Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Sasuke felt like a completely different man. 

Walking through the streets of Konoha, heading back home, as if he was some kind of teenager who had spent the night away without telling anything to their parents. Actually he didn’t know if it was supposed to feel like this, but with how giddy he felt, he could only imagine. He had trouble keeping his face in check, a smile trying to force its way on his lips, and oh god he was in so much trouble. Yesterday he was making fun of the blond about wanting to be lovey-dovey and all but now… Now he actually wanted this as well. As cliché as it sounded, it was as if his steps were lighter, as if the world was suddenly a much better place, as if the sun was shining brighter and warmer and… People would find it creepy if he started to smile like an idiot for no reason, damn it. For some reason he didn’t care as much as he probably should. Naruto was already rubbing off on him, it seemed. 

As he was arriving close to the house he was still officially sharing with his wife, he tried to gather more rational thoughts. Would Sakura be upset ? Probably not, the dinner was her idea, she definitely knew where he was last night. Sarada would be upset though, she liked to have breakfast with him when he was back in the village. Oh well, he finally had time to practice with her, so it would probably be enough to make her happy again. He hoped so. He didn’t talk about the kids with Naruto yet, but he expected that it would also be okay for her to come over to their new home once in a while too. Well, they had to move in together first. The mere thought was making him all dizzy. 

He wondered what Naruto was doing at the moment. Probably drowning with paperwork. Picturing the scene made him chuckle fondly. 

“I see you’re in a good mood.” 

Lifting his head, he was met with a smiling Sakura, observing him from their balcony. She looked just like the Cheshire cat, oh yes she seemed way too pleased with herself. Sasuke only grunted an almost inaudible “hm”, avoiding her gaze and stepping into their house. 

As he was arriving in their living room, she came downstairs, still smiling. 

“We… have to talk.” He said, gesturing towards the massive wood table in the middle of the room. 

Sakura rolled her eyes, clearly amused.

“Oh come on Sasuke, don’t be so formal.”

When the man still went to sit at the table, she sighed but followed. To indulge in his dramatic antics, she sat right across from him, put her elbows on the table, chin resting on her joined fists. 

“I’m ready, you can confess now. Do you want me to pretend that I’m mad ? Hurt ? Like, should I punch you in the face to make it more real ? What do you think ?” 

Sasuke snorted, finally letting out the smile he had tried to hold back ever since he stepped out of Naruto’s apartment. 

“I’m serious, Sakura.”

She relaxed her stance and smiled brightly. 

“I know, Sasuke. I know you are.” Her voice was more serious now. Good. 

Inhaling deeply, the raven started. 

“Naruto and I…”

The pink-haired woman in front of him snickered. So much for being serious. 

“Did you two finally… ?” 

At the vulgar gesture she was mimicking, Sasuke blushed and suddenly looked around, making sure that Sarada was not in the room. Which prompted his next question.

“Where is Sarada ?”

Sakura sighed. 

“Don’t change the subject !” she whined, then added “She’s at school.”

Then a smirk bloomed on her face and oh this was not a good sign. 

“Was last night so mind-blowing you forgot which day of the week we are ?” 

Oh she was definitely laughing at him now that his blush got worse. Sasuke was quite sure she had never seen him blush like that. 

“That good, huh ?” She insisted, wiggling her eyebrows.  

He sighed, trying not to avoid her gaze. 

“I… All you need to know is that Naruto and I are together now, so…”

He couldn’t go any further because Sakura was already squealing, dragging him out of his chair and taking him in her arms, jumping excitedly. 

“I’m so happy for you two~!” 

She almost sounded happier than Sasuke, and the man couldn’t help but chuckle at that. What really happened between Naruto and her while he was away… ?

Once she calmed down a little and let him go, she went straight to the kitchen, grabbing two glasses and a bottle of lemonade from the fridge. Yes they didn’t like to keep alcohol in the fridge with a curious Sarada around, so. This orange lemonade was their family’s celebratory drink. Sasuke was not here often but he was the one who had started removing all alcohol from the house after Sarada threw herself at his drink one evening when she was 3. He had started buying the lemonade so that Sarada could drink with them when they had something to celebrate or just needed a drink to release some tension. Through the years he got used to the sparkly bittersweet taste replacing true alcohol. Not like he could get drunk at home anyway so all things considered it was perfect this way. 

“Hehehe he owes me 50.” Sakura was humming while filling the glasses on the kitchen counter. Sasuke joined her there, each on one side of the counter. Seriously, how many ongoing bets did the two of them have ? 

Then she suddenly looked up at him. “Which menu did you take at the restaurant ?” 

“Not the one you expected.” He smirked, taking a glass and bringing it to his lips. 

She groaned, clinking their glasses together briefly before swallowing the whole thing in one go.  

Slowly sipping his own drink, getting lost in its shades of orange and the movement of the bubbles, Sasuke was reminded of the first time he had seen Naruto. 

He had been very young, it was before the academy. He had gone grocery shopping with Itachi because their parents were busy with clan meetings, and as they were approaching the shop where you could find products from other villages (Sasuke’s Dad was very fond of the wine they found there), a ball of blond locks was thrown out of the said shop. 

“Stay away from my shop, demon !” An old man was shouting while the little boy stood back up. For a second Sasuke had thought the boy would burst into tears, but in the end he only pouted, kicking small rocks at his feet.

“You can keep your stupid orange soda, I don’t even want it anymore ! I’m sure it’s disgusting !” and with that he stuck his tongue out and ran away. 

Sasuke remembered how shocked he had been back then by the exchange, not understanding why the old man was treating a child like this. He had felt bad for the little boy, and he had also been intrigued by the blond, amazed by his reaction and also by the fact that he had blond hair (everyone had black hair in the Uchiha compound, so). 

“Nii-san… Why is this man so mean ?” He had asked his brother, his grip on the young man’s hand tightening. Itachi had sighed and Sasuke had been worried he wouldn’t get an answer, but in the end his brother crouched down, at eye-level with Sasuke. (Now that he was thinking about it, it was probably to be sure that the man from the shop would not hear them.)

“I can’t give you all the details for now Sasuke, it’s a complicated story. But this little boy, he’s special. He’s different, and this man can’t accept that. He seems to be scared by that, so he rejects him.” 

It was Sasuke’s turn to pout. “It’s unfair.” He muttered, pondering the new pieces of information. He couldn’t understand why someone would be so mean just because someone else is different. 

“You’re right, it’s not fair.” His brother had replied, a fond smile on his lips. 

As they were about to get inside the shop (the man was back inside as well), Sasuke noticed something with a flashy color on the floor. Letting go of Itachi’s hand and squatting, he picked it up. 

“Nii-san, I think it’s a coin bag…” It was in the shape of a frog, and Sasuke could feel and hear the coins rattling inside as he moved his fingers. 

Itachi had ruffled his hair, laughing a little. “Yes it is, but we call it a wallet, or a purse, Sasuke. It probably belongs to the little boy from before.” 

At that Sasuke looked back up into his brother’s eyes. “We have to give it back to him !”

Once again the man laughed, nodding. “Alright, alright. I don’t know where he lives, but we can take it to the Hokage, he will probably know.” 

Sasuke had been disappointed that they couldn’t go directly to the boy’s home, but he had made sure that Itachi also bought a bottle of the weird orange lemonade to give with the wallet. Even now, so many years after the scene, he had never asked Naruto if he had liked the lemonade. 

“Sasuke ? Sasuke !” 

Ah, back to the present. 

“Sorry. So, about the divorce.” 

“Yeah, actually, about that… I actually have the papers already.”

“You what ?”

“Well you know, with the case of Naruto and Hinata I realized that it was really not a common thing to do here, it took ages for them to have it all ready and it’s still not official yet, so… I thought I would prepare ahead ? So it goes faster. I mean. Don’t look at me like that, I knew what was going on with Naruto and I knew what were your feelings for him too, so I just knew it was going to happen soon.”

Sasuke pondered all this. Well, Sakura for sure was a practical woman after all. He felt lucky that she was his ‘partner’. He never thought he would say that one day but now that they had raised Sarada together he had to admit they made a great team. She had grown into a very good friend and a fantastic mother and doctor. 

“What do you mean you knew what was going on with Naruto ? Do you mean the dinner ?”

Sakura chuckled.

“Of course you would focus on this. You both are just so easy to read. Well you know we were still friends so we would hang out from time to time. I noticed how he would no longer talk about you, and I thought it was weird. You know when you left on your redemption journey, I was so sure he was going to go after you at some point. But he didn’t, and he started to date Hinata, got married, so I thought I had misunderstood his feelings for you. We drifted apart a bit, I was busy with Sarada and the hospital, he was busy with his own family and working hard to become the next Hokage. But eventually we managed to get back into a routine where we would meet once a week, to chat over a drink or dinner. I saw how unhappy he was. He tried to hide it, but well come on, it’s me. And I noticed something new. Everytime I would mention your name, he would blush. So I thought, well, maybe it’s still in him. That crazy obsession for you. I thought it had passed with time, but it’s like… as soon as he realized he was really losing you again… the boy who ran after you for years came back. So I helped him with setting up this dinner with you. I tried to give him a few hints about how I didn’t love you anymore and how our marriage was more a partnership than anything, but I was not sure it reached through his thick skull, you know.”

No, he didn’t know. He knew how stubborn and determined the blond could be, he was well aware of how insane it was that he chased after him for years, unwavering. Just like he did everything else, when he made a decision. He kept his promises, he gave his everything to save his friends, to protect the village, even the human race in general. Sasuke thought he was the one who knew Naruto the best, and yet there were so many things he didn’t know about the blond, so many things that happened while he was gone, whether it was during their teenage years or more recently. He had always trusted that their bond would remain the strongest, but he had to admit that a weaker part of him was jealous of these people who had fragments of Naruto that he didn’t know about. It was stupid, because him missing all this was his own fault, no one else’s, and yet… Was this regret that was starting to seep into his heart ? He had no idea the blond had struggled so much without him. He was always smiling and chatting whenever they met. He had been so focused on his own feelings, his own pain, that he had failed to acknowledge Naruto’s… This made him feel guilty, he had to admit. But at least he was happy that the blond had someone to talk to. He knew that if he tended to keep everything to himself, Naruto was the kind of person who needed to express themselves, one way or another. He was glad that Sakura was there for the blond.

- ☼ - 

It was so hard to focus.

How was he supposed to focus ? 

Naruto felt like he was about to combust. 

Just saying, if you want to talk about Sasuke, you can talk to me. Still waiting for the juicy details, you know.

The blond groaned, banging his head against the desk. Part of him wanted to spill it all to Kurama, but at the same time it was private and he was sure Sasuke wouldn’t want Kurama to know everything about what they did last night… 

Oh, interesting flashbacks.  

Fuck. It was so hard to hide anything from this fox. 

“You were not like that with Hinata.”

Of course. That girl was boring as hell. And weird. Like, bad weird. 

“Oh yeah, I forgot you actually love Sasuke.” The blond replied with a smirk. “It’s weird though, you said you hated all the Uchiha clan, dead or alive.” 

There was a pause and Naruto thought his friend would not answer the implied question.

Well I’m not blind, I see he’s different. Even when you guys were just annoying brats he was ready to give his life for you. I know deep down he’s a sap for you. He’s soft. But also dangerous. Just like me.

The blond couldn’t help but smile.

“So you… relate to him. I never thought about it like this, but now that you present things this way… There’s something, I guess.”

That and let’s be honest, without him you and me we wouldn’t be here chatting like this. You wouldn’t be who you are today, and you wouldn’t have changed me too. It feels nice to be where I am today, watching over you here and there, then roaming freely, meeting the other bijuus from time to time… I never thought I would ever have that kind of life. And he was the one triggering all these changes.

Naruto had to admit it was true. It made him feel warm inside to think that Kurama was now his friend. He was very thankful for this. 

“So you’re watching over us, huh ? Indeed, you’re a sap, man. It’s sweet. Thanks.”

Don’t let it go to your head kid, it just came out like this, I didn’t mean it like that.

“Uh-huh, yeah, yeah of course.” 

Trying to focus back on the papers and books open in front of him, Naruto frowned. This report was very odd. A lot of details were missing, as if the information had somehow been removed. He tried to scratch, see if there was anything coming off, but no, nothing. But there were so many blank spaces, this was not possible. A shinobi would never submit such an empty report and a Hokage would never accept this. This was all very weird. 

Kakashi had told him to go through old reports from the archive to get used to how they were made (Naruto knew already but Kakashi wanted him to see “good ones”, pfff) and get used to Konoha’s history. In these reports lay all the stories the children would never be told. The stories civilians had no idea about. Even shinobis didn’t know about most of them unless they had been part of the said mission, but the Hokage… the Hokage had to know everything, right ? Especially after all the secrets that had been discovered when they were teenagers, Naruto was going to make sure that he knew everything about what happened in Konoha and in the name of Konoha. 

Of course he didn’t expect to find actual reports about Konoha’s worst sins, but still, he found a few old reports that surprised him and made him wonder once again how the elders managed to hide so much for so long. But this report… Naruto had a feeling it was important. The fact that it looked as if it had been censored despite being already a confidential report exclusively read by the Hokage… Naruto wanted to know. He needed to know. 

Without really meaning to, he was once again reminded of Sasuke.

With a smile, he went through a few more pages of the report.

Even as a child, he had wanted to know everything about Sasuke. One of his first memories of Sasuke took him back to the academy. He remembered the first day where Sasuke came back after the death of his clan. People were gossiping about him, and Naruto had felt like a monster. Why ? Because somehow, he was happy. He was so young, he couldn’t fully comprehend yet what death really meant. All he could see was that now, he was not alone. He was no longer the only one without a family. Even to this day Naruto still felt bad about the way he had reacted back then. Not that he had expressed his joy to anyone else, no. But feeling this had been more than enough. He had been stupid. He had been cruel. Thinking about this day where Sasuke had been sitting at his desk so casually, Naruto couldn’t even start to understand how the little boy had managed to maintain such a perfect facade. He had said nothing, he had shown no emotion, didn’t cry, didn’t scream, and he had only missed a day of school. Looking back, Naruto was impressed but at the same time, it hurt. Crying would have been better. Screaming would have been better. Since that fateful night, Sasuke had always bottled up his emotions, labelling them as weaknesses, and Naruto only wanted to break all those walls. He wanted to bring them all down so he could finally reach Sasuke, hold him tight and never let him go. 

Of course they had made lots of progress since last night, more than he had ever dared to dream of.

Eeh you did dream a lot, ya know ?

Shhh.

But Naruto was aware there was still so much they needed to talk about, so much he wanted to share with Sasuke, and if only Sasuke could also share a thing or two with him… There were still so many questions left unanswered in their history. But in the meantime… 

“Yosh. Need to ask Kakashi about this report.” 

*****

Somehow it still felt weird to see Kakashi working at the Hokage’s desk. Tsunade had always been at ease, but Kakashi only looked… so much older than he was, and smaller than he used to, as if the position was literally crushing him. 

Naruto quickly pushed the thought aside as he stepped into the office. It’s not like anyone would have expected him to actually become Hokage when he was a brat so he shouldn’t have this same judgmental view upon his former sensei. Kakashi had done the job all these years, and not because being Hokage was his ambition. He had been needed, so of course, as always, he had given his all to the village. Naruto had not been surprised when the man had first approached him, talking about training him to become Hokage and all that stuff. He was not surprised by the fact that Kakashi didn’t want to stay Hokage until his dying breath. After all, they were at peace, so this might take a very long time, and of course he knew that Naruto was aiming for the position since he was a child. 

He had felt very thankful back then to be able to actually train for the position instead of just being thrown into it just like Kakashi had been when he became Hokage. Naruto still had a lot to learn, he was aware of that, so it felt nice to know he had years to prepare. 

The white-haired man looked up from his papers when Naruto closed the door behind him.

“Oh Naruto~ ! How are you ? Is there something I can do for you ?”

It was always very comforting to Naruto to see the familiar smile on the man’s face (or well, through his mask). He was one of the few people Naruto actually trusted with his life and it felt nice to be able to talk openly with someone. He had never had this with Hinata, and with Sasuke gone all these years, Naruto had grown even closer to Kakashi, Iruka and Sakura. He suspected that Kakashi was aware that there was something going on between Sasuke and him, actually he had no idea how much the man knew or understood about their relationship (he had watched them grow, did he saw the signs when they were both too stupid to do anything else but fight ? Naruto wondered). 

“Hi~ Actually yes. There’s this report I find weird and I wanted to ask you about it.”

Coming closer to the desk, Naruto saw the man put aside what he had been working on immediately and he couldn’t help but smile. Putting the report on the wooden surface in front of his former mentor, Naruto continued.

“There are no names as if they had been removed. There are also so many other pieces of information missing, I don’t understand how this could have even been accepted by any Hokage.” 

Frowning, Kakashi started to go through the report, staring at the Hokage’s seal at the end. Then he went back to the second page, visibly looking for something. 

“I see, the date was also removed…” He said, seeing the blank space where the date was supposed to be. Sighing, he added, “I guess it has been coded. I’m not sure how to unlock it though, we don’t have many of these. Most of the time, if something was not meant to be known, the elders would just destroy the evidence.” 

He didn’t seem satisfied with this, and Naruto could relate. If this report had survived for so long, it probably meant that someone wanted them (or someone, anyone) to find out what secrets were hidden behind these empty spaces. 

“Let me borrow it, I will have it checked by our teams and will get back to you asap, okay ?” The man said while looking up at Naruto’s face. 

Naruto could only nod. He couldn’t think of a better plan. 

“Please do. It makes me very curious and at the same time kinda… worried.”

Kakashi nodded.

“Me too, me too. Will do. Is there anything else ?”

Naruto was about to say no, but then suddenly something came to mind.

“Oh ! Actually there is. Have you ever heard about a jutsu which prevents someone from sensing people’s chakra ?” 

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

Naruto was already there. 

Sasuke could sense his chakra.

Oh, dear.

Why was he so happy ?

It was really the simplest thing, but coming to Naruto’s apartment at the end of the day… It just felt like coming back to his most intimate and safe place in the world. It felt like coming home. Coming home to Sakura and Sarada had felt okay once he got used to it (even though he didn’t come back that often). He loved Sarada and had a good friendship with Sakura. But this… This was more than he had ever hoped for. He knew Naruto was waiting for him in this apartment (parting this morning had been difficult so they promised to meet again in the evening at Naruto’s place) and Sasuke could feel his heart clench at the thought. 

Naruto was waiting for him.

Naruto wanted to spend his evening (and night, let’s be honest) with him.

They had spent the day apart and god, Sasuke was already excited about seeing that lovely face again. He had missed the blond. Which was stupid because they had spent years without seeing each other in the past. 

But now it was different.

As he tried not to hurry up the stairs, Sasuke smiled. Yes, now it was different. 

Trying to open the door, as expected it was not locked. Careless idiot. Of course it’s not like anyone in the village would be interested in attacking the most powerful man in town, but still.

To his surprise, the apartment seemed empty. The lights were on, and he could smell food, but the blond was nowhere in sight. Maybe he was in the bathroom ? 

Sasuke removed his shoes in the entrance and left his cloak on the sofa, taking a look at the place. If he were being honest, he didn’t take a good look last night or even this morning. He had noticed the changes (the place was way bigger than what he remembered), he had been… distracted by a certain person. But now that he could take a good look, he was impressed with what Naruto did to the apartment. It was nice, cosy, even the decoration was to Sasuke’s liking. More mature while staying faithful to the blond’s unique tastes. Sasuke felt comfortable here, it felt safe and it had a nice glow, just like Naruto’s aura. Speaking of the devil… 

“Oh Sasuke you’re here !”

As soon as the blond was out of the bathroom, he ran to Sasuke and hugged him so tight and with such enthusiasm that a lesser man would have fallen from the impact. But yeah, not Sasuke. Sasuke held him just as tightly, smiling in the embrace, closing his eyes in appreciation, lost in the moment. Hiding his face in the other man’s nape, inhaling the sweet scent, he exhaled deeply, finally relaxing. And he thought he was not a hugger, huh ? God, he didn’t want to let go. Like, ever. This just felt so good after a tiring day. 

He could hear the other giggle and he couldn’t even say anything mean or witty. There was nothing to say, he felt the same giddiness.

“Missed me that much ?” The blond couldn’t help but ask.

Sasuke’s first instinct was to deny of course, but he reminded himself that he was done hiding his feelings now, and so he decided to be honest, and just nodded, knowing that Naruto would feel him move against him. 

He heard a gasp, and smiled, feeling the blond’s arms wrapping themselves even tighter around him. 

“Me too…” The man whispered, and Sasuke could hear the smile in his voice.

After a little while they parted, not because they really wanted to but both their stomachs were manifesting their discontent - the nice smell in the air didn’t help. 

As Naruto led him to the kitchen, Sasuke was once again surprised by the fact that the man could actually cook. It felt like an even greater accomplishment than becoming Hokage. Despite what he had said and acted like back when they were kids, Sasuke had quickly trusted in the fact that someday the blond would become Hokage. He was so stubborn, the Uchiha had easily been convinced that the man wouldn’t stop no matter what. But well, cooking, this was an unexpected skill and Sasuke found it fascinating. It made him curious about all the years he’d been away, all these things Naruto had learned without him, the way he had grown and matured without him. He had never let himself think about this, but now that they could be honest with each other, he suddenly realized that… he wanted to know. Everything. 

“What did you cook for us tonight ?” He asked while coming closer to the covered pot cooking on low heat. He could hear the little bubbling inside and god the closer he got, the better it smelled. 

“Hehehe well I know you like tomatoes so I thought I would try to cook pasta with homemade tomato sauce and a few herbs. It’s ready actually, I was just keeping it on the lowest heat so that it would stay warm.”  

Okay now Sasuke was even more hungry. He quickly helped the blond to set the table for them both, and while he was filling the carafe with water, Naruto served them each a plate of pasta. Urgh, it looked (and smelled) amazing. 

Excited to taste the new food, Sasuke sat down in front of his plate and after a quick “itadakimasu”, they both dived into it. 

Both groaned excitedly and in no time, the plates were empty and they were fighting over what was left in the pot. The fight dissolved into laughter, and in the end they just ended up sharing. Once their stomachs were full, they talked about their day on the balcony, looking up at the starry night, happy to be sharing such domestic conversations with each other. 

“Remember when you stayed outside all night to climb trees ?” Sasuke was saying, looking defeated. “Sarada is worse. I had to drag her out of the field, I swear. No wonder she admires you.” 

Naruto laughed, patting the raven-haired man’s shoulder. “Come on, I’m sure she admires you more ! And I think it’s amazing you know, she’s super smart and all but she still gives her all as if she was not already the best of the academy. Boruto could definitely learn from her, damn it.” 

Sasuke let out a little laugh. “They’re still young, he will probably come around later. But yes, she’s going to be a very talented shinobi, I have no doubt about that. She reminds me of Itachi sometimes.” 

Ah.

Here it was.

He had finally said it, huh ? 

He didn’t need to look at Naruto to know he would see surprise on his face. He was the first surprised here. Both at admitting what he had admitted and at actually talking about Itachi. This was probably the first time he had ever mentioned his brother out loud since… 

“Oh yeah ? What was Itachi like as a child ?” 

Taking his eyes away from the stars shining in the night sky, Sasuke looked at Naruto, suddenly feeling insecure. But Naruto was confidently looking right at him, a small smile on his lips. And of course, because this was Naruto, and because the blond was looking at him like this, Sasuke relaxed a little bit. He just… had to answer the question, for now. No pressure. This was a safe place, this was okay. A part of him wanted to be able to do this : remember Itachi. The good memories, the good brother he had been at some point. Even if their relationship had gotten twisted along the way, even if it was still painful to think about him, a part of Sasuke wanted to be able to talk about Itachi, because his brother deserved to be remembered and Sasuke was the only one still alive who could actually talk about him, the real him, right ? 

Taking a shaky breath, Sasuke gathered his resolve and exhaled deeply.

“He was… He was perfect.” He started with a small smile, already feeling the tears coming up. He avoided the blond’s gaze to look back at the stars. At the moon. He would not be able to do this while looking Naruto in the eyes. When you’re deprived of love and affection for so long, comfort is hard to accept and he knew he would shatter under the blond’s understanding gaze. 

“He was a genius.” He continued. “So much smarter than me, everything came easy to him but then he would still train harder than anyone else.” 

Oh yes he could remember how much he admired his big brother when he was a child, always looking up to him. Everyone loved him, respected him. 

“Our father was very proud of him. He was definitely the best of our clan.”

And that was why he was chosen to eliminate said clan, hm ? 

“He was kind. Always a nice word for our mother. He didn’t have much time, but he still trained with me from time to time.”

Oh, this was hard. The tears kept gathering, threatening to spill.

“He…” 

The first teardrop rolled on his cheek, and he felt warmth engulf him. There were arms around him, and a body against his back. Naruto rested his face against Sasuke’s nape, saying nothing, only holding him, and a few more tears fell on the porcelain skin. 

“He liked sweets.” He continued, ignoring the broken attempt of a laugh that left his throat. “Scratch that, he loved sweets.” 

He could feel Naruto’s smile against his skin, and it gave him strength. 

“I would always try to bargain something with him in exchange for my piece of cake or any kind of sweets I would get my hands on.” 

A little smile started to stretch his lips. 

“His favorites were strawberry tarts and chocolate cakes.” 

In the silence of the night, his voice sounded so loud to his ears. It was the first time he dared to go down memory lane. Before what happened to his clan, before the blood, the violence, the hatred… Back when Itachi was just his perfect older brother, the one who would teach him things and protect him. The one who had protected him until the very end, until his dying breath. Dying breath Sasuke was responsible for. 

He inhaled sharply, willing the tears away, but it was too late, way too late. He felt Naruto’s lips against the back of his neck, peppering him with soft kisses, and something inside of him broke. 

Ugly sobs made him shake and despite his attempts at being silent, he could hear loud and clear the pained whimpers echoing through the silent night. 

All at once the warmth vanished and Sasuke quickly chased after it, turning around, only to be crashed against Naruto’s chest, face safely tucked between the blond’s face and shoulder, the man holding gently his head against him while his other hand was wrapped around Sasuke’s waist, keeping him firmly yet softly against his body. The raven-haired man’s only hand laid lifelessly along his body for a moment, trusting the fall like never before - if it was in Naruto’s arms, he could collapse, right ? He let himself be held like he was precious, he let himself cry, he let himself mourn… At some point his hand came up to grip the back of Naruto’s t-shirt, and slowly, after a few minutes, probably more than he was aware of, the crying calmed down. The arm around his waist came up and a soothing hand caressed his back as if trying to comfort a child and new tears came rolling on his wet cheeks. No one had ever done this for him when he was just a little child with no family left. No one had ever held him like this, and a new whine breached Sasuke’s lips, trying to hide his face just a little bit more into Naruto’s skin. The hand on his back was soothing, and the other in his hair was so gentle, alternating between playing with his locks and massaging his scalp… it was all so sweet, he felt like he could fall asleep like this. He was melting. He was collapsing, breaking, melting in a puddle of grief, sadness and longing for people he would never see again, for a time he would never live again, and through all this pain… There it was, a glimmer of hope. 

Since that fateful night, Sasuke had always lived with the knowledge that he was okay with dying. Everything and everyone he had ever loved had died during that night, the only thing he needed to do before resting in peace and joining them was to avenge his clan. He would bring down Itachi so that the family would be once again united, in death. For so many years it had been his only hope. And after Itachi’s death… He could have gone mad, to be honest. The truth was too hard to bear. The burden of his brother was too heavy for his shoulders. He wanted to set the world on fire for setting up this sick joke of a life. He wanted everyone to pay for the pain inflicted on his clan, on his brother, on himself. 

And through the darkness, throughout all these years, throughout the cold loneliness he was forced to experience and then the one he imposed on himself… the same glimmer of hope was hiding in the deepest part of his heart. This same heart he had wished he could just rip out of his chest. Just so he would stop feeling. Stop hurting. Stop loving. Because this was the problem after all. Loving. Loving meant being hurt. Loving meant dying a little inside everytime you lose another loved one. Loving was dangerous. 

But that little spark just wouldn’t die. No matter how much he tried, how much he screamed and hit and rejected it, the little spark would remain. 

Now the spark was burning. Burning him alive with love, care, attention. Embracing everything he was without a word. As always, the only one who had never given up on him. The only one who knew how to keep loneliness at bay. The little brat who had made him react, made him smile in secret, the teenager who had fought for him, fought against him for his own good, the man who was now here, still here, ready to give him everything, be his everything.

- ☼ -

“I wish I had been faster on that day.”

They were now cuddling on the sofa with a few soft blankets surrounding them, still watching the stars from afar, through the window. The night sky in Konoha had always been beautiful, the stars were shining brightly, and Naruto was hoping for a little meteorite shower tonight. They were quite common during this time of the year. 

Sasuke turned slightly towards him even though they couldn’t see each other’s expressions very well due to the darkness surrounding them. Naruto guessed that the man was confused though.

“The day where Itachi and you fought. We were not that far, but we arrived too late. You were already gone.” 

How many times had he played that scene in his head ? Running, running, and then… a scene of utter chaos, blood spread on the cold stones, and oh how much he had prayed for the blood not to belong to Sasuke… But they had found nothing. No Sasuke, not even Itachi’s body. They were informed that Sasuke had won, but was it really ? Even if Sasuke was alive and well, how could he ever be okay after doing such a thing ? Naruto had spent nights thinking about what Sasuke may have felt. He had hoped it had made the man feel better, even though he was doubting it very much.

He heard a soft “oh…” coming from Sasuke and he smiled sadly.

“Not like it would have changed the outcome but I just… I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to hug you and take you home after this.” 

Of course he was not stupid, he knew it was only a fantasy. Even if Sasuke had accepted to come back to Konoha after killing Itachi, things wouldn’t have been that easy. But still, he would have tried. He would have given his everything to facilitate Sasuke’s return to Konoha. 

As the silence stretched, Naruto wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have said this. Maybe this was too much for now. It was already a giant step that Sasuke had willingly talked about Itachi. Naruto felt so thankful that the man trusted him like this. Felt safe enough to let down his walls. Naruto would cherish the words about Itachi. He wished he had been able to meet the man under different circumstances. Of course his weird exchanges with Itachi had allowed him to understand that the man still cared for Sasuke, but still, the situation had always been so dire. He wished he had had the chance to meet the man in a peaceful world. He wished Sasuke would still have his big brother in his life. 

He was brought back to the present when a hand came to cup the side of his face, a thumb caressing his cheek softly. He leaned into the touch, closing his eyes, and all of a sudden there was a sweet warmth against his lips and he smiled. 

The kiss was slow, soft, only lips moving against lips, warmth moving against warmth, and yet it felt oddly intimate. With each peck on his lips, Naruto could feel Sasuke’s unspoken words envelop him. “It’s okay”, “thank you”, “you’re here now”. He didn’t need to hear them, he could feel them in the way Sasuke would press against him, the way his fingers would caress his face, the way his lips would brush his lips… God, he was supposed to be the one comforting Sasuke, not the other way around ! But he couldn’t find the will to ever step away from this man. He would just let him, right ? He did crave these after all. He wanted to be softly held, appreciated, he wanted to be gently caressed as if he was precious, important, he wanted to be kissed with such emotion his whole body would shiver, he wanted these confessions into his skin, and he wanted them from Sasuke, no one else. And after all these years… after all this time… He was finally living the dream, this tiny, secret wish he had carried with him for so long. 

As they parted slowly, a shooting star crossed the blond’s vision.

“Sasuke ! Look !” He gasped, pointing at the window, excitement coursing through his veins. Damn, even the world was on their side really, how could this be even more romantic ? 

They both watched as several other shooting stars followed the first one, painting the sky with their ephemeral stardust trails. 

“Sasuke, Sasuke, you have to make a wish !” He cried out. The other man stared at him.

“Only me ?”

“Well… Let’s say I probably used all my wishes already. There’s nothing more I can ask for, I got everything I wanted.” The blond admitted with a light blush spreading on his cheeks.

“What did you wish for ?” The Uchiha asked softly.

“This is embarrassing…”

“... I just cried for at least 10 solid minutes Naruto, I think we’re past that.”

“Hehehe okay, you’re right.”

It was true that Sasuke had shared a lot of intimate thoughts tonight, and Naruto was grateful to be the one witnessing this. He felt trusted. And of course he was trusting Sasuke as well. The childish part of him just wanted to always look good in the raven’s eyes, so sometimes he still felt a bit self-conscious. Sasuke had always been so mature, so smart, it was difficult not to feel childish beside him. But maybe he had to let go of his own perspective, for after all the other man was only human too, this night proved it.

“Well you know that not long after you joined Orochimaru, I left with Ero Senin to train.” He started. He could feel Sasuke’s intense gaze on him. 

“We would often sleep on the ground, in the open, so I’ve seen plenty of shooting stars in 3 years and… Well, I would always wish for you. I was wishing for you to be safe, for you to come back to me of course, to Konoha, but I was also wishing for Orochimaru to choke on his food, or I would also wish for you to be super healthy, for you to eat well, for you to become so strong you would leave this man…”

What started with a fond smile ended up in a shaky exhale. What he had felt back then was rushing back into his heart. Unconsciously, he lowered his voice.

“Sometimes I would wish for the power to find the right words that would’ve reached you.”

He sighed softly, closing his eyes for a second too long. He had not planned to say so much. 

“Or for the strength to drag your sorry ass home, hehe.” He added with an awkward little laugh. He had been so desperate back then, he could still remember the ache in his chest as he had wished on those stars. As long as Sasuke was not by his side, he had felt like he couldn’t breathe. Slowly, everyone had gone back to their little routine, even Sakura, but he… he had been stuck at the exact same place, unable to move on. It was like seeing life in colors and then suddenly only being able to see in black and white. 

He felt the arms around him tightening, and he smiled despite the slight shaking of his bottom lip. 

“It was so lonely without you, Sasuke. I didn’t know what to do with myself.” He finally admitted in a whisper, as if afraid that someone else would hear. He had never said these words out loud. 

Despite growing up alone, despite the hate he received, and even when they were not talking, Sasuke had always been in Naruto’s life, somehow. Even if it was just seeing him from afar, even if it was just a glance, a hidden smile… Because Sasuke was in Konoha, Naruto had been able to call this place his home. Because even when the world didn’t care, he knew there was someone by the river, sitting alone, someone with a similar heart to his, someone who could understand his pain, his loneliness. It settled something in him.

And Naruto realized all of this way too late. He understood the extent of his attachment to Sasuke only when he lost him for good. Only when he vanished. 

Tears were rolling down his cheeks, and he tried not to sniffle too loudly, but was clearly failing. It didn’t really matter after all, it was only Sasuke. Sasuke. Suddenly desperate to get as close as possible to the man against him, Naruto hid his face against the other man’s nape, inhaling his scent, letting it spread through his lungs like a saving grace, burning it into his memory, praying silently that it would never go away again.

As if reading his mind, the raven murmured against his ear, “I’m here.” and Naruto could hear the emotions in the man’s voice, how chocked up he sounded, and he smiled, nodding. 

He trusted Sasuke.

They were okay now. They would be okay. No more hiding.

There was no need for wishes on a star now. He had the brightest star right beside him.

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

The moon was shining brightly through the night sky, and Sasuke was cursing the ray of light that landed on the bed. Naruto was sound asleep by his side, slightly snoring, and he tried to focus on the beloved features resting peacefully. How envious he was of Naruto for being able to sleep so easily, undisturbed. He was so used to staying alert at all times, it was easier for him to take a quick nap during the day, it felt somehow safer. The worst was the nights where sleep would be wasted on nightmares. But the blond had always managed to sleep anywhere, anytime, even when they were kids. Back then, Sasuke thought it was both impressive and stupid. Now he only hoped that it would always be that way. That it had always been that way. Naruto deserved to rest, and to feel at peace.

On nights like these, he sometimes wondered how life would be, if he had not been born in the Uchiha clan. If he had never awakened the sharingan. A normal life, not as a shinobi, but as a simple civilian. He couldn’t imagine what kind of person he would have been. Could have been. He couldn’t understand what it would be like to grow up in a regular family, without the pain, the suffering, the crushing weight of duty… It was hard for him to remember who he had been before the massacre. It was hard to think about this little boy as a part of him. He had tried to kill this boy for so long. Itachi had only fed him with hate. But then…

His gaze landed on blond hair and he smiled softly.

Somehow he had not been able to kill the boy, just like he had not been able to kill Naruto. He couldn’t picture what kind of man he could have been, but he knew who he wanted to be for the blond now. This softness that used to scare him, this warmth he had tried to get rid of… He was going to embrace them now. It was finally time to love this man properly. He was allowed to think about romance now, it felt weird. Even if he had convinced the idiot to keep their relationship a secret at least until his appointment as Hokage, just the thought that at some point they were going to go out on dates, holding hands and everything made him smile like a teenage girl. 

With a little laugh, he got out of bed. It felt nice to be a little childish. He had repressed this side of him during most of his younger days after all. 

Silently making his way towards the kitchen, he checked one last time above his shoulder that the blond was still asleep. Good. He needed to rest, it was going to be a very busy week for him. Sasuke closed the door of the kitchen behind him and went to make some tea. He knew he was not going to fall back into sleep just yet. His mind needed a little bit of time to let go of the nightmare and relax. 

Looking at the moon through the window, he sighed. What a long week it was going to be, pretending not to love Naruto. He had done this most of his life, but now that they had something, it almost felt unbearable. Wrong.

*****

“Oh hi Sasuke, how are you ?”

By habit, he sighed. He still couldn’t understand why Kakashi was always cheerful in this very fake way of his. Or maybe it was just as close to a true smile as he could get, Sasuke didn’t really plan on analyzing any of this right now. Or ever. He had enough behavioral and psychological analysis to do on his own. 

“Do you have a mission for me ?” He asked plainly, getting closer to the Hokage’s desk. The wooden furniture was almost empty now that the guy was practically ready (and rushing) to leave. He didn’t have much hope for a mission, but he was starting to be seriously bored and Naruto was always busy with work and preparations for his big day. 

“Bored already ?” came the cocky retort. 

He could see the spark in the old man’s eyes, indicating that he was clearly enjoying himself. Oh the number of times where Sasuke had sighed in defeat in front of this man. They had a kind of good relationship for two men who were that bad with not pushing people away, actually. They were both awkward, but they were also both improving. Or forced to improve by the people around them. Of course they had never talked about the past, or feelings, or personal thoughts, but well. Somehow, a smile from Kakashi and a nod from Sasuke were enough. They couldn’t say they were close. But they couldn’t say they were not close either. Maybe someday they would reach the ‘talking honestly about the past’ step. Now that he was being more open with Naruto, Sasuke felt like it was not an impossible prospect. After all, if there was someone who had gone through many hardships and trauma too, it was Kakashi. Of course, he had dealt with all of it poorly, but well. Sasuke had learned to forgive, at least a little. He had had to, anyway. In this world, only Naruto had never failed in the Uchiha’s eyes. 

He nodded without saying a word. He didn’t want to explain anything to Kakashi. It was too early to share news about him and Naruto, even with people they both trusted, and he was sure that when the time would come, the blond would do it anyway. No need to rush. 

Kakashi went through a few papers on the side of his desk.

“I’m afraid we don’t have much, Sasuke. Lots of things have been postponed with the appointment of Naruto at the end of the week.”

The raven-haired man sighed. There were still 4 days left, he needed to be doing something in the meantime ! He didn’t know how to rest, or how to stay home, he had never done it before ! Or at least not since he was only a child. And even then.... he would train all the time, so maybe it didn’t even count either. 

Kakashi must have sensed his growing panic, for the man continued to search and went through another stack of papers, humming softly while doing so. 

“Ah ! Here we go !” He finally exclaimed, brandishing a paper as if he had won the lottery. It almost felt like it to Sasuke too. “It’s not a difficult one, only a B mission, but it will do for a few days I’d say.”

Coming closer, the Uchiha took the paper, reading through the mission while the current Hokage was sharing a few additional details. At the end of the briefing, Sasuke nodded, ready to leave, but for a second, he hesitated. Glancing at Kakashi, he saw the man posing too, waiting for him to speak. 

“... Thanks.” He said softly, before turning and leaving swiftly the office. A cheerful “You’re welcome~” was heard behind him, and he huffed, the corner of his lips shifting slightly. 

About to step out of the Hokage tower, Sasuke abruptly stopped. Naruto was here too. He should go and tell him about the mission, right ? But it would look odd. To outsiders, why would Sasuke inform Naruto that he was going on a new mission ? He had never done so before. And Naruto was not Hokage yet, so not reporting anything to him yet either. This was tricky. For years he had avoided the blond, so no matter what he did, it would look weird, right ? 

He sighed. He knew he was probably overthinking the situation, but he truly wanted to keep their relationship a secret as long as Naruto’s position was not stable and secure. He had very little faith in the people of Konoha. Or let’s say the majority of the population of Konoha. He didn’t want to be the reason why Naruto would have to give up on his dream. He had never wanted to be this kind of person to the blond. Since forever he had had this strong belief that this boy had to live and accomplish his dream. Change the world. If it was possible, Sasuke believed that Naruto could do it. 

He considered leaving only a note, but he knew the blond would hate him for leaving with only a tiny piece of paper to inform him of his departure. With a sigh, he left the building. He would wait for the man at his apartment, make dinner and then he would leave the village during the night. A few hours wouldn’t change the outcome of the mission, anyway.

Passing by his own house, Sasuke left a note on the kitchen counter, informing Sakura that he would be out for a few days but would be back by the end of the week. 

Then he went to buy a few groceries, earning a few wary glances from the shop owners, but he tried to ignore them. They would have to get used to him anyway, if he was going to stay more often in the village now. This thought made him pose. Was he really, though ? He loved Naruto, but would he be able to settle ? Or at least settle as much as a shinobi can. He was still the best one on the field, so he would still have to take the most dangerous missions even though well, in times of peace, there were not that many. If he had not been harassing Kakashi for missions, he wouldn’t have been that busy these past few years. Was he capable of settling down ? He could feel how his shoulders were suddenly tensed. Usually, he didn’t care about other people’s expectations of him. But Naruto… Naruto had always been different. Sasuke could pretend all he wanted, he truly cared about what the blond thought of him. He wanted to be the man the other needed him to be. This was a new and quite weird feeling. Eagerness. Well. He would have to worry about that later. 

A few minutes later, he was in Naruto’s apartment, preparing dinner for the two of them. This, too, was new. Of course he had a family with Sakura, so it’s not like the whole setting was foreign to him, it’s just that… it didn’t feel the same. With Sakura it had never felt so… domestic. Now he felt like a housewife making sure that everything was nice and ready for her husband to come home and… against all odds, he didn’t mind. He had never lifted a finger with Sakura, but now he wanted to do everything for Naruto. It was strange, but it made him feel warm, excited even to see the blond coming back home. Coming back home to him. 

Checking on the pot he left on the stove, Sasuke inhaled the rich scent of curry, unconsciously closing his eyes. His mother used to do it like that. Well, probably not exactly like that because he could only remember parts of the process, but it was as close as his memory would allow him to get. He never thought he would make his mom’s curry one day, but for some reason he had felt the need to make it today. The weather was starting to feel a bit cold, the wind blowing in the streets of Konoha, and the Uchiha had missed more than ever the sweet cosy atmosphere of his childhood home. He wanted Naruto to feel it, even if only a little bit. The warmth of a homemade meal, the warmth of having someone waiting for you, the warmth of a home. Of course the man already had a home with Hinata and the kids, but Sasuke was hoping that just like for him, it had never been exactly the same as feeling completely at home, where you belong. Maybe he was over-estimating himself, but well.

Going to the rice cooker, he checked that the rice was ready. The sun was slowly setting, Naruto would probably be back soon. Sasuke started to set the table for two, then turned the heat on the stove off. 

A concussion seemed to shake the whole building and then came the familiar voice.

“SASUKEEE ! I’M HOME !”

With an amused smile, the Uchiha joined the other man at the entrance of the apartment.

“Welcome home.” He replied softly, leaning against the wall while watching the blond get rid of his shoes and jacket. He didn’t know who was the happiest out of them, but they were both smiling like idiots. 

Then Naruto suddenly stood very straight and very still, a little bit like a meerkat from the Sand region, and Sasuke was doing his best not to laugh. 

“It smells amazing Sasuke ! Did you cook ?”

The blond looked so excited, his smile was blinding. With a more discrete smile of his own, Sasuke nodded. 

“I hope you like curry.” 

With the sparks we could see in the other’s eyes, he guessed curry was okay. Or maybe the idiot would have been happy with anything cooked by Sasuke, that was also a possibility.

“Of course I love curry ! I’m starving !” Naruto shouted happily, going straight to the kitchen. Sasuke followed him, unable to stop smiling. 

Dinner was animated with Naruto telling Sasuke about his day and asking about the raven-haired man’s day, interrupted here and there by the blond moaning over how delicious the food was. Sasuke tried not to blush, but between the compliments and the hot food, he was quite confident that he had failed, to the great pleasure of the blond. This felt so nice. He was almost feeling guilty about taking the mission, now. But deep inside he knew he would not be able to spend 4 days only playing housewife with Naruto. 

They were finishing their meal, sipping on a herbal infusion Sakura had given Naruto a long time ago. She had said it was nice to drink at the end of the day, to help relax and sleep better.

“I’ve accepted a short mission from Kakashi.” 

He didn’t know how to announce the news in a better way, so let’s at least be honest and straightforward. Naruto’s attention was immediately back on him.

“What ? Why ?”

The blond seemed confused, and Sasuke was growing nervous.

“You’re busy with the preparations and I don’t want to disturb you. Also, I’m bored. But I’ll be back for your nomination. It’s nothing really, just a B-rank mission.”

Where he had expected the man to argue right away with him, Naruto only frowned and seemed to digest what he had just heard, seeming lost in thoughts. After a few seconds, he nodded slightly and blue eyes were back on Sasuke.

“Alright.” He said with a small smile. “I understand. As long as you’re back in time. Where are you going ?” 

Sasuke could see that the man was not that happy about it, but at that moment, for some reason… He just wanted to kiss the blond. So he just did.

Standing and leaning over the table, he captured those tempting lips in a soft yet passionate kiss. He didn’t know if he was trying to comfort Naruto or trying to comfort himself (maybe both), but he also felt the strong need to convey his feelings once again. 

When the blond let out a whimper in the kiss, something broke inside of Sasuke. Retreating from the man’s lips, he was quite satisfied to see how stunned Naruto was, panting, his lips parted, his pupils blown from the new spark of lust. 

With a smirk, Sasuke rounded the table, took the other man’s wrist, and led him to the bedroom.  

- ☼ -

“For someone about to leave, you sure look eager to me…” Naruto said with a smile as he landed on the bed. Sasuke hovered above him, steady despite his missing arm, staring right into the blond’s soul. The smirk was still stretching his lips, giving a predatory vibe of the best kind, and damn it if Naruto didn’t think it was the sexiest thing ever. He was quite confident in saying he would never get tired of being ravished by the Uchiha now that he had a taste of it. 

As if anyone was questioning that. 

Yeah well Kurama, maybe it’s time for you to go to sleep, hm ? 

Focusing back on the gorgeous man above him, here came the deep voice that would always make him shiver from head to toes. 

“As always, I’m not leaving because I don’t want you, Naruto. I’m leaving because I want you.”

Oh.

Oh.

“But you were the one who said--”

He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence, for his lips suddenly got quite busy, a tongue slipping inside his mouth and exploring, teasing his own, and oh dear , Naruto had never gotten so hard so quickly in his life, okay ?!

Moaning into the kiss, the blond’s eyes started roaming the body above him, trying to get the other naked as soon as possible (priorities people, priorities !) because for the life of him he needed to feel Sasuke’s skin against his own right fucking now . 

He heard a chuckle above him as their lips parted to allow some oxygen back into their lungs.

“And I’m the eager one ?” 

Naruto groaned. This was all very unfair. He could come just from the other man’s voice whispering into his ear, he knew he was capable of that. If Sasuke started talking dirty into his ear, he would come right here right now. Which would be super exciting and wow mind-blowing but for now…

“Shut up and fuck me, Sasuke.” He whined, struggling with removing the man’s pants.

The raven chuckled once again and finally helped him. 

“Oh I will, no need to worry about that, just…” 

They both quickly removed their clothes out of the way, bodies colliding once again, skin on skin, lips on lips, and oh yes boner against boner. The rhythm imposed by Sasuke’s hips was maddening, they were both panting hard and moaning in-between their heated kisses, and Naruto already felt on the verge of coming. 

Then suddenly all warmth was gone, and the blond opened his eyes, panic evident on his features. It quickly vanished when he realized that Sasuke… simply had something else in mind. 

“... Just let me have a taste first.”

And with that, just like with everything he did, Sasuke went for it with the confidence of an expert, boldly licking a stripe from Naruto’s balls to the tip of his erect member and the blond had no other choice but to moan loudly, his legs shaking and his cock twitching.

Visibly enjoying his reaction, the other man licked a bit more, and then came to suck the tip as if he was enjoying a lollipop, and oh god Naruto was going to come… 

“W-Wait, wait Sasuke, stop !” He shouted, panicking once again. 

The man arched an eyebrow at him, but retreated slightly. 

“What is it ?” 

Breathing heavily, Naruto was trying to will his fucking dick into calming down. 

“If you keep going, I’m going to come.” He admitted with a blush spreading on his cheeks and neck. 

Damn it he could see Sasuke holding back a laugh. That bastard was making fun of him.

“Isn’t it the point, though ?” 

Naruto sighed, upset.

“B-but I wanted to…” 

Here we go again, having to say embarrassing stuff out loud… 

“What do you want, Naruto ?” 

Sasuke was actually being very sweet to him, listening patiently. Naruto had never expected him to be that gentle in bed. 

It’s just that your fantasies got out of hand, moron.

Oh my god Kurama, please just leave ! Now !

“Naruto, your dick is twitching right next to my face, tell me instead of just imagining things.” 

His cheeks now burning from embarrassment, the blond forced the words out of his mouth.

“I wanted to come on your cock…” 

With a tiny bit of satisfaction, Naruto could now see Sasuke’s cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink. Of course they had already done that before, but talking about it was another thing. They were not used to it yet. The other man recovered way too quickly for the blond’s liking, though.

“Who said I would only make you come once tonight ?” Came the smug reply, and oh dear the predatory smirk was back.

Going back to business, the Uchiha went back to his licking and sucking and Naruto was trying so hard not to go crazy too quickly over it, but… Sasuke’s tongue was sinful. Naruto was going to die. Or well, come. 

“S-Sasuke…” He whined, as the other man went back to sucking on the tip of his member for a few seconds, before resuming his movements of ups and downs while swallowing the said member, his hand covering and stroking the base of Naruto’s penis. 

The blond’s toes were curling, he was shaking, his hands buried in the sheets, moaning and groaning loudly. He would not last much longer. As if sensing exactly that, the Uchiha sucked harder, moved quicker and oh shit … 

With a shout he came, very much aware that Sasuke was swallowing , which made him twitch a little harder, and moan a little louder, the lust peaking and not decreasing as he locked eyes with the man he loved. His orgasm seemed to last forever as Sasuke made it last until his cock became too sensitive for touch and Naruto asked him to stop. 

The blond laid there boneless, utterly satisfied and out of breath, gaze still lost in the black and purple pupils. The message in them was clear : Sasuke was so not done with him yet. A shiver ran through Naruto’s body, and oh how much he wanted to… Actually he could … 

Trying not to feel too self-conscious, Naruto turned onto his stomach, sticking his butt in the air, legs spread, while looking back at Sasuke, head resting against the pillow….. Literally ready for the taking. He saw the intake of breath, the way the pupils dilated further, the twitching of his hand, the way his eyes could not stray from what was offered to him and… Oh it was so worth it. The few seconds of embarrassment were definitely worth it when he could see such hunger on the Uchiha’s face. 

A growl left the man’s throat, and Naruto shivered. Reaching blindly for the nightstand, he managed to catch the bottle of lube and opened it with one hand, offering it to Sasuke. 

“You might need some of that, I think.” 

His voice was raspy, and he could only delight at the prospect of how fucked up his voice was going to be tomorrow once Sasuke would be done with him. The man looked at him and nodded, extending his hand towards Naruto, so that the blond could squeeze some in his only hand. 

Once this was done, Naruto dropped the bottle not far from him (in case they needed more) and went back to relaxing and waiting for the glorious Uchiha dick. 

It was crazy really how easily he got addicted to having sex with Sasuke. He had never been this enthusiastic with Hinata. But well after all, it was never love what he had felt for her. It was all very plain compared to what he had with Sasuke. It was nice to stop pretending otherwise.

Oh, yes . 

A finger penetrated him slowly, and Naruto sighed in delight, trying to relax even more into the mattress. The more he melted under the touch, the sooner he would get what he wanted. 

“Damn it, how are you so good at that, it’s not fair !” He whined, feeling a shiver running down his spine as a second finger gently made its way inside, the long fingers succeeding in finding that perfect spot already. 

He heard a dark chuckle behind him, and yeah no Sasuke had no right to sound so sexy right now. 

“Being a virgin didn’t mean I was a clueless, innocent boy Naruto.” 

Oh. 

Oh, okay.

That sounded interesting. He would have to ask for more details later when he would have the… brain for it. Like, when his blood would be rushing elsewhere other than between his legs. The fingers were too close to his prostate and yet not exactly there, and it was driving him crazy. He was hard again. 

“Just hurry, you tease !” He complained, shaking his butt a little to get the fingers to retreat. 

“Always so impatient…” The other man stated, and oh Naruto could hear the smile in his voice. “Give me some more lube, then.” 

In a rush, the blond grabbed the bottle and turned slightly to pour some lube on the extended hand. Sasuke looked less composed than he sounded, and Naruto smirked as they locked eyes. 

Damn it, he had spent the whole day thinking about this burning gaze directed at him. Watching Sasuke stroking his member while looking at him dead in the eyes was a level of sensuality Naruto had never thought he would ever achieve. Oh, how much he wanted … 

Finally, finally , the man straightened and came closer to Naruto, getting into position. The blond put his face back onto the pillow, preparing for the emotional impact. Sasuke was never rough with him when he would first penetrate him, he was always gentle, going slowly and making sure that Naruto was alright. As if he knew this was just the way to undo the blond. No matter how rough and passionate they could get after, the first penetration was always so soft, it never failed to make Naruto an emotional mess, shivering and shaking, and way too close to coming. Them becoming one was always an important moment for them both, a bit like a ritual. It may sound silly to think about this in this light when it’s only been a few days since they tasted the forbidden fruit, but… It was just how they felt about it. They had wasted too many years not to appreciate what they had now. They had waited way too long not to admit that this was precious.

Resting his hand on Naruto’s hip for support, Sasuke slowly got inside, pushing gently in and out, going a little bit deeper every time until he was fully sheathed in the warm embrace of Naruto’s body. As the thrusts became more powerful and aimed at this particular spot that would make him see stars, Naruto was left moaning loudly, legs shaking, member twitching. He could hear Sasuke’s quiet moans and groans behind him, and it was only turning him on even more if possible. 

“Oh yes, oh yes Sas’ke, gonna come…” 

At this, the movements of the Uchiha’s hips became more erratic, determined to tip the blond over the edge but also desperate to reach completion together, and oh Naruto was so close… His prostate was shamelessly abused and he felt the burning pleasure spread deep in his loins, the tension growing, rising… 

“Ah !”

Thick spurts of white semen landed on the bed under the blond as he cried out, spasming through his orgasm, feeling Sasuke fuck him through it all, and just when he started to get back down to earth, he heard the other man groan his name, and he was suddenly being filled. Shivering, Naruto felt his dick give one last twitch at the sensation. Damn it, why was his body so excited about Sasuke coming inside him, anyway ? 

They both landed on their side to avoid the puddle of come on the bed, panting, Sasuke spooning Naruto from behind. Slowly, he pulled out, but this time his fingers came back inside, as if trying to keep his semen inside the blond. Despite the haze in which he was in the afterglow, Naruto froze, surprised. Even though his cheeks were already pink from exhaustion, he could feel the warmth of a blush spread through his face, neck and chest. 

Sasuke didn’t seem to be willing to discuss this as he just went back to spooning the blond close to him with a satisfied sigh, giving him a kiss just below the ear. 

“Sasuke”, came the raspy voice.

“Hm ?”

“Are you trying to initiate another round ?” 

There was a short pause.

“... I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable Naruto, I didn’t mean to--”

The blond let out a chuckle.

“You idiot, that’s not it.” He quickly denied. “It’s not making me uncomfortable, it’s…”

Oh gosh, Sasuke was going to be the death of him. 

“... It’s turning me on.” 

There was a new pause, and then Naruto felt the arm around his waist tightening. 

“Oh yeah ?” came the husky voice right into his ear and Naruto couldn’t help the little moan escaping his lips.

“Yes…” The blond confirmed with a small smile. “But not now, I’m exhausted.” 

He heard Sasuke humming behind him, and felt a kiss land on his shoulder. Damn it, who would have known that Sasuke Uchiha would be so sweet. Smiling fondly, Naruto put a hand over Sasuke’s, linking their fingers together above his belly. Comfortably resting against his lover, he sighed, feeling content and thankful. 

They rested for a few minutes, minds slowly drifting away when the upcoming departure of Sasuke came back into Naruto’s sleepy mind. 

“You know, there are actually other things you might do in the village when you’re bored.”

“Like what ?” 

Was it the right time to tell him about it ? It’s been a few days already since he promised Takiko to tell him…

“Well… You know this restaurant where we got our first date ?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Actually, it’s yours.” He finally admitted with a little laugh, feeling embarrassed for some reason. He was not sure how Sasuke would react.

“What do you mean it’s mine ?”

“I put your name on the lease.” He clarified, feeling a bit awkward. It sounded weird, right ?

When he got no answer, he turned around. He needed to see Sasuke’s face. What he saw was… mainly confusion. 

“Why would you do that ?” 

Naruto smiled awkwardly, trying to dissipate the tension building. 

“I just wanted you to have a place where you could have a good time, here in Konoha. At first I put it under my name, but the more we were working on it, the more I realized I wanted this place to be yours. I don’t want the village to forget about the Uchihas, Sasuke. When I’m Hokage, I will reveal the truth. But I don’t want the people to only remember the terrible things that happened to your clan, so I thought… This restaurant… I was waiting for your approval to add the Uchiha’s symbol onto the walls. If you’d like. Oh my god now that I tell you all this it sounds terrible. I just. I wanted a place in this village where you could feel happier. I wanted you to eat well and be healthy and… Oh my god, is it too much ? It’s too much, right ? I’m sorry I should have asked before, but I wanted it to be a surprise and then...”  

A finger was put against his lips, putting an end to his rambling.

Naruto had seen confusion changing to surprise and shock on the other man’s face as he was rambling, trying to avoid eye-contact, but now that they were looking into each other’s eyes… He could only see fondness in Sasuke’s face, and hope burned once again in his heart. 

“You’re an idiot.” The raven finally said, a small smile dancing on his lips. Naruto wanted to kiss him. “Thank you. It is a bit too much, but I like the idea. And the food is good. I’m sure Sarada will be very happy about it.” 

Naruto was bursting with joy. 

“You sure ?”

“I am.” 

The blond couldn’t help but squeal, too excited to remain quiet. A quick peck landed on Sasuke’s lips and they both smiled.

“You’ll have to give me more details about your plans, but for now I’m okay with it. Let’s talk about it once you’re Hokage, alright ?” 

Despite the gentleness of his tone, Naruto could see how serious Sasuke was about it, and he immediately nodded. He knew it was an important matter they would have to discuss, for Kakashi had done nothing about it during his time as Hokage. There was so much to do, and Naruto needed Sasuke’s input to do things the right way. Or at least, the best way possible. Now that their children were older, Sarada was asking a lot of questions, even to him, and he felt like the Uchiha clan deserved so much better than just being forgotten or being remembered for the wrong reasons. Peace didn’t mean turning a blind eye to the past, not to Naruto. He wanted everyone to learn the past, and then learn from the past.

*****

The morning after that night, Naruto woke up alone. He had expected it, Sasuke had said he would leave during the night, and he did. He would be back soon enough. It was making Naruto a bit sad to think that he would not see Sasuke for a few days, but they had gone through much worse, right ? It was going to be okay.

And like Sasuke had said, he had left the village not because he didn’t want Naruto, but because he wanted him. A slight blush came to the blond’s cheeks as he remembered last night. He had understood that part quite well, indeed. 

To be honest it was also difficult for him to see Sasuke in public without being able to be at least a little bit close to him. He longed for the other man, and having him nearby but out of reach was now torture, so he could understand why the man decided to take on a mission in the end. 

It would be nice if in the meantime he could find the time to talk to Hinata in person. The day before, Kakashi had helped him figure out what was the exact jutsu that had been used on him and it became quite clear that the only person who could have been interested in such a thing would be Hinata. The jutsu was supposed to make you unable to feel your most beloved person’s chakra, and was used a long time ago as a proof of unconditional love. Once the test was done, proving that the man or woman could not feel his or her lover’s chakra anymore, the jutsu was nullified and the wedding ceremony could take place. Naruto could clearly remember his bride asking him on the day of their wedding whether he could feel her chakra or not. It had been a weird question to ask, so he had remembered. 

Told you she was crazy.

Oh Kurama ! You’re back !

Never left.

What do you mean, ‘never left’ ? 

Just because I’m silent doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying the show.

Wh- KURAMA !!!!

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

In the end he completed the mission in 48 hours instead of the initial estimation of one week. Of course Kakashi had anticipated that it would not take that long for him. He was better than the best shinobis the leaf village currently had. Naruto and him were on another level. “Let’s save the world today” kind of level. He didn’t want to brag, but it always made him smile to think that despite the years, Naruto was still his only rival. 

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night, the full moon allowed Sasuke to move as easily as in broad daylight without the use of his sharingan or rinnegan. He was tired and should have probably stopped at an inn to rest a bit before coming back to Konoha but… He wanted to be home as soon as possible. With a small smile he picked up the pace. Home. Yes, now home meant Naruto. Maybe it always did ? But well, now things were official for them, at least. It was no longer just wishful thinking. 

He was getting closer. The forest surrounding him started to look very familiar. He would be reaching the village soon. As it was not an urgent or dangerous mission, the report would wait until tomorrow. Not like Kakashi would still be at the office that late. That guy was just so happy to be leaving the position, it was almost funny. 

Trying to sense Naruto, even from such a distance, Sasuke slowed down a bit. It was odd. He had expected Naruto to be back at his apartment, but there was no one there. Focusing on the only other place the raven-haired man could think of, he let out a heavy sigh. What the hell was Naruto doing at the Hokage tower in the middle of the night ? It was at least 2 or 3 in the morning ! Picking up speed, Sasuke hurried to reach the building. 

Jumping to the window of the room where Naruto usually worked, he couldn’t help but sigh again. That idiot . 

Sliding the window open, Sasuke got inside and came closer to the desk. Naruto was sound asleep, drooling on the paper on which his face rested. The Uchiha frowned. There were so many reasons this situation was wrong. It was making him angry that the blond wouldn’t take better care of himself. He was always too much, giving his all to the point of reaching his limits. Some things really didn’t change, no matter how much Sasuke wished Naruto would have improved in this department. They will have to talk about this.

“Naruto.” He said while placing a hand on the man’s shoulder, shaking him gently. 

The blond jolted, straightening right away, wide eyes turning to Sasuke in shock. 

“Sasuke ! You’re back !” The man cried out loudly, his blinding smile all out, easily outshining the moon outside. The raven smiled softly in return. 

“Let’s go home, you idiot.” He muttered as he didn’t wait for Naruto and jumped out the window, knowing that he would be followed right away. 

On the way to Naruto’s apartment, he couldn’t help but worry. If Naruto was already sleeping at the office, what was going to happen once he became Hokage ?

They arrived shortly after, and as he was changing into his night clothes, Sasuke noticed Naruto going to the kitchen in a hurry. He followed him. 

“What are you doing ?” He asked, confused as the blond was putting things out of the fridge, clearly preparing… something ?

“Oh ! I just thought maybe you would be hungry ?” Naruto replied as he turned around to face Sasuke. Despite the exhaustion clear on his face, the blond’s smile was also very sincere, and it made the Uchiha’s heart ache. 

“Don’t be stupid and come to bed, you need to rest.” He replied, regretting immediately the sharp tone to his voice. He sighed. “I need to rest, too.” 

He saw the way Naruto’s smile faltered and he suddenly hated himself. He had been angry, but not at him. He had been angry at himself, for leaving the blond’s side. He could have been there, making sure that the man ate well and slept enough, but he had left. Of course he was not Naruto’s mom, the blond was supposed to be able to care for himself just fine, but still… He felt guilty because he could have helped, and he didn’t. He had been selfish. 

“You sure ?” The weak reply came, and Sasuke came closer without a thought. It wasn’t new that with this man, his body moved on its own. And right now he needed to hold him close. He took a few steps, his body colliding softly with Naruto’s, his arm wrapping around the other’s body and holding him tight. 

“I’m sure.” He replied, his voice soft. “I just want to fall asleep with you in my arms.” 

A whimper.

Arms came up to hold him, a face hiding against his neck, inhaling his scent. 

He smiled. Naruto had missed him too. 

They went to bed, making sure that they stayed as close as possible to the other, cuddling happily under the blanket. They were both exhausted, sleep would come quickly. As Sasuke was still moving a bit around, trying to find the perfect position, Naruto was already gone, his eyes were closed but one last (coherent) murmur reached the Uchiha’s ears.

“How do I go home... you’re my home... you bastard.” 

Sasuke’s whole body froze. 

Oh, Naruto…

He brought the beloved body a tiny bit closer to him and gently laid a kiss on the blond’s head. 

“You’re my home, too.” He whispered to the silence of the night, eyes watery. 

*****

When he woke up the day after, Naruto was already gone.

Well, he must have felt… quite safe, to sleep like that, huh ? Even though it was not the first time since that beautiful night a week ago, it was still quite shocking how well he could sleep by Naruto’s side. It was not perfect, no, no miracle, but just the fact that he was able to have a good night of sleep once in a while… It was a miracle in itself. 

He would have prefered to see the blond this morning though, make sure that he was okay, and maybe have a little talk about his ‘sleeping habits’. He couldn’t blame the man for not wanting to go home if Sasuke was not there… but still, Naruto had to take better care of himself. Sasuke wouldn’t always be there unfortunately, a new long-term mission was bound to happen at some point, and the Uchiha didn’t want Naruto to stretch himself way too thin in his absence. 

Getting up, he went to the bathroom, then to the kitchen to drink some water. There were plates on the table, and he arched an eyebrow. Naruto had cooked breakfast and Sasuke didn’t even hear that ? Damn it. 

There was a note, too. 

[ I checked and yes, you’re still breathing. 

I hope you’re sleeping well. Make sure to eat everything ! 

I’m sorry I’m super busy today, but let’s meet for dinner tonight ? 

I love you. 

Naruto. ]

Sasuke smiled fondly. Naruto’s appointment as the new Hokage was tomorrow, of course he would be busy. He had expected this. It left him with enough time to pick up his little gift for the blond. 

As he walked through the familiar streets a few moments later, he could feel the tension rising among the inhabitants as the upcoming event was drawing closer and closer. Everyone looked excited, busy, and the streets were being decorated for the occasion, bringing some colour to the dull buildings. It reminded Sasuke of the day where Naruto got married. Everyone had been so very happy for the young couple back then, and now everyone was happy to have Naruto as the new Hokage. Were they expecting Hinata to be by his side at the ceremony ? A part of Sasuke was afraid it would happen. Maybe it would all end up being just a dream, or maybe the pressure from everyone else would make even Naruto bend to the will of the village. 

No, he shouldn’t let such thoughts make a home into his brain. He trusted Naruto with his life, the man wouldn’t do such a thing, never. Not after everything that happened during the past week. 

After picking up the gift, the Uchiha wandered a bit more, wondering what he could cook tonight. When you were buying groceries, you usually encountered lots of housewives, who came to do the same. But they also came for something else. Gossip. 

With a sigh, the raven tried not to hear them, but honestly ? He was only human, he was a bit curious too. 

“Did you hear ? Naruto and Hinata are divorcing !” 

“My son is divorcing too, do you think it’s a trend ?” 

“Ah, what’s wrong with the young people nowadays ? What about family ?” 

“Yeah I know, so selfish !” 

“Oh you know, if I had had the choice back in the days…” 

“Now that you mention it…” 

“I've heard that Sakura and Sasuke are divorcing too ! Someone told me that Sakura asked for the papers.” 

“Oh really ? Well that doesn’t surprise me, he’s never here anyway.” 

“True, true.” 

… Okay, enough gossip for today.

With a sigh, Sasuke left the marketplace. There was still food at Naruto’s apartment, he would find something to cook. 

- ☼ -

Here it was.

His dream.

His goal. 

Stop being so dramatic.

Shut up, Kurama.

As he was now standing on the rooftop of the Hokage tower, watching the crowd below cheering for him, all dressed up in his brand new outfit, Naruto was smiling so wide his jaw was starting to ache. 

That promise he had made, to himself, and then to many people afterwards, he was finally fulfilling it. Of course it was only the beginning of what he had promised, but finally. Finally it was here. The day where he was becoming Hokage. 

Honestly it has been so long that part of him couldn’t believe it just yet. As if this was just another fantasy, another dream when he was asleep. But then it felt too real. The wind making his new cape float, the familiar faces in the crowd, Kakashi’s hand on his shoulder… Hokage. He was Hokage. 

He could feel that even Kurama was smiling.

He could also feel Sasuke’s eyes (and chakra) from the tree nearby, and a little laugh left his lips. That stupid Sasuke, always hiding. But at least he was here, and this time Naruto knew that he was here. It was all that mattered. It wouldn’t feel the same without him.

*****

The sun was setting now, and there was no one left in the streets of Konoha, everyone went back home. Naruto was still here, releashing in the place where he had been named Hokage just a little bit longer. He had been busy all afternoon, fresh air was also more than welcome. 

As expected, he felt a familiar chakra coming closer behind him. 

“You did great today.” 

Oh, this deep voice he loved so much. 

He turned around slightly, welcoming the sight of Sasuke.

“Thank you. I would have prefered to have you by my side, though.”

He was not really mad at the Uchiha for this, he was only teasing him, really. He understood why Sasuke had stayed away today, and deep inside he knew the man was probably right, even if he hated to admit it. 

“They will need time, Naruto.” The raven answered. “Fortunately for us, gossip spreads like wildfire so it should be over it quickly.”

At that, the blond’s face brightened. 

“That would be amazing !” He replied, excited.

“Hm. Also Sakura told me our papers should be validated soon, they’re going to pass it at the same time as yours I think.”

At this, Naruto’s smile faded a bit. He hadn't talked to Sakura since before his first date with Sasuke, and he was feeling guilty about it. She was the one who had supported him the most, as weird as it may sound, and he was feeling bad that he had been so busy he didn’t catch up with her. He would try to find her tomorrow. 

“Great. How did she… react ?”

Naruto was not stupid, he had understood clearly the messages the pink-haired woman had tried to send him when she was encouraging him to corner Sasuke into talking to him, but as he had never explicitly said that he was in love with Sasuke, a part of him was still worried that this was not what Sakura had expected. 

A chuckle from the man in front of him brought him back to reality.

“She’s over the moon for us. I’m afraid she’s going to ask you a lot of questions the next time you two meet.” 

Sasuke looked quite amused by the situation, and suddenly a weight was lifted from Naruto’s shoulders. A new smile bloomed on his lips. Sakura was happy for them. 

“I will go and see her tomorrow.”

It was a relief to know that their closest friend was supporting them. Change in the village would start with them, and the road was probably not going to be all pretty, but if it meant being by Sasuke’s side, Naruto would do it a thousand times, a million times. 

“So… does that mean we can announce that we’re together soon ?” He asked, feeling hopeful. 

Well his face for sure doesn’t look hopeful. 

Indeed, Sasuke sighed, his good mood vanishing. He was frowning now, clearly avoiding Naruto’s eyes, which was unusual.

“Why is it so important to make it official ?” He blurted out. Well that was making Naruto frown now. Why wouldn’t it be important ? Naruto wanted to shout it from the rooftops, he wanted the whole world to know. 

“Because… it is important, Sasuke, you’re important to me and just like you said, being the Hokage means I have a duty to the people of Konoha, so I just want to let them know who’s going to be by my side from now on. I don’t want to hide you.” 

Sasuke was looking away, and the blond hated the distance he was putting between them.

“I don’t mind staying in the shadows, it’s safer for you like that…”

Sighing, Naruto took a step closer, a hand gently bringing the raven’s face back towards him. He wanted to see his eyes. 

“I don’t want safe, Sasuke, I want real. I want you , I want to spend my life with you, I want more than a secret relationship…”

Sasuke deserved the world, and Naruto wanted to give it to him. But maybe… Maybe he was the only one… ?

“... Don’t you… ?”

At that, Sasuke seemed to soften. His shoulders relaxed, and there was something in his eyes… 

“Of course I want more idiot, but is holding hands in public worth you losing your position ? I don’t think so.” 

Relief and anger fought for dominance within the blond’s heart. He had said this before, if the village couldn’t accept Sasuke, then he didn’t want the position anyway. Why was Sasuke always putting him first, this was altogether sweet and incredibly frustrating… But more than that… 

“Sasuke… it’s not just about holding hands or being lovey-dovey in public…”

Oh, damn. Was he really going to do this now ? 

“What do you mean ?”

Naruto let out a heavy sigh. 

“This was not supposed to happen like this, but well. Here we go.”

And with that, the blond dropped to his knees, shock evident on the other man’s features. Searching for something in his inner pockets with one hand, and coming up to hold Sasuke’s hand with the other, he continued, desperately trying to appear confident and clearly failing.

“I’m sorry, it should have been way more romantic…” His voice cracked, and he felt himself blush, already overwhelmed with emotions. If he had had a third arm, he would be scratching the back of his head awkwardly at the moment. His smile was shaky and he was trying hard not to break eye-contact.

“Sasuke Uchiha…” 

His hand finally found what he had been looking for in his pockets. He fumbled a bit, presenting the little box to Sasuke and opening it with shaky fingers. A silver ring caught the last rays of sunshine warming the sky above them, as the day was coming to an end.

“... Will you marry me ?” 

It was a very simple ring, nothing fancy, but the material was good. As he was anxiously waiting for an answer, Naruto couldn’t help but think that he should have waited longer. It was too soon, Sasuke was going to refuse him. They had only been dating for a week, damn it ! 

Told you so. Your divorce hasn’t even been officialised, you dummy.

But it didn’t change his feelings for Sasuke ! He was 200% sure that they were going to stay together for the rest of their lives, so why should they wait ? They could go incognito for a little while as Sasuke had recommended, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t at least get engaged ! The people wouldn’t make the difference between one ring or another, really...

“No…”

Here we go…

Naruto tried not to wince. It still hurt. He could feel the tears coming. Rejection from Sasuke had never been something he handled well. 

“I mean, Naruto… That’s not even legal at the moment.”

… What ?

“Huh ?”

He looked up, only to see the corner of Sasuke’s lips twitching.

“There has never been a same-sex marriage in Konoha, it’s not in the law. You have to change that first.”

“Oh. I…. really ?”

Sasuke just started to laugh, and Naruto was dumbfounded. Now that the raven mentioned it… Well yes, he had never heard of such a thing in the leaf village, but he hadn’t thought about whether it was legal or not… He felt quite stupid now. He could hear Kurama laugh in the back. But then... This was not a ‘no’, not really, right ? 

“Does it mean once the law is changed…” 

The look on Sasuke’s face screamed mischief… 

“Ask again then, and we’ll see.” 

… And oh dear gods, the blond wanted to kiss him so bad.

*****

“You wanted to see me ?”

“Ah, yes, please come in.”

It was weird to see Hinata again. Inevitable of course, with the children, but still. He had wanted to confront her much sooner, but his appointment’s preparations got the best of him in the end.

“I wanted to talk to you.” He continued, as she came closer to his desk. “I wanted to be honest with you.”

He took a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He didn’t want to threaten Hinata, but he had to be straightforward. 

“I know about the jutsu you put on me to test my love when we got married. I think you’ve understood quite clearly back then what it meant. I’m seeing someone else nowadays and I intend to spend my life with them. I will not tolerate another trick like this, Hinata. I’m sorry for the past few years, but this was also your choice, as much as mine. So I hope that we will be able to stay cordial, for the sake of our children.”

Silence stretched between them, and as Hinata lifted her gaze to look at Naruto, for the first time the blond could see the spark of something dark and violent in the usually kind pupils. Was it anger ? Hatred ? 

“It’s Sasuke, right ?”

Her voice was like venom, disdainful, and Naruto suddenly realized he had not been the only one pretending in this marriage. Well, time to be honest, right ?

“Yes.”

“It won’t last.”

“What do you mean ?”

She laughed, bitter, as if he was being ridiculous.

“The village won’t accept it, Naruto. Don’t act like this is new. There was something going on between you two even before we got married, and yet you two never acted upon your feelings. There’s a reason behind it. It’s never going to be accepted.” 

So she knew. She knew and she still married him ? He sighed.

“Well, I respect your opinion, but I don’t share it and neither does Sasuke. Konoha is going to change, Hinata. Please try to accept it.”

Honestly, it was sad to see someone of their generation talking like the elders. He had thought Hinata was better than that. 

“I don’t want him near the kids.”

This sparked a fire in Naruto.

“What ?”

“I don’t want him near the kids. He has a bad influence on people.”

What about your influence on people… ?!

“Are you including me in this ?”

“...”

He tried to take a deep breath. He had to deal with this like an adult. 

“Hinata, I know you don’t know everything about what happened with the Uchihas, like most people in the village. But I’m going to reveal the truth soon, so please wait for it. Sasuke is trustworthy, and a loving father, he had his reasons for being away. He would never hurt the kids.”

He marked a pause, making sure that she was still looking him in the eyes.

“But if it’s your jealousy speaking, then please find a way to get over it, because I’m not going to hide who I love. And I won’t let you spread lies on his behalf either.”

Her face twisted into something ugly, but she didn’t reply, looking away. 

“Oh, one more thing. Please tell your sister that I need to meet with her, as the head of the Hyuuga clan. Some things need to change in our structures, and if the Hyuuga clan doesn’t plan on improving their system, I will not hesitate to step in.”

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

“So yeah, this is what I told her. That’s totally crazy, don’t you think ? I never thought she was that kind of person.”

Sasuke sighed. He was not that surprised by Hinata’s behavior. 

“Naruto, I’m here as your bodyguard, can we talk about that once we arrive ?” 

He was tense. Something felt wrong. And years of experience had taught Sasuke to always follow his guts. They were on their way to the Kage Summit in the land of Iron (after the war they had all decided that it was a good thing to have a neutral place to meet and with the approval of the Lord of the land, they agreed to meet there on a regular basis). They’ve been traveling for about half a day, they had about a day and half more to go, and even though Naruto had tried to stay professional at first (they had two ANBU with them at a distance, to complete the three-member gard allowed for every Kage), respecting the fact that Sasuke was here as ANBU today (not like he had accepted any position, but it was easier to blend with the others if he was dressed as ANBU as well), or maybe the blond had been watching rather than respecting, Sasuke was not sure (it was the first time he was wearing this uniform, and it seemed like Naruto liked it), but anyway… The new Hokage had stayed quiet for about one hour or two. But then he had come to Sasuke to chat and tell him all about his last encounter with his soon-to-be ex-wife. 

Even if Sasuke was trying to both listen to his lover and keep a sharp eye on their surroundings, he knew that eventually his mind would drift to what the man was saying, instead of focusing on a potential threat. Sasuke would always listen to Naruto, even if he was pretending not to. 

Said man started to pout, visibly frustrated that the Uchiha was telling him politely to shut up. Sasuke sighed once again. As always, Naruto was too trusting. Just because the shinobis were at peace didn’t mean that no one would ever try to harm someone else. And Naruto was a good target for someone who had never seen him on the battlefield. Hokage, valuable, the last jinchuuriki. As a hostage, he was worth a lot. There were also all the ones who used to take advantage of the tensions and clashes between the shinobi nations, their resentment against the war hero and young peace-maker wouldn’t just go away. Most of them were too weak to represent much of a threat, but Sasuke knew very well how far hatred could take you. 

Something moved on his left.

Activating the sharingan, he stopped and turned around, inspecting the area. There was at least one person following them. They were trying to conceal their chakra but they didn’t stand a chance against the sharingan and rinnegan wielder. But Sasuke didn’t like the fact that they were able to conceal their chakra, it meant that they were at least a decent shinobi, and not completely stupid. Not completely stupid meant that they probably knew what they were doing, who they were targeting, and had a plan. Which meant that… there would be other people. And the fact that Sasuke couldn’t detect them just yet was upsetting him. 

“Protect the Hokage !” He yelled in the direction of the ANBUs, who in turn got closer to Naruto, ready to fight. His eyes met Naruto’s, and in the brief and silent exchange, he could see the worry. He allowed himself to give the blond what he hoped would be a reassuring smile. He then nodded to the group, and jumped into the forest, kunai in hand, going directly for the stranger’s throat. He didn’t have time to waste, especially when he didn’t know if there were other people involved in this. Maybe they recognized him despite the mask and created a trap to get him away from Naruto. Not that Naruto couldn’t defend himself, no. But still. Sasuke wanted to stay by his side. 

In a few seconds he reached the man, tackling him into the nearest tree, his kunai leaving a thin trail of red on the man’s neck as he pressed the blade against it.

“Who are you and what do you want ?” He demanded, ready to put the man into a genjutsu if necessary. It was too easy, he didn’t like that. Something was wrong. 

The man was quite random, no distinction, if he had been a shinobi someday he was probably a rogue one now. Completely random face, brown hair, brown eyes, anonymous. But what comforted Sasuke in the feeling that something was wrong… was the way the man was smiling. Smirking. And not even fighting back.

Okay, time to go back to Naruto. 

In a second he put the man into a genjutsu, and let his body fall to the ground. By the time the man hit the ground, Sasuke was back to where he left his ‘team’.  

Except that they were no longer there.

After a split second of panic, Sasuke focused on Naruto’s chakra. Alright, he could feel him. They were just a bit further away, on the right. In a few seconds he was there. 

That fucking idiot… 

Sasuke understood now why he didn’t sense other chakras. They were no shinobi. These were civilians, with weapons. What they called ‘guns’ in the islands of the east. He had tried some, to see what it was like. He had not believed it at first when he had been told that just a shot from this item could kill you. So he had tried shooting, since they had shooting fields there where you could train your aim. And it had felt… thrilling. Way too easy. Deadly. He had felt thankful that such a thing hadn’t reached the shinobi world. Not yet. But apparently he was wrong. 

There were four men with guns, the two ANBUs were wounded, and Naruto was in full Kurama mode, protecting the three of them and trying to heal them with his chakra. If they didn’t remove the bullets they would never heal. He was not sure whether Kurama’s chakra would be enough to stop new bullets though. Damn it, what an escort. Protected by their Hokage. 

“Come with us, and we will let the others go !” One of the civilians was shouting. Sasuke sighed. Lame. Lame, but it would probably work with Naruto. 

In a breath, he was behind the man who had spoken, his kunai thrusted expertly in the man’s heart. He would keep one or two alive to get information of course, but this one… yeah no this one didn’t need to survive. No one but him had the right to threaten the blond. 

Everything happened in a flash. Naruto screamed his name in delight, while Sasuke was killing the man next to him, another came behind him and they fought for a few seconds (at least one who knew a bit of taijutsu), all while avoiding bullets directed his way. He was not used to having to avoid these things, without the sharingan he would have been dead right from the moment the surprise effect faded. It reminded him of Haru’s needles, but these bullets were going even faster. 

Unfortunately, the few seconds he spent on fighting that man… It was already too much. The last two men crossed fire, one on each side of him, and as he finally knocked unconscious his opponent (this one would live), he knew he would not be able to avoid both. 

Avoiding the one aiming at his head, he let the other one brush his side. As he was turning around, he threw a kunai at one man, right in the heart, and a few seconds of struggle later the other one was dead too. 

Standing in the middle of these bodies, Sasuke felt like he had done a great job. The wound was not deep, it was burning and stinging, but he would survive. Panting, his eyes found Naruto’s, as the man was running towards him. 

Impact in 3, 2, 1… 

The blond’s body collided with his, arms embracing him tightly, as an anguished voice came to whisper into his ear. “Sasuke, you fool !” 

He couldn’t help but smile. He was glad that Naruto was safe. 

The blond pushed him slightly away, assessing him and his wound. 

“Don’t smile you bastard ! You’re bleeding !” 

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.” He mumbled, leaning a bit against the man. 

Naruto took Sasuke’s arm and put it around his own shoulders while he slid his other arm around Sasuke’s waist. 

“Naruto, it’s okay, it’s nothing…”

“Shut up, bastard.”

As they turned their attention back to reality (like, out of their own bubble), they realized that the two ANBUs were still on the ground, but where Naruto had left them groaning in pain while Kurama’s chakra was trying to heal them, they were now unconscious. 

The pair hurried by their side, Sasuke explaining that if they didn’t remove the bullets still stuck in their bodies, they wouldn’t be able to be healed by Kurama’s chakra. As Naruto was about to dig into the flesh to do just that, the raven suddenly grabbed his wrist. 

“Wait a minute.” 

Something was weird with his own wound. He was used to being injured, he perfectly knew what it felt like. And when he had traveled and practiced with guns, he had seen what the effects were, how the wounds would hurt, how they could heal. But no, what he was slowly recognizing right now… 

“Don’t touch them, Naruto. These bullets… there’s poison on them.”

And it must be a very potent and probably new poison, because he was immune to most poisons thanks to his stay with Orochimaru back in the days. This was bad. Sasuke had a better resistance against poisons than anyone in the village (with maybe the exception of Naruto, since Kurama could heal most things) and he was already feeling dizzy. Putting two fingers against one of the ANBU’s throat, checking his pulse, Sasuke frowned. 

Naruto was frowning too. 

“Kurama can heal me, it’s okay. We have to remove the bullets, as you said.”

Sasuke shook his head, lips pursed. 

“The poison has an effect on me, Naruto, which means it’s more powerful than anything Orochimaru has ever come up with. I will remove the bullets and we’ll see if Kurama can heal that.” 

The man’s pulse was already pretty weak, Sasuke didn’t have much hope for him, but he knew he had to try, at least for Naruto’s sake. Plunging his fingers in the wound on the man’s arm, he removed the bullet after a bit of struggle. He was panting. 

Suddenly, Kurama’s chakra was back, engulfing him and the man on the ground as Sasuke was standing up, going to the other ANBU. He removed the bullet from the man’s leg, praying that with a wound further away from the heart, the bijuu’s chakra would be enough to save at least this man. 

Cursing under his breath, Sasuke kept his back to Naruto. 

Kurama’s chakra was usually pretty effective, and despite being in its warm bubble, Sasuke was not feeling any better. 

“Sasuke…”

A soft voice.

Anxious.

A hand on his shoulder. 

He didn’t want to face Naruto. It was a dire situation. He had to come up with a solution.

“Sasuke, are you okay ?”

Seeing that the raven was not about to turn around, the blond was the one to come into view, coming to face Sasuke. 

“Sasuke, talk to me.”

… And say what ? They had been attacked, they had failed Naruto. Instead of protecting him, they had put him into a difficult position. He had failed Naruto. Again. The two guys from ANBU were dying, they had two aggressors still alive to question, and Sasuke... Sasuke didn’t feel so good at the moment. 

He felt dizzy, his vision was blurry, and before he knew what happened, his body just gave in. 

“SASUKE !!!” 

He never hit the ground, feeling two strong arms wrapping around his body and a warm body colliding with his. He vaguely heard Naruto swearing and then invoking a few clones before he was hosted in the blond’s arms bridal style, his face coming to rest against Naruto’s chest. His heart was beating so fast. 

“Naruto…” He mumbled, fighting to stay conscious. 

“It’s going to be okay, Sasuke. We’re going home.” 

Despite the reassuring voice, the Uchiha could hear the distress in the man’s voice, and he wished he could soothe him. 

“Sakura is going to heal you super quick, so please…” 

The blond continued to ramble as they started to move. Naruto’s arms were stiff around Sasuke, and he felt his body growing weaker and weaker by the second.

“Naruto…” He tried again, desperately wanting to speak. He had to say something, just in case… just in case they didn’t make it… 

“... Yeah ?” The blond’s voice sounded so small, shaky, like a scared child. Sasuke felt sorry that this was all because of him. 

“I’m more resistant than you’d think, idiot.”

A chuckle came from the man against him, and he smiled. Or tried to. His throat was dry. He felt ready to faint. He still couldn’t lie to Naruto. He couldn’t tell him that everything would be alright when he didn’t know. Was it really going to be the end for him ? After everything they’ve been through… It was such a familiar scene, hm ? Just like when he had been just a kid… He still only wished for Naruto to live.

“Remember… when you asked me… what was my dream ?” He continued, struggling to swallow. For some reason, the memories of their first date came to mind. 

Naruto only let out a little sound, a mumble that was more Sasuke than Naruto, and the raven-haired man looked up, not seeing clearly anymore, but he could see how the blond’s jaw was tense, how his lips were quivering and… tears gathered in Sasuke’s own eyes. He didn’t have the strength to hold them back like Naruto was doing at the moment. 

“My dream… is you.” He finally said.

He heard Naruto whimper above him, facade cracking, and Sasuke wished he had the strength to wipe those tears away. But he was already drifting apart. He felt his consciousness leaving him, blurry reality turning abruptly to pitch dark and nothingness. 

- ☼ -

When he felt Sasuke’s body sagging against him, Naruto’s heart broke. No, no, no, this was not possible. Anger and despair were battling inside the blond’s chest. He was furious that he had not been able to do more. He had been caught off-guard by these guns (he had never seen one before that day, only heard about it) and he had been unable to neutralize these men before Sasuke’s return, unable to protect his comrades, and on the other side… Pain. He had not been injured, but seeing the man he loved like this… He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, but he knew he had to focus on carrying everyone home safely. The effort was quite taxing physically, so at least he could focus on that. He had to go as fast as possible. 

Don’t fret, it’s going to be okay. 

You don’t know that, Kurama. Why is your chakra not working ?

… It’s only my own theory, but with the way the poison burned my chakra when I tried to heal it, I think they came well-prepared. This poison was made for you, kid.

Naruto exhaled shakily, tightening slightly his hold around the beloved body in his arms. He should have been more cautious. He should have listened to Sasuke. 

They had finally found each other, damn it . 

He felt a sticky mixture sliding through his fingers, and it burned but he tried not to think about it. Because of the poison, Sasuke’s wound was still bleeding. 

Maybe try not to touch it, like he said…

Like he was going to let go of Sasuke. As much as he knew, poison needed to enter the body to be effective, and he didn’t have a single cut on him, so just touching should be fine. It burned a bit, but nothing he couldn’t handle. 

Alright, alright, I was only suggesting…  

Despite how much he was trying to hold his shit together, Naruto could feel the tears running free down his cheeks. 

“Come on bastard, wake up.” He said, his voice low, only a whisper, but oh so broken. 

Maybe if he spoke to him, a tiny part of Sasuke’s brain would stay conscious ? Naruto was terrified. That man never fainted. Naruto did in the past, but Sasuke… Sasuke would never… 

“Come on Sasuke, this is not funny you know. You’re finally by my side, so why are you fucking bleeding now ?” He started to ramble, shaking his head to get rid of the water that was blurring his vision. 

“And don’t serve me that ‘my body moved on its own’ bullshit again, don’t you dare, I swear I’ll kick your ass when you wake up. Man, you’re supposed to be the best out there…” 

As the silence stretched, Naruto bit his lower lip anxiously. 

“You have no right to do this, Sasuke. I can’t live without you, can’t you see ? You should know it by now.” 

Sweat was pearling on his forehead, a drop sliding down his temple. Maintaining 4 clones was nothing, but maintaining 4 clones, carrying 5 unconscious people in total and running at full speed was a completely different matter. Oh how he wished he could teleport like his father used to, or like Sasuke could with the rinnegan. 

“Say, Sasuke.” He started again. “Don’t you remember when I said we would die together ? I still mean it, Sasuke, so please… Please don’t leave me. Not again, not like that, not without me.” 

He had spent so much of his life chasing after that man. Sasuke had always been… his goal, his dream, even when he himself couldn’t admit it. They had wasted so many years, but now they were finally happy and… He couldn’t imagine a world without Sasuke. These words he had shared when they were young were still true. He prefered to die with Sasuke rather than living without him. He prefered to die with Sasuke rather than letting him go into the afterlife alone. Despite the years, Naruto would always remain what everyone had called an ‘idiot’ for Sasuke. Always. These feelings would never change. 

“ The person I am today Sasuke, it’s all for you. You forced me to become better, so I could reach you. You made me a better person. In your own brutal way, yeah, but… Because it hurt so much to see you hurting, I became the best version of myself that I could be. I told you to stay alive and help me change the world. I'm asking you again. Please stay alive Sasuke, or I'll come and kick your ass in the afterlife.”

*****

“SAKURA !!”

The doors of the hospital were slammed violently as 3 blond heads rushed inside, desperately calling the name of their friend. 

Pink hair peeked out of a room, and in an instant Sakura came running towards him. 

“Naruto !” Her eyes widened when she saw Sasuke unconscious in the blond’s arms, but quickly her instincts kicked in. 

“You !” She yelled at a pair of nurses. “Go and bring me blood bags !” 

She took a better look at the bleeding men in each Naruto’s arms. 3 were bleeding, one was Sasuke, the other two… Aki and Kazuo. 

“2 bags of O+, 4 bags of A+. Meet me in room E7. Now !” She added, and the two women left right away. 

Turning towards the Naruto who was holding Sasuke, their eyes met briefly. 

“Sakura…” The blond’s voice was full of anguish, and Sakura frowned. Naruto was a seasoned shinobi, he wouldn’t panic for nothing, even if they were talking of Sasuke here. Sakura, too, was desperate to heal the man as quickly as possible. 

“Come with me, Naruto. All of you.” She ordered with a firm voice, leading the way towards one of their biggest rooms. 

Once inside she closed the door behind them, and helped the Narutos to put each man in a bed. The blond’s clones then disappeared, and Sakura had to catch the man and put him in a chair, as the exhaustion from his clones accumulated in the original body. 

“Alright, stay here Naruto. I’m taking care of them. Just tell me what happened.” 

While she was talking, Sakura started to inspect the three men, wincing when she felt how weak the pulse of the 2 ANBUs were. They were barely breathing, Naruto had been aware of that. Sasuke was a bit better, but still… 

“It’s poison, Sakura. We were attacked by civilians with guns, and their bullets were dipped in poison. Aki was shot in the arm, Kazuo in the leg. Sasuke removed the bullets but they fainted not long after being injured. That was about 3 hours ago. Sasuke… A bullet grazed him on the side of his stomach. He fainted quite quickly too. He said that this is a poison worse than anything Orochimaru has ever created. And Kurama said it was probably made for me. Kurama’s chakra doesn’t work on it.” 

He was thankful that he had spent his life completing missions and making reports, for the information came out of his mouth without him having to think much. All his thoughts were focused on Sasuke. But he knew how precious these details would be to help Sakura heal them, and so he was grateful for the automatism. 

“Alright.” Sakura said, nodding. She was frowning. 

After a little knock, the door slid and the two nurses came in with the blood packs. 

“Thank you.” The pink-haired woman said with a small smile as she took the packs. “Now, Yuki, could you please go and bring Shizune-san ? Tell her I need data on poisons that could harm a jinchuuriki. And Rei, could you please stay with me ? I will need some help.” 

In the chaos that was his mind at the moment, the blond was oddly comforted by the sight of Sakura giving orders and taking things into her hands. 

She turned towards him.

“Naruto.”

“Yes ?” 

“Go and do a check-up, please. You’re dropping from exhaustion and your hand looks burned.”

Looking down, Naruto felt like he was watching everything from an external point of view. In his lap lay his hands. One was quite clean, normal. It was the ‘real’ one he had left. The other one… oh the other one… There were patches of burned areas across the fake skin, where the usual bandage had just melted, and all was drenched in… Sasuke’s blood. Naruto shook his head, trying to get his shit together. It was not the first time he was seeing Sasuke’s blood, right. He had drawn some of it himself when they had fought, so yeah no really it was no big deal… 

“Naruto…” 

He jolted when he felt Sakura’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Go and get your hand treated, alright ?”

He nodded absentmindedly, gaze turning back to his hands. Sasuke’s blood… He looked up, glancing at the man still unconscious in the hospital bed. By some miracle Sakura had already cleaned and bandaged the wound, while the other nurse was done with Aki and was now working on Kazuo. He had spaced out a bit longer than what he felt, right ? He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Sasuke’s face, now. 

“Is he going to be okay… ?” He asked softly, almost praying that Sakura didn’t hear because he was not sure he wanted to hear the answer. Poison was all about timing, and administering the antidote as soon as possible… and the journey home had already reduced their chances of survival. The fact that they had no idea what kind of poison this was… 

“We will do our best, Naruto. You know I won’t lie to you.” 

She glanced at Sasuke.

“For now, I don’t know. I will need to study the poison in order to make an antidote. I’ve done this once in the past so let’s hope it’s enough.” 

New tears gathered in Naruto’s eyes. This was not enough. He wanted to be sure that Sasuke would wake up soon. He could see how pale the man was (much paler than usual), how bluish his lips were turning, and he hated everything about it. He didn’t want to leave the room, not even for a second. 

Sakura squeezed his shoulder once again, and he looked up.

“I already took samples from their wounds, so I will be in the laboratory to work. Come with me, I will get you a nurse to treat your hand. It doesn’t look too bad and you’re lucky it was on your fake one but still, I don’t want to take any risk with this new poison, especially if it was aimed to hurt you.” 

As his friend was gently dragging him out of the room, Naruto’s eyes lingered on the beloved form, still motionless on the bed. He needed one last look at Sasuke, needed to make sure that his chest was still moving, needed to be sure that the man was still breathing… 

It was. He stopped at the door, waiting a few seconds to see the rise and fall of Sasuke’s breathing. Then he stepped out of the room, letting Sakura lead him to another room. The sooner he would be done with this, the sooner he would be able to come back to Sasuke. 

Glancing at his burned hand, he felt like throwing up. He couldn’t stand this blood. More than healing his hand, he needed to wash Sasuke’s blood away. He would do that quickly, and then come back to Sasuke.  

Chapter Text

- ☾❀ -

She was feeling so nervous.

It was the first time her father was injured to the point of staying at the hospital, and visiting him was making her anxious. Papa was never injured, to be honest. She had never seen him with even a tiny scratch on his face. She didn’t know what to expect. Was it really bad ? Was Papa going to die ? 

When she had seen Shikamaru as she was leaving school, she hadn’t thought much of it. He was Shikadai’s father, so he probably came to pick him up. But then he came to talk to her , and then she got confused. What did he want ?

He had told her that her mom would have to stay at the hospital today, and that she was welcome to come and play with Shikadai at the Nara house. This was nothing new, it happened from time to time that her mom couldn’t make it home in time, but usually it was Hinata who would… 

“But papa is back, so it’s okay, no ? I can feel his chakra.”

It was true that when she had seen the little game the now new Hokage seemed to have with sensing her dad’s chakra (the whole village knew about it), Sarada had been very curious. She didn’t know much about her dad’s relationship with Boruto’s dad, only that they were friends and that it was a miracle considering the fact that her dad didn’t have many friends… or any other friend at all, to be honest… She was very admirative of the seventh Hokage. She had observed him for years, and he was the kind of person she aspired to become in the future. He was powerful, honest, kind, and the fact that they were living in a peaceful world at the moment… Mama had said it was thanks to him. Yes, Sarada wanted to become like him. 

Shikamaru seemed to be surprised by the fact that she could sense her dad’s chakra so well. He murmured a “genius family, huh ?” that she was not really meant to hear but heard anyway, and she smiled brightly. She liked it a lot when people would compare her to her dad. Even if she admired the Hokage a lot, her dad would always be number one in her heart after all. 

“Actually, the reason why your mom can’t come today is because your dad is at the hospital, but it’s nothing to worry about so… Sarada !”

Too late.

She was already running away in the direction of the hospital. 

Arriving in front of the building, she rushed inside, asking for her mom at the entrance. She needed to know what was going on. Was Papa okay ? 

“Sarada ? What are you doing here ?” 

She turned and saw the familiar silhouette of her mother coming out of a room at the end of the corridor. 

“Is Papa in there ?” She asked, worry written all over her face. 

Sakura sighed. She had probably asked Shikamaru not to tell her that her father was injured. This made her pout. If Papa was in the hospital, she had the right to know ! 

“Yes, he is.” Her mother finally answered, coming closer to her. She squatted in order to talk to her face to face. “Papa has been poisoned. We’re still working on an antidote, so for now he needs to rest, alright ?” 

She nodded eagerly. “I just want to be with Papa…” 

A small smile bloomed on the tired face of her mother. Now that Sarada was looking carefully she could see that her mother must have been working hard to help heal Papa. 

“Don’t worry, mom.” She added with a bright smile of her own. “I won’t bother him. I just want to stay by his side. Is that okay ?” 

Her mother seemed to ponder her words. Sarada could see on her face that she would have prefered for her daughter to just go and play at one of her friends’ house instead of staying here but… 

“Alright. You’re already here, so… but I have to warn you, Hokage-sama is already by Papa’s side, he’s the one who took him home. And… Papa means a lot to him, so he’s very worried too. Please be nice to him, alright ?” 

She nodded once again, smiling. 

“I will.”

- ☼ -

Naruto didn’t know for how long he’d been by Sasuke’s bed. 

After Sakura had dragged him out of the room, he had been away for around 20 minutes. They had allowed him to take a shower to get rid of the blood and sweat, then a nurse had cleaned his burn, applied some cream on it and bandaged the hand. Of course, it would not heal like a normal hand, he would need Tsunade to restore the fake skin (or maybe Shizune would know how to ?), but at least it felt more comfortable now. Compared to his real arm, this one was not as sensitive so the pain was rather dull, but it was still there. 

The nurse had also kindly given him a sandwich and a bottle of water from the vending machine, before letting him go. With a small smile full of gratitude, he had left to go back to Sasuke. 

He had eaten quickly, drank half the bottle, and since then he had been there, sitting by the raven’s bed, holding his hand gently, worried eyes fixed on the sleeping face. Sasuke was still unconscious. They had put him on intravenous drugs and fluids to fight against the poison and restore his body, and his pulse was now healthier than it was when they arrived. Which felt like a miracle. Aki and Kazuo had gotten worse though, and they had been moved to another room in a state of emergency, Naruto had no idea where they were now. He had heard the nurses muttering about trying to filter their blood or something, he didn’t understand the specifics. 

He felt numb.

If there was something he hated, it was to see Sasuke in a hospital bed. He had always been a man of action. No matter what Sasuke would do, he could do something in return. But when it comes to health… Now, even despite Kurama’s chakra… He was powerless. He could only wait. Wait for Sakura and her team to find and make the antidote, wait for Sasuke to wake up… He hated that. Knowing that it was because of people who had targeted him made him feel even worse. He didn’t want Sasuke to sacrifice himself for him ever again. He would never forgive himself if… 

Sasuke had said Naruto was his new dream. These words would haunt him forever if Sasuke...

There was a soft knock on the door and Naruto jolted out of his thoughts, head turning towards the door. Was Sakura coming back already ? She had just checked Sasuke’s vitals…

The door slid and the blond had to lower his gaze. 

“Oh, Sarada ! Hi !”

He stood up, surprised. He tried to smile, hoping his eyes were not too red. Oh, he prayed he didn’t look like the mess he felt.

“Can I come in ?” She asked nervously after glancing at her dad. 

“Of course, of course, come and sit here !” He said, showing her the seat available on the other side of Sasuke’s bed. 

She came and sat in the chair, tugging the seat close to the bed. Naruto saw her glancing at his hand laced with Sasuke’s, but she didn’t say anything, and he didn’t remove said hand. Her sharp eyes (Sasuke’s eyes, really) came back to him and he tensed, feeling self-conscious for some reason. They hadn’t discussed telling the children about them yet. He didn’t know whether Sakura had said anything to Sarada about his relationship with Sasuke. Maybe she would be more comfortable if he left… Was he even capable of leaving Sasuke ? 

But then suddenly her thoughtful face brightened into a sweet smile and Naruto felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders, even if he was not sure why. Well, if she was smiling at him, it was a good start, right ? 

“I’m glad it was Hokage-sama who was with Papa. I know Papa trusts you.” She said, before turning her gaze towards her father. 

Naruto felt tears gather once again in his eyes, and he inhaled and exhaled deeply. 

“I’m sorry, Sarada.”

“Why ?”

“I… If I had been more…”

He was struggling to find the right words.

“You did your best.” She interrupted him, once again looking at him right in the eyes. God, how much she looked like Sasuke.

“Papa said you always do your best, so I know you did your best.”

She looked back at her father’s face.

“I’m sure Papa did his best too. Even now he’s doing his best to come back to us. He’s going to be okay. Because we’re here, waiting for him.” 

Oh, the tears.

He couldn’t control them any longer.

In silence, they were running down his cheeks.

“He always comes back.” Sarada added with a gentle warmth in her dark pupils. Naruto noticed then that they were watery too. 

Without thinking, he reached out for her hand. 

She looked up, surprised. 

“You’re right. He always does.” His voice was rough with emotions, but this time his smile was sincere. 

*****

A few minutes later, another knock came to disturb the somewhat peaceful room. 

Both his and Sarada’s attention turned towards the sliding door, revealing a breathless Shikamaru. 

Naruto watched, confused, as the man glanced at the little girl with a sigh while Sarada was slightly blushing, unconsciously getting closer to her dad. Something had definitely happened between the two, and despite the situation he couldn’t help but chuckle. Sakura had told him that Shikamaru would make a detour before coming to bring him paperwork from the office, and now he could easily imagine what happened. 

“Ditched by a little girl, Shika ?” He teased, finding the situation quite amusing. He had always been fond of Sarada, the new little genius of her generation. She was witty, incredibly smart but also kind and curious, and sometimes he wondered if Sasuke was just like her before his world fell apart. 

His advisor pouted and dropped his stack of papers and books in Naruto’s lap, forcing him to let go of Sasuke’s hand in order to avoid letting it all fall on the floor. The blond let out a loud yelp as he hurried to catch everything and hurriedly went to put it on a table nearby. 

As he was steadying the pile of work on the table, Naruto sighed. He wished he didn’t have to do this now, but he also knew that Hokage was not just a title, he had duties and responsibilities. 

Turning around, he studied for the millionth time this day the features of the Uchiha, longing burning inside his chest. How he wished he would see these eyes opening again and glaring at him, or hear that deep voice calling him an idiot. He was trying not to think about their sweet and happy memories, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to stop the tears, and he couldn’t break down. Somehow, Sasuke’s little girl had given him strength. He had no right to make fun of Shikamaru really, when he was being comforted by the same child. He wouldn’t let himself crumble while Sasuke was fighting for his life.

“Sarada, let’s switch places, alright ?” He offered her with a smile, as Shikamaru and he were moving the little table close to her current seat. 

“Sure !” She exclaimed, moving quickly to the other side of the bed, and gently taking her father’s hand in hers. Naruto smiled softly at the sweet display. 

But then the smile vanished as he turned towards Shikamaru. 

“Did we get anything from these two men ?” 

He saw his advisor glancing at Sarada, then back at Naruto. The blond tilted his head towards the door, and Shikamaru nodded slightly in approval and the two men silently got out of the room. “I’ll be back soon, Sarada !” Naruto said to the child before leaving, smiling widely. She smiled back with a little nod. 

Once in the corridor, Naruto leaned against the wall, waiting.

Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head.

“We didn’t get much for now. One is still under Sasuke’s genjutsu, we didn’t manage to get him out of it for now. The other said they acted on their own, and that they bought the poison and the guns on the black market. Our team is going through his memories at the moment to find out which black market it was, since he seems to be done with the talking.” 

“Did he say why they wanted to kill me ?” Naruto asked, frowning.

“About that… We’re waiting for the reports from his memories to have a more detailed view of the scale of the business, but he told us that… there was a price on your head. If we cross this piece of information with some rumors the ANBU gathered these past few weeks, it might be possible that a very wealthy individual or group is seeking revenge against the people who made the current peace possible. We found on this man a kind of bingo book that looks just like the one shinobis have for criminals. You’re in it.”

“Who else is in it ?”

“All the Kages, former Kages, famous shinobis from each village… Sasuke is in it, too.”

Shikamaru sighed. 

“It’s going to be bothersome. But fortunately, we’re only talking about civilians this time, no aliens involved.” 

Naruto nodded, still frowning. A small smile relaxed his features a little at the other man’s attempt at a joke, but the worry didn’t leave his eyes. 

“We’re working on this, so please don’t worry too much as long as the report is not yet in your hands, alright ? Once Sasuke is back on his feet, we can talk about strategy.” 

Shikamaru put a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling at him, and Naruto felt oh so grateful to have such a great advisor. He smiled back, his chest feeling warm. Shikamaru wanted to include Sasuke. Shikamaru was confident in the fact that Sasuke would survive. Shikamaru trusted Sasuke. Under other circumstances, Naruto would have shouted with bursting joy. For now he could only smile and thank his friend. 

“Alright.” He replied. “Thank you, Shika. I’ll be working on what you brought me in the meantime. See ya !” 

As he watched the man leave, Naruto caught the attention of a nurse who was passing by in the corridor. 

“Hi, excuse me. Would it be possible to restrain visitors for this room ?”

He discussed the details with the nurse for a few minutes, letting her take notes of persons that were allowed in Sasuke’s room (Sakura, Sarada, Shikamaru and him). He hoped that the news wouldn’t spread too soon, but just in case, he prefered to make sure that no one would come. He was sure Sasuke wouldn’t be happy to wake up to a crowded room. It would also be more comfortable for Sarada. He was already worried about how comfortable or not she was with him, no need to add additional people to the crew. 

Maybe he should tell her about what kind of relationship he had with her dad ? She ought to know, right ? But he would have prefered to have Sasuke’s agreement on that before having this kind of conversation… 

There was just so much to worry about. Things just kept on piling up and Naruto was anxious about what would come next. Should he ask Kakashi to come back from his vacation ? He was in this new bingo book after all… They were civilians, yes, but they were extremely well-prepared civilians, and that was maybe more dangerous than an arrogant alien with superpowers. 

Sighing, Naruto tried to relax his shoulders. He should listen to Shikamaru. For now, they were still gathering information. Brainstorming, strategizing and everything else would come after. 

Getting back into the room, the blond went to sit on his chair. Sarada was still holding Sasuke’s hand and watching over him. Naruto smiled. Then he took the first file on his pile and a pen, and started reading.

One hour or two passed like that, in comfortable silence. At some point, a nurse came to check on Sasuke and also brought them something to eat for dinner. As they were eating their sandwiches, a machine next to Sasuke’s bed started to beep in an alarming way. Naruto was about to call for a nurse when Sakura rushed into the room, cursing under her breath. She seemed tense and stressed out, and Naruto didn’t like that at all. 

“What’s going on, Sakura ?” He asked, gathering Sarada in his arms as a few nurses were encircling the bed. 

“For some reason it seems like the poison’s effects come in waves. I don’t know why, but it’s like they suddenly got a new shot of poison in their system, as if the poison had decided to fight back.” His friend answered anxiously, directing the nurse so that they would take the patient away and to another room. Another room where Naruto couldn’t follow.

“We’ll try to filter his blood to reduce the spread of the poison, while we still work on the antidote.” Sakura added, then her eyes met Naruto’s, and then she glanced at her daughter in his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Sarada, alright ? Papa is super strong ! We just need to help him a bit more.” 

Sarada nodded, but Naruto could feel the way her small hands tightened on him. She was young, but she was anything but stupid.  

“Naruto, can I talk to you for a minute ?” 

Looking back at Sakura, he nodded. Putting Sarada down on a chair, he gave her back the sandwich she had been eating. “Try to finish that, alright ? I’ll be back soon.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he was not sure he himself believed it.

Once outside of the room, Sakura’s frown only got worse. 

“What is it, Sakura ?” 

Seeing her like that was making him anxious too. She was biting her lower lip, avoiding his eyes, as if she didn’t know how to find the right words, and there was definitely something wrong. 

“It’s Aki and Kazuo… What happened to Sasuke happened to them about half an hour ago. But they were too weak already. We did everything we could, but they… They died, Naruto. I’m sorry.”

The world seemed to pause. 

He could no longer hear the sounds around him. 

Like in slow motion, he saw Sakura trying to put a hand on his shoulder, but he took a step back. Her face was pained, and he could see the pity in her eyes. He… They died because of him. Only a few days as Hokage, and already there were people dying for him. What about that peace he was supposed to build… ? He didn’t want anyone to die or even to be hurt because of him, this was not the goal… He was supposed to change the world. To make it better, not…

“Naruto ?” 

Sakura’s voice sounded foreign now, as if she was far away. He couldn’t look her in the eye. The guilt was crushing him. He knew it was still part of the job, part of their world. Death. But still… Maybe he had been naive. He had hoped that with the five nations at peace… He had no idea if Kakashi had lost men during his years as Hokage. Tsunade definitely did. How did they manage to live with the guilt… ?

It was difficult to breathe. 

“Naruto, come and sit down.” 

He felt pushed towards a chair. Sakura forced him to sit down. He was panting.

And if Aki and Kazuo died… Did it mean that Sasuke wouldn’t make it either ? The fact that his body was way more resistant to poison… was it only delaying things ? Would the antidote arrive too late ? If they even managed to make it. Was Sasuke going to die… because of him ? 

He felt liquid warming up his face and his vision became blurry. He couldn’t breathe. He tried, but he felt like his lungs wouldn’t take any oxygen in. Sakura was talking but he couldn’t hear her anymore. Sasuke… Sasuke couldn’t die… If Sasuke died, then… 

“Hokage-sama !” 

Sasuke. Sasuke’s eyes were staring right at him.

They looked worried.

In the haze of his spiraling thoughts and labored breathing, Naruto recognized Sarada’s face, looking up at him. Her small hands were holding his.

“Please don’t give up on Papa, Hokage-sama.” She said, voice a bit shaky, but determined.

His eyes widened. 

No, no, no. Never. He would never. 

Slowly, he felt his heart rate slowing down a bit. He managed to take a few breaths. He tried to give her a small smile. 

“I won’t.” 

No matter how terrifying the prospect of potentially losing Sasuke was, he could not assume right away that the man was going to lose this fight, right ? It was Sasuke fucking Uchiha, after all. If there was a man who could survive something like this, it was him. 

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Naruto tried to steady his poor heart. He had to believe in Sasuke. 

He looked up to see Sakura watching over them with a fond smile on her lips. It felt a tiny bit easier to return the smile, this time.

“Alright Sarada, I leave Hokage-sama in your care.”

“Yes, Mama.” The little girl replied, standing up from where she had kneeled to face Naruto.

Oh dear. Kurama must be away somewhere otherwise he would have had a good laugh. Babysitted by Sasuke’s 10 year-old daughter. Great. For his defense, she was very mature for her age. He couldn’t imagine Boruto having this kind of reaction. No, his son would have laughed at him, clearly. 

Once Sakura was gone, the two of them went back to the now empty room, to wait for Sasuke’s return. 

Naruto had work to do so he could stay busy, and Sarada picked a book from her backpack (she had come directly after school after all) and was quietly reading. The blond couldn’t help but glance at her from time to time. There was so much of Sasuke in her. It made him feel nostalgic. 

Back when they had been this small, Naruto had only bothered the Uchiha boy, always criticizing, always trying to start a fight. It was easier to get his attention by being rude, there were already so many people head over heels for him, throwing themselves at him and all of them were rejected. Now that he was older and a tiny little bit less insecure, Naruto regretted not approaching Sasuke in a more friendly way. He had been worried about being rejected by the Uchiha, but now he could see that… What they had back then, even as children… had always been special. Sasuke would have probably accepted his friendship, despite the fact that he had rejected everyone else. Of course they would have ended up rivals, this was just meant to be, but he only wished he had been kinder to the little boy back then, listened to him, talked to him… But well, Sasuke had been his first friend, he hadn’t known how to act. He had learned of course, and it had taken him a while to admit that this was more than friendship even though deep inside he had always known that they were special, and now that they were finally honest with each other… 

He shook his head. 

Looking at the young girl peacefully reading, he tried to read the title of the book. Oh dear, it was a history book, from Konoha’s foundation to now. How many lies were in this kind of book, he wondered. He would have to review history books, make sure that they were more accurate. They couldn’t continue to spread lies just to glorify the village. The village had made mistakes, huge mistakes. The new generation had to learn from them. 

“Say, Sarada.” He started, and she looked up at him with curious eyes, listening. “What is your dream ?” 

Her eyes widened, and a slight blush spread on her cheeks. 

“I… I want to be Hokage, just like you.” She admitted, and Naruto could only smile. 

“That’s great, Sarada ! I’m sure you will be an amazing Hokage ! Better than me !” He said excitedly, and he meant it. She had a strong will, was already so mature and skilled, he had no doubt about her becoming a stunning shinobi and later on, Hokage. It was about time to finally have an Uchiha as Hokage too. 

They were interrupted as the door slid open once again. They were bringing Sasuke back to his room. Already ? Naruto had no idea of how much time had passed. He was so thankful for Sarada’s presence. 

“We managed to stabilize him quite quickly.” The nurse announced with a small smile. “He’s a fighter.” 

Naruto smiled brightly.

“Of course he is !” He exclaimed, helping the nurses to put the bed back into place. “Thank you for bringing him back.” 

The nurses checked the few perfusions, informing them that the man had a fever, but that there was nothing to worry about for now. It only meant that his body was fighting against the poison left in his system. They would come and check every hour to be sure that the fever would eventually go down, and that in the meantime, if Naruto or Sarada noticed anything weird, they had to call them right away. 

Once the nurses were gone, Naruto sat back on his chair, and Sarada pushed her own chair closer to the bed, coming to hold her father’s hand once again.

“Hokage-sama…” The little girl suddenly started, her eyes not wavering from her dad’s sleeping face.

“Yes, Sarada ?” He answered, looking up from his papers.

She seemed to gather her thoughts for a few seconds, as if she was trying to solve a complicated problem. Sasuke made that kind of face when he was trying to find a solution to a complex situation.

“... You and Papa love each other, right ?”

Naruto’s eyes went wide as a crimson blush was spreading like wildfire on his cheeks and neck. He almost dropped the pen he was holding.

She is smart. I come back at a lovely time, I see. Busted by a little girl, huh ?

“H-How… I mean… What do you mean by that, Sarada ?” 

The blond tried to calm down but it was not very effective. His heart was pounding in his chest.

She looked at him dead in the eyes for a few seconds, then something went soft on her face, a lovely smile blooming. She opened her mouth to answer, but suddenly her attention went back to her father, her eyes widening.

“H-He moved !” She exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. “He squeezed my hand !”

Chapter Text

- ☼ -

Naruto felt like his heart was going to explode. 

In a flash he was back on his feet, staring eagerly at his lover’s face.

“Sasuke, can you hear me ?” 

He glanced at Sarada, silently asking if the man had moved his hand again or not, and after a few seconds, she shook her head with a sad smile. 

Barely refraining from cursing, Naruto got out of the room for a second, to call a nurse. A few came in, and they started checking Sasuke’s vitals and everything. The blond could only watch, waiting anxiously for their diagnosis. Was Sasuke awake ? Maybe he was just too weak to open his eyes ? 

Hey, Naruto.

What ?

Don’t be so snappy. I may have found a way to heal him.

Naruto’s eyes widened. 

I consulted the other bijuus and we’ve come up with a few plants or ingredients that might be used against us if combined in a certain way. Go to Sakura, and tell her. Based on this list, I think it will be easier for her to figure out an antidote. 

The blond wanted to scream in delight. 

Oh thank you Kurama, you’re the best !!!

Yeah, yeah, I know. 

“I’ll be right back !” He said to Sarada with a smile, before rushing out of the room. He couldn’t get to the laboratory fast enough. He almost bumped into several nurses and doctors on his way, but he couldn’t slow down. This was too important. 

Does it mean I have access to your porn, now ?

Whaaaat ?!

I meant, your memories with Sasuke.

Urgh Kurama, why do you have to ruin the mood like this ? You’re such a pervert oh my god.  

Come on, it’s not like that. It’s not something I can understand or relate to. I just find it funny how sex can turn humans into a complete mess. Also, great potential to tease you, so. 

The blond groaned. 

This is wrong on so many levels, Kurama, you don’t understand.

Well… yeah, I don’t understand, I’m not a ‘sexual’ being. But come on, it’s the only funny thing you do these days, I’m bored, Naruto… 

You think sex is fun ?

I find the faces you guys make very funny indeed. 

As the blond arrived in front of the laboratory, he inhaled and exhaled deeply. This was not the time to deal with Kurama’s weird antics.

*****

When he came back to Sasuke’s room, Shikamaru was back and a nurse was still there. If he read the room correctly, the man was probably not awake. He could see the disappointment and worry on the little girl’s face, echoing feelings spiraling through him, and his heart ached. 

His advisor came to him, face as serious as ever. 

“They said it was just a jolt of his body, nothing that would indicate he’s awake. I’m sorry.”

“I see. No need to be sorry, Shika. What did you come for ?”

“Oh, just to see how things were going, and picking up the work you’ve done. I’ve brought you a few more things to sign, too.” 

Naruto tried to smile. He could see that his friend was worried for him. “Thank you.” 

The man gave him a quick nod and left, and the blond went back to his chair by Sasuke’s bed. He hoped that with the bijuus’ insights, Sakura’s team would be able to create an antidote soon. Oh, how he wished Sasuke had his two hands. He desperately needed to feel the other’s skin against his. He wanted to feel the warmth coming from Sasuke’s body, he wanted to hear his heart beating, he just wanted to be sure that he was not slipping away from him… That life was not slipping away from this body… He felt the tears rushing back into his eyes, and he closed them. Tried to breathe. 

“Hokage-sama ?”

Jolting, he opened his eyes to find black ones staring right at him. He would never get over the fact that Sarada had exactly the same eyes as Sasuke. 

“Yes ?” His voice was stuffy and weak, and he tried to clear his throat. 

“Can we switch seats again ? I’m a little hungry, I’m going to go and buy something.” She said with a small smile, and oh Naruto was really going to cry. 

He nodded because he didn’t trust his voice. They both stood up. It was awkward for a few seconds as Naruto came to take her seat and she lingered for a few seconds, watching her father’s sleeping form. Just before she turned around to leave, Naruto called out.

“Wait, Sarada !” 

He stood up again and went to fetch his purse, and took out his frog wallet. Handing it over to the little Uchiha with a smile, he added, “Take whatever you want, don’t be shy, okay ?”

He saw the surprise on the girl’s face and his own smile widened. A tint of pink spread on her cheeks, and she took the wallet. “Thank you, Hokage-sama. Do you need anything ?” 

“I’m good, but thanks. And you can call me Naruto, you know.”

After all her parents were his closest friends and-

And her dad is railing you, yeah we know…

Fortunately for the blond, Sarada only nodded shyly and left, so she didn’t see the blush spreading on his face. 

I didn’t mean it like that Kurama, you pervert !!!

Ah, here we go, seems like I have a new nickname…

Yes because you only talk about that ! 

I already told you it’s the only interesting part of your life these days… 

Sighing loudly, Naruto decided it was probably best to just ignore the fox. 

As the blond sat on the side of the bed where he could hold Sasuke’s hand, he immediately took the warm hand into both of his. A wave of relief washed over him. Sasuke was still warm. He was actually tempted to lay in the bed with the Uchiha, just to hold him close, but well, he knew that he was not alone in here and would eventually be found out, whether it would be by Sarada, Sakura, Shikamaru, a nurse or a doctor. Not the best way to announce to Konoha that they were together, huh ? Sakura already knew, but she would probably drag him out of the bed anyway so that he didn’t mess up the perfusions and the monitoring of Sasuke’s state. And she would be right to do so. But that didn’t stop the longing. 

Speaking of the devil, after a light knock on the door, Sakura appeared, a bright smile on her face.

“We did it, Naruto !”   

Jumping from his seat, a bright smile stretched his lips. 

“You did it ? Oh my god, really ?!” 

He didn’t doubt his former teammate, no. It just sounded almost too good to be true. He tried desperately not to get his hopes up because after all, anything could still happen, but he completely failed, joy coursing through his veins as he watched Sakura administer the antidote into one of Sasuke’s intravenous. 

Sakura gave him a sweet smile. “It should be quick. If he doesn’t get much better in an hour, it will mean that the antidote doesn’t work. But I’m sure it will.” 

He nodded eagerly, squeezing the sleeping man’s hand a bit harder. “Thank you, Sakura.” 

“No need to thank me. I want him alive and well too.”

When Sarada came back to the room, she was excited by the news. Sakura stayed with them, chatting with her daughter while she was eating. Naruto didn’t move from his spot by Sasuke’s side, holding his hand. After half an hour, Sasuke’s state improved a lot, and despite the fact that he was still unconscious, Sakura told them that his life was no longer in danger. He would wake up when his body and mind felt like it, it was only a matter of hours probably. 

It was already dark outside, and the little Uchiha started to yawn, fighting against the need to sleep. Naruto and Sakura looked at her with an amused smile on their lips, the pink-haired woman standing up and gathering her daughter’s belongings. 

“Come, Sarada. It’s late, we’re going home.”

“But I want to be here when Papa wakes up,” she said, pouting.

“You can’t stay up all night, sweetie.” Sakura responded with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, Hokage-sama will watch over Papa, if he wakes up during the night, he won’t be alone.” 

That was true. Sakura didn’t even need to ask, he was definitely staying by Sasuke’s side tonight. There was no way he would leave. He offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile to the little girl. 

“Yep, don’t worry, I’m here.”

She stared at him, probably pondering whether he should be trusted or not, and then she gave him a small smile. “If it’s you, then I’m sure Papa will be happy.” 

And with that she gathered her stuff and said goodbye, Sakura chuckling in the background as Naruto’s cheeks were burning. Were they really that obvious ? Did everyone know already or was it just Sarada who was way too smart for her age ? She was Sasuke’s daughter after all, so this was entirely possible, but… 

- ☾ -

His body felt so heavy. 

It almost felt like when Naruto and him had been bleeding out on the ruins of the valley of the end, after the war. Almost. He felt like he would be able to move this time at least.

He tried to move his fingers, but found out that they were kind of stuck into something warm and soft… It’s not that he couldn’t move them, no, there was something external preventing him from moving them, which was quite disturbing. 

He frowned. Well, at least he could frown, that was a good sign. His eyelids felt so heavy it took him a few seconds to manage to open his eyes, but in the end, he succeeded. 

At first, all he could see was darkness. Then he could make out a few forms, thanks to the moonlight shining through the window. The curtains were very thin, and oh so white. He understood quickly that he was in Konoha’s hospital. It was a familiar place. As his gaze landed near his hand, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw what was “trapping” the movements of his fingers. 

“That idiot…”

He suddenly realized that his throat was really dry, and he was not even sure if his words had been heard or not. He had aimed for a whisper anyway because he didn’t want to wake up the blond but he couldn’t be sure whether any sound did come out of his mouth or not. 

Or at least during the first few seconds he didn’t know. 

When the blond suddenly jolted awake, blue eyes not so blue in the darkness of the night staring right back at him, Sasuke concluded that yes, his voice did come out after all. 

“Sasuke !” The blond shouted as if they were not in a hospital in the middle of the night, and threw himself at Sasuke, arms wrapping carefully but quickly around his chest, hugging him softly but firmly. 

The raven couldn’t help but smile. Of course that idiot had been worried. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but he guessed that if he was awake, it meant that the medical team had found a cure to this new poison. He wondered how much time and effort it took them. He also wanted to know what was inside of this poison, why it was so strong, even on him. But well… that would be for later, right ?

Naruto backed away a little so he could look him in the eyes. The blond’s smile was as blinding as ever, and there were unshed tears shining in his eyes. Sasuke wanted to wipe them away, but he didn’t feel like he would have enough energy to do so. He could wriggle his fingers just fine, but his body still felt so heavy it was frustrating.

“Are you feeling okay, Sasuke ?” 

Giving up on lifting his arm, the man’s attention went back to Naruto’s worried face. 

“I’m fine. Just tired.” He answered, not really lying, but not really telling the truth either. He didn’t want to worry the blond any further. Naruto shouldn’t even be here. 

“Do you need anything ? Water ?” 

“Yes, please.” 

As the blond went to fetch him a glass of water, Sasuke could only stare. He had so many questions about what happened after he passed out, but his mind felt foggy, like it would be difficult to think too hard or too much. He guessed that his body still needed more rest to recover fully. 

“Here you go~” 

Naruto helped him to drink a little bit of water, bringing the paper cup to his lips and tilting it very slowly so that he wouldn’t choke. He knew that the blond could be very gentle, but they were on another level now. Sasuke didn’t mind having Naruto as his nurse, it felt unexpectedly sweet. In the past, they would both end up at the hospital at the same time, so they had never cared for each other in this way. Now he was just glad that it was him in the hospital bed, and not Naruto. 

“Are you okay ?” He suddenly asked, remembering that the blond could be very good at hiding things, better than him. 

Surprise popped on his lover’s face, and Sasuke frowned. Nothing to be so surprised about, really. Then surprise morphed into a small smile, and with new tears in his eyes, the blond nodded his head.

“I’m perfectly fine, Sasuke, thanks for asking.”

“Good.”

He was glad that the man was alright. He would have felt terrible if something had happened to Naruto after he passed out. He was supposed to protect him, after all. He wanted to protect him. 

“Say, Sasuke ?”

The blond’s voice brought him back to the present moment.

“Hm ?” 

He could see Naruto fidgeting beside him, and wondered what the man was so nervous about.

“Can I kiss you ?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle, his lips stretching into a fond smile.

“Of course, you idiot.”

As they both smiled lovingly at the other, Naruto leaned forward slowly, his lips pressing against Sasuke’s in such a delicate manner it melted the Uchiha’s heart right away. Softly, gently, they kissed, again and again, sharing through this subtle dance all the worries they had had towards the other’s health and safety, the relief of knowing everything was fine now, the longing to make sure that all of this was real, the yearning for closeness and showering the other with sweetness to help them recover, and love. Fierce love, warming up their lips, burning in their souls, their bodies, their hearts. 

*****

The next day, Sasuke asked about what happened while he was unconscious. He felt guilty about the death of the two ANBUs, feeling like he could have done more to save them. He saw the guilt in Naruto’s eyes too, and they promised each other that they would get to the end of this mess, and make sure that such a thing wouldn’t happen again. The shinobi nations were finally at peace, they would not allow these brutes to come and shatter it. 

As Shikamaru came to join the conversation at the beginning of the afternoon, they planned a few meetings to decide on the next steps to take during the following days. The other Kages had been informed of this new threat, and the Kage Summit had been postponed. Of course, they were all hoping that the problem would be solved before the next summit. 

They did all these talks in-between Sasuke’s series of tests, to make sure that he was recovering completely and correctly. After one last blood test, Sakura let them know that all the poison was gone and that now, he only needed to rest some more. 

As Shikamaru was about to go back to work, carrying the paperwork the blond had completed since his last visit, the raven turned towards Naruto.

“You’d better go back to the Hokage tower, Naruto. You don’t need to stay here.” 

The blond looked at him as if he was crazy, and the answer came right out of his mouth, without a single doubt.

“I’m staying. I can work from here.” 

Naruto was so close to pouting, it was very cute. Not that Sasuke should focus on that at the moment. 

“You can work better in your office, with Shikamaru.”

The blond frowned, clearly unhappy and confused with what Sasuke was trying to tell him.

“The emergency meeting is tomorrow, and I am already prepared for it, look…” 

Naruto tried to show him some notes he had taken, but Sasuke didn’t want to look at it.

“Then you should go and rest, you look terrible.” 

He didn’t like to reject the blond, he didn’t like to be cold towards him, he hated it to be honest, but he could see the exhaustion on Naruto’s face, he could only imagine that he had stayed by his side all this time, and the man obviously needed to rest properly. 

“Oh, I look terrible. I’m sorry but you were the one who almost died , Sasuke.” 

The painful crack in Naruto’s voice made him flinch. 

“And I’m fine now,” he tried to say softly, but it came out sharper than expected. Clearing his throat, he tried for a more soothing tone. “I’m sure you didn’t sleep well on that chair, go home and rest, then.”

At some point during their conversation/argument, Sakura had slipped inside the room, and after listening for a few seconds, she interrupted them.

“If you want, you can go home, Sasuke.”

Both heads turned towards her, and she smiled. 

“You can both go home and have a good night of rest. All your results have been great, Sasuke, so there’s nothing holding you back here. Just rest, okay ?” 

“YAAAY !” The blond erupted with joy.

Okay, now Sasuke was probably deaf. He didn’t have time to even wince though, because his arms were full of Naruto who literally jumped on him, holding him tight, and oh well, this wasn’t so bad after all. He was happy too, even if his smile was more discreet and only meant for the blond to see. After a few seconds though, he decided that the position was starting to be a bit awkward. Naruto in his lap, wiggling excitedly… Oh, this couldn’t go well. Beyond the blond’s shoulder, he could see the wicked smile on Sakura’s face and the way Shikamaru (when did he arrive ?) was frowning, then sighed, defeated, and oh no, they were totally busted already, right ?

“Naruto, just stop moving like th-”

“Papa, you’re awake !!!”

All eyes turned to the little girl who had slipped in, sparkles shining in her dark eyes. As she rushed to the bed, Naruto bent over to come and lift her up as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. Quite stunned, Sasuke ended up with a lap full of Naruto who in turn was holding Sarada, both smiling excitedly at him. He never thought such a scene would ever happen in this life. 

“Yes, your dad is awake and he can go out tonight !” The blond informed her, his smile as bright as the sun.

“Really ?!” She squealed as she threw her tiny arms around Sasuke’s neck to hug him.

“Yes.” He confirmed, patting softly her back, a soft smile blooming on his lips. 

After a few seconds, she released him, putting a small hand on his cheek.

“So Papa, were you happy to see Hokage-sama when you woke up ?”

What the. What kind of question was that ? Glancing at the blond, a lovely blush was spreading on his cheeks and he was avoiding Sasuke’s eyes. 

“I… hum… yes, I was.” He responded, confused.

Sarada turned around to look at Naruto who had stood up in silence.

“Ha ! See, I told you so.” She proudly declared, and behind them, Sakura bursted into laughter, trying to hold onto the wall for support.

What happened while he was unconscious… ? 

When she collected herself, the pink-haired woman came closer to the bed and picked Sarada up. 

“You’re so smart, sweetheart. But you know, tonight papa will probably go home with Naruto, to rest. Naruto can protect him if anything happens.”

The little girl nodded.

“Sure. Can I stay with them tonight, Mama ? I want to protect Papa too.”

Everyone stood still in the room, quite startled.

Then everyone melted, soft smiles blooming on their faces. She was so sweet. 

Sakura glanced at the couple, probably waiting for them to answer the little girl and Sasuke looked at Naruto, searching in those blue oceans for any kind of approval or mood or something to know what he should say. But it’s not like the blond was waiting for him.

“Of course you can !” He said excitedly, a big smile on his face, and Sasuke couldn’t help but fall in love all over again for that gorgeous man. Nothing special, it happened often enough, but well. He always felt so warm when he was looking at the blond, as if all the goodness of the world was holding him close, shielding him from the darkness. As cliché as it sounded, Naruto was his light, the fire burning inside his chest, the one who had kept him alive all these years.

*****

Later on, they arrived at Naruto’s apartment, his arm around the blond’s shoulders and Naruto’s arm wrapped around his waist to help him walk easier. He was feeling much better, but his body was still weak. Sarada was going home with Sakura for now, for she had to gather her stuff for the night. The pink-haired woman would bring her for dinner, she had said with a bright smile. It was unexpected, but even Sakura was excited about this little evening (and night), for it would be the first time since having Sarada that she would have a night all to herself where she could just relax and do whatever she wanted. Thinking about it, Sasuke felt guilty. He should have tried to come back more often, he should have tried to help more. He would always come back at least twice a year, but that was so little, and he had missed so much of Sarada’s growth… Just like he had thought that Naruto didn’t really need him, he had foolishly thought that he could bring nothing good to his daughter. That he was too damaged, too broken to have a positive impact on her.

Now, as he was finally allowing some love into his life, it made him hope. Hope for a better family, better bonds. To the world, it will look like a dysfunctional family, but he didn’t care. Now that he had the blond by his side, everything seemed to be possible. Even becoming a good father. He knew that Naruto also had to work on that. They would do this together. They would do better together. 

“What are you smiling for ?”

At the sound of the beloved voice, his smile only stretched further. Lost in thoughts while looking outside the window of the living room, he had not heard the blond coming closer.

“I was thinking about our family.” He answered truthfully, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 

The sun was slowly setting and beautiful shades of red, orange and yellow were coloring the sky. Arms came from behind him and wrapped themselves gently around his waist, careful of his wound, as a familiar face settled against his neck, resting there. 

“Oh I like the sound of this, Sasuke. Our family…” 

He felt the smile against his skin, and heard the excitement in the man’s voice. His smile widened softly. Yes, if it was with Naruto, they could do anything. 

- ☼ -

That night, and for the first time in their life, Sasuke fell asleep in Naruto’s lap. They were on the sofa, watching some silly comedy show. The raven’s head was resting against Naruto’s chest, slightly rubbing against him from time to time, as if he wanted to get even closer to the blond. It was insanely cute, like a kitten rubbing against its owner to make sure that even in their sleep, their human was still here with them. Naruto’s arms held the man a little bit tighter and smiled. As if he would ever let him go again.

A glance at Sasuke’s lap and the blond’s smile widened, amused. The little girl who had decided to stay with them tonight was also gone to the world, comfortably sprawled onto her father’s chest, a sweet smile on her lips. Naruto could only imagine that for her too, this didn’t happen that often. The man was so guarded all the time, he had kept everyone at a distance for so long… This would for sure become a precious memory for Sarada. Naruto could only hope that now that Sasuke and him had finally found a way to be truly happy (by being together), their relationship with their children would also improve. They had made mistakes, but they were lucky enough to have the time to atone for them, and create a better future for everyone.

As he was watching over the two Uchihas, the blond couldn’t help but notice the similarities. Damn, these Uchiha genes were strong. Without her glasses, Sarada was a female version of Sasuke, an exact copy. It was quite impressive. 

The corner of his lips slowly turned down, altering his smile. He knew it was not possible, but he couldn’t stop the thoughts from coming. If Sasuke and him had a kid, what would they look like… ? He knew it was stupid to think about it, but he was so curious. Maybe the child would have looked just like Sarada, but with whiskers. He had to admit the Uchiha’s genes might have been stronger than his, but at least the whiskers… 

His gaze came back to the face of the man he loved with all his heart, and his genuine smile came back. He was getting greedy, right ? It was a miracle to be here, like this, with Sasuke, and yet he was dreaming of more. What a moron. They had enough children already, no need to bring another one in the middle of this mess, right ? He let out a little laugh and hoped the movement wouldn’t wake his two sleeping beauties. A few seconds passed, and to his relief, no one woke up. 

Taking the time to burn into his memory every detail of Sasuke’s peaceful features, Naruto felt his chest tightening. Damn it, how much he loved this man. Memories from the fight came back to the blond’s mind, making him frown. They were supposed to be the strongest shinobis of their time, and yet… Yet, he had almost lost him, right ? Sasuke was strong, of course, but these had been unexpected circumstances, new weapons, so different from the shinobi world, and all of Naruto’s strength and power had not been enough. 

His jaw tensed. The blond was trying not to let the anger get the best of him, but knowing that there were men who had tried to kill Sasuke and that there was an organization behind them which was promoting and encouraging this kind of behavior… Oh, he would stop them. Naruto was now the Hokage, a peacemaker, a diplomat even. Ever since his teenage years, he had always been willing to talk if it could save lives. But oh, these people… They targeted the wrong person. They would pay, Naruto would make damn sure that they would pay. 

Great, we’re finally going to have some fun ~ !

For once, he could only agree with Kurama. He was not one for violence, but there were limits not to be crossed. He wouldn’t let them go unpunished.

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

There was a warmth forcing him to turn away. 

He groaned, unable to actually turn on his side. This was starting to feel familiar. A small smile bloomed on his lips before his eyes groggily opened up. He was starting to get used to not waking up alone, and it kind of… felt nice. A part of him was afraid that this was all a very bad idea (what about when he would lose all of this and go back to his solitary life ?) but he tried to ignore it. 

Looking down, his smile widened. As usual, Naruto was sprawled over his chest, holding onto him even in his sleep. What was less usual was to see Sarada do the same. Sadness washed over him as he watched over his daughter. She seemed peaceful. He felt guilty that he had not seen her sleep more often. His own father had always been cold and distant, he was not sure what a regular dad was supposed to do. What he was supposed to be. But he could easily guess that he could do better. 

As he watched them sleep, Sasuke’s mind wandered. The two most important people in his life were here, with him. It still felt unreal, how slowly but surely, everything was falling into place. And just as easily, it could have come to an abrupt stop. He could have died. Naruto could have died. These men… They needed to find who they were, if there are more people like them, and they needed to eliminate whoever endangered the peace. This was not negotiable. Peace was almost an utopy in the ninja world, Sasuke would not allow a few morons with guns to ruin it. He would protect the village, because he had people he cared about in there now. On some days it still felt odd to think that he was protecting Konoha, but it’s not like he had any choice now, with Naruto and Sarada living here. Over the years, he had come to appreciate the company of his former comrades, even if he always prefered the meetings to be brief. His past was screaming at him not to forgive Konoha, but his rational mind had to agree that there was no one left from the time where the Uchiha clan was persecuted. He would not chase after grandpas and grandmas who were not even in charge back then. No, all the ones in charge were already dead. 

What was left of his clan now… ?

Only a part of the Uchiha compound remained standing after Pain’s attack. Sasuke had been away at that time, and he didn’t stay long enough in the leaf village for the people to ask him what to do with the buildings that were left. He was thankful to Kakashi for keeping the place as it was, without asking a single question. He had probably understood that Sasuke was not ready yet to see his whole childhood disappear. These ruins… it was all that was left of his family, his clan. He didn’t know what to do with it. He didn’t want to erase the past, but it’s not like he could rebuild it either. There were only two Uchihas left on this earth. 

Watching the features of his daughter, Sasuke couldn’t help but notice with a small smile that the Uchiha genes were indeed strong. He had never taken her to the ruins of the Uchiha compound. He had asked Sakura not to tell her about it for now. But she was growing up so fast, it was already time to tell her, right ? She was smart, she was going to figure it out anyway if he didn’t tell her first. He had hoped he would feel more… ready ? When she was born, he had been comforted by the fact that she would stay unaware of what her family’s history was for a long time. And yet, here they were. He didn’t want her to learn this from anyone else. It was his duty. His responsibility. It was also time to decide what to do with the remains of his clan, right ? Maybe they could figure it out together.

He sighed softly. 

And here he thought it would be peaceful now that he had the blond by his side. But at least… yes, he was right here, by his side. 

His fingers grazed gently against golden locks, smiling when the man almost purred, leaning into Sasuke’s hand. Soon, blue eyes peaked at him, and he felt his heart burst with warmth at the lazy smile the blond gave him. Gosh, Naruto had opened Pandora’s box, huh ? He had unlocked the sappiest part of Sasuke. Seeing the blond was enough to make him happy. What kind of stupid spell was that ? Sasuke didn’t know how to be happy, but somehow… with Naruto, it felt easy. Was love supposed to be this easy ? 

With a grunt, the blond hid his face back against Sasuke’s chest, making the raven raise a questioning eyebrow.

“You have no right to look this hot so early in the morning.” came the muffled explanation, and a soft laugh escaped Sasuke’s lips. This idiot. It was useless to try to overthink all this. Sasuke was utterly besotted with Naruto. 

They got up and got ready in a calm and serene atmosphere, a few smiles exchanged between the two lovers as Sarada seemed to get used to the situation of them being a couple just fine. Sasuke and her had to leave early so she could get home and gather her books before going to school. About to leave the apartment, the raven gave one last look at the blond who was reading a report at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee in his hand. Sasuke felt soft just looking at the man, melting in the sweet domesticity of this morning. 

“I will meet you at the Hokage tower when I’m done.” He informed him, smiling when Naruto’s head lifted up at the sound of his voice, an answering (blinding) smile blooming on the idiot’s face. 

“Alright, see you then.” The blond answered cheerfully, then with a second of hesitation and a slight blush on his cheeks, “Love you.”

Sasuke could hear his daughter squeal in the background and he had to admit, Naruto was such perfect husband material when he wanted to. Biting his lower lip in order to prevent him from jumping his boyfriend right there right now, Sasuke tried to communicate through his eyes and his predatory smile what he currently had in mind.

“I love you too.” He replied, and turned around, taking his daughter’s hand as she was squealing some more, and saying goodbye to the blond with a bright smile of her own.

Once they were alone in the streets of Konoha, Sarada didn’t seem to be able to stop talking about how cute and handsome “Hokage-sama” was, and honestly, it’s not like Sasuke could blame her. At least they could agree on this subject. 

He dropped the little girl at their family house, making sure that Sakura was up before leaving. It’s not like he didn’t trust his soon-to-be ex-wife, it’s just that he knew how drunk she could get when she was going out and having fun, and since it’s been a while… Well, he just wanted to check that she had been responsible and didn’t overdrink herself. 

When he arrived at the Hokage tower, Naruto rushed to meet him at the entrance, and for a second Sasuke had forgotten that the blond had actually trained himself into being able to detect Sasuke’s chakra, which explained how he could be there that quickly.

“Sasuke ! We were just about to start the meeting regarding the attack, come !”

The raven followed the other man without a word, only a nod of understanding.

- ☼ -

“You sounded like a hooker.” 

“I did not !!!”

Oh yes, you did. 

Naruto was pouting. They were at the restaurant where they had their first date, finally taking a break. Somehow the conversation had led to that first date, and how the blond’s flirting skills had been… well… not to Sasuke’s tastes apparently.

“You know, it’s not like I ever really tried to flirt before, so…” He muttered, avoiding the other man’s gaze. He heard him chuckle. 

“Really ? Never ?”

He sighed. He didn’t really want to talk about Hinata, but she was the only person he had been with before Sasuke.

“I didn’t need to flirt with Hinata, she would just say yes to everything.”

He didn’t like how that sounded at all and he frowned at his own words. 

You sound like a jerk.

Yeah, that’s what he sounded like, right ? 

Sasuke was quiet all of a sudden, and Naruto looked up, checking that he had not upset the man. 

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He tried to rectify, well aware of the drop in the mood. “It’s just that… I didn’t have to get involved that much anyway…” 

Was this worse ? Dammit, he should just shut up ! He sighed once again. 

“What I mean is…”

“Just shut up, usuratonkachi.” 

Sasuke had resumed eating his food, not even glancing at Naruto. The blond groaned and nodded, getting back to his own plate as well. It had felt so easy back then to just go with the flow. To just follow wherever Hinata wanted to take them. He had not realized how bad his decisions had been. How heartless it sounded now. 

They ate in silence for a little while, then as the waiter came to collect their plates and ask which dessert they’d like to have, the Uchiha finally spoke to him again. He was not looking at him though, gaze lost to the gardens beside them.

“I can’t believe you’re giving me a restaurant.” He said with a small smile. Naruto couldn’t help but smile in return. 

“Is it not grand enough ?” After all, Sasuke was an Uchiha, maybe he would have prefered something more elegant or of high standing ? 

But the raven-haired man quickly shook his head, black and purple eyes coming back to Naruto. 

“No, I love it. How did you get the idea ?” 

Oh. Oh this was going to be embarrassing.

“You’re blushing.” Sasuke said, looking smug. “This is making me even more curious now. Spill it, usuratonkachi.”

He let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head. Oh, dear. 

“Well… I was thinking about the future. Like, the far away future. When we would be old, too old to be shinobis anymore. Or maybe we won’t even need shinobis at some point, so I just… I was not sure if you would ever come back to live in Konoha, but I had just hoped that with Sarada here… Anyway, I thought it would be nice to have a place where we could just hang out and talk… Somewhere where you would feel at ease, and… I remembered how difficult it was for you to find a dish that you deemed delicious enough, and also… If you were bored, I thought it would be a nice activity, too… And I thought I could help too, when I’m no longer Hokage…” 

He was rambling again, right ? Glancing at Sasuke, he realized that the man was actually listening to him, not a hint of mockery left on his face. 

“When you’re no longer Hokage… ?” He repeated, arching an eyebrow at Naruto.

“Yeah, I mean. I always felt like Hokage was something you’d do until the day you die, but seeing how Tsunade and Kakashi decided to quit at some point… I think that it’s nice. There’s so much I want to do as Hokage, but I also want to enjoy life, you know ? So I thought that once I’m done with everything, I will just quit, too. I know it’s weird to say that when I’m still new to the position, but I… I just wanted to spend more time with you, I guess.”

There it was, he had said it. It was embarrassing. Even though they were together now, it was still embarrassing to admit some things to Sasuke. But Sasuke… Oh, Sasuke… Instead of making fun of him, he just smiled at him. Naruto would never get over the fact that Sasuke could smile in such a sweet, tender way, and on top of that, that such a smile would be directed at him. 

“Usuratonkachi.”

The endearment melted the blond’s insides, and he smiled back, utterly in love and happy. It was so nice now to be vulnerable and say embarrassing things to Sasuke. A new door had been opened, and now it seemed like they could talk about anything and everything together. What a beautiful improvement in their relationship, huh ? 

“You know, I was so nervous that day, when I confessed.” 

“You seemed more than alright to me.” Sasuke replied with the hint of a smirk.

“Well, I’ve always tried to look confident in front of you, you know.” The blond replied with a chuckle. “Always trying to impress you.”

A slight shade of pink dusted the raven’s cheeks, and Naruto smiled brightly. 

“Now I know we’re both saps, so that’s fine.”

Sasuke chuckled at that, but didn’t deny it.

It was so nice to see Sasuke like this. Relaxed, open… free. The blond didn’t pretend that suddenly the man’s past would vanish, only to leave a perfectly happy Sasuke behind, but… Seeing the raven-haired man smiling and laughing with him… It almost felt too good to be true. The incident with the guns and poison scared him to death, and now he was even more determined to keep the Uchiha safe, no matter how unrealistic this may sound… 

Unrealistic in the sense you can’t be even more protective than you already were, or unrealistic because he’s a shinobi and won’t want to be protected ? 

Hmm… Probably a bit of both ?  

But what he meant to say was… No matter what happened in their lives, it was in moments like these that the world felt perfect and beautiful, just because Sasuke was here with him.

Saaaaap .

Sasuke was looking around at the restaurant once again, and then he came back to Naruto, a sweet smile on his lips. 

“I think this will do.”

“What ?”

Lost in his own contemplation of the man before him, the blond had lost the direction of the conversation. 

“Growing old here, with you. I think I’d like that.”

When he had started working on this restaurant, Naruto had spent quite some time trying to picture Sasuke and him taking care of this place together, living and working side by side. It had been a childish dream, but to hear the man he had done all that for actually agree with him… 

“Sasuke, that’s not fair…” He whined, fidgeting in his seat.

At that, the man arched an eyebrow, surprised by the blond reaction and silently asking what was wrong with him. The blond lowered his voice so as to not be too loud and leaned a bit forward.

“Now I want to kiss you so bad, this is so mean I swear.”

Pouting, he leaned back against his chair while the Uchiha was laughing softly, clearly enjoying the situation. And really, Naruto couldn’t stay mad for long. It just came automatically, the way his own smile would bloom when Sasuke was smiling. 

This is disgustingly sweet, even for you…

Same as always Kurama, you don’t have to stay and suffer through this oh so disgusting and steady stream of love. Get used to it or go away because… 

Yeah, I know, not gonna stop anytime soon…

Naruto’s smile widened. Exactly ! 

*****

As they were going back home to Naruto’s apartment, they were surprised to find a visitor waiting by the door. 

“Boruto ?” 

The blond hadn’t seen his son for days, and he suddenly felt guilty. But it was very rare for Boruto to come and seek his father, so he started to worry that something was wrong. Unless Hinata sent him… ? He really hoped she was not using their son as a messenger between the two of them again.

“Is everything alright ?”

As the young boy stood up from his spot on the stairs, Naruto was not so surprised to see anger on his oh so similar features. 

“No, nothing’s alright !” The kid started. “Sarada has been goading all day about how she stayed with you two last night ! … So it’s my turn now.”

He was crossing his arms on his chest, clearly pouting. Naruto snorted. Oh this was going way better than he expected. 

“Does your mother know ?” 

“Yeah, went home to pick up my stuff before coming here.” The child muttered.

“Does she… agree ?”

“I don’t care whether she agrees or not. Do you ?”

There was something fierce in the way Boruto was looking at his father, now. As if he was challenging him to tell him that no, he disagreed. 

“Oh hum yeah, yes of course.”

And just like that, the bold determination in the kid’s eyes turned to vulnerability and doubt. How well Naruto knew that feeling.

He turned towards Sasuke who nodded, a small smile on his lips. 

“We’d be happy to have you with us tonight.” The raven added. 

At that, Boruto smiled brightly, clearly excited. It had been forever since the last time Naruto had seen him like that. But then the kid came closer to Sasuke and said, “Does it mean I can call you dad now ?”

… Oh. So that’s what the sudden joy was about, huh ? Not that he could blame his son, not really, there was a time where he also was seeking Sasuke’s attention quite desperately… 

“There was a time” ? Really ? When did you stop ?

Sasuke looked back at him, apparently confused about what he was supposed to answer.

“No you won’t call him dad, Boruto. I’m your dad.”

“But-- !”

“No but, now hurry and get inside before I change my mind.” He said while throwing his keys towards his son, who caught them easily and rushed up the stairs while yelling “yes, sir !”, making them both laugh.

He couldn’t help but smile. Part of him wanted to keep Sasuke all to himself, especially since he would be leaving soon --oh no, he didn’t want to think about it now, they had talked about it enough during the numerous meetings they’d had during the day-- … But another part of him could only rejoice from seeing how their kids seemed totally okay with this new development in their relationship. Was it just a generational thing ? Were kids nowadays more open about these things ? He didn’t know, but he was glad that the only one who was upset for now was Hinata. She could be. She deserved to be. 

Oww, resentful, are we ? This is unlike you.

Oh, he would forgive her at some point. Just not right now. 

They all went inside his apartment, Boruto throwing himself (and his bag) on the sofa in the living room, still smiling. Naruto had to admit that when he was like that, he looked just like him when he was a child. He knew that Sasuke was thinking the same thing, as the Uchiha was also smiling a little, lost in thoughts. 

“Does it mean I can take the Uchiha name ?” 

Boruto’s new inquiry resonated in the otherwise silent room. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, speechless. Then they both laughed, unable to resist.

“I’m sorry Boruto, but that’s not how it works. You’ll have to keep the Uzumaki name.”

Of course he had thought about it. Not for Boruto of course, but for himself. When he would change the laws and get married to Sasuke… Will any of them change their name ? He had no idea how it worked in countries where same-sex marriages were allowed, he would have to do a bit of research on that part. To be honest, he just thought that people should have the freedom to do whatever they wanted to, regarding this matter. He was proud of his mother’s name and clan, even though he didn’t know much about them. But at the same time, he wouldn’t mind taking Sasuke’s last name either... 

Gonna take revenge for the times you saw Sakura with the Uchiha’s crest ?

… No, it’s not like that.

You sure ? 

“You guys are mean. I’m sure it’s not that impossible !” Boruto exclaimed, clearly pouting now, his arms crossed on his chest. Naruto couldn’t help but laugh. His son did look exactly like him when he was acting like that. 

Without a word, they settled into their new routine, preparing food for dinner, cleaning a bit what needed to be cleaned (like, the sheets for example…). Boruto adapted quickly and came to help, setting the table on the kitchen table, filling a carafe with water. Naruto would catch here and there his son’s gaze upon them. He seemed curious, but didn’t say anything. He could only imagine how weird it must be for Boruto to see him being so domestic with Sasuke when all he had ever done at ‘home’ was to sleep and eat. He had never helped Hinata in the kitchen, he had never felt the need to. They didn’t share anything in common and had quickly given up on even sharing a bed. But with Sasuke… Everything was different with Sasuke. He smiled warmly as he looked at the man trying to teach Boruto how to make an omelet. His son had always admired Sasuke for some reason. Naruto could only guess how happy the little boy must be right now. He came closer to them, and ruffled the boy’s golden locks, making him whine.

“Daaad, I’m trying to focus, come on !!”

He chuckled, “Alright, alright, it better be perfect, then.”

“It doesn’t need to be perfect to taste good.” Sasuke interjected, and Naruto couldn’t help but smile at the man. God he loved him so much. 

“You’re right,” he conceded, eyes lingering on the Uchiha’s face. He tried very hard not to think about tomorrow’s mission, but oh the longing was already here, deep in his bones. Sasuke was still here, with him, but he was already missing him and longing for him. He hated that the man was going on a dangerous mission without him. It felt wrong. They were the strongest when they were side by side, it was stupid to… 

He sighed. He shouldn’t think about this again. They had already talked about this all day. Suddenly feeling his good mood drop, the blond went to sit at the table, having nothing left to do. He felt Sasuke’s gaze follow him, but it’s not like they could talk about it again now. No, not in front of Boruto. Knowing his son, he would probably be on his side, saying that he should go, probably negotiating for coming along too. No, he couldn’t talk about this in front of his son, it would also mean that he would have to talk about the attack and everything, and no, kids had to be kids. This is what had been denied to both Sasuke and him when they were young, he would do everything in his power to be sure that the generation of Boruto would have a true childhood, without having to worry about anything. This was his role to protect all of that. All of them . This was the role of his generation. He wouldn’t be able to do that alone, as Itachi had reminded him so many years ago. It’s a collective effort to protect the peace, and the children. Oh, but if he could protect Sasuke, too… He refrained from sighing again, knowing that it would draw the Uchiha’s suspicion, if it wasn’t already too late for that. It would do nothing good to fuss over Sasuke like a mother hen, he knew it, but still. The man was just recovering, and he already had to leave. 

He won’t be alone, Naruto. Konoha and all the other countries are sending their best shinobis…

Well, I am one of Konoha’s best shinobis… 

Yeah, and you’re supposed to protect the village, not your boyfriend.

Argh, this was driving him nuts. Wasn’t there a way to combine both ?

He was dragged out of his thoughts and little discussion with Kurama when a hand came to rest at the small of his back. Sasuke was looking at him with such intensity, he almost blushed. It was always something to be the center of Sasuke’s world and focus. He seemed to be thinking hard about something, and the slight frown would suggest that he was worried about something. Naruto gave him a small smile. They were both worried about the other, right ? They had said goodbye so many times throughout their lives, and yet it seemed like it was becoming increasingly hard to do it again. 

Suddenly, Sasuke leaned towards him, and kissed him on the forehead oh so gently, oh so softly, Naruto closed his eyes and felt his heart melt inside his chest. The man quickly stepped away, and went to sit on the sofa with Boruto, who was now watching tv. The blond only hoped he was not blushing when he joined them and sat in the middle. 

They watched a tv series that Boruto seemed to love, and that both Sasuke and Naruto had never seen. Not like they watched tv all that often, so… But the plot was interesting, he had to admit. Without really realizing, he ended up snuggling against Sasuke, warmly pressed against the man’s chest, the Uchiha’s arm wrapped around his waist. It felt nice to just cuddle and watch a silly show together. He felt himself relax in the sweetness of this evening… Or, almost relax. Boruto was moving a lot, changing position every five minutes. Glancing beside him to have a better look at his son, he asked, “Do you need anything, Boruto ? A blanket ? A pillow ?”

The boy suddenly blushed, avoiding his eyes, and Naruto instantly got curious. 

“What is it ?” He insisted, wondering what could be wrong.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” The kid replied shortly, stubbornly staying focused on the tv. 

Naruto looked at Sasuke, titling his head in confusion, and the man smirked at him, visibly understanding something that Naruto had missed. He was about to ask, when he was interrupted by the man himself. 

“Do you want to cuddle with us, Boruto ?” 

Naruto watched in awe as his son’s face turned tomato red, blue eyes widening in horror at what Sasuke had just said. Touché, huh ? Naruto chuckled, making a ‘come here’ motion with his hand while saying “Come on, come here, don’t be shy, son.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he had held his son in his arms. As Naruto had grown distant from his wife and ‘home’, Boruto had resented him greatly and had kept his distance as well. He could remember holding him as a baby, and when he was starting to walk, when he first took him to school when he was 4 or 5, but after that… 

Very slowly, and clearly with a lot of hesitation, Boruto came closer, not daring to meet his father’s eyes. He was blushing, and Naruto was being reminded of how cute his son could be. Chuckling, he caught him off guard in his arms, making him yelp in surprise, and then came back to rest against Sasuke’s chest, who wrapped his arm around them both, smiling too. He could feel how Boruto’s heart was racing, and he couldn’t help but smile fondly. He felt sorry for the years where their relationship had been shitty. But he felt so happy now, seeing that there was another way. Seeing that they could make this work somehow. Holding his son a bit tighter against him, Naruto kissed the top of his head, earning an embarrassed whine and a “daaaad” which made both Sasuke and Naruto laugh, and then he lifted his head, kissing softly the man against him. They would be alright… right ? Oh, he wasn’t the praying type, but if prayers could work, he would pray every day so that he could keep this happiness. This love.

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

The moon was still high up in the sky, when he left the apartment. The night was silent, except for the soft snoring coming from the blond in the bed. He made sure to be careful not to wake him as he left his warmth, smiling when he heard the man mumbling his name in his sleep. The kid was sleeping on the couch, so he gave up on eating breakfast, only packing a few things easy to eat later. He didn’t want to wake anyone. He was worried it would be too hard to say goodbye then. How many times did he leave Konoha ? He couldn’t remember, but this time… This time, it was definitely harder. He had always enjoyed traveling, even when it meant going on dangerous missions all alone, but now that he had someone he loved to return to, now that he had a home that truly felt like home to return to… He sighed. This was exactly what he had feared when he was younger, right ? This was exactly why he had tried to break all his bonds with such abandon. Well, at least now he realized that it was worth it. Loving Naruto was worth whatever pain he could feel in the future.

He arrived at the gates, and within a few minutes, the rest of the squad joined him. It had been decided that each shinobi country would send a team of 5, so that they could surround the target. According to the intel gathered on the criminal organization, they had a headquarter hidden in the eastern mountains, from where their leaders gave all the orders. It had been reported as well that this place was used as stockage for weapons and poisons. 

Sasuke had to admit that Sai’s team was excellent. He had taken over the Racine, reformed it and incorporated it as a branch of the ANBU, much more transparent in their actions and loyal to the Hokage. They had managed to gather everything Konoha could have on this mysterious organization while also gathering whatever intel the other countries could have, in such a short time… He had to say he was impressed. A part of him was a little doubtful of course, but over the years, he had learned to trust the guy. They had worked together a few times, and he had always been reliable.

As the group left the village in silence, Sasuke hoped that Naruto would follow the plan, by staying here in Konoha. He had a bad feeling about this, the blond had been quite clear about how much he disapproved of being left aside, even though all the other Kages would also stay home. The peace was too fragile to take the risk of losing a Kage. The blond didn’t seem to think that he was that irreplaceable, but Sasuke knew better. There was no one else like Naruto, not in their generation, not in the previous one, and not even in the next one. If someone could achieve a complete reform of Konoha and maintain the peace across the land, it was Naruto, no one else. 

“Are you thinking about Naruto, Sasuke-san ?” 

He sighed. Yes, Sai had done a great job. It didn’t mean that he liked talking to him anymore than when they first met. 

“None of your business.” He replied, but unfortunately this made the man smile.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Are you thinking about him naked ?” 

He did his best not to give the other man the pleasure of seeing astonishment on his face, but he was sure that at least his eyes widened in surprise. What the hell ?

“What do you mean ?”

“Oh well, I do think about my wife naked too, but I don’t think it’s the kind of mission where you can do that so… I was just making sure that our team leader is focused on the mission. Are you ?”

“... Who told you that Naruto and I… ?”

“Oh, that ? Remember that night after you left the hospital ? Sakura got real drunk and… well. You know.”

Oh, how much he hated that smile. Damn it, Sakura… How many people heard her that night ? Seriously, this was ridiculous… He had told her to keep it down for now, and she had promised but… He sighed. He knew how drunk Sakura could be, even though he had only witnessed it a few times. Usually, Naruto would help her and prevent her from getting completely wasted, but well on that night… Naruto had been with him. And she had needed to unwind after all these years raising Sarada on her own, so he couldn’t really blame her, but… 

“Was it supposed to be a secret ?” Sai asked, tilting his head. 

“It doesn’t matter.” He replied shortly, picking up speed. He wanted to put an end to this conversation. Sai had talked about focusing on the mission, well Sasuke was all for it now.

Unfortunately, Sai didn’t seem inclined to follow his lead. He catched up with him, continuing the discussion.

“If it’s of any comfort to you, no one was surprised.” He said, smiling again. Sasuke looked at him, somehow confused.

“What do you mean, no one was surprised ?”

“Oh come on, Sasuke…” The man started, chuckling. Then, seeing that the Uchiha was perfectly serious, his smile slowly faded away. He seemed to think for a little while, then took a much more serious tone. “For as long as I knew him, Naruto has always been talking about you. Like, all the time. From what I understand, it’s been like that since you were kids. He’s been gushing over you since forever, and he kept at it even after he married Hinata. On the other hand, it seemed like the only human being you could smile with was Naruto. So yeah… Even if I’m not the best to judge anyone’s perception of human relationships… Obvious, isn’t it ?” 

This time, Sai’s little smile seemed sincere. Understanding. Sasuke was not used to any of that. Had they been that ‘obvious’ ? All this time ? It sounded ridiculous now that Sai put it like that… Huffing, he didn’t respond. They knew nothing about Naruto and him. They understood nothing. Right ?

*****

They would not meet with the other teams. The plan had already been shared about the countries, and so everyone had a specific role to fulfill and was well aware of it. Sasuke only had the name of leader for Konoha’s team, but quite honestly, he didn’t have much to do. Everyone already knew what they had to do. But a team leader has been affected in case things would go wrong. 

After several hours of travel, they set up camp not too far from the enemy’s headquarters. Far enough not to be noticed by the guards, close enough that they could infiltrate the place swiftly and quickly tomorrow morning. Their goal was quite straightforward : find the leader, and take him prisoner, if possible. Konoha had been the first attacked country, so they would interrogate the man, or kill him if necessary. The other teams would make sure that the way is clear for them, and they will also try to capture key elements of the organization. No one deemed dangerous would be allowed to leave this place tomorrow. 

As he was staring into the fire, sitting on a trunk nearby, Sasuke couldn’t help but think about Naruto again. What was he doing, right now ? What did he eat for breakfast this morning ? He let out a small sigh. He shouldn’t be thinking about Naruto now. Sai was right, they all had to stay focused for this mission. He had almost died last time, and two of their comrades did die, so now was not the time to be distracted. 

Ino came to sit beside him, and he tensed. He had to admit he didn’t expect her to join them, it seemed quite stupid to him to send both parents on the same, dangerous mission, but he had not questionned it when she arrived this morning. They needed a healer after all, and the other person they had selected yesterday was already away on another mission it seemed. He had never really talked to Ino, nothing more than the times he had rejected her when they were children, so it felt awkward. 

“What are you thinking about ?” She asked, tilting her head to the side while looking at him expectantly, a little smile on her lips.

“Tomorrow’s mission.” He lied, definitely not willing to talk about Naruto with her. First Sai, now Ino… Were they all going to come to him to have a pep talk or what ? He tried not to be bored by that. Of course, if he was going to stay in Konoha for longer periods of time, he would have to socialize at some point. He couldn’t stay alone with Naruto all the time. Not that he would mind, but the blond would probably get bored at some point.

She hummed, nodding her head. “... Nothing else ?”

“Like what ?” 

“Oh, I don’t know… Someone, maybe… ?”

Here we go again. Everybody knew, right ? Damn it, Sakura… 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He said, trying not to sound too harsh. He just didn’t want to be distracted at the moment. And thinking about Naruto was very distracting.

“Oh…” Ino said, looking a bit disappointed. “I see… Sorry.” 

After a few seconds spent in silence, watching the fire, she stood up and left, leaving Sasuke alone. Not too long after that, he saw Sai coming back from the first round of guard. Oddly enough, he went directly to Sasuke.

“I know it might not be my place to ask but… What did you say ? I’ve just seen--”

Sasuke sighed, trying not to roll his eyes. This couple, really… 

“I just told Ino I didn’t want to talk, that’s all. Nothing special.” 

Looking up, he noticed that the other man was looking at him as if he had grown a second head. 

“What ?” He spat, starting to be annoyed by the whole situation.

“Sasuke… This is not Ino…” 

“What do you mean, this is not Ino ?”

“Well, I can recognize my wife, thank you. However, it seems that you … are struggling a little.” 

Sasuke froze. This was not possible. He abruptly stood up, looking lost. How… ? How did he not see… ? Feel… ? He dashed in the direction where the blond left, confused. 

He found the feminine silhouette crouched near the river, throwing rocks in the soft flow of clear water. He closed his eyes, trying to feel Naruto’s chakra, but felt nothing. How was that possible ? It was impossible to hide Kyuubi’s chakra from an Uchiha, though… He didn’t want to activate his sharingan (or rinnegan) when there was a slime chance that this could be an enemy or that they could be observed, so he just stepped forward, intending on just confronting this person.

“Why can’t I feel your chakra ?” He asked, and he saw the way the fake Ino’s body tensed. She turned her head, looking at him with a frown, pouting. Alright, at least this expression was familiar. 

A little ‘poof’ was heard and a little bit of smoke surrounded the woman, leaving in her place none other than Naruto himself, standing tall in an ANBU uniform. 

“I thought you would still recognize me, you bastard…” He muttered, still pouting.

Sasuke sighed. “We exchanged two sentences and I’m supposed to know it’s you, even without your chakra ?” He arched an eyebrow, obviously doubting the blond’s logic. 

Naruto was still pouting, stubborn as ever. “I didn’t like how you talked to me…”

“That’s how I talk to most people.” 

“You never--”

“Naruto, you’re not most people to me, and you know it.” 

A slight blush started to spread on the blond’s cheeks, and Sasuke knew that he had won. Well now it was his turn to frown, though.

“What are you doing here ? You promised you would stay to protect the village.” 

Sasuke would never admit it, but seeing Naruto here was making him anxious. More than respecting what has been decided during the meetings in Konoha, and with the other shinobi countries… He wanted to be selfish and protect Naruto. He could pretend he was protecting Konoha, he could pretend he was fighting for Konoha… But his one true link to Konoha was Naruto. Where the young boy he had been had fought against Naruto, now he wanted to fight for him. His only desire through this mission was to protect the man he loved. This man had haunted his days and nights for years, to think that he could lose him because of some stupid organization which had created a poison just for him… It was driving him crazy. Losing Naruto was a terrifying thought. 

So Sasuke was currently hating the familiar look of utmost determination on the blond’s ridiculously handsome features, because it already told him that Naruto would not change his mind. 

“I am protecting the village. Right here, with you.” 

It made him ache to see how the blond was still the same boy from their childhood. Almost thirty years later, and he was so different and yet exactly the same, it was infuriating. A part of him was sad that Naruto would never put himself first and try to protect his own life for once. The other part of him was incredibly proud of the man the blond had become, still honest and true to what he believed in. 

- ☼ -

Naruto had expected Sasuke to be angry with him. He had expected the famous Uchiha glare, darker than the night. And for a moment, that’s what he got. But what he had not expected was the way Sasuke’s eyes softened after hearing his declaration. He was not sure how to interpret this, but something in his words had definitely reached the man. 

They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. He was almost waiting for the other man to try and order him to go back to Konoha. But it never came. Sasuke sighed, shaking his head.

“I guess it’s too late now anyway.” 

Was it him or was Sasuke… kind of smiling ? Was he amused ? Or was it a sarcastic “I’m so going to kick your ass later” smile ? The blond was not sure. Sasuke himself seemed to be conflicted. Still, it felt weird to see the man accept the situation without even putting up a fight. Somehow, this made him worried for no reason.

Sasuke turned around, visibly ready to go back to camp.

“Wait, Sasuke… !” 

“What ?” The man snapped, looking at him over his shoulder.

“... Are we good ?” He said with a small voice, awkwardly scratching the back of his head with a shy smile.

The same softness he had witnessed in the raven’s eyes minutes before flashed again through black and purple. Sasuke turned around and came closer to him this time. 

“We’re good. I’m more angry at myself than at you. I should have known that you would still come. And it was selfish of me to want you to stay safe in the village.”

Awwww ~

Naruto was seriously thinking about finding a way to work with Kurama without him having full access to his body. But for now, there were more important things. Like, the way he wanted to hug Sasuke and never let him go. 

He smiled, and was about to answer when a branch cracked in the background. 

Both men turned towards the sound, slipping on their ANBU masks. It was probably too late to cover their identities, but there was still a chance that their enemy didn’t recognize them yet. They waited in silence, expecting another sound, something. Naruto could sense that there was someone out there, but he couldn’t feel any chakra other than the ones from his team. Probably regular men, just like last time. With guns, instead of chakra and jutsu. 

He took a step back, getting closer to Sasuke, and made a few signs with his hands. At the sharp inhale coming from behind him, he could guess that the man could feel his chakra once again. They would talk about that later, he was sure that Sasuke would not let that go easily. But for now, they had to focus on the mission at hand. 

During the several meetings they’ve had back in Konoha, Sasuke had shared with them everything that he had learned about guns while he was traveling, which had allowed them to train a little and get a bit better at fighting this kind of threat. Naruto had trained with everyone else, pretending that it would be needed if they ever tried to attack Konoha. Of course, the young Hokage had already planned to come anyway. As if he could just stay in his office while his friends and the love of his life put their lives on the line. 

Now switching to the sennin mode, Naruto could more easily detect the people hidden in the trees, and should they choose to attack, he would be able to dodge the bullets. For some reason, they didn’t seem about to move. What were they waiting for ? 

Taking a few steps back to get by Sasuke’s side, Naruto noticed that the man had activated the sharingan. 

“Do you see anything ? Why do they do nothing ?” He whispered, his tone anxious. If they had to fight, Naruto didn’t want to wait.

Sasuke didn’t answer right away, the blond could see how he stared ahead but also around them, frowning slightly. 

“They’re waiting for the rest of their little army.” The raven finally muttered, clearly displeased. “Lots of them are coming this way.”

This was bad, and not at all what they had planned. Each little unit was supposed to attack during the night, with the element of surprise on their side. How did they know they were coming ? How many men did they send their way, how many men did they send to the other units ? Did they know about all the other units ? 

Naruto forced himself to take a breath. If he panicked, he wouldn’t be able to maintain the sage mode, which would be dangerous at the moment. They had targeted him once, if they knew he was there, he was most likely going to be their biggest target again. Well, maybe that would mean that the other units were safe and could still attack their headquarters by surprise. Yeah, if they focused on Naruto, it wasn’t all that bad after all. Sasuke was here with him, and this time they were prepared. Together they would be unstoppable. 

*****

“You idiot !” 

Naruto couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Come on, Sas’ke, we both know I heal quicker than you.” 

He still heard the Uchiha curse, and the blond couldn’t blame him. Just like he didn’t want Sasuke to be hurt, the man felt the same towards him. But, for his defense, everyone had drank antidote before leaving, and they all had additional supplies on them, so at least it was fair to think that they didn’t have to worry about the bullets or blades being poisoned. Yeah because when they got too close to shoot, they had daggers to defend themselves. In the chaos of the fight, one had aimed for Sasuke’s side while the man was busy with 3 other opponents, and Naruto had obviously rushed to intercept the coward, rushing so much that he got a little cut on his cheek. 

“Take a shot of antidote, quickly !” 

“I’ll do that when we’re no longer outnumbered !” 

Naruto really hoped that the other units were able to follow the initial plan. Not that he truly believed that these men would give up just because their leaders had been arrested. Or killed. He could feel the sting on his cheek though, and sighed. F*cking poison. Sasuke was right, he should take a shot just in case, but he just… There was no time, they were already struggling as it was, he could not take a break now of all t--

The blond found himself in the air or… wait, not really.

“What the fuck, Sasuke ?!” was the only thing that managed to get out of him as he stared with wide eyes at Susanoo holding him. “Use that on them, not on me !!!” He couldn’t help but shout. He wanted to make sure that the Uchiha heard him, even from a distance. When he saw the man’s smug smile, he knew that he had heard. That bastard… 

Quickly rushing to his pocket where the vials of antidotes were, Naruto opened one and gulped all of it in one go. 

“I’m done, now let me go you asshole !” He screamed at Sasuke who was now fighting two men while dodging bullets right and left. They had to do something about these guns… Fighting against daggers was fairly enough, especially since they had antidotes, but the guns were too unpredictable and the field too messy to manage to avoid all of them. Naruto was quite sure that they must have shot people from their own team with the mess that was. 

Susanoo put him back on the ground, and the blond didn’t waste a second. Still in sennin mode, he tried to focus on what was unnatural aka, the guns. Maybe he could filter his surroundings in a way that he could detect only these mortal things. Then he could target all the guns and focus on disarming their owners. Yes, he could do that.

*****

It was over. Or, at least on their side, it was over. 

The Suna unit had joined them in the battle, but they didn’t hear from the other units, so they were not sure what had happened to them. They would just rest a few minutes to gather strength, drink water, maybe another shot of antidote, and they would be on their way to the headquarters of the organization, in case the others needed help. Or at least half of them would go, while the other half would stay and keep the prisoners in line. They had all agreed before leaving Konoha that they would only kill if it were necessary, so most opponents had been knocked out cold. That gave them a little bit more time to figure out how to bring them all to Konoha for their trial. At least, with Naruto with them, they didn’t need to wait for the Hokage’s orders on what to do. 

Naruto and Sasuke were among the ones who went to the headquarters. They were happy to see that all had gone well over there. All the leaders had been tied, blinded and muzzled, all sitting on the grass not far from the building, under the surveillance of a few shinobis. As they had expected, they had sent most of their fighters to Konoha’s camp, which made the perfect opportunity for the other units to dismantle the headquarters in peace. 

As he glanced at Sasuke by his side, both healthy and unarmed, Naruto couldn’t help but smile. They had done it. Together. Everything would be alright now, right ? When the raven-haired man turned to look at him and smiled back, Naruto forgot for a second where they were, who they were… He just leaned forward, and hugged Sasuke with all the strength left in his body, closing his eyes and letting out a relieved sigh. He was just so glad that this man was by his side. So glad this was over. So glad they could go home. Home . 

He heard a few giggles around them, but he didn’t care. The world already knew how important Sasuke was to him, this was nothing new. As he felt the other man’s heart beat against him, nothing else mattered. After everything they’d been through, being here, alive, holding Sasuke and being held by him so fiercely… Naruto felt like crying. All these days, all these years spent thinking about this man, wondering where he was, if he was alright, if he would stay this time… and now they were finally side by side, going forward together, fighting together for the world they wanted, for the future they wanted. Naruto knew this was definitely not the right place or the right moment to feel emotional about all this, but the relief flooded him with such intensity that he never wanted to let the man go… Like, physically. 

“Naruto…” came the gentle voice of the Uchiha, as he tried to step back a little, at least to see the blond’s face. But he shook his head, burying it harder against the man’s neck, unable to speak, unable to let go. 

A soft laugh was heard, and a hand came to rest on top of the blond locks, stroking slowly. If he were a cat, Naruto would purr. He only restrained himself from moaning because he knew they were not alone. 

“Go ahead, we’ll catch up.” He heard Sasuke tell the others, and Naruto tightened his arms around the man. Gosh, he loved him so much. 

He heard the others step away, and after a few minutes, he finally let go just enough to look into Sasuke’s eyes, his own eyes watery. 

“Let’s go home, Sasuke.” His voice was rough from the overwhelming emotions, and the smile the raven gave him was nearly blinding. The raven put a head on his forehead, probably checking for temperature, then nodded. 

“If you feel anything weird, please drink another vial of antidote, alright ?” 

Naruto smiled, then leaned forward, finally kissing the man. 

“I will.” 

Sasuke’s lips came chasing after another kiss, and the blond chuckled as they melted into a now familiar dance. He was so happy, he didn’t even know such a feeling was possible. He had spent most of his life thinking about Sasuke, and that was probably going to be the case until the end of his days. This thought used to terrify him, but now… Oh, now… This was the perfect plan. He wanted every day of his life to be filled with Sasuke. 

“Say, Sasuke ?” 

“Hmm ?”

“Will you marry me ?”

Chapter Text

- ☾ -

“Will you marry me ?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but freeze. This idiot was going at it again…

“Do you really think this is the right time to ask this again ?” He muttered, holding onto the body against him so that he wouldn’t have to face the disappointment on the blond’s face. He avoided that, but had to feel the sigh going out of Naruto.

“... I guess this is a no ?” 

“You’re guessing right.” 

“But why ?” The blond whined, shaking both of them from side to side to show how upset he was. The raven smiled at the childish behavior. It was Sasuke’s turn to sigh, though. It’s not like he didn’t want to marry Naruto. The blond wasn’t making this easy for him either.

“Don’t you remember what I told you last time ? As far as I know, the law didn’t change.”

He heard a muttered curse and this time it was Naruto who was hiding his face from him.

“You forgot, right ?” Sasuke said with a smile. He couldn’t even be upset, it was not like they hadn’t been busy these days with this stupid organization to stop. Naruto was only human, and even if he could summon clones, he couldn’t do everything all at the same time. Sasuke didn’t want him to do everything all at the same time, anyway. He prefered a Naruto in good health, thank you very much. No, after all, they had all the time in the world now. It was no big deal if they got married in a few months, or even a few years, as long as the blond stayed by his side. As long as he stayed with him. 

“I’m sorry, Sasuke…” The whine this time was of a different tone, and Sasuke dislodged himself from the blond’s arms, stepping back just enough to see the other man’s face. With his hand, he came to hold Naruto’s cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb.

“It’s okay, take your time. I can wait.” He said with a soft smile, a sweet promise that no matter what, he wasn’t going anywhere. He hadn’t meant it like this actually, but as he said the words, Sasuke realized that this was the truth. He would wait for Naruto no matter how long it would take, because now he meant to stay anyway. 

Naruto whined again, looking at him with a puppy look.

“But I can’t wait !!!”

… And Sasuke chuckled, amused by the level of frustration going through the blond. 

“Idiot.”

*****

It took the shinobi alliance weeks to be done with the criminal organization. All the members that had been captured had been interrogated, revealing that with the exception of the leaders who had created the actual movement, most members had only wanted to have a better life, no matter what it took them to achieve that. Lots of them were then assigned to a new job within one of the shinobi village, based on where they wanted to settle, and a new division was created only with the purpose of keeping in touch with these people, to make sure that they didn’t go back into terrorism any time soon. As for the leaders, most of them would stay in jail for a while, maybe even forever. Of course, Naruto was being his optimistic self and assured Sasuke that with the right help, they would eventually be able to get out someday. Sasuke was not very happy about that (they had tried to kill Naruto) but he knew that he shouldn’t be one to contest second chances. It would take longer to find and remove the bingo books as well as the guns that have been in circulation throughout the shinobi countries, but that was a mission for the ANBU. 

Sasuke officially moved in with Naruto, and little by little, they settled into a new routine. Waking up together, having breakfast together, going about their day of work and crossing paths here and there, sometimes having a lunch date, lovely evenings cuddling on the couch, having the kids over from time to time, nights exploring each other’s bodies… Sasuke had been anxious at first. As he had never had such a domestic life since his time as a kid with his family, he had been worried that he would have trouble accepting all this. He was scared that he would feel suffocated. He had waited for the feeling to come, and yet… It never came. Each day was a happy day, no matter what happened, because Naruto was with him. Reforming Konoha was of course putting a strain on the blond, and Sasuke was content with having the chance to work with him on the million of projects that the new Hokage was putting into place, but sometimes they would argue too, that’s what pressure did to people, but eventually… eventually they would always find a way to better communicate and find a solution together. He guessed that now, they were really adults, huh ? 

“Why are you laughing ?” 

The raven directed his attention back to the blond in front of him. 

“I was just thinking about how mature we were now, actually talking . It’s been months that we've been working together, and we didn’t even throw a punch once.” 

Naruto chuckled, his eyes shining with delight. Sasuke couldn’t help but smile in return. 

“You’re right, Sasuke. But come on, how do you want me to punch such a lovely smile ?” 

“Oh shut up.” 

Sasuke tried very hard to remove his stupid smile from his face, but failed, which made the blond giggle. The raven went back to the papers in front of him, when they heard someone muttering…

“For god’s sake, both of you, shut up. Some people are actually trying to work here.”  

“Oh, Shikamaru ! Sorry. I… We… I mean… I thought you went home already…” 

The blond was apologizing, scratching the back of his neck, while Sasuke was trying to focus on his work, slightly blushing. Over the past few months, it had become so easy to forget there were other people in the room with them. As the best shinobis of Konoha, this was a shame, really. But they just couldn’t help it. They were just happy.

It was actually funny to see how slowly but surely, everyone in Konoha understood what was going on between them. He had been worried about Naruto’s reputation and the stability of his position in case the village was not happy about that development… But in the end, it all went smoothly. Or like, way better than what Sasuke had prepared for. Of course, some people found them disgusting, and some would refuse to talk to them now, avoiding them when they were buying groceries for example… but compared to the amount of support they received from their friends, children, even strangers… this meant nothing. The new laws regarding same-sex marriage were adopted quite easily, and a few months later, you could see new couples in the streets of Konoha. It was nice to see how different didn’t mean wrong, and that everyone was starting to accept this new normal that Naruto was building. A society where everyone was welcomed, no matter who they loved, no matter who they were, as long as they didn’t harm others. Quite honestly, Sasuke had thought this kind of world would never happen. He didn’t have much faith in people. But, oh Naruto. He had all his faith in Naruto, and the man was just amazing in his new role as Hokage. The change they had worked so hard for, was finally happening. Honestly, he had been surprised that the blond didn’t propose again right away after the laws were effective, but Sasuke knew that eventually, the new proposal would come.

A little piece of paper landed before him. 

< Stop looking at me like that. It’s distracting. >

A smirk stretched the corner of his lips, and he looked at Naruto, who was now fidgeting in his seat. He scribbled down an answer.

< How do I look at you ? >

He kept his gaze on the blond, pleased to see him blushing now. The man seemed to debate what to answer. The seconds stretched, and Sasuke took a quick look at Shikamaru, on the other side of the room. Damn, the man did work hard. He knew he should feel guilty for acting like a childish lovesick teenager instead of working, but… He couldn’t seem to care at the moment. It was not like Naruto and Sasuke didn’t work hard, too. Everyone needed a break from time to time… 

He extended his leg and let his foot brush against the blond’s leg. Naruto slightly jumped, then looked at him, a scandalized look on his handsome face. Oh, he was having way too much fun teasing the man. 

The blond put away the paper where he had written his answer and took another piece of paper to write something else.

< What are you doing ?! >

Sasuke wrote his reply, then gave the paper back.

< You said to stop looking… >

Even without looking at him, Sasuke could feel the tension in the air. Naruto almost shattered the paper, but restrained himself at the last second, probably thinking that the noise would attract Shikamaru’s attention. And he was right to think so. As he was slowly moving his foot up, up, and up Naruto’s leg, Sasuke kept his eyes on the advisor, just in case the man suddenly decided to take a look at them. It was nice to tease the blond, but the raven didn’t intend to be caught. 

When his foot reached the inside of Naruto’s tight and kept moving upward, the blond caught him. His strong hand was holding Sasuke’s foot in place, but the raven could feel him shake. Oh dear, Naruto was shaking. Sasuke had to know if he was angry or aroused, so he took a quick glance at him, and oh. Oh. How lovely. 

The blond was a mess. Blushing, shaking, eyes dark with lust, his lower lip trapped between his teeth. He was putting more strength than necessary in stopping Sasuke’s foot from moving, and the raven had an inkling that with that act, Naruto was trying to restrain both of them from doing something utterly shameless. Gosh, they really should give Shikamaru his own office, right ? 

As if sensing the raven’s attention directed towards him, Shikamaru started to lift his eyes to look at him, and in less than a second, Sasuke’s foot was back on the ground. Unfortunately. He did his best not to sigh. He wanted to tease Naruto, but in the end he had teased himself just as well. He went back to the paperwork in front of him, and a new piece of paper landed on it. 

< Is this payback for what I did during the mission ? >

Oh. Well, Sasuke hadn’t thought so far, but now that the blond mentioned it… 

< Do you really want me to punish you ? >

Of course, the idiot was referencing the fact that he had used the Hyuuga stupid jutsu to hide his chakra from Sasuke, and sneak into their special unit to dismantle the criminal organization even though it had been agreed beforehand that the Hokage would remain in Konoha. Quite honestly, it’s not like Sasuke was mad at Naruto. He should have thought about it, it was just so very Naruto to do something like this. Yes, he had been angry at first, but more because he had been scared about Naruto’s safety than because of the lying. He knew that the blond wouldn’t have lied to him if he had found another way of joining the mission. But somehow… It seemed like Naruto was expecting some kind of revenge from Sasuke, and Sasuke… Sasuke had to wonder if the blond really wanted to be punished that badly ? They had not discussed their kinks and fantasies (yet), so he wasn’t sure if this was a thing for Naruto… But well, now that the man was blushing, again, Sasuke wondered if this was the kind of scenario the blond had imagined at some point… This was making him very curious, indeed… 

< It’s not what you think, bastard !!! >

Sasuke could only smirk.

< You sure ? >

There came the hesitation again.

< I mean… If you’re into this sort of thing, I am not against trying, but… It’s… It’s not the punishing part that is kinda… turning me on. >

The blond couldn’t meet his eyes, and Sasuke couldn’t wait anymore. Standing up, he came to take Naruto’s hand, throwing a “we’ll be back soon” above his shoulder to Shikamaru, and then he got them both out of the room. There was no one in the corridor, but Sasuke was a man of caution, so he led them to a small storage room, locked the door behind them, and then pressed the blond against said door. 

“So tell me now, Naruto… What is turning you on ?” The sultry, provocative tone came out so naturally now. He saw the blond puffing against his lips, trying hard not to avoid his burning gaze. He was well-aware of the kind of effect he could have on the blond now, and by the gods, if this didn’t turn him on too. 

“Tell me…” He whispered, gently stroking the blond’s cheek. He could see the shiver that went through the man in front of him. 

“I… It’s not the pain. Definitely not into that. Hum… It’s difficult to explain but I think it may be… the vulnerability ? It’s… I… I hate being vulnerable in front of others, but with you… I don’t know, I just find it hot how I can just let myself go, you know. I don’t have to force a smile, or a facade. I don’t have to be in charge, I can just trust you. I mean, I also like to be in charge and I think seeing you opening up to me also turns me on like a lot … I guess everything you do just turns me on actually, but… Why are you laughing again ? I’m rambling, right ? What was the question again ?” 

Sasuke had no idea how this man always managed to be so hot and yet so sweet, how Naruto managed to always make him burn and melt all at the same time. 

“I love you”, he murmured against those lips before kissing him with passion. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve such a precious human being. 

They kissed as if the only air they needed was the feel of the other’s lips against theirs, as if the only thing keeping them alive was the slow, sensual dance of their tongues. Everything felt too hot very quickly, hands tugging at strands of hair, bodies colliding, unable to resist the pull to get closer, closer . Whimpers and moans were silenced by their lips, only muffled noises escaping them, spurring them on to go further, further , to bring the other more pleasure, oh yes , more pleasure… 

The door shook behind Naruto’s back, making them both jump as someone was visibly trying to open the door, but the lock held on. The person still tried a few times, and the couple stepped away from the door, looking at each other with pink on their cheeks. 

“Is someone in there ? Can you open the door please ? There’s something I need to retrieve, it won’t take long.” 

When they opened the door, a woman was standing there, gapping at them. 

“Ho-Hokage-sama…” 

Too stunned to say anything more, she looked utterly confused. 

“Hello Aya-san,” said the blond, scratching the back of his head. “You can go, we’re… we’re done there.” He gestured for her to get in the room, but she didn’t move as her face was slowly turning to a tomato. Sasuke sighed. Of course, it wouldn’t take her long to piece two and two together. They were both flushed, clearly aroused, and they had been locked together in a small storage room. Damn it. They were worse than teenagers. 

… It was totally worth it.

- ☼ -

Well, well, well… If a drunk Sakura hadn’t been enough to tell the whole village about him and Sasuke, well now… He knew Aya, she was part of the administrative division, always polite and smiling… And always talking about the latest news and pieces of gossip. Yup. Couldn’t have done it better even if he had tried. 

Naruto didn’t know if he should feel relieved or embarrassed. Since the dismantling of the organization and their hug in front of all the other shinobis, they didn’t try to hide it anymore. Not that they would go in public and make out in front of everyone, no, of course not, but they would hold hands in the streets, and kiss when they were on a date. But oh dear, being caught making out in a storage room when he was supposed to work was a different kind of--

Of horny, yep yep. You guys jump each other as if the world was on fire. Even I get tired of it.

Naruto smiled. He couldn’t say that Kurama was wrong. The amount of sex they had was… well, they both had very good stamina, so… 

A hand slipped in his, and he looked up at Sasuke, who was also smiling. They both laughed softly as they left the young woman, just like the mischievous kids they had not been allowed to be. 

*****

Later that day, as they lay on the couch, cuddling in front of a movie, Naruto finally felt at peace with his life. He had felt like he was running on empty for so long, he had not expected happiness to be so… full. To take so much space in his heart, to bring so many smiles to his face, sincere ones. He had never thought that a simple touch could make him feel so at peace. He had never dared of something like this, didn’t know it even existed. Didn’t know it existed for him. 

“Naruto ?” 

“Hmm ?” 

“You know, I’m not mad about the jutsu thing.” 

The blond pulled away slightly so he could look at the raven’s face. The way Sasuke was looking at him… He didn’t know why, but he felt like crying, again .

“Really ?”

“Really. I understand why you did it, it’s okay.” 

There was a gentle smile on Sasuke’s face, and Naruto felt the urge to kiss him. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against the raven’s, both smiling into the kiss, and as he pulled away slowly, he breathed, “thank you”. 

A sudden idea popped in Naruto’s mind. 

“Maybe there’s no need to be forgiven, but… I still feel sorry for lying to you. It made me feel so bad, you know, I never want to do it again. So…”

The blond didn’t know if this was a good idea, but it’s something he had had in mind for a while now, so maybe this was his best chance of sharing this with Sasuke…

“Maybe I can give you something”, he continued, “something super embarrassing about me, that I would only share with you.”

There was a glint of curiosity in Sasuke’s eyes, and the blond smiled brightly.

“Think about it, a unique opportunity to tease me until the end of times !”

He knew this was the kind of thing Sasuke would not refuse.

“... What is it ?” 

Naruto’s smile widened. 

“It’s a love letter. One of many, actually.” He started playing with his fingers, feeling the blush burning its way across his cheeks. “When I found and read your letter, I thought it was only fair that I also show you mine.”

Oh yes, he had thought about it every day since that day. Actually, it was right after reading Sasuke’s letter that Naruto had decided to propose to the man. It was just so obvious that they were meant to be together. To stay together. Now that the laws had been updated, they could get married actually.

“I wrote a lot of letters when I was trying to figure out my feelings for you. You were not here, so I had to talk about it, somehow. It’s quite silly, and I’ve lost some but…”

Since his first two attempts had failed, Naruto was trying to prepare better for the next proposal. It had taken him forever to manage to measure Sasuke’s finger while the man was asleep because damn , he knew that if Sasuke felt him, he was busted, and the man’s reflexes were no joke. But fortunately for him, the raven was getting more and more at ease with him, sleeping peacefully now. 

“As I moved the last of my things here when we moved in together, I found a few of them. It’s quite embarrassing but…”

It had taken him forever to choose a ring, and now it was taking him forever to find the right moment. He knew that Sasuke wouldn't like it to be a big event, with people and stuff. And he had already done it twice, so bye bye for the surprise, but… 

“They’re yours, after all. Just like me.”

A new smile bloomed on his lips as he took in the stunned look on Sasuke’s face. Was it him or did his eyes seem… watery ? 

“Give it to me.” It was only a whisper, but Naruto heard it clearly. He got up from the couch and went to their shelf. He took out a small box, came to put it on the small table that was between the tv and the couch. Opening the box, he took out a white envelope and gave it to the raven.

Naruto saw the man rest against the cushions, as if bracing himself for the impact, and he couldn’t but giggle. Sasuke’s letter had meant a lot to Naruto, he hoped that his own letter would also warm Sasuke’s heart. 

Say, Sasuke. 

The earliest thing I can remember about you is that when the whole village hated me for no reason, you didn’t. You never judged me because of Kyuubi or because I was an orphan. You never treated me differently because of that. You were not friendly (to me or to anyone else for that matter), but you were never mean either. I was just a human being to you. A noisy one. You disliked my personality of course, I was way too loud and obnoxious for you... but we both knew what loneliness was , what emptiness was, and we watched each other for years without realizing that the other was doing the same. Even if we pretended later that we hated each other's guts... we were looking out for each other . In the middle of a crowd, I would find you and you would find me. Just to be sure that yes, we’re still here. Alive.

You know it by now (everyone knows it since the war, uh ?) but I really wanted to go and talk to you back when we were so very small. There was something pushing me to do so. And I didn't. I was so scared of being rejected by you. I could be rejected by the whole village, it was nothing new, I almost didn’t care anymore. But you, Sasuke... We had something. Without saying a single word, there was a kind of understanding between us. An acknowledgment. I was so scared that talking to you would break the spell. I couldn't stand the idea of you rejecting me like you rejected everyone, because then I would feel really alone in this world. Guess my childish cowardice got thrown back at me years later, with your departure. 

That's when I became aware that without my knowledge and in silence, you had become so important to me that I couldn't live without you. I didn't know what that meant. It was the first time I felt like dying, just because someone wasn't here anymore. Everyone thought I was too soft, when I kept chasing after you. Too stubborn, too emotional, too forgiving. But they could not understand, right Sasuke ? I'm sure even you couldn't understand then. You smartass. You never really saw how much you mean to me.

You've always been my goal , for so long. As a child I was jealous of you, I wanted to be like you. I didn't have any role model back then, but it became you. As a teenager I fought so much with you it makes me feel ashamed now. Would things be different if I had held you back then ? I’m not sure, you’re pretty stubborn you know, but still... I know things could have been better if I had reached out to you. The real you, not the perfect image you created. Not Sasuke Uchiha, the heir and last survivor of the prestigious clan Uchiha, no. Just Sasuke. If I had been a better friend… If only… I know you’ve never needed any protection Sasuke, but I wanted to protect you so badly. I wanted to take your pain, I wanted to see you smile. I wanted to understand you, I wanted to find the right words that would make you open up to me. I wanted you to come back. Come back to me.  

I couldn't tell you I felt like I couldn't breathe when you were not with me. I couldn't tell you my life had no meaning without you, at that time. I was too scared you would reject me further. I was too scared you would push me away, once again. So I told you I was doing this because of friendship. I think at that time I even believed it. 

Friends, huh ? 

I only understood later that this fire burning inside of me , both bright and consuming, was not really what we call friendship. It took me such a long time, I guess I really am an idiot. I'm sure you understood it all way sooner. Maybe when you told me that you knew my heart and I knew yours. I guess I also misinterpreted what was in your heart at that time. I can hear you calling me usuratonkachi in the back of my mind. I really am, right ? 

Say Sasuke... I think I finally understand. Your feelings and mine. Now I know. It’s called love. I love you, Sasuke Uchiha. And it’s not the average love story, no. As always, we’re at the top of the game, you know, in the soulmates category or something like that. It may sound stupid to you but… the more I think of us, the more I realize that we were really meant to be together. It was right in front of us, and none of us made the first step. I see it now. So, Sasuke… Maybe you could… come back ? It would be nice. I miss you a lot. I think about you every day. Do you think you could come back soon ? Come back to me. Please. Stay with me.

Your idiot,

Naruto.

Now Naruto was sure that these were tears shining in Sasuke’s beautiful eyes. He wanted to hug him so badly, but knew it was best to let him finish reading the letter first. He would write a new letter everyday, if only it made Sasuke understand how loved he was. How thankful Naruto felt to have him in his life. 

When black and purple left the paper to look at him, tears overflowed and ran down the pale skin. Sasuke was giving him such an intense look, Naruto didn’t know what to say, what to expect. Then suddenly came the deep voice of the Uchiha… 

“Let’s get married.”

For a second or two, Naruto was too stunned to react. But then… 

“Whaaaat ?”

“You don’t want to ?”

“I… Of course I want to, but…”

“Then what ? Marry me, Naruto.”

In a flash, the blond thought about all the preparations he had done, the potential scenarios he had in mind, the best places he had selected to make his new proposal and…

“I was supposed to do the proposal, bastard, I had a plan !”

“What was the plan ?”

“... Find a romantic moment and…”

He hadn’t chosen yet the perfect moment or place, to be honest, but… But this was just so not fair !

“Great. You want me to light a candle or two maybe ?”

“You… You, bastard ! I can’t believe you’re doing this to me !”

He saw the mischievous smile stretching Sasuke’s lips and dammit, how much he wanted to kiss it away.

“Naruto…” 

“What ?”, the blond snapped.

Sasuke let a few seconds pass, gently reaching out for his hand.

“Will you marry me ?”

Oh this was not fair. So not very fair. He looked too sincere, too insecure, as if… AS IF Naruto would ever say no to that. Really.

“I… Yes, I will, you bastard ! You know I will !” 

He wanted to pout and throw a tantrum, and be mad at Sasuke for this, but at the same time he couldn’t help but smile, because HOLY SHIT  THEY WERE GOING TO GET MARRIED !!!

“And you’re the one talking about romanticism, hmm ?”

“Shut up ! Let me get the ring !” 

The blond jumped from the couch and went to search for the little box in his jacket.

“I have a ring, too.”

Naruto turned around, his eyes wide with shock.

“Whaaaaat ?”

This made the bastard chuckle and damn it, Naruto really really wanted to kiss him.

“What, you don’t want it ?” Sasuke asked, taking a small box similar to the blond’s out of his purse.

“Oh shut up, I didn’t say that.” The blond whined, getting back to the couch to face his, hum, fiancé. OH DEAR GODS, HIS FIANCÉ.

They both popped the boxes open, staring at the ring the other had prepared for them. Naruto let out a delighted squeal when he realized that both rings were of the same style. White gold, simple, with tiny scriptures on the inside. They were really made for each other, right ? 

“Quick, quick, put it on my finger !” He was literally jumping on the couch, so eager and giddy and… and happy. Gosh he had never felt this happy. Sasuke laughed and obeyed, slipping the ring around his annular. It fit perfectly. Naruto once again made a delighted noise, then held Sasuke’s hand, sliding his ring on the raven’s finger. With a sigh of relief, the blond let go of the end : it fit perfectly too. 

“We’re really getting married.” The blond couldn’t contain his excitement. He was almost afraid that Sasuke would suddenly tell him this was just a joke. Obviously he knew that Sasuke wouldn’t do such a thing, but… This was all just so perfect . 

“We are getting married.” The raven confirmed, his eyes locked on Naruto’s, and oh. Oh. Naruto couldn’t wait any longer. Throwing his arms around the other man’s neck, the blond threw himself in his lap, eyes closing, lips melting against each other… Just like Kurama would have said, they kissed like the goddamn world was on fire.

Chapter Text

Hi there ~

I'm sorry this is not the epilogue I had promised last week.
Actually, since the thing is getting longer and longer and I'm still not done writing it yet, I think I'm just going to post it as an additional one-shot to this series haha. It's way too long to be just a simple epilogue guys. 

So I will put this part as completed, and I will post the one-shot/epilogue later on, when I'm done writing/editing it. Sorry for the little delay ~
Please make sure that you subscribe to the series Still Star-Crossed so that you can get a notification when I post it :) 

Thank you to everyone for reading this story, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it ♡
You guys are the best ♡

See you soon !