Chapter Text
Six Years Later
“I am never doing this again.” Shikamaru sat on Hiro’s couch with a heavy thump , staring at the redhead wearily. “Don’t let them talk me into it again, Hiro-nii.”
Hiro just laughed brightly, taking a seat on a chair he had pulled from the kitchen table. “It’s a bit late to be complaining about it now, don’t you think?” he asked, amused. “After all, it ended today.”
“Maybe so, but he’s actually been complaining the entire time.” Karin entered the room with a roll of her eyes. “So really he’s just being consistent, Hiro-nii. He was complaining before the exams started, so naturally he’ll complain once they’re over, too.”
“Consistency is one of my better qualities,” Shikamaru drawled. He smirked at the girl, who turned away with a huff.
“At least you had Karin to help you out,” Hiro said placatingly. Although, it was likely Shikamaru helping Karin out, if I had to take a guess.
Kurama snorted, amused. As if that was even a question, he said. Please, we all know the girl is who really kept all this together.
Hiro shook his head fondly before continuing. “Besides, it’s over now. Konoha probably won’t host the Chunin exams again for years.”
“The ‘probably’ is what has me worried.” Shikamaru sighed, sinking further into Hiro’s couch as the other man tried to stifle his laughter.
The front door swung open again, revealing Ino and Sai. “Hi, Hiro-nii!” Ino chirped, bounding over to give him a hug. Sai followed at a more sedate pace, but the smile he gave Hiro was genuine. The blonde looked around the room expectantly, her long ponytail swinging behind her. “Is everyone here yet?”
Hiro’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Everyone?” he asked, bewildered. “What do you mean?”
Ino sighed, leveling him with an unimpressed stare. “Hiro-nii, come on. Do you seriously think that anyone in this godforsaken family isn’t going to end up here tonight?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Please, you know better than that.”
And really, Hiro did. The kids may have grown, but Hiro’s house was still the go-to for whenever their friends wanted to get together. It probably always would be, not that Hiro minded. Unless everyone was training, at least one or two of them could usually be found here at any given time. He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, you got me,” he said, smiling at the girl. “In that case, no. Shikamaru and Karin beat you here, but that’s it.”
Ino frowned. “Even Uchiha One and Uchiha Two aren’t here yet?” she asked.
“We are now.” Ino jumped when Itachi appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, Obito and Shin following close behind. Obito copied Hiro by pulling up one of the kitchen chairs and sitting next to him, while Itachi and Shin chose to lean against the wall nearby, talking quietly to one another.
Hiro smiled at Obito, bumping against his shoulder lightly. “Welcome back. When did you get home?” He and Raidou had been tasked with escorting a few visiting nobles back to the Daimyo’s palace, after staying for part of the exam’s final tournament.
Obito shrugged. “About an hour ago, maybe? Just enough time to write a report for Tsunade-sama to read later, then I met up with Shin and Itachi so we could all come here. Raidou and Yugao are guarding Tsunade tonight, otherwise they’d probably be with us.”
“Not that I don’t love having you here, because I do, but is there any specific reason for the visit?” Hiro asked curiously. Obito dropped in fairly frequently, as did Itachi, but Shin didn’t appear nearly as often. His presence was something of an anomaly.
“Well,” Obito began, trying and failing to fight a smile. “I figured it would be funny as hell to watch the aftermath of this whole exam debacle. Itachi and Shin agreed, so here we are.”
“Ah, the free entertainment.” Hiro nodded sagely. “I should have known.”
“Well, yeah,” Obito said, entirely unrepentant. He gestured at Shikamaru, still slouching on the couch across the room. “I mean, the poor Nara kid looks like he’s about to keel over, and that alone is enough to make the trip worth it. Besides, you can’t honestly tell me that you don’t enjoy watching the drama and chaos unfold just as much as I do. I know that’s part of why you like having them around so often.”
“Guilty,” Hiro admitted. “What can I say? Gen and I would get bored without our Disaster Family running rampant through the house every hour of the day.”
“Disaster Family?” Ino asked, offended.
Hiro shrugged. “You heard me, Blondie.” He grinned when she let out an exaggerated gasp, a hand flying to her chest.
“Rude,” she said, frowning at him. It didn’t last long before she broke and a smile overtook her features once more. “You’re right, but still.” She then tugged Sai’s hand gently and pulled him over to talk to Itachi and Shin, leaving Hiro alone with Obito once more.
“Like I said,” Obito said, gesturing after the blonde. “Never a dull moment around here.”
Hiro laughed good-naturedly, leaning back in his chair and shifting to face Obito more directly. “Fair. But speaking of entertainment, where’s Kakashi?”
“You do realize that we don’t spend every waking moment together, don’t you?” he asked wryly.
“Could’ve fooled me,” the redhead teased, dodging when the dark-haired man tried to punch him lightly.
Obito shrugged, unbothered by Hiro’s prodding. He was used to it, after all. “Actually, the last time I saw him, I think he was with Genma,” he mused.
Hiro blinked, then frowned at the other man. “Obito,” he said, voice full of mock severity, “is your boyfriend trying to steal my husband?”
“He could try .” A kiss was dropped on the top of Hiro’s head, and Genma appeared next to Hiro, grinning. Hiro automatically put his hand out, and the brunet intertwined their fingers immediately. “You do remember that we were managing the tournament together, though, right?”
Hiro grinned. “Yeah, yeah, you were all roped into planning and helping and shit. How did we manage to avoid that again?” he asked Obito, tilting his head slightly to the side.
He pointed at himself. “Ex-nukenin.” He then pointed at Hiro. “Ex-bounty hunter. We’re not exactly the best choice when it comes to interacting with a bunch of important people from other villages.”
“Probably smart,” Hiro admitted ruefully. “It would have been so much fun , though.”
Genma squeezed his hand, laughing. “And that is what Tsunade-sama was trying to avoid. Your version of ‘fun’ would end up causing at least two international incidents. Honestly, she’s just lucky that the kids were on a mission during the tournament. I’m not sure anything could stop you, Naruto, and Sakura when you put your minds together.”
“Oh, that wasn’t luck. She orchestrated the whole thing so they wouldn’t be around. I’ve taught them well, and she knows it,” Hiro said, beaming with undisguised pride. Then, after a moment, he perked up slightly. “Gen, did you say they were on a mission?”
Genma didn’t have time to answer before the door opened again, and Team 7 tumbled in, Sakura dragging Kakashi with them with a hand clamped around his wrist. “Hiro-nii!” Naruto crowed, bouncing across the room to throw his arms around the redhead, who stood up just in time to catch him. As expected, Sakura and Sasuke weren’t far behind. Kakashi, on the other hand, moved to join Obito, giving the man an eye smile and a “yo.”
“Welcome home, kids,” Hiro said, pulling back after a few moments. “How’d your mission go?” he asked, laughing when the kids slammed into Genma next, almost knocking the brunet over.
Sakura shrugged, breaking away from the hug. “It was fine,” she said dismissively. “It was fucking boring, honestly.” Naruto choked on his laughter, turning his face into Genma’s shoulder to hide his smile. “What?” she asked. “You know I’m right!”
“She’s not wrong,” Sasuke said calmly, shrugging. “Of course, it was an important mission--most of them are--but nothing out of the ordinary happened.”
“That in and of itself is extraordinary,” Hiro pointed out. “You three are trouble magnets, I swear.” He noticed Genma watching him with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask really? He rolled his eyes. “And yes , I know that because they learned that from me too. I’d say it’s contagious, but you seem to do alright.” He smiled at his husband and jostled him with his shoulder when he smirked back.
“It’s probably an Uzumaki thing then,” Obito said nonchalantly. “I’m gonna blame you and Naruto for this one, Hiro.”
Naruto started arguing with the older man indignantly, of course, while Sakura made no attempt to hide her loud laughter. She reached back and pulled out her short ponytail, letting her hair settle around her shoulders as she watched her blond teammate bicker with Obito, who looked far too pleased with himself. Meanwhile, Sasuke slipped away, silently heading over to where Karin stood near Shikamaru. The couple exchanged a quiet greeting before Karin kissed his cheek with a smile, and soon enough they had wandered over to Itachi’s group.
“How were the matches?” Hiro brought his attention back to Sakura, who was watching Genma with eyes alight with excitement and curiosity.
“Suna and Ame had some really good competitors this time around,” Genma said lightly. “Konohamaru won in the end, but it was pretty close.”
Sakura laughed brightly. “I’m not surprised, considering the teachers they’ve got,” she remarked. “If our teacher had been anyone other than Kakashi-sensei, I’d be jealous.
Kakashi blinked, momentarily stunned, then he shook his head abruptly, muttering something about how there were ‘too many feelings’ in the room. In seconds, he had grabbed Obito’s hand and pulled him into the kitchen to escape.
“You’d think he wouldn’t be allergic to emotion anymore, after all the time he’s spent around us,” Genma said blandly, moving to take Obito’s vacated seat next to Hiro.
“I guess every family needs the cynical one,” Hiro pointed out. “I’m just impressed that that title isn’t going to an Uchiha.”
“I heard that!” Obito’s voice floated in from the next room.
Hiro shrugged. “Okay,” he called back, while Naruto laughed loudly.
“Where are they, though?” Sakura asked, pulling the conversation back to Suna and Ame’s teachers. “Out of everyone I expected to see here, they’re the only ones missing.”
Genma shrugged. “They have their teams to think about,” he reminded her. “They’re probably helping the kids wind down after today, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they can’t make it.” Naruto dimmed slightly in disappointment.
And clearly the universe had been waiting for Genma to say that, because not three seconds later the door opened once again. Gaara and Konan swept in quietly, locked in an inaudible conversation as they headed over to Hiro’s corner. Out of the corner of Hiro’s eye he saw Sasuke get Itachi’s attention and gesture subtly to the new arrivals. The group wasted no time in following Kakashi and Obito to the next room (which probably didn’t make the couple too happy).
Hiro totally understood their quick departure, though. After all, Sasuke knew his teammate. And sure enough, as soon as Naruto spotted the approaching redhead he lit up like the sun, previous disappointment burned away in an instant. “Gaara!” he all but shouted, throwing himself at the young man. Gaara, to his credit, didn’t stumble when the blond hurricane slammed into him. He just smiled softly and returned the hug, murmuring a quiet greeting. However, he did turn red when Naruto kissed him lightly before dragging him the rest of the way to Hiro.
Hiro decided to spare Gaara and pretend he hadn’t noticed the interaction. Instead, he focused on the blue-haired woman in front of them. “Konan,” he said happily. “I thought you’d be with your team.”
“Kimiko has them,” she responded sedately. “The last time I was in Konoha was for your wedding, and her team was eager to talk to mine anyway, so she told me she would take them for the evening so I could spend some time here.”
“They all did very well,” Genma said sincerely, smiling brightly. It was one of Konan’s students who faced Konohamaru in the finals, after all. She had very nearly won, too.
Konan smiled in return, pride and affection visible in her expressive eyes. “Thank you,” she said. “They worked very hard to be ready for this.” Her eyes glinted with amusement. “They wanted to come to this round of exams, so they could ‘come see where Konan-sensei’s friends lived.’”
Hiro snorted. “Is that so?” he asked. “I hope it lived up to their expectations.” He finally turned to Gaara, whose face was now significantly less flushed. “What about you?” he asked. “Why aren’t you with your kids tonight?”
Gaara shrugged. “I wanted to come see you and Naruto,” he said simply, as if that explained everything. And for Gaara, it kind of did. Baki had brought a second Suna team, after all, so it would be logical to conclude that Baki had taken them much like Kimiko had done for Konan. After all, Baki knew that Gaara would find a way to come regardless--he respected Baki and the leaders of Suna immensely, but at his core Gaara had one of the firmest ‘I do what I want’ attitudes Hiro had ever seen.
Hiro smiled, pulling the younger redhead into a gentle side hug. “Well, I’m very glad you did,” he said. A hint of mischief entered his tone as he leaned down and whispered loudly, “I’m sure Naruto’s pretty happy, too.”
Gaara blushed once more, while Naruto just took his hand and grinned at him.
Sakura watched the pair pensively, smiling slightly at her blond teammate’s exuberance. Once he noticed her searching gaze, Naruto tilted his head and said, “Sakura? What’s up?”
The pink-haired young woman remained quiet for a few moments, gathering her thoughts before speaking. “I guess I still just don’t see what’s so great about relationships,” she commented idly. “I mean, Ino and Sai have been together for years , and you two are coming up on what, a year? Sasuke and Karin, too. So there’s gotta be some reason.”
Naruto burst into laughter. “I still can’t believe this is coming from the girl who was convinced she was in love with ‘Sasuke-kun’ for most of our Academy days.” He didn’t move fast enough to dodge Sakura’s punch, but he kept laughing regardless.
The pink-haired girl shrugged, turning back to Genma and Hiro. “Yeah, but then I tried to be in an actual relationship. No, thanks.” Yeah, that had only lasted about four weeks before Sakura broke it off. She hadn’t dated since, even though she had no shortage of admirers. Essentially the girl had her own fan club now, which annoyed her terribly, much to Sasuke’s amusement. “I don’t know, maybe it’ll be more appealing once I’m closer to the age when you met Genma, Hiro-nii. I just… don’t think of people like that right now, I guess.”
Naruto threw his free arm around her shoulders. “That’s not a bad thing,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s not like you don’t fit in with us anymore just because Sasuke and I have partners. The three of us are a team, and nothing’s ever going to change that.”
Sakura’s gaze softened, affection clearly shining through in a way it rarely did, and she lightly knocked their heads together. “Thanks, idiot,” she said fondly, a small smile lighting her features.
Pride warmed Hiro’s chest as he watched the three younger adults devolve into their own little conversation, Sakura even coaxing a few smiles out of Gaara here and there.
“He’s very encouraging, even when he isn’t trying,” Konan observed. “It reminds me of you.”
Hiro had to force himself not to burst into laughter. “Me? Oh, I wonder why,” he said sarcastically, grinning at her when she rolled her eyes.
Konan’s eyes drifted to the kitchen, where Ino and Sai were talking to Sasuke and Karin. “Your kids did a very good job with the exams,” she commented, choosing to change the subject rather than acknowledge Hiro’s teasing. “I understand that they planned it all?”
Hiro nodded proudly. “Shikamaru and Karin were in charge of the whole thing, but their entire age group was involved somehow, with the exception of Kakashi’s three.” After all, if Shikamaru was doing work, he was sure to find a way to drag his teammates and friends into it. In the end, Ino had worked with Ibiki on the first round, teams 8 and 9 (and Choji) were proctors for the second round, under Neji’s leadership, and Kakashi and Genma oversaw the one-on-one matches. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had been busy keeping up with the missions that would normally be split between all twelve of them.
Although Shikamaru’s decision to include his friends had been a fairly petty attempt to ease his own workload as much as possible, pulling almost all of the exam facilitators from the same peer group had worked out incredibly well. They could all work together almost seamlessly at this point, though it had taken a lot of time and effort to get there.
The biggest hurdles over the years had been the animosity between Kiba and Karin, and the whole ‘destiny’ mindset Neji had been stuck in for so long. Actually, both had been solved in the same way. After one too many insensitive remarks, Karin clocked Kiba in the face hard enough to knock him out instantly. He hadn’t bothered her since.
Meanwhile, Neji’s world shifted after a well-placed punch from Naruto when he eventually lost his patience and challenged the dark-haired boy to a spar to prove his mindset wrong. Now it wasn’t uncommon to find Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke spending time together after training. When Hiro stopped by the apartment Naruto and Sasuke shared with Sakura, either Neji or Tenten had answered the door on more than one occasion.
Konan hummed in acknowledgement, watching Karin for another few moments with a fond light in her eyes. “Nagato also wanted me to remind you and Karin to come visit us in Ame soon. And Genma too, of course,” she added, turning to the brunet with a smile.
An answering smile spread across Genma’s face, and he nodded without hesitation. “Of course,” he assured her. “We want to see him, too. How has he been doing?” Since the man wasn’t using obscenely large amounts of chakra to contain Bijuu and bring people back to life, his health had remained stable since they had first met him. However, he was still frail, and no one could change that, much as they wish they could.
Konan didn’t lose her smile, but a hint of empathy leaked into her eyes. “His inability to travel is frustrating him more than usual. First he missed your wedding, and now he couldn’t attend the Chunin exams. He is happy in Amegakure, of course, but I’m sure it would mean a great deal to him if he could see you.”
“Now that the Chunin exams are over, I don’t think that will be too hard to arrange,” Hiro said, exchanging a glance with his husband. “The two of us haven’t been assigned to any missions yet, and Karin can always take time off from the hospital when needed.”
Genma spoke up again, a contemplative look on his face. “What if we went with you when you leave Konoha?” he suggested. “No need to put it off.” He looked at Hiro expectantly, and the redhead just nodded.
“Sure,” he agreed. “Why not? Impromptu family reunion--sounds good to me!”
Konan smiled often, but rarely were her smiles as bright as the one she gave Genma and Hiro now. “We would love that.”
After a while Konan drifted away to talk to Shin and Itachi, leaving Hiro and Genma in each other’s company. Hiro let the sounds of the surrounding conversations wash over him, a smile pulling at his lips as he tightened his grip on his husband’s hand. Conveniently, their location gave them a clear view of both the living room and the kitchen, meaning they could see just about everyone without moving at all.
“What a good family we’ve raised,” Genma said, completely straight-faced when Hiro turned to look at him. “Just you, me, and our horde of children.”
Hiro snorted, putting his head on the brunet’s shoulder. “I’d agree with you, but we really can’t take credit for Konan.”
“Right,” Genma mused, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair mindlessly. “She was the only one who didn’t join this family as a certified disaster.” He paused for a moment before going on. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s as fucked up as the rest of us, but she’s a competent disaster.”
“I won’t argue with that,” Hiro said, a wide smile spreading across his face. “I like to think that our brand of chaos is what makes our family so endearing, though.” After a moment, a thought flashed across Hiro’s mind, and his head jolted up suddenly. “Hiro?” Genma asked, surprised. “What’s wrong?”
Hiro met the brunet’s eyes with his own contemplative stare. “Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” he said reassuringly. “I was just thinking… I think I can finally say that I’ve been in Konoha for longer than the duration of the war. I… it’s just weird, to think that it happened so long ago.”
Genma nodded, understanding flashing across his features. “I’m proud of you, you know,” he said quietly. “I remember you saying you didn’t know how to let go of the past. But look at you now.”
“I still think about it all the time, though,” Hiro replied, raising an eyebrow.
Genma shrugged. “Well, yeah, of course. It was a huge part of your life. The memories aren’t just going to go away. But your past doesn’t define your life anymore.”
Hiro thought about that for a moment, weighing it in his mind. “I hadn’t really thought of it like that,” he said contemplatively. It had taken years, but he had finally learned to live in the present. He wasn’t perfect, of course, but looking around at his family, he remembered what Genma told him so long ago. Everyone is here for you the same way that you’ve always been there for them.
He let his gaze wander slowly over the group, smile softening. They were all incredible, each person in his insane family. And he couldn’t imagine his life without them--
--Konan, Itachi, and Shin speaking quietly in their own corner of the room, small smiles adorning each of their faces--
--Shikamaru seemingly in the middle of some kind of debate with Kakashi, while Obito watched the pair in amusement--
--Karin, Sai, and Gaara listening intently as Ino enthusiastically told some story, likely about her team during their genin days--
--Sakura leaping onto Naruto’s back with a satisfied grin while the blond sputtered a halfhearted protest, his teammates’ energy causing Sasuke to burst into quiet, contained laughter.
And Genma, who always seemed to know what to say and what he needed, who had never once let Hiro feel alone. And yes, it had taken years to get here, and he still had far to go, but all Hiro could think when he rested his head on Genma’s shoulder once more was, it was worth it.