Sweet like Dango - Sasuke x civilian reader
words: 2207, pure, domestic fluff, a lot of children - requested by @iminlovewqr0w
tagging @ardentalley because they love Sasuke
“Shino-Sensei has given us homework.” Itachi exclaims as he hugs your leg in greeting. Sarada’s just waving quietly, taking a seat next to her younger brother Keiji at the table.
“Really now? What did you get?”
“We’re supposed to write down what a normal day looks like.”
“Your own or that of someone else?”
Itachi looks at his twin sister for help, already having forgotten half of the assignment.
Sarada pushes her glasses up and looks over, relishing the fact that she’s the smarter one again.
“He said he would like it if it’s about our family but we can choose someone else if we want to.”
“I want to write about Mama and Papa.” Itachi exclaims excitedly. “But if Sarada wants to write about Papa, I can write about Mama.”
“I want to write about the Hokage!” Sarada tells him pointedly. “That’s more interesting.”
You can hear movement at the door, Sasuke making more noise than necessary to let you know he’s approaching and you’re quick to soften the blow Sarada’s trying to deal today.
“Well, don’t you think Boruto might want to write about his father?”
Sarada’s face falls, but you’re quick to redirect her. “If you really want to write about the Hokage, you could ask Kakashi-san. I am sure, Grandpa would be happy to tell you all about it.”
Sasuke steps inside the Kitchen at that moment, which has Keiji looking up from his drawing, stretching out his arms to him in a wordless plea.
Sasuke steps closer and leans down to kiss the top of Sarada’s head before picking up Keiji.
Keiji’s needy, Itachi’s always excited, and Sarada tends to feel like she’s got the shortest end of the stick. Especially with the youngest set of twins now at the stage where crawling turns into walking, demanding more and more attention.
“Hi everyone.” Sasuke’s voice is calm and steady, as usual, but you can tell he’s agitated by the way he holds himself.
You untie Hitoka, your second girl and fourth child, from your back and hand it to him. Predictable as she is, the little one is fast asleep.
“Can you get her to bed?” You ask and he nods, telling the kids to wait with their stories until he’s back.
Mikoto, her younger twin sister, is still wide awake, waving her hands and babbling from where she’s tied to your chest.
“You’re a smart girl.” You tell Sarada softly, “I know you will do great work no matter who you pick.”
She sucks up the attention but her perfectionism still throws a shadow over her face. “But I want it to be great.”
“What did Shino-Sensei say exactly? If you know what’s expected, you’ll have an easier time deciding on it.”
She repeats the assignment and you wait for her to make the connections as Itachi helps to set the table with you, a task that mostly involves keeping Keiji distracted before he can accidentally throw another plate down.
“Shino-Sensei said he wanted us to write about our parents but you do so much together, Itachi and I will have almost the same paper.”
“I’m sure Shino-Sensei doesn’t expect you to invent something new.” Sasuke’s back, his shoulders a bit more relaxed now. He taps Sarada on the forehead, a gesture you know reminds him of Itachi. “And I don’t see your mother that often during the day, at least not half as much as I’d want to.”
“Gross.” Sarada mumbles and sits down, pointedly taking a sip from her water. “Can we eat now?”
The next morning, you wake up at three because even after maternity leaves and a change of shifts, your body is still used to the early hours a bakery demands.
But you’re not mad at it, have long learned to embrace it, as it gifts you precious moments. Morning is when the Uchiha household is at its calmest. Sasuke’s a light sleeper and an early riser, often awake the moment you move closer to him. Your children are the product of early mornings spent in each other's company.
It’s easier for him to spill his worries in the morning, to tell you about a memory that resurfaced, an emotion that had held him in a chokehold the last day. It’s when he can let himself be held when he can rest.
Itachi is usually the first to wake up but reads in bed until Sarada stirs as well. In the mornings, they are a union, Sarada picking Keiji up from his crib while Itachi climbs up the counters to start the coffee machine. By the time you smell the coffee, the youngest members of your household can be heard, a quiet murmur from Hitoka and excited babbling from Mikoto.
You make breakfast while Sasuke directs the chaos. Itachi needs to be reminded to check his school bag, Sarada needs help with her hair, Keiji’s pulling on everyone’s pants and Hitoka is crying unless she’s being carried.
Today, Itachi and Sarada sit at the table with their notepads ready.
“Do you always make rice, miso soup, and natto?” Itachi asks while Sarada eyes her father. “Do you always drink two cups of coffee in the morning?”
“Yes.” You both answer at the same time. “Who wants a fried egg?” You add.
As usual, Itachi helps with making the Bentos. It’s still only three, one of Sasuke and two for the kids to last until lunch. The smaller kids stay with you at the bakery until noon.
Sarada’s on Keiji duty, letting him draw on her notepad while Sasuke takes multiple trips to get the dishes into the dishwasher. He’d be faster with two hands but he manages with one.
“What are you going to do now?” Sarada asks.
“I will meet up with the Hokage to discuss missions. If he has one for me, that’s what I’m doing today. If not, I’ll meet up with Kakashi-sensei and train until noon when we have lunch. After that I’ll train with you and Itachi until it’s time to close the shop.”
“Can I come with you?” Sarada asks. “To the Hokage, I mean? Or to train with Kakashi? It’s for the paper!”
“Can you miss a whole day of class?” He asks back and she hesitates.
“If you want.” He says when her agitation becomes visible. “I can take you tomorrow. Both of you, if you want. I normally don’t do missions on Saturday but we can visit Naruto and show you how we normally do things.”
“Really?” Sarada’s face lights up like he’s just made her the best present possible. He probably has.
“Yes. Promise.” He links his little finger with hers and then with Itachi who smiles up at him like his father hung the moon.
“But now we have to get you guys to school. Say bye to Mama.”
Itachi hugs you, Sarada waves and Sasuke kisses you before the three of them leave through the forest, the quickest route to the academy.
You’ve got a bit more time to gather everything, take Keiji’s hand, and walk the shorter distance to the little bakery that has been in your family's possession since the first people settled at what is now known as Konohagakure.
The name is still the same, even though there’s now the Uchiha Symbol adorning the sign above the door. You moved out of the apartment above it when the second set of twins were on the way. The comfort of only having to walk down a set of stairs to get to work is easily outweighed by the comfort of being able to fit all children into one house.
You know that your family might no longer be the talk of the town but it’s certainly still a topic people like to discuss.
Had you ever interacted with Sasuke before he left the village? You had, but it had not been very public. No one knew that you and Itachi had been friends - or something like that - before the massacre just like no one knew that he had asked you to look after his brother when he was no longer there. You were only eleven when Itachi left the village and there was hardly more you could do but offer him a sweet treat every time you saw him but the taste must have edged itself into his brain, making him remember you after all this time.
When he came back, things were different. It was no longer weird to be older than him and the fact that you knew his brother in a way no one had before seemed to be the comfort he sorely needed.
Sasuke went from being a regular customer to being engaged to you in a time span that felt perfectly natural to you but surprisingly shocking to everyone else.
Now the family was growing with no sign of stopping - not that anyone ever asked you how many children you were planning to bring into the world. Something about Sasuke made them hesitate to form questions like that at all.
But the interest in your person has certainly gathered more people in your corner of the village, your bakery now being frequented regularly by Civilians who wanted to catch a glimpse of that famous Shinobi and by Shinobis who wanted to catch a glimpse of the Civilian girl that managed to pique Sasuke’s interest.
As lunchtime rolls around, you’ve managed to wrangle Keiji into napping in the corner behind the counter. Hitoka and Mikoto are sitting in high chairs overlooking the bakery, a welcome sight to most customers who greet the children with warm words.
Shohei takes over for you just in time for you to start cooking, food almost ready when Itachi and Sarada make it back, both of them still filled with questions.
“How many customers do you have during morning shifts?” Itachi asks.
“Are you making curry again?” Sarada’s eyeing the pot. “Can we have tonkatsu tomorrow?”
“Sure, honey. Can you set the table? About 85, I think.”
Lunch is as calm as a meal with five children can be.
After that, Sasuke gathers Sarada and Itachi to train with them. If Itachi isn’t in the mood to train, he lets him stay with you at the bakery where the boy is usually eager to learn everything about your profession. His Dango needs a little work but he’s already coming up with ideas and the recipe he made you try out last fall had gotten a lot of praise.
You close the shop around six and Sasuke only misses that when he’s away on a mission. The kids are usually tired out from training by that time, unlike Keiji who’s been drawing and playing in the bakery all day and now gets to have his father until bedtime. You often see them at the lake, Keiji running laps around his father.
The evenings are quiet in the Uchiha house hould, not as calm as the mornings, but still soft in their own way.
Sarada and Itachi usually sit at the kitchen table to do their homework or lounge in the living room, each twin cuddling one piece of their younger twin set. Hitoka likes Sarada more while Mikoto makes grabby hands at Itachi every chance she gets.
When the chaos in the kitchen isn’t that big and the weather outside isn’t that nice, all of you end up in the living room together, cuddled up like a giant pile of tired house cats.
It’s your favorite thing in the world because it makes you feel like everything is alright and everyone you love is cared for.
It’s Sasuke’s favorite thing too, because at times like this, he feels so perfectly normal that he can look into the future and think to himself, yes, the Uchiha Clan will be great again. But this time, they will do it right.
When your children get their assignments back, Itachi, as usual, demands that you read it.
It’s good writing, not spectacular, but he's a good student.
One passage stands out to you, however.
My family is like a plate of Mitarashi dango.
Mom is soft and moldable, like the dough. But my dad is serious and a really awesome Ninja, so he makes up the crispy and slightly harder edge.
But our parents love us really much and gave me a whole lot of siblings, so we are the sweet sauce that covers everything. One thing alone wouldn’t be tasty but the whole thing together is an amazing treat!
You laugh as you set down the paper and can’t help but think to yourself that he’s right.
Maybe in another universe, you’d never befriend Itachi or if you did, Sasuke wouldn’t be interested in you. Maybe in another Universe, he married Sakura or some talented Anbu Shinobi. Maybe he’d only have one child or none at all. Maybe he’d never come back to Konoha.
Your heart goes out to all that possible versions of your husband, hoping that whoever and wherever they are, they are happy.
But you hold on to the man you have, the one that makes up the crispy side of your marriage, who lets himself be coated by the love of his family.
