A/N at the end of the chapter
Epilogue
Sakura had not kept the promise she had given to Sasuke: She had first told Hinata about Sasuke's nightly visit, and then Hinata had told me.
We were all mortally afraid for Naruto since he had left the team, but we had not dared to talk about it, because officially he was a deserter now, having disobeyed the order we had received from Tsunade, so his name was taboo among us.
But of course I had been thinking a lot about him when I had been lying awake in my room and could not sleep. I had failed again, I thought, not understanding what was driving his heart or torturing his soul. I had just told him to put it away, to be reasonable, to be a dutiful ninja.
Just as I myself had become a dutiful ninja. My eyes fell on the two last volumes of the Icha-Icha-series: Naruto had taken the first one with him. A dutiful ninja during the day, responsible, realistic, reliable, but in the evening dreaming of true love.
Then Sakura told us how Sasuke had sought her out because of Naruto, and that other wound broke open again. I realized that it had never really healed. Various counselors had talked to me after Sasuke's desertion, they had all told me that I had done the right thing, that I had done everything I could, that it had been the right decision to bring Naruto back and to let Sasuke go, they had told me that there had been no way to hold him back, that it had been his own decision to go, that I should no longer burden my conscience with him but realize that there are kids like him who are beyond help, and that I should just forget about him and concentrate on my own life.
It had been as if they had asked me to cut off a hand or a foot. I know that as a teacher I am not supposed to play favorites, but I had loved Sasuke as I had loved no other person since the death of Obito. He had been assigned to be on a side remark, after a lengthy discussion on Naruto, the son of my beloved teacher, but he had soon grown on me because in him I had seen myself as a child, gifted, focusing on his training, ambitious, burdened by a sorrow he could not talk about, a child no one would love because he was too silent and introvert and did not show his feelings, and who in response pretended that he did not need to be loved, but of course he needed to be loved as any other child.
I had longed to show him how I cared, but I had not known how, as he kept holding himself apart, and in the end I had been unable to find the words that would have made him stay.
Naruto I had loved because he was different from myself, because he reminded me of Obito and because, once he had begun to trust that people might like him, he had become friendly and extrovert and funny and made us all laugh a lot. I had thought that he was easy and that I understood him well, but now it had turned out that I had not understood him either, and he had gone as well.
And since Sasuke's visit, even Sakura was thinking about leaving the team. Thanks to Hinata I knew about it, and this time I decided to be a bit wiser and talk to her about it, and I did not just tell her to obey the orders given to us by Tsunade, but I also talked to her about my own doubts, being open with her as I had been with neither of the boys.
Maybe they would meet. Maybe Sasuke would be able to protect Naruto. Maybe, maybe.
Sasuke had told her off for letting Naruto go into certain death, and he had been right.
The girls visited me in my room in the evenings, so that Kiba was already beginning to tease them about it while Yamato took me to the side and reminded me very seriously to behave in a way that would not encourage any wrong suspicion. We we did nothing but talk about Naruto and discuss what could have been done and what should have been done, and then the girls told me that they had decided to go.
I said that I would join them. I even left a note for Yamato saying that the only way to prevent them from setting out on their own had been to accompany them. Someone had to protect them, as neither of them was a fighter.
We travelled back to the inn where Naruto had left us; from there on my ninja-dogs showed us the way. We got nearer with every day we travelled, and when we were near enough to catch up with him the next day, the dogs told us that he had met Sasuke, which was a comfort and at the same time a source of nervousness, because we had no idea how to meet him. We stayed up late into the night, because we were too excited to sleep – one more night and we would meet them both! The girls talked and talked, and I could tell now that they were both in love with Naruto, even though Sakura still pretended that her feelings were only of a sisterly nature. I hoped that they would not get into any bitch fights when they finally met him.
When we got up we sensed the kyuubi's chakra, strong and very different from that of any human being, and now we no longer needed my ninja dogs: As fast as possible we wanted to get to Naruto and to see what had happened to him.
I did not tell the girls that I had no idea what I would do if the kyuubi had completely taken over. I did not have Yamato's power to control it.
Having crossed a range of hills were were finally able to see it: Growling angry at someone, holding its nine tails up like an aggressive dog. We could see neither Sasuke nor Naruto nor the guys who were their opponents, but Sakura drew our attention to three figures who were standing nearby and watching the fight: Sasuke's team.
"What happened to Naruto?" I asked them even before they had welcomed us.
"Nothing", answered the man whom I later got to know as Suigetsu.
"Nothing? The kyuubi has completely taken over, with all its nine tails present, and you tell me it's nothing?"
"Naruto has not been taken over. He's fine. Look closely: there he is, standing next to Sasuke. He has not been taken over, he has set it free."
Our view had been blocked by the nine-tails, but now we could see them: Standing side by side, their arms around each other's shoulders, similar to the picture of a statue I had once seen in a book – the Dioskouroi it was called. Opposite them were their opponents, Itachi and a man we did not know. They were standing still and not moving.
"It's a genjutsu fight", Suigetsu explained. "All action is taking place within their heads."
I did not really care about it at the moment. I was worried about the nine-tails.
"Why did he do that?" I asked. "Why did Sasuke tell him to release the kyuubi?"
"Nobody told him to do anything", Suigetsu answered rather annoyed. "He did it for our companion, and it was his own free decision. If he had asked me, I would have advised him not to do it. Don't you think that this monster frightens us as much as it frightens you? Anyway, who are you that you think you have the right to question us and to tell us off?"
I introduced the girls and myself.
"We have already met, haven't we", they welcomed Sakura. "Won't you all have a cup of tea?"
"What, now, while the fight is going on?" I asked back. "How can you just sit there and watch? Aren't you Sasuke's team? Should you not support them? I at least cannot let them fight on their own."
"You said you were their former teacher, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Now we know where they got it from."
"What?"
"Heroically rushing into danger without thinking. Can you control the kyuubi?"
"No."
"Sasuke can. They don't need our help now: They have the nine-tail at their side."
The genjutsu fight seemed to be over, and they were moving again. One of their opponents was down, it looked as if it was Itachi. The other opponent was now summoning the kyuubi, and it obeyed him, though reluctantly. My heart stopped when he sent it to the boys to kill them, and I could only hope that Suigetsu had been right when he had told me that Sasuke could control it.
It was not necessary: Naruto welcomed the huge monster with open arms, and soon both boys were caressing it to its obvious enjoyment. Then we gasped again because their opponent was summoning it a second time. It struggled, but in the end it gave in: It went over to him, yet not to take orders from him, as we all thought, but to attack him, and horrified we watched him perished in flames, struck by the raw chakra of the kyuubi. It was a death one should not wish to one's worst enemy...
The girls saw first that Naruto had broken down, and they ran towards him to help him. Sasuke was holding him in his arms, and already I realized that there was something odd about the way he was holding him – something soft and tender and rather unmanly.
"You stay away!" he told Sakura when she wanted to look after Naruto. "Karin will check on him."
"You might not know, but Sakura has become a competent medical ninja", I said.
"Karin is a competent medical ninja as well", he replied.
I did not know what to make of his behaviour, but his teammate obviously did: "She must be really bad if you think that Karin is better than her.", he said.
"I have always preferred Karin over her. You don't touch him!" he said to Sakura when again she attempted to approach Naruto. "You may see after Itachi, I think he's still alive."
"You do not want me to kill him", she said incredulously.
"Of course not. Who do you take me for? Naruto and Kakashi have both told me that you are a competent medical ninja: So go and do your job."
She went, intimidated by his voice and by his grim looks. He glared now at Hinata who shied back and tried to hide behind the rest of us.
"You go and help her with your Byakuugan!"
She obeyed. I followed them to see that they were safe, but it soon became clear that they were: Itachi was unconscious, his eyes were rolling uncontrollably, there were also various physical wounds, and his chakra was almost zero, as the girls told me.
They did not need me, so I went over to the place where Sasuke and his team were trying to help Naruto, but halfway I met Suigetsu.
"They are more than enough", he told me, "and Sasuke is out of his mind. It's no use to stand around if we cannot help them: Let's go and look for the other guy."
We found him at some five hundred metres' distance: A charred lump of flesh, barely recognizable as human. Suigetsu wrapped him into his cloak.
"We'll have to bury him", he said. "And that other guy as well who has been killed by Juugo yesterday."
We carried this one into the fortress to the room where the other was lying, a cool dark room where the air did not stir, then we returned to the rest of the group who were still fussing over Naruto. Sakura and Hinata had joined them. Karin was trying to calm down Sasuke, telling him that Naruto would be fine in time if he would just be allowed to recover, and Sakura was fighting for permission to check on Naruto herself, but Sasuke denied it to her:
"The wounds caused by the Mangekyou Sharingan have nothing to do with the body. It affects mind and soul directly, and then of course the chakra system. Karin can deal with this."
Juugo was allowed to sit next to Naruto, touching his feet, at the same time he comforted Hinata telling her that Naruto was strong and would certainly recover.
"If he would just open his eyes!" Sasuke said. "If I could just get into his mind! I could do anything!"
Again there was a gesture that was too tender, too intimate for mere friends: Sasuke removed a streak of hair from Naruto's face.
"To have found you just to lose you again!" he cried.
"Hush!" Karin said. "I told you it's only a matter of time. It may be a bit difficult for him with the kyuubi's chakra gone and his organism having to adjust, but as I told you: He will recover! There's no need for melodrama!"
Even the kyuubi was worried. It came over to see what the commotion was about, and then it wanted to be near to Naruto. Sasuke gave Juugo a sign, and both moved to create a space in our circle around Naruto. Neither of them seemed afraid, while we others had to forcefully restrain ourselves from crying out in fear and running away. The kyuubi put its head through the opening in the circle, it licked Naruto's skin as if it were some dog trying to clean an immaterial wound where chakra was leaking from his body, it gave him some of its own chakra, and slowly Naruto opened his eyes.
Sasuke took advantage of this moment to get into Naruto's mind with his Sharingan. The rest of us waited anxiously for several minutes, only Karin kept checking Naruto's chakra system, and the kyuubi, who did not understand what Sasuke did, kept donating of his chakra.
"Damn", Karin said. "He thinks he can do anything, but he cannot."
Still after some minutes Naruto opened his eyes. The first person he saw was Sasuke, and they embraced for quite some time, so long that I began to wonder about it. Finally Naruto broke the embrace, sat up and saw us.
"You are late, Kakashi-sensei", he said. "The fight is over."
"I was told not to interfere."
"By whom?"
I pointed at Suigetsu.
"And you take orders from a stranger you have never seen? I would have thought better of you."
"He told me that you could control the kyuubi."
"And indeed we can!" He reached out to caress it. "It will follow us, not some evil guy who has caused it a lot of suffering."
His eyes fell on Sakura, and instinctively with his free hand he reached behind, took Sasuke's hand and put his arm around his body, so that Sasuke's hand rested on his belly. He was naked to the waist, and for the first time I registered that his body was no longer that of a child but that of a man. I had missed how he had grown up.
"Sorry, Sakura", he said. "I found him first. Now he is mine."
"No need to be afraid", Suigetsu said. "Sasuke fights for you like a lion, be it against Akatsuki or against young kunoichis."
"I don't need you to protect me", Naruto said.
"Everyone needs to be protected when they are unconscious", Sasuke replied dryly.
Last of all Naruto's eyes fell on Hinata, and both of them looked down.
"I am glad to see that you are fine, Naruto-kun", she said in a voice full of love and resignation.
"Thanks", he answered, and then: "I am sorry."
She will have to find someone else, I thought.
"Have you found that other guy?" Sasuke asked Suigetsu, resuming his role of captain.
"We have", Suigetsu answered. "We put him into the fortress, to the guy who was killed by Juugo yesterday. We did not need any medical training to see that he is dead – you are lucky that he did not manage to use the kyuubi against you."
"It's got nothing to do with luck. He was foolish to attempt it. He can summon it, but not control it. I could control it, and besides, it still has an affection for Naruto because he had the courage to set it free. I am sorry for this guy but it was all his own foolishness."
Three years ago I had thought that I knew Sasuke, now I realized that I had been wrong. The Sasuke I had thought to know would never have pitied an enemy. Nor would he have asked Sakura to look after Itachi.
"I am sorry", Naruto said. "I would have called it, but he had already got me with this damn Mangekyou Sharingan. At least I understand now why you broke down after you met Itachi three years ago... Anyway, even if I had called the kyuubi, I doubt it would have come back to us: It really hated him, because he had forced it to attack Konoha, and it could think of nothing else than of killing him."
"Don't think too much about it", Sasuke said. "It's his own fault after all: He should not have tried to summon it. How's my brother?"
Not Itachi – my brother, I thought.
"His chakra is all down, except in his head, where it's going crazy", Sakura answered. "I have never seen anything like this – it is as if his organism was actively trying to die. I have given him some tranquilizers so that his mind may calm down, but honestly, if you want him to survive you should take him to the Hospital in Konoha."
"Karin will have a look at him", he decided after some thinking. "She's an expert when it comes to chakra and chakra systems."
"Yeah", Naruto added. "She told me yesterday what you really have to do to get his chakra up and flowing again: You'll have to fuck him."
Sakura froze, Sasuke blushed, Juugo remained unmoved, while Suigestu grinned and put his arm around Karin's shoulders.
"You – you are still such pervert, and I had just hoped that you had matured" Sakura said whan she could speak again.
"Oh, Sakura, come on, there's nothing perverted about having sex."
"It would be a bit perverted, however, to have sex with my brother", Sasuke said thoughtfully. "I won't ask you to do it. We can always take him to the hospital of Konoha if there's no other way to keep him alive. Karin, go with Sakura and have a look at him."
"What?" Naruto asked. "Are you serious? Sending Karin to look after Itachi?"
"What's wrong with it? You said it yourself: she knows a lot about chakra and chakra systems."
"But – you know her! And he is still your brother!"
It took Sasuke several seconds to come up with an answer. "You just told Sakura to fuck him, and now you are worried about Karin. Where's the difference?"
"Karin might actually do it."
Sasuke thought again. "Suigetsu, you go with her and see that she behaves! And then it will be her turn to cook."
It was his sign to break up our circle. Naruto got up and joined Sasuke and Juugo to get their stuff from the fortress and set up their camp here. Hinata offered to help but Juugo told us that we were their guests this evening. So we could do nothing but sit and watch while Karin made the male members of her team cut meat and vegetables for dinner.
"Wasn't this supposed to be your job?" Suigetsu asked.
"No. I said I'd do the cooking", she replied, looking up from her pan where she was frying onions. "You don't want your dinner tomorrow morning, do you?"
Naruto was allowed to help – actually he was ordered to help, just as the other three, as if he was already part of their team.
He had switched loyalties rather quickly, I thought.
Seeing that the others had set to their work without any complaints Suigetsu had given in; still he showed that he did not really agree to it by using his broadsword instead of a kitchen-knife or at least a kunai.
"Still compensating?" Sasuke asked.
"Didn't you show her last night that you are a real man?" Naruto added. "What do you still have to prove?"
Suigestu did not answer.
"I showed him that I am a real woman", Karin said, embracing him from behind.
"We never doubted that", Sasuke said.
"And because I am a real woman you will now cut the tomatoes in a more effective way", Karin continued, gently taking the broadsword out of Suigetsu's hands and handing him a kunai.
"Alas, who could resist to a real woman?" Suigetsu said in mock desperation.
"Yeah, and this was just one night", Naruto said. "I wonder what will have become of you next year? What did she do to you?"
I could not believe my hears: Was Naruto saying what I thought he was saying? Did Sasuke's teammates have sex last night, in a way that Naruto could notice it? Didn't they have any decency, or any standards as ninjas? In Konoha, shinobi were expected to focus on their missions and not get distracted by other things, and if a couple could not control themselves, they would not again be assigned to a mission together.
Why had Sasuke not required them to focus on their task? How had he been leading his team?
I also wondered about Naruto: When he had left us he had been a teenager, constantly thinking about sex but at the same time rather embarrassed about the subject. Now he was confidently teasing a grown-up man.
"You'd love to know what she did to me, wouldn't you", Suigetsu replied to Naruto's question.
"Oh, no, surely not", Naruto answered. "You are the perverts who constantly talk about sex. We'll be content doing it."
He was obviously talking about Sasuke and himself, and though he was not explicitly saying that they were going to have sex with each other, remembering how Sasuke had held him in his arms and how both had reacted to the girls I began to understand the truth.
"You don't have to tell everything", Sasuke said.
"Has he already told everything?" Suigetsu asked.
"We'll see that it won't remain everything", Naruto replied. "Won't we?"
Sasuke blushed.
"Be a bit gentler", Karin said. "He's still shy after all."
"Still a shy blushing virgin", Suigetsu said. "But you're really cute when you blush; even I can see it, and I am not gay."
That was fairly clear, I thought.
"Why do you allow them to talk to you like this?" Sakura asked. "You are their captain, aren't you? Why don't you tell them off?"
"Why should I?"
His expression had changed from one second to the next: not a blushing youth any more, but a warrior who would stand up for himself.
"They are making fun of you."
"They do it all the time. I've grown used to it."
How had he been leading his team?
"Time to set the table", he said. "We'll fetch the prisoners: It would be too much trouble to feed them separately."
He gave us a sign, and Suigetsu, Naruto and myself followed him into the fortress. So indeed they accepted him as their captain and took orders from him – hell, even I had just now accepted his orders...
I longed to have a word in private with Naruto, but it was impossible, as he was almost always at Sasuke's side, and if not he was with one of his team members.
Yet even without talking to him I could see that he had changed and that the change was deeper than having becoming able to make sexually tinged jokes. Sasuke and Suigetsu treated him as a man and expected him to behave like a man, and consequently he behaved as a man. I blamed myself for not noticing that he had grown up, though I think that this is what happens to most grown-ups who live with children.
He was still making jokes and smiling but there was a confidence behind the smile that had not been there before. Of course he could be confident now, I thought, together with Sasuke he had just brought down the last remaining members of Akatsuki.
I could not talk to Naruto in private but it happened that I found myself with Suigetsu and could exchange some words with him.
"Why do you follow Sasuke?" I asked him.
"Why shouldn't we?"
"What do you gain by it?"
He thought a bit. "I used to want to fight Kisame."
"And did you?"
"No. In the end I decided against it."
"So why do you follow him now?"
He hesitated before he answered my question.
"We like him. And none of us have anywhere else to go."
"And that's enough to accept orders from him? He's only fifteen!"
"Oh, that." Suigetsu grinned. "We tell him when his orders are foolish."
How had he been leading his team indeed?
I was trying to have a word in private with Naruto, and in vain, but at the same time he himself was trying to have a word in private with Sasuke. In the end he could not bear it any longer: He took Sasuke's hand and told him openly that he had to talk to him.
Sasuke turned pale, meaning that he became white as a sheet of paper.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "You are going to tell me that you don't want me any more, now that they are both here, Sakura and Hinata, and you have nothing to do but decide who is the prettiest of the two of them."
"No, that's not it", Naruto replied confusedly. "I don't want to choose this or that beautiful woman. I want to be together with the person I truly belong to. I just wanted to tell you that I cannot wait any longer."
Sasuke relaxed, and then he accepted Naruto's kisses and embraces. I turned away – I found it a rather disgusting sight. (Now I have grown used to it and think it as normal as two people of the opposite sex kissing each other.) Anyway, I had to help Suigetsu accompany the Akatsuki members outside.
We sat down for dinner, and after several minutes Sasuke and Naruto joined us. Karin and Sakura told them that Itachi was still unconscious but that there was no imminent danger for his life. Somehow they had managed to give him a bit of water. Sasuke seemed relieved, but at the same time he was glad that he himself did not have to see after his brother.
He invited the two Akatsuki members, Kisame and a woman we did not know, to sit down with us.
"Your leaders are dead and Akatsuki is disbanded. Nobody is alive but the two of you and Itachi. Tomorrow morning we will allow you to leave, to your own villages or to whatever town is ready to take you. They may decide about the crimes you have commited while you were part of Akatsuki. I won't. Tonight however you will celebrate with us."
Kisame nodded. "You are the victors, we are the defeated. We have no choice but to accept your offer."
We celebrated together but we did not mix. I sat next to the female Akatsuki member, Sasuke next to Kisame. On Sasuke's right side sat Naruto, then there were Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo. To my left side was Sakura, Hinata sat next to her.
I belong to Sasuke and his team, Naruto kept telling us.
Using their own supplies and ours and the Akatsuki's Karin had produced a real feast with several courses. She had even managed to transform Naruto's last two bowls of instant ramen into a decent side dish, and Naruto was the only one to protest against the abuse of his food.
Sasuke opened the meal, and when we had finished eating the soup in silence and the main course had been dealt he began to speak.
"Today we have accomplisehd what we set out to do. My brother is defeated, Akatsuki is disbanded, even though for these last weeks our highest priority has been to see that Naruto is safe."
He looked at all of them, and I thought that he would find some individual words for each of, but he did not.
"Juugo, Karin, Suigetsu, Naruto – you know better than I myself what you did for me: You brought me back to life."
"Oh, never mind, it was our pleasure", Suigetsu answered.
"What I have asked you to do for me is completed. You may leave tomorrow, if you choose so, but I ask you to stay with me. I have some plans. I will tell you about them later."
He looked at the rest of us, including even the two Akatsuki.
"I am glad that we have some guests tonight", he continued. "I know you have all come for Naruto, but I know as well that our victory makes you just as happy as us."
I felt not happy but weird, and Sasuke's words had hurt me.
"Sasuke, I don't know exactly what I did wrong when you were a kid. Maybe I did not try hard enough to understand what was on your mind. I am sorry that I did not find the right words to make you remain in Konoha and train with me and become strong enough to defeat Itachi."
"It was not really a matter of words", he answered. "You did what you could, but I chose another way to become strong enough to defeat Itachi. I am glad that you are with us."
There would be a long way to go until we could ever be close again, I realized. Maybe we had never been close. I had thought that he was like me, but he was not, and so all closeness nhad been an illusion.
"Kakashi, I am so happy that you are with us again that I have no words for it", Naruto said. "You don't know how much it hurt when I had to decide between looking for Sasuke and staying with the team! Sakura: It's great to have you around again. I am sorry I was a bit rude just now, but, well, it doesn't matter, he's thoroughly gay and you won't get him anyway."
He took Sasuke's hand: There it was in the open for everyone to see.
"Hinata", he continued, but he did not know what to tell her. "I want to thank you that you care for me."
"I am glad that you are happy", she answered.
My heart had grown lighter with Naruto's words but I knew that just as with Sasuke there had been a betrayal and that the wound would not heal easily.
"I would like to know what has happened", I said.
They looked at each other, deciding who should speak, and then Naruto answered.
"I found Sasuke yesterday when he was fighting Itachi for a first time. I helped him out, and then we were picked up by his team. And today we fought Itachi and his companion a second time. That's all."
That was all, only that in the last twenty-four hours he had shifted his loyalties completely from Konoha to Sasuke and his team and had decided that he was gay and in love with Sasuke.
"What happened with the kyuubi?" I asked.
"I released it. You know, Juugo, over there, the other half of the kyuubi had settled into him. You remember, you yourself told me that the Yondaime sealed only the light half of the kyuubi's chakra into me..."
"I do remember", I answered. "He wanted to do you a favor."
"Everyone wants to do me favors, but this one was wrong. The kyuubi is happier when it is complete, and less evil in the bargain, and besides, Juugo got caught by the other half."
"He wanted you to use the kyuubi's chakra when you were old enough and strong enough to control it"; I said. "He thought it would be easier if it was only the light half."
"Yeah, Jiraya sent me the key that would have released its chakra into my body. I decided against it. I rather set it free."
"You realize that this was quite dangerous, don't you?"
"I do. But do you realize that Juugo who is one of the nicest guys I know and absolutely friendly and unable to harm any living being when he is his true self got stuck with the dark half which would cause him to freak out whenever he was upset and kill indiscriminately?"
I looked at Juugo who had not paid any attention but was introducing Hinata to his bird.
"Do you realize that the only way to relieve him from his curse was to release the kyuubi from my body so that the two halves could become one again? Would you have wanted me to keep the kyuubi for myself in such a situation, just in order to become more powerful?"
"And what about the thousands of people who may die now because the kyuubi is free? Have you thought about them?"
"To help a friend is more important than thousands of people in the abstract. Besides, it won't happen. The kyuubi is not evil: only the people who use it are."
"I still don't understand how you could do it", I said. "I mean, there have been lots of jinchuuriki before you, most of them older and wiser than you, and none of them ever managed to free himself from his bijuu."
"I don't know why they could not: As you say, they were much wiser than I am, and I don't understand their wisdom. But my personal, foolish opinion is that they never tried. They got used to the power which they accepted as a compensation for their loneliness, and they would not miss it. Only when they got older and the bijuu was beginning to take over they would get afraid and try to get free, but then it was too late. I however have never chosen to be a jinchuuriki, and I have never used its power for anything than to protect the people I love, so I could let go when the time came."
"And what now?"
"We will look after it. Sasuke can control it, and it likes me, and I think that it also likes Juugo."
It seemed so: Its head was lying behind Juugo now, and he was showing Hinata how to stroke its fur."
"What will happen when you die?" I asked.
"I have not thought about this", he admitted (though, as I knew him, he had probably not thought at all.) "Anyway, this problem would also have arisen if I had died while it was still sealed into my body. We will look after it as long as we live; then the people who are alive then will have to find a new solution."
Forever bound together in their responsibility for the kyuubi. Maybe it was not so bad that they were lovers. Or maybe it was, because if they ever broke up they could not just say good-bye and part forever.
Yet I saw now why Naruto had grown up in so short a time: Just like Sasuke he had taken a very risky decision, relying on no one's advice, taking all the responsibility, and in the end it had turned out to be the right choice.
I pitied them. They were still so young and had already to carry so many burdens. What would happen to them if they ever decided to return to Konoha? They were both considered deserters now, they had the kyuubi with them, and being gay would not make life easier for them. Homosexuality was tolerated in Konoha, which meant that homosexuals were not prosecuted by the law as they had been ten years ago. But Shinobi – Shinobi could not be gay. Not in Konoha. Some civilians might be, but no true Shinobi.
I myself had to get used to the idea that they were very powerful Shinobi and at the same time gay. Also I had to get used to their touching each other whenever they thought that no one was looking. It was a weird sight.
Dessert was served. Everyone was relaxing now. Suigetsu had put down his breadsword and was lying on Karin's lap, holding his sword above his chest. Karin was caressing his hands that held the hilt; it was a weird sight, as if the sword was their baby. Naruto found it weird too, he pointed it out to Sasuke, and both of them giggled until Suigetsu felt embarrassed and put the sword away.
The boys themselves were now leanings against each other, holding each other's hands, no longer caring that were watching.
For Sakura it must have been torture. Her eyes were fixed on Sasuke and Naruto, and she could not turn them away though what she saw hurt her. It was not easy for me either. Too long I had divided my life between being a ninja during the day and reading erotic romances during the night. Maybe I should look – maybe there was something else, even for me.
Sasuke spoke again. He was the only one of us who was not tired, but he was thoughtful, and his eyes seemed to look at the horizon.
"I promised you to tell you about my plans", he began. "Do you remember, Kakashi, when we were kids, how you asked us about our dreams? I answered that I wanted to revive my clan and that there was someone I wanted to kill.
"I will never kill Itachi now, as I cannot kill a helpless person. I defeated him, that is enough. I defeated him when I decided not to kill Naruto, so much I understand now, because true victories are not won by superior power or superior jutsus but by the heart.
"About reviving my clan I have no idea at the moment as I am not interested in women. Maybe one day Itachi will find one who will marry him.
"But I have a new dream now, if Naruto likes it, because staying with him is now more important to me than anything else. But this is my dream: I want to found a new town, one where children are not sacrificed for the well-being of the community, one where that which is gentle and tender will not be despised but valued and protected."
I felt hurt because I had always thought that in Konoha we did care for our kids, but I could also see why Sasuke was saying this and why I should not contradict him now.
He looked at his team: "If you will follow me and help me make this dream come true..."
Only Karin looked back at him. "Sure we will", she answered. "What else should we do? Though I would like to find out what happened to the women and children of my family."
"We will", Sasuke answered. "I am sorry. I forgot. I will keep my promise."
Suigetsu had to sit up from Karin's lap before he could answer Sasuke.
"But after we've found out about Karin's family, we'll help you out with your town. Someone has to look after you, after all."
Sasuke looked at Naruto, who had remained silent and thinking. "You may become Kage there, if you want."
Still Naruto did not answer. "I don't know", he finally said. "I have a lot of friends in Konoha. I would not like to leave them behind forever."
"You would not have to", I heard myself say to my own astonishment. "Sasuke, if you really want to found a new town, you can't just choose a spot somewhere and begin to build a town hall and a Kage's tower and a market place and some town walls. It might have been possible in the days of the Shodaime and Uchiha Madara, but it is not any more. You will have to negotiate with Konoha, or rather with the government of the Fire Country, or of any other country where you happen to plan to build your town. You would be well advised not to make yourself too many enemies but to keep good relations to the other villages, most of all Konoha itself. Naruto should be in a position to visit his friends there and be visited by them whenever he wants."
"Yeah", Naruto said. "And maybe some of them will join us. I mean, you'll need more people if you actually want to found a town, not just a village."
He looked at Hinata, Sakura, me, smiled at us, he even included the two Akatsuki members in his smile, and shyly they smiled back.
Sasuke looked at us, too, but he did not smile.
"Maybe", he said. "Anyway, our next step will be Konoha, and if it's only to see that Itachi gets proper treatment, and then we will have to search for Karin's family, and after that, I will take up negotiations about where to set up my town."
His eyes had been restless for some minutes now, and I did not understand why until they finally settled on Juugo, the last of his teammates who had not yet answered him. He did not even seem to have heard Sasuke's speech, because he had been busy explaining to Hinata how to hold his bird in her hand and how to feed it seeds without getting hurt.
"Juugo", Sasuke said softly, "will you follow me again and help me found a new town? I would be glad about it."
Juugo looked up. "I will, if you will have me as your companion."
"Sure we will", Naruto said. "Don't worry, Sasuke, we'll all help you with your town where no child will be unhappy." He embraced him.
I pitied Sasuke. He was excited about this new dream of his and wanted everyone to share his excitement, and his teammates just wanted to relax: Naruto was leaning lazily against him, Suigetsu was again lying in Karin's lap, while she concentrated on combing his hairs with her fingers, and Juugo had again turned to Hinata and his bird.
Maybe it made sense after all that he had allowed his teammates to engage in activities that had nothing to do with their mission, I thought suddenly. He will need young couples if he wants to found a town. Or rather young families.
A town where no child would be unhappy – Naruto's simple words had moved me more than Sasuke's announcement. They'd both been unhappy and lonely, but unlike many people they wanted not to give it on, saying: That's life! but to change things.
A town where no child would be unhappy – Naruto's words had stirred up in me memories of my own childhood which had not been too happy either. I did not often think about it, having somehow found a way to go on living. Maybe I had been too harsh with both boys, I thought, encouraging them to give their best, but not seeing their sorrow. That had been my way to deal with my own sorrow, after all.
A town where no child would be unhappy – it was an unrealistic dream, after all, unlike Sasuke's dream of a town where children were not sacrificed for the well-being of the community. It was not the fault of the people of Konoha that Itachi had murdered his clan, or that my father had committed suicide. It was an unrealistic dream, and still I could not help dreaming.
I looked up from my own thoughts to see Sasuke and Naruto dissolving their embrace.
"Thanks", he said. "It's only a dream now, but with you at my side, I will make sure that it won't remain a dream."
Everybody had been looking at them with the exception of Juugo and Hinata who had been busy with Juugo's bird, and soon we turned our attention to the two of them. Naruto in particular was strangely fascinated.
"You know, Hinata", he said after some time, "I think there's another bird he would love you to caress."
I must admit that she understood him before I did.
"Don't listen to him", she said to Juugo. "He's always been a pervert, even when he was twelve."
"I am not", Naruto replied. "I am just a normal young man."
He leant closer against Sasuke and caressed his chest and his belly. Meanwhile it was fun to see understanding dawn on one face after the other. Sasuke was among the last. I wondered about him – he was obviously very much in love, and still so easily embarrassed.
"Be a bit more careful", he said to Naruto. "I mean, Suigetsu deserves it, but Juugo..."
"Juugo deserves it, too", Naruto said. "Don't you think so?"
Sasuke blushed and lowered his eyes.
"Yes", he answered. "He deserves it too. But, I think, we should leave now, and not bother our friends any more."
Naruto looked at him confusedly. "I don't think we bother them", he said, then he understood and took Sasuke's hands. "But if you think so we may leave." He embraced him very tenderly, caressing his face and his hair, then both got up, and Sasuke led Naruto away to a place where they would be undisturbed and where they would not disturb us.
"Well, that's Sasuke as we know him", Suigetsu said, sitting up. "He's going to spend the night in his lover's sweet embraces, and he makes it appear as if he were sacrificing himself to protect us from Naruto's dirty jokes."
"As if we were begrudging him his happiness", Karin added.
"He'll have to learn to cope with people who like him even if he does not sacrifice himself", Suigetsu continued. "But he will. Actually he has come a long way since we set out."
I began to understand how his team worked and why Naruto fitted in and why it was only natural that their new project should not be this or that mission but founding a new town.
They'll need young families, I thought again.
"We shall go to sleep now, too", Karin announced.
"I would like to have a look at Itachi first", Kisame suddenly spoke up. "He betrayed me, as he has betrayed Sasuke, and he was betrayed in his turn by our leader. And still – we have been partners for quite a few years and I want to see that he's well."
"It's okay", Karin answered. "I wanted to check on him before I went to sleep anyway."
We went over to where Itachi was lying, and Sakura and Karin knelt down at his sides, checking his chakra flow and his life functions while the rest of us stood around them and watched. The two med nins worked together remarkably well. Soon Hinata joined them, aiding them with her Byakugan, and then the female Akatsuki member, whose name we still did not know, sat down as well, taking Itachi's hand and caressing his cheeks.
"We should have never accepted him in our ranks", she said. "He was far too young. He still is. But he had already murdered his clan, and we thought that young as he was he was still a criminal as only a grown-up can be: Unscrupulous and ambitious, thinking only of his own selfish aims. We did not take time to think and realize that he must have been seduced by someone else to commit his crimes and that this someone else was the very person who joined the ranks of our helpers and junior members just at the same time and who in the end betrayed us all. We should have sent him home immediately, so that he would have faced trial, but we longed for his skills. We were all too naive."
We listened in silence to her speech, not knowing what to make of it.
"I hope he'll survive", she said. "To face trial, and punishment, and then perhaps find a better life, just as we all will have to face trial and punishment."
"Nothing is certain at the moment", Karin answered. "We have stabilized his body, but no one knows what will happen when he regains consciousness and remembers everything."
"Sasuke might help out", Juugo suggested. "He knows how to get into people's minds."
Suigetsu shook his head. "It would be torture to both of them. Leave Sasuke alone, he has done more than enough, and he deserves to have some fun now. Itachi will have to recover without his brother's help."
"I will give him some more tranquilizers", Sakura said, "so that his body can stabilize without his mind interfering..."
She began her treatment. I looked at Itachi and wondered if he had indeed gotten better by now: The expression on his face had changed, I thought, he was looking more peaceful now than when we had first found him.
Suigetsu came over to me. "Lots and lots of females fussing over him", he said. "The worst torture Sasuke could ever imagine. Too bad that his brother is actually enjoying it."
Did he smile in his sleep or did I only imagine it?
"I don't think anyone has ever fussed over Itachi", I answered Suigetsu. "He's always been a genius who did not need being fussed over. Sasuke was the cute little kid that got the attention of the females of the family, only when he was his clan's last survivor in Konoha he in his turn became the genius who did not need being fussed over."
"He will need help now, however", Suigestu said. "With his town, I mean. He is too young and inexperienced to pull it off by himself. A strong fighter, but no politician. Besides, it's in the very nature of his dream that he cannot make it come true by himself."
Indeed not, I thought.
"He will need people with common sense", Suigetsu went on. "We will be glad if you join us."
For a moment I thouth I was passing out with happiness and surprise, then I got myself under control again.
"I will – if he accepts me."
"We'll make sure that he does", Suigetsu answered.
A/N: So that's the end of my story. I am glad you followed it to this point, and I hope that you liked it. I am sorry – there won't be a sequel, and there won't be some real smut. What the boys are busy with now is left to your imagination.
I am already busy making plans for a new story with some realistic Sasunaru where the boys are allowed to take their time and don't have to go from realizing that they are gay and in love with each other to hot, perfect sex within a single night.