Chapter Four:

The Decision

It had been the best week Naruto and Sasuke ever had. The two were always together and the villagers were starting to wonder what the hell was going on. Everyone heard about the decision Naruto was being forced to make, exile or death. Yet here was the blonde shinobi smiling and laughing, and with none other than Sasuke Uchiha. The villagers were severely irked by the blonde's temperament about the situation and many went to the elders about it.

The elders had told everyone who had went to complain to them that the date of Naruto's decision hadn't changed. The villagers nodded in understanding and went home, somewhat satisfied. The fact that Naruto Uzumaki seemed so carefree the whole week was rather unnerving to the people of Konoha so everyone was looking foreword to Friday, even Sasuke and Naruto.

During their week together Sasuke and Naruto would go out to restaurants, take long walks at night, see movies, and, of course, made love together many times. It was on the third day that the newlyweds had officially confessed that they had been in love with each other since the accidental kiss at the academy. They were inseparable and their team mate, Sakura, had noticed this. She had taken to spying on her fellow ninja only to end up raging in jealousy at night, in her room.

She was so pissed at how much time Naruto was spending with, who she considered to be, her Sasuke. She had even been caught a few times by the two lovers and she was still no closer to figuring out what was going on between them. In short, not knowing was driving Sakura crazy. Of course Sasuke and Naruto knew what Sakura was up to and refused to give her a chance, while in public, to figure out what was going on.

It seemed that time flew by when Sasuke and Naruto were together. Before the couple knew it Friday had come at last. Naruto was nervous as he and Sasuke made their way to Hokage tower, afraid that Sasuke would get in serious trouble for what he did. Sasuke took hold of his husbands hand, lacing their fingers together, and squeezed Naruto's hand in reassurance. Looking up at Sasuke, Naruto smiled nervously but continued foreword.

When they arrived at Tsunade's office they saw the door open already and stood in the doorway. All the elders were present along with Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi, Sakura, and a few ANBU members. Naruto gulped and started shaking slightly. Sasuke wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist, holding his scared blonde tight. The mouths of everyone in the office had dropped at what Sasuke had just done. The raven looked at the people before him and glared at all of them. Eventually one of the elders composed themselves and started speaking.

"Well, Mr. Uzumaki, you know why you're here. So what is your decision? Exile or death?"

Feeling less afraid with his husbands arm around him, Naruto smirked before answering, surprising everyone before him.

"I choose neither, and that isn't my last name any more."

"Wh-what do you mean you choose neither?" Another elder asked surprised by Naruto's answer.

"Forget that! What do you mean Uzumaki isn't your last name anymore?" An ANBU member asked, genuinely curious.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and smirked. Then it was Sasuke's turn to talk.

"What Naruto means when he says Uzumaki is no longer his last name is that he got married." Sasuke said to the room at large, enjoying the expressions that everyone wore.

"Whoever you married Naruto, will share the same fate as you. You realize this right?" an elder spoke out.

"Not when you find out who I'm married to." Naruto answered, smirking again.

"What do you mean?" Everyone asked in unison.

Naruto chuckled and Sasuke took it from there.

"I'm the one Naruto is married to."

No one in the office spoke, no one moved, unable to believe what they just heard. They looked from Sasuke to Naruto and back again, trying to see if there was some kind of trick that was being played. Naruto took this time to ask his own question now.

"Still going to exile or kill me?" Naruto asked angrily.

"OF COURSE WE ARE! YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE USING THE UCHIHA BOY?! HE WON'T BE HARMED OR EXILED BECAUSE OF YOU! NOW CHOOSE!" The elders shouted.

Sasuke stepped foreword then and addressed the room at large.

"Don't think for one second that I'm going to just stand back and let you fuckers exile Naruto from the village. I will go with him and I won't come back here again." Sasuke threatened.

"B-but…you aren't really married! No priest in this village would agree to perform any union in which Naruto Uzumaki is involved!"

"For the last time it's not Uzumaki anymore…it's Uchiha." Sasuke growled out dangerously.

That's when Sasuke took hold of Naruto's left hand, raising it up to show the room of people the engagement and wedding ring. The raven also brought his left hand up and showed his wedding ring to everyone. Once he was sure everyone saw the rings, Sasuke brought his hand to his side while lacing his fingers with Naruto's. The elders looked at each other helplessly. They wanted to rid the village of Naruto but not at the risk of loosing the last Uchiha. Making their decision, unwillingly, they spoke to the blonde shinobi and announced their decision.

"We deem you free of judgment Naruto Uzu-" Sasuke glared at the elder speaking, "Uchiha…"

A huge smile spread across Naruto's face and leaped into Sasuke's arms. The raven hugged the blonde close and kissed him deeply before the elders, ANBU members, Kakashi, Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade. For the second time the mouths of everyone in the Hokage's office dropped open.

"I…guess they were serious about being married after all!" Kakashi spoke up happily.

Tsunade and Shizune laughed and Kakashi joined in. Getting ready to leave, the elders saw how happy Naruto and Sasuke were for the first time that day. The lovers had their arms wrapped around each other tight, smiling happily. Sighing, all the elders approached the teens. Sasuke saw them coming over and tightened his hold around Naruto protectively.

"We apologize for everything that was said and done. We should have opened our eyes to see how happy you make each other, sooner."

"It's okay. If you guys didn't do this then I, most likely, would never have told Sasuke how much I loved him. You guys helped me out a lot there so thanks!" Naruto replied, smiling.

Sasuke nodded his head in agreement to what Naruto had said. The elders then left and a few minutes later so did Sasuke and Naruto. That night the two lovers fell asleep together at peace with the world for the first time in years.