Request

Upon reaching the top floor, Naruto all but kicked Tsunade's door open. Before he'd even crossed the threshold, she had a foot up on the desk, both arms glowing with chakra energy and ready to vault across the room if need be. "What in the hell is the meaning of this, Naruto? Show some respect!"

"You're actually going to send Sasuke away?" The words tumbled out of Naruto's mouth. "All because of that one incident? You tell me what the hell that is about!" He was too pissed to care about decorum.

"He physically threatened someone, Naruto, or did you not know about that?" Tsunade countered.

Putting a hand against his chest, he yelled, "I was there! And he was like…twenty feet away from the guy! We had the situation under control, there's no need to make him leave!"

Taking her foot down, she roughly shoved the papers on her desk in his direction with a derisive snort. "I have five-hundred reasons and counting as to why Sasuke needs to be removed from Konoha. And the distance from his intended target is irrelevant. He still fully intended to harm someone when fighting is not allowed within the village. And the person was a civilian, no less."

Naruto glanced at the petition papers, then flung them back on the desk. "I don't care about any of that! You know Sasuke, Granny Tsunade! Please don't do this!"

"I know that he's a loose cannon," she said and then bit her lip, a confession she hadn't meant to let out. Naruto gasped, but with the words out, she had no choice but to continue. "I understand Sasuke has a lot of demons and that he's trying his hardest to fight them. But Naruto…Sasuke's volatile. That scares people. I know he's been through a lot and that's why I wanted to give him a chance. Even during the Great War, when every other nation wanted him dead, I sent our own people out to bring him back alive. I did that for you, Naruto, because I know how much he means to you."

"Yeah, well, he means even more to me now," Naruto said gravely. "Sasuke's my boyfriend."

Tsunade's expression didn't change. "I'm honestly not surprised. It was going to be between you or Sakura eventually. For the sake of the village…and as she's my pupil, I had hoped it would be Sakura. But if you two are together, then that makes it even more imperative that he leaves, at least for a while until everyone has calmed down. Do you know of the history of the Uchiha clan and—"

"Iruka and Kakashi-sensei just told me about it," he informed her. "If everyone thinks Sasuke is so dangerous, don't you think sending him away and making him feel unwanted is the last thing we should do? We should be trying to understand him, not kicking him when he's already down. That guy…" he clenched a fist, shaking. "He told Sasuke he should just go kill himself, like he should've died with the rest of his clan. Sasuke told me he's actually thought about doing it. What if he…" his voice cracked. "What if he does it while he's gone? What would you have to say for yourself?"

Shaking her head, she sat back down, swiveling the chair to look out the window. "It'd be a very unfortunate loss. What I can do is recommend a colleague of mine in a nearby city that specializes in mental wellness. It's rather negligible that we don't have such services here in Konoha, considering we're a militarized village, though I hear tell that Sakura and Ino are actually wanting to build a clinic just for that. I'll do what I can to help get it funded and that way, once Sasuke returns, he'll have somewhere local that can help him. I wish I'd had such a place…" she trailed off, and Naruto got the impression she was referring to the loss of her brother and lover.

"I still don't agree with your decision," he pressed on. "But if you won't change your mind, then I want to go with him. At least for a few weeks, until he can get settled somewhere—"

"No, you're needed here," She wiped the reminiscent expression from her face and returned to being all business. "It won't be permanent. All I'm asking is for you to have some patience."

"Tch, so that, what, the village can just return to hating him all over again once he returns? If you're going to just kick him out for an unspecified amount of time, then I want to be there with him. What are you going to do, exile me too?"

She stared at him as though not knowing who he was anymore. "Naruto, if you leave this village without my permission, then I'm going to take it as you've defected from the Leaf. You will labeled as a traitor, hunted down and killed. Do not disobey me."

In turn, Naruto stared back at her similarly, mouth agape. "…You would really do that? Just because I want to protect someone I care for?"

She wasn't able to hold his gaze. "Acting impulsively solely on your emotions is dangerous. Just like myself, you too have a priority to more than just one person. You have a duty to this village. No matter how I feel about you or Sasuke, I cannot forget that." She cut her eyes to him but now, they'd softened. "That's my final answer, Naruto. Please…don't make me have to go that far."

This wasn't at all what he had hoped for. With a crushed soul, he bowed his head in defeat. "I got it. I guess…that's it then." He turned and left the office.

Back outside, he saw that Sasuke had not waited for him. His heart was already bruised from fighting with Tsunade and he didn't have it in him to go on another hunt for him today. He'd try his house and that was it. If Sasuke wanted to say goodbye, he would have to come to him instead.

Arriving at Sasuke's home, he didn't even knock but immediately tried the knob. For the first time, it turned. He stepped in, shutting the door loudly behind him to announce his presence. He took off his shoes and padded through the house, hearing a noise coming from the bedroom.

Sasuke had the exact same bag that'd been used before opened on the bed and was currently going through his dresser, choosing what to put in it. He kept his back turned as he worked. "I could've told you it was a lost cause."

"I had to try," Naruto answered, his voice strained as he leaned against the doorway. "When are you leaving?"

Sasuke moved from putting in clothes to outfitting his weapons pack. "Pre-dawn, likely. The sooner the better, right?"

"Not funny."

Finally pausing, Sasuke looked at him. There was no light in those blue eyes and he could tell Naruto was trying to keep himself together by the way he defensively folded his arms across his chest. "Look, it's only for a little while. It'll be fine."

"There you go with that F word again. No, it's not fine, Sasuke. It's anything but fine." Where earlier, his voice had cracked, now it broke. He put an arm across his face to hide his crying.

Dropping the items in his hands to the bed, he crossed over to the door and pulled Naruto to him, ignoring Naruto's usual shyness about touching. He wasn't sure what he could say to make him feel better so he opted to say nothing.

In time, Naruto's tears dried but he didn't pull away. He could feel fingers gently threading his hair and recognized it as Sasuke's signature way of relaxing him. He almost could've stood there and fallen asleep but at last, Sasuke pulled away slowly with a small kiss, going back to packing.

"I asked her if I could at least go with you," Naruto told him, almost as though the conversation hadn't been interrupted. "She said—" But he stopped himself. What good would it do to tell Sasuke what Tsunade had told him? And…it might set him off. That thought alone made him feel disgusted, upset at himself that he was cherry-picking his words and angry that it further proved that Tsunade was right. "She wouldn't let me because she said I'm needed here," he mumbled.

"I agree with her on that. Aside from me, you're the strongest in the village. They're going to want to keep you close. As well, the Nine Tails is property of Konoha." With the weapons sorted, Sasuke passed by him and went into the kitchen. Naruto followed him to see he was standing inside the open fridge. "Everything perishable in here, you can have. Even with the shopping I did, your fridge looks like you eat out a lot."

Naruto did, but he decided to keep that to himself. "Want me to go to the power company to request to have your services suspended?"

Sasuke shut the fridge, blinking at him in surprise. "I can do it myself but great thinking. That never even crossed my mind in the past," he smiled.

"And I'll also keep the place clean for you, don't worry," Naruto gave him a thumbs up. The gesture was forced, but Naruto was still trying to avoid breaking down again.

Sasuke nodded his appreciation, then walked closer to him. Arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him in and Naruto felt breathing into the crook of his neck…just like when they were in the onsen. His body trembled but he decided to withstand it this time. Their time together was limited and he should let Sasuke enjoy this while he could.

Directly in his ear, Naruto heard him whisper, "I promised to take you to a movie, didn't I? Let's go ahead and go. Any movie, I don't care. Even a cheesy romantic comedy is fine. It's the middle of the afternoon so not many people should be there."

Naruto gathered up the courage to wrap his own arms around Sasuke, holding on to the back of his shirt. "Don't you want to say your goodbyes to everyone? They're going to miss you too."

"…I'd rather not see them. They'll all just pity me. Tell them for me once I'm gone, okay? I want to spend my remaining time with you." He stepped away to return back to his room, coming out moments later with his key in hand.

Leaving out, Naruto wondered if they should take side streets to avoid any tension, but quickly abandoned the idea. He loved this village, but it was because of its ignorance that Sasuke had to leave. He figured now was a great time to show them just the sort of person they were forcing away. He slowly stretched out his left hand with first a pinky finger wrapping around Sasuke's. He saw the other teen look at him curiously, but Naruto didn't meet his eyes, focusing on not balking at his plan. Instead, he continued to slowly advance until they were completely holding hands. Then, as the final stage, he flipped his hand to where their fingers were interlocked.

He heard Sasuke give a small rumble in his throat that sounded like approval, judging by how his hand tightened. They walked like that to the theater, receiving a fair share of looks but even with Kakashi's warning in mind, he found he didn't care. He almost wished someone would say something so that he could tell them off and relieve some of the frustration he felt.

When they reached the ticket window, his attitude must've come through as it wasn't until they were inside and considering snacks that he realized he'd been rather curt with the person behind the booth. He'd noticed one of Sasuke's mildly impressed glances in his direction, but he'd ignored that one too. He took a deep breath and walked up to the concession counter to place an order. Snapping at everyone wasn't going to change anything and now wasn't the time to encourage drama.

As for the movie, it was a disaster. "Seriously, why do movies even claim they're 'based on a true story' when they're just going to over-dramatize everything?" Sasuke lamented after the movie was over and they were back outside. "I want my hour and twenty-nine minutes back."

"Yeah, I wouldn't have suggested it had I known it was going to be that bad," Naruto also grumbled. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. Instead though…I have a craving for ice cream." They were just passing a small establishment that specialized in sweets. Before Naruto could say anything, he was already heading through the door.

Naruto followed, but his nerves were on high alert. What the hell was Sasuke thinking? They could've just ordered at the window and gotten a cone to go; they didn't have to go in. Even his earlier bravado was now replaced with the fear of something happening that'd only incite the villagers further.

The person behind the counter though was a girl who was a little younger than themselves. She saw Sasuke and blushed, pretending to busy herself with something at her register. However, she wasn't able to act like she hadn't seen him once he reached the counter and she nervously greeted, "W-welcome! What can I get for you?

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Just another girl entranced by Sasuke's looks. He used to hate how girls fawned over him, but this was much more preferable than the alternative.

The counter had a clear display so that all the flavors could be viewed. "Mm…let's see. Pistachio, Cookie Dough, Tiramisu, Rocky Road and two scoops of strawberry." When the girl stopped to stare at him with her mouth open, Sasuke threw in a smile, tilting his head while sweetly saying, "Please?"

But of course, it worked. She instantly snapped out her trance and began to pile the flavors in a waffle bowl that was then placed into a regular bowl. She rang up his order (an exorbitant amount) before reluctantly turning her attention to Naruto. "I'm just gonna get the rainbow sherbet," he shrugged. He felt full just thinking about everything Sasuke had ordered.

Though that still didn't deter him from pilfering out of Sasuke's bowl, and vice versa. In fact, Naruto figured he'd shared in more of Sasuke's ice cream than what he'd eaten of his own.

They left the shop in high spirits, teasing one another. It was a sound that Naruto would never grow tired of. It was so relieving to hear Sasuke laugh, but even better to be the cause of it. He again took his hand but Sasuke said, "There's somewhere I want to show you. Mind taking a walk with me?"

"Yeah, sure. But let's go slow, okay? If I move too fast, I might pop…" He put a hand on his ice cream-full stomach.

This time, they did take a few backways though likely this was due to Sasuke pulling him further and further from the heart of the village. He didn't recognize where they were after a while, which he thought he knew every corner of his hometown. Eventually though, after traversing through the woods, they stepped out to a sight that made him gasp.

It was a large blue lake, surrounded almost entirely by trees. However, at the distant opposite end, he saw a long dock. Seeing it triggered a memory, and he turned to Sasuke. "Isn't this lake part of the Uchiha land? I remember seeing you here when we were kids."

"It's just outside that area," Sasuke confirmed. He walked carefully down the embankment before sitting in the soft spring grass. "The clan used to live further to the west, but after…well, you know what happened. From then, we were moved over here, to the far east. Considering I was only three months old at the time, this place has always been home for me."

Naruto stared out, looking across at the dock again. "We're on the opposite side from there."

Sasuke picked up a rock and skipped it without using chakra, hitting the water a total of ten times before sinking. "I didn't want anyone to see us if we went on the dock. Besides, being on this side is rather symbolic. As a kid, I used to practice the various Fireball Jutsus of the Uchiha, wondering if I'd ever catch up to my father and Itachi. That was so long ago…but now look. I finally made it," he smiled, though his eyes were filled with sad nostalgia.

While he hated seeing Sasuke make that expression, he decided not to change the subject. As a result, he was rewarded with several touching and silly stories about various things that happened in his family. He filled with warmth as Sasuke quietly reminisced about eating hot-pot stew in winter and laughed as he told of a childhood game he and Itachi had made up called "Where're you at, kitty cat?" which was pretty much hide and seek while wearing cat ears. He never would've imagined Sasuke to be this expressive and he was happy to soak it all up.

In time though, nightfall began to creep its way onto the edges of the horizon. Fireflies would bravely fly close, flickering their lights in passing. The shops lit their outdoor lamps which glowed like stars on the water's surface, so many that their village could almost be mistaken for a city. And as the darkness finally claimed the day, Naruto was reminded that this would be Sasuke's final night.

"…Sasuke," he intoned quietly, not entirely sure what he wanted to say.

Sasuke must've still understood him, as he let out a breath. He stood up, holding out a hand. "It's time we head back," he said, pulling Naruto to his feet. "My last day though isn't entirely done. And…I don't want to spend my last hours here alone."

Naruto certainly felt the same way, wanting to preserve their time together. He allowed Sasuke to pull him close from the waist as they walked, equally holding him tight while burning this moment forever into his memory.