AN: THAT'S RIGHT. A DOUBLE UPLOAD. THE FANFIC HARVEST IS BOUNTIFUL THIS TIME OF YEAR.

No but actually chapters 9 and 10 were going to be one chapter but it was so long so I broke it up.

Naruto's blood was pounding in his ears.

What had he just done?

The ground raced by underneath him. He was nearly at the entrance to Uzushiogakure but he didn't remember getting there. His mind kept replaying everything that had happened in the last hour, and the disastrous last ten minutes.

He had even almost forgotten about Nori in his arms until he faintly heard his son's tiny muffled voice and felt little hands balling his shirt up in fists. He stopped abruptly.

For all his blustering he hadn't checked on Nori again to make sure he was really okay.

"Nori!" He said, heart racing.

"Dad!" Nori gasped, looking frantically around, confused and out of sorts. Naruto's guilt tripled. He shouldn't have just taken Nori and ran. He wasn't even thinking about how Nori would be feeling.

He wasn't thinking about anything.

Except if Nori and Sasuke were okay. I was only thinking about if they were okay. I was just worried. I was scared. I was-

It wasn't an excuse.

"Dad, where is Sasuke?" Nori asked, a frown on his petite brow.

"Sasuke—" Naruto started, but bit his lip.

He couldn't get Sasuke's face out of his mind. The hurt he'd caused. He'd caused.

Fuck. He was the worst.

He'd just been so worried when they didn't arrive in Uzushiogakure when they said. And he'd seen the clouds rolling in and he knew what they meant. And he heard when Sakura tried reminding him that they might have gotten caught in the rain and been delayed, and that it was fine, he just needed to be patient.

But he couldn't be patient. Not when he wasn't sure. He didn't know it was the rain. Sakura didn't know, either. It could have been something else. It could be something dangerous.

He kept thinking about Hinata, how he hadn't worried when she was running a little late. It was the rain then, too, he thought. Just a delay. She and Nori would arrive any time, or she would send a messenger letting him know they were okay. He just needed to be patient.

But he'd been patient that time and now she was gone.

And he couldn't be patient this time, not when he thought about losing Nori. It had been agony when he thought something might have happened to him, to wait on lockdown until Sasuke brought him back.

But this time he was worried for Sasuke, too. The two most important people left in his life could be in danger, and he was just supposed to wait around? To find out that something happened to them and he could have stopped it if he'd just been there? Not again. Never again.

He'd been so relieved when he saw them that he almost couldn't believe it. So why hadn't he rushed to hold them? Why had he gotten so mad?

Why was he always making mistakes when it came to Sasuke?

"Dad, why were you so mean to Sasuke? He was carrying me acoss the water!"

"I—" Naruto fumbled. He couldn't shake the look of betrayal on Sasuke's face. "I was worried something happened to you, so I came to get you."

Nori was struggling to get out of his arms. Nori never did that. He loved being picked up and held, ever since he was a baby. And Naruto loved holding him. He would hold him all day if he could.

But Nori was fighting him, pushing away until Naruto had no choice but to set him down.

"I hate mean daddy!" Nori said firmly. It didn't suit his soft, bird-like voice and Naruto couldn't stand it. His heart broke.

All because he was scared and too proud to admit it.

What the hell had he done?

It was barely 20 minutes before they came in view of Uzushiogakure, and Sakura was waiting for them on the edge of the city.

She greeted Shikamaru, Temari, and the girls cheerfully, but once they went on ahead Sasuke saw the tension in her shoulders and the careful way she was looking at him. The two of them hung back as they entered the brand new village gates. Sasuke couldn't even make himself pay attention to his surroundings.

"He got really worried when you didn't show up on time," Sakura began, and then bit her lip. Sasuke didn't say anything in reply.

"I tried to tell him it was fine, it was probably just the rain, or the river. But you know he—he can be stubborn sometimes. He left before I could stop him! Sasuke?"

"Hm?" he replied, trying to sound casual, like Naruto's anger hadn't bothered him at all.

"It's just—it's just because of what happened to Hinata, you know? He didn't mean to be so—it wasn't about you. He was scared. He overreacted."

"I know," Sasuke sighed. Because he did know. He knew as soon as Naruto had turned that angry glare on him that it was just a projection. It wasn't that Naruto was really angry with Sasuke for not sending a hawk or for being late, he was just reacting from fear. Because he'd already lost his wife. He couldn't lose his son.

It didn't make it hurt any less.

He'd been so looking forward to this trip to Uzushiogakure. Finally seeing the project that Naruto had been working so long on, getting out of the village for a while, spending time with Nori and Naruto—and he was even thinking about telling Naruto about that night. He thought he'd walk into Uzushiogakure with Nori on his shoulders and Naruto would run to them and greet them and smile that sunlight smile of his and it would feel like, what? Like Naruto was happy to see him and not just happy to see that his son had arrived safe.

Sasuke couldn't even get that much. Instead Naruto had glared at him and yelled at him and taken Nori before Sasuke could say a word. And Sasuke came to Uzushiogakure alone. Alone like always.

That was probably what hurt more than anything.

So many months of spending bright, warm nights with Naruto and Nori, of rekindling the bond between the one person he cared about more than anyone else, of something so so close to happiness, and Sasuke had been tricked into thinking that maybe Naruto and Nori could be… his family.

That maybe he mattered to them. That he was an important part of their lives. That someone cared about him.

And that illusion shattered so easily.

Naruto had come to get Nori and he left Sasuke there alone, because Sasuke wasn't a part of that family. He'd just been there to protect Nori all along, and Naruto didn't even trust him to do that.

He should never have let himself feel hopeful. What had ever made him think Naruto felt the same way about him? He wasn't supposed to be this stupid.

"I know," he said again, and tried to smile to convince Sakura not to worry, but he was sure it came out more as a grimace. Oh well, he wasn't really known for smiling.

Sakura accepted it anyway, her shoulders relaxing.

He put his hands in his pockets and looked around, trying in vain to care about the lights and buildings around them, though he didn't want to care about much of anything in that moment.

"So, show me where to get something to drink in this town," he said.

Because alcohol always helped.

He woke with a hangover in a bed he barely remembered falling into. Sakura had gone with him to some small bar and drank him under the table within the hour. He hadn't seen any more of Uzushiogakure—or Naruto—that night. He only vaguely remembered Sakura leaning on him and trying to explain which way they needed to go to get to the inn they were all staying at. Considering how inebriated he'd let himself get he was surprised they'd actually made it.

The bed was very comfortable and his head was pounding, but that wasn't the reason he rolled over and pulled the sheets over his head to block out the morning light. He didn't want to face the day. It was going to be a long trip back to Konoha and he would have nothing but increasingly dark thoughts to keep him company on the way. He wasn't eager to get going.

But he didn't want to stay in Uzushiogakure, either. Not with Naruto still angry with him. It was a shame he would miss Nori's birthday but as Naruto had made very clear—whether intentional or not—he was just a useful bodyguard and he technically hadn't been asked to Nori's birthday anyway. He could leave Nori's gift with Sakura. Maybe once Naruto and Nori returned to Konoha his hurt feelings would be less raw and he could go back to how they were before, but he wasn't optimistic. He still felt lost, like he was just drifting above everything, directionless.

Eventually he heard a knock on his door and Sakura walked in with steaming tea in hand. She looked much more chipper than he did. Her recovery period was impressive, but it was from lots of drunken practice.

"Come on," she said, heading back out of the room. "This inn has great breakfast."

The dining room did smell great when he finally showered and made his way down the long hall. Sakura waved him over to a table. He sat and a plate of food was immediately set in front of him by a very friendly host.

As he ate Sakura explained that Naruto had gone with the construction crew first thing to the river that had delayed their arrival, to work on a bridge to make travelling by foot easier. Nori was with Temari and the girls to go see the docks. He nodded politely, glad that Naruto wasn't there to glare at him more. He sort of hoped he could avoid the blond entirely until they were back in Konoha. He couldn't get the image of Naruto's furious glare out of his mind, and the way he'd snatched Nori from Sasuke's hands like he didn't even trust Sasuke to hold him any longer…

When he was finished his headache was nearly gone and he could finally look around and take notice of his surroundings. The dining room of the inn was as nice as the guest room, all brand new furnishings and décor, but with a old, homey feel to it. The hosts were exceedingly friendly and cheerful.

"Do they make lunch here?" he asked, glancing around. "I'll need something to eat on my way back."

Sakura made a choking noise after taking a sip of tea and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

"On your way back where?"

"Konoha," he said. It seemed obvious. He had just been asked to bring Nori to Uzushiogakure and he'd done that, so it seemed like it just made sense to leave.

Sakura hit him.

He once again thought about how different their relationship was to the way it had been when they were young. Mostly he liked Sakura much better now, but he missed the days when she was too enamored to hit him.

"Why the hell do you think you're going back to Konoha already? Nori's birthday is tomorrow! You haven't even seen Uzushiogakure yet!"

She didn't give him time to reply. Her face scrunched up and she stared at him like he was a stupidest person on earth.

"I can't believe people thought you were some genius when we were kids. You and Naruto are really—"

She cut herself off quickly and huffed, standing suddenly from the table.

"You aren't allowed to leave, Sasuke. Whatever is going through your head right now doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is this: if you leave before Nori's birthday party he will be so disappointed, and I know for a fact you couldn't stand the idea of disappointing him."

With that she left, and Sasuke sat for several moments before he had to begrudgingly admit that she was right. Just picturing Nori's disappointed face made him feel guilty. As much as he didn't want to stay and keep pretending he was a part of Naruto and Nori's life, he knew he couldn't just leave without warning.

His plans for leaving before lunch derailed, Sasuke decided to explore this rebuilt village they'd travelled all this way to see.

Before he even made it out of the inn they'd stayed the night in the hosts explained that it had an onsen attached in a second building. They cheerfully told him that any guest of the Hokage was welcome to any of the pools. The thought of spending some time in a hot pool sounded really nice; it had been a long time since Sasuke had been to an onsen and they were always so relaxing. It gave him something to look forward to that evening, which was good since he still wasn't sure what he was going to say when he saw Naruto today. If he was lucky maybe Naruto would be working with the builders all day and he wouldn't have to worry about it.

He remembered Sakura mentioning that Nori was with Temari and the girls at the docks and so he asked one of the hosts for directions to see if he could catch up to them. Even though he knew Nori was fine and safe, the sudden way he'd been ripped from Sasuke yesterday still made him worried. He would feel better if he saw Nori. It was hard to believe how attached he'd become to Naruto's son, but it was like Sakura said, Nori had a lot of his father in him—he was hard not to love.

Following the directions the inn hosts had given him, Sasuke got to really take a look at the newly rebuilt Uzushiogakure for the first time. It wasn't really what he expected.

It was bigger than he'd expected, first of all. He could see how the village not only stretched along the coastline, but expanded into the land a ways, following channels built along the roads. He was instructed to follow along the side of one of these channels to reach the docks and he was intrigued to see smaller boats floating along the waterways carrying goods. It was a very convenient way to transport from the oceans to the inland and it was easily the most distinct thing about Uzushiogakure's structure. He could tell the channels were a part of the old Uzushiogakure, too, and had been rebuilt and expanded. It was easy to tell new buildings from reconstructed ones. The majority were new, but every now and then you could spot a frame, or a bit of old stone that was a remnant of the destroyed village. It was nice to see that some of the original village remained, though it had certainly taken on a whole new life now.

Shikamaru had been understating how much work, not to mention money, Naruto must have put in rebuilding. It was sort of astonishing to see how big the village already was, despite not being finished yet, and there were a lot more people than Sasuke thought there would be. They were mostly civilians, a diverse crowd of people clearly from diverse places, and they were all working hard, whether it was the construction workers finishing a roof or a young woman sweeping outside of a sparse shop.

The further he got from the inn the less residential buildings there were, and he could see the beginnings of shinobi-related businesses. There was even a small hospital on the other side of a channel, and an older man planting a garden around the side of the hospital building that would probably be beautiful when he was finished.

That was the other thing that stood out about Uzushiogakure: for a village that had been sitting demolished for years and was still under construction, a lot of care had been put into making it more than just a functional city. The bridges that crossed over the channels and the bricks that edged the streets were laid carefully and artistically and added a charming, cozy feeling to the sea-side town. It was already a pleasant place, but when it was finished it would be a really nice village to live in.

Despite his current complex feelings towards Naruto, he couldn't help but be proud of him for putting in the work to make the village a reality. Shikamaru was right; someday soon Uzushiogakure would be Konoha's greatest allies.

Not far past the hospital Sasuke caught sight of the docks, the channel he'd been walking along widening until it finally joined the ocean, and when he looked to the left and right he saw several other channels coming from other parts of the village and doing the same. It was still early enough in the day for the sea air to be crisp and refreshing and he breathed in deep. He didn't think he really liked the ocean, before, but he could suddenly understand the appeal.

"Sasuke!" his name came in that familiar, chipper voice and he opened his eyes to find Nori running at him from down the side of the docks. Temari and the girls were a bit behind. When Nori reached him he hugged Sasuke's legs, and that repeating word, soft, soft, soft, soft chimed through his head again.

Nori looked up at him and Sasuke had to contain his laughter.

The little not-quite four year old was clearly trying to make an angry expression, but with his little features and chubby cheeks all puffed out it just looked like a poor imitation of an angry expression. It reminded Sasuke of something else, too, but he couldn't put his finger on what.

"I'm mad at daddy!" he said, and he stomped his foot and pursed his lips.

And Sasuke realized why that expression seemed so familiar; he'd certainly seen Naruto make a similar face. That realization only made it harder for him to keep a straight face when he replied,

"Why are you mad at Naruto?"

"Dad was mean to Sasuke!"

Temari and the girls had reached them and Temari laughed, resting a hand on her hip.

"You should be grateful to this kid, Sasuke. He's really been defending your honor. He shunned Naruto all morning until Naruto sulked off to go work on starting that bridge."

It was very sweet of Nori to get so mad over him, and it made Sasuke feel a little better. Even a kid could tell Naruto had overreacted. Maybe Naruto would just apologize easily and Sasuke could move past it.

It was a nice idea, but it didn't change the facts. Naruto had taken Nori and left him, like he was just an afterthought. Nori was Naruto's family and Sasuke was just… Sasuke.

"Sasuke," Temari interrupted his dark train of thought.

"Sorry to ask this, but would you see if you could track down Shikamaru? He wandered off a while ago and there was a shinobi down by one of those ships who wanted to ask him some questions."

Sasuke was glad to have a task, albeit a simple one, and he readily agreed.

She pointed back to the village, past another one of the channels.

"He wandered off that direction, towards that hill. Hopefully he didn't go far."

A pleasant gust of wind came off of the water and Temari leaned into it, closing her eyes briefly and then sighing.

"My husband really has been holding out on me," she said. "This place is beautiful."

Sasuke was glad she thought so, considering he was fairly sure she and her family were going to be moving there sooner rather than later. He wondered if Naruto had asked Shikamaru yet, and then thinking about Naruto made him glum again, and he started towards the hill she'd pointed at.

It was a nice little hike up the hill, but the view at the top was worth it. There was nothing on the top of the hill but a small lighthouse tower and a lot of open space. You could see a good distance out of the harbor, almost to the whirling currents that gave the Village Hidden in Whirlpools it's name.

Shikamaru was on the hill, too, enjoying the view and a cigarette when Sasuke found him.

"Don't tell Temari," was the first thing he said and then added, a bit sheepishly for Shikamaru, "It's hard to stop once you start."

"I've heard that. She sent me to tell you some shinobi guy was looking for you."

"Ah," Shikamaru nodded. "He can wait another few minutes."

He took a long drag and then looked sharply at Sasuke.

"You seen Naruto?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Well, he's probably making himself scarce. Between Sakura berating him and Nori ignoring him he probably feels like a total asshole today."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at this, though he wasn't sure why Sakura and Nori were so upset. Naruto had just been worried; he was just trying to be a good father. It wasn't his fault Sasuke had reacted defensively, that he'd been so hurt by Naruto's mostly thoughtless actions. He just wished it hadn't gone that way.

Well, he just wished Naruto cared about him like he cared about his son, and that was almost like wishing on stars for all the good it would do him.

"You're still upset," Shikamaru said. It was blunt and felt like it came out of nowhere. Sasuke scowled.

"No I'm not," he said.

Shikamaru chuckled.

"You aren't as impenetrable as you think you are, Sasuke. And not as smart as everyone says, either. Don't you get why Naruto was so upset yesterday? Why he came running all chakra cloaked to find us?"

Sasuke couldn't figure out why Shikamaru had started insulting him all of the sudden. Had Shikamaru just said he wasn't that smart? What the hell did Shikamaru know about it?

"Because he thought Nori was in danger," Sasuke replied. That was the reason, after all. Naruto had even said so.

"Because we were late," Shikamaru replied. "Think about it, Naruto knew you were with Nori. He knew you wouldn't leave Nori or let anything happen to him. But we were late, so the only think he could think was that something must have happened to us—to you and Nori. That is why he panicked so bad. He was worried about both of you."

Sasuke tried to accept Shikamaru's logic, but it went against his own. If Naruto was so worried about him, why did he take Nori and leave? Why was he avoiding Sasuke instead of coming to apologize and explain it himself?

"Why would Naruto be worried about me?" he countered. "He knows I can take care of myself."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"He gets weird about you."

"Weird how?"

Another shrug.

"If you don't already know what I mean, I'm not going to bother explaining it."

With that, he put his cigarette out on the grass and tucked the filter into one of his pockets. He followed Sasuke back down the hill, keeping his word that he wouldn't explain anymore, leaving Sasuke with uncertainty. Maybe his logic was flawed after all.

Sasuke spent the rest of the afternoon with the Nara family, plus Nori. Shikamaru actually gave a fairly good tour after he'd finished up with the shinobi and Temari coerced him into it. They didn't see the whole village, just the bits and pieces that Shikamaru thought the kids would find fun, including some food stalls and a short boat ride up one of the canals. It was at the end of this little trip that Shikamaru looked up at one of the taller buildings still under construction and groaned loudly, smacking his head into his hand.

"I told him to quit doing this," he sighed. Temari and Sasuke both followed his gaze to the building in question. It was one of the buildings that still had some original framework and siding intact, but several workers were up on scaffolding adding more floors above what was left from before the village's destruction.

It took Sasuke only a second to realize what was strange about the workers and his stomach did a swoop of adrenaline as Temari said,

"Is that Naruto?"

It wasn't just that Naruto was one of the construction workers: he was all of them. Apparently organizing the village's rebuilding wasn't enough—Naruto Uzumaki had to literally rebuild it himself. Sasuke should have expected this of him; he was the kind of person who liked to get his hands dirty, even when he didn't have to.

Shikamaru had the kindly man steering their boat stop underneath one of the bridges and they all followed him up a set of cleverly hidden stairs that led up to the main road as he called out Naruto's name.

All three of the Naruto clones turned their heads at once, and then realizing it was Shikamaru, grinned sheepishly and rubbed the backs of their heads in unison. One of them leapt deftly down from the scaffolding and ran towards their group.

Sasuke knew the moment the clone realized he was there, because his footstep faltered and his face went weird before sticking in an unconvincingly wide grin. Sasuke edged closer to Nori, only to look down and see that Nori had already turned to stand beside him.

Shikamaru was already berating Naruto before he reached them.

"Didn't I tell you to stop wasting chakra like this? You're the damn Hokage, Naruto. What's wrong with the actual construction workers we hired?"

Naruto laughed it off, or at least his clone did.

"I didn't think you'd catch me, Shika! It was only for like an hour, I swear. The workers looked like they needed a break and I thought I could fill in for a bit!"

He turned back and waved at the group of actual construction workers who were sitting in the shade of the building with lunches in front of them. They waved back and the other two Naruto clones vanished as the men and women got back to work.

Shikamaru seemed unimpressed, but also too used to Naruto's impulsivity to bother worrying about it that much. He led Temari and his daughters to the bridge, heading back in the direction of the inn, casually creating some distance between them and Sasuke, Nori, and Naruto.

"Nori!" Naruto said, "Did you have lunch yet?"

If Sasuke hadn't already been falling for Nori, the way the boy crossed his arms and turned his back on his father would have done it. It was both adorable and showed that he hadn't forgiven Naruto for yesterday.

Naruto's face fell, and he stood there awkwardly and sighed.

"Yeah…" he said. "I guess I deserve that…"

And then he finally looked Sasuke in the eye, swallowing thickly and bowed his head.

"I'm really, really sorry, Sasuke!" He said, apologizing in a very formal way. It did actually surprise Sasuke enough that it took him a half a second to come up with a response.

In that half-second delay Naruto clearly grew anxious that Sasuke wouldn't accept the apology, and he glanced up from his bow, peeking out from his bangs.

"Do—do you want me to beg?" he asked as Sasuke and Nori stared at him. His eyes had gone big with fear, and Sasuke couldn't help but want to want to mess with him.

He crossed his arms and then watched as Nori mimicked him. There was something fun about ganging up on Naruto with his son.

"It couldn't hurt," he said coolly.

"R—really?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Nori says you were mean to me. So I think you should beg for forgiveness."

Naruto paused for a second, blue eyes finding Sasuke's black, and in them Sasuke could suddenly see that Naruto was still afraid. Maybe not of something happening to Nori, or Sasuke, but scared that he had messed up so badly that this time Sasuke wouldn't forgive him.

Would Sasuke forgive him?

It wasn't even a question. If anything, Sasuke wished he could do more to ease the fear that plagued Naruto's mind ever since Hinata died. He wished Naruto could trust in him, and trust that Sasuke wouldn't let anything happen, not to Nori and not to him, to Naruto, either.

Sasuke didn't realize until that moment how deep these feelings had grown. He thought he knew how in-love with Naruto he was. He'd thought it was obsessive and desperate and all-consuming but it turned out that it was actually more.

It was the kind of love that made him want to protect Naruto, keep him safe, ease his fears, make him happy.

He just wished he could make Naruto happy.

He smiled, just a smallest hint of a smile. But it was enough, because Naruto had always been the only one who could understand him despite all of the walls he built and rebuilt around himself.

Naruto understood the implicit forgiveness in that small smile and just like that the tension all but evaporated from his face, and it split into that wide, sunshine grin. And Sasuke would really do anything for that smile. Anything.

But instead of admitting that he nodded his head, pointing to the ground. And Naruto kept smiling even as he fell dramatically to his knees and bowed at Sasuke's feet.

"Please pleeeeease, forgive me, Sasuke-chan! I'm begging!"

Sasuke looked down at Nori and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you think, Nori? Was that good enough?"

Nori made a show of thinking it over, but then he smiled and pat his father on the head, and Naruto looked up, peeking with one eye open.

"If Sasuke says it's okay, then I forgive Daddy."

Nori ran to catch up with Shishika and Asume and that left Sasuke with Naruto's clone, who stood and brushed the dirt from his knees. He started to follow after Nori and the others but something stopped him.

Naruto had grabbed the edge of his sleeve to hold him back.

Sasuke turned around, confused, only to find Naruto looking at him sadly. Maybe it was the construction worker clothes, or the smudges of dirt on his face, or just the way he kept looking uncertainly from underneath his bangs, but Naruto reminded Sasuke of a little kid.

And apparently, Sasuke was soft when it came to little kids.

"Neh, Sasuke…" he said, voice deep and low. "I am sorry, you know."

Sasuke couldn't find a reply.

"I know—" Naruto faltered, frowning towards the ground. "I know you think I didn't trust you to protect Nori, but that's not why—"

"I know, Naruto," Sasuke said. He was speaking low too, and something about the conversation was suddenly intimate, despite the publicity of it.

Naruto shook his head.

"I was worried something had happened to you, to all of you, and then I just—" another pause, but he looked at Sasuke this time. "I shouldn't have left like that. I didn't mean to leave I was just—" he took a deep breath, "—running away."

Naruto's face crumpled, his eyes closed like he was in pain.

"I shouldn't have run away. I need to stop running away from—from you."

Running away from me? Sasuke thought. Like that night. Was Naruto thinking about that night? He's never brought it up before, not once in all this time…

Sasuke let the confession hang in the air. Seeing Naruto so vulnerable made his chest ache with want. He wanted to be the person Naruto confided in, always.

"It's okay," he finally said. He wanted to say more, but he wasn't sure how. The moment felt tenuous and momentous and maybe Sasuke was scared, too. Maybe he understood Naruto better than he thought.

Naruto dropped Sasuke's sleeve and the moment ended, but Sasuke felt like something had shifted between them. He bumped his shoulder into Naruto's as they walked and Naruto jerked his head around in surprise, and then finally he smiled, and he bumped Sasuke back.

"Eugh," Naruto looked down at his dirty work clothes and made a face. "I need a bath!"

"You're a clone, idiot," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

But Naruto looked at him with a strange expression and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"…I thought the real you was trying to build some bridge?"

"No, I sent a clone for that. I didn't plan on helping those construction guys, I was trying to go make sure Nori's birthday present was finished, but when I walked by they looked so tired I thought, you know, maybe I could help?"

Sasuke sighed.

"Luckily," Naruto said brightly, "I know a place I can take a hot bath!"

They made it back to the inn without any further distractions, except when Shikamaru found out the real Naruto had spent the day doing manual labor and tried to explain to him—for what sounded like the 12th time—that the Hokage isn't supposed to do things like that. Sakura was arriving back from helping set up the hospital right when they were. She smiled wide when she saw him and Naruto for some reason, probably just glad Sasuke hadn't been so mad at Naruto that he decided they needed to resolve it with a physical fight. Not that he hadn't considered it.

Everyone agreed that Naruto needed to rinse off and jump into a hot bath immediately and Nori eagerly followed after him, explaining cheerfully that he'd never been to an onsen before and did it have cats?

Sasuke smiled but made sure to scowl when he realized Sakura caught him.

"What?" he said.

"I didn't say anything," she shrugged, grinning, but as soon as she was out of sight she called back,

"Soft!"

He didn't let it get to him. He was looking forward to the onsen. It felt like he could finally have a moment to relax after the journey to get to Uzushiogakure and everything that happened once he arrived. He would just need to be careful to keep his eyes from straying towards Naruto too much once they were both unclothed in a steamy bath. At least Nori would be there as a buffer.

Sasuke could hear Naruto as he approached the sliding doors leading outside to the lush, heated pool.

"See Nori, it's not too hot, I promise!"

Sasuke had already rinsed off and was wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He hadn't seen the actually pool yet, and when he stepped out he had to admit the design was beautiful. It was surrounded by sculpted granite and tall bamboo that formed seamlessly into a privacy wall surrounding the pool. You wouldn't even notice the wall was there if you weren't looking. It had a small waterfall that flowed from the building on layered, winding pools until ending in the large pool and the sound of the water only added to the soothing nature of the bath.

Sasuke saw Naruto standing in the center of the pool, submerged about waist deep. He was smiling at Nori who was still on the edge of the pool, carefully sticking a toe in the water. When Sasuke approached Naruto looked up at him, expression open and cheerful, and Sasuke's stomach did flips. He already found himself having to glance away from the blinding light of Naruto's eyes on him.

But when he decided it was once again safe to look back, Naruto's face was strange, like the temperature of the pool was suddenly too warm and all the blood had rushed to his cheeks. He was staring straight down into the water but as Sasuke approached the edge of the pool those blue eyes darted up to him and then away just as quickly, like he was seeing something he shouldn't.

"Dad, are you okay?" Nori asked, concerned. "Is the water too hot? You're all red!"

"W—what?" Naruto asked, blinking fast like he was dazed. "Oh, no! I'm okay! I'm fine, you know."

"It shouldn't be too hot, Nori," Sasuke said, wondering what had Naruto so flustered. "Here, I'll get in with you if you want."

Nori nodded his head to agree and then Sasuke held his hand as they both walked down the shallow stone steps and into the pool. He was busy paying attention to Nori and so didn't realize until he looked around that Naruto had gone to the far side of the pool and was clutching the edge for dear life. Nori had decided that the pool was an okay temperature and had started to swim around by the stairs, so Sasuke called over to Naruto.

"Oi, dobe. What are you doing?"

"N—nothing…" Naruto replied weakly, and carefully began following along the edge of the pool back to wear Sasuke was sitting down on a rock ledge. Sasuke watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto stopped several feet away and sat on his own ledge, shoulder's bunched up and tense. Wasn't an onsen supposed to be relaxing? Why was Naruto being so weird?

Even as he leaned his head back and tried to relax himself, Sasuke couldn't help but watch Naruto from the corner of his eye. His face stayed red, and he kept glancing back to Sasuke only to look quickly away if he caught Sasuke's eye.

Nori happily paddled over to his father.

"Dad, look, can't I swim so good?"

This finally seemed to grab Naruto's attention and he smiled what Sasuke had started describing as his "dad smile," finally sliding further in the pool and exhaling a deep sigh. When he looked at Sasuke this time he didn't look away suddenly.

"Thanks again, Sasuke. For bringing Nori here for his birthday. I know it was a pain."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. "It was fine. I didn't mind."

He really didn't. Overall, he was really glad he came. He'd even enjoyed travelling with Shikamaru and Temari and their kids. It made him feel somewhat better that Nori wasn't just a weird outlier and other kids seemed to like him okay, too. Not to mention Shikamaru had given him some insights into why Naruto was so dead-set on finishing up the Uzushiogakure project.

"Hey," he said, getting Naruto's attention. "How much longer do you think it will take before Uzushiogakure is finished? You said you weren't coming back to Konoha until it was done."

Naruto seemed thoughtful for a moment, staring up at the cloudy night sky. He hummed and frowned just slightly.

"Well, I thought we were much closer, to be honest. But now I realize how important it is to finish that bridge over the riverlands, not to mention all the other projects that have to be finished up on top of that. I think I might have to stay here another few weeks—maybe a month." He glanced at Nori, still paddling happily in the warm water. "I hope Nori won't be bored here all that time."

"I could stay and keep him company, if you want."

Sasuke made the offer before he even thought about it, and Naruto turned wide, surprised eyes on him.

"R—really? You'd wanna stay that long?"

"I'm sure there's a lot to do," he said, thinking about how much time he would get to spend with Naruto if he stayed.

"You don't have to!" Naruto told him quickly. "I'm sure you have stuff to get back to back in Konoha. I don't want to make you stay or anything."

Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't mind."

Naruto was quiet for a while, and then he started to wade through the water until he was sitting much closer to Sasuke. Sasuke kept his eyes focused on Nori and tried to keep his head clear.

"You know how I said I was gonna ask Shikamaru if he would be the leader of Uzushiogakure?"

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto looked away again, expression uncertain, or nervous. Sasuke couldn't tell which.

"Well, I was gonna ask you something, too…"

"What?"

Sasuke couldn't help but stare intently at Naruto now, as he struggled to find the words he wanted to ask. He took advantage of the situation anyway, drinking in every detail of Naruto's face in the low light. The sheen of sweat on his tanned skin, the angle of his nose, the dark blond of his eyelashes and the way they cast shadows on his cheeks.

"I was wondering, you know, if Shika took the job, he wouldn't be able to be my advisor anymore... and I'd like it if, um, you took his place. I mean," Naruto sighed very, very quietly, so low Sasuke almost didn't catch it. "It was always supposed to be you, you know."

Sasuke's chest went tight. Naruto's advisor, the Hokage's right hand, always by his side…

Yeah, it was always supposed to be him. Naruto had told him as much, countless times as they trained and took missions together until Naruto was ready to train under Tsunade and Kakashi as Hokage. It was one of the most significant impacts that night had had on their relationship. When it came time for Naruto's inauguration Sasuke actually went to the ceremony. Not because he thought Naruto would still choose him as advisor, but he wondered if maybe, maybe he still would. He hadn't been sure even then what he would have said if Naruto had asked, what with how strained their relationship had become. He didn't know if he would have been able to be so close to Naruto and continue to hide his feelings, and he was almost glad the question never came up, because he hadn't wanted to make the choice.

He wanted to make the choice now. He knew the answer—he barely thought about it for a second.

"Yes," he said.

Naruto spun around with a small splash.

"Really?" he said, leaning in closer.

His knee bumped Sasuke's under the water and a thrill like an electric shock shot up Sasuke's spine. He bit his tongue and huffed, playacting casual when he felt anything but.

"Yeah," he said. "It's about time. Shikamaru's just been holding my place, right?"

Naruto's eyes sparkled. It might have been the reflection off the lamps or the stars, or it might have just been in Sasuke's head. He let out a long, slow exhale, sinking into the water until it was just below his chin.

"Wow… You don't know how long I've been wanting to ask you that," Naruto said, and then he sat up abruptly and looked around. "Hey, where is Shikamaru anyway? Wasn't he gonna meet us?"

Nearly half a second after he said this, Shikamaru walked out of the doors and to the side of the pool. He was still wearing the clothes he had on earlier.

"Aren't you gonna soak with us, Shika?" Naruto asked, a bit confused. "The water's great!"

"Yeah, I think I'll have to skip the onsen tonight," Shikamaru replied. "I just came to let you guys know, well, yeah… Temari just went into labor."

Please review and let me know what you guys think about how the fic is going! I've got some big revelations in the next few chapters!