Author's Notes: This was originally written for a winter snexchange. It was technically written first, but is actually the sequel to And I Still Waiting. You can read this without the other with no trouble, but I strongly recommend you read the other story first. This is set about a year or so after the imagined end of the manga.
I don't own Naruto - this is merely a labor of love. Kishimoto rocks! Thanks to Onerepublic for writing music that always reminds me of these two.
Two days left until the new year… I'm almost out of time…
Uzumaki Naruto sucked in a gulp of the brisk winter air, watching it turn to frost as he exhaled and lifted his gaze to the wide expanse of blue sky above him.
"I'll make it happen," he promised softly, one hand curling around the crystal he wore around his neck.
From the top of the still-under-construction Hokage Tower, he looked out over his home with pride. More than a year had gone by since the dust from the war had settled and the village had seriously begun to rebuild. He still remembered what the leveled valley had looked like, filled with faces and voices amidst the smoldering cinders of wreckage. And although Konohagakure didn't look quite like it had in his childhood – and probably never would – it was growing, thriving… and at peace.
"Just as you hoped for!" Naruto closed his eyes, thinking of his sensei and everyone else who'd given their life to make the dream a reality.
"Yo, Naruto!" a voice suddenly hollered from below.
Naruto grinned, his blue eyes snapping open as he walked to the edge of the roof and peered down. "That's Hokage to you!"
"Hah! Not for another two days, it isn't!" the voice shot back as Naruto walked down the side of the building and hopped into the window of his office. "I still have time to convince Godaime to name me instead!"
"Little punk…" It only took a moment for the future-Rokudaime to trap Konohamaru in a headlock, but the younger boy only laughed harder.
"S'ok, boss," he choked out, twisting away from the blond. "You just gimme something to live up to!"
"Aren't you supposed to be guarding my door?"
"What does it matter if you're not even in here?"
Naruto crossed the room and tossed himself into his chair with a grin, kicking his feet up onto the desk, and didn't bother to answer the jab, instead asking, "Have I kept him waiting long enough?"
"Kept who waiting?" The young Jounin crossed his arms, leaning against the wall opposite Naruto.
Naruto frowned, pulling his feet down and leaning forward to place his hands on the desk. "Who? The first appointment in my book today!" When Konohamaru still continued to give him a blank stare, Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation and grabbed the little book from his desk drawer, flipping through the pages of Sakura's neat handwriting. He turned the book around so that Konohamaru could see what was written. "Sasuke! Sent him the summons yesterday…"
Konohamaru shrugged. "He's not here."
Naruto balked a little as he rose from his desk. Of course, Sasuke would think he can get away with ignoring my summons… but I've thought ahead this time. "Well, I guess I'll have to take this meeting to him!" In a flash, Naruto was back in the windowsill, and gone before Konohamaru could say anything else.
Not that he would have, he thought as he flopped onto the garish orange couch in the corner. Naruto could take care of himself just fine… and it was a perfect time for a mid-morning nap.
Soaring from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto scanned the village for his old teammate, even though he was pretty certain he knew where Sasuke would be. The Uchiha had quietly taken up residence deep in the forest that surrounded Konohagakure not long after the end of the war, but once a week he came into the village proper for supplies. Naruto had timed this meeting with the assumption that Sasuke would ignore the summons, with the knowledge that he always refused visitors to his home, with the hope that he could get the stubborn boy to listen to reason.
Of course, that very idea would seem ludicrous to anyone besides Naruto, but he liked to think that he understood Sasuke more than anyone else did, especially after how everything had turned out. Maybe Naruto had saved the village, but… Sasuke had saved his life. And now he was acting like none of it mattered at all! Typical.
"Yeah, well, I won't let him get away with it…" Naruto muttered under his breath, hopping down and into the thick of people shopping in the marketplace. Everywhere he went, villagers smiled and waved at him – a far cry from his childhood. He hadn't gotten used to it, not really, but he wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.
Maybe.
Two doors down from the newly-restored Ichiraku, Naruto's keen sense of smell found his prey inspecting a table of fresh fish and he waited just around the corner from the stall in order to ambush him. Sasuke was clad in snug black pants and a long-sleeved white shirt, which Naruto would bet his lunch had the Uchiha family crest on the back. A dark blue scarf was wound around his neck twice, pulled up a little in front as if to disguise himself. Which was ridiculous, in Naruto's opinion, as there wasn't a single person in the village that didn't know who Sasuke was.
As he watched, it was clear that there was the occasional stare as people walked by, but for the most part, no one seemed to treat Sasuke poorly or shy away from him. If anything, Naruto thought maybe he saw pity in their eyes and wondered how things had ended up in such reverse. And yet he was still chasing Sasuke.
Another deeper part of Naruto's consciousness wailed at him as he waited, knowing full well what had happened the last time he had tried to corner Sasuke… and the time before that and the time before that… Talking generally never went well, so there was fighting too, and then more recently… Blushing slightly at his thoughts, he wondered idly if Sasuke enjoyed forcing him into these situations, but before he could think too hard on the matter, the dark-haired genius had turned the corner and was standing right in front of him. I have to ask him today.
"Sasuke," he started evenly. "Didn't you get the summons?"
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched once, but other than that, he gave no sign that the words had even registered.
"You're never home when I come to call," Naruto continued with a frown, as he didn't actually care that Sasuke had ignored the summons. It wasn't the point. "How am I supposed to get a hold of you?"
"That doesn't seem to be a problem," Sasuke finally answered, starting to walk past him. "You seem to be rather fond of stalking me. After all, you have years of experience at it."
Naruto's eyes narrowed a little and he stuck an arm out to stop Sasuke from brushing past him in the narrow alleyway. He wanted to lash out at that last remark, but he knew it was just a barb to get him riled up. "I wouldn't have to if you'd quit avoiding… everyone. There's not a single other person in this village that would have ignored a summons from the Hokage." Two can play at this, Sasuke...
Sasuke's dark eyes flashed in anger and the hand that wasn't carrying his bag of groceries curled into a fist at his side. Why does he always know the exact wrong thing to say to me? Turning to face the other boy, he gave him the patented deathglare. "First, you aren't the Hokage. Second, it wouldn't matter if you were because I am neither a shinobi of this village or a citizen of this country." He could tell he was really getting under Naruto's skin now because the blond's fingers were tapping impatiently against his leg. "Thus, there's no reason for me to answer a summons."
Naruto noticed quickly how Sasuke avoided, again, the subject of his avoidance, but he couldn't resist snapping back at him this time, turning so that he and Sasuke now faced each other again, less than a hand's reach apart. "That's bullshit!" he spat angrily. "For months now, you've made me hunt you down every time I wanted to try and talk to you. Am I supposed to just act like you don't exist? That's… that's…" Naruto was so huffed up at this point that he could hardly get the words out. "That's so stupid!"
Carts rolled by and echoes of voices called out, but there was a moment of deafening silence inside their tiny growing thundercloud. "Yes," Sasuke finally answered the question that wasn't really intended to be a question. He watched Naruto's bright blue eyes widen a little, the hurt that etched into his expression, and then he turned away again.
"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto's voice cracked a little as his hand jumped out to wrap tightly around Sasuke's wrist. "I… can't do that. I can't just pretend…" His words tapered off as he choked up a little, then took a deep breath before continuing. "If you really wanted to, you could have disappeared to any corner of any country in the world! But you didn't! You came home! And yet you won't be a part of … why? Why are you here but…but not here?"
In such close proximity, Sasuke could feel the heat emanating from Naruto's body, the increasing rate of his heartbeat that somehow, someway, made Sasuke's own race just a little faster too. It annoyed him, the way he always reacted to everything Naruto said and did, but at the same time, he craved it. This exchange, this tension, it made his chest ache, turned something hard in his gut and he muttered softly. "You're still an idiot."
The bag of groceries in Sasuke's hand dropped to the ground as he backed Naruto into the wall, twisting smoothly until he had pinned Naruto's wrist beside his head. Naruto lifted his other hand half-heartedly to defend himself, but found it landing, instead, on Sasuke's shoulder. He knew what was coming from the look in Sasuke's eyes and he couldn't deny that he wanted it, even if he still had another purpose kept in the back of his mind. "Bastard…" he murmured in reply, hand tightening into the white fabric of Sasuke's shirt - but the insult lacked the bite of their younger years.
Sasuke's mouth crashed against his, drawing Naruto's bottom lip in and sucking hard on it. Naruto ran his tongue along Sasuke's upper lip as he it back a moan, but that only incited the other boy further. Lifting his other hand to curl around the back of Naruto's neck, Sasuke kissed him again and again and again until the blond finally gave in, parting his lips to let Sasuke's tongue curl hot and hard against his own.
The scarf was in the way and Naruto's hand slid from Sasuke's shoulder to pull at it, breaking away to trail a line of kisses along Sasuke's jaw and down his neck until his face was buried into the high collar.
Sasuke growled and let go of Naruto's hair, licking a line up the exposed neck to draw Naruto's earlobe into his mouth, a pleased smirk coming to his lips when he heard the sharp hitch in the other boy's breathing.
"S-Sasuke…" Naruto bit out sharply, unable to help the forward thrust of his hips.
Letting go of the hand he'd had pinned, Sasuke inserted a knee between Naruto's legs and thrust his own hips back in response, moving to kiss Naruto again.
A shock of pleasure shot up Naruto's spine and as his mind began to blank, he panicked, lifting his hands to push at Sasuke in an effort to break the kiss and try to put an inch or two of space between them. "Wait, Sasuke, I…"
Sasuke's response was to press his hips against Naruto's again, as if to say: "Are you really telling me to stop?"
With a shaky exhalation, Naruto continued to stammer. "It's not that I don't, I mean, I do, but it's not what I was trying, or why I summoned…"
At the mention of that word, Sasuke's lips quirked into another frown. "Spit it out, moron."
"I need to ask you something." When Sasuke only continued to stare at him expectantly, Naruto slid his hands back to Sasuke's shoulders, leaning in awkwardly. He hesitated for a heartbeat or two and then whispered, as if he was already confident of the answer – though he wasn't. "Will you be my new Anbu Captain?"
Sasuke's entire body went immediately rigid, and with a forceful shove, he separated himself from Naruto, staring at him in uncomfortable disbelief. "You're not just an idiot," he finally said, his voice scornful and yet somewhat shaken. "You're also insane. Give it up."
Naruto took two steps towards him, but Sasuke had already in one smooth motion grabbed his bag and leapt up onto the rooftops. And as much as part of Naruto wanted to chase him, he somehow didn't think it would sit well for the Future Hokage to be seen running across rooftops screaming obscenities and threatening to kill his former teammate-best friend-something else?
But oh, how he wanted to.
o/~ Six on the second hand to new year's resolutions
And there's just no question what this man should do ~/o
Sasuke rubbed the back one fist against his mouth as he jumped from tree to tree towards his home, but it was of no use – his lips still burned from the kisses he'd just traded with the most annoying boy in all of existence. His body was humming with adrenaline, but his chest felt tight at the words exchanged.
Why can't he leave well enough alone?
On the best days, all Sasuke wanted was to be left alone. On the worst… He had nowhere else to go, nowhere else he wanted to go, nothing he felt the need to do – really, on the worst days, he desired nothing at all. This… thing with Naruto… he didn't know what to call it, didn't know why it kept happening… but he had to admit to himself that it sparked something in him when almost nothing else did. Maybe that was why he couldn't leave, but if that was the case, then what was he waiting for?
Anbu Captain?
The thought had never even crossed his mind. So consumed by revenge, by Itachi, by hatred… and now there was a great big blank. As many wrongs righted as possible, and yet he was still here. Still alive.
A great big blank gray slate.
Kakashi was waiting on his front porch, leaning against the door with his nose tucked into a book whose edges had gone soft with wear. Sasuke cursed to himself and considering making a run for it, but… the effort involved wasn't worth it.
"What do you want?"
Kakashi looked up from his book, closing it with a snap and tucking it away. The expression on his former student's flushed face was suspicious and there were tired circles under his eyes, but the former hateful edge within had faded out. Something had been satiated, something had changed… it gave Kakashi a grain of hope. "Good morning to you as well, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said pleasantly. "It's been awhile."
Sasuke tried to head off the conversation before it could begin with a sharp shake of his head. "No."
As if the word hadn't been uttered, Kakashi continued, still leaning casually against the door. "You've known for a long time that the village isn't going to bring any charges against you."
"Are you expecting me to thank you?"
"There are other people who would warrant that more than me, I would think," Kakashi said with a shrug. "But with all the truth out in the open now about the village's past…"
"No," Sasuke said again, this time trying to brush past Kakashi to open the door of his house.
"You would be welcome among our ranks."
Sasuke's hand froze on the doorknob. "I owe allegiance to nothing."
Kakashi chuckled softly. "As you've spent a great deal of energy proving…" he paused for a moment, leaning in to peer at Sasuke more closely. "But what if you could choose a path for you now, and not him, not them? Who would you swear allegiance to?"
"I don't owe anyone anything," Sasuke snapped, throwing open the door and shoving his way inside.
Kakashi backed away from the doorway, but Sasuke remained facing in the opposite direction, giving his former sensei nothing but his back. There was silence as he studied the tense line of the boy's shoulders. "Yourself?" he intoned softly, before leaping up into the trees. "It is nearly a new year, after all."
o/~ Take all the time lost
All the days that I cost
Take what I took and give it back to you ~/o
o/~ I don't know what day it is
I had to check the paper
I don't know the city
But it isn't home ~/o
As the sun set on the last day of the year, Naruto sat where there had once been five faces on Hokage Mountain, watching the sun set. It had taken Yamato nearly four months of successive work to restore the landscape here, but the re-carving of the mountain was scheduled to begin sometime in March, after the worst of the winter weather had passed.
The sky was dark overhead, but in the distance, the golden glow of the sinking sun turned it shades of rose and indigo. Judging from the cloud shapes, there was a storm on the way and when Naruto sniffed, he could smell the tang that meant snow.
Tonight was supposed to be a night of reflection, renewal, celebration… tomorrow was supposed to be the biggest, most important day of his life, the achievement of his childhood dreams… and he felt empty.
He'd been forced to go back to the office for a few hours yesterday to finish a stack of neglected paperwork, but with the holiday and the ceremony approaching, everyone was too distracted today to notice his cheer was more than a little faked.
It wasn't supposed to turn out this way…
Naruto thought that maybe this hurt worse than Sasuke being gone. Sasuke was here, was home, was close enough to touch… and yet he seemed convinced that the chasm between them, between him and everyone, must remain. Naruto hated feeling like a failure, but knew he couldn't stay up here sulking all night.
He would be missed. People were expecting him.
The almost-Rokudaime pulled his cloak tighter around him as the wind blew sharply and descended towards the village to find his friends.
Naruto could hear the noise before he reached the restaurant the girls had picked for the evening's festivities and he smiled when he stepped inside to find most of his old Genin class already in the midst of ordering dinner or getting drinks from the bar. The lighting was warm and inviting, the decorations a little gaudy, but everyone was in great spirits and he found it easier than he expected to be pulled in. Even so, he couldn't help but find himself glancing towards the doorway now and then, as foolish as it was. As if Sasuke would actually show up. It was somewhere around glance seven or eight that Shikamaru sat down across from him, plunking two bottles of sake down between them.
Even after all these years, Shikamaru was still not a particularly verbal person and so he slid a bottle across the wooden table with one finger and a quirk of his lips. You look like you need it.
Naruto smiled a little at the implication and the always-keen observation powers of his friend. "Thanks," he said, picking it up and taking a long drink, enjoying the burn as it went down. He would never be able to take a drink without thinking of his sensei - from whom he'd learned the art form – and his hand tightened around the bottle as his promise came back to hover in his mind.
"Is it not how you expected it to be?" Chouji spoke up suddenly from where he'd taken a seat beside his teammate, eyeing the plastic basket of chips and salsa in the center of the table and grabbing a handful to munch on. "You seem preoccupied."
"It's his last night as a single man!" Kiba joked as he leaned over the back of the booth and knocked Naruto lightly on the side of the head. "Marrying the village tomorrow!"
"Would that make him the boy or the girl?" Sai inquired with a twinkle in his eye.
Groans and laughter erupted around the table, but underneath the noise, Naruto shrugged as he answered Chouji. "Sorta, I guess…?" Maybe he had an internal picture, but he wasn't going to share it with a roomful of tipsy friends who were about to become, in all technicality, his subordinates. For the first time ever, what was about to happen tomorrow hit Naruto in a huge rush as he looked around the room at his friends, at the same faces who'd survived this war with him. "I… really hope this doesn't have to change."
Sakura overheard the statement as she slid into the seat next to Naruto. "Maybe you'll be allowed to order us around…" she teased, elbowing him in the ribs lightly. "But we're all your friends, Naruto-kun, and we'll always be here to support you."
"Aww, sappy moment," Ino pretended to snap a photo of the two of them.
"A toast to our fearless leader!" Lee added, holding up his bottle of water. "But non-alcoholic for me!"
Naruto's cheeks flushed as his friend toasted him, then peace, then all of their Hokages, their village, their country, each other… It was the happiest and silliest he'd seen this group in what seemed like a lifetime.
Sometime between rounds four and five, it started to snow and the half of the group still coherent enough to enjoy it stumbled outside to marvel. Though it could be cold in Konohagakure during the winter, snow was still somewhat rare.
Sakura was spinning Sai around in circles and Ino was chasing both of her teammates around with a snowball she'd managed to gather from the dusting on a nearby fence, but Naruto looked to the empty place beside him and wished.
With only an hour until the new year, the future Hokage watched the snowflakes come whirling down around him, the echoes of his friends' laughter coming at him in slow motion and wished.
The year was almost over, but he didn't want it to be too late.
Even if he got his heart broken, he would ask one more time, for them... but also for himself.
o/~ Hear me say
All this time we were waiting for each other
All this time I was waiting for you
We got all these words
Can't waste them on another
So I'm straight in a straight line
Running back to you ~/o
The trees were frosted in glittering white as Naruto leapt through them, determination and a couple of drinks fueling the fire in his belly. He felt the Kyuubi stir a little, but the heat only made him feel braver.
Despite the late hour and the lack of light coming from Sasuke's house, Naruto's fist was heavy and his heart was sure that this time, Sasuke would open the door. "I'm not taking no for an answer!" he gushed breathlessly when the door finally swung open.
Sasuke stared at Naruto in surprise and then looked past him at the rapidly falling snow. "What are you talking about?"
"The village needs you!" he insisted, stepping forward to shove a foot in the door when Sasuke tried to close it in his face.
"I told you already that I don't care!" The wind was beginning to howl and Sasuke had to raise his voice to be heard. He didn't want to think about this, he wanted Naruto to… to give up and go away… and so he stepped back and let the other boy come inside, closing the door behind him.
Naruto shook the snow from himself like an animal would and then advanced on Sasuke, his glassy eyes flashing dangerously. "That's not fucking true, Sasuke, and you know it! Don't lie to me!"
Sasuke hated being called a liar and his response was icily cold. "I would have burned this place to the ground if Pain hadn't already leveled it."
The words hit Naruto like a kunai to the gut, and with an angry roar, he surged forward. "LIAR!"
Sasuke caught Naruto's fist, twisting it and throwing the other boy over his shoulder and into the wall, rattling the cabinets in the kitchen. A rumble of thunder shook the house and the hallway lamp flickered once before going out, plunging them into near-darkness.
The fireplace in the next room crackled, sending one small shaft of light into the hallway, enough that each could see that the other's eyes had gone red. "Don't tell me you don't care," Naruto seethed, pulling his arm back to throw another punch. "You saved my life! You threw yourself in front of me again, just like you did with Haku, and I…I…"
"It… was important that you live…" Sasuke said stiffly, but there was a catch in his voice that Naruto, though tipsy, did not miss. Truthfully, those two occasions might as well have been one and the same. Naruto's life had been in danger and Sasuke had simply… moved, put himself between his best friend and harm's way without thought, shielded him with his own body.
"No, no, no!" Naruto said with a fierce shake of his blond head. "If Sakura-chan hadn't… Sasuke…" You don't know what it felt like to come so close to losing you… again. "Stop acting like it doesn't mean anything! Stop pretending there's nothing between us!"
Sasuke's excuses were running thin, but he glared Naruto down as if daring him to prove otherwise.
Naruto was never one to back down from a challenge. His hand fisted in Sasuke's shirt and he yanked his former teammate forward, kissing him demandingly. "Tell me this is nothing! Tell me again!" he broke the kiss to yell, dragging one hand down Sasuke's chest. "Because I have never believed you…" Making certain that he had Sasuke's eyes, Naruto slid his hand a little further and grabbed Sasuke's already hard length through his pants with one fist, squeezing. "And I never will, especially not now, not here, not like this…"
"Shut! Up!" Sasuke's calm exterior finally snapped and he shoved Naruto so hard that the other boy went flying across the hall to slam into the door, cracking his head back against it.
Naruto had barely a heartbeat to suck in a breath before Sasuke was on him, plundering his mouth and grinding him into the door. It was the alleyway all over again, only this time, they were alone. He groaned into Sasuke's open mouth, slipping his hands under the dark-haired boy's shirt to feel warm skin beneath his fingers. Sasuke shuddered, pausing only long enough to pull Naruto's cloak off, snapping the clasp in half as he tossed it aside. Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head as Sasuke's mouth fastened on his pulse point, sucking hard, and he almost missed the words that were mouthed into his skin. "Not nothing."
"We've always done it together, even apart…" Naruto mumbled almost incoherently, emitting a sharp gasp when Sasuke suddenly sank lower, shoving his shirt up to pinch and then bite at a nipple. Naruto couldn't quite believe this was happening, though he'd be lying if he tried to pretend that he hadn't woken himself in a cold sweat dreaming about it some nights. Sasuke was touching him, kissing him, he'd said… Not nothing. "I need you."
Sasuke pulled back, lifting his head in surprise. Never in all the times that Naruto had tried to bring him back – for Sakura, for their friends, for the village, or even for himself… never once had he admitted the truth in such a pure and simple fashion. Before Sasuke could even think about what he saying, the words tumbled out, honesty in return for honesty. "I saved you because I wanted to."
A soft smile crept onto Naruto's face and he decided that just tonight, the last night that was only his… "Sasuke…" he started hesitantly.
Sasuke studied the eyes that were thankfully blue again, feeling naked despite the fact that they were still half-dressed, and then he kissed Naruto again, still demanding, but with a layer of tenderness neither of them quite expected. Grabbing Naruto's hand, Sasuke backpedaled, pulling the other boy with him until they reached the rug in front of the fireplace.
They'd lost the rest of their clothes in a line from the doorway and as Sasuke's weight settled over him, Naruto felt as if his skin burned every place that they touched.
Sasuke left a wet trail down Naruto's chest, pausing to trace the line of the Kyuubi's seal with one finger, amused at the moan Naruto gave when he reached the center. He bent his head to run his tongue along the same line, then dipped lower to take Naruto's length into his mouth.
Naruto's hips bucked hard as he fisted one hand in Sasuke's dark hair. "S-Sasuke!"
Crawling back up the blond's body, Sasuke spit into his hand and kissed Naruto again to distract him.
The strange invasion of his body came with a sharp stab of pain, but it was nothing… nothing at all compared to everything they'd been through, everything they'd done to each other, and Naruto laughed into their kiss, a little wild. Sasuke drew back to give him a Look, but Naruto only reached up with both hands to pull his face close again, kissing eyebrows, cheeks, nose, lips, saying "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke…" over and over.
"Naruto…" Pulling back with the faintest hint of a smile playing on his lips, Sasuke reached to lift one of Naruto's legs over his shoulder. With his other hand, Sasuke reached for Naruto's, their fingers twining as he pushed down and in. He had never been this close to another person, Sasuke thought as he opened his eyes and looked down at Naruto's face, but somehow it seemed right to share this… with the person he always seemed to be so inexplicably tied to.
Naruto took a sharp breath, his eyes catching Sasuke's, and then he smirked. "You can't break me, just…go, already."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed a little, but his voice was rough when he spoke. "You talk too much."
Naruto's smirk stretched wider until it broke into the biggest shit-eating grin that Sasuke had seen on his face in a long time. "Gonna do somethin' about it-" Naruto barely had the last word out of his mouth before Sasuke pulled out and thrust in again, harder this time, and he cried out as pleasure suddenly sparked through his body.
With nothing held back now, Naruto met Sasuke thrust for thrust, a jumbled string of words and sounds mixed with Sasuke's name tumbling out of his mouth. They moved together with the same grace and rhythm as their partnership in battle, and Sasuke found that he could not reach his release until the moment Naruto's own came hot into his hand.
Fireworks exploded behind Naruto's eyes as he cried out and his arms wound around Sasuke as the other boy collapsed on top of him, both of them panting in the same tempo.
As they lay passed out in each other's arms, the storm quieted into the dawn of a new year.
The snow lay thick among the trees at the top of the waterfall, sparkling like a web of miniature diamonds in the morning light. With one giant stretch, Naruto summoned up some of the internal heat he always possessed and took a running leap. He pin-wheeled for a moment in the air before spinning, curling, and diving down into the depths of the icy half-frozen river.
His toes were slightly blue by the time he'd made it to shore and he pulled his cloak – the only thing he'd grabbed when he'd tiptoed out of Sasuke's house a few minutes ago – tightly around himself. If he was lucky, no one would really be awake yet and he'd be home, changed and at the Hokage Tower to meet the arriving Suna delegation just in time.
Despite the fact that he'd left things unsettled, unanswered, Naruto felt a weight had lifted off of his shoulders… he felt ready to face this important day. He didn't want to think about whether or not Sasuke might reject him, might regret it, because Naruto didn't, couldn't. He even had a thought that Sasuke just might… but no, he didn't want to get his hopes up too high.
Although it probably wasn't proper etiquette, he couldn't help but embrace the Kazekage once the delegation arrived at the Hokage Tower, and he delighted on taking his old friend for a tour of the reconstruction before the last meeting and the formal preparation for the ceremony.
There were no walls around the village yet, but they walked the perimeter together, a set of Anbu guards a few paces behind. Naruto rambled about anything and everything until they reached the foot of the uncarved mountain where the ceremonial stage was being erected, at which point Gaara reached out to touch the sleeve of his cloak lightly.
"This day has been a long time in the making."
Naruto smiled, turning to face the redhead and crossing his arms over his chest proudly. "Did you really doubt me?"
"Doubt you?" Gaara tilted his head thoughtfully, his expression as serious as ever. "Your words? Your will?" He paused a little, studying the boy who had changed his entire view on existence what seemed so long ago. Today was a day to honor that gift. "Not for a moment. Did I not swear to protect you?"
Naruto barked out a short laugh before slinging an arm around Gaara's shoulders, not wanting to think back to those times. "Don't start that again – I wasn't even Hokage then! And anyways, haven't we always been equals?"
"In friendship," Gaara nodded. "But there is a keen and unique quality about you, Naruto… you change people's hearts, simply by the power of your own, the ability to seek the best in every individual… in essence, I have often thought that you were the will of Fire itself."
Naruto's mouth opened and closed in surprise and he sputtered a little before answering. "I, umm… wow. Thanks, Gaara…"
"Your clasp is broken." As he stepped back a little, the cork to Gaara's sand popped open and a handful of glittery grains came drifting lazily out of the top.
Naruto wasn't at all afraid of Gaara and so he stood calmly as the sand drifted closer, whirling quickly around the broken piece of metal, shifting and re-shaping into a glass spiral that closed the front of the cloak. "Awesome! How did you…"
"Sand and glass are related," Gaara replied as the cork slipped back into place, raising one eyebrow in amusement. "A fragment of Suna will remain with you."
"Sasuke broke it," Naruto intoned softly and suddenly, fingering the new clasp thoughtfully as he looked down at it.
"But he fixed something else?" There was a knowing lilt to Gaara's voice that made Naruto blush fiercely as he looked up, reaching to scratch the back of his head awkwardly.
"…maybe." He turned back to face his village and shrugged lightly. "We'll see if he shows up today."
o/~ But you say I'm lucky
To love something that loves me
But I'm torn as I could be
Wherever I roam ~/o
Sasuke was surprised to be startled awake by the insistent knocking at his door, but he was even more confused to have woken up naked in front of his nearly burned-out fireplace, alone. Running a hand through his dark hair, he jumped to his feet, grabbing a robe off of a hook inside the closet door as images of the previous night came surging back to him. Did the idiot manage to lock himself out somehow?
The unguarded expression on Sasuke's face as the door swung open caught Sakura by surprise and she blinked a few times before smiling hesitantly. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke blinked in surprise. His entire routine, his whole tiny little world he'd crafted, it all felt thrown off – spun around dizzily like a merry-go-round and then suddenly he'd been chucked violently off the side. Yes, that's an adequate comparison to Naruto. Sasuke didn't even know what time it was. He stood there in silence for so long that Sakura finally sighed loudly.
"You could at least say hello!"
"…why are you here?"
Sakura didn't wait to be invited in, but pushed past Sasuke and into the house, politely ignoring the fact that both his and Naruto's shirts were still laying side by side on the hallway floor. "I only stopped by to return something to you." Waiting until he had closed the door, she held out a large brown box.
Feeling that this day could not get much stranger, Sasuke accepted the box and pulled the lid off of it, carrying it into his kitchen and placing it on the counter. Sakura stood in the doorway, watching as he folded back the layers of tissue paper to reveal the garment within. "How… why?"
Sakura bit her lip, trying to keep her satisfaction at his stunned words to herself. "I… rescued them from the Estate… sometime when both of you were away…" She trailed off, uncertain whether Sasuke was going to yell at her for trespassing or tell her she could go burn them or…
"Thank you."
"What?" The word slipped out in honest disbelief and then Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth apologetically.
Sasuke set the cloth back into the box and turned to face his old teammate, holding out one hand. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."
"…you're welcome." She reached out to take his hand, squeezing it a little harder than necessary. "I have to go – the ceremony starts in less than an hour."
Sasuke let go of her hand and nodded, remaining motionless until he heard the front door close behind her. Well, now he knew what time it was… an hour before the ceremony on the first day after…
The last of the Uchihas leaned against the wall beside the box containing the robes of his ancestors and slid bonelessly to the floor, leaning back to knock his head against the wall several times. Was he really considering this? Was he really sitting here already missing the laughter, the fighting, the warmth of that presence… Could he really… go back?
Insanity must be contagious… Naruto…
As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the torches were lit, a waiting ring of fire and smoke climbing up to the peak of the mountain. Naruto marched in a procession through the streets of the village and towards the foot of that mountain, his heart pounding in time with the beating of the drums, his feet carried like air on the cheers of his people.
In full dress regalia, heavy red brocade embroidered in gold with the signs of Fire and Leaf and Uzumaki and Namikaze, under the weight of all he had always insisted he would be…
It was all Naruto could do to keep Kakashi's back in front of him as friends he'd made from all around the world, so many faces, so many villages, countries, waved and shook his hand and called out their approval to him. He had never expected this many people to show up, the sheer volume was incredible – and all of the lights and streamers and woven greenery… it was beautiful.
As he climbed the stairs and took his place between Kakashi and Tsunade, already seated up on the platform, Naruto blinked against his watering eyes and looked out at his acknowledgers. The readings, prayers and speeches blurred together as he scanned the crowd, meeting eyes and giving smiles, and it wasn't until he felt his sensei step on his toes that he realized it was his turn to speak, to give the names of the people he was asking to take new positions, to be his personal force.
This was easy – they were all his friends, his comrades. He'd already asked each and every one of them personally, and now he called them up one by one to present them to the village. There was one he saved for last, because, in the end, he hadn't asked anyone but Sasuke. He hadn't been able to bring himself to ask anyone else, for he'd had to believe he could convince his oldest, dearest, most special friend… "And finally, as Anbu Captain, I call forward…"
Naruto's eyes scanned the crowd, feeling his racing heart start to sink, and then suddenly, there was a huge shuffle at the bottom of the stairs and for a third time, Naruto wished.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
A long moment of absolute stunned silence came over the crowd… and then a single pair of hands began clapping. Turning to face the sound, Naruto saw that it was Sai, quickly followed by Sakura and Ino and Gaara and Iruka-sensei and all the rest of his Genin friends and senseis. The wave of applause spread through the people like a wildfire, followed by whistles and cheers, then the drums began again and Sasuke was climbing the stairs clad all in shining white, one by one by one and he was actually smiling and Naruto was running, leaping forward to meet him.
They collided in the center of the stage, hugging fiercely - and then it was chaos.
Fireworks went off up on the mountain, people swarmed the stage and music began out in the open space that was still just beginning to rebuild.
Somehow amidst all of the commotion, the two very best shinobi in all of the land of Fire managed to sneak out the side exit, climbing hand in hand to the highest point on the peak to watch the festivities.
"Hey, Naruto."
"Yeah, Sasuke?" Naruto could hardly tear his eyes away from the fireworks, but he turned to face his captain, a truly joyful smile on his face.
"Yes."
Naruto blinked for a moment as he wondered what exactly Sasuke was referring to, but he didn't have much time to mull it over when the other boy leaned in to kiss him softly. Oh yeah, this is more how I imagined it. "Hey, Sasuke," he whispered against the other boy's lips.
"Yeah, Naruto?"
"Welcome home."
o/~ All this time we were waiting for each other
All this time I was waiting for you
We got all these words
Can't waste them on another
So I'm straight in a straight line
Running back to you ~/o