As promised, I updated today.

I hope this lives up to your expectation.

'Him' should be 'her'… yeah I get it now. Thanks to XKunoichiofthePaintbrushX for the nudge.

Chapter 86: Short Rancor

"Sa-Sasuke, wait," Naruto stammered as cold and adventurous hands slid under his shirt while skillful mouth latched itself on his tanned neck. Both of them were in the kitchen drinking coffee before Sasuke decided that their breakfast could be leftovers from the party last night and straddled his wife.

"Why not?" he mumbled, not stopping from his sensual offense.

"Kisho's here. We shouldn't give him a nose-bleed scene of which he could rave about to anyone who listens," he explained a little bit breathlessly.

Sasuke paused.

Kisho's here.

It was now that instead of 'Akemi and Kisho are here'. It was no longer that because Akemi was now married and was starting his life with Chie. And it wouldn't be soon before it would be just the two of them. A long time ago when they had just gotten married, he thought the manor house was enough for both of them. But the birth of their children had changed that opinion and as they started leaving one by one with their partner, the house had become bigger and bigger and less warm, much to his sadness.

He took a deep breath and rested his forehead on a shoulder.

"Everybody's leaving us," he breathed.

One arm came to wrap around his frame as a sympathetic gesture. "I know but we couldn't go against the way of life."

"They're going to visit us, anyway," Sasuke whispered, assuring himself more than his wife.

"With their kids," Naruto added with child-like amusement. "It won't be long before we'll be cradling Akemi's child. I can't wait for Kisho to get married and have kids."

His words floated to hallway causing Kisho to pause from his walk away from the laundry room. He scowled, his eyes betraying his sudden confusion and hurt. He disappeared from the hallway and then reappeared in his room. He shakily sat on his newly made bed.

Judging by his chichiue's tone, Kisho knew he would be crushed if he would tell them he wouldn't be able to give them grandchildren with his choice of a partner. And now that he had Makoto, he couldn't let him go. No, definitely not. Not after he saw how tensed Makoto was when he was pounding into him and how he writhed as he- Kisho did the pounding. He sighed, knowing he had a lot of thinking to do if he was to make a choice. But he won't be able to do that when he could still smell the faint traces of last night's activity.

Trying to avoid his women, he took to the roof. But he knew very soon he would have to tell them the game was over before Makoto would think that he was just one of the pretty faces he fucked.

"Old man," he mumbled in greeting to Jiraiya's grave. He took a seat and leaned against the toad hermit's tombstone. He stared at the blue crystal sky and sighed "I don't understand why chichiue expects us to be all heterosexual when he himself isn't. Do you, you pervert?"

Silence punctuated by three noisy crows was the answer to his question but it didn't stop him from asking more. "Would they understand if I tell them? Would you understand?"

He laughed at the last question knowing Jiraiya would probably hit him for ending up like his parents after all the things he did to make sure he won't walk that less traveled road. He laughed more imagining Venus-sama's reaction. She would probably burst a vein or two in her anger.

But his amusement was short-lived. He was heading for trouble if he won't take action soon. He knew a do-or-die situation when he sees one and dammit! This was one of them. Why couldn't things be simple? And he continued sitting there, thinking, wondering and planning.

-SasuNaru is love-

Naruto answered the door and looked surprised to see his closest friends waiting outside. With confusion in his blue eyes, he was about to ask the reason for their presence when the ever hot-headed Kiba gave him one good punch that sent the blonde flying backwards and past a bewildered Sasuke who was standing few steps from the front door.

"Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed, worried at the same time embarrassed. But nevertheless, she together with the rest followed her husband inside.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto demanded while still feeling dizzy. That innocent question had sent him towards the coffee table, shattering its glass. "You asshole," Naruto growled angrily while pushing himself to his feet. Some glass shards had cut into his exposed skin and blood trickled from few of them.

Kiba was about to attack again when Hinata grabbed him from behind. But what really stopped him was a very angry Sasuke who appeared in front of Naruto in a blink of an eye.

"Take one step forward and I'll definitely kill you," he said. It wasn't a threat but warning coated with a promise of a painful death and everybody was certain the Uchiha leader would. This was Sasuke protecting his man…

"Step aside, Sasuke. He deserves this for keeping secrets."

…Sasuke defending his dobe…

"What secrets he keeps are his... our business."

"So you're into this?" Kiba demanded. The Uchiha leader became the receiving end of glares and accusing looks.

…and Sasuke shielding his Naruto.

He smirked. "Obviously but why aren't you hitting me?"

Shikamaru sighed. The situation had become more troublesome after Kiba's first punch. They had agreed to confront the subject peacefully but apparently there was a part of 'peacefully' Kiba didn't understand. But he also understood what his friend was feeling. In fact if it weren't so troublesome, he would use his most basic Shadow Technique to hold Naruto while the rest would beat him up. That would be a perfect punishment but it was too troublesome.

Kiba knew what everybody agreed but seeing Naruto had completely snapped his hold on his boiling temper that he couldn't stop wanting to beat the blonde up. His body tensed ready to punch the smirk off from Sasuke's face but Hinata's grip on his left arm tightened.

"Calm down, Kiba," Hinata whispered almost pleadingly. She was worried that Sasuke would show no hesitation on killing her spouse.

Naruto stood beside Sasuke. "So this is what it's all about?" he sneered. He was angry that his friends came to his house to attack him. Actually, it was only Kiba who did but their not stopping him was an act of support and encouragement.

Sakura fumed. Among all of Naruto's friends, Sakura was the most angry and hurt. Tsunade had kept it from her. And her former teammates, Kakashi included, had left her in the dark. Why was she always an outcast? And always the last to know? Wasn't she a member of the messed-up Team Seven?

Sasuke's eyes met Shikamaru's almost half-closed ones. Judging by the looks on everyone's faces, they had traded knowledge, discussed opinions and gauged the situation before paying them a visit. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if they or to be exact, the lazy genius came up with plans. He probably came up with damage-control plans too if things go awry. The Nara certainly expected Kiba to go wild because he didn't even made a reaction after the punch and because he did, the Hyuuga leader's attack wasn't considered to be a situation where he needed to step in.

"I'm going to die. So what? Everybody's going to die one way or another. It just happened my death was decided to be this way," Naruto stated casually.

Before anyone could move, Sakura had moved forward and slapped him. Hard. "You insensitive fool!" Sakura hissed, unmindful of Sasuke tensing and glaring at her. "You're right. Everybody's going to die. It's a natural thing so why did you hide it from us?" she demanded while glaring through her tears. She angrily wiped them away.

Naruto flinched seeing her tears. He always felt bad seeing her cry. He took a deep breath. "Sakura-chan, sorry." He looked at the rest and apologized as well. "I don't want you guys to worry."

What did Sasuke say in their latest fight?

You made me feel weak...

"I don't want to see pity looks everyday. Or live each day with you telling me what to do and what not."

"That's out of worry!" Ino retorted hotly stepping behind Sakura whose words came out as sobs. "You can't expect us to be apathetic."

"I'm not. I just don't want you to worry unnecessary. I don't want you to make me feel weak," he finished quietly.

"If we do, it isn't because we're doing it in purpose," Tenten argued. "Surely, you understand that."

Of course he did because that was what he was doing to Sasuke too but… "I don't want to burden you with this. You guys have your own life."

"Naruto-kun, you miss one important matter: friends share joys and sufferings, especially sufferings," Lee said in a voice full of conviction. Trust the special jounin to say such corny things without feeling embarrassed.

Knowing they weren't going anywhere, Naruto sighed. He met deceptively lazy look, hurt looks, unreadable calm looks and angry glares with a sheepish look of his own. "I wanted to tell you but it's hard for me. I couldn't just approach you and inform you of this grave matter." He tried to find a perfect opportunity to tell them but every time they meet together, the atmosphere was that of excitement and happiness that he didn't have the heart to break it with such announcement.

"So you want us to find it out?" Chouji asked.

"Not really. Whether you find it out or not doesn't really matter to me."

All men frowned.

"Meaning?" Shino asked tersely.

"It wouldn't change anything."

All of them sighed. Naruto was being difficult and as much as they want to throw a tantrum, they were aware that they were no longer kids. They had to approach things maturely. Besides, it's too difficult to remain mad at someone who was trying to savor his remaining time without being obvious and resigned to his end.

"That's it? You're not going to tell us finer details?" Shikamaru asked as he twirled a cigarette around his fingers. He made a sound of protest when Temari snatched it from him.

"No. There are no finer details," Naruto said. Why did his body feel tired and ached? His gaze fell on one scratch and found it healing. Ah yes… the fox demon's chakra was healing all his cuts taxing on his body's already poor endurance. He wanted to sag against his husband but decided that he would appear weak to his friends and he couldn't afford that.

"Naruto," Temari warned.

"It's just Kyuubi and his chakra. This is the fate of all jinchuuriki," he flinched as he used such degrading term and he looked at Neji apologetically as he continued, "And it's not something I can fight against."

Sai was about to open his mouth when the blonde sighed. "Look, can you guys just let it go? I'm already tired." He was tired from his work that day and the healing was making him more exhausted.

"Is it because…" Neji trailed off.

Kiba seemed to understand what Neji was about to say and looked horrified. "Shit! Naruto, I'm sorry. I didn't know.-"

"It's nothing," the blonde dismissed casually. "My endurance to his chakra decreases as my age increases. If you still haven't eaten dinner, feel free to use the kitchen and ransack the fridge. I'll lie down for awhile." Then he looked at Sakura. "You're probably mad at me but it's easier for me to sleep when my muscles are relaxed. Can you do that for me?"

Sakura nodded.

"It must be hard," Shikamaru muttered behind Sasuke as the rest went to the kitchen. I'm sorry, was the meaning behind his statement and the latter seemed to understand that.

The Uchiha leader shrugged. "I'm still trying to get use to it. Drinks are in the kitchen. You know where the liquors are." That was all he said before he went after his former teammates.

Naruto looked at Sakura and noticed the tears gathering on her eyes. He reached out to wipe them away. "Sakura," his voice was serious and his eyes were too lucid that it was scaring the medic-nin, "You're part of Team Seven. Kakashi-sensei is the logic and reason, the bastard and I are the brute strength-"

"Sasuke could be the logic and reason too but you always provoke him," Sakura interrupted, her chakra-application consistent although she wasn't emotionally stable.

The blonde chuckled but his seriousness was still there. "And you… you're the heart so as much as possible, we especially me, don't want to say anything that would hurt you. After all, Team Seven would be cold without its heart."

This time, tears streamed from stormy emerald eyes at those words. She couldn't stop them not when those words pierced through her heart… reached within her deeper than anything else.

"Team Seven would be weak without one of its strength too."

"I know but Team Seven is known for its resiliency, isn't it?" Naruto placed a hand on her arm. "Sakura, can you do me a lifetime favor?"

The woman shivered, reminding the time when she also asked her closest friend to do her a lifetime favor.

"What?" She croaked, knowing the favor had something to do with Sasuke.

"When I'm gone…" At this the medic-nin took a sharp breath. She wanted to cover her ears and make sounds to block out what her friend was saying. "I want you to look after the bastard. Y'know, make sure he won't do something stupid."

"Naruto, I…"

"Promise me, Sakura," he ordered desperately. He needed an assurance that Sasuke would be safe even after his death.

Between sobs, the woman did although her heart was as heavy as lead when she made that promise.

When Sasuke reached the master bedroom, Sakura had just stepped outside and was closing the door softly. She looked to her left and said quietly, "Sasuke-kun, about Naruto-"

"It's okay," Sasuke cut her off. "I'm counting on you when you become his doctor." He knew it would be soon because Tsunade was now too old to perform a lot of medications Naruto's body required. The only thing that kept the blond woman going was because of her protectiveness over her so-called brother. With that he entered the room.

"Hey," he greeted as he leaned against the closed door. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Naruto breathed sleepily. "But I feel bad that my illness is getting more attention than yours." He let out a soft chuckle.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Are you trying to compete here?"

"Just stating."　But his eyes told him he was definitely gloating. Their rivalry had never died. It always reared its head in every opportunity.

"Hn. Get some rest. I'll have dinner ready for you when you wake up." He waited for an acknowledgement but nothing came and he realized that his wife was already asleep. He sighed. "Usuratonkachi."

-SasuNaru is love-

When Kisho came home past nine in the evening, he saw his otousan in the family den reading a book, a steaming mug of coffee placed on the small table on his left. His heart slammed against his chest as he made his presence known. Behind his back, he clenched and unclenched his fists as if it would help his rattling nerves in calming down.

Sasuke looked up and arched an eyebrow as he noticed how tensed and stiff his son was walking. His curiosity was piqued when the blonde sat on the seat across him primly.

"I-," Kisho stopped realizing the shrillness of his voice. He cleared his throat while the older man marked the page where he left off and placed the book on his lap. Something told him that whatever Kisho was about to say must be really important. A lot of conclusions came to his mind like he impregnated one of his women but decided to hear his son first before making any reactions.

"I know your dream was to revive the clan and you're expecting us to repopulate it," Kisho started, trying not to choke the rest of the words. He stifled the urge to place a hand on his chest to stop his heart from beating too hard. "Aniki already had done his part. Miki did too despite her being a Hyuuga. I'm certain Akemi-nii is working on it. Everybody's doing it but I… I'm not…" At this he faltered and his voice became weaker until nothing came out from his mouth.

"There's no hurry," Sasuke assured him.

"No!" Kisho almost shouted and half-out of his seat. He settled back and took a deep breath before continuing. "I mean I can't."

"You won't settle down?"

"No." Why couldn't his otousan understand? Shouldn't parents have some radar to detect their children's wants and an X-ray to see all that were hidden?

Sasuke massaged the bridge of his nose. "Kisho," he said patiently for someone who hadn't eaten his dinner yet. "I don't know what you're talking about. Stop beating around the bush. Get straight to the point like you always do."

"I'm swinging that way!" He said even before he could think of a better way to announce his sexual preference. He wrung his hands seeing the unreadable expression on his otousan's face. If he could, he would bite his fingers as Sasuke blinked owlishly at him. He would have laughed at such expression if he wasn't so nervous.

"What?" Sasuke asked slowly, still trying to figure if this was a bad joke or something.

"I'm homosexual." There he said it. He hoped there was conviction and sincerity in his voice to make his announcement believable.

"Are you kidding me?" That statement was made out of disbelief, not of horror. Perhaps, things were not as bad as Kisho expected. "You practically slept with any female you fancied and now you're telling me this?" It wasn't as if he was keeping tabs on Kisho's sexual activity but word got around quickly not to mention news traveled too fast. "Do you expect me to believe this?"

"They were just games… distraction and consolation of what I couldn't have. Didn't you feel that way to chichiue?" Kisho looked hopeful. Surely, he and his old man had a common ground on this matter.

"No, I didn't." He had been so engrossed with power and revenge that he didn't realized his feelings for Naruto until he had exacted vengeance. When he had realized, he didn't seek consolation… he seek the blonde. He didn't settle for less. It was the blonde he needed and it was him he got.

Kisho sighed. The plan failed and-

"But that doesn't mean I don't understand your situation." He would understand because he was like him. He was like them.

Ebony eyes looked at him with relief and hope. "Does that mean you're going to help me break it to Chichiue?"

"Tell me what?" Naruto asked sleepily from the doorway. Kisho froze. He looked at his otousan, silently seeking or more like demanding for help. The older blonde didn't miss the SOS look. "What is going on?"

"N-nothing," Kisho answered too quickly.

A blond brow arched in disbelief. "Yeah and you're a homo," Naruto retorted casually, not noticing the reaction the other two had as he yawned.

"That he is," Sasuke stated.

"Huh? He is what?"

"Swinging that way; traveling the less-traveled road-"

"Meaning?"

"You're twice a dobe when you're still half-asleep," Sasuke commented, just as nervous as Kisho was because he knew how much Naruto was looking forward to see Kisho's children.

"Stop being a bastard and get on with it," he retorted impatiently.

"I'm with Makoto," Kisho said. He expected his chichiue to burst a vein in his anger, not holding his stomach as he laughed.

"That's a joke. A good-"

"He's not kidding, dobe."

That killed Naruto's laughter and silence echoed over the whole place.

"You're not kidding?" Naruto asked a minute later. "But didn't you sleep with those women?"

"But that didn't mean I'm not in love with Makoto," he replied. "I didn't know that the coffee-freak would-"

"Love you back," his chichiue finished for him, making him blush.

"I know I won't be able to sire children like you so do Makoto but will you please accept this fact?" Kisho almost pleaded. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything for the clan but please let me be happy."

"You're not obliged to do anything for the clan or for us," Sasuke said, "so you can do anything you want."

Happiness replaced the guilt-stricken look on Kisho's face as he heard those words. "Thank you," he said and he would have kissed his otousan's feet if he had too. He looked at his chichiue. "I-"

Naruto smiled and nodded in understanding. "But," he added as an afterthought, his eyes dancing in mischief, "You have to tell me how you manage to snatch that I-want-to-be-celibate Makoto."

"Nothing interesting," he said. He didn't want to remember what a fool he was. How he became a pawn of Akemi.

"But your blush tells me otherwise." He was about to coax his youngest child when his stomach reminded him that he was still hungry. "Let's talk this over supper." He tugged the stubborn Kisho to the dining room, feeling excited to hear everything except if they did it, where and how.

Sasuke sighed. He didn't want to hear it but he was hungry too.

-SasuNaru is love-

Kisho stared at the ceiling above his bed, still surprised that his parents accepted it so calmly. He took a deep breath. He couldn't wait to tell Makoto the good news the next day. He turned to his side and his gaze accidentally landed on a family picture and reminded him that he still had to settle things with Akemi.

But his revenge could wait, not because Akemi was still on his honeymoon trip but because revenge served cold was better. He couldn't wait to see Akemi's and Chie's reaction when they learn that one of their children would become as pervert as he was. And he dreamed about ways on how to make one of his nephews/nieces become the connoisseur of perversion and pleasure.

Definitely, revenge was sweeter when served cold and in a gold platter.

TBC

I know this chapter lacked violence but it is so hard for them to attack someone who was close to dying. I think that is more realistic than have them beat Naruto up for keeping a secret.

Next chapter: Before Sasuke could move away, the flame engulfed him and in a split second he was burning.