for: bgreenwivy
For: bgreenwivy
Title: Stand Inside Your Love
Rating: PG-13?
Summary: Sasuke realizes he’s been making one continuous mistake and resolves to change the path he’s on.
Warnings: Language, teenage boys, AU-ish/slice of life.
A/N: I’m sorry I couldn’t make children a bigger part of the story, but it was one of my squicks. I thought I was going to do better with it but :( PS. Thank you to ojuzo and alcyonev for fixing my poor grammar.
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Sasuke had been running day and night for a week, or so he thought, but he couldn't be sure. All of his training over the past several years had been for nothing but this escape; he hadn't really defeated his brother. Itachi had defeated himself and left Sasuke to pick up the pieces. It was the cruelest thing he'd done to date, save for slaying their entire clan, and though loathe as he was to admit it, Sasuke was beginning to forgive him his indiscretions. He had little choice otherwise.
He knew he was pushing his body too hard. All the drugs he'd taken in Sound hadn't done shit for him but Kabuto had continued to shove them down his throat anyway, promising Orochimaru the perfect body. They were hindering him now, if anything. His body felt weighed down with toxins. He scraped through a particularly sharp bramble, scratching his exposed face and chest along the way. Body soaked in sweat, muscles protesting in agony, he pushed on. Madara was a formidable opponent, one who would not be tricked so easily, and if so, he would certainly figure it out before long. He could be right on his tail, he could be watching him, laughing, waiting for the last moment in which he would strike him down just before reaching his destination.
Konoha had never seemed so far away as it did now, and Sasuke had never so badly wanted to come home. He hadn't the slightest clue what to expect when he reached the village walls. Masking his chakra wouldn't be a problem - he had so very little left that he knew he was doing irreparable damage to his body - but could he remember how to get where he wanted to go? What would await him when he got there?
He had left Madara, Team Taka, the last several years of his life behind and was running like the coward he'd always been. He'd promised death and destruction to Konoha and its people, but now he was seeking solace and safety within its walls. If anyone was going to welcome him home, albeit with a sharp right hook, it was going to be the only person he wanted to see.
Sasuke was clumsy. The rooftops rattled under his feet, clay shingles sliding off, crashing to the dirt paths below. He was drawing unwanted attention to himself, surely, but he had so little control left. His lungs burned and he coughed up something that smelled metallic. The gods couldn't be so cruel; he would make it, even if only in his last moments of consciousness. All he wanted was to see the idiot; all he wanted was help from the one person who had so desperately followed him while Sasuke had ignored and dismissed him all along.
He stopped on a roof, pressing his back to a wall while his legs trembled and threatened to give out. The area should have looked familiar to him, but it seemed that many of the buildings were undergoing reconstruction. He had heard very little of Pein’s attack, but realized he was looking upon the aftermath. With his weakening sharingan, he could detect the telltale chakra inside the rundown apartment in the next building. He had enough energy left in him. Had to, because he was just so close.
Sasuke never thought he would be so happy to see such a stupid looking ramen poster, but after all these years it was still hanging on the wall when he tumbled in through the window and tried to find his footing in the dark. He spat out blood again, deliriously noting that he should apologize for that later. Sorry for vomiting blood on your dirty wood floor, Naruto.
"Don't move," a menacing voice hissed. It was funny how Naruto had grown over the past few years. He'd grown taller, more fit, but Sasuke knew he could still take him if only he weren't barely clinging to the last threads of his life.
Pushing himself up off the floor, Sasuke swayed and stumbled a bit. Gods, he could even smell the idiot, and it was so, so nice.
"I said don't move!" Naruto shouted again, and Sasuke smiled.
"Please," he coughed out.
In the dark, Sasuke could only make out Naruto's outline, and hoped he would recognize his voice before gouging a kunai into his neck. He didn't think he could sustain anymore injuries and make it to the morning.
He could hear Naruto's sharp inhalation of breath as he fell forward against him. Stupid, naive, trusting Naruto; he caught Sasuke under his arms, and before losing consciousness, Sasuke managed to breathe with his blood-soaked tongue. "Please help me."
++
Sasuke wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. He could hear voices, Naruto and a female, murmuring around him. The sound was muffled and warped, unfamiliar. Perhaps, he supposed, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, if he wasn't in actuality dead. He wasn't sure about the afterlife, if one truly existed, but it would make sense that Naruto would be there. Naruto seemed to be everywhere Sasuke went, whether physically or a ghost of Sasuke's imagination.
Some time later, or what he imagined was such, he could hear only Naruto grumbling about something, worn floorboards creaking as he moved about. He must still have been in his apartment. It smelled so strongly of the idiot; it was sweet and dirty, and it swallowed Sasuke up entirely. The warmth around him might even have been Naruto's bed.
"Bastard... my apartment... stinking, filthy... still perfect... shithead... "
Now and then, a weight settled nearby on whatever Sasuke was laid out on. The sheets and blankets over his body were rolled up off of his feet and warm, calloused hands took one foot at a time, rubbing and encouraging circulation. They wandered up around his ankles, his calves, the back of his knees, and briefly brushed the inside of his thigh, before retreating hastily. More grumbling; the physical contact tickled, and Sasuke wondered if his legs were partially numb. It would serve him right to be paralyzed from the waist down. The gods’ punishment for a boy who'd been such an asshole to everyone all his life: being forced to rely on those whom he scorned and disrespected.
A warm, wet cloth rubbed his face gently, moved down his neck, his collar bone, smoothing over his chest and stomach before again disappearing hastily. More grumbling, and after one such occurrence of this treatment, Sasuke smiled.
"Prick," he heard Naruto utter, and the idiot literally tried to wipe the smile off his face with the cloth.
++
It was a Sunday when Sasuke was finally able to open his eyes. He knew this because Naruto told him so.
"It's Sunday. I like to sleep in on Sundays," Naruto growled, rolling away from the incessant pounding in Sasuke's chest where he'd been resting his head.
"Idiot," he croaked, and let his eyes fall shut again.
++
Some hours later, Naruto's indignant squawk woke him again. His eyes fluttered open against the pale sunlight filtering into the cluttered bedroom, illuminating Naruto's face to him for the first time in far too long. He fancied the idiot an angel, halo and all.
Sasuke smiled again, and this appeared to upset Naruto greatly.
"Don't smile at me, you bastard!" he shouted and climbed out of the bed, over Sasuke's prone body, wearing nothing but a pair of green, frog-print boxers and a messy mop of sunshine hair. Naruto grumbled and made a racket as he moved about the other room of his apartment, no doubt preparing his precious ramen.
"Coming into my house, sleeping in my bed, making me wait on him hand on foot... smiling like a bastard, like everything's okay, since when does he even smile... fucking shithead... never liked him anyway..."
Naruto returned some ten minutes later to find Sasuke's eyes closed again. He harrumphed and went about massaging his feet, perhaps a bit rougher than usual, which amused Sasuke. So did the flush on his cheeks as he worked his hands higher and higher, which Sasuke opened his eyes again to observe. When Naruto noticed, he growled and stopped. He stood and began washing Sasuke's face, neck, and chest again.
"Since you're finally awake, asshole, you need a real shower," he said.
The reunion wasn't quite as magical as Sasuke had hoped, but then again, he was lying half-naked in the idiot's bed, being massaged and cleaned at least once a day. It could have been worse.
"I told Tsunade you're here," he continued, and Sasuke's face paled noticeably, which was quite a feat. He wasn't completely deranged; he knew he couldn't return to Konoha and live in Naruto's closet whilst the village folk went on with their lives unaware, but it would have been preferable if he'd been awake for more than ten minutes when Naruto dropped the bomb. "She came to see you, healed you up a bit - nice job you did on your chakra, shithead - and helped set me up to take care of you for a while."
"A while?" Sasuke asked. It felt like there was a frog in his throat, and Naruto tipped some cool water from a glass into his mouth, which he swallowed gratefully.
"You've been out for a couple weeks. Couldn't take you to the hospital, it's not safe."
Naruto pulled on a rumpled t-shirt from his floor and a pair of loose sleep pants before folding back the sheets. For the first time Sasuke got a good look at his own body. Deep bruises littered his exposed skin, and there was plenty to see, for all he wore was a pair of suspiciously hideous, orange boxers. A tremor ran down his spine.
Naruto scoffed.
"You should be so lucky. Kakashi probably knows by now, Iruka too if he wiggled his hips and bat his lashes. Blargh, those two are so gross," he muttered as if talking to himself. With surprisingly gentle movements, he helped Sasuke to sit up against the wall. "You're not supposed to move around much. I should send for Tsunade: I'm not cut out for this shit."
Sasuke scowled and caught Naruto's wrist as he began to retreat. His muscles protested but he flexed his grip and forced Naruto to meet his eyes.
"You won't look at me," Sasuke pointed out, voice still scratchy. Naruto glared directly at him, as if to disprove this statement. "Not for more than two seconds, idiot," he added, and let go of Naruto's wrist when he tugged roughly away.
"Well you can't really blame me can you, bastard? You about gave me a fucking heart attack, crashing into my house late at night, all bloody and reeking of God knows what, bleeding all over my floor, falling all over me, bloody and fuck, bastard, you coughed up so much blood I - haven't seen you - it's been years - always running after you - slippery shithead just like that slimy snake fucker -"
Sasuke watched the progressive redness spreading over Naruto's face to the roots of his hair, his features becoming more agitated the longer he ranted on, and reached for him again. He was still too weak, the feeling so unfamiliar and wretched that he thought he could cry, but Naruto didn't put up a fight; rather, he extended his hand, allowed himself to be caught, crawled over Sasuke without having to be told and curled up beside him, resting his head against his chest whilst continuing to berate him.
"- how long had you even been traveling? You're a total moron, dumber than me, I swear, at least I can take care of myself - don't expect us to just be friends again - or whatever we were - why did you even come home? Not that I'm complaining - actually, I am, couldn't you have let me beat you at that slimy bastard's hideout so I could have thrown you over my shoulder and brought you home myself so everyone would stop telling me to stop chasing you, you fuck, and -"
"Naruto," Sasuke finally cut in, glad to be hearing that he hadn't changed, would probably never change, and was infinitely concerned about his well being, but desperate to get a word in edgewise or - something.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, you prick, and another thing -"
Sasuke found the strength to lift his right hand, the one that was not preoccupied with scratching Naruto's scalp gently, and cup the idiot's face. He tilted his head upward, watched with admiring scrutiny as pale lips continued to move a mile a minute before pressing his own upon them.
"Pervert!" Naruto cried, loud enough to induce a headache, before reaching up to cup Sasuke's face in return and intensify the kiss, complete with many obscene and wet smacking noises.
++
Naruto was not amused when he woke a few hours later to find the Hokage in his bedroom, but Tsunade was, because the blond idiot was wrapped around Sasuke like a leech, snoring fitfully, a spot of drool glistening on Sasuke's pale stomach.
++
Sasuke had been back in Konoha for two months by the time he was healthy enough to be taken into Tsunade's office for questioning, interrogation, or "debriefing," as Naruto liked to put it whilst chuckling heartily. Tsunade was not amused, nor was Ibiki, but Kakashi let out a bark of laughter and ruffled the idiot's hair.
Sasuke’s recovery had taken longer than he would have ever anticipated; he had really done a number on himself physically on his journey to Konoha, but he felt the emotional and psychological upheaval he’d gone through was entirely worth the struggle. It was, however, insignificant to the bigger picture, which he made a point to mention before anything got too far along.
"I left my team and Uchiha Madara in Kumogakure," he explained.
Tsunade's eyes widened, her hands falling from beneath her chin, and Kakashi stepped forward.
"The masked guy? Tobi?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied distractedly, wondering what kind of run in they'd had with him, and if Naruto had been present. "He's still alive and I haven't got a clue how. All I know is that I can't beat him. It was hard enough escaping," he admitted, ashamed at his cowardice, but grateful all the same that he had gone.
Tsunade's features hardened and Ibiki remained silent. Kakashi slumped back against a bookshelf, and Naruto stepped closer behind Sasuke to take his hand.
"He intends to return to Konoha to destroy it, I presume." It wasn't a question, more of a statement, and Sasuke bowed in affirmation.
++
"The old hag doesn't fall asleep at her desk like she used to," Naruto mentioned whilst stirring something particularly delicious-smelling in a wok. "I mean, she's gotta be tired as all hell, but she just doesn't sleep. Just keeps working, working, working." He sighed, dishing up the food and setting it on the table.
"Thank you," Sasuke said absently, and Naruto's hand faltered as he reached for his own chopsticks.
"You're somethin' else, y'know," he accused, jabbing his utensils at Sasuke from across the small table. "Since when do you say thank you - or anything other than hn or idiot, for that matter?"
Sasuke shrugged and dug into his food.
"I grew up, I guess," he offered lamely, slurping a noodle. "Just like you did."
"No, no," Naruto persisted. "You growing up should just be you becoming an even more intense bastard. You must have seen or done something life-changing. Bastards like you just don't get up one morning and decide I like kittens and rainbows and being polite to people now!"
Sasuke laughed despite himself.
"See! That's what I mean! What the fuck was that!? Since when do you laugh? Like, the first thing you did when you woke up two months ago was smile at me, it was ridiculous! It's like you aren't even Sasuke anymore!"
At that, Sasuke stopped eating, and his expression sobered. Naruto realized he may have made a mistake.
"Do you really mean that?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto shook his head lamely and moved his stir fry around in his bowl.
"No," he muttered childishly, and looked up thoughtfully. "But you're… different. You must've done and seen so many things when you were gone, and I'll never know about them, and how they affected you, because I wasn't there. Because you wouldn't let me in," he snapped angrily. He stood up abruptly from his chair, sending it smacking into the counter behind him, and started marching out of the room.
Sasuke let out a strangled cry that sounded something like Naruto!, but was garbled around some noodles and beef. This appeared to be their first fight as a couple, which he considered them to be whether Naruto agreed or not, so mostly he was excited about resolving it with hot fight sex, which he had heard about from Kakashi and imagined would be great, but wasn't sure how to go about.
He found Naruto stomping around his unkempt bedroom, picking things up off the floor, putting them in their proper place, and then disorganizing them again so he might still have something to keep his hands busy with.
"Naruto," Sasuke said with a sigh and flopped down on the bed. Naruto braced his hands on the windowsill, spared Sasuke a glance, and went to him when beckoned with the curl of an index finger. To his credit, he paused momentarily before doing so.
It seemed too easy to Sasuke and he wondered if the other boy was tricking him and would lash out. He wasn't very good at judging or anticipating Naruto’s moods; he was a tricky idiot. Maybe now wasn't the proper setting for their first time.
"I killed my brother, Naruto," he said softly and began to scratch Naruto's scalp when he curled into his side, resting his head on his chest. "My only blood relative left in the world and I killed him because I was too rash and selfish. Because I couldn't think beyond my own emotions, beyond one tiny moment of anger."
"But he… killed your family -" Naruto interjected.
"Yeah, but..." Sasuke didn't know if he could repeat Madara's story to Naruto. He was involved too. He contained the Nine Tailed Fox; he was part of the sad tale as well. And he would feel torn and wretched about the village betraying one of its own, someone that could've been himself, someone so dear to his very best friend. Even so, Naruto wasn't a child anymore.
"I don't think I'll ever really know my brother, especially not now. I've taken away that chance for myself by killing him. He's the only one who can tell the truth, but he never wanted to, so - all I can do now, Naruto, is grow up."
Sasuke could tell Naruto was mulling this over in his mind; all the doublespeak wasn't lost on him, after all.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," he murmured, voice muffled by the soft linen of Sasuke's shirt. "You deserve a family."
++
"C'mon old hag, isn't there some sort of jutsu or ancient Kyuubi sorcery that could make it possible? What if I turn into a chick, that -"
"No bimbo jutsu of yours will be capable of carrying a child, fool!" Tsunade snapped, smacking her fist on her great wooden desk. Sake cups rattled, papers threatened to dive for safety. "It's biology, and there's no way around it!"
"Well why the hell not! When I turn into a girl, I've got all the right parts - trust me, I've checked - and I've seen -"
"Oh gods, why did I allow Jiraiya to train you," Tsunade moaned, slumping back in her chair and folding her arms over her eyes. "You're just a child, Naruto -"
"I'm eighteen -"
"No, you're seventeen, do you think I'm stupid? You couldn't care for a child, Naruto, not with all your responsibilities and -"
"Oh I see, so it's 'cause you don't think I'm capable, is that it? -"
"- That's not what I said, you idiot, just -" Tsunade heaved a great sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose violently, as if trying to stop an oncoming sneeze. "Why do you even want a child, huh? You're only a child yourself; you'll be up for ANBU soon -"
"Oh, I'm a child but I can join ANBU? I don't want to join ANBU! -"
"-…But I thought you wanted to be Hokage -"
"I will be Hokage, you old hag, but I don't have to kill senselessly along the way -"
"You've got Sasuke to watch over, it's still not safe for him to be in the village alone, probably never will be -"
"- Are you implying that Sasuke is a child? -"
"Are you only doing this for him? Because of his clan? His bloodline? Perpetuating the sharingan?"
Naruto snapped his mouth shut and crossed his arms, glaring as coldly as he dared at his dear Hokage.
"I'm not an idiot anymore, old hag. Well, not mostly, anyway. I know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not like the village elders; I don't think it's right to want Sasuke back only for his advanced bloodline. He's Sasuke, my friend, not just an Uchiha who can better the fighting forces for this village. He wants to fight for us, with us, help defend against Madara when he ultimately shows up... he's a good man, old hag. And he's good to me, too."
++
"I can't get pregnant, but I think we should... you know, anyway."
Noodles dribbled messily out of Sasuke's mouth and back into his bowl.
"Or not. Way unsexy of you, bastard - just kidding, I still want to do it," Naruto grinned, leaning over the table enthusiastically.
Workers were busy scurrying about in Sasuke's brain, shuffling paperwork, dialing numbers and sending faxes to his southern parts whilst an alarm went off.
"Are we... still talking about children, or... you know," he asked cautiously.
"Pevert!" Naruto cried, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke, before realizing his mistake. "Oh right, yes that's what I meant."
"- okay. Okay. Yes. Okay. Right, let's go," Sasuke replied quickly, looking flustered and uncertain about how one was supposed to properly get out of a chair. He tried to do so without scooting out from under the table first and overturned his bowl, spilling noodles. He tried to scrape them back into the bowl with his chopsticks before giving it up as futile.
In the bedroom, they stood a little ways apart, staring at one another a bit uncertainly albeit with thinly veiled lust, before launching themselves at each other simultaneously. Their teeth clinked awkwardly at first but they found a rhythm soon enough and Sasuke was not surprised to find Naruto on top some minutes later. Nor did he complain, especially when Naruto rolled his hips just like so.
++
"Well I guess you can't get pregnant, either," Naruto grumbled a few weeks later. "I mean, what's the point of having such a kickass bloodline if it can't do anything valuable."
"Says the idiot with centuries of dark magic living in his stomach, near where reproductive organs could easily be formed," Sasuke shot back. "Why don't you just ask the thing to grow a fetus while it's in there if you want one so badly?"
"I feel like... yes, I'm quite certain I walked in on this conversation at the wrong time," Sai remarked, perched on the windowsill.
"Try using the door next time then," Naruto snapped. "Or are you taking tips from Kakashi? Whatever, you two perverts can do what you like. Why are you here?"
"The Hokage requests your presence," Sai offered with a smile. "And might I suggest that, if not for lack of trying, perhaps your penis is too small to -"
++
"He's Itachi's son," Tsunade began diplomatically, although unable to dim the surprise in her voice.
A dark-haired boy stood in front of Konan, whose hands were placed gently upon his shoulders.
"Hoshigaki Kisame rescued him from Iwagakure and brought him to me three months ago in Amegakure. I wasn't sure... I wanted to bring him sooner, but he was very malnourished, I didn't think it wise to travel but... he asked if he had any family alive and... I didn't know Sasuke would be here, only hoped..."
Both Naruto and Sasuke had been surprisingly quiet since arriving. It was hard not to notice the physical likeness. The boy was an Uchiha through and through. He'd been staring directly into Sasuke's eyes since he came into the room, lower lip quivering as if he wanted to say something.
When Konan was quiet again, and Tsunade looked to be at a loss for words, the boy's voice finally resounded in the room.
"Papa..." With a smile, he pulled a worn and tattered photograph from within his shirt, holding it out to show Sasuke. "You look just like my papa."
++
The boy was currently sleeping in Naruto's bed, which consequently had also become Sasuke's over the past year, and had been graced with clean sheets beforehand. He was particularly tired after his travelling with Konan and a large bowl of Ichiraku ramen, courtesy of Naruto.
Naruto and Sasuke hovered in the doorway, staring at the small, sleeping child in their bed.
"Look how small he is," Naruto whispered suddenly.
"Yes, I can see, idiot," Sasuke whispered back, although without malice.
"I wonder if he'll grow up to be feminine like you, bastard," Naruto asked with awe.
"I am not feminine," Sasuke replied. After a pause, "But - probably, yeah - look how small he is -"
"Isn't that what I just said?" Naruto asked in a heated whisper.
"Shut up," Sasuke grunted.
"You shut up."
Another pause, then Naruto asked. "Are we parents now? I mean... Konan can only stay for a couple days. She can't run Amegakure from here, she can't raise a child while running a village - can you imagine Tsunade raising a child? I mean she'd probably do okay, not as good as us of course, but she just doesn't have the time - I would be a great father -"
"- don't you mean mother -"
"- if I recall correctly, I was in the dominant position. My seed was -"
"- yes alright, shut up before you wake him up."
Naruto was quiet for only a moment before asking. "Do you think he'll love me? As much as he'll love you?"
"Idiot, of course," Sasuke hushed breathily, pulling Naruto away from the room and closing the door quietly behind them. "But if you don't think two Hokage could effectively raise a child, then I guess you're tendering your I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it! resignation now -"
"- no way, you're already the mother, it won't be a problem -"
"Shut up, idiot," Sasuke sniffed and pressed a kiss to whiskered cheeks to silence him.
Title: Stand Inside Your Love
Rating: PG-13?
Summary: Sasuke realizes he’s been making one continuous mistake and resolves to change the path he’s on.
Warnings: Language, teenage boys, AU-ish/slice of life.
A/N: I’m sorry I couldn’t make children a bigger part of the story, but it was one of my squicks. I thought I was going to do better with it but :( PS. Thank you to ojuzo and alcyonev for fixing my poor grammar.
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Sasuke had been running day and night for a week, or so he thought, but he couldn't be sure. All of his training over the past several years had been for nothing but this escape; he hadn't really defeated his brother. Itachi had defeated himself and left Sasuke to pick up the pieces. It was the cruelest thing he'd done to date, save for slaying their entire clan, and though loathe as he was to admit it, Sasuke was beginning to forgive him his indiscretions. He had little choice otherwise.
He knew he was pushing his body too hard. All the drugs he'd taken in Sound hadn't done shit for him but Kabuto had continued to shove them down his throat anyway, promising Orochimaru the perfect body. They were hindering him now, if anything. His body felt weighed down with toxins. He scraped through a particularly sharp bramble, scratching his exposed face and chest along the way. Body soaked in sweat, muscles protesting in agony, he pushed on. Madara was a formidable opponent, one who would not be tricked so easily, and if so, he would certainly figure it out before long. He could be right on his tail, he could be watching him, laughing, waiting for the last moment in which he would strike him down just before reaching his destination.
Konoha had never seemed so far away as it did now, and Sasuke had never so badly wanted to come home. He hadn't the slightest clue what to expect when he reached the village walls. Masking his chakra wouldn't be a problem - he had so very little left that he knew he was doing irreparable damage to his body - but could he remember how to get where he wanted to go? What would await him when he got there?
He had left Madara, Team Taka, the last several years of his life behind and was running like the coward he'd always been. He'd promised death and destruction to Konoha and its people, but now he was seeking solace and safety within its walls. If anyone was going to welcome him home, albeit with a sharp right hook, it was going to be the only person he wanted to see.
Sasuke was clumsy. The rooftops rattled under his feet, clay shingles sliding off, crashing to the dirt paths below. He was drawing unwanted attention to himself, surely, but he had so little control left. His lungs burned and he coughed up something that smelled metallic. The gods couldn't be so cruel; he would make it, even if only in his last moments of consciousness. All he wanted was to see the idiot; all he wanted was help from the one person who had so desperately followed him while Sasuke had ignored and dismissed him all along.
He stopped on a roof, pressing his back to a wall while his legs trembled and threatened to give out. The area should have looked familiar to him, but it seemed that many of the buildings were undergoing reconstruction. He had heard very little of Pein’s attack, but realized he was looking upon the aftermath. With his weakening sharingan, he could detect the telltale chakra inside the rundown apartment in the next building. He had enough energy left in him. Had to, because he was just so close.
Sasuke never thought he would be so happy to see such a stupid looking ramen poster, but after all these years it was still hanging on the wall when he tumbled in through the window and tried to find his footing in the dark. He spat out blood again, deliriously noting that he should apologize for that later. Sorry for vomiting blood on your dirty wood floor, Naruto.
"Don't move," a menacing voice hissed. It was funny how Naruto had grown over the past few years. He'd grown taller, more fit, but Sasuke knew he could still take him if only he weren't barely clinging to the last threads of his life.
Pushing himself up off the floor, Sasuke swayed and stumbled a bit. Gods, he could even smell the idiot, and it was so, so nice.
"I said don't move!" Naruto shouted again, and Sasuke smiled.
"Please," he coughed out.
In the dark, Sasuke could only make out Naruto's outline, and hoped he would recognize his voice before gouging a kunai into his neck. He didn't think he could sustain anymore injuries and make it to the morning.
He could hear Naruto's sharp inhalation of breath as he fell forward against him. Stupid, naive, trusting Naruto; he caught Sasuke under his arms, and before losing consciousness, Sasuke managed to breathe with his blood-soaked tongue. "Please help me."
++
Sasuke wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. He could hear voices, Naruto and a female, murmuring around him. The sound was muffled and warped, unfamiliar. Perhaps, he supposed, he was drifting in and out of consciousness, if he wasn't in actuality dead. He wasn't sure about the afterlife, if one truly existed, but it would make sense that Naruto would be there. Naruto seemed to be everywhere Sasuke went, whether physically or a ghost of Sasuke's imagination.
Some time later, or what he imagined was such, he could hear only Naruto grumbling about something, worn floorboards creaking as he moved about. He must still have been in his apartment. It smelled so strongly of the idiot; it was sweet and dirty, and it swallowed Sasuke up entirely. The warmth around him might even have been Naruto's bed.
"Bastard... my apartment... stinking, filthy... still perfect... shithead... "
Now and then, a weight settled nearby on whatever Sasuke was laid out on. The sheets and blankets over his body were rolled up off of his feet and warm, calloused hands took one foot at a time, rubbing and encouraging circulation. They wandered up around his ankles, his calves, the back of his knees, and briefly brushed the inside of his thigh, before retreating hastily. More grumbling; the physical contact tickled, and Sasuke wondered if his legs were partially numb. It would serve him right to be paralyzed from the waist down. The gods’ punishment for a boy who'd been such an asshole to everyone all his life: being forced to rely on those whom he scorned and disrespected.
A warm, wet cloth rubbed his face gently, moved down his neck, his collar bone, smoothing over his chest and stomach before again disappearing hastily. More grumbling, and after one such occurrence of this treatment, Sasuke smiled.
"Prick," he heard Naruto utter, and the idiot literally tried to wipe the smile off his face with the cloth.
++
It was a Sunday when Sasuke was finally able to open his eyes. He knew this because Naruto told him so.
"It's Sunday. I like to sleep in on Sundays," Naruto growled, rolling away from the incessant pounding in Sasuke's chest where he'd been resting his head.
"Idiot," he croaked, and let his eyes fall shut again.
++
Some hours later, Naruto's indignant squawk woke him again. His eyes fluttered open against the pale sunlight filtering into the cluttered bedroom, illuminating Naruto's face to him for the first time in far too long. He fancied the idiot an angel, halo and all.
Sasuke smiled again, and this appeared to upset Naruto greatly.
"Don't smile at me, you bastard!" he shouted and climbed out of the bed, over Sasuke's prone body, wearing nothing but a pair of green, frog-print boxers and a messy mop of sunshine hair. Naruto grumbled and made a racket as he moved about the other room of his apartment, no doubt preparing his precious ramen.
"Coming into my house, sleeping in my bed, making me wait on him hand on foot... smiling like a bastard, like everything's okay, since when does he even smile... fucking shithead... never liked him anyway..."
Naruto returned some ten minutes later to find Sasuke's eyes closed again. He harrumphed and went about massaging his feet, perhaps a bit rougher than usual, which amused Sasuke. So did the flush on his cheeks as he worked his hands higher and higher, which Sasuke opened his eyes again to observe. When Naruto noticed, he growled and stopped. He stood and began washing Sasuke's face, neck, and chest again.
"Since you're finally awake, asshole, you need a real shower," he said.
The reunion wasn't quite as magical as Sasuke had hoped, but then again, he was lying half-naked in the idiot's bed, being massaged and cleaned at least once a day. It could have been worse.
"I told Tsunade you're here," he continued, and Sasuke's face paled noticeably, which was quite a feat. He wasn't completely deranged; he knew he couldn't return to Konoha and live in Naruto's closet whilst the village folk went on with their lives unaware, but it would have been preferable if he'd been awake for more than ten minutes when Naruto dropped the bomb. "She came to see you, healed you up a bit - nice job you did on your chakra, shithead - and helped set me up to take care of you for a while."
"A while?" Sasuke asked. It felt like there was a frog in his throat, and Naruto tipped some cool water from a glass into his mouth, which he swallowed gratefully.
"You've been out for a couple weeks. Couldn't take you to the hospital, it's not safe."
Naruto pulled on a rumpled t-shirt from his floor and a pair of loose sleep pants before folding back the sheets. For the first time Sasuke got a good look at his own body. Deep bruises littered his exposed skin, and there was plenty to see, for all he wore was a pair of suspiciously hideous, orange boxers. A tremor ran down his spine.
Naruto scoffed.
"You should be so lucky. Kakashi probably knows by now, Iruka too if he wiggled his hips and bat his lashes. Blargh, those two are so gross," he muttered as if talking to himself. With surprisingly gentle movements, he helped Sasuke to sit up against the wall. "You're not supposed to move around much. I should send for Tsunade: I'm not cut out for this shit."
Sasuke scowled and caught Naruto's wrist as he began to retreat. His muscles protested but he flexed his grip and forced Naruto to meet his eyes.
"You won't look at me," Sasuke pointed out, voice still scratchy. Naruto glared directly at him, as if to disprove this statement. "Not for more than two seconds, idiot," he added, and let go of Naruto's wrist when he tugged roughly away.
"Well you can't really blame me can you, bastard? You about gave me a fucking heart attack, crashing into my house late at night, all bloody and reeking of God knows what, bleeding all over my floor, falling all over me, bloody and fuck, bastard, you coughed up so much blood I - haven't seen you - it's been years - always running after you - slippery shithead just like that slimy snake fucker -"
Sasuke watched the progressive redness spreading over Naruto's face to the roots of his hair, his features becoming more agitated the longer he ranted on, and reached for him again. He was still too weak, the feeling so unfamiliar and wretched that he thought he could cry, but Naruto didn't put up a fight; rather, he extended his hand, allowed himself to be caught, crawled over Sasuke without having to be told and curled up beside him, resting his head against his chest whilst continuing to berate him.
"- how long had you even been traveling? You're a total moron, dumber than me, I swear, at least I can take care of myself - don't expect us to just be friends again - or whatever we were - why did you even come home? Not that I'm complaining - actually, I am, couldn't you have let me beat you at that slimy bastard's hideout so I could have thrown you over my shoulder and brought you home myself so everyone would stop telling me to stop chasing you, you fuck, and -"
"Naruto," Sasuke finally cut in, glad to be hearing that he hadn't changed, would probably never change, and was infinitely concerned about his well being, but desperate to get a word in edgewise or - something.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking, you prick, and another thing -"
Sasuke found the strength to lift his right hand, the one that was not preoccupied with scratching Naruto's scalp gently, and cup the idiot's face. He tilted his head upward, watched with admiring scrutiny as pale lips continued to move a mile a minute before pressing his own upon them.
"Pervert!" Naruto cried, loud enough to induce a headache, before reaching up to cup Sasuke's face in return and intensify the kiss, complete with many obscene and wet smacking noises.
++
Naruto was not amused when he woke a few hours later to find the Hokage in his bedroom, but Tsunade was, because the blond idiot was wrapped around Sasuke like a leech, snoring fitfully, a spot of drool glistening on Sasuke's pale stomach.
++
Sasuke had been back in Konoha for two months by the time he was healthy enough to be taken into Tsunade's office for questioning, interrogation, or "debriefing," as Naruto liked to put it whilst chuckling heartily. Tsunade was not amused, nor was Ibiki, but Kakashi let out a bark of laughter and ruffled the idiot's hair.
Sasuke’s recovery had taken longer than he would have ever anticipated; he had really done a number on himself physically on his journey to Konoha, but he felt the emotional and psychological upheaval he’d gone through was entirely worth the struggle. It was, however, insignificant to the bigger picture, which he made a point to mention before anything got too far along.
"I left my team and Uchiha Madara in Kumogakure," he explained.
Tsunade's eyes widened, her hands falling from beneath her chin, and Kakashi stepped forward.
"The masked guy? Tobi?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied distractedly, wondering what kind of run in they'd had with him, and if Naruto had been present. "He's still alive and I haven't got a clue how. All I know is that I can't beat him. It was hard enough escaping," he admitted, ashamed at his cowardice, but grateful all the same that he had gone.
Tsunade's features hardened and Ibiki remained silent. Kakashi slumped back against a bookshelf, and Naruto stepped closer behind Sasuke to take his hand.
"He intends to return to Konoha to destroy it, I presume." It wasn't a question, more of a statement, and Sasuke bowed in affirmation.
++
"The old hag doesn't fall asleep at her desk like she used to," Naruto mentioned whilst stirring something particularly delicious-smelling in a wok. "I mean, she's gotta be tired as all hell, but she just doesn't sleep. Just keeps working, working, working." He sighed, dishing up the food and setting it on the table.
"Thank you," Sasuke said absently, and Naruto's hand faltered as he reached for his own chopsticks.
"You're somethin' else, y'know," he accused, jabbing his utensils at Sasuke from across the small table. "Since when do you say thank you - or anything other than hn or idiot, for that matter?"
Sasuke shrugged and dug into his food.
"I grew up, I guess," he offered lamely, slurping a noodle. "Just like you did."
"No, no," Naruto persisted. "You growing up should just be you becoming an even more intense bastard. You must have seen or done something life-changing. Bastards like you just don't get up one morning and decide I like kittens and rainbows and being polite to people now!"
Sasuke laughed despite himself.
"See! That's what I mean! What the fuck was that!? Since when do you laugh? Like, the first thing you did when you woke up two months ago was smile at me, it was ridiculous! It's like you aren't even Sasuke anymore!"
At that, Sasuke stopped eating, and his expression sobered. Naruto realized he may have made a mistake.
"Do you really mean that?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto shook his head lamely and moved his stir fry around in his bowl.
"No," he muttered childishly, and looked up thoughtfully. "But you're… different. You must've done and seen so many things when you were gone, and I'll never know about them, and how they affected you, because I wasn't there. Because you wouldn't let me in," he snapped angrily. He stood up abruptly from his chair, sending it smacking into the counter behind him, and started marching out of the room.
Sasuke let out a strangled cry that sounded something like Naruto!, but was garbled around some noodles and beef. This appeared to be their first fight as a couple, which he considered them to be whether Naruto agreed or not, so mostly he was excited about resolving it with hot fight sex, which he had heard about from Kakashi and imagined would be great, but wasn't sure how to go about.
He found Naruto stomping around his unkempt bedroom, picking things up off the floor, putting them in their proper place, and then disorganizing them again so he might still have something to keep his hands busy with.
"Naruto," Sasuke said with a sigh and flopped down on the bed. Naruto braced his hands on the windowsill, spared Sasuke a glance, and went to him when beckoned with the curl of an index finger. To his credit, he paused momentarily before doing so.
It seemed too easy to Sasuke and he wondered if the other boy was tricking him and would lash out. He wasn't very good at judging or anticipating Naruto’s moods; he was a tricky idiot. Maybe now wasn't the proper setting for their first time.
"I killed my brother, Naruto," he said softly and began to scratch Naruto's scalp when he curled into his side, resting his head on his chest. "My only blood relative left in the world and I killed him because I was too rash and selfish. Because I couldn't think beyond my own emotions, beyond one tiny moment of anger."
"But he… killed your family -" Naruto interjected.
"Yeah, but..." Sasuke didn't know if he could repeat Madara's story to Naruto. He was involved too. He contained the Nine Tailed Fox; he was part of the sad tale as well. And he would feel torn and wretched about the village betraying one of its own, someone that could've been himself, someone so dear to his very best friend. Even so, Naruto wasn't a child anymore.
"I don't think I'll ever really know my brother, especially not now. I've taken away that chance for myself by killing him. He's the only one who can tell the truth, but he never wanted to, so - all I can do now, Naruto, is grow up."
Sasuke could tell Naruto was mulling this over in his mind; all the doublespeak wasn't lost on him, after all.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke," he murmured, voice muffled by the soft linen of Sasuke's shirt. "You deserve a family."
++
"C'mon old hag, isn't there some sort of jutsu or ancient Kyuubi sorcery that could make it possible? What if I turn into a chick, that -"
"No bimbo jutsu of yours will be capable of carrying a child, fool!" Tsunade snapped, smacking her fist on her great wooden desk. Sake cups rattled, papers threatened to dive for safety. "It's biology, and there's no way around it!"
"Well why the hell not! When I turn into a girl, I've got all the right parts - trust me, I've checked - and I've seen -"
"Oh gods, why did I allow Jiraiya to train you," Tsunade moaned, slumping back in her chair and folding her arms over her eyes. "You're just a child, Naruto -"
"I'm eighteen -"
"No, you're seventeen, do you think I'm stupid? You couldn't care for a child, Naruto, not with all your responsibilities and -"
"Oh I see, so it's 'cause you don't think I'm capable, is that it? -"
"- That's not what I said, you idiot, just -" Tsunade heaved a great sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose violently, as if trying to stop an oncoming sneeze. "Why do you even want a child, huh? You're only a child yourself; you'll be up for ANBU soon -"
"Oh, I'm a child but I can join ANBU? I don't want to join ANBU! -"
"-…But I thought you wanted to be Hokage -"
"I will be Hokage, you old hag, but I don't have to kill senselessly along the way -"
"You've got Sasuke to watch over, it's still not safe for him to be in the village alone, probably never will be -"
"- Are you implying that Sasuke is a child? -"
"Are you only doing this for him? Because of his clan? His bloodline? Perpetuating the sharingan?"
Naruto snapped his mouth shut and crossed his arms, glaring as coldly as he dared at his dear Hokage.
"I'm not an idiot anymore, old hag. Well, not mostly, anyway. I know what I'm getting myself into. I'm not like the village elders; I don't think it's right to want Sasuke back only for his advanced bloodline. He's Sasuke, my friend, not just an Uchiha who can better the fighting forces for this village. He wants to fight for us, with us, help defend against Madara when he ultimately shows up... he's a good man, old hag. And he's good to me, too."
++
"I can't get pregnant, but I think we should... you know, anyway."
Noodles dribbled messily out of Sasuke's mouth and back into his bowl.
"Or not. Way unsexy of you, bastard - just kidding, I still want to do it," Naruto grinned, leaning over the table enthusiastically.
Workers were busy scurrying about in Sasuke's brain, shuffling paperwork, dialing numbers and sending faxes to his southern parts whilst an alarm went off.
"Are we... still talking about children, or... you know," he asked cautiously.
"Pevert!" Naruto cried, pointing an accusing finger at Sasuke, before realizing his mistake. "Oh right, yes that's what I meant."
"- okay. Okay. Yes. Okay. Right, let's go," Sasuke replied quickly, looking flustered and uncertain about how one was supposed to properly get out of a chair. He tried to do so without scooting out from under the table first and overturned his bowl, spilling noodles. He tried to scrape them back into the bowl with his chopsticks before giving it up as futile.
In the bedroom, they stood a little ways apart, staring at one another a bit uncertainly albeit with thinly veiled lust, before launching themselves at each other simultaneously. Their teeth clinked awkwardly at first but they found a rhythm soon enough and Sasuke was not surprised to find Naruto on top some minutes later. Nor did he complain, especially when Naruto rolled his hips just like so.
++
"Well I guess you can't get pregnant, either," Naruto grumbled a few weeks later. "I mean, what's the point of having such a kickass bloodline if it can't do anything valuable."
"Says the idiot with centuries of dark magic living in his stomach, near where reproductive organs could easily be formed," Sasuke shot back. "Why don't you just ask the thing to grow a fetus while it's in there if you want one so badly?"
"I feel like... yes, I'm quite certain I walked in on this conversation at the wrong time," Sai remarked, perched on the windowsill.
"Try using the door next time then," Naruto snapped. "Or are you taking tips from Kakashi? Whatever, you two perverts can do what you like. Why are you here?"
"The Hokage requests your presence," Sai offered with a smile. "And might I suggest that, if not for lack of trying, perhaps your penis is too small to -"
++
"He's Itachi's son," Tsunade began diplomatically, although unable to dim the surprise in her voice.
A dark-haired boy stood in front of Konan, whose hands were placed gently upon his shoulders.
"Hoshigaki Kisame rescued him from Iwagakure and brought him to me three months ago in Amegakure. I wasn't sure... I wanted to bring him sooner, but he was very malnourished, I didn't think it wise to travel but... he asked if he had any family alive and... I didn't know Sasuke would be here, only hoped..."
Both Naruto and Sasuke had been surprisingly quiet since arriving. It was hard not to notice the physical likeness. The boy was an Uchiha through and through. He'd been staring directly into Sasuke's eyes since he came into the room, lower lip quivering as if he wanted to say something.
When Konan was quiet again, and Tsunade looked to be at a loss for words, the boy's voice finally resounded in the room.
"Papa..." With a smile, he pulled a worn and tattered photograph from within his shirt, holding it out to show Sasuke. "You look just like my papa."
++
The boy was currently sleeping in Naruto's bed, which consequently had also become Sasuke's over the past year, and had been graced with clean sheets beforehand. He was particularly tired after his travelling with Konan and a large bowl of Ichiraku ramen, courtesy of Naruto.
Naruto and Sasuke hovered in the doorway, staring at the small, sleeping child in their bed.
"Look how small he is," Naruto whispered suddenly.
"Yes, I can see, idiot," Sasuke whispered back, although without malice.
"I wonder if he'll grow up to be feminine like you, bastard," Naruto asked with awe.
"I am not feminine," Sasuke replied. After a pause, "But - probably, yeah - look how small he is -"
"Isn't that what I just said?" Naruto asked in a heated whisper.
"Shut up," Sasuke grunted.
"You shut up."
Another pause, then Naruto asked. "Are we parents now? I mean... Konan can only stay for a couple days. She can't run Amegakure from here, she can't raise a child while running a village - can you imagine Tsunade raising a child? I mean she'd probably do okay, not as good as us of course, but she just doesn't have the time - I would be a great father -"
"- don't you mean mother -"
"- if I recall correctly, I was in the dominant position. My seed was -"
"- yes alright, shut up before you wake him up."
Naruto was quiet for only a moment before asking. "Do you think he'll love me? As much as he'll love you?"
"Idiot, of course," Sasuke hushed breathily, pulling Naruto away from the room and closing the door quietly behind them. "But if you don't think two Hokage could effectively raise a child, then I guess you're tendering your I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it! resignation now -"
"- no way, you're already the mother, it won't be a problem -"
"Shut up, idiot," Sasuke sniffed and pressed a kiss to whiskered cheeks to silence him.