Hello Jiraiya. I'm surprised you aren't being your usual perverted self."

The Gama Sannin smirked. "Kagome-sama would put me on a no-dessert diet." He shrugged at Tsunades disbelief. "Her desserts are to die for. The triple chocolate-fudge cheesecake…" He drooled. "Ambrosia."

Tsunade was aghast. "You mean she threatens to not make cheesecake for you and you behave!?!" Tsunade wondered where the thin high-pitched tone of disbelief came from. Surely it didn't come from her!

Jiraiya shrugged and patted his flat-toned stomach. "She is a very good cook. Trust me, just feed her cooking to anyone and they'll do anything to be invited to a second meal." He smirked. "How do you think she controls the gaki?"

Tsunade laughed. "Which one?"

"All of them. Well Naruto in particular. They love her but the threat of not getting a portion of the next cheesecake she makes is enough to get all of them to hop to it."

"Even Itachi?" Tsunades voice was arch.

Jiraiya smirked a perverted grin. "Well, with Itachi it is more of a bribe of how the cheesecake is served. A la Kagome."

Tsunades eyes widened as decades of amorous experience conjured up very vivid images of just how cheesecake could be served by a beautiful woman in a more private setting. She blushed hotly. Then she realized something. "How do you know that?"

Jiraiya leered and confessed unashamedly. "Spied on them. My notebook practically caught fire. Never thought such a cold fish could be so inventive! And in such open places! Guess what they say about still waters applies to Itachi."

Both Sannin looked at the couple. Itachi looked like any new husband: proud, protective, watchful with one particular exception. There was a distinctly predatory gleam in dark eyes following his new bride.

Tsunade smiled. At least this marriage was clearly based on love, not dynastic or political considerations. She turned to her old teammate. "How long do you think it will be before they skip out?"

Jiraiya turned to his old crush. "Interested in a bet?"

"Hundred ryou says he'll be the one to make polite farewells to vanish with her. Within twenty minutes."

Jiraiya looked at the new husband and tried to gauge the odds. Itachi had better self control. And Kagome was always the one to make the first move in the past encounters he'd witnessed…

"You're on Tsunade-hime. Five-to-one odds."

Ten minutes later Higurashi Itachi approached the circle of young genin and chuunin kunoichi who were trying to get an 'in' with the new Higurashi Matriarch. One minute later he had separated Kagome from the herd. Five minutes later the couple had spoken to the younger Higurashis and a few select jounins including Hatake Kakashi and Morino Ibiki. Within twenty seconds Itachi and his new bride were behind a potted plant that served as a screen for a discreet Shunshin exit.

It was one of the few bets Tsunade won without catastrophic side-effects.

...ooOoo...

Kagome sighed as she stretched and twisted her torso to brush a kiss against her husbands lips. Her husband. She liked the sound of that.

A soft moan escaped her as callused fingertips parted the slick lips between her thighs and began playing with her already sensitized clit. She did not protest as strong hands manipulated her legs into parting so he could penetrate her from behind.

Within minutes a hot flush suffused her skin and she was teetering at the edge of release. The angle of his cock hitting That spot inside. His fingers playing with her front roaming from the hard tips of her breasts down to her clit and up again. Her throat was sore from screaming her pleasure. Vaguely Kagome was pleased the kids insisted on camping out in the private training grounds for two weeks to give Itachi and herself some private time since it wasn't practical to take a honeymoon trip out of Konoha.

It would be really embarrassing to explain to teenagers who had yet to really hit puberty the nuances of screams from erotic encounters.

Kagome wondered if Jiraiya had some sound-proofing seals they could use in the house, something that could be activated and deactivated by those keyed to the fuuin jutsu.

And then she could not think at all.

- - -

"You are quiet."

Kagome rolled over within his arms to meet his eyes.

"Just thinking." She admitted honestly.

"Of what?"

"Children."

Itachi stilled for a few brief seconds. "What about them?"

"I don't want to wait." Kagome burst out. "I know it is not a good time. And you will have to go on active duty soon. And the Council is really prying on my background. And the Uchihas are not too happy--."

And then he kissed her hard to silence the litany. She was quiet when he finally lifted his mouth from hers. Her worries faded when she saw his smile.

"I don't want to wait either." He admitted.

Kagome laughed and threw herself at him. She felt her blood heat as she straddled her husbands slim hips. She could feel him hardening between her thighs, his shaft probing the slick slit. A slight shift and twist and he was inside her, filling her with his stiffening cock, stretching her to the right side of pain.

His voice was darkly provocative. "When you leave this house you will be with child. My child."

Kagome hissed. "You don't know that." Her brain could barely function. She was drowning in sensation.

He chuckled and thrust hard, rubbing a particular spot inside that made her convulse. "You had your bleeding ten days ago. You will be fertile in the next few days. I told Tsunade-sama not to schedule me for any mission for at least two weeks."

Itachi enjoyed watching his new wife in the throes of her pleasure. He had inflicted a great deal of death and destruction with his hands and body. It was exhilarating to be the source of Her pleasure and happiness. And very soon new life.

...ooOoo...

Nine months later in Konoha General Hospitals Maternity Waiting Room, Jiraiya smirked as he used a minor jutsu to amplify his voice.

"All right people I'm taking bets here. Haku has won the pot for the closest date. Any takers for the time down to the quarter of the hour? The genders? All of us know Kagome is having twins."

There was a flurry of takers including the Higurashi pack.

"Oi Ero-Sensei! Put me down. Ten ryo for a girl and a boy. Girl first in, say forty minutes."

Sasuke smirked. "Twenty ryou. Two boys. In ninety minutes."

"Ten ryou. A girl and boy. Boy first in fifty minutes." Gaa'ra decided after some thought.

And the Gama Sannin collected the money and made notes of the bets to calculate the pots.

Haku chewed on her lip before making her call. "A girl and boy. Girl first in thirty minutes."

Sarutobi chuckled rustily and made his bet. "Two boys. Twenty minutes."

Ino and Sakura gaped. They had been in the hospital for their usual training duties when Kagome had been brought in by an unusually calm husband followed by a pack of unruly family and friends including Jiraiya and the Sandaime Hokage.

"Isn't that a bit fast?" Sakura voiced her concern aloud. "Most first time mothers are usually in labour for at least eight hours."

Those who had bet under two hours blinked mildly at the medics-in-training. Then Haku took pity on them.

"Kagome has been in labour since at least seven-thirty. She spent most of the morning in the onsen relaxing her muscles. She let Itachi bring her to the hospital only after her water broke."

Ino was horrified. "You mean she's been in labour for six hours already? Without any medics or painkillers?!?"

Haku was bemused. "I was there. Neither she nor the babies were in distress. The contractions were fairly mild. She was comfortable at home. There was no point in taking up a hospital bed and having all of us in the hospital all day. Now we'll only have to wait a few hours."

Kurenai blinked a bit alarmed of what she was hearing.

"You let her do that?" The question was directed at the to-be father.

Itachi blinked mildly before shifting to stand from his crouch. His hitae was not tied around his forehead as it usually was but secured around his left bicep. Long black strands fell into his eyes, framing his face, revealing the softly glowing teal quartered circle on his forehead. Usually it looked like an ordinary tattoo etched with green ink, but at times it glowed with an otherworldly light.

Then he looked away intent on something.

A smile spread across his face as he walked swiftly towards the doors of the maternity ward. When they swung open under his hands, the silencing seals broke for an instant allowing those waiting outside to hear the high twin wails of two newborns.

"How did he know?" Ino wanted to know. "He could Not have heard anything. The maternity ward is specially sealed to block sound both ways."

Naruto shrugged. "They always know things about each other. They're married."

Ino scowled but before she could make a retort Haku shushed her.

"Itachi should be coming out soon."

But it wasn't Itachi. It was one of the civilian medics. She blinked at the size of the crowd.

"Okay, you can enter but be quiet. Only immediate family two at a time in the room with the new parents and newborns. The rest of you can look through the windows."

There was some grumbling but no one argued. Faces were pressed against the picture window. Naruto and Sasuke wriggled through the door first. A few seconds later the blinds lifted.

Kagome was sitting in bed, leaning against the pillows cradling one tiny form wrapped in white flannel edged in green. Itachi was sitting on the bed as well cradling another small bundle swathed in white flannel edged in blue.

Naruto and Sasuke were crowding close, peering at the small faces.

Kagome looked up and waved. "Gaa'ra, Haku, come on in!" She ignored the protests of the medics and urged the other two to join them.

- - -

Kagome smiled softly, welcomingly. Her eyes were glowing as they settled on her husband, her lover, her friend, her partner. She watched as the teenagers coo over the tiny forms of the newest additions to the Higurashi Clan and take turns cradling the fragile bundles. The babies made not a peep since they were fed and warm.

Then Naruto spoke hesitantly as he handed baby wrapped in the green edged blanket to the new father. "Have you chosen their names?"

Kagome nodded. "Sasuke is holding Misao, she was born first. Itachi is holding Minato."

Naruto blinked moistly. "You named him--."

"After your father. He was a good man. Strong and honorable. I hope my own son grows to be like him. And his son." She smiled at her husband who was rocking the baby in his arms. "I am certain he will."

Itachi smiled as he studied the shut eyes and soft plump features of his second-born, his son. "Higurashi Minato. He will have a lot to live up to."

"And he will. In his own way." Kagome spoke firmly. "No matter what path he chooses he will honor the man he was named for."

- - -

Outside the glass window several jounins stilled. One particular shinobi with straw-like gray hair rounded on Sarutobi.

"Is he--?"

"Yes."

"You lied to me. To everyone."

"To protect Naruto." This was the Sandaime speaking. "If this entire village chose to be blind I saw no point in trying to change their mind."

"But if I knew--."

"You would have taken Naruto in out of guilt. You would have smothered him because you feel you failed his father, your old sensei." Several light bulbs went on.

"You mean the Yondaime...?" Kurenai breathed aghast at just what was being revealed.

Sarutobi snorted. "Namikaze Minato was a good man. When the Kyuubi attacked it was clear the only way to stop it was to seal it into a living container; only a human being has the intellect to be mentally strong and resolute to contain such a threat. The best alternative was a newborn child whose chakra system was still malleable.

"There were several suitable infants but he chose his own flesh and blood because he could not ask something of another parent what he was not willing to give up. He sealed the Kyuubi into his own son Naruto and he died wanting Konoha to see Naruto as a hero. But this village was, still is, full of cowardly selfish blind fools who refused to see past their own fears. Frankly I would not have been surprised if Naruto had snapped long ago. He would have if Kagome and Itachi hadn't taken him in."

"Don't you mean Itachi-san?" Kurenai pointed out hesitantly.

Sarutobi smiled and shook his head. "Kagome is the heart of their family. Without her Itachi would never have bothered teaching Naruto, or fostering Gaa'ra and Haku. He most likely would have stayed in ANBU."

Kurenai bit her lip. "I still don't understand. She is so young. Itachi adopted Naruto years ago. She would have been so young back then! How could her parents have left her alone? How did she enter Konoha and remain unseen?"

The Sandaime smiled slyly. "That is a clan secret."

- - -

Itachi studied the small round face of his second-born, his son, hopefully one of many. He wondered if Fugate had once felt this sense of wonder and awe. Then he discarded the thought. The man might have felt it once but he allowed his clan pride and blind ambition to consume his familial love. Itachi vowed to never let anything like that happen in His family.

The Higurashi Head looked around the small hospital room and allowed the litany of questions and discussions to wash over him. Fugate would never have fostered outsiders. He would have never welcomed change. He would never have accepted without conditions. He never would have given and accepted love unconditionally, with no restrictions.

Itachi would never be Fugate.

As though she had read his mind, Kagome spoke. "You are not Uchiha Fugate; you never will be. You are Higurashi Itachi; and so many other things including husband and father."

He bent and kissed his wife. It was a chaste brush of lips that held the promise of so much more. He could feel her in his blood, in his heart, in his soul… She was everything. Itachi was suddenly terrified at the thought of losing her.

Her eyes glowed as she reached up to touch his cheek.

"I know. I feel the same way at times. I will always be here. I promise."

The tense feeling in his chest unclenched. And then he spoke.

"Thank you saiai." She cocked her head in an inquiring manner. "For loving me, marrying me, the twins, the brats… for our family."

Kagome smiled gently. "No anata, I thank you."

- - -

Those outside the picture window... their breaths caught as the window framed a perfect moment. A couple in love, new life, a family.

...ooOoo...

The End.

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AN: I have no concrete plans to write backstories, sequels or other arcs for the Higurashi teenagers. For those wondering about Akatsuki, I'm not going to expand on that arc either. I've got other plots and stories going on. Of course, if I'm inspired I might change my mind. I've got a few germs of ideas fermenting about clashes with Akatsuki and meeting other jinchuurikis. Nothing for at least four-six months though.

I hope you all enjoyed this story. Please read some other crossovers and fics I have going on my Profile Page.

I'm going to recatogorize this under Anime x-overs and put a purely Naruto (AR of course) fic.

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