Sacrifice: Everything lost?
OV: I will give up everything for you!
AN: What is poor Naruto going to do to try to get Sasuke to remember?? Will Sasuke remember??
I have determined that I need a new keyboard. I am so tired of having to go back and fill in spaces my space bar missed, and capitalize a lot of things because my shift key is weak and I have to hit it hard to get it to register… Perhaps if I could type while looking at the screen instead of my keyboard??? But I type pretty fast regardless LOL
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When they stepped back into Sasuke's room, he was still sound asleep. Juugo grinned at Naruto as he stood staring down at the still body. He made an excuse to step out of the room for a minute, something about finding a drink. Naruto leaned close to Sasuke's face; he could feel the soft breeze of his breathing against his face. Without thinking about it, he kissed the sleeping man, wishing with everything he had that he'd be the Sasuke he loved when he awoke.
Naruto's eyes flew open as a hand grabbed his head from behind and pressed his lips harder against Sasuke's. When he saw the passion burning within the depths of Sasuke's eyes he relaxed a little, and returned the heat of the kiss. His mind was screaming at him that this wasn't his Sasuke, but he hoped with every beat of his racing heart that this might be what was needed to help Sasuke remember. With a devilish grin he pulled away from Sasuke's sweet lips and kneaded his hands in his hair. He used this as leverage to pull the dark head back and expose the delicate flesh of his neck.
Naruto kissed him in the hollow behind the clavicle, and then left a stream of nibbles up to his earlobe. Sasuke reacted expectedly by arching his back and moaning with pleasure. Naruto whispered into his ear, "Do you remember me yet?" he demanded.
Sasuke's eyes shot open and there was a look of confusion mingled with the searing passion and lust glinting there. Naruto climbed onto Sasuke's prone body, gently pressing his weight onto the pale man beneath. Sasuke could feel the heat coming off the blonde's body in waves. Naruto crushed his lips in an unrelenting kiss, he slipped his tongue over the softness and Sasuke parted to allow him entry. As before Naruto began the dominant one probing, exploring, tasting. However the side of Sasuke that couldn't allow him to be overpowered for too long rose up. He pressed against the tanned man and kissed him fiercely, he drove his tongue deep into Naruto's mouth plunging and searching the moist depths.
Suddenly Sasuke threw his arms around the blonde and flipped him in the bed in one smooth movement. Now he was on top. He surveyed the trapped man beneath him. Sasuke wasn't typically a demonstrative man, and part of his mind was screaming at him, demanding to know what he thought he was doing. The other part was yelling shut up, this feels right; it feels good.
Naruto watched the struggle pass over Sasuke's face. He determined to give the caliginous man the time he needed. He only hoped that he was getting through somehow. "Sasuke, do you remember where you live now?" Naruto inquired when the war seemed to have passed.
Sasuke looked at Naruto. "Where I live now? I live somewhere?" He seemed to ponder this for a minute. His voice came from far away as he struggled to call forth something from the depths of his mind, "There's a window that the sun shined through onto my face this morning."
His eyes had glazed over as he tried to catch the flutters of thought that were swimming through his conscious mind. He closed his eyes and rested his head onto Naruto's chest. "I'm so tired, it's like my chakra stores have been depleted."
Naruto understood more than Sasuke would have believed. When he had been in Suna he had experienced something strange. For some unknown reason he had gone for a week without the fox's presence and without his chakra. He had felt depleted and weak. Sasuke had become dependent on the chakra from the curse seal. Now that it was gone he would have to build up his normal chakra stores again. Naruto wondered if he should reveal this or if it would only serve to enrage the volatile man.
He looked into those somber eyes. "Sasuke," he sighed. I love you, can't you feel it? Don't you remember? I wish I could hear you say it to me again…I wonder if I ever will.
He gazed upon the only person he'd ever loved, and his emotion shone in his eyes. Sasuke raised his head and looked into the depths of those sapphire eyes. He was drowned in the raw emotion exposed there. "Damn, Naruto, I could fall in love with those eyes." He murmured.
"You already did," Naruto barely whispered.
Sasuke didn't reveal whether he had heard Naruto or not. Instead he leaned down and kissed him softly. "I feel something when I kiss you," he said as he pulled reluctantly away. "I haven't felt anything for such a long time. I like this, feeling."
Sasuke slipped off Naruto and off the bed, he stood beside it offering Naruto his hand. He took it and pulled himself up. They stood close together hands clasped and arms crossed between them.
Naruto remembered what he'd told Juugo, and wondered if the ANBU had finished getting his room ready. He grinned at the thought of ANBU being used as movers, they must feel degraded. He vowed to make it up to them.
"Sasuke," Naruto began, "are you ready to go home?"
Sasuke looked into those azure pools of water, "Yeah, you gonna walk me?" he flirted.
"Actually, you live in my chambers." Naruto replied. He bit back a laugh at the look on Sasuke's face.
"I live with you?!?" he shouted.
Naruto did laugh at that. "You don't have to make it sound like a death sentence. Besides, you weren't complaining last night," he purred throatily.
Sasuke actually blushed.
Juugo knocked on the door. Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes again, then stepped away from the alluring man withdrawing his hand from the warmth of the other. Naruto stood there as Sasuke crossed to open the door. Juugo entered grinning; in one hand he carried a large green tea. "Hey Sasuke's up, does that mean we're ready to go home?"
Sasuke cried out, "Wait a minute, you live there too???"
Naruto and Juugo looked at each other and burst into laughter. Sasuke glared at them, which only caused them to laugh harder. In an attempt to prove he wasn't paying attention, Sasuke began to gather his clothes. He turned around pointedly and began to dress. Juugo, whose back was to Sasuke, stood there waiting patiently drinking his tea. Naruto, who was facing him, watched the display with sultry eyes.
When he was dressed he looked up to see Naruto unabashedly gazing at him. He blushed again. What the hell! This guy causes such things to stir in me. He can even make me blush, something no other person has ever done. "Come on lets go then," he growled.
Naruto led the way, his contagious grin plastered on his face. Everyone he passed suddenly found themselves smiling. They felt a rush of happiness, and attributed it to the fact that they were content, and their Hokage had smiled at them.
Soon they were in front of the door to Naruto's quarters. "Sasuke does any of this look familiar to you?"
Sasuke nodded, "Of course, this is the Hokage building. I don't recall being in this section before though." He answered looking around.
Naruto's face drooped. He was crestfallen. He regained his composure and led his guests through the door. Sasuke stepped in first. He stopped. A flash of clothes flying through the air greeted him as he glanced around.
"I've been here before," he began, "With you." He spun around to look at Naruto. "I remember, that's my room," he said pointing at his door.
Naruto smiled, "Yeah, you'll share with Juugo for now," he looked at Sasuke, "Unless you want to share with me." He said with that predatory look in his eyes again.
Sasuke crossed to look at the room he'd only slept in once. He opened the door and grinned when he saw Juugo's bed. It made the room a little cramped, but he didn't mind.
Juugo entered meekly and looked around. He saw Sasuke standing in the doorway of the bedroom, and followed. His face lit in a huge grin when he saw his bed and clothes for him hanging in the closet. "My room," he whispered.
Sasuke saw how happy Juugo was, and knew it wasn't something that happened often. He stepped out of that bedroom, and opened the door to the other room. He arched his eyebrow when he noticed the large bed. The only bed. He looked at the window and was hit with the memory of waking with the sun shining in his eyes, Naruto snuggled comfortably to his back washed over him.
He had a sudden headache as his brain tried to cope with putting pieces of memories together, and trying to make sense of it. He ran his hand over his forehead; he was shocked to find that he was sweating. He crossed to the bed and lay down on it. He passed out just as Naruto walked in the door.
"Juugo!!" he shouted, and the big man came running. "Please tell the guards to get Tsunade-sama!"
Juugo ran to do as he was told. Naruto approached Sasuke. At first he could only look at him, but after a moment he sat down beside his lover. He thought of the tempestuous night they had spent in this bed. A flash of Gaara crossed his mind, and the revelation that Sasuke was infinitely better in bed than the redhead, not that he'd ever tell either of them. He sat down beside the unconscious man and gently laid Sasuke's limp head in his lap.
He sat there in a daze gently stroking Sasuke's face and running his fingers through the silky hair. Tsunade rushed in, and Naruto pleaded with her to make Sasuke wake up. She placed her experienced hand on his forehead and used her chakra to read his physiology again.
"Naruto he's so conflicted, there's nothing that I can do. Only time is going to sort this out. He needs constant supervision until this passes. But," she paused wondering how the blonde would take this next statement, "But he may never get over it." She finished dully.
Juugo was standing in the bathroom's doorway, watching and listening. "I'll stay with him," he offered.
Naruto looked over at him, "Thanks for offering, but I will stay." He stared into Juugo's expressive eyes, the look on his face conveyed that he needed to do this. Juugo nodded.
Tsunade had to intervene and make him see reason. "Naruto, you can't. You're the Hokage, the village needs you. I know how you feel about Sasuke, but will you throw away everything you have worked your whole life for to sit at his bedside?" her voice was pleading with him to understand.
He grinned up at her, "If I have to give up being Hokage to take care of the one I love, than so be it." A single tear slid down his face. It was killing him to say those words, but if he lost Sasuke again he would truly die. He would no longer have reason to live and would waste away to nothing.
Tsunade saw the set of his jaw and stoniness of his expression. She knew she couldn't talk him out of it, but she had to try. "Naruto, do you still have the necklace I gave you?" she began. When he nodded hesitantly yes, she continued, "That necklace holds within it the will of my grandfather, the Shodaime Hokage; the very man who founded Konoha. He shaped the village with his hands; with his Jutsu, Mokuton, he created the forests that we use to live. He passed his will on to his brother, the Nidaime Hokage.
Every Hokage has inherited this will. Sarutobi-sama, the Sandaime Hokage, passed his will on to Namikaze Minato, you know who that is, don't you Naruto?" She paused to glance over at Sasuke who was stirring.
"Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, passed his Will of Fire on to you. I didn't know who you were when I gave you that necklace. Did you know you weren't the first to wear it other than me?" Naruto looked at her uneasily. She continued, seeing that she was getting through to him, at least a little.
"I gave that necklace to my little brother, Nawaki. His dream was to become Hokage to protect the people and village he loved. He was killed soon after. I also gave it to Dan, my boyfriend. He also dreamed of becoming Hokage to protect those who he loved, and to defend the village against attack and trouble. He was killed during a battle, I tried to save him, but he died and I was left with his blood all over my hands. You remember my fear of blood in the Sannin battle? Now you know why.
When you bet me you could master Rasengun in three days, and vehemently proclaimed your desire to become Hokage I was reminded of them. I never took you seriously, and only gambled the necklace out of arrogance. It was mostly because you reminded me of those who I had loved the most and had lost. You won the necklace fair and square. I gave you a week to master the Rasengun, and during the Sannin battle when you stood up to Kabuto in my place, you performed it not once, but twice. The first time Kabuto knocked your hand away, a detriment to thrust attacks. The second time, you allowed him to impale your other hand with a kunai and used your Kage Bunshin to make another Rasengun. You surprised Kabuto with that move. You also hurt him pretty badly.
You gave everything you had to fight for me, for Jiraya, and Shizune, and to defeat anyone who stood in your way of becoming Hokage. That necklace accepted you, when it wouldn't accept those who I loved the most. Your father Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage passed his will of Fire on to you. Don't you understand that? You are the Hokage, and there is no one else who will ever be half the Hokage you will be.
You have the will of your father, the Yondaime, of Sarutobi, the Sandaime, and of my grandfather, the Shodaime. You are Hokage. I know you love Sasuke, but please don't turn your back on the rest of the village.
Would you have your father's will turned to nothing?" her voice was pleading with him to understand.
Sasuke was sitting up and looking at Naruto curiously. He hadn't heard the entire speech, but he'd heard a lot. His mind, which was already buzzing with questions, was now about to explode with trying to understand these things he had heard. He peered into Naruto's cobalt eyes. "You would give up being Hokage for me?" he inquired, his face a mask of incredulity and shock.
Naruto gazed into those dark eyes, "Yes." He answered easily.
Sasuke's mouth gaped. "NO!" he managed to shout. "You can't do that. All you ever wanted was to be Hokage. You never let anything stand in your way. It was all you ever dreamed and talked about. Now that you have reached your dream, why would you want to give it up?"
Naruto smiled, "Because of you," he kissed Sasuke's forehead. "You need me to take care of you, and I don't ever want anything else to happen to you. I won't lose you again. If it means I must sacrifice everything I have I will do it …for you."
Sasuke grabbed Naruto's shirt, his voice rose with anger, "No! I won't let you. I refuse to allow you to give up your dream." He knew he sounded childish, and he hated that, but at the same time he had to impress this upon his blonde.
Juugo spoke up again, "I will stay with Sasuke when you cannot. He could go to the office with you, like he has for the past two days, and help you. But when he cannot be there I will be with him." He pleaded with Naruto to accept. "Naruto, I owe Sasuke my life."
Naruto looked at Juugo. His face was set, but his mind was whirring at hurricane force. He was taking in everything that Tsunade, Sasuke, and Juugo had said. He leaned back onto the wall and pulled Sasuke toward him. "Okay. You win," he conceded.
He opened his eyes which had grown dark with the seriousness of the situation and shone a brilliant indigo. He looked hard at Tsunade, then a little softer at Juugo; he squeezed his arms tighter around Sasuke. "A Hokage has to know when to ask for help, huh?" directed toward Tsunade. "A Hokage needs to work with others, right?" he shot in Juugo's direction. "A Hokage must protect the entire village, as well as those he holds most dear" he admitted snuggling his face into Sasuke's hair.
"I will work harder to be the best Hokage. But you two better take good care of my Sasuke!" he ordered with a grin.
Tsunade looked Sasuke over one more time and ordered him to rest. Juugo followed her as she exited the room.
Sasuke wriggled out of Naruto's possessive embrace. "Dobe, you really are something," he said looking his blonde over.
There was something else in Sasuke's mind; Naruto could see it flitting just beneath the surface of those smoky eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, Sasuke put his finger to his lips. Naruto stifled his question, and pouted as Sasuke pulled his finger away.
"We need to talk…"
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Off to the discussion about Minato, and all the questions Sasuke has for Naruto. He's still not the Sasuke that returned to Konoha, but he realizes he loves the annoying blonde, again. Next Chapter Namikaze Satellite…
I wonder if that song was hinted at by Kishi, or if it just happened to be put out there and Kishi had Minato's surname be Namikaze?? I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to make the connection with the title being good for a chapter about Minato.
-Kneise