SasuNaru, Yaoi, OOC, OCs and unbeta-read

Naruto belongs to no one else's but him. coughs

Chapter 46: The reason to love

"Yuichi-san?" Naruto said in surprised as he saw the man leaning on the wall of some alley. "Shouldn't you be in the council room for your wedding?"

"It will start fifteen minutes from now."

The blonde grinned, "You don't want to be late, do you?"

The midnight blue-haired guy shook his head, "No, I don't but I need to talk with you."

"Do you still feel bad that I can't officiate your marriage? As much as I want to, my schedule won't permit it."

Yuichi moved towards him slowly but purposely. "Honestly, I don't want you to be present in my wedding whether as an official or a guest as it would make things harder for me."

Naruto looked surprised and hurt. Yuichi had been one of his best subordinates or perhaps was or had never been. It was just probably an act and he was good. In fact perfect as he made him completely believed that he liked him. He looked away, his head lowered. "I'm sorry. I assumed-"

"You assumed wrong," the other man replied then gripped his wrist to stop the blond from walking away.

"What are you doing?" Naruto hissed in shock and confusion when Yuichi pushed him against a wall.

"I want you to listen to me not as my superior but as you, as the one I loved, no, love for almost fifteen years and will continue to love."

Naruto's jaw almost dropped open, making Yuichi chuckle in constant admiration.

"Sasuke won't like-"

"You always think about him." It was an accusation at the same time observation.

"I always do since I was eight," he said in a pride that made the dark-haired man's heart twitched in pain. But Naruto couldn't lie. The first time he had thought about Sasuke, it was when he had lost his smile over night.

"He doesn't deserve anything especially that he abandoned you," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

The blond man scowled at that then replied in cold voice, "But he came back and that counted a lot. At least to me."

"Because that snake traitor didn't have enough power to make him stay."

"What are you trying to say?" he snapped. But there was a ripple of fear that occurred deep within him. Could it be that Sasuke only wanted him; loved him for the power Kyuubi had given him?

Instead of answering the question, Yuichi settled for "Act upon your wishes. I could cancel-"

Naruto punched him, "Sasuke. He's my wishes, my prayers and my dreams. But thank you for your feelings. Be a good husband." With that, he left without looking back.

"I thought you're in your office now," Sasuke said as he fell in step with his hokage.

"Supposedly, yeah."

The captain raised an eyebrow to which the other man laughed. As they walked side by side, Naruto kept on giving him furtive glances.

Was it for power?

-SasuNaru is love-

Everything was just a green blur as he sped past the sea of trees towards his village. He knew Tsunade would have his hide for being late in coming home and that it would be a long time before he'd be given another solo mission but it couldn't be help and it won't stop him from continuing his search for Sasuke. Nothing would stop him. It was more than just a promise to Sakura now. It was more than an obsession, a drive, a passion or commitment. It was the reason of his strength and to find Sasuke was like finding peace… finding his soul.

He squinted his eyes when ahead of him something disturbed his vision of green like a glaring black stain on a white cloth then he stopped.

Sasuke...

The missing-nin was leisurely leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest.

The blonde had imagined how they'd meet again but it never crossed his mind that it would be like this. Never like this with Sasuke looking like he was waiting patiently; like his reason of existence was to wait for him.

Sasuke turned his head and focused his dark eyes on the sun that haunted him day and night.

"Dobe," he said. The pet name spilling from his mouth was like caramel rich, thick and smooth. With the way he was looking at his former teammate, it made his attempts of killing the latter; their fights that somehow always ended up undecided and their ties to opposites sides seemed like absurd lies. It was as if nothing mattered but this moment when they were looking at each other with the blonde turned between attacking Sasuke or hugging him.

"What are you doing here in our border?" Naruto asked impersonally even when he was reduced to nothing but whirling mass of emotions. He didn't even add 'bastard' because it made the question endearing in a twisted way; it would make them familiar with each other once more and it would give him the illusion that everything was all right between them. "Are you here to end our battle?"

Sasuke scoffed at the hopeful voice, "Sorry to disappoint you but no."

Naruto made a face, "you always disappoint me in all worst ways."

"And you, dobe, surprises me."

"I don't have time to hear your half-ass compliments," he snapped even though his heart fluttered.

"I'm coming home," Sasuke announced when the Konoha ninja was about to leave.

The word 'home' squeezed the blonde's heart painfully because he and Sasuke had different homes.

"Well, your home for the past four years is somewhere beyond the Valley of End and I'm not in the position to guide you."

Sasuke could have replied that his home was in front of him but he didn't because it sounded too corny and so un-him so he settled for, "that's just the place I need to be until I have what he offered to me."

"Then off you go to the snake pit, ba- asshole!" he shouted. "And tell your master that next time he won't slither towards escape."

Naruto let out a gasp when Sasuke, whose eyes were stained with red, slammed him against a tree.

"I'm my own master," he hissed, "and for the record, I killed that snake earlier today."

Blue eyes widened because the man holding him didn't look like he killed someone as powerful as Orochimaru because he looked too clean and he had no injuries or whatsoever.

"Having Kabuto as your constant guard had some merits," he explained.

"Huh?"

"I learned some medical skills from him."

Naruto just nodded stupidly. The death of one of the sannin was still lodged from his mind unable to give space to the missing-nin's declaration of his additional skills.

The snake's death meant no more soul-transfer technique. They had heard from their spies that a year before Orochimaru's transfer to Sasuke body, the body he had been occupying malfunctioned unable to stand his power thus forcing him to another body that wasn't Sasuke's because Sasuke's will was too strong to allow him to perform the technique. As annoying as it was, Orochimaru had no choice but to accept and doubled his efforts to make the Uchiha accept his ultimate role as a vessel. But now that he was dead, Sasuke was saved from the soul-transfer technique. And this time for good.

"Your coming home... is it just a whim?" he asked because he wanted to know.

"Who knows," he answered with an arrogant shrug. It was a whim at the same it wasn't. He had really plan to go back to Konoha after everything is over. It was just that, after he burned Orochimaru's and Kabuto's corpse, his feet led him back to Konoha.

Displeased with the answer, Naruto threw his fist towards the other but a bit slowly, giving the latter a time to duck. But Sasuke had no wish to evade it. He deserved it.

The blonde looked at his former teammate sprawled on the grass, his lower lip sporting a cut then sighed. He lowered a bit to offer his hand, "c'mon bastard. We're going home."

Without further ado, Sasuke took the tanned hand in a firm clasp. He was home.

A vein ticked visibly on Sasuke's forehead when he noticed that the hokage was openly and blankly staring at somewhere behind him instead of listening to what he was saying. He frowned more so in worry than annoyance because for these past two days, the blonde had been spacing out a lot and looked disturbed at the same time tearful.

He reached across the table and took off the hokage hat from Naruto's head, eliciting a startled gasp from him.

"What's bothering you lately?" he asked, not as a subordinate but as a spouse.

"Nothing."

But the dark-haired ninja could tell that his voice lacked conviction so he arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

A second later, the blonde pressed his palm against his desk before he said, "I've been thinking..."

Sasuke prepared himself for a serious talk knowing that it would definitely be one. What tipped him off was the fact that it was always rare for Naruto to begin his dialogue with that phrase and when he did, it meant that the topic was important.

"I didn't know why you came back as I never asked you and you never told me. But now, I want to know."

"You're wearing it," Sasuke replied while wondering where this conversation was heading to.

Naruto looked at his ring, staring at it like it was now a burden. "Why did you marry me? Was it for love or something else… like power?" He whispered the last word but the other man heard it clearly.

The inquiry had been a slap, a kunai stab, a punch, a kick and a shuriken wound rolled in one. Sasuke didn't know that pain and anger fit each other so well until now that he felt laughing. Was the question an innocent inquiry or was it an indirect accusation?

"What are you trying to say?" He replied carefully and clearly.

"You left for power so it's no surprise that you came back and married me for the same reason. You wanted Kyuubi's power."

Sasuke bristled at such baseless accusation. Naruto was good in trusting people except him. Why was that? Was it because he had betrayed him once? He wanted to know.

"Just when you're capable of thinking, you think of stupid things," Sasuke spat coldly.

"They're important to me!"

"You're just being stupid," he said, pain intensifying as he saw those accusing and doubting blue eyes. Why the doubt? Was he still a traitor in those eyes? He knew what he did could never be erased but it still it hurt. A lot.

"I'm not, bastard!"

"Well, fuck you!"

"That's what you had been doing ever since," he snapped back before Sasuke disappeared in a smoke. Naruto didn't know what or who he was crying for. Was he crying for himself? For Sasuke? Or for 'them' that had never existed?

-SasuNaru is love-

"Your wife would be disappointed to hear that you died while sharpening your kunai during our mission," Yanagi commented in a joke as she approached her captain who was sharpening his kunai forcefully, carelessly and angrily.

Sasuke didn't shift his gaze to her. "It's not your shift yet."

"I know but I'm not the least bit sleepy and you need someone to make sure that you're safe from your kunai."

The man glared at her but she wasn't affected the least. Being his subordinate for a long time made her immune to such Uchiha trademark.

"Its a pity that the bandits you killed didn't cool your head," she said while shuddering at the memory of the battle they had against the bandits few hours ago was more like a slaughter as her captain killed them all. Yanagi sighed then chuckled dryly, "You and Naruto-sama don't have a lot of couple spats as the others but when you fight, it's like an apocalypse. I'm sure he's tossing in your bed right now, wondering when you're coming home"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "He's too stupid to think of that."

But contrary to what Sasuke was thinking Naruto was indeed tossing in their bed. The blonde for the umpteenth time punched his pillow to a more comfortable shape. No matter how tired he was with his work, he couldn't sleep. His pillow was too uncomfortable, the blanket too heavy and the bed was too soft and the same time hard. Everything just felt so wrong and all because Sasuke wasn't there when they were having some spat.

He closed his eyes and the image of Sasuke's obsidian eyes filled with silent pain haunted him, causing him to open his eyes. He couldn't close them back because the image he'd see would only break him. He had hurt Sasuke and god he hated it. He hadn't expected for things to go that way. He just wanted to know what his reason was for coming back and for marrying him. It would hurt a lot if Sasuke would say it was for power but he would never let Sasuke go. In fact, he'd probably do his best to make the dark-haired man fall in love with him madly and deeply, if he wasn't already. But first, he had to apologize to Sasuke.

Weary of his tossing, he got out from the bed and went to seat on the chair. He grabbed an empty scroll, a pen and started writing. This would be one of the nights he'd spend awake since their latest spat.

Damn Yuichi. Damn him for being stupid. Damn for him being so madly in love.

-SasuNaru is love-

Sasuke's team entered the Konoha gates, feeling tired from the lack of action.

"It's good to be back home," Hiko said while giving a sideway glance to their captain who seemed to tense more.

"I want to do another mission. This time, fully pack with actions," Ken said.

"Then shall we talk with the hokage for some?" Yanagi asked.

"He told me there are no other missions for us until next week," Sasuke said truthfully, "but we could get some from the mission office."

His three subordinates cheered like children.

"Our mission report, hokage-sama," Ken said then paused when he noticed how bad the blonde was looking right now. "You don't look fine," he commented.

"Shouldn't your captain be delivering reports?" Naruto commented, looking at the scroll on his desk. "Or is he injured?" Oh God, no.

Ken laughed, "He's violent than usual but he's fine. In fact, they are in the mission room to get another mission."

"Excuse me?" he asked. Now, it was painfully obvious that his husband was avoiding him.

"Mission-" Ken stopped when he realized he was now talking to an empty chair.

"Captain," Naruto managed to say neutrally despite that he was angry as he entered the room. He even managed to acknowledge everybody's greeting.

Sasuke slowly turned around and looked at him, "Yes, hokage-sama?" His voice was calm and impersonal and it made Naruto cringed inwardly. Calm and impersonal was never good with Sasuke when it comes to him, Naruto knew that and it made him worry more.

"I need to talk with you in the office," he ordered and he knew that even Sasuke didn't want to he couldn't disobey an order not when there were a lot of people around. The dark-haired man bowed and quietly followed the rokudaime.

When they were now in the privacy of the hokage's office, Naruto untied Sasuke's porcelain mask. It was his way of expressing his wish to talk with the dark-haired man not as a captain but as his spouse.

Sasuke felt satisfied to see dark circles under those blue eyes.

"Will you please listen to me?" the blonde pleaded heartbrokenly.

"I won't stand here to be insulted," Sasuke replied tersely. He was afraid that in his moment of anger he'd hurt Naruto beyond repair- something he didn't and would never want to do. Ever.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. It wasn't my intention. But you know how tactless I could be."

Sasuke certainly did know because he had been his constant victim just as the blonde was of his coldness.

"I just wanted to know your reason of marrying me. It wouldn't be for companionship because you made that perfectly clear during our early teenage years. At least to your fan girls. And it couldn't be for the revival of your clan as you didn't know that I can give birth until we are already married," Naruto knew he was rambling but he couldn't help it just as he couldn't stop himself from wringing his hands. He looked at Sasuke for help but the latter was looking at him in detachment that bordered near boredom. In panic, he grabbed Sasuke's hands. "It wouldn't matter because it's in the past but I wanted to know."

"If I say it was for power, what would you do?"

The thorns of the barbed wire that had gripped his heart four days ago had pierced his beating organ. He was in pain and he was choking with his reply but his eyes despite stinging with tears had conviction in them.

"I had no choice but to make you love me."

Sasuke smirked, "you don't need to do that. I married you for that."

"You what?" First he was angry then desperate then in pain and now surprised. Must his husband always send him on a high-speed emotional ride? Sasuke love him for what? There was nothing about him to love unless...But it couldn't be, right?

Close to exasperation, Sasuke said, "I would love you with or without Kyuubi."

"Why? Why would someone like you love someone like me?"

And that was where Sasuke's problem lies. Naruto expected for an explanation and he couldn't give one. Yes, everything has reasons. Everything but love. Love is something that couldn't be broken down into logic. It was something he understood back at the Sound Village when he tried to make his strong and deep feelings for Naruto make sense with logic. And he couldn't because it wasn't meant to be understood with logic.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked when he remained quiet. The blonde was confused when Sasuke took him in his arms and kissed him breathlessly. It was a kiss meant to tease him and coaxed him into participation.

Naruto still was left in the dark as to why Sasuke loved him. As much as he wanted to ask again, his mouth was still being splendidly ravished and one by one, his thoughts were evaporating.

Few minutes later, Naruto's robe, boxers and pants pooled in disarray around the hokage chair together with Sasuke's flak jacket.

The blonde threw his head back welcoming Sasuke's exploring mouth on his neck. He let out a deep moan when his spouse gently massaged his inner thighs. He pushed his groin forward, rubbing his weeping erection with Sasuke's, causing for the dark-haired man to shudder deliciously.

Currents of pleasure burst everywhere within him as Naruto felt Sasuke entered him in one full thrust. Sasuke looked at those glazed blue eyes and smirked. He moved slowly and his hands gripped Naruto's hips to control its rise and fall on his groin.

Wanting more, Naruto pressed closer never pausing for a second that Sasuke might be flattened against the chair. All he could think was more.

Sasuke brushed his lips against one ear and asked huskily, "still thinking why I love you, dobe?"

Even when he was close to suffocate with the lack of pleasure, the blonde nodded. Sasuke smirked and there was a predatory glint in his very dark eyes.

Without warning, the dark-haired man none-too-gently slammed his dobe on the desk, upsetting the piles of documents. He pushed the blonde to lie on his side, raised one leg and thrust into him.

He was about to scold and curse Sasuke for the slam when his eyes rolled to the back of his head the second his spouse entered him. Sasuke was hitting his spot harder and deeper compared before. For every contact, electricity ran through him making him tremble and groan. He couldn't get enough of this mind-blowing sweetness that he started moving his hips desperately. He dug his fingers into the edge of the table clinging for buoyancy just so he could drag this longer when he felt himself being drowned and being swept away at the same time.

Sasuke bit his lips trying to stop himself from coming. He won't allow himself, not when Naruto hadn't yet understood his feelings. He wouldn't mind dragging this even to eternity because oh God! this was such a sweet torture. This wasn't sex or lovemaking. This was his confession. His explanation. This was his words.

His eyes fell on the scroll which was spread under Naruto's head and saw that the scroll contained nothing but his name written in different way and in different sizes. There was ink blots caused by… tear drops, his lust-filled mind pointed out to him. In fact, there were tears stains too. Was this what Naruto had been doing during his absence?

"Naruto," was all he could whisper as he kissed those closed eyes.

Faster... Harder... They moved together, the table slightly rocking together with them. It didn't matter to them that the force of their action caused more piles of papers to tumble and swirl around them or that the documents under Naruto were now crumpled or that they were doing it inside the office and on the hokage's desk, to top it off.

When both of them came together, they let out a deep groan.

Surrounded by blinding and pristine whiteness, Naruto's mind realized that this was Sasuke's love- overwhelming and pure. He now comprehended what his heart subconsciously knew all along - loving someone needed no reason or explanation. His 'Sasuke is kind and gentle underneath his cool mask', 'Sasuke understands me the most', 'Sasuke completes me', 'Sasuke makes me feel important; makes me feel what others couldn't' and so on and so forth were not reasons but petty excuses as he approached his love for his husband from a logical side. He was stupid.

When Naruto opened his eyes, Sasuke saw understanding and he gave a soft peck on the blonde's damp forehead.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered.

"It's okay," he replied then added teasingly, "You just don't love me enough not to doubt me."

Pouting, he countered, "I love you enough to doubt you."

"Hn."

"Ne, still leaving for that mission?" Naruto asked after a moment of silence.

"No choice. My team would look bad if we return what we asked."

Blue eyes darkened with disappointment, "I missed you."

Sasuke smirked, "I know, if those dark circles and eye bags are any indication. Go home and get some sleep."

"Didn't you hear me? I missed you. I won't go home and sleep in our bed without you," Naruto announced childishly.

"I'll be back five hours latter," Sasuke reassured before pulling out from his dobe.

-SasuNaru is love-

"What?" Hiko, Ken and Yanagi cried out in protest when Sasuke arrogantly announced that they need to complete the mission within five hours.

"Isn't that a bit too much?" Hiko commented.

"Treat it as a training," their captain replied indifferently, "besides it's the hokage's order."

His three subordinates chuckled.

"More like your wife's order," Ken stated.

"So all is well with you guys," Yanagi chipped in with a wink.

Wanting to hide his slightly pink cheeks, he turned away and growled in a commanding voice, "Whatever. Just get your asses moving."

TBC

Because I think Naruto is stupid that way. Like him, there are people who doubted their loved ones no matter how deep their love went. It's like a natural order of things. shrugs shoulders