Daughter of the Copy Cat, Rescuer of the Raven

~ * ~ 2000 Followers Special ~ * ~

I didn’t really know what to say. Seeing Sasuke asleep on his back, Shiro draped across his chest as he, too, slept, made me feel a rare spark of peace. With the stress of being under constant surveillance, it was hard to remain jolly, after all. But, moments like this, with my husband and youngest, made everything I’d lost worth it. Slowly, I tiptoed across the room, before stopping beside the bed and kneeling.

I lifted a hand and gently placed it on Shiro’s head, brushing a lock of stark white hair from his eyes. He stirred, but didn’t wake, luckily. Shiro wasn’t usually quiet when woken early from his nap, but he was getting quieter as he grew older. Now, he was four months old, and the beginnings of a personality were starting to show through. Also, Shiro was able to recognise his father, despite the round the clock father-son bonding time he was lacking.

“Sasuke,” I whispered, watching his eyelids flutter. “Sasuke, wake up.” The man’s eyes slowly opened, his stare appearing vacant and blurred. After he blinked a few times, however, Sasuke became focused, and reached a hand out to touch my face.

“What is it, Aya-chan?” I smiled, feeling his touch as his thumb stroked my cheek. His hair was a mess, a result of his head being on the pillow for so long.

“Do you want anything for dinner, because I’m leaving to pick up Hanayo and Haruka so I can stop by the sho-“ Sasuke let his hand snake to the back of my neck, and pulled my head down, pressing our lips together softly. Of course, I couldn’t finish what I was saying, but it didn’t really matter, as I much preferred the kiss rather than talking.

“Just buy some rice and we’ll eat that. Take a chance to relax, okay?” I nodded, rising to my feet and taking in a breath.

“Right, then, I’ll see you when I get back.” Sasuke waved his goodbye from the bed, watching as I left to collect the twins.

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“I did better than you.”

“You did not!”

“Sensei said that my punches were perfect!”

“He said that to me too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

I pulled Haruka and Hanayo from the school grounds, embarrassed for their behaviour. Even before school had ended, apparently, the two had been arguing about who did best. Of course, I knew that they both would’ve been pretty closely matched, and would’ve probably been scored equally. That wasn’t a sufficient answer to shut them up, however, so I just said nothing on the topic.

“Guys, we’re gonna pick up some rice. What do you want?”

“I don’t want any.” The two, identical heads snapped to each other. I glanced down, amused at the answer that they’d yelled at the same time.

“Stop copying me!”

“You stop copying me!”

“Mum! Haruka’s copying me!”

“Am not! Hanayo’s copying me!” I let them go and turned, kneeling so I could be eye level with both of them. Hanayo’s hair had grown past her shoulders now, which was quite a feat, considering how short her hair was a few months ago. Haruka looked just about the same, except for the shallow scar that only just peaked out from his hairline on the right side of his skull- where he’d fallen off a tree and hit his head whilst racing his sister.

“Dad’s waiting at home, guys, do you really want to waste time by arguing over who did better than who and who’s copying who?” They both shook their heads. “Right, then what rice do you want?

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The smell was amazing, and as Haruka jumped upon Sasuke’s lap, I finished securing Shiro in his high chair. Hanayo had already chosen the seat to the right of Sasuke, which Haruka opted for the chair on the other side of the table- next to me, as he’d been shooed off his father’s lap by the man himself.

“You’re too big to be sitting in my lap at dinner now.” Sasuke explained, grabbing a bowl and spooning some of the food into his own. “I wouldn’t be able to eat if you did.”

“I can still do it while watching TV, right?” Sasuke smiled, a special smile he reserved for the kids.

“Of course.” Shiro squirmed in his chair, the intensity of his struggle increasing by the second, before he was moments away from throwing an all-out fit. “Shhh,” I sat down in my seat, watching Sasuke reached across and wipe under Shiro’s eye with his thumb, trying to calm him down. “What’s the matter, Big Boy?” And, as quickly as that, Shiro was fine again, giggling and smiling again.

“Shiro likes you better than mum.” Hanayo teased, shooting me a look as I picked up one of the other large bowls and shoved some of the food onto my plate.

“That’s not a very nice thing to say!” I pouted, putting the bowl back down and looking across the table, at Sasuke. He put his hand out on the table, reaching for the middle, I did the same, and our hands met in the middle. I couldn’t help the smile that stretched across my face as our fingers locked. On cue, however, the twins screamed.

“Ewwwwww!”

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Wow it's been a while, both for writing anything for Ayame, and uploading in general. idk, everything been real irritating and I just keep forgetting to write. But anyway 2000 FOLLOWERS OMG THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH IM SO HAPPY i just got this message from Papez in the morning like "YOU REACHED 2000! JECKS!" and i flipped out. I was already in the car on the way to school tho so I couldn't really do anything until now, so here this thing is. Ye, hope you enjoy it ((especially those who were wanting another little look into the future for them))