Disclaimer: I don't own 'em.
Summary: When Naruto returns to Konoha, he finds out that life has moved on without him, including his ex-fiancé, Sasuke Uchiha.
Warnings: Yaoi! Citrus! Boyxboy loving! SasuxNaru loving! It's all here.
Author's Note: I got some nice reviews for this story, and I'm glad I was able to get a lot of SasuxNaru fans to somewhat root for GaaxNaru. It will be a SasuxNaru fic, but don't worry about Gaara – he won't have his heart broken. I think the last chapter was kind of fast. And don't worry, I will fill in some back story regarding the past twenty years that Naruto's missed.
Chapter Two:
"What do you mean 'you're dying'?" Naruto asked his former teacher.
"It happened a few years ago," Jiraya explained. "I was in a battle with Orochimaru. I killed him, with Tsunade's help, of course, but he gave me a parting gift."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. He was on the verge of tears. How dare Orochimaru take another life close to him!
"He left me with a curse," Jiraya said.
"A curse?" Naruto repeated.
"Tsunade's been helping me manage it," the sage continued. "The curse makes me age ten times as fast as normal. I was already almost seventy when he inflicted it, and now I'm around ninety years old."
"Ninety…years?" Naruto asked. "You don't look that old! You don't look a day past seventy."
"Gee, thanks, kid," Jiraya deadpanned. "I love being told I look as old as seventy."
"That's not what I meant!" Naruto defended.
"I know," he said. "Listen, I won't probably be around much longer – a year at the most. I'm so glad I got to see you before I…before I died."
"Don't talk like that!" Naruto yelled. "You're not going to die. You're Jiraya, the toad sage. Pervert extraordinare! One of the legendary sannin! You can't die…not like this."
"Sorry kid," Jiraya said. "Even Tsunade can't reverse the curse. All she can do is make me look younger."
"I want to see," Naruto said, not looking Jiraya in the eye. "I want to see you without the genjutsu."
"So be it," Jiraya said. He made a hand sign. "Release." His hair shortened considerably, and Naruto'd swear he was almost bald! Wrinkles overcame his face and he shrank a little bit. Hi meaty legs became stick like, and he took on a pale, sickly appearance. He looked like the oldest person he'd ever met.
"J-Jiraya," Naruto said. Jiraya repeated the hand sign and the genjutsu revived, making Jiraya look considerably younger.
"It's great to see you again," Jiraya said with a hug. Naruto still hadn't gotten over the news. The Great Jiraya was…dying. He seemed like one of those people who were larger than life. I mean, Naruto was well into his thirties, so he knew that Jiraya and even Tsunade were old, but to see his former teacher falling apart was too much.
"Yeah, it's been great," Naruto said, allowing a tear to fall down from his eyes. "Take care, pervy sage."
OoOoOoOoO
"Alright kiddos, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'll be your sensei while you are on my genin team."
Yes, that was Naruto, introducing himself to his students. Mino Kano was looking at him with a bored expression on his face, while Temira Nara was listening intently. Who would have thought Shikamaru's daughter wouldn't be the bored one. Naruto guessed she took after Ino.
Naruto turned his gaze to Saki Uhiha. The daughter of his former love and his best friend. She would definitely be hard to be around so much, but he'd do it. What kind of Hokage let personal feelings get in the way, after all.
"Well, not that that's not interesting and all, but what are we going to actually do?" Mino asked.
"I guess you're eager to begin your training, huh Mino?" Naruto asked with a smile. He knew the kid was as bored as…well…as bored as Shikamaru usually is. Naruto momentarily wondered if Mino and Temira were switched at birth, but he quickly shook the notion from his head.
"Before we begin your training," Naruto continued, "I'll have to give you a test that you can pass or fail. I learned this test from my teacher, who learned it from the Fourth Hokage. He learned it from one of the sannin, who learned it from the Third Hokage. This technique was also used on the Fifth Hokage. If you can pass this test, then you can be as great as them. If you fail, you'll go back to the academy and have to take the genin test again."
"What do you mean?" Saki asked. "We graduated. We're genin. You can't just take that away from us!"
"Listen, Saki," Naruto said, "your parents both also went through this test, and passed. It's really fairly simple." Naruto pulled out two bells. "I want you to take these bells from me. If you get a bell from me, you pass."
"But sensei," Temira said. "There's only two bells. We can't all pass like that."
"Then you better be one of the two to get the bells," Naruto said with a smirk. "Begin."
OoOoOoOoO
After five hours, Temira, Mino and Saki were all exhausted. They had almost gotten the bells from Naruto-sensei. Saki knew that there was a way to do this. If Naruto-sensei, Mother, and Father all managed to do it, she could too.
But how did Naruto-sensei know so much about Mother and Father? It's not like they talked about him all that often. She never knew of this man until he became her sensei. But the way he spoke about them, you'd think that he was their best friend.
She felt really bad for Mino, who was tied to a stump for lunch. She would have given him her food, but she didn't have much, and Naruto-sensei strictly forbade it. How was he supposed to get the bells if he didn't have any nourishment!
Saki got up and decided to find Naruto-sensei while Temira finished eating and Mino…well, he wasn't going anywhere. She found Naruto at the memorial stone, which engraved the names of all the people who died in battle. Naruto was focused on the memorial, giving Saki the element of surprise.
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu," she whispered. Naruto jumped when he noticed the fireball heading towards him. That was a classic Uchiha move, and he knew exactly who preformed it. He turned around to face Saki, who had come out into the open.
"A surprise attack?" Naruto-sensei asked. "And it almost worked too. I've gotta keep on my toes."
"You don't seem like an impressive ninja," Saki stated. If there was anything she learned from her father, it was how to goad people into fighting them. And if Naruto-sensei fell for it, he'd let his guard down.
"What'd you say?" he asked. He looked angry. It was working! "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he yelled. Saki knew that Naruto-sensei had to have some power, or he wouldn't be her sensei, but when she was surrounded by a hundred clones of Naruto-sensei, she was floored. "I'll show you power." Most of the clones disappeared, leaving one left with the real Naruto-sensei.
One of them – the clone, presumably – started pawing at the air in the real one's open palm. That was…odd. Saki was just about to deem him certifiably crazy until she saw blue streams of chakra being condensed into a ball. Her eyes widened in shock.
"The Fourth Hokage's secret jutsu," Naruto-sensei said with a smile. "Rasengan!" He lunged at Saki, scaring the shit out of her. She dodged quickly, and noticed that Naruto-sensei wasn't trying to hit her – he was trying to hit the tree behind her. She watched as the tree was chopped in half by the rasengan. But that wasn't it. Naruto-sensei also hit the tree behind it, destroying that one too! How powerful was he?
"Is that powerful enough for you?" he asked. He turned to face Saki, and smiled. "Wind Style: Imprisonment Jutsu." A ball of air surrounded Saki, trapping her. "I'll see you later," he said, and disappeared after waving goodbye.
"Temira!" Saki yelled. In a few seconds, Temira and Mino came out from the bushes.
"He's so strong," he said in shock.
"I know," Temira said. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Can you help me get out of here?" Saki demanded impatiently? As if Naruto-sensei's chakra was responding to her, the jutsu stopped and she was dropped to the ground.
"Hey guys," Mino said. He was crouching by the memorial. "Come take a look here." Temira and Saki walked over and looked where Mino was pointing. Saki knew immediately why Naruto-sensei's name was so familiar. On the gravestone, on a list from twenty years ago, read the name Naruto Uzumaki.
"Our sensei is dead?" Temira asked.
Saki remembered coming here with her mother once a few months ago. She had said it was the twentieth anniversary of her best friend's death, and she wanted to lay flowers for him. She said she was the most powerful ninja she ever met – even more powerful than Father. She laid her hand on Naruto-sensei's name and cried.
Was this the same Naruto Uzumaki? That would explain why he knew about Mother. She mentioned something about Naruto being on her and Father's genin team when they were at the memorial. Could that be how he knows Father, too? This was getting ridiculous.
"Of course not," Saki said. "Naruto-sensei's alive. This might be his father or something."
"I guess," Mino said, but none of the three of them believed it. They knew most of the jonin, and they'd never met Naruto. How could he have died and then become their sensei, though? There was only one explanation – that Naruto faked his death and then returned. But that seemed about as likely as Father having a gay lover, meaning not possible at all.
But there were still so many questions. And Saki had a feeling her parents would have the answers.
OoOoOoOoO
Naruto knew he should start thinking before acting. Saki was obviously trying to goad him into attacking, probably looking for him to lower his guard. She didn't count on his sheer power. But those jutsu used a lot of chakra. He was tired, so in a way, Saki's plan worked.
He realized that they would be back fighting in a few minutes, so he decided to lay a wire trap for them. Meanwhile, he took out some cup ramen that he had prepared earlier and began to eat.
He finished, and noticed Saki running straight for the trap. He chuckled to himself and waited for her to trip the trap, but she just ran right passed it. A clone! He spun around and caught Saki's arm as she was reaching for the bells.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"You're clone didn't trip my trap," Naruto said. "It's over. Ninja Rule #1 – don't give your enemy and opening."
Naruto smiled at his victory, until Saki turned into a log in front of him – a substitution jutsu! He looked around but he didn't see her until he looked up – Saki was coming at him, doing hand signs.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu," she said, spitting fire at him. Naruto dodged the fire.
"You're just like your father," Naruto said with a smile. He kept dodging, until he couldn't move.
"Ha! He fell for it!" Temira shouted. "You walked right into my shadow possession jutsu!"
"Courtesy of your father, eh?" Naruto asked. It was then that Mino decided to step in and take the bells. Temira stopped her shadow jutsu and the three of them stood together, facing me. Mino gave a bell to Temira and one to Saki, and they stomped on them, breaking them.
"You do remember that you need the bells to pass, right?" Naruto asked.
"You can't fail all of us," Mino said with a triumphant smile.
"Actually, I can," I said. "I can fail you all, or pass you all, or only choose who to pass and fail."
"What!" Temira and Saki yelled at the same time. They each grabbed one of Mino's ears.
"So much for your plan, Mino!" Temira yelled.
"Thanks a lot!" Saki shouted.
"Ow ow ow!" Mino yelled.
I laughed. "You all pass."
"What!" The three said. The girls let go of Mino's ears and let me speak.
"The whole point of this test was to test your teamwork. When I took this test, my teammates and I all attacked separately. I was tied to the post like you, Mino. They weren't allowed to feed me, but Kakashi-sensei gave us a hint – teamwork. My teammates decided to feed me to keep my strength up, and we passed for it. You didn't do it the same way, but whatever worked."
"Kakashi-sensei?" Saki asked. "Naruto-sensei, if I may ask, who were your teammates?" Shit. He forgot that Sakura and Sasuke had a daughter, who just happened to be standing right in front of him. She probably knew Kakashi! Way to open your big, fat mouth, Naruto!
"Your parents, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto said. He saw the look of shock on her face.
"You're dead," she said.
"Correction: I was dead. I really have an appointment I need to meet. I'll see you three tomorrow. Meet me at Ichiraku's Ramen shop!"
OoOoOoOoO
"Mother!" Sakura heard when her daughter got home. "We need to talk!" she yelled. Sakura came down the stairs of the Uchiha mansion to see her daughter sitting at the table.
"Saki," she said. "What do you need to talk about? How was the genin exam?"
"Naruto-sensei is weird," she said. Naruto-sensei? No, there was no way. Lady Tsunade would never…who am I kidding, of course she would.
"Who's your sensei?" she asked.
"Naruto Uzumaki," she said. "He said he was on your and Father's genin team. He's the one who died twenty years ago. We saw the memorial. He told us he was dead."
"He was joking," Sakura told her.
"No," Saki said. "The memorial doesn't lie, and he said it with a straight face. What's up with him?"
"He died twenty years ago on his wedding day. He was killed," Sakura sat down at the table with her. "The other day, a bunch of us were called into Lady Tsunade's office, and they revealed he was alive, but his death was faked to protect him."
"I was right!" Saki shouted. "I thought he faked his death, but I figured it was as unlikely as Father having a gay lover." Saki's eyes widened when Sakura started choking on her coffee. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Saki," she said. "So did you take the bell test?"
Saki nodded. "Temira and I trapped him, and Mino stole the bells. We destroyed them to take a stand, and it almost failed. But he passed us in the end."
"That's great!" Sakura told her. "You should go tell your father."
"Alright," Saki said, getting out of her chair. She was almost at the stairs when her mother stopped her.
"By the way – your father doesn't have a gay lover."
"I know," Saki said with a quizzical look. She left the room.
"…anymore."
OoOoOoOoO
"Kakashi!" Naruto yelled upon finding his former sensei.
"Well, if it isn't the leader of Squad 5. How ya doing, Naruto?"
"I'm good. My kids just passed the bell exam."
"Did they do as well as you?" Kakashi asked. Naruto sat down with Kakashi in front of the memorial. Of course, Kakashi was there for Obito Uchiha.
"They passed," he said. "How long has it been?" he asked, motioning towards Obito's name.
"Almost fifty years," Kakashi said. "How are you doing?"
"Gaara's coming to the village today," Naruto said. "And then there's Sasuke."
"What about Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"He told me he was still in love with me," Naruto said.
"What about you?" Kakashi asked. "Do you still love him?"
"Can you ever fall out of love?" Naruto asked.
"No," Kakashi said, turning towards Obito's name. "I guess you can't."
"Sasuke was my first love, and he'll always be. But he's my past. Gaara's my present and my future. I love Sasuke, but I'm in love with Gaara. I can't imagine my life without him."
Kakashi looked up at the clouds and then at Naruto. "I think you and Sasuke were good for each other. You complimented each other well. I've never seen you and Gaara together, but I assume that you have a deep connection with him if you're staying with him."
"I do," Naruto said.
"And then there's Sakura and the kids," Kakashi asked. "It's a complicated mess. As much as Sasuke loves you, he adores his kids. He'd never want to ruin the family he has with them."
"Even without Gaara in my life, I wouldn't be with him. I wouldn't be the other man…well, the only man, but you know what I mean. And besides that, Sakura's my friend. I couldn't imagine betraying her like that. It's better for everyone if I stay with Gaara and he stays with Sakura."
"But…" Kakashi said.
"But I look at him and her together, and I'm so jealous. And I know I have no right to be. I'm so confused, I don't know what to do! I love Gaara, but I still have feelings for Sasuke. I thought I'd gotten over him after all this time, but that kiss reopened all those wounds."
"Kiss?" Kakashi asked.
"He came to my house the day I got back and he kissed me. I wanted it to go further. Jeez, what kind of husband am I? Gaara gave up being Kazekage so he could uproot his life for me! And I repay him by kissing my ex! I'm an awful person!"
"No you're not," Kakashi said. "You're just confused. Don't worry, it'll all become clear eventually."
"Thanks, Kakashi. And don't worry, you'll find love too. I know Iruka-sensei is gay." Noticing the blush creeping on Kakashi's face, Naruto decided it was time to leave Kakashi with that final thought.
OoOoOoOoO
"Gaara!" Naruto yelled when he got home. He ran at the redhead who was sitting in his…no, their…apartment and gave him a bear hug. Gaara returned the show of affection.
"I was wondering when you'd be back," Gaara said.
"Sorry, I was talking to Kakashi," Naruto said sheepishly. "And I had just finished giving my students the genin exam."
"How'd they do?" Gaara asked.
"Passed with flying colors, just like their parents," Naruto said with a smile.
"Their parents?" Gaara asked with an eyebrow arched.
"Well, I only know Saki and Temira's parents, but Mino's parents are chunin, so they must have passed, too."
"Who's Temira and Saki's parents?" Gaara asked.
"Well, Temira is Shikamaru and Ino's daughter," Naruto said. He sighed, realizing he'd have to tell Gaara that he was training his ex's daughter. "And Saki is Sasuke and Sakura's daughter."
"You're training Uchiha's child?" he asked.
"Don't get upset, there's no problem. Sasuke and I are just friends. He's married to Sakura. And I'm married to the best man in the world." Naruto kissed Gaara on the lips. Gaara deepened the kiss, and they eventually started a heavy make out, until Naruto heard Gaara's stomach grumble. Naruto pulled away and laughed.
"Looks like somebody's hungry," Naruto teased.
"I already have my dinner," Gaara said with a smile. He dragged Naruto into their bedroom with naughty ideas filling his mind.
OoOoOoOoO
Saki was wondering where her father was. She needed to borrow a scroll of his to learn a new fire release jutsu, and he was nowhere to be found. She decided to just go into his room and find the scroll herself.
She searched the room top to bottom and found nothing, until she searched under the bed. Finding a lock box, she thought she had the right thing. But where was the key to open it?
After searching the room again, she found the key in his underwear drawer (ew!). She carefully unlocked the box, hoping to not disrupt what was in it. But she was surprised at what she found when she opened it.
There were a few pictures of him, Mother, and Naruto-sensei as kids, with Kakashi standing behind them. This must be in their genin days. She looked through a few more pictures and saw that they were of mostly Naruto-sensei and her father. They must have been really close, she thought.
Continuing to go through the pictures, she saw her sensei and her father in more and more compromising positions, and wondered what was going on. She had finally finished with the pictures and noticed a newspaper clipping, reading: "Nine Tailed Jinchuriki Dead on Wedding Day!" with Naruto-sensei's picture in it. She'd have to look up what 'Nine Tailed Jinchuriki' meant later. She was about to put the stuff back to begin looking for her scrolls again when she found one last newspaper clipping. Naruto-sensei was kissing her father on the cheek, but even that wasn't the most horrifying part. The headline was much worse:
'Engaged! Son of the Fourth Hokage Set to Marry Uchiha Heir!"
OoOoOoOoO
Gaara would have been perfectly happy to stay with his blond lover and husband forever, but he had to go tell Lady Tsunade that he'd arrived. He'd be out until at least midnight getting his citizenship made official. He shouldn't have waited for Naruto so long! He could have done this, and made it back in plenty of time before the blond had gotten home.
Oh, well. It was too late for that now. And the hour they spent in bed together didn't really save him any time either. He just hoped that Tsunade would still be there. If not, he'd have to wait until tomorrow.
He made his way to the Uchiha mansion, receiving stares from a lot of people. He just ignored them. Only a few people actually knew him, and they'd have to have remembered him from the chunin exam. He hadn't set foot in the Leaf Village since then. He couldn't help think that the last time he was there, he'd been the spearhead of an invasion! Now he was married to their next Hokage. Oh, how things have changed.
He walked up the steps around the side to get to Lady Tsunade's office. He didn't see any lights on, which made him nervous. When he reached the top, he walked right into a kunoichi. The last time he saw her, he had choked her with Shukaku's hand. Hopefully that was water under the bridge by now.
"Gaara!" Sakura Uchiha said, bumping into the redhead. "I'm sorry, I should have looked where I was going."
"It's okay," Gaara said.
"Congratulations, by the way," she said, "on your marriage to Naruto. I was so happy to hear that you two were together."
"I'm sure you were," Gaara said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"With Naruto taken, he won't go after your husband. It's the same way I felt when I found out you married Uchiha." Sakura stood in stunned silence.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," Sakura said. Gaara raised an eyebrow. "I want to make a deal with you."
OoOoOoOoO
Naruto finished getting out of the shower – he was a little too sticky to be walking around the house. He didn't expect anyone to be home, so he didn't bother to use a towel. Which is why he was really flustered to see Sasuke Uchiha at his doorway.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, covering up his 'parts'.
"Please," Sasuke said. "It's not like I haven't seen it before." Naruto blushed a deep crimson color. "I came here to tell you that I want you back."
"Sasuke, I –"
"No, stop," the Uchiha said. "I'll end things with Sakura if you take me back. But if you want to stay with Gaara, I'll respect your decision and leave you alone. Just tell me – do you want to stay with Gaara, or would you like to pick things up where we left off?"
"Sasuke, I love Gaara," Naruto said.
"That's all I needed to know," Sasuke said, turning around.
"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke turned around again to see the blond, who had forgotten he was naked. "I love you, too!"
"Make a choice, Naru," Sasuke said, using his pet name for the blond for the first time in twenty years. "It's me or Sabakuno."
In the Next Chapter: Sakura wants Gaara's help; Saki confronts her father; Sasuke gets an answer; Tsunade gives Jiraya grave news.
Author's Note: Now I've updated both my stories today! I was so happy for the feedback I got from the first chapter. Keep reviewing. I hope you liked the little cliff hangers I gave. Will Saki learn the truth? What does Sakura want? And who will Naruto choose? Read the next chapter to find out (and remember to R&R).