next big thing12: Why, hello! Welcome to my SasuNaru yaoi story. I've decided that since I've been spending my time reading SasuNaru fanfics lately, I would take a shot at writing my own!

So I hope you like it, because I put a TON of work into it. It's going to have a little bit of everything, and yes, there will eventually be a lemon. But it's going to be skippable, so if you don't like that kind of thing, you don't have to read it!

Please enjoy, and please review if you like it!

Chapter One:

The Long Awaited Return

"Couldn't keep hold of you then,

How could I know what you meant?

There was nothing to compare to."


Sasuke had returned to Konoha.

Everyone was talking about it - this was how Naruto had heard. Perched on his usual seat at the Ichiraku Ramen, a couple next to him was discussing something, and Naruto had been too engrossed in his ramen to notice. That is, until they said his name.

"Sasuke..."

Naruto nearly choked on the piece of beef he had just slipped into his mouth, and started paying attention.

"...Hokage let him back in?" the older man was saying. The woman he was with shook her head.

"No, I honestly can't believe she did. I mean, she said she would never let a traitor back in to her village, didn't she?"

"That's true, but apparently he killed Orochimaru. That guy was the village's main threat, wasn't he? That must have earned him some major points."

"Enough to let him back into the village?"

"I guess so."

"I think I heard that he also defeated the Akutski from the inside. So I'm sure that helped as well."

"Really? Wow, the boy sure is an Uchiha. Making us all proud he came from our village. He gave us a good name. I can see why the Hokage let him back in, now."

Naruto had heard enough. He needed proof that what they were saying was true. He smiled and put his money on the counter, leaving his third bowl of ramen unfinished. "Arigato! Bye!"

And with that, the eighteen-year-old took off towards the Hokage's office to see his best friend.

"Naruto, where do you think your going?"

He stopped his ascent on the staircase leading to the Hokage's office and turned around to see Kakashi, his visible eye curved in a smile. "I just... I have to ask the Hokage something."

"Ah," Kakashi said walking towards him, "You have to ask her if the rumors that Sasuke has returned home are true."

Naruto looked down at the ground. He knew him too well. "Yes, I do."

"Well, you can't ask her right now, she's in a meeting."

"A meeting...? With who...?"

Kakashi opened his eye and turned to start walking away. "Who do you think?"

The doors to the Hokage's office stood before him, muffled voices barely audible. He took a deep breath and leaned in, pressing his ear against the doors.

"...house is still there. You can head home once we're finished here."

"Hn," came the familiar reply of his best friend. Naruto's eyes widened. So it's true, he has returned...

"Shizune, will you get me the proper papers so that I can declare Sasuke an official citizen again? They should be right over there."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"And as for you, Uchiha, we will be re-introducing you to your former team tomorrow, so be back here at nine o'clock, sharp. Because of what you've done for this village, we will be promoting you to jounin. That way everyone in your team is the same rank."

"Hn, dobe actually made it to jounin?"

"Here, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, Shizune. And yes, believe it or not, that second encounter with you three years ago pushed Naruto over the edge in training. Ha, who knows? He really could end up becoming Hokage soon at the rate he's going at. Your free to leave."

"Arigato, Hokage-sama."

Naruto smiled and backed away from the door. Sasuke... Our reunion will be tonight.


The sun was setting, and Konoha was starting to buzz with night life. Naruto slipped the note underneath Sasuke's door, tapping it with his fist before running off toward the bar down the street.

"You just couldn't wait to see me, huh, dobe?"

He was on his second beer, glad that the drinking age was 18, when he heard the familiar voice behind him. He turned around to see Sasuke, grown even more since the last time they met, with a similar yet different outfit. Naruto turned around on his stool to see him better, wiping the condensation from his beer off on his black capri pants. "Teme."

Said 'teme' smirked and slid onto the stool next to the blonde, lifting up a finger to get the bartenders attention. "One bottle of sake, two cups."

Naruto turned back around and smiled at the waitress. "On me."

She smiled back at him, then turned to Sasuke. "Coming right up. Good to see you back, Sasuke."

"Arigato," he said as the bartender walked away. A few minutes later she returned with a black bottle of sake and two small white cups.

"Here you go. Enjoy, boys."

When she was gone for good, Sasuke poured them each sake and took a sip of his own, turning to face Naruto. "So, why did you want to meet at a bar?"

"So that I could get you drunk and beat the shit out of you."

He nodded and took another sip. "Even drunk I could still kick your ass."

"Teme... are you back for good?"

Sasuke took a long sip of his sake, thinking the question over. "I suppose so."

Naruto closed his eyes and picked up his sake cup, bringing it up to his mouth before opening his eyes again. "What took you so fucking long?"

Naruto looked at his watch: 12:00. He smiled and laughed, downing the rest of the sake in his cup. "Damn, Sasuke! It's getting late! We should head back!"

Sasuke looked over at the blonde, finishing the rest of his sake slowly. The baka was obviously drunk. But then again, so was he.

Naruto slammed down the money to pay for their four bottles of sake on the counter, then fell trying to get up from his stool. Sasuke sighed, taking the last sip and standing up from his stool a little wobbly. "Dobe, your obviously the obnoxious, uncoordinated, happy kind of drunk."

Naruto said nothing, just laughed as Sasuke helped him up from the floor. "You know, 'Ske," he said, putting his arm around the raven, "Your obviously the calm, silent kind of drunk. Which is weird, 'cause you act like that anyways."

"Dobe, your speech is incredibly slurred."

"Aw, no fair, you can still use big words!"

"Come on, I'll take you back to your place so you don't end up passed out in an alley."

"I don' wanna! My place is messy, 'Ske! Will you clean it for me?"

Sasuke cringed inwardly at the thought of even touching anything in Naruto's room. "No, I will not. Where do you live?"

"I told you, I don' wanna go home! Its messy! Let me... Let me sleep here!"

"Dobe, your not sleeping in the middle of the street. If you really don't want to go home that badly you can crash on my couch."

"'Ske's couch?? N'way! That's crazy, even for you, teme! You must be drunk."

Sasuke started to lead the very wobbly Naruto back to his place, ignoring confused onlookers. What a site it must be: The almighty Sasuke Uchiha hammered with the drunken Naruto Uzamaki hanging all over him.

"Whatever, I don't care. I just want you to shut up and the faster you get to my couch and fall asleep, the faster that happens."

"Oh, whatever 'Ske! You love me, and you know it. You wanna know how I know? 'Cause you came back! So you must be in love with me, since there really is no other explanation! Yep, I got it.. I got it all figured out up here!" he said, leaning his head against Sasuke's and pointing at his forehead.

"Hn, dobe."

Sasuke propped Naruto so that he was leaning against the wall and searched for his key.

"Hey, 'Ske, did you get my note? I left it right under thurr...," he said pointing to the door next to him and smiling. "Pretty clever, huh?"

"Yes, it was," replied Sasuke as he unlocked the door with the retrieved key. "Come on, dobe. Inside we go..."

Naruto leaned back on to Sasuke's shoulder and after they were inside, Sasuke dumped him on the couch and shut and locked the door.

"Say, 'Ske, how come you had to help me walk here? Why weren't you just as swervy as I was?"

"Because, Naruto, I can hold my alcohol much better than you can. Don't get me wrong, I'm still just as hammered as you are, though," he said, leaning over in front of the blonde so close that they could smell the alcohol on each other's breath.

"Hm, 'Ske, your blushing."

"Its the alcohol, dobe, your blushing too," he said rising back up, "So this is where you're sleeping tonight. Do you want me to get you a pillow and a blanket or something?"

"Yes, please, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got a pillow and blanket from the closet. When he came back, Naruto was spread out on the couch with nothing but his black capri pants on.

"Neh, Sasuke, can I tell you a secret?"

Sasuke sighed and walked over, set the stuff down next to the couch, and kneeled on the ground so that he was in front of the dobe's face. "Sure."

"You can't tell Sakura-chan, ok?"

"Ok."

Naruto rolled over so that he was facing the raven and looked him in the eyes. Sasuke watched as he reached out a hand and started twirling his raven locks in his fingers, too drunk to care.

"I don't love her any more. And you know, I think it began a year after that second encounter with you, because... I dunno, it was like nothing else mattered to me anymore but becoming strong enough to get you back. Y'know?"

Sasuke said nothing, just watched as Naruto's blush seemed to grow deeper.

"It was weird how you kind of just took over my thoughts like that. But neh, it seemed to work. I mean, I became jounin and you came back, right? So maybe the trick was to concentrate on me, for you. Didn't you say that? 'If you have time to be chasing me, you should be training', or something like that."

Naruto's finger stopped twirling the locks, and he let them fall from his finger. Then he sat up, kneeling on the couch so that he towered over Sasuke, and put his hands on his shoulders to keep him balanced.

"'Ske, will you tell me something?"

"What?"

"Why did you really come back? I mean, it's not just because you felt like it or anything, is it?" Naruto swayed a little in his drunken state, and Sasuke grabbed his elbows to keep him steady.

"Dobe, you shouldn't be sitting like that, your going to fall."

"Teeeemeee, you didn't answer my question!" he said, pushing forward...

And that was all it took to send all of his weight shifting forward on to Sasuke, sending them both falling backwards. With a grunt, Naruto brought himself up onto his hands and knees, and Sasuke shifted himself back onto his elbows.

"Dobe. I told you you would fall."

But Naruto said nothing as Sasuke's breath hit him, the smell of alcohol filling his nostrils. Sasuke was so close, and he wasn't backing away. Naruto reached out and removed a strand of hair that had fallen on Sasuke's face, but his finger tips lingered there on his cheek.

"Answer my question, Sasuke."

"I came back... because I was tired of missing everyone. I came back, because... I wanted to see how my dobe was doing with his training."

"My dobe? Then does that make you my teme?"

"Hn. I don't care."

Naruto leaned forward, pressing his lips against the Uchiha's, and wrapped his fingers in his teme's hair.

"There's a mountain between us,

But there's on thing I'm sure of.

That I know how I feel about you."

- About You Now by Miranda Cosgrove

next big thing12: Neh, crappy and corny, is it not? I thought so. Well anyways, I had a lot of fun writing them drunk. The next chapter will probably be their drunken lemon, and it will be skippable, so its perfectly ok if you don't want to read that chapter. The third one will begin with Sasuke waking up to find that... Well, his bed isn't exactly empty besides him. Neh, neh, neh...

Oh, and how did you all like the name 'Ske? Get it, because his name is like Sas and then ske, so... I don't know, I can just picture Naruto calling him that when he's drunk. XD

I hope you all enjoyed! Can't wait for the next chapter! Please review!