Happy Monday my darlings!

Ok so, I so did not realize both stories would wrap up in the same week and my heart cannot handle it T.T Technically The Help is finished and supposedly edited but you know me, I have to read everything a thousand times before I can post (might try and use my lunch tomorrow to get it posted).

But...yeah, I'll probably obsess over the last chapter for Gateway all week long, and end up rewriting some parts (because c'mon it's me) and obviously because I'm in absolute denial bout it ending lol.

As always thank you so much to everyone who leaves comments, kudos, or has subscribed. You always put a stupid smile on my face ❤️ or make me laugh embarrassingly loud in the middle of work.

Rating: M (Explicit): there's definitely some spitfire on this one-you'll get the play in words after you read it lol

Disclaimer: 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 8: Dark Horse

The knock on the door woke them up, Naruto burrowed his head into Sasuke's arm and groaned, he wasn't ready to get up yet. Sasuke had been literally insatiable the night before, he was sore in the best way possible. He still stirred at the thought that even mentioning the possibility of someone else having him sent Sasuke over the edge.

"Mr. Uchiha breakfast will be served in 30 minutes, Mrs. Uchiha said I should wake you" The voice came through the door.

"We'll be there" Sasuke's response rang, his voice rough with sleep as he pulled the blonde closer and rubbed his face on the mop of blonde hair.

"They'll be on the south terrace," She said before Sasuke could hear the girl walking away from the room.

Naruto had shifted and was now trailing a path of kisses up his neck, Sasuke smirked and moved, climbing on top of the groggy blonde.

"Telling me you want to stay but then seducing your way out of breakfast I see" He murmured as he leaned down to kiss Naruto, who chuckled.

"Gosh it's just, I feel so uptight around them," Naruto said with a groan.

"Then don't," Sasuke said as he trailed a path of kisses from his shoulder to his neck, suddenly wide awake as he saw the tan skin darken with the marks he was leaving behind "Don't what?" The blonde gasped, arching up into the raven.

"Be uptight around them, be yourself, and give them a piece of your mind, don't hold back on my account" Sasuke finished as he pulled back to look at Naruto's blue eyes, letting him know he meant every word.

He sat off and moved to the edge of the bed before he gave in to the desire building inside of him and took the blonde, he'd rather they arrive early that late to have all eyes land on Naruto if they arrived last.

Naruto sat up and kissed Sasuke's shoulder lightly before the raven slid off the bed, and they both went about their morning routine.

"You might regret that" Naruto smirked up at Sasuke "Never, can't wait to see that loud-mouthed personality that makes it out when you're with your family come out" it was true too, Naruto was sweet and regularly polite in an unknown environment. But if he was comfortable he was funny easygoing, witty, and could get quite snarky if he wanted to. He wouldn't mind seeing the side of his boyfriend that would make his family think twice before messing with him.

That side that had come up and taken Haku down a full set of notches during the Beijing trip one snide comment after the other. To the point where the brunette didn't even try to approach the raven the night prior. Haku hadn't even tried to snap at the blonde way he usually did. He could have joined his family in the barrage of passive-aggressive comments. Instead, there was only a look of quiet resignation on his face when he looked at Sasuke by Naruto's side.

"Loud-mouthed?" Naruto balked, clearly offended as he pulled his sweater over his head.

"You kept calling Tsunade Granny until the woman literally tackled you," Sasuke said with an amused smirk, his mind wandering back to thanksgiving, long after everyone had had way too much to drink.

The older lady had taken over the microphone and started singing WAP, her husband hollering 'there's some whores in this house!' with Kakashi in the background. Which had Naruto fall into a fit of laughter telling her she was way too old to be singing and performing that song. Tsunade did not take to the comment kindly chasing Naruto for a full five minutes before she tackled him to the floor and made him take it back.

Sasuke wasn't sure he'd ever be able to delete the image of Naruto's 'motherly' figure saying the words 'wet ass pussy' followed the blonde-haired woman hollering at her husband to tell Naruto how wrong he was to imply her lady regions were anything but A-game.

"I thought 'It wasn't me' was as bad as they were going to get," He said with a laugh "She was out of control, singing WAP of all songs" the blonde visibly shuddered. Then his eyes shifted to his lover as he squinted his eyes.

"If I remember correctly, you sir did nothing to stop her from tackling me to the ground," Naruto said as he poked the man's chest but there wasn't any bite behind the comment.

"I have to say on her good side" Sasuke replied smoothly.

"Well, I'd like to stay on your parent's good side"

Sasuke shook his head dragging the blonde close into a loose hug "Us Uchiha's are a different breed, how about you pull some of that 'top' attitude from last night and put them all in their place" Sasuke smirked pretty satisfied with himself at the way Naruto grew completely red and spluttered nonsense at him.

"Oh my god!" He said as he giggled.

They finished dressing, they had gone for casual, but Sasuke's casual look always came off as high-end, and Naruto knew the light blush on his cheeks did not go unnoticed by the raven. The soreness he felt as he had pulled his pants up definitely wasn't doing anything to deter him from wanting Sasuke to do all kinds of things to him—again.

"You keep looking at me like that and we'll never make it to breakfast" The raven muttered as his hands slid sinfully down the blonde's back, massaging his sore lower back. Naruto shuddered a bit but was very much aware everyone at the table would know what the pair was up to if they missed breakfast so with one last groan he stepped away from the raven and walked over to the door.

Naruto was wondering if the light long sleeve he had on would be enough, he should have grabbed a jacket, last night he'd been freezing. But as they walked out to the terrace, he noticed there were plenty of heaters surrounding the table, and even if it had been cold the beautifully kept garden might have made up for it.

Mikoto, Fugaku, and Itachi were already at the table. Sasuke took a seat from across his father, which left Naruto sitting across from Mikoto

"Good Morning," He said as he took a seat, Fugaku nodded at them and both Mikoto and Itachi returned the greeting.

Mikoto huffed as Sasuke was about to take a seat next to Naruto "Come give your mom a good morning kiss" Naruto laughed as Sasuke stopped midway and actually walked around the table to kiss Mikoto on the cheek "Good morning mom" She smacked his arm playfully.

Naruto smiled softly at the exchange, now this was more like it. So, was it only when everyone else was around that their attitude changed?

"This is why Itachi's the favorite, I don't have to tell him to kiss me good morning or nudge him to give me a call" Sasuke rolled his eyes as he took a seat and reached over for the coffee, filling up Naruto's cup then his own.

The blonde lifted the cup up to his face and let out a happy noise as the smell hit him. Coffee always smelled so good.

"I see you're a coffee person," Mikoto said with a chuckle.

"Every morning without fail"

"Afternoon and sometimes evening" Sasuke added

"I drink decaf after 3" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, then the door opened, Madara and Izuna trailed out followed by Obito. The blonde resisted the urge to groan, of course, they also stayed. His eyes shifted to Itachi. He hoped Konan and Shisui had taken their leave, breakfast at the same table would be beyond pushing it…

There was an exchange of good mornings as the trio took their seats, thankfully it really was just chit-chat that filtered through the table as everyone ate breakfast, but of course, it would be too much to expect it to remain that pleasant.

"Nephew, you look positively smitten," Madara said with a smile as Sasuke reached to refill Naruto's cup when he noticed he'd finished his coffee.

"You two surely stole all the attention last night" Izuna added.

Naruto smiled, they had, but not in the way the family had hoped. There had barely been any interaction between Haku and Sasuke, and it looked like Sasuke had barely even bothered to acknowledge Neji. The family had no idea of the exchange between the blonde and the brunette or that Naruto quite literally dragged Sasuke away from the party with the promise of sex so Sasuke wouldn't end up fighting the brunette.

Obito had been scrolling through his phone looking up the posts from the previous night

"Despite having both ex-lovers in attendance, Sasuke Uchiha had eyes for no one, but his blonde blue-eyed plus one. The couple has been inseparable since the first set of articles exposing the relationship hit the news. Half of our office took a bet on whether the raven would drop on one knee at last night's event"

Sasuke's cousin read from his phone, as he lifted his eyes to Naruto, then Sasuke. Izuna rolled his eyes "Hopefully you'd have half a mind to tell us before you did something like that"

"They haven't even been dating for a year, it's too soon to be talking about proposing," Fugaku said from his chair.

The comments finally snapped some of the blonde's self-restraint. He wasn't in a ballroom full of gossipy guests or reporters waiting for a scene so they could print out an article or go home to whisper among themselves about how the blonde had made a scene at the gala.

No, this was a table with only Sasuke's close family, and he'd be damned if he let them talk about Sasuke's future, about their future like they had a right to pick for them. Like they had a right to pick for Sasuke.

Talking like that, like he wasn't even in the same space—that, wasn't going to fly, and he hoped Sasuke meant every word he'd told him that morning because it was too late to stop the words from exciting his mouth "I'm sorry but why would he need to tell any of you?" His voice rang through the table and all eyes fell on him "I mean, I get telling his parents if he wants to propose, but it almost sounds like you want him to get approval from the board of directors"

Itachi held in his laugh by taking a sip of coffee from his mug.

"That sounded a bit defensive," Obito said.

Damn, right it was defensive Naruto thought to himself "I'm not sure the same conversation would be taking place if it was Neji sitting at this table" the blonde threw out there as he lifted his eyes to Fugaku, he could see the man's jaw clenching.

Mikoto set her cup down "I'm sorry, no one here is trying to be offensive" the blonde barely resisted to the urge to roll his eyes at the obvious lie.

"But we did just meet you, everyone at this table is only looking out for Sasuke, all we know from you we've learned from articles, and you moved in so quickly, and now everyone is assuming he's proposing? It feels so rushed…"

Naruto could feel Sasuke stiffen next to him, they were both thinking the same thing, how would Mikoto know when Naruto moved in? Probably Haku…

"Neji comes from the Hyugaa family, he's been raised differently, he at lest brings something to the table" Izuna said unapologetically

Sasuke opened his mouth, ready to put a stop to all the ridiculous nonsense but Naruto reached for his hand under the table.

"My only impression of Neji from last night is that he needs a lesson on both morals and manners, is that your idea of a better match?" he looked over to Izuna.

Then his eyes switched to Mikoto "Mrs. Uchiha, I understand that you also came from an affluent family, so I know you can't possibly understand what it feels like to be deemed constantly unworthy of your loved one by people who don't know you…because none of you have made a genuine effort to get to know me. Instead, you've spent our short time together making snide comments about our relationship or trying to pry us apart, trying to waltz better prospects by Sasuke's face as if that would make him reconsider"

He took the time to look at the shocked expressions around the table "Everyone on this table is basically insinuating that I don't measure up to Sasuke, but I don't hear anyone asking if he's happy"

Mikoto's stomach dropped with the weight of Naruto's words. At the insinuation that she wasn't didn't care about her son's happiness. Fugaku frowned, realizing Naruto was technically mimicking the words Sasuke had told him last time they were in Beijing.

"I love your son, so we can try and build a good relationship, or we can be uncomfortable and shoot passive-aggressive comments at each other every time we're all in the same room because no matter what any of you say, I'm not going anywhere"

The table fell into stunned silence for a second as a smile settled on Sasuke's face. He had half a mind to actually propose to Naruto right then and there.

"So, you're insinuating you have more say than either of his parents" Izuna scoffed.

"He does" All heads turned to Sasuke "I'm not here to live life by anyone's standards or expectations other than my own, Naruto is the person I'm choosing to have by my side, and what he wants matters more now"

"Sasuke watch your words, you live the life you do because of us, because of what we've built," Fugaku said with a warning tone. Mikoto reached out to grab her husband's hand and squeezed, there was no need for him to go there.

"And you also raised me with the knowledge to sustain and grow the business, if your comment is a hidden threat, do it, take it all away it could be interesting to see which one of us comes out on top"

"You cocky–" Madara kicked Izuna under the table, signaling him to stop. If Sasuke left, Itachi would follow, there were loyalties within the company, and Sasuke and Itachi had created really good connections. This argument had most definitely spiraled out of control.

"Sasuke and Naruto are right, whoever Sasuke dates, or marries should not be treated as a business, Naruto we'd like to have a good relationship with you, it looks like you definitely have the personality to stand next to my dear nephew," Madara said diffusing the situation from escalating further. After all, everyone had continued to attack and demean Konan and they'd lost Shisui as a consequence.

Naruto allowed the shock of the turn the conversation had taken to wash through him; he hadn't expected Fugaku to suggest he would fire Sasuke. He'd never want to get in the way of Sasuke's success in that way. But at the same time, something about the way Sasuke had challenged his dad without an ounce of hesitation…for him…gave him all the feels.

"How about we just put the last two days behind us and start fresh" Naruto threw out there

"Let's do that, '' Mikoto replied, as the rest of the table remained awkwardly quiet.

Naruto's phone buzzed and he reached into his pants to look at Itachi's message.

You just owned the whole Uchiha family

Despite the ridiculous tension around the table, Naruto was trying very hard not to laugh as the emoji of a dark horse followed the message.

Sasuke leaned over to look and smirked, his eyes lifting to his brother's.

Mikoto caught up to Sasuke and Naruto before they jumped in the car

"I was hoping to have a quick word with Naruto," She told the pair, Sasuke turned to the blonde making sure Naruto was up to it, he didn't have to. Naruto didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do.

"It's ok," the blonde said, and Sasuke jumped in the car, he was proud of his sunshine, fuck, he loved him. For standing up to his family, for standing up for him, because it wasn't necessarily all the snide comments that had made him snap. Naruto snapped because they were undermining Sasuke's freedom to choose.

Sasuke was beyond furious the conversation had taken such a nasty turn in the first place. He had half a mind to leave the company. Talking about how Neji was a better match because he was better connected. He didn't fucking need to marry someone for connections, who he chose as his partner had absolutely zero correlation with how he performed at work.

He let his head fall back against the headrest of the car to try and calm himself. Naruto wouldn't want him to quit, he wouldn't want him to fight with his family. Anyhow Itachi was right, Naruto was a damn dark horse, no one suspected him to walk in there that morning and put every single Uchiha looking to chase him off in their palace. A small smirk slid into his face at that.

He hadn't necessarily expected his family to make it easy, but still…Naruto's family was warm and loving, and fun. They treated him with respect and gave him a chance despite thinking Sasuke had kept Naruto hidden for a little too long. They welcomed him with open arms because in simple words: Naruto had picked him.

His family had embarrassed him the last two days. He told his dad Naruto wasn't a fling, he'd made his feelings perfectly clear, he'd never introduced anyone this formally to his family and he expected so much more…He thought at least his mom would do better…at least be happy for him.

Mikoto actually seemed nervous for once as she fiddled with her hands "I...I wanted to apologize" She stopped fiddling as her eyes raised to Naruto's "I might have ran with preconceived notions or been a little upset because you weren't who I was expecting, but I can see you care, and I know how my son feels just by the way he looks at you, back there you might have only been trying to diffuse the situation but I would love an opportunity to get to know you better"

Naruto smiled at her "I would really like that, and I know Sasuke would too, he loves you very much, even if he doesn't call as often as you'd like" Mikoto laughed at that last bit.

"I hate that he's leaving upset today," She said as he looked at Sasuke through the window "I'll still be in town for the rest of the holidays, could I drop by?"

"Of course, you can come over as much as you'd like, maybe even stay a couple of days?" Sasuke might not be ridiculously close to his parents the way he was close to Tsunade and Jiraya. His relationship with his parents was different, but there was still a bond.

The blonde could tell Sasuke was disappointed at how everything had ultimately played out. He wanted to be able to get along with them…After all, Sasuke was special, Sasuke and Itachi were their sons. Their accomplished, stupidly handsome, genius sons. He could understand the need to protect them, even if it was misguided and done the wrong way.

The blonde relaxed a bit, his guarded expression dropped a bit and was replaced with a soft smile. Mikoto smiled back softly thankful that the blonde seemed to genuinely accept her apology "I'm going to give you a hug now, ok?" She said before she stepped forward to hug the blonde.

He blushed as he returned the gesture.

Ahhh I actually had so much fun writing this, giving Naruto the opportunity to stand up to Sasuke's family and show them where they could shove their thoughts about their relationship (✧ᴗ✧) My heart be still~ ❤

Our snarky blonde ain't going nowhere, his place is right next to his stupidly handsome Uchiha boyfriend.

I will see you this weekend to finally close this one out my darlings, if you'll excuse me I need to go sort out my mixed feelings about that lol.

Cannot wait to hear your thoughts,

Chio~