With the academic year slowly going into full tilt, Kurenai and I had less time available to ourselves and for our family, even though we tried desperately to make more and more time baby keeping our paperwork and other responsibilities done well in advance.
Even our weekends were taken; I was receiving overtime pay for my weekend classes, and receiving a small bonus since more and more of the other years began to show up as well, while Kurenai had been asked to help test the new chakra techniques to better combat against Genjutsus', with the Hokage and Shikaku Nara asking for her specifically due to her superior techniques.
The only person who might be able to place better genjutsu's was Kakashi with his Sharingan eye, but the toll placed on him wasn't worth the risk since he was still taking on multiple high level missions on a regular basis.
Currently, the Copy Ninja was off on a sabotage mission deep inside the Land of Lightning, which I know because he came and coerced Naruto once more to give him some special tags, despite knowing I would find out.
Anyways, we all had our plates rather full, but Kurenai and I still found time for Anko and Cameia, wanting to make sure the two women understood just how much we appreciated them.
We had all grown closer over the last year or so, and each of us had changed.
Anko was mellower and more rational, Cameia more expressive - at least with her word choice and slight tone fluctuations.
Kurenai was even more gentle then before, while her elegance had only continued to grow after becoming a mother.
As for me, the three insisted that I had grown more beautiful, mature, and serious than before, but that they enjoyed how I kept them on the right track.
Though, Anko did let it slip that I was a tad more stubborn, which earned her a night alone.
It was during this time of everyone being busy that I suggested we try and find nights where we could afford to go out, specifically one on one, sometimes as a group.
That way we could enjoy ourselves while also being responsible with our time.
The first to be able to take that offer had been Cameia, and she went with me as we took a stroll around the village, going from stall to stall and eating whatever foods we could find.
When we reached one of the money ninja tool stores, she and I went in and browsed around, eventually leaving with a beginner weapons for Karin to try, while I purchased a few more blunted weapons to begin introducing to the class.
Walking around the village at night, just us two, was extremely relaxing, the quieter hubbub of the village allowing us to enjoy some peace as we walked.
Cameia was still a woman of very few words, so I was the one doing most of the talking, telling her about my days teaching and what I wanted to do in the future.
Set up another greenhouse, repair the rest of the compound, have everyone over again for a large feast sometime during the summer...
Things that were small and enough to continue to build up the foundations of the Mitarashi Family once again, so that when we all eventually get old, Riku and Akari - along with the rest of their sisters - would have something to call their own, and something to pass down to their children as well.
Though, that was so far into the future that even I had to chuckle.
Cameia was rather supportive of the idea, especially when she asked about the possibility to expand the training area in the back, turning it from a small yard to a large courtyard that could be used just like the Academy's training grounds.
She was rather excited about the idea of training the children when they got older, telling me she rather enjoyed the time spent with Karin.
That night ended with us returning home and cuddling before making love gently, the large golden eyed woman being gentle with me as she relished in my body.
The second date that I had was with Anko, and similarly to Cameia we just meandered around the village, though instead of normal foods - namely meats - Anko took me around to get dango, which seemed to be her weakness food wise.
Going from stall to stall for the glutinous rice balls made Anko extremely happy, and the violet haired Snake Charmer beamed each time we found a new place to visit.
She even made me backtrack to her favorite one and order a few more, which we ate on the way home.
With her belly filled with the rice, Anko grinned at me as we chatted about random things, before she eventually gave me a mischievous look and pulled me into the woods.
Finding us a quiet spot, she gestured towards the sky and lay down beside me, holding me close as we looked up at the stars.
Unlike Cameia though, Anko eventually pounced onto me and devoured my body, thoroughly marking me with her scent before taking me back home, where we continued.
She seemed to relish watching me squirm under her no matter what I looked like, and the woman seemed to enjoy it more as she made love to me when I was pregnant, something about how it was both immoral and thrilling to hold a woman pregnant with anothers child.
I rolled my eyes at that, but the Snake Charmer could care less as she enjoyed every moment of it, leaving me sore the morning after.
Finally, Kurenai and I remained after a long day of filling out paperwork, deciding to head home together after stopping by the place where it all began.
Yakiniku Q, the barbecue place that Kurenai reserved for us a year and a half, almost two years ago.
I smiled at her gesture of reserving another room for us again, and we settled into the private room and reminisced, though this time without the various flights of sake to keep us warm.
Grilling our own meats and vegetables, we talked for a half hour before Kurenai grinned at me, sitting on the table before me and asking me to reenact what happened all that time ago.
Rolling my eyes at her, I sighed before obliging her request, mainly because being in the same type of room after talking about how this was the catalyst for where we are now had made me rather sentimental, and seeing her ask the same way that she had before sparked something in me.
Just like before, we kept it at that before going home, not wanting to be banned from the restaurant, and continued back at our own bed this time, where Anko knew we were.
All in all, those nights spent away from everything and just together meant a lot, and I enjoyed each one in their entirety.