#50 follower

Genma slung his muscular arms around Kaede’s waist with a low hum. His senbon brushed dangerously close through her pulled up hair as he placed his chin on her shoulder and flung up and down with the deliberate yet teasing words the tokubetsu jonin loved to utter. “Babe, come on. Just a little bit of lovemaking before I have to go to a shift in the watchtower.”

“No. This here is my lunch and I will be damned if you manage yet again to make me burn it.”

His hands brushed lower, dangerously low to the waistband of her tight pants. Kaede’s breath hitched, ruining her bristly behavior effectively. Genma noticed, and when his hands wandered even lower, fingertips dancing over her calves and inching closer and closer to her body middle, the brunette started to squirm, even though a gentle blush spread over her face.

“Bad dog!” she squealed and tried without real effort to swat his hands away, “Out! Stop! I swear to the heaven’s-!”

“Babe.” Genma’s smooth voice send goose bumps all over Kaede’s arms and back. “You love it. Don’t try to fool me.”

“I’m cooking!”

“Turn the oven off. Easy-peasy.”

“Don’t come at me with this “easy-peasy” bullshit!” Her harsh statement was undermined by the breathless chuckle as Genma found her weak point like always. Kaede squealed as his talented fingers dug into her flanks, tickling the woman until she was a shivering, weak mess in his arms, full of tears of laughter and all smiles. “Gen-! Stop! Please, please, oh come on, please!”

“Nope.” His cocky comment tingled in your ears, sweet like honey and just as smooth. “But I love how you beg, babe.”

“I’m not going to beg for anything else for a long time if you don’t! Stop!”

“Somehow I can’t really believe in those words.” The man flushed himself closer, front to back, calves to calves and his hands still teasing and wandering all over your ticklish flanks. “Come on, say something I can take for granted.”

“No!”

“Oh, you will. You always do in the end.” Kaede knew exactly the face Genma made, hiding his features in her back. One corner of his mouth was twitching upwards, the other curled adorably, while there would be a special, teasing sparkle in his dark eyes, telling about the mischief and havoc the man could bring when he was in the mood. Laughing and still trying to wiggle her ass free, her hands scrapped over his, fingers digging into taut muscles and warm skin, while she struggled and tried to get away.

To no avail. Like always, Genma’s embrace rivaled iron and steel, and nothing seemed to break his unwavering stance and merciless tickle torture. But maybe, Kaede had exactly the right counterattack to shock her boyfriend into a frenzied stupor.

“I’m pregnant!” she hollered, tears staining her sight and still desperately wiggling in the unforgiving grip of Genma’s arms. “I’m fucking pregnant, babe, let me go, oh, please let me go!”

Good news: the hands on her waist slowed, then stilled. Bad news: the rest of the man did too. Motionless and wordless, Genma seemed to be frozen. Only his breath had quickened a tiny bit, together with a distinctive gulp echoing in Kaede’s ears. Then, with a terribly loud ‘clank’, his senbon dropped onto the white kitchen tiles.

Her stomach sunk. Didn’t he like the idea of a child? Was he maybe repelled? Okay, they spoke only once, twice about a family, always in the deep of the night, messed up in the best way possible and cuddled up underneath the blankets, but what about reality? What about now? What about tomorrow?

“Genma?” Carefully, she tried to turn in his arms. “Are you… Are you alright?”

“I… I think…”

“Yeah?”

“I believe…”

“Genma? Honey, are you alright?”

His arms fell from their comfortable place on her hips. Kaede felt the loss of warmth like a brutal hit, and when she turned around, the first thing which jumped into her vision was the paleness of his nose and the glassy expression in his usually warm, mischievous eyes. “Yeah…” he said, voice somehow a little bit distant and weak. All the while he took a step back to lean against the opposite kitchen counter, “I’m just… Gimme a minute…”

“You don’t look too good.” One step closer and Kaede was able to reach out to her boyfriend. Worry tightened her throat, too afraid of what he was going to say next. “Would it be better if I say that it was just a prank? April fools?”

“April was three months ago,” he wheezed. The man reached up, hand shaking heavily and tried to ruffle his dirty brown hair, but only managed to crumple the navy fabric of his bandana between his fingers. He was obviously flabbergasted, absolutely shocked and unable to utter a single word from his usually so witty mind.

Kaede had never seen him like this. Not when they went to their first date, not when they confessed their feelings to each other, not when she had been injured for the first time since they were in a relationship.

Back then, Genma had watched over her hospital bed for days, barely sleeping and only going away when his duty had called him. Never before the special jonin had looked like he did right now, shaken up and completely confused.

“Is it that bad?”

The words slipped from Kaede’s lips before she even fully realized she had spoken them. Shocked, her hands flew up and covered her slightly open mouth, all the while Genma finally was ripped out of his daze. The shinobi looked into her eyes, slight panic and nervousness burning in his irises. “No, no babe!” Furiously shaking his head, Kaede’s boyfriend closed the distance, only to stroke gently over her cheek, fingers trembling and voice nearly too weak to understand. “I’m just… I’m just a little bit surprised.”

Like a cat, Kaede arched into the ministration. The sinking pressure on her stomach eased and would’ve vanished by now if not for the still visible, oh so obvious panic on his face.

“Is it… Do you want to leave?”

Tears burned in her eyes at the mere thought, but stubbornly, the woman swallowed them down. No way she would cry here, it was his decision and not hers. If he didn’t want to have a baby now, well, then she would find a solution on her own, it was as easy as that.

His hand on her cheek stilled, only to carefully force Kaede to meet Genma’s gaze. “Babe,” the second hand joined the first, hugging her features like the man was scared to break her somehow, “No, no, no, don’t look at me like this. Don’t cry here on me, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not crying.” Despite her words, Kaede had to quickly wipe an escaped tear on the run away, before staring into his eyes. “What is this crying you speak of? Never heard of that.”

The tear and terrible joke were worth the first shaky grin flitting over Genma’s face. “Oh, and what is that?” Another drop fell, but before the brunette could react, his thumbs swiped over her skin and erased every evidence the tear ever existed. “Sorry, I was just surprised, nothing else. Needed a few minutes to get my head straight. Are you sure? Is it…? How far are you?”

“Not too long. Three or four weeks.”

“Fuck.” With a wet snort, the man shook his head. “Well, speaking about the burnt stink in the walls. That one will last a little longer.”

Kaede leaned slightly forward, closer to the promising warmth. Dim hope rose when another smile tugged at the corners of his gorgeous mouth and his hands moved lower, brushing over her shoulders, bare arms and down to her waist, allowing her to take another step towards Genma.

“So…” A hitch in her breath disturbed Kaede, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. Unconsciously, she blinked through her eyelashes up at her boyfriend, who was nearly back to his usual, smug smirking. “Got your mind straight? Panties not in a twist anymore?”

Genma rolled his eyes. “First of all, yeah, I got over the initial shock. Thanks for asking, babe.”

“No problem, honey.” Kaede answered. She had to bite her bottom lip, before a just as wide grin would spread over her features.

Genma noticed that motion and he shook his head, light-brown strands flailing around his head, before he lowered himself. Only inches away from Kaede’s lips, he stopped, leaving her wanting and also hoping for what she thought he had in mind. “Second, my panties are never in a twist. Ever.”

“Sure.”

“I mean it.”

“Whatever you say, honey.”

Genma growled and Kaede would be lying if she would say she wasn’t one bit turned on by the sound. “Woman, what are you doing to me?”

She wanted to give the comment back, repeating his words, but then his lips laid upon hers and Kaede forgot her plans. It had been like this from the very time Genma kissed her. She just lost whatever plans she had in the back of her mind, erased by the lips, teeth and tongue of this incredibly talented kisser, who apparently took only seconds to figure out how much Kaede liked to be overpowered, only to gently give her room to seduce him along the line. Their bodies flushed together, hands roaming not so innocently over curves and muscles, moans drifting through the air, mixing together and breathless whispers between kisses.

Kaede was lightheaded when she broke the kiss, her hands in the back pockets of Genma’s pants. “Maybe I should get even more pregnant when you react every time like this,” she teased and watched how the usually aloof and cool special jonin blushed the tiniest bit.

“Excuse me,” he sputtered, “It’s not like an everyday occurrence.”

“So… We’re doing this?” Again, Kaede bit her slightly swollen lower lip. “Together, as a team?”

Genma nodded and only then, the heavy stone on her soul crumbled away. She didn’t even realize it was there, despite the ongoing light banter and the slowly growing warm shine in his eyes. “Of course, we do this. Can’t leave you on your own. You’re lost without me.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around.” Kaede teased. Then, following an instinct, she kissed Genma’s neck. He was very sensitive there and the woman knew what he liked. A quick bite to his pulse point, then a little lick over the same spot, only to end the ministration with a softening of her lips and kissing the tiny bruise which would form there in the next few hours. “I love you, honey.”

His hair brushed over Kaede’s ear shell as he buried his face in the crease of her shoulder. “Love you too, babe.” A few seconds of silence, before he breathed deeply out. “We’re getting a baby.”

“Yeah.”

“A baby. A real one.”

“Are there fake ones?”

“Who knows? I’m quite sure Hatake considers his dogs as his babies, the way he prances around them…”

“Genma!” Kaede laughed into his chest. “You’re incorrigible. He’s your superior! I see him every time I work at the mission desk! I can’t look him in the eyes anymore when I have the picture of him doting on his pack of dogs in my head!”

“Mhmm…” His nose ruffled over her neck, nosing Kaede like a curious, cuddly cat. “So do I. Live with it.”

Pouting playfully, the brunette tried to wiggle out of Genma’s arms. “You’re mean to the mother of your child. I think I can’t accept that.”

Before she even had a chance to partly free herself, his arms around her waist tightened. Like snakes getting a hold on their prey, not letting go except something drastic happened, they bound the woman to the special jonin. He nosed again her neck, his lips brushing over her neck and when the next sentence was mumbled into the crease of her neck, Kaede couldn’t suppress the little, content sigh anymore.

“The mother of our child. Sounds perfect to me.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“You’re so whipped.”

“Shut up.”

“But he’s right. You’re soooooo…” Raidou smirked when Genma groaned loudly into his drink. “You’re so whipped.”

“I’m not!” With a low growl, the brunet took another deft sip, before pointing accusingly at his old team of fellow Hokage-guards, who snickered at his accusing tone. “You’ve never experienced what I’m going through at the moment!”

Iwashi, a man with the stature of a goat and the correlating charm and beard of one of these animals, snorted into his dark beer. “Not looking forward to it.”

They had met at their usual bar, just a few days after Kaede announced her predicament… her circumstances to the special jonin. The guards of the Hokage were quiet and yet social men, often to be found in the dark booth of their favorite establishment, quietly talking among themselves and enjoying the buzzing nightlife around them while exchanging stories and anecdotes out of their lives. A monthly meeting outside of the training sessions and report duties their position brought along. Also, a nice way to exchange gossip and exciting news… for example Kaede’s pregnancy. Genma still couldn’t believe it, and at the thought of being a father, responsible for a small life which was his own flesh and blood… A mighty vortex of panic and pride swirled through his stomach and he took another sip, drowning the slightly bitter taste in the rich alcohol.

Being a father. Even the title of a jonin couldn’t hold more meaning than that. And Kaede, sweet, beautiful Kaede as the mother. A small smile crossed his lips. Hell, she was already a sight to see, with legs which seemed to go on forever, subtle curves in all the right places and just enough faults in her beauty to make her truly special and not the boring kind of pretty he could find every day on the street.

Not to talk about her wit and sharp mind. It had taken Genma quite some time to get close to the confident woman, close enough to ask for a date and not be instantly rejected. And still, Kaede made him wait with her answer, until she slipped him, together with a new mission, a little note, saying nothing more than a time and small pub.

At first, the special jonin thought it would be a short-lasting relationship, not more than a few weeks, hot sex and a clean break-up in the end. But no, somehow, Genma found himself falling deeper in love with the stubborn and sharp-tongued woman than he ever imagined. She must also see something in him that she liked and also learned to love, otherwise, he couldn’t explain how Kaede managed to adjust to him and his messy household when they moved into a shared apartment. And now they were here, farther down the road than Genma ever thought he would be, Kaede pregnant and Genma so incredibly proud-scared-insecure that he needed to calm his mind with a much-needed talk to his current teammates.

Another sip at his drink, then the brunet leaned in. Raidou and Iwashi mirrored him, automatically leaning forward to catch his words over the noise of a busy bar.

Genma raised his index finger and his friends leaned even further in, their expectations rising with every second the special jonin waited. A few seconds longer to let the meaningful glance the man gave them sink in, then he opened his mouth.

“Wait ‘til you’re in my shoes. Then, I will make jokes about you.”

Iwashi groaned loudly in disappointment, while Raidou let his head fall to the table, joining the bull of their team in his sounds of despair and annoyance.

“What?” Genma asked, “You say I’m whipped, but just you wait until you find the mother of your future children! Both of you will be so far gone when you hear how she proclaims to you that she’s pregnant, that-!”

Raidou’s chin rolled over the wood. “You’re whipped, Genma,” he grumbled. “Sooooo whipped.”

Iwashi snorted into his beer. “Yup. Totally under the whip of his house dragon. Just you wait,” with three determined gulps, he emptied the huge glass, only to wave at one of the waitresses for another one, “Until Kaede’s hormones are going crazy. In your state, you will get up at 3am to get her who-knows-what.”

“Pfff…” The special jonin rolled his eyes. “We will see.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Genma woke up to the insistent tugging at his sleeve and the weak yet whined whispers directly into his ear.

“Genma… Honey, wake up, please…”

Bleary eyes fluttered open, unfocused and hazy. Where was he? What happened? An enemy attack, maybe? It was definitely Kaede, who laid by his side, the slight baby bump pressing against his arm when she inched the tiniest bit closer, again whispering to him in this special tone the man would from now on immediately connect to cold, interrupted nights and walks to the closest convenience store. “Honey, please… I need some chocolate.”

“Then get some.” He grumped and turned around. Maybe, if he was lucky, that would do the trick. Hadn’t Kaede threw in two packages of chocolate into the basket when they went grocery shopping, just yesterday? They couldn’t possibly be already…

“I already ate all the chocolate we had.”

Genma would’ve closed his eyes if not for the fear of instantly falling back asleep again. Wait, why wouldn’t he…? Right, Kaede would pummel him if he dared to do so. A sigh welled up in his chest, but the brunet suppressed the single sound with all the shinobi-control he had in his bones.

With a low grump, he sat up, yawning and stretching and all in all showing clearly how tired, exhausted and sleepy he was, all the while faintly hoping his little show would weaken Kaede’s resolve from sending him on a little trip in the middle of the night. Obviously, he wasn’t too keen to get up. His warm, comfortable bed was right here, with his lovely, warm girlfriend inside and wasting only one minute of that promise of a nice sleep was a sacrilege.

But then Genma made the mistake of turning around. Even in the dim darkness, he could see and feel the pleading, big puppy-eyes Kaede perfectionated over the last weeks. She knew their effect on him, knew how little resistance he had to these big eyes, widened by a fraction and the promise of tears on her eyelashes when he only remotely thought about declining her request.

Still. Genma already had the negative words on his tongue, a simple shake of his head and he could go back to sleep. Well, until Kaede spoke up, while one hand sneakily caressed the little baby bump, proof of the small life she carried for him. “It’s alright. I get it. It’s really late and you don’t want to walk. Get back to sleep, okay, Honey? Seems like I have to get up myself then and go-!”

In the back of his mind, Genma knew what Kaede was doing. She actually dared to manipulate him with his awakened protectiveness over the last few weeks, in which her stomach rounded and grew together with the outbursts of hormone-induced cravings. But at the thought of the by now visibly pregnant woman stumbling through the night in her thin sleeping clothing, only a jacket as her only protection and with her hand clasped over her stomach, possibly blind and deaf for the dangers which could linger in the darkness, a cold shiver wandered down Genma’s spine. No way he would let Kaede walk alone through the night. Sure, it was Konoha, but it was also Konoha. One of the five great ninja villages and frequent target for dangerous assassinations and big-scale invasions.

“Babe,” he sighed and heaved himself into a standing position, “Just gimme a few seconds. I’m already on my way.”

“Oh.” Kaede smiled, Genma could hear it. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Any wishes? Brands, flavors?”

“Brand doesn’t matter, but do you think you could get some chocolate with matcha…?”

Matcha. Of course, it had to be matcha. Genma yawned once more while slipping a simple hoodie over his shoulders. “Alright, got it.” He closed the thin jacket over his naked chest and grabbed his shinobi pants. “How much do you want?”

“Two. No, make it three!”

“Bars? Packages? Boxes?”

Kaede giggled lightly. “Honey, no! Packages, please. Sorry.” She shuffled underneath the blanket, watching him how he climbed into his sweatpants and covered his ass which was cladded into a pair of tight boxer shorts. “Sorry for sending you on into the night. All alone, my brave hunter.”

Her words eased the little ripples of annoyance a little bit. “Hey, when I put the little parasite into your stomach, I basically sold my soul to you. The only thing I’m asking of you is to warm my bed and wait with spreaded legs for me. After such a midnight-walk, I will be hungry too.”

Kaede’s soft laughter still echoed in Genma’s ears when he ventured off into the cold night, hands stuffed into the pockets of his hoodie and almost instantly missing his bandana to hide his poor ears from the cold breeze. Would he turn around? No, instead, Genma grit his teeth and hunched his shoulders, hurrying into the direction of the nearest convenience store which he desperately prayed was still open.

Obviously not. The man had no other choice but to venture further, a little bit miffed but driven by one, single, lonely thought: When I come home, Kaede is waiting for me. When I get her the chocolate, she will be happy. And I can get to sleep, maybe even after some nice, relaxing sex.

The next store just closed a few minutes prior, the shopfront dark and empty. By now, Genma was giving up on finding an open store in the normal way and climbed on a nearby house, always watching out for some shinobi who used the paths over the village roofs for even more important things than finding chocolate for his pregnant girlfriend (hard to believe, but still true!)

A quick scan of the area and his heart lightened when his eyes spotted the slightly flickering sign of a small shop not too far away. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel, quite literally. Looking left and right, Genma set off and when the cool night air crashed into his face, he almost smirked. Oh yes, the light at the end of the tunnel.

It was a corner store, crammed into a small leftover space of an apartment complex. Small and only equipped with absolute necessities. Genma crossed his fingers while he entered, praying there was matcha chocolate in stock and that there were three whole packages left after a surely busy day.

The register was right beside the entrance. A bell chimed and the small woman, the grey hair in wild curls and the first wrinkles of age creasing the skin around her eyes, nodded knowingly at him, before burying her nose again in a worn-out copy of “The Art of War”. The special jonin nodded back at her, before setting of towards the row of sweets, his eyes already scanning for the telltale plastic of chocolate bars.

Green, purple, red, blue… For such a small store, there was surprisingly a lot of chocolate left. His hope rose and exploded in a true firework when Genma spotted the bright green package of matcha chocolate.

Yes! Oh god, thank you!

In the back of his mind Genma could hear choirs of angels sing a bright and holy “Hallelujah”. Really, he had doubted that he would be able to complete his mission, but when his tired eyes spotted the goal, raw energy flooded through his body. He reached out, his mind already turning to the warm bed waiting for him, with his pregnant girlfriend inside, wonderfully round and smiling, arm opened wide…

Only to be stopped centimeters before his fingers could get a hold of the three packages. A hand had closed around his wrist, strong and unbreakable. Genma groaned in annoyance, ready to hiss at the interruption, but when he met the eye of the other shinobi, the hiss died instantly in his chest.

“Kakashi-san,” he said and stared at the other man, who seemed to smile nonchalantly underneath his mask, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” The jonin tightened his grip around Genma’s hand, when the brunet tried to free himself. “I need to pick something up, you know? The usual.”

“This late?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

“Okay.”

“Would you let go of me, then?”

Kakashi blinked, before slowly, finger for finger, releasing the grip around Genma’s wrist, all the while still smiling so innocently that no sane person would buy the act for a mere second. “Of course,” he nodded at Genma, a sign of his respect, “I would never dare to stop you.”

Genma squinted his eyes. “Sure.” Again, he reached out to the matcha chocolate and was again met by a hand, this time shielding the shelf itself from the brunet.

“What?” Genma growled. “I have no nerve for this bullshit right now! My girlfriend is waiting for me, for this goddamn chocolate,” he gestured at the packages in question, blinking at him under the dull neon-light, “And I just want to go back to bed, but no, I’m a dutiful boyfriend who goes out in the middle of the night for his wonderful, lovely, pregnant girlfriend, and I won’t be stopped by you today, Hatake! So, either you tell me what your problem is right now, or we have a serious problem right here!”

“My, somebody is whipped.”

“I’m not whipped!”

The older man had the audacity to chuckle. “Alright, alright. Totally not whipped, that is. No, I thought you were going for the last box of dog biscuits.” He gestured towards the shelf. And really, right beside the matcha chocolate was a solemn, lonely box of colorful dog treats, a mixture of veggies and different sorts of real meat. No artificial flavors, at least that was what the box promised and who was Genma to judge dog treats?

“I thought you were going for them,” Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, “And considering I have a pregnant dog at home… Well, we’re kind of in a similar situation here. I was desperate.”

“Congrats,” Genma grunted and finally snatched three packages of the human sweets, “Next time, maybe ask before you block my path.” He turned around, already on his way to the register and old lady, who followed their little quarrel with bright, attentive eyes.

Was it his tired brain or was Kakashi really muttering under his breath the word “whipped” over and over again?

While Genma fiddled with the notes to pay for the cravings of Kaede, he threw a disgruntled glance at the older jonin, who smiled only just as nonchalantly back, before burying his nose in a penny dreadful he found while strolling through the store.

“I’m not whipped.” The brunet growled.

Kakashi hummed lowly, his fingers trying to catch the corner of one page. “Sure.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next occurrence when the cursed words reached Genma’s ears was when he and Kaede were out for some late baby-clothing shopping. Her arm was slung around his waist, his draped over her shoulder. The other arm was occupied by a small bag with a cute jumper (Kaede actually squealed when she discovered that item) in the form of a bright-yellow duck and some small shoes and socks (at the small size, fitting just right into the plane of his palm, Genma had to suppress a squeal).

That was when the chaos started. One second, they were quietly discussing about a possible name for the little bean, the next, Genma found himself in a bear hug of a green cladded, overly enthusiastic shinobi and nearly drowned by the waterfalls of tears the other man produced.

“My youthful comrade and teammate!” Gai shouted into his ear. “So wonderful to see you! And Kaede-san, so beautiful and shining in her circumstances! When I see you both, I’m overcome with the want to also experience the springtime of youth and harbor the next energetic generation of the Hidden Leaf Village! YOSH!”

A small tinnitus rung in Genma’s ears and only barely, he managed to pry his old genin-teammate off of him. “Hey Gai,” he said and tried to suppress a little sigh when he spotted the other relict of his young, foolish days in the distance, wearing a bandana and sunglasses, “Good to see you, buddy. Hey, Ebisu. Long time no see.”

The other jonin adjusted the fit of his glasses. “Hello Genma. Kaede. You’re looking good.”

The brunette smiled at both of his teammates, one hand in her hips, the other on top of her rounded stomach. “Hey, you two. Yes, it has been a long time.”

Gai had jumped at Genma, but when he turned to the only woman in their circle, his hands were gentle and caring when he cradled his girlfriend in a tender hug. “When is the youthful day? When can we see the new life?”

“In a few weeks.” Kaede returned the hug, only to teasingly poke Gai’s nose. “And you will surely find a lovely flower you can experience a life with, just you wait. Maybe she’s just around the corner or…”

She shouldn’t have said anything. The waterfalls started again and Gai sobbed into his arm, obviously swept away by the friendliness of Genma’s girlfriend. “Well said, Kaede-san! Well said! I’m so inspired by your words, I just have to-!” And without further ado, he pulled Kaede into another, not so careful hug, crying into her pulled up hair. “I just have to hug you and the bud growing in your body! Your words are inspiring, a true fountain of wisdom! Your pregnancy makes you truly-!”

Genma watched with growing horror how Gai started to swirl the young woman around, round and round and round. Before his inner eye, the scenarios piled up, one more gruesome and bloodier than the one before that. What if he dropped her? What if she accidently slipped through Gai’s hands? What if she experienced vertigo and when the other jonin placed her on her feet, she would stumble and land on her stomach, hurting the fetus in the process?

“Okay, okay…” The special jonin could barely contain the worry in his voice as he stepped to Gai and the still swirling Kaede, who laughed and giggled loudly, “How about we calm down a bit and settle the heavily pregnant woman again on her own two feet? Just in case Gai has a spontaneous… I don’t know, case of weak arms or something?”

They slowed down and Genma could clearly see the big pout on Kaede’s face, while the wisps of her pony tail swished for a last time around and hit her shoulder. “But it’s fun!” she said and her bottom lip started to jut out, “And how do you get the idea Gai would let me fall? Just look at him!”

He gritted his teeth. “Yeah, I see that. Still, do you think it’s healthy? For you and the baby?”

“Some fun never hurt nobody.”

“But what if you fall? What if you accidentally hurt yourself? What if something happens?”

“Oh Genma, come on!” Kaede laughed and Genma could feel how his defenses wavered, all the while he tried to maintain a serious masquerade. Gai was caught in between, his big, worried eyes quickly jumping from one person to the other, like he followed a tensed game of chess. “I’m having just a little fun with your teammates! It’s been months since I’ve seen them and I wasn’t this round back then. Come on.” Her pout intensified. “Please, honey? Just for a few more minutes?”

Fuck. She wasn’t even aware of her own power over him. A muscle in his cheek twitched, all while he tried to stand his ground against so much raw beauty in front of him. A laughing Kaede. How could he say “no” to that? How could he get into her way? Genma was painfully aware of Ebisu in his back, who seemed to muffle his laughter in his arm, all the while the brunet tried so hard to be the hardened, skillful special jonin who earned the title with his skills and wits in battle. He wouldn’t be defeated by his pregnant girlfriend, who looked so damn irresistible, with her big eyes turned into puppy-eyes, begging him to let her have some fun with his old friends, her bottom lip jutting out and wasn’t that the first sign of tears glistening on her face?

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck!

For a few more seconds, he resisted. Then, with a low huff, Genma lost all of his will to fight and try to talk Kaede out of her fun-activities. Instead, he weakly waved at the two shinobi, who resumed with a wild laughter their wild swirling and spinning, that attracted the curiosity of a few passerby’s.

Just when Genma wanted to turn to Ebisu with a weak smile, the other jonin shook his head. “I thought I would never see you like this.”

Automatically, his forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean?”

Ebisu snorted. “I mean, you were quite the ladies-man. Always on the hunt, always searching for the next pair of long legs to sling around your waist. Seeing you whipped like this, wrapped around the finger of a girlfriend…” The sunglasses blinked in the sun as Ebisu pushed them upwards. “Looks good. Makes me look forward to the future.”

Before Genma could say anything to that, the other man jumped up onto a nearby roof, not caring about the glares which were thrown after him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Was he really that whipped? Genma asked himself that question over the next few months, not able to get rid of the gnawing doubts in his mind. Whatever he did was just the usual stuff, right? He wasn’t under Kaede’s reign, totally bewitched at the thought of holding a little him or a tiny her in his arms. That was just the usual father-to-be behavior, caring and providing the best what he could deliver for his girlfriend.

…Right?

“Am I whipped?” Genma asked one day, seemingly out of the blue, when he pondered over the question already all morning.

Kaede looked up from her late breakfast, a plate of fruits and healthy cereal at hand. “What?” she asked, one hand raised to take a bite from an orange, the other protectively on top of her by now massive stomach. The baby would be loved, that was for sure.

“Am I whipped?” he repeated. “I mean, all the people said that to me when I met them.”

“Who’s “all the people”?”

Frustrated, the brunet threw his hands into the air. “Everyone! First, Raidou and Iwashi. Then, in between was Hatake who said the same, and yesterday with Gai and Ebisu! Everyone says that!”

“And?”

“What, and?”

Genma lowered his coffee cup to the table. “But that’s not true! I’m not whipped!”

The telltale roll of her eyes was everything he needed to know, even without the following words. “You’re kind of whipped, honey. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s only bad when you let the other people make it sound bad.”

“What?”

“Honey…” Kaede dropped the orange onto her plate. Then, she placed her elbow on top the table, while her incredibly beautiful eyes bore holes into his resolve. “Does it matter? Does it really matter if you follow my every wish and every snap of my fingers? Is it that bad when you want to care for me while I carry our little parasite around?”

“If you say it like this…”

Kaede continued, merciless and still with a small smile on her lips. “Is it really that bad you want to make sure I’m alright? That our baby is alright? And isn’t the most important thing that I appreciate every single midnight-walk you take to buy me chocolate? With every single silly thing you allow me to do, for example twirling around with Gai? That you massaged my feet when they were swollen, that you went the extra-length to buy some parental guides and read them when you thought I was asleep? I see everything Honey.”

Genma could feel the blush rising. She even found the books he purchased? They were hidden away throughout their whole apartment, one of them underneath the stove and one hidden in the insulation between their home and the apartment above them. Goddammit, even pregnant, Kaede kept her shinobi-instincts in check, keen and sharp. He ruffled through his hair, embarrassed and absolutely mortified. All the sneaky moments in which the brunet tried to read through the guides to impress Kaede later on with his knowledge! Meaningless.

Kaede’s warm chuckle broke through Genma’s internal suffering. A soft hand slid over the table and came to rest on top of one of his, balled into a fist and knuckles turned into a lighter color than the skin around.

“Do you think I would think less of you? Genma, that’s just stupid, excuse me.” Kaede stroked over his clenched hand and oh so slowly, his fingers relaxed under her gentle touch. “How could I think less of you when you do so much for me? Honestly, I’m probably the most spoilt, pregnant woman in Konoha, if not in the whole Fire country.” For a split second, her fingers tightened around his, almost painful, only to return to her soft caressing. “God… If you don’t get it, Genma, I love you for what you do. You’re a thoughtful, passionate shinobi. Until now, you never showed that side to anyone except me. What is wrong with showing that lovely side also to your friends?”

“…Nothing.”

His girlfriend beamed at Genma, until he returned the soft pressure of her fingers with a kiss to her knuckles. “See? And if they have a problem with that and tease you, then tell me. I will throw my uterus at them, that will teach them a lesson.”

Genma couldn’t suppress a laughter anymore. Weakly chuckling, he stood up and pressed a kiss to Kaede’s forehead. “Thank you,” he mumbled into her hazelnut-colored strands, “thank you, babe. That was stupid.”

The woman nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“Just one question. How did you…?”

“How did I find them? Please, I know all of your little secret spots.” Kaede kissed his palm, before standing up on wobbly feet and waddled towards the front door, her hands in her lower back. “I even know of your secret cookie-stash. There was a reason they were always empty.” With a little groan, she reached towards her jacket and tried to slip into the cloth. “Can you please help me for a second? I need to… You know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Genma snorted, but stood up, hands already extended to help Kaede. “Babe, why do you want to go out?”

“Because my contractions just started. Soon, I will be the most spoilt mother in Konoha. At least, in a few hours, I hope.”

Kaede looked at Genma, how he stood in his half-clothed state in the middle between her and the kitchen table, hair still ruffled by his hands and sleep, his mouth gaping open like a goldfish on dry land. “What?” she asked, “Can you grab the bag with my clothes, please? And hurry up, to give birth to a three-kilogram meatloaf isn’t a relaxing activity!”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

How they got to the hospital was still a mystery to Genma. The only thing he certainly knew that the birthing process was taking far too long for his strained nerves. Or his poor hand. His poor hand which was being pulverized by Kaede, who screamed hoarsely and shouted profanities at the nurse, at the doctor, even at him.

“I swear to the motherfucking gods, no more parasites for me! That was the last motherfucking time we ever had sex, you know that!?”

“Totally. Get it. It’s alright.”

“No, it’s not!”

A wince flashed over his face when Kaede’s fingers clamped down around his, crushing the bones in his hand a tiny, little bit more. “It is,” he tried to reason with the brunette, “Just a few more pushes, then you will change your mind!”

“Never!” Kaede wanted to say more, already had her lips opened to sputter more insults, but another contraction hit her and another, pained, tense scream escaped the woman. Her back arched from the bed while the scream faded into a low whimper, high and pitiful.

Genma couldn’t take it. This was too much, it was totally different than he imagined! Sure, he read books about birth, but nothing could prepare a battle-hardened shinobi for the terrifying world of a delivery room. The only thing he could do was hold Kaede’s hand. Otherwise, the man felt totally lost, had no idea what to do and no idea what to say to maybe ease the smallest sliver of pain. And gods, how much he wanted to ease Kaede’s entire pain. He was at fault she was screaming and howling, raging around, and it hurt Genma to see Kaede like this. Because of him.

“I can see the head!” The muffled voice of the doctor disturbed his guilt-riddled thoughts. Thank all the gods for their mercy, it would be over in a few minutes. Hopefully. Please.

Please let it be over in a few minutes. Please, please let it be over.

And it was. Like seconds, they passed by, mere seconds in which Genma lost his hand to Kaede’s strength and his ears to her constant swearing and cursing, seconds of waiting and praying and letting the gods know how much he would give if Kaede and the baby would just make it through-!

Then, the very first scream. The very first scream of a newborn, loud and wailing, demanding and mighty. Genma couldn’t help it, he flinched upwards, only to see how the nurse quickly toweled off a small, wiggling bundle of blood and tears.

The doctor breathed out and stood up. “A healthy girl. Congratulations. We’re just going to measure her weight and similar small stuff and you can hold her. Again, really great work.”

Genma swallowed thickly. A girl. A small, perfect creature, full of smiles and laughs, one who would call him “Dad” and would come to him to ask for training. He would be responsible to scare all potential lover boys away, because no one would be good enough for his small girl. And he would protect her, with all he had.

“Did you hear?” he asked Kaede. “A girl. A sweet, little girl.”

“Yeah.” A tired smile crossed her sweaty features. Wisps of her brown hair clung to her forehead and out of instinct, Genma wiped them away, fingers trembling and tears burning in his eyes.

Kaede giggled when she saw how much he struggled. “You sappy man. Keep a grip.”

“I just... Just got something in my eye, okay?”

“Alright. Alright, I believe you.”

Genma sniffled pathetically, before rubbing with his forearm over his eyes. “It’s true.”

“Sure. Can you help me sit up? Lying around for too long isn’t my style, after all.” Kaede said and stretched her hands out towards him, what the special jonin used as a distraction from this strange moment of emotional… whatever it had been. With a little pull, he supported his girlfriend in sitting up, and then watched out for his newborn daughter.

There, the nurse who had toweled the small baby off turned around, the small bundle wrapped up in some white linen. The uniformed woman beamed at the young couple and stepped closer, before she carefully handed Kaede her baby for the first time. “Here. She has strong lungs. She will be quite a personality in the future, I’m sure.”

None of the young parents were able to say anything when the new life was placed into their arms. Genma was only able to stand and stare in bewildered amazement at the small creature which was supposed to be his flesh and blood, all the while Kaede seemed to share the same hesitancy. The brunette cradled the girl to her chest, her hands sluggishly coming up and stroking over the small, soft cheek.

“Yuri…” she breathed out. “Small, sweet Yuri.”

Genma’s hand joined hers. First, the man entwined his fingers with Kaede’s, asking silently for support, before letting go and touching for the first time his daughter. She was… cute. The cutest little potato he ever set his eyes on.

The man pondered over these thoughts, but then, Yuri mewled loudly. A high, needy sound, tugging at his heartstrings mightier than any of Kaede’s pleads could. Genma was starstruck. In an instant, the small girl had him wrapped around her tiny, chubby little finger and he had nothing against it.

“You know,” he said and took one of Yuri’s hands between his thumb and index finger, “before, I would’ve sworn I would’ve sacrificed myself for you. Without a doubt in my mind.”

Kaede chuckled lowly and started to rock their daughter gently from side to side. “And now?”

“Now, I would instantly and without a doubt in my mind throw you into a knife if that knife happens to point at my daughter. Sorry babe.”

For a second, everyone in the room froze for a second. Including Kaede, who stared up at him, her eyes widened and the sweat slowly drying in her hair. But then…

She threw her head back and laughed, all the while leaning slightly against him. “Oh honey,” the woman giggled, “I’m already ahead of you in that department.”

He hadn’t thought he was whipped. Not at all. He kissed Kaede’s crown and glanced back at the squirming potato in her arms, watching it open her oh so adorable and beautiful eyes at him.

Okay, maybe I am whipped.

He bent down and laid a soft peck upon his daughter’s forehead. It was from that moment that he was under the thumb of two woman who held tightly onto his heart and he didn’t mind one bit.