Hi, My darlings,

I promised I'd try to give you an early update and I'm here to deliver~

The low yesterday: I didn't manage to fall asleep until after three AM. The pro: I got to sleep until after twelve with no interruptions except for fluffers trying to do biscuits on my face every two hours, which was kind of cute so I'll take it \(⁀▽⁀ )/.

As always thanks for all your support my darlings, I appreciate every single review and hit of that kudos button like you'll never imagine. To my FF peeps, thanks so much for your reviews, I tried answering some of them but Raiden1257 darling I can't PM you! but so happy you are enjoying! Also thanks to the sweet sweet guest that is so excited about new chapters she/he/they get me all giddy lol

Rating: M (Explicit): ✨ different type of spice in here✨

Disclaimer 1: The following book is mentioned in this chapter. I do not own it: Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Disclaimer 2: They are not mine ok? Any characters portrayed in this fic belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I just use my writing powers to right his wrongs...mainly the fact that he never made Sasuke and Naru Canon.


Gateway Exposed

Chapter 4: New Normal

Temari kept turning in her chair next to Naruto "It's so nice when you get to come in"

Naruto rolled his eyes "Because you get to slack off and let me do all the work?" She giggled, as she looked up and to the door "And let's not forget your little army of reporters, watching security chase them out is the best entertainment"

Naruto looked up and was glad to see there were fewer people outside, maybe it was finally winding down. That wouldn't stop the articles from coming out, but there were only so many pictures they could take of him walking and leaving the practice, at some point, it became the exact same picture.

Now there were moving over to the apartment complex, as they saw Sasuke drop him off and walk him in every morning, as well as picking him up they were 'deducing' Naruto was living with Sasuke and were about dying to get a picture so they could 'officially' plaster the story everywhere.

As if he'd invoked the one relentless reporter that started it all Sai walked in through the doors and up to the front desk, a security guard trailing behind him looking quite defeated

"Sir!" Sai scrunched up his nose "Do I look like a 'Sir' to you?" He said as he turned over to both blondes "Naruto! I see you're in today, you wouldn't be interested in doing an interview would you?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, Sai was absolutely relentless, the blonde had been near murderous when he'd seen him on the line of reporters littered outside the practice. Sai had been the one to print that first article and deemed him an underwhelming match to Sasuke.

Security had thrown him out repeatedly during the first two weeks.

Naruto stepped out through the backdoor to the practice, it was meant to be an emergency exit only, but lately, he'd sort of been abusing the code to deactivate the alarm so he could just walk to the back when the practice got too busy and the front was too packed.

He stepped out, taking a couple of breaths, his eyes closed as he leaned against the wall next to the door.

"You ok?" The blue eyes opened and fell on Sai, Naruto thought he was going to start crying, he just needed one minute to himself.

"How would you even have known I'd be back here?" he groaned.

"I didn't," Sai said taking in the blonde "You ok?" He asked again.

"What do you care? You're probably just fishing for something to print" Naruto muttered as he turned around ready to go back inside.

"I needed a break," Sai said and Naruto stopped before he looked back, trying to figure out if the raven was lying to him.

"Why?" The blonde asked

"Well a pipe busted on the apartment on the second floor and completely ruined my living room, my love life is a disaster and fucking Angie got a damn promotion even though I'm the one going to print, and I really need a second cup of coffee if I'm going to be getting kicked out of this practice to stand outside all day waiting to snap a picture of your pretty face–are you laughing at me?"

"Sorry it's just," Naruto said between laughs before he was calm enough to finish his sentence "I really had made up my mind to mark you as public enemy number two but seems like all the bad karma I've been sending your way actually hit the mark"

Sai chuckled, he was used to people disliking him, he was a reporter and he usually did what he had to get his story "Who is public enemy number one?"

Naruto bit his lip "Off the record?"

"Look at you learn" Naruto shrugged

"Wait, I don't even think you have to tell me, it's Haku isn't it?"

The blonde blushed looking away from the raven and Sai burst into laughter.

"He tends to have very polar effects on people" Naruto raised an eyebrow "You know him?"

"Did liberal arts at Yale while Haku was enrolled"

Naruto squinted his eyes at Sai "Is that why you showed up here first?"

Sai was typically a good liar, but somehow he couldn't stop himself from looking at the floor at how spot-on Naruto had been. The blonde scoffed, of course, it had been the same day Sasuke had transferred him "Sly snake" He muttered

Naruto turned to the door, but Gaara had been on his way out "You disappeared for a little too long, just came to check on you"

'How did you know I was back here?"

"Because I do," The redhead said with a small smile.

Naruto turned back "You deserve your lack of caffeine," He told Sai as he walked back inside

"I'm sorry, I was harsh, I printed what I knew would get people talking" Naruto heard Sai say before the door closed behind him.

Later when he'd gone back to his spot at the front desk he could see Sai standing outside through the glass doors. A couple of minutes later he was walking outside and everyone began snapping pictures, as he handed the to-go coffee cup to Sai without saying a word, the raven looked down at the cup to see the 'you think everyone will print that I'm flirting with you?' written on the cup and laughed.

After that both Naruto and Sai got comfortable around each other, Sai would come in and ask for an interview, already knowing Naruto would say no, but he'd take the 10 minutes of banter inside where the AC was any day.

He'd also take any opportunity to look at a certain redhead whenever he could. He'd been around to see the way the redhead and the blonde interacted to confirm that the attraction was one-sided. The articles insinuating a relationship between the two kept coming out, but Sai knew better. Sai also felt like…if the redhead was going to be having the feels he might as well direct his handsome, amazing self, at someone that could reciprocate.

"So how about it?" Sai asked "No," Naruto said smoothly.

Temari giggled "Ok how about some food then?" Sai asked, it was about time Gaara would be walking out to ask for lunch…

"Naruto, are you having lunch?" Gaara asked as he walked out of the hall, Sai smirked, he knew it.

The blonde turned over to Temari, and she pouted "I guess I could work" she groaned.

"Yes, lunch," Naruto said as he walked up to Gaara "You two really not going to invite me back? I'm starving!" Sai called after the pair.


Naruto pulled two bento boxes from the fridge and threw them in the microwave before they sat down "You know, we should just leave Temari full-time forever if it means you'll keep bringing lunch for us like this"

"I don't know what to do with all my newfound downtime so cooking and baking it is" Naruto would sneak out the back and walk over to the Trader Joe's to buy more ingredients and set about making not only dinner but lunch for the raven for the next day.

Gaara looked around "Where are the baked goods?"

"Sasuke ate all the cookies" Naruto smiled softly, he hadn't taken Sasuke as a sweets person, but he'd eat anything Naruto made really. He'd even been pouting when he saw Naruto packing the food that morning to bring over to the practice.

"But you made it for me"

"You're not going to eat seven portions of chicken curry"

"I could try" Naruto had laughed and kissed his lips softly "You know I'll make something different next time I'm off"

"Pig," Gaara said sullenly and Naruto laughed "Free food and now you want free dessert too? Not to mention all the money our little media appearance is putting in your pockets" Gaara smirked, he was about to be booked until after the holidays. He was also glad Naruto was able to joke about the incident now. He'd gotten worried the first two weeks when Shizune had to do house calls.

"Have to enjoy it as long as I can, first you go temp, now you leaving for a full week, next you'll be turning in your resignation" The blonde poked Gaara on the ribs "Don't do that I'm excited for Beijing" He bumped his shoulder against Gaara's "Even if I end up leaving, you think Tsunade will let me drop off the grid?"

"Never gonna happen kid," Tsunade said, as she had caught that last bit as she walked into the break room.

"Is one of those for me?" She asked, pointing at the food "I'm starving"

"In the fridge" Naruto smiled, at first he'd been completely opposed to the idea of quitting, especially after the whole 'kept' references. But the more he started getting comfortable at home he started thinking about so many other things he could do.

He wouldn't quit if he could help it, he still had hospital bills to pay, but now that he was literally not spending money on anything else other than groceries, or eating out the account was looking closer to being paid. There was also the idea that he had to have money in his savings for an emergency. But if it came down to it, if he had to step back and stop working for a bit, it no longer felt like the end of the world anymore. Sasuke had been doing so much better at leaving work early too, which allowed them to spend more time together.

"There's an extra bento box in the fridge," Naruto said as he eyed Gaara.

"In case I want seconds? Say no more" the redhead said as he finished his portion.

"No in case you want to take it to Sai who was begging 'us' for food"

"What do you say it like that?" Gaara said rolling his eyes.

"Because that boy looks at you like he wants to eat you up," Tsunade said snickering from where she was warming up her food.


"I've never been on a flight longer than two hours," Naruto said as he walked next to Sasuke as they walked through the airport parking lot.

"Seats in first class are big enough you can sit on my lap and fall asleep lover" He winked at Naruto who blushed, sitting right on top of Sasuke with all the other passengers there? No way!

Turns out even going to the airport with Sasuke was different, with pre-check they were in the VIP waiting area in minutes as opposed to probably the hour or two it would typically take to get through security and check-in. When they walked in, Naruto's eyes fell on Itachi, who was dressed comfortably and yet somehow still managed to look like an absolute Saint Laurent model. Then his eyes fell on Haku, and he bit his lip, unsure of how to act around the brunette.

Finally, he spotted the young man sitting across from Itachi, he was fair but nowhere near as fair as Sasuke or Itachi, his hair a washed-off black, almost dark gray, he must be Sasuke's new assistant.

"Naruto, it's so nice to see you," Itachi said with a smile as he stood and walked over to the blonde pulling him in for a big hug.

"We see each other at least once a month for dinner" The blonde chuckled. "That's all Sasuke will allow, keeping you all to himself" He winked, and Naruto laughed as Sasuke's arm slid through his waist and pulled him back to his side.

"I wonder why" he muttered as he stared daggers at his brother. Itachi liked to test his boundaries to get a reaction out of him, he always had, Naruto was different from anyone Sasuke had ever been with, and sometimes Itachi couldn't help himself.

"Have you met Tenma?" Itachi asked as he stepped aside and the guy stood walking up to the trio "I have not, very nice to meet you, I'm Naruto '' The blonde said as he outstretched his hand and smiled. Tenma's hand met his "I'm Tenma, very nice to meet you"

"You know when you two work overtime you're more than welcome to move over to the house, I'll be happy to make you both dinner before you can get settled more comfortably in the office" And he could get Sasuke in the house earlier during those pesky overtime days.

An offer Naruto had never made to Haku, and the brunette rolled his eyes from his seat "I see you find yourself with plenty of free time if you're looking to entertain, must be nice, scheduling a couple of boob jobs and calling it a day" Haku's voice rang through the space.

Naruto smiled softly as his eyes fell on the brunette before he spoke "You know what you and I do isn't that different, you help manage Itachi and that's your full-time job, I was managing all the office needs, and five different physicians along with their schedules, I might not have a Master's degree but I do much more than schedule boob jobs Haku"

Temna's mouth literally dropped open from across the blonde, as Itachi's eyes fell on Sasuke amused, Naruto walked over to one of the couches and plopped himself down.

Itachi walked up next to Sasuke and pulled him in for a side hug "Baby brother, I think he's growing claws"

"I worked for that degree, don't compare what you do to what I do," Haku said from his seat as he started daggers at the blonde.

Naruto opened his mouth to retort but Sasuke beat him to it "We're about to be on a plane for 12 hours so how about we take it easy" He said, maybe they should have booked two different flights…this had happened fifteen minutes in while at the waiting area, what was going to happen when they had to be around each other for a full week.

Tenma took a seat and kept stealing looks at the blonde, impressed with the fact that he'd talked like that to Haku. The longhaired brunette might not be an Uchiha but he kind of imposed the presence of one at the company.

Haku opened his mouth but one look at Sasuke's expression had him closing it and leaning back on his chair.


Naruto had been pretty pleased with himself by standing up to the brunette, but 5 hours into the flight he was pretty sure he'd be losing any footing with Haku the moment he gave in to the panic attack slowly brewing inside of him.

Sasuke had managed to close his eyes within the first two hours and Naruto had too, his head falling on the raven's shoulder. But a very inconvenient nightmare startled him awake, he looked around, relieved the screams were only in his head.

But then everything went downhill from there, he wanted to run, he wanted to step outside but he couldn't do that either, he was trapped. The plane had been on the air for five hours, it'd be another seven to eight, if the plane crashed what were the chances they would survive? Why was the air inside the cabin so stale?

Stop. He told himself everything is fine, so stop. He repeated to himself again.

He looked around to see that mostly everyone was asleep, except for Itachi who had reclined his seat and was reading a book. He stood up and walked over to the restroom, he hugged himself as he tried practicing the breathing techniques Shizune always walked him through willing his mind to stop reeling.

Itachi saw the blonde go in and put the book down when ten minutes had gone by and Naruto hadn't stepped out yet, he walked up to the restroom and knocked "Naruto?"

"Sorry, I'll be just a minute" came Naruto's voice, soft, nothing like what it had sounded when he'd been snapping at Haku earlier "You doing ok in there?" He asked, and his only response was a small choked sob "This is so embarrassing" he half laughed half sobbed.

"I'll get Sasuke," Itachi said as he walked back to where the raven was sleeping and nudged him awake, the raven's eyes fell on his brother "I think Naruto might be panicking a little" the sleep left Sasuke's eyes awfully quick as he looked to the side to see the blonde was missing.

"Restroom," Itachi said and Sasuke reached into the backpack he'd brought onboard and grabbed the pill container from one of the smaller pockets "Thanks," He told his brother as he got up and walked over to the restroom.

"Love can you let me in"

"You don't fit in here" Naruto's soft voice replied and Sasuke smiled softly "Love"

The tone in Sasuke's voice had Naruto turn the lock in the restroom and the raven walked in, they were both pretty much sandwiched inside the small restroom, Sasuke's arms instantly surrounding the blonde and pulling him close.

"Take a couple of breaths"

"I have been taking breaths" The blonde muttered with shaky hands, Sasuke took a small step back and brought up the pill bottle and Naruto scrunched up his nose.

"No, I thought I left those at home"

"And I put them in my bag when I saw you purposely left them back there"

"I don't like taking pills"

"It's not daily, it's just to help you with the panic attacks" Sasuke opened the bottle and dropped one small pill on the palm of his hand offering it to Naruto.

"I don't need it"

"I'll take the edge off and maybe you'll be able to fall back asleep, please?" He wiped the tear-stained cheeks with his thumb.

Naruto let out a breath, he hated that he needed the help, that he couldn't control his emotions by himself, and that his body betrayed him ignoring any logic.

He opened his mouth and Sasuke dropped the pill inside, when he saw Naruto swallow he leaned in landing his lips on the blonde, softly first, then his hands fell on his hips as he pushed him against the wall his tongue swiping his lips before it slipped inside "Thank you for benign kind to yourself" He said against Naruto's lips.

"You should have tried the kiss first, I think that might have done the trick" He answered a little breathless.

Sasuke smiled "I can do more than kiss"

Naruto blushed "There's no way it's too small in here"

"Is that a challenge?" Sasuke asked as he leaned down and kissed Naruto's neck "everyone outside will hear" the blonde mumbled.

There was a knock on the door and Naruto froze, growing completely red, Sasuke smirked as he pulled back "Oh my god, I can't even" he stumbled about, splashed some water on his face, and dried it with a paper towel before he turned and motioned for Sasuke to open the door.

Naruto walked out and his eyes landed against Tenma's whose blood rushed to his face when he spotted Sasuke walking out of the restroom too. He could hear Itachi laughing softly from his seat, asshole, he'd seen him groggily get up and didn't warn him that maybe he should hang back.

"It's not—we weren't," Naruto started and Sasuke laughed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to their seats, he lifted the armrest that separated his seat from the blondes and nudged Naruto over, who let his head fall on the raven's lap and lifted his legs to arrange them comfortably on his seat. Sasuke's fingers immediately ran through the blonde locks of hair.

"It's better already isn't it"

"It should be scary how quickly it works" His breathing had evened "Can you try to fall asleep?" Sasuke asked "Or I could try reading this for you" Sasuke reached for the discarded book Naruto had left in their area and Naruto smacked the copy of Neon Gods from his hand "You're not reading that out loud in here"


Haku felt like he could smother the blonde when he got up to the restroom to see Naruto passed out on Sasuke's lap and Sasuke's fingers running through his hair. Spotting tenderness on Sasuke's face was not something he was used to. It frustrated him that the emotion was directed at Naruto.

"Watch out, anybody sees you like this they'll think you've gone soft" He let out on his way back

"Let them, they'll let their guard down and be crushed before they know what hit them" Haku couldn't help but laugh softly at the raven's response.

"You could try to be nicer," Sasuke said, Haku rolled his eyes "He started it"

"Did he really?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

He did when he took you away from me Haku thought as he refused to answer that quip and walked back to his seat.

When the intercom rang to let them know they'd be landing, the raven nudged Naruto awake so he could put his seatbelt on and smirked as the blonde intertwined their fingers when the plane began landing.

As always, Naruto was easily impressed and found wonder in nearly everything as he stuck to the window like glue on the drive over to the hotel. When they pulled up to The Peninsula Beijing he looked back at Sasuke "This is where we're staying?" It was stunningly luxurious with a more modern oriental vibe.

"I think there's a room we can reserve for Karaoke" Itachi said smirking

Naruto perked up "I love karaoke, but I'll only do it if you and Sasuke sing this time!"

Tenma raised an eyebrow "This two singing? Not even to strike a business deal, but I'm down"

"This is ridiculous this is a business trip, not a vacation," Haku said rolling his eyes, Naruto rolled his own eyes "Was eating with Ms. Uchiha last time you two were in Brussels business?"

Tenma was beginning to grow a little bit of a crush on Naruto, honestly, how could he not? That was the second time he'd been so fast at putting something together he'd actually left Haku speechless for a couple of seconds

Naruto's goal for coming was to make it perfectly clear he was not going anywhere. And he would not stay quiet when it came to where he stood with Sasuke.

Itachi's amusement was never-ending, he'd warned his brother to be aware of scorned lovers, but he hadn't expected Naruto to be the one to step up like this, he'd thought he'd be more of a suffer-in-silence sort of type. Which Naruto had been at first, a little hesitant in the relationship but the Gala had been like a wake-up call to both of them.

If he'd spoken to Sasuke earlier like Shizune kept nudging him to, that night might not even have come to pass in the first place. He shouldn't have taken a step back, he should have made the offer to Haku and Sasuke to come work at the house, he should have dealt with the discomfort knowing what Haku and Sasuke had done at the penthouse and shown Haku that Naruto was the one living there now.

Instead, he backed away, giving Haku the impression that he was a threat. Well, he didn't care if he came across as childish now, or that Haku had been transferred already.

No more, Sasuke was his.


"What about Inabi?" Izuna commented from across from Sasuke.

Fugaku's face pulled into a frown "Inabi was more worried about chasing tail than proving worthy during University"

Sasuke looked up next to Izuna to meet Itachi's eyes, his brother was just as amused as he was by his father's choice of words.

Chatter and argument broke loose over their father's comment "What about Shisui?" Madara's voice broke through.

And the room grew instantly quiet, eyes turning to Itachi "Shisui took a step back when he got married, he's rusty"

"Well then Fugaku, is it that you want either Sasuke or Itachi to do it? They're both running Gateway right now, they might be prodigies but there is still only so much time during the day" Izuna said, growing a little irritated with the fact that Fugaku was turning everyone down.

Fugaku's eyes fell on Sasuke and then Itachi, his sons were is pride. No other family member in this room could try and deny them anything, maybe Kagami, since Shishui was exceptionally talented as well.

But he hadn't lied, Shisui had completely stepped back and refused to take on any more responsibility after he married.

"There's Izumi," Itachi said and the room grew quiet again "I hear she's been doing great under uncle Madara"

"Izumi is dying to get a seat at the big boy's table, her ambition might cloud her judgment," Kagami said from his seat.

"If it were any of us we'd say her ambition was a quality" Sasuke put out there which earned him a smirk from both his uncle Madara and Itachi.

By the time the meeting ended Sasuke wanted to punch something, they had dragged them all the way to Beijing and still, they'd adjourned the meeting without landing on a final decision. They'd have to come back tomorrow only to have the same conversation and back and forth arguing all over again.

"Sasuke, I hear you got yourself a cute little boyfriend and have been stirring quite the gossip" Madara's voice resonated in the room.

"Mikoto might be heartbroken, it wasn't your assistant what's his name, oh wait, it's Itachi's assistant now isn't it," Obito said with a smirk trying to get a reaction out of the raven.

It wasn't often that the prized Uchiha brothers stirred drama up like this, all the other cousins and nephews always had the pressure of living up to Fugaku's prodigy children. It had taken three years and it had been Sasuke this time but god did it feel good to see they were just as human as they were.

"Fugaku aren't you the least bit concerned? I mean barely a college certification"

Sasuke's eyes snapped right up to his uncle Izuna "We didn't gather here to talk about my love life, and what Naruto has or has not done is not going to be brought up for discussion in this room, he will not be brought up again"

As everyone was filtering out of the room Fugaku's voice rang "Sasuke, stay back" Sasuke let out a breath as Itachi muttered a 'good luck' next to him.

He turned and plopped right back down on the nearest chair to him "That sounded more serious than a fling"

"I never said it was a fling"

"You never said much"

"Because all you asked is if he'd signed the NDA" Fugaku's lips thinned into a line.

"Well I'm asking now, how serious is it?"

"I wouldn't have gone public if it wasn't a serious relationship"

"No education, no connections, he's got nothing to bring to the table, at least Neji–"

"That's all you ever cared about, Neji's family name, his business, the moment you found out we were involved that's the reason you pushed the press on it"

"Sasuke"

"No dad, this isn't business, and I won't let you turn it into business"

Sasuke stood up and walked over to the door "We're your sons, why can't your first question be if they make us happy? Itachi wanted that, needed it, I won't let you pressure me the same way you did him"


fewhofaofd geeeeee, you know what's going to happen now right?

You have asked, you have guessed, you have wondered for so long now and there was no way I could close the series without letting you know: So wassup with Itachi? (((o(*°▽°*)o)))

I am so excited for this next chapter honestly that I might post it this weekend, because I'm damn impatient and you've all been waiting and wondering for so long now~~~~~

Ah~ we'll see if I can edit fast enough. For now, I cannot wait to hear the feedback on this chapter :)

Until next time my darlings,

Chio~