"We're almost ready to clear the area for construction. The only thing left is to check the environmental impact of the project and decide upon the best way to counteract it. That will mean another trip to the site, Hokage-sama, as thrilling as I know that sounds." Shikamaru's monotonous report was succeeding in putting all who were attending the meeting to sleep, aided ever more by the bleak, grey weather outside the high windows of Naruto's office. Even Sasuke was having a hard time paying attention.

He was surprised how quickly Shikamaru had resumed his role as Naruto's right hand, though he probably shouldn't have been. While the lazier shinobi had been in Sand with his family, Neji had mostly taken over his role by Naruto's side, and was currently in attendance along with Kakashi, Shizune, Karin, some Kirigakure representative Sasuke hadn't bothered to learn the name of, and of course the Hokage himself, who was staring out at the rain as though he hadn't heard a word Shikamaru had spoken.

Shikamaru sighed as if he had just come to the very same conclusion.

"Naruto," he grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against a desk, "the plan to rebuild Uzushiogakure was your idea. It would be helpful if you actually acted like you were involved in the process of making it happen."

Naruto blinked slowly and Karin rolled her eyes.

"Oi! Blondie!" She stepped over to him and snapped in front of his face.

Naruto blinked and his eyes focused as he turned towards the room, expression timidly shameful. Sasuke smirked as Naruto quickly apologized for spacing out and Shikamaru repeated his original statement in less words so Naruto knew what they were discussing.

"Another trip?" he pouted, once he realized what Shikamaru had said. "Do I have to go?"

Sasuke suspected he was more reluctant to leave his son again than he was unwilling to go back to the site of the planned Uzushiogakure. Shikamaru cleared his throat and answered,

"No, I don't think so. For this job a small team will do. Karin has already volunteered, as well as Juta—" he nodded towards the Kirigakure nin, "—and myself. I was hoping to take a few chunin along as well."

He paused.

"And Shino, if he's willing to take the mission."

Naruto's expression darkened then brightened and he nodded.

"Take Kiba too. I think a mission will be good for them. Is that everything? When do you leave?"

Shikamaru sighed heavily, staring out the window.

"We'll leave by the end of the week. Hopefully this rainy spell will have broken by then. I hate walking in soggy shoes, it's such a drag." His eyes adjusted back to Naruto and he added, "I've left a more detailed briefing printed out for you on your desk because I knew you wouldn't be paying attention."

"Sorry, Shika," Naruto grinned. "And thanks. That's all we had to do today, you're all dismissed."

The others gathered their papers and headed towards the door while Sasuke waited for Shikamaru to give Naruto more details of the mission to Uzushiogakure. Karin caught his eye as she was leaving and he nodded to her. They were no longer a team—hadn't been in years—but he was still civil towards her.

She winked and blew him a kiss as she left, but Sasuke didn't bat an eye. She had changed in the years since becoming an official Konoha kunoichi, but not in all ways.

Shikamaru caught his eye as he left, too, but instead of a wink and a kiss he just gave Sasuke a curious look, like he was trying to puzzle something out. Sasuke wished he liked Shikamaru more—he was one of the most tolerable of his fellow classmates—but he didn't think he could ever make himself trust someone who seemed like he was thinking halfway in the dark all the time. He could never quite tell what Nara was thinking and it set him on edge.

He stepped towards Naruto's desk once everyone had filed out.

"Thanks for waiting through the meeting, Sasuke."

"It probably would have gone faster if you had been paying attention."

Naruto pouted. "Don't nag! The rain was putting me in a trance, and it's not my fault all this construction and rebuilding stuff is dead boring. I wanted to rebuild Uzushiogakure so that people could live there again. I don't care about all this technical stuff."

"Who is going to live there?" Sasuke inquired. It just occurred to him that he wasn't sure who Naruto had planned on repopulating the village with. Naruto brightened instantly at the question.

"That's the best part! And that's why I wanted Karin involved in this project, because she's an Uzumaki. Or, part, anyway. I've sent word to each country that anyone with Uzumaki heritage has a place in the new Uzushiogakure. There's a lot of history there, buried under rubble and covered with water. I think people who want to should be able to know where they came from.

"And then the second part of the message I sent out was for anyone who wanted a fresh start, letting them know they had a place in the new village too. It's going to be completely different from the other villages, Sasuke! It isn't going to be founded on war and fighting, but on peace and a better future. We've set it up so all the orphanages in Konoha and Suna will be moved to Uzushiogakure and the kids will have as much space as they want. I'm working on a proposal for a more community-service based criminal system, so people who have been convicted will feel welcome, too."

"Criminals?" Sasuke interrupted, frowning. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Naruto smiled softly.

"Everyone needs a second chance, don't you think?"

"I…" Sasuke hesitated, then Naruto's implied meaning clicked in his head. Of course Naruto would want everyone to have a second chance. After all, he'd given Sasuke a second chance without question, something no one else would have done. Naruto was trusting that way, and kind, and infallibly optimistic. It was why he made a great Hokage.

"I guess I do," he conceded, and Naruto's smile widened. He leaned in and dropped his voice when he added,

"I haven't told anyone this, but I'm going to ask Shikamaru if he'll be the leader of the new Uzushiogakure."

That surprised Sasuke more than anything else Naruto had said, though he wasn't sure why. Shikamaru had proven himself to be reliable and skilled at handling the tasks a kage would be burdened with. Sasuke was mostly just surprised Naruto would be willing to give up his best adviser again so soon. Maybe this time when Shikamaru left, Sasuke would finally do the right thing and take the position by Naruto's side, the way things were always meant to be.

"I'm sure he'll make a capable Uzukage."

To his confusion Naruto grimaced at the title Sasuke had used.

"That's another thing," the Hokage mumbled, folding his hands together on his desk. "As soon as Uzushiogakure is built and sustainable, I'm going to change the kage name."

"What?" Sasuke wasn't sure what he meant by that. Hadn't Naruto worked practically his whole life to earn the title of Hokage? Why would he possibly want to change it now?

"The kage name is steeped in blood. We aren't "shadows" anymore, working in the darkness, doing things no one is allowed to talk about. I've thought about it for a long time, and as much as things have changed I know the "kage" title is still holding us back. Gaara agrees, and I hope the others will too."

Naruto's blue eyes were narrowed and serious. Sasuke could tell he'd spent much time thinking this over, and that he was sure of his decision. He was firm and adamant, commanding in a way that Sasuke had never seen him before. He was the Hokage he was always meant to be, whether he changed his title or not, and the realization sent a thrill down Sasuke's spine. He only wished he'd been paying more attention to see how Naruto had come to be the determined, intelligent leader that he had.

"Hey, Sasuke," he said, looking up, eyes wider and expression relaxed back to his more natural, easy-going state. "I know I said I wanted your help with these mission reports, but don't you think today is the perfect day for sparring?"

Well, maybe he still had some of the unreliable loser-Naruto in him buried deep. Sasuke didn't altogether mind that Naruto either.

He smirked.

"It's a pretty good day to get your ass kicked, dead-last."

"You wish, bastard!"

They stopped on the way to get Nori from Temari's house because Naruto claimed that Nori had asked him whether he or Sasuke was stronger and he had to prove himself to his son. Sasuke found himself feeling just the smallest bit resentful. He'd thought for a moment that he was going to be able to spend some time with just Naruto, but he couldn't blame a father for wanting to be with his son when he could.

He felt worse for feeling defensive of Naruto's time in the first place. He hated that he coveted Naruto so much. If he were a better person he wouldn't be so greedy with Naruto's time but he couldn't help it; he'd already wasted so much of it being stubborn and blind he felt like he had to claim every second of Naruto that he could.

Nori was excited about watching Sasuke and his father spar. He didn't even mind sitting on a wet log on the edge of one of the training grounds to watch. It had stopped raining but the sky's were still cloudy and grey and the ground was soggy and full of puddles. It would make sparring interesting—and messy. Sasuke could tell from the wide grin on Naruto's face that he could care less about getting a bit muddy, and Sasuke figured he would just take a shower after he beat Naruto. If he managed to end it quickly enough he might even manage to avoid getting dirty altogether.

"Ready?" Naruto asked, taunting. Nori cheered from the sidelines.

Sasuke nodded. He knew the drill. It was like the old days, before that night. They had rules for sparring and he knew they hadn't changed. No chakra unless specifically stated; they'd caused too much property damage in the beginning to fight full-out, so they pulled it back and settled for simple hand-to-hand. It usually meant Sasuke had the advantage. He was quicker, but he tired faster.

Naruto made the first move, digging his heel into the mud to get better leverage as he launched at Sasuke. Sasuke dodged and spun around, his leg flying for Naruto's shoulder. He half expected Naruto to crash and fall into the mud right away but he caught himself and even managed to take the kick without flinching, grabbing Sasuke's ankle and flipping him back so he had to land with his knees just an inch from the muddy ground.

And just like that Sasuke's world was on fire.

It had been so long since he'd moved in time to Naruto, since he was evenly matched, toe-to-toe, perfect sync. It had been years since his senses came alive with instinct, moving his limbs for him, tilting his perception, reading Naruto's every move to meet it right in the middle.

His blood flowed hot through his veins as he ducked and weaved and took hit after hit, pushing and crashing into Naruto in equal.

"Did you get slower?" Naruto asked, grinning from ear to ear. His hair was damp from the water in the air, sticking to his face. Sasuke could feel his bangs swept haphazardly across his brow, jabbed one leg to try and knock the cocky blond off balance.

"You wish," he replied coolly, though he felt anything but. Naruto stumbled but caught himself in time to bend one knee as Sasuke's elbow aimed for his shoulder and a kick went straight for his shins. He caught Sasuke's leg, fingers gripping the fabric of his pants and both paused, waiting to see who would counter first.

The glint in Naruto's eye gave him away and Sasuke managed to be quick enough to use his other leg to push off and back, keeping the space between them and his advantage. Naruto was always better at closer combat; if he got a grip on Sasuke it could end it, so Sasuke simply didn't let him.

For all the talk, Sasuke knew he hadn't gotten slower—Naruto had gotten faster, just by a bit. It made it more interesting, as if it needed to be. It was already the most exhilarating thing Sasuke had experienced in as long as he could remember. His heart felt like it could pound out of his chest, his chakra was already building underneath his skin. In the years past when he and Naruto fought neither of them had the chakra control they should and both ended the fight shrouded in a coat of chakra they struggled to restrain.

He wanted to unleash it, to let it burn in his throat as he scorched the mud around them with a phoenix flower jutsu, just to see how Naruto would react, how he would dodge or counter it. He stepped quick and agile forward, palms meeting Naruto's forearms, bounding off and then meeting again, like a dance. Several times he swore he caught Naruto moving to make the seal for shadow clones only to stop himself and block Sasuke's attack.

The tide turned and Sasuke found himself on the offensive, the fire and power building and building in his gut with every clash of limb on limb. Never without a plan, Sasuke had been carefully pushing and pushing Naruto back, moving him into the right position, just in front of the slipperiest looking patch of mud. He was quickly getting out of breath but the energy inside him wasn't waning.

This was what he'd wanted, what he needed when he didn't even know he'd needed it. Just he and Naruto, no other world around them, no dead calling their names, twisting their lives. It just built and built and built in the both of them, stronger than Sasuke had ever felt it before, maybe because it had been so long.

He felt like he was the person he was meant to be when he was fighting Naruto, and Naruto was exactly who and where he was meant to be, and that was with Sasuke, in his sights and tauntingly within reach.

He finally pushed Naruto back so his left foot slipped just a fraction into the mud. Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke heard Nori gasp and giggle.

He hadn't for a moment forgotten Naruto's son watching them. It had almost helped to spurn him on, to fight harder to see if Nori would cheer for him or his father, or maybe the boy would laugh if he saw his father fall in the mud.

But Sasuke didn't want the fight to end so soon. He wanted Naruto at his greatest, at his very best, and he knew without even thinking just how to make that happen.

"I'm embarrassing you in front of your son, Naruto. Are you going to take that?" He taunted.

He practically heard Naruto's teeth grinding together as tiny flutters of raindrops started to fall around them. Sasuke's clothes were sticking to him from sweat and humidity, but he didn't even notice it, too busy staring at Naruto. He'd taken off the kage robes when they began and underneath he was wearing a simple white t-shirt, almost completely see-through once the water soaked into it. Sasuke could see every line of muscle on Naruto's chest, up along his arms and to his neck. He'd gained so much figure and form since they were young, and even in just the years since Sasuke had stopped paying attention. Both their shoes and the bottoms of their pants were covered in mud, and each of Naruto's knees was muddy from the times Sasuke had gotten him almost to the ground.

There was something in Naruto's eyes, something hungry and predatory that Sasuke found familiar and strange all at once. He tried hard not to stare too long, too lustily, not to mark every inch of Naruto's body with his eyes. He fought himself not to activate his sharingan just to memorize the way Naruto's stomach moved when he straightened his back or turned his body to the side.

And then Naruto's tongue slipped from his lips, licked a line at the corner of his mouth as his feet dug into the mud. The action, subtle and harmless it might have been, sent a wave of desire rippling through Sasuke's already livewire body. He faltered, dropped his defensive stance just long enough for Naruto to launch forward, arms wrapping around Sasuke's middle and sending the both of them splattering into the thick, deep mud.

Sasuke managed to keep the mud from his face but his clothes were a disaster. Naruto had gotten a face full himself, even his hair was so covered not a trace of blond could be seen. Sasuke rolled onto his knees, heart pounding faster even than before, ready for Naruto to attack again.

But he didn't. Instead he knelt in the mud, blinked Sasuke's way with mud dripping down his face, and laughed.

It was infectious, and ridiculous, laughing covered in mud in the rain. It was so Naruto that Sasuke just couldn't resist it, smiling despite himself, despite the desperate way he wanted to forget everything—Hinata, that night, Nori, the entire past four years—and just take Naruto in the mud. He clenched his fist and grinned as Naruto chucked a handful of mud at him and he blocked it with his forearm.

Naruto started to rise clumsily from the mud, trying in vain to wipe some of it from his face and clothes, mumbling something about going to the bathhouse to get all of it off. Sasuke took in a deep breath of water and earth, started to try and calm his body, drop his defenses since it seemed like Naruto had admitted defeat, at least for that day.

And then in the span of half a second his defenses raised full force as he leapt backwards and activated his sharingan to avoid the colossal chakra attack that had nearly splintered him in half.

It took the other half of the second to realize that Nori hadn't been targeting him, but mud-covered Naruto, and to piece together exactly why the child that had been happily watching them spar moments before was suddenly consumed with anger and levels of chakra he couldn't even begin to control.

"Shit!" he cursed at himself for not realizing what seeing someone covered in mud would do to Nori, the memories that it would trigger.

Chakra tails were crashing all around him, he had near misses several times that he had to dodge before he could get a grip on the situation. Naruto was still right where he had been when the first wave of Beast chakra hit. Sasuke couldn't tell for sure but he thought Naruto had gone into sage mode. He couldn't escape the center of the attack, just had to defend himself as best he could. He was shouting something, probably Nori's name, but it wasn't getting through—Nori was too far-gone.

It was difficult for Sasuke to even get a glimpse of the child; he was so shrouded in chakra tails. He could hear him, though, the agonizing howl echoed across the training ground as it was destroyed, huge gashes in the dirt and mud while chakra as sharp as blades and as huge as trees sliced without restraint.

"NORI!" Naruto roared as two tails swung at him, crashing down, pushing him into the mud, and Sasuke had to think. He had to get close enough to look make Nori look into his eyes and he could not, absolutely not even come close to hurting him.

He tried to leap forward, around a bright blue bit of chakra, twisting and spinning through the air, almost too fast for Sasuke's eyes to track. He managed to land ten feet from Nori but had to keep moving, the tails that were closets to the boy were protective, didn't want him to get closer.

Sasuke suddenly realized how lucky he'd gotten the night he'd rescued Nori—that had only been the smallest fraction of his power, it had been nothing compared to this. He wasn't even sure if this was everything Nori was capable of. The beasts seemed confident that Nori wouldn't lose control again; Sasuke wondered whether they'd just been lying to protect him.

The air swirled around him as he dodged more tails, edging in ever closer to the child at the center of the destruction. They seemed to be slowing, twisting through the air and smashing into Naruto with less rapid succession. It seemed like it might be his chance.

Then Nori reared back, white eyes wide and unseeing, and the chakra surged, doubling in size.

"DON'T! HURT! DADDY!" Nori roared, charging forward, ready to finish Naruto, unable to see that the muddy creature that had triggered his attack was his own father. Naruto stood firm, arms defensive over his face, prepared to take the full brunt of the attack rather than fight back and risk hurting his son.

Sasuke took a deep breath and moved himself right in Nori's path. He sent just enough lightning to shock him and then caught Nori in his genjustu, freezing him instantly. He didn't go inside the boy's head. He knew what he would find, and yelling at the beasts would be Naruto's job this time.

He deactivated his sharingan as the chakra tails retreated back into Nori's exhausted, tiny body. Naruto caught his son before he hit the ground, gently cradling his head in one hand and staring down at him with confused shock.

"Nori…" he trailed off, running a thumb over the almost black whisker marks on his son's face.

Sasuke swallowed.

"Naruto, there's something you should know."

Naruto had remained fairly calm as Sasuke explained the first time he'd seen Nori lose control of the beasts, back in Dorogakure. How he'd looked into Nori's head after seeing how the boy hadn't been sleeping and how the beasts had claimed that they were only there to help—to protect him.

When he was finished explaining it all, Naruto had looked at him and asked evenly,

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

He was in Dad-Naruto mode, which always set Sasuke a little on edge, made him a little more careful with his words. He averted his gaze, then returned it and replied,

"I didn't think it was my place."

Naruto scowled and looked towards his son but said nothing. There was only silence between them for several minutes, so heavy that Sasuke wondered if it was his cue to leave. It was, after all, not his place. And then Naruto spoke up, voice heavy, like he carried the weight of the world on his tongue.

"When Nori was born," he began, and paused, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them with a sigh and looking Sasuke's way. "When Nori was born he was really sick."

Sasuke frowned, trying to think whether he'd ever heard anything about Naruto's son being sick. Back then, back when Nori was just born, that was the worst time for Sasuke. He ached to leave the village, would go stare at the gates for hours at a time and contemplate leaving, just to see if maybe Naruto still cared about him enough to go after him. To see who Naruto cared about more—Sasuke or his new family. It showed Sasuke's true cowardice that he never actually tried it, worried that his greatest fear was actually true: that Naruto really didn't care about him as much as Hinata.

But surely he would have heard Sakura mention something about Nori being sick? Would have noticed that Naruto or Hinata were upset and worried about their son? It bothered him that he didn't have any memory of it.

Distracted by his own useless memory, he barely heard as Naruto continued in a somber tone,

"He was really sick. So sick that we… we were worried he might not make it. Sakura tried to heal him every day, any time she could spare. We tried everything but he was so—so weak and tiny and fragile. I hated leaving for work, I was so scared that it would be the last time I—" he broke off, and Sasuke saw his fists clenched together, his jaw tighten.

"But he got better?" Sasuke asked. He'd never seen Nori look anything but peak health, aside from his inability to sleep. Naruto nodded.

"The first year was the worst, and then on his first birthday everyone came to meet him, Gaara and Bee and all the Kages… and the beasts all showed up too. And they asked me if they could give him a gift, and I said yes. And there were a bunch of people around, and I wasn't really paying attention. Hina—she was with Nori."

He stopped again, scowling like he was trying to work something out.

"I wonder if she knew?" he asked, so quietly that Sasuke knew that it was a question that no one was really meant to answer.

"After his first birthday he was never sick a day in his life. I didn't even question it!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "I just thought we were lucky. I just thought he got better on his own, or because we really, really wanted him too get better, so he did. I can't believe I never realized…"

Sasuke waited just long enough into the silence that followed and then offered gently,

"I think they are trying to help. To protect him."

He saw Naruto's fists clench up again, his mouth turn to a grimace.

"This is my fault," Sasuke continued, and Naruto snapped his head around to look at Sasuke with wide eyes. "I was there. I should have known the mud would trigger—"

"It was my idea, Sasuke! This whole day is my fault! I should have known the beasts were there. I should have noticed—I did notice! Of course I noticed that my son was acting strange. He gets distracted now, all the time. He kept acting like he's hiding something. The marks on his face! I was just ignoring everything because I thought it was about her! I was the one who wanted to fight! I was the one who fell in the mud and made him relive it all over again!"

"I could make him forget," Sasuke offered quietly, like a whisper. "I can put the whole thing away, tuck it in the back of his head. He'll never know it even happened."

"It'll happen again," Naruto replied, no ounce of doubt in his voice.

"He'll control it. You did."

Naruto groaned as he stood, one hand on his hip, and started pacing.

"Sure, after years of losing control! Of almost killing people! Just like what happened today. Worse!"

"Worse?" Sasuke had to ask. He'd seen Naruto shrouded in the nine-tails chakra several times when they were young, but he couldn't really imagine Naruto out of control. Naruto scoffed, still pacing.

"I hurt Sakura—I almost killed Jiraiya!"

"I thought Jiraiya trained you to control it?"

Naruto glanced at him and if Sasuke didn't know better he almost would say the blond was flushed. He glanced towards his son—once they had gotten back to Sasuke's house they had put Nori on the couch to let him sleep off his little explosion—and then out of the window.

"He wanted me to test myself. To see how far he could push me before I snapped. He would, uh…use you to try and get me to work harder. You know?"

Sasuke nodded, a little surprised.

"Negative reinforcement," he named the technique. Ironically, Orochimaru had used the same technique on him many times, with significant results.

"Itachi would be laughing over your corpse by now, Sasuke."

He was breathing heavily, chest heaving with the effort of the technique the Snake nin was attempting to teach him.

"He would have mastered this in minutes," he sighed. "I should have used your brother instead like I'd always planned."

Sasuke growled low, felt the chakra coursing through him—he was still trying to build up enough for the jutsu to work. It felt like he had been struggling for days. The chakra sizzled beneath his skin, familiar. He concentrated on the lightning, wanted to feel it running along his chakra paths like blood in his veins.

Once again it fell flat, a tiny sizzle and he couldn't maintain it for long enough, he didn't have enough chakra. Orochimaru's laugh sent him fuming; he shook off the leftover static and started concentrating what little chakra he had left, knowing it was the only way he would he able to build up enough to get it to ever work.

"Hmmm, what would Naruto think of this? He'd never believe his precious Sasuke could fail at a technique this simple."

"Shut up," Sasuke grunted, surprised at his own instantaneous reaction. He needed to concentrate. His blood was pounding in his ears.

"Oh, sensitive about what your ex teammate would think?"

"Don't mention him," he replied through clenched teeth. The concentration was the most difficult part of the jutsu—all his chakra points had to be equal and connected, and to have them all full of chakra at the same time took a lot of it. He'd already tried it almost eight times and he was running low on both chakra and energy—not to mention patience.

"No, I think I'll keep talking about Naruto. It seems to be working better than anything else. I'll bet even he would be able to master this technique faster than you have, Sasuke."

"Shut." Sasuke felt his chakra burn, spark, ignite on his skin. "Up!"

He growled as the chakra built up enough and he released it, concentrating as best he could with Naruto's stupid name in his ears and on Orochimaru's serpentine tongue.

It fizzled once again and he dropped to his knees, hurrying to catch his breath.

Orochimaru sighed and Kabuto tutted, shaking his head. Sasuke stood after a minute and started building his chakra again.

Once he'd finally mastered the technique Orochimaru had moved on to a different one, treating him to the same negative reinforcement. Every now and again he would mention Naruto again, and every time, Sasuke was loathe to admit, it pushed him just a little bit farther than he thought he was able to go.

For some reason the idea that Jiraiya had done almost the same with Naruto—that he had used Sasuke with enough effect that Naruto lost control of the nine-tails and almost killed him—made Sasuke feel warm. He suddenly wished he would travel in time, just so that he could hear some of what Jiraiya had taunted Naruto with, to see the way Naruto reacted at the sound of Sasuke's name.

"Yes!" Naruto huffed, brining Sasuke crashing back to reality. "And now it's going to happen to Nori the same way it happened to me! I just—"

He huffed again, and reclaimed his seat on the floor, beside Sasuke, looking sadly over at his slumbering son.

"I just wanted something better for him."

Sasuke thought he understood what Naruto meant. Maybe Nori wasn't his, and maybe Sasuke was destined to never have children of his own, but he knew that if he could have saved that little boy who saw his mother and father die before his eyes, he would have given his life to do it.

"My father had no choice but to seal the fox in me, I know that now. But as a kid, I…"

"Yeah," Sasuke murmured. No matter how many years Naruto spent as Hokage, finally with the entire village's acknowledgement, Sasuke knew there was still a small part of him who was just a lonely kid, hated by everyone for a reason he didn't even know.

"His mom is dead, and now this? What if the villagers find out and they hate him the same way they hated me? Because he's not safe." He spit the last word out like a rotten seed, glaring at nothing.

"Naruto, you've seen the way these people treat Nori, haven't you? I don't think anything in the world could make them love him any less. He's the prince of Konoha."

"I know!" Naruto blurted, frustration lining his shoulders. "I know… I just—I just didn't want Nori to be like—like…"

"To be like us," Sasuke finished for him softly.

"Yeah," Naruto breathed, smiling crookedly at Sasuke, more sad and tired than anything else.

"We didn't turn out that bad," Sasuke tried to make it sound like he actually believed it when he said it.

Naruto laughed through his nose.

"I guess not."

Sasuke closed the door gently behind Naruto. After forcing some food down his throat and helping him work out a way to help Nori learn to control the beasts, Sasuke decided that it was time he sent Naruto home with his still-sleeping son.

It had been a long and eventful day—even more so than Sasuke had expected when Naruto had talked him into sparring.

As he was leaving with Nori's head drooping on his shoulder, Naruto had turned back and smiled—a real, bright Naruto smile. The kind that warmed Sasuke to the core. The kind that made him feel like love wasn't just something that brothers had for one another—maybe it was something more.

"I think this calls for a rematch," he'd said, grinning.

"I'm always ready to beat you again, Naruto. You just have to ask."

"You wish!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke felt heat pool in his gut.

He leaned against the closed door, forgetting, for a moment, the part of their fight when all hell broke loose. Instead he thought about the good part, the part where he'd felt alive for the first time in years. The part that reminded him that not only was he attracted to Naruto's personality and the way he smiled and made Sasuke feel like he was worth something—he was attracted to everything about Naruto.

He was attracted to the way Naruto moved and the glint in his eye that Sasuke could only admit in the comfort and solitude of his own home—was sexy.

Sex had been such an abstract concept for Sasuke until that night. And that kiss.

Because leave it up to Naruto to stir within Sasuke a need that he had managed to tamp down and crush for years—so much that he wasn't even sure he had a sex drive at all.

But that kiss, god, that kiss. It wasn't just lips pressing against lips, it was want. It was everything Sasuke had ignored and everything he'd always subconsciously dreamed all at once, crashing over him like waves.

It was no wonder he'd electrocuted Naruto—the sensation had been so new and foreign. And good.

He'd felt that same feeling while they were sparring today. Maybe he'd always felt it when they fought—maybe that was the reason he could never let Naruto go, though for so many years he'd tried.

Sasuke's heart was beating fast, his fingers twitched anxiously against his thighs, but he didn't want to rush. He took in a shuddering breath and flicked off the light switch in his bedroom, slowly undressing in the dim glow of the lamps shining through the open window.

He slipped his shirt off his shoulders, first, and pictured the muscles in Naruto's arms, how they flexed when he blocked Sasuke's attacks. He toed his shoes off one by one—they were covered in mud. He'd need to wash them, but it could wait.

He didn't remove his pants right away, but sat on the edge of his bed rubbed lightly over the growing bulge beneath the mud-damp fabric. He thought about Naruto's skin, tanned and warm, and he thought about Naruto's lips for maybe the millionth time in his life. How soft they were that night, how they would feel if Sasuke kissed them now, if they would part in surprise or in a smile, if Naruto would nibble at Sasuke's lips and then dip his tongue into Sasuke's mouth.

He groaned low, his palm firm against the hard bulge in his pants. He thought he could probably come just like that, but he needed more and reached his hand under the waistband, lying back on the sheets as he wrapped his hands around himself and stroked. He felt desperate and needy, feverishly ill.

He didn't understand himself like this. It wasn't anything he could explain or rationalize and he didn't even feel like him anymore. Like he was outside of his own body, but completely present at the same time, fantasizing about Naruto, murmuring his name like he'd done so many times before.

Too many times before. The shame of it almost made it better, and he bit his lip as he imagined biting softly into Naruto's skin, stroking himself faster. His pants were around his ankles and he was already so close.

He gasped and slowed, knowing patience was so much better. He could see Naruto flushed and splayed out beneath him, hard and glistening. The image made goosebumps crawl up his neck. God, he wanted to touch Naruto like this. He wanted Naruto to touch him like this. He didn't care which way, didn't care how, just needed it like air.

He gasped again-so close-and he remembered their fight. How Naruto's body looked when it moved, and bent, and twisted.

Sasuke moaned weakly and he hated the way he sounded, but he was too far gone to stop it. Naruto made him lose control. He couldn't help it.

He came thinking about Naruto's lips again, the way he'd licked them while they were fighting and how it had made Sasuke drop his defenses so easily. His chest rose and fell as the warmth on his stomach cooled and he came back to himself, feeling like something of a failure but not really knowing why.

He always felt that way when he jerked off thinking about Naruto. This time was worse, somehow. Maybe because the memories he'd used were so fresh.

Maybe because the orgasm was so much better than normal.

He lay there for several minutes longer, until his breathing was normal again and he could stand the sight of himself in the mirror. He stood and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

When he was finished he came back into his bedroom to find the cat—Muchi, as Nori had forever named him—sitting on his pillow.

One yellow eye peered over at him as he dried his hair with a towel.

"What are you looking at?" he said.

Muchi blinked at him, curled up and went back to sleep.