Chapter Text
For all that people say about Naruto being an oblivious idiot, he really prides himself in being able to read Sasuke like an open book.
His friends say that it’s even a bit creepy at how well Naruto can notice the slightest change in Sasuke’s mood, or even anticipate how he’ll feel and react to things. It’s not even like it’s hard, in Naruto’s opinion. People say that Sasuke’s got a good poker face and all that, but really, you just need to actively search and look for the slightest shift in his expression and body language to guess his mood.
The trick is just to basically spend a huge amount of time noticing Sasuke to figure him out, but Naruto’s not going to give out his methods anytime soon though.
Right now, Sasuke’s got what Naruto files in his head, expression number 20. Sasuke’s sitting across from him at their dining room table in the modest apartment they share, picking at grilled mackerel on his plate as he scowls at it like it personally offended him.
Expression 20 is what Naruto files as, “When he wants to tell me something but doesn’t know how to say it” type of expression. The furrow in his eyebrows tells Naruto the level of importance of whatever Sasuke is wanting to ask of him. If it’s just a twitch, it’s probably something silly and simple like, “I like it when you play with my hair,” or “I like the jacket you wore yesterday. You should wear it more often.”
If the furrow lasts for a couple of seconds before it smoothes out and furrows again combined with a scowl, Naruto knows it’ll be a pretty serious topic, one that Sasuke probably has gone through over in his head for a long time. The last time he wore this expression was about a year ago, when one night, just as Naruto’s about to go home after spending the day at Sasuke’s place, he said, “What if you just like. Stayed, or whatever. Like you don’t need to go home after spending time with me.”
Naruto’s brain had short-circuited then, mouth gaping like a fish for a few moments before he asked, “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
Sasuke had scowled, turning his head away from Naruto to hide how red his face was. “It’s whatever. I just. I’m just tired of seeing you off everyday.” Naruto had moved in Sasuke’s place the very next day.
The key in getting Sasuke to tell him whatever inside his pretty head is just to wait it out. There are no secrets between the two of them, so whatever Sasuke’s thinking Naruto will eventually know. To pry and ask him to blurt out whatever he’s thinking will just result in a defensive Sasuke, so Naruto does what he always does when he gets stuck in his own head like this.
Remind him of his presence, of how he’s here, and that he’s listening, even without words. So Naruto does that, he takes one bite of his own meal before he reaches across the table to take Sasuke’s hand in his. Sasuke’s eyes dart towards him in alarm, like he’s unprepared for whatever Naruto’s going to say. Naruto just smiles cheekily at him however, eyes crinkling like the moon as he continues to chew.
He rubs his thumb on the back of Sasuke’s hand reassuringly, like saying, Take your time.
Sasuke doesn’t hold out for very long however, not in the presence of Naruto’s grounding warmth.
“So, remember last week when I went to my grandparents house?” Sasuke starts, still picking at his mackerel.
“Yeah, what about it?” Naruto asks, trying to sound casual.
“They know about us, right. Obviously,” Sasuke continues.
“Obviously,” Naruto repeats, unsure of where the topic is heading but nods his head anyways.
“And this is like, my first ever serious relationship, right?”
“And last,” Naruto says, trying to make it sound like he’s joking around but it comes out more desperate because apparently he’s a possessive bastard. He’s long given up the fight to pretend he’s not.
“And last,” Sasuke agrees easily, like he’s saying something factual like how the sky is blue or that the grass is green. Naruto would kiss him senseless if Sasuke didn’t look like he’s trying to swallow an acorn with what he wants to tell Naruto. “And I also told you right, of how Tobirama-jiichan's birthday is coming up at the end of the month? Next week?”
Naruto nods, he remembers Sasuke telling him this once, of how one of his grandfather's is a big fan of hosting, and how every birthday is always an extended family event. Naruto really doesn’t have a clue where this is heading. Does Sasuke want him to bake a cake for his grandfather’s birthday?
Or maybe Sasuke wants to ask his mom to bake one? Naruto’s mom does make the best of everything, Naruto and his dad can vouch for it. His mom will be more than willing to bake one, especially if Naruto tells her that it’s Sasuke that’s asking, maybe they’ll even have to stop her from baking two-
“Izuna-jii wants you to come to the party, said it’s about time or whatever to meet the whole family,” Sasuke rushes out, not meeting his eyes. There’s a blush on his cheeks that’s getting redder and redder. “So, yeah. There’s that.”
Oh.
Oh, wow. Sasuke’s grandfather wants to meet Naruto and have him meet the rest of the family?
“You look like you’re going to faint,” Sasuke comments after finally looking at Naruto since he was only met with silence after his ask. Was it even an ask? An order? A command?
“I’m not,” Naruto tries to laugh but it ends up coming out like a high-pitched ugly croak. He’s actively trying not to faint as he starts to feel a bit lightheaded.
Because like, Naruto knows that Sasuke’s family is kind of a big deal. The Uchiha-Senju family has always been synonymous with prestige and power. It’s a quiet kind of power, not celebrity-famous, but everyone knows they matter.
Back when they first got to know each other and started dating, Naruto had always felt like Sasuke’s last name was oddly familiar to him, but couldn’t ever place his finger on it. He’d thought that maybe he had known or had heard of an Uchiha-Senju somewhere, so he figured that was it.
It wasn’t until he was walking around campus with Shikamaru and Kiba one random day that he noticed a plaque on a building that he walked past almost everyday that said, “The Izuna Uchiha School of Media and Visual Communication” and wondered, “Huh. Uchiha. That’s the same last name as Sasuke’s,”
Shikamaru made a face at him, like really couldn’t comprehend how Naruto’s brain works. Which, wow. Offensive. “Isn’t Izuna Uchiha’s Sasuke’s grandfather?”
“Huh?” Naruto had said, staring dumbly at both of his friends.
A quick google search after that answered a lot of Naruto’s questions. The reason why Sasuke’s last name was so familiar to him was because the Uchiha-Senju family owns Konoha Holdings Group, a multinational conglomerate that often appears in the business section of newspapers, magazines and news channels.
“They even have a whole fucking website”, Naruto muses to himself as he reads a quick summary of what the company does - advanced technology, biotechnology, cyber defense and sustainable innovation.
Naruto didn’t pry too deep about Sasuke’s family - basically just keeping himself to the ‘About Us’ page on the website, no matter how tempting it was to read the tabloids about the family - because he felt that to do so he would be breaching Sasuke’s privacy and therefore, his trust.
He’s not even offended that Sasuke hasn’t told him this yet, because if he were Sasuke he’d have no idea on how to bring it up, too. Hey, so I’m like part of this important and successful family that’s been around for ages. We’re like old money, kind of rich. My grandfather also owns the building on our campuses, and maybe a few others. No biggie.
“You look a little pale,” Sasuke comments again, breaking him away from his thoughts to the present moment. Sasuke’s looking at him worriedly from across the table with a little frown on his face.
“Well, I mean, I’m nervous as fuck,” Naruto starts, laughing to try to diffuse the tension he feels in his own body. “I was a wreck when I met your parents and Itachi, and this will be like what, the whole complete family?”
Sasuke nods sheepishly. “My uncles and aunts, my other grandparents as well. I mean, we’re not that big of a family in terms of numbers, but still.”
“But still,” Naruto groans, covering his face with both hands, unfinished dinner forgotten on his plate by now.
“I mean,” Sasuke starts, quietly. “You don’t have to. I know it can be a lot, and we are a lot. I can just tell Izuna-jii that you’re out visiting your parents or something.”
“No, I want to,” Naruto says quickly, peeking at Sasuke between his fingers that’s still covering his face. Sasuke still looks like he still doesn’t believe him.
The thing is, even back when they started dating, Sasuke has never kept his family a secret. He just kind of glossed over the fact of who they were.
They’re very close, Naruto could guess by how often Sasuke talks about them. Even if half of the time Sasuke is complaining about how overbearing they could be, it’s always with an undertone of fond exasperation beneath it.
“Mom’s making us take a family picture. Again. She’s already booked a photographer and everything.”
“Uncle Kakashi’s adopting another dog. He has 7 now. How cool is that? I’d never say it to his face though.”
“Tobi-jii’s taking Jiijii on an anniversary trip. They’re sending their pictures to the group chat every minute. I hope we stay just like them when we’re older.”
Really, Naruto’s anxiety isn’t because of the size of Sasuke’s family, he can handle crowds and people just fine, and even thrive on it - much to Sasuke’s dismay - but it’s simply because Sasuke loves his clan so much that Naruto worries about what they think of him.
He wants to stick around Sasuke for like, forever, if Sasuke lets him, and he wants to get along with the people that showered Sasuke with an abundance of love before he came around to dump more onto him.
So he tells Sasuke just that.
“I want them to like me,” Naruto says quietly. “I want them to like us. You care a great deal about them, so I just. It would really suck if they don’t. Cause you’ll get sad and I hate it if you get sad.”
Sasuke looks at him for a moment. Blinks. Then, his eyes soften. They soften so incredibly much that it takes Naruto’s breath away whenever he looks at him like that. Like Naruto is something very precious to him, something that brings him joy just by merely existing.
“You usually don’t care that much about what people think,” Sasuke murmurs, reaching across the table so he can pry Naruto’s hand away from his face and clasp it between his own.
“Well, I care about what you think,” Naruto says. “And it’s your family. Of course I’ll care.”
Sasuke hums. “They’ll love you.”
Naruto whines. “You’re just saying that because you’re my boyfriend!”
“It’s because I’m your boyfriend that I’m saying that!” Sasuke laughs, an ever pleasant sound to Naruto’s ears. “Really. Mom, dad and Itachi love you. I love you. It’s really hard not to.”
“Stop that,” Naruto whines. God, he loves this man so much. “Or else the first time I’m going to meet your big family will be at our wedding.”
Sasuke chuckles, shaking his head. “I promised Mom I’ll finish college before marriage.”
“Ugh, me too,” Naruto groans. He really hates being a responsible adult sometimes. “But after college, okay?”
Sasuke nods, like he always does when Naruto asks, and his answer remains the same always.
“Really you’ll be fine,” Sasuke says, circling back to their topic before. “You already know Mom, Dad and Itachi. Shisui will be there, too. So it won’t all be unfamiliar faces.”
Naruto nods, a bit of tension eases away from him at Sasuke’s reminder. He’s met Sasuke’s immediate family a bunch of times since dating him and they’ve developed a close relationship ever since.
Mikoto’s practically a second mom to him and gets along marvelously well with Kushina, and Itachi sees him as a rowdier version of his little brother that he likes to tease. Shisui - Itachi’s fiance - gets along with Naruto like a house on fire. Their personalities matched each other so well, Itachi and Sasuke could only watch in fond exasperation as they both joked loudly with each other whenever they met. Fugaku’s a quiet man by nature, and Naruto was pretty sure he was indifferent to him until last christmas when he bought Naruto a toad figure from a trip abroad. Which, Sasuke had said, basically meant he got a big stamp of approval.
“Well, yeah,” Naruto says. “But still, like your uncles and aunts are gonna be there. Your grandparents, too. They’re like a big deal, right?”
Sasuke shrugs, “I guess.”
Naruto chews at his bottom lip and thinks for a moment. “Can you tell me about them? What's your family like?”
They both move to the couch after dinner, with Sasuke saying that, “It’s best to show you their pictures so you know who is which. That way you’ll also know which one to stay away from too.” Naruto’s going to ignore the last bit for the time being.
Sasuke fits himself against Naruto’s side as he shifts around to get himself comfortable on the couch. Naruto kisses the top of his head and plays with his hair as he waits for Sasuke to pull up his family picture on his phone.
Surprisingly, the family picture looks… normal.
For one, they’re not wearing suits like Naruto had expected and the photo’s also not in black and white. They’re actually all at someone’s backyard, sitting together on a couple of park benches while a few of them stand around each other. They look all warm and familiar with each other - a hand thrown around someone’s shoulders, intertwined hands, bodies pressed close to one another.
They look close. They also look-
“Is your whole family models or something?” Naruto asks, squinting as he takes in the faces of Sasuke’s family members.
Sasuke chuckles. “Just good genes,”
“Do I need to be that level of attractiveness to be accepted?” Naruto asks, just to be cheeky.
“You’re fishing for compliments,” Sasuke says, rolling his eyes though there’s no real heat to it. “So, how much do you know of my family?”
“Only a little,” Naruto admits, shrugging. “I only read the about us page on the corporate website. So I just have a general knowledge of what you guys do. Pretty much that.”
“Oh,” Sasuke says, a bit taken back. “Just that?”
“Well, I know that one of your grandfather’s a big geek, huge interest in science and everything. One’s more into arts, the one who has a building on our campus, right? You have an aunt that loves gambling but always loses. You also have uncles that call you sporadically and you say are weird. Are they the ones you tell me I should stay away from? Cause they seem fun, Sas.”
God, Sasuke’s looking at him like that again. Like Naruto’s something amazing that he can’t put his finger on. It makes Naruto’s stomach twinge with something pleasant.
“You didn’t look them up or anything? You only know them through my stories? And you remember them.”
“I didn’t want to pry. It doesn’t affect our relationship anyway if I know of them or not,” Naruto says, unable to stop himself from giving Sasuke a small peck. “And, of course I remember. I remember everything you say.”
Sasuke looks at him for a moment and smiles. Not an upward tick of the corner of his mouth but a gorgeous smile that stretches across his lips. Naruto’s breath catches.
I love you, Sasuke’s eyes read.
“If I tell you all this, this means you’re stuck with me for life,” Sasuke jokingly warns.
“It’s been for life with you since I met you,” Naruto honestly says.
“Cheesy,” Sasuke says but he sounds pleased. He toys a bit with Naruto’s shirt before he taps on his phone screen again, his family picture coming back once more.
“So, this is my mom’s side of the family. The Uchiha-Senju’s. Dad took on the name when he married mom because it was more prominent, it made it simpler also since he also works for the company,” Sasuke starts. Then, he points to two figures sitting behind his parents, one is strikingly similar to Sasuke and the other has a stern look on his face with striking white hair.
“These are her parents, my grandparents. Izuna Uchiha and Tobirama Senju. Tobi-jiichan and Jiijii. They have two children- my mom,” Sasuke continues, pointing to Mikoto’s familiar face and a man on the far left of the picture, next to a grinning man with a scar on his face. “And her younger brother. Uncle Kakashi. He’s one of the people I warned you about.”
Naruto nods along, ingraining their faces in his mind. He brings up a hand and zooms in on their faces, noticing the similarities between them all. He zooms and stops to look at Izuna’s face. He looks almost like a carbon copy of Sasuke, all sharp lines and striking features. Unlike Sasuke, his hair is long, flowing past his shoulders in dark locks.
“Wow. Your granddad’s gorgeous,”
“Ew,” Sasuke says, horrified. His face scrunches up in disdain, like Naruto had just offended him terribly. “Why the fuck would you say that?”
“What? Not in a weird way!” Naruto exclaims, putting one hand up in mock surrender. “Like! Objectively!”
“That’s my grandfather.”
“He looks just like you!” Naruto tries to explain, but it only makes Sasuke’s face turn even more sour.
“Ew!”
“Oh my god,” Naruto whines, tucking his face into Sasuke’s neck. “I’m just saying, again, that your family’s all ridiculously attractive.”
Sasuke scowls and side eyes him but he doesn’t press further, instead choosing to continue explaining his family tree.
“Both my Jiijii and Tobi-jiichan are the youngest of two. Jiijii’s older brother is Madara Uchiha,” Sasuke points at a man with wild dark hair in the center of the photo, a man with long brown hair is sitting next to him, an arm looped around them. “Tobijii-chan’s brother is Hashirama Senju. They’re also married, obviously. They were also the leaders of their respective clans, before finally merging.”
“Okay, so,” Naruto starts slowly, trying to wrap his head around everything Sasuke just said. “So your grandfathers are the second child to brothers.. who are also married?”
“Yeah,” Sasuke says, nodding.
“Who married who first?”
“Does it matter?” Sasuke drawls.
“Not really,” Naruto answers, but his eyes are pleading, curious.
“Hashirama-jii and Madara-jii did,” Sasuke answers. “Jijii and Tobi-jiichan got married a year after, I think.”
“Huh,” Naruto says, bewildered. “Hey, why did you say only one of their last names? It’s Uchiha-Senju now right?”
Sasuke nods and looks pensive for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t know, I guess it’s just because that’s what they all refer to each other to. All their children and grandchildren are Uchiha-Senju’s but my grandparents were part of a time when the Uchiha’s and Senju’s had a long history of being rivals.”
“Woah, really?” Naruto says, amazed. He didn’t know that Sasuke’s family had this kind of lore, he would’ve asked him a lot sooner about it.
“We can ask Tobi-jiichan about it more during the gathering, but basically the Uchiha’s and Senju’s had decades of rivalry. Like the children of each clan was taught to hate the other,” Sasuke begins, his clean and steady voice makes Naruto feel like he’s narrating a documentary about his own family. “The Uchiha’s specialized in precision optics after world war two, and later in surveillance and defence technology. The Senju’s specialized in biotech, environmental engineering and renewable energy, they’re known for their humanitarian focus and green branding.”
“What did they fight about?” Naruto presses, like a kid being told a bed time story.
“Just about everything, I think,” Sasuke recalls. “Governmemt defense contracts, corporate espionage and patent disputes. They were also rumors of sabotage, stolen research and a lot of courtroom battles used to make headlines back in the day,”
“This should totally be a movie,” Naruto comments before nodding to himself. Who doesn’t love a good enemies to lovers kind of movie? Naruto would definitely eat it up. “And then? Did the marriage make the merge?”
“Yeah, the corporate world was shocked when Hashirama Senju announced his engagement to Madara Uchiha. The media called it “The Wedding that Ended a War.” I think Hashirama-jii has it framed somewhere in his house,” Sasuke says, chuckling. “That’s basically how Konoha Holdings Group was founded. Uchiha’s precision tech meeting Senju’s human centric innovation.”
“This is the part in the documentary where people clap I think,” Naruto jokes, earning another small chuckle from Sasuke. “So does everyone work for the company then? Is your family like those K-Drama’s that force the children to join the company when they actually don’t want to?”
Sasuke laughs a little, shaking his head before answering, “Most of them work for the company, but my grandparents never pushed. It’s a cool company, though, so probably to begin with they never had to push.”
Naruto nods, agreeing. “Your uncle’s leading it now right?”
“Yeah, this one, Uncle Obito,” He points back to the family picture, at the man with the scar on his face. “He’s the second born, but Aunt Tsunade doesn't like to be in the spotlight unless she has to, so that's why she’s head of Senju biotech and the CEO role fell to Uncle Obito. Itachi’s Head of Uchiha Technologies, he oversees AI and the defense systems. Mom’s VP of Global Operations and Dad’s COO, they keep the peace between the divisions.”
“Your mom’s brother? Uncle Kakashi?”
Sasuke smirks, eyes glinting. “He’s the rebel of the family. He’s a cyber security prodigy, and right now he’s a university lecturer. Uncle Obito joked that he’s a hacker for hire but I don’t really think he was joking.”
Naruto whistles, how interesting can Sasuke’s family get? He’s almost itching to meet them now out of curiosity.
“He’s lazy on the surface but really sharp underneath. Officially he doesn’t have a title but the family calls him from time to time whenever we need him. Izuna-jii says that he takes after Tobirama-jii the most,” Sasuke says, shrugging.
“Are the grandparents still active, too?”
“Officially they’re retired and just chairmen,” Sasuke answers. “They still like to meddle, at least that’s what Itachi told me.”
“So how about you?” Naruto teases, playing idly with Sasuke’s hair. “The youngest Uchiha-Senju?”
Naruto had half expected Sasuke to answer jokingly back, “I’ll be CEO, what else?” but Sasuke gets quiet, pensive almost, and looks deep in thought, like Naruto’s question was always in the back of his mind.
“I don’t know really,” Sasuke shrugs, a sigh on his lips. “Itachi’s probably going to be COO alongside Uncle Obito. So they’ll probably need a new head for Uchiha Tech. I’m not sure if that’s the direction I want to take though,”
“You don’t have to have the answers now, Sas,” Naruto gently reminds, squeezing his shoulder.
“Yeah, I kind of want to see how life goes,” Sasuke continues. “Maybe I’ll become like Uncle Kakashi, who knows?”
Naruto can easily picture it, if he’s being honest. Sasuke having odd jobs and interests that piques his interest here and there. He never seemed like the type that liked to be tied down to something too long. Naruto’s an expectation, of course.
“A problem for the Sasuke of tomorrow,” Naruto says jokingly, trying to lighten the mood again else Sasuke gets too stuck in his pretty little head for too long.
“A problem for tomorrow,” Sasuke agrees, smiling lightly.
“Hey, so what are they like though?” Naruto asks again. He really wants to be more than prepared for the next week. “Like as persons. When they’re out of their suits and fancy offices and everything.”
Sasuke purses his lips for a brief moment, looking up at the ceiling momentarily as he recalls his family members one by one.
“Madara-jii will probably scare you at first. First impressions are not really his strong suit, especially with hair like his,” Sasuke muses, lips twitching in amusement as he watches a little color drain on Naruto’s face. “But he’s really kind at heart. People say that Hashirama-jii’s the warm one between the two, but they’re actually pretty similar. Madara-jii has an even harder time saying no to his kids and grandchildren, a total pushover.”
“Hashirama-jii’s just.. bright. I guess that’s just how to describe him in one word. He’s really affectionate to everyone and shows his love loudly. You’ll get along well with him. Aunt Tsuna’s a really blunt person and she’s super tough. But she’s also really caring, she watched over me and Itachi a lot as kids.”
“Then there’s those weirdos,” Sasuke continues, nose scrunching up cutely. “Uncle Obito’s the clown of the family, but he acts like a super different person when he’s in business mode, the switch up’s insane really. He likes to say the weirdest things unprovoked. Then there’s Uncle Kakashi who acts like he doesn’t care about anything but he secretly listens in on everything. He also likes to read borderline porn novels in public.”
“And your grandparents?” Naruto prods, affection laced clear in his voice from hearing Sasuke talk so much.
“They’re a bit different from the rest, more reserved,” Sasuke says after a moment. “Mom says it’s because the second sons grow up walking a tightrope. Izuna-jii and Tobirama-jii had to be the steady ones, appeasing the parents when Madara-jii and Hashirama went too far, yet still standing behind their brothers no matter what.”
“Tobirama-jii… he’s, um. He’s intimidating, I guess. He always looks like he’s analyzing the stock market even on vacation,” Sasuke says, lips twitching. “He’s strict, and he’s got this really… sharp way of talking. “But he’s reliable. Really reliable. He’s the kind of person that rarely says ‘I love you,’ but he’ll show up at your dorm during midterms with a week’s worth of meal prep and pretend it’s because he ‘made too much.’ He’s… solid. You always know he’s there, even if he acts like he’s not.”
“Izuna-jii’s different,” Sasuke says, and he immediately softens more. Clearly the favorite grandfather, Naruto thinks. “Izuna-jii’s, well, he’s stern too, but in a different way. He’s not loud like Madara-jii or emotional like Hashirama-jii. He’s… composed. Observant. He doesn’t jump to conclusions. He doesn’t waste words. He’s the type who’ll watch a whole situation play out before saying anything.”
Sasuke laughs quietly. “He listens. To everything. Like actually listens. He’s easy to talk to. He used to sit with me for hours on the engawa when I was a kid, just… talking about whatever. He doesn’t show affection in obvious ways, but… he’s gentle in how he handles people he cares about. He remembers the small things, the stuff you think no one notices.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Naruto says honestly, despite how nervewrecking it’ll be. He knows that he’ll panic more about it later, but for now, he lets the warmth of Sasuke’s affection towards his family wash over him instead. “All of them.”
Sasuke hums, he seems content. “Yeah, they’ll love you.”