Arrow: Hey there Everyone! This is the next installment of my Defying Gravity rewrite. Review if you want and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!

Defying Gravity

Chapter Three

Loss, Gain, and Recovery

The bright Sun seemed to aim its rays on the sleeping, preadolescent couple, waking the brunette of the pair. Sasuke opened his eyes and immediately was assaulted with memories from the previous night. The complete and utter joy he felt at the fact the blond felt the same, fear when the villagers arrived to try and kill his boyfriend, and finally the overwhelming feeling of safety and contentment when he fell asleep in Naruto's arms. It was then the raven realized that he was lying on his stomach, one arm draped across his blond's torso, the other hand resting on Naruto's arm, which was wrapped possessively around his shoulders, and his head rested on the blond's shoulder, his forehead just barely touching the column of Naruto's neck.

Sasuke sighed happily and began to simply drift contently along the river of his daydreams. His mind suddenly went to their age, Naruto was about to turn eight in a month and Sasuke had just turned seven two months prior. Did they move into a relationship too quickly? They were not even considered old enough to recognize feelings that were associated with a relationship like the one they had entered into. Would this feeling last? Sasuke couldn't imagine a future without his blond boyfriend and could only hope that Naruto felt the same. A groan alerted him to his boyfriend's awakening and he looked over at the blond.

Naruto blinked to erase the traces of sleep from his eyes and remembered what had happened the night before. His clearing blue eyes turned to focus on his raven-haired boyfriend only to widen at the sight of Sasuke's onyx eyes swimming with tears and filled with uncertainty. Did he regret agreeing to be Naruto's boyfriend?

"Sasuke, are you okay?" The raven snapped out of his trance by blinking, but the action caused some of the tears to fall down his cheeks, much to his shock and Naruto's fear. "Sasu, do you regret last night? Do you not want to be my boyfriend?" The onyx eyes widened in shock; why would the blond think that?

"Why would you say that, Naru? What makes you think that I could regret agreeing to be with you?"

"You are uncertain and have tears in your eyes, what am I supposed to think?"

"Oh Naru, I promise you that I will never take back what I said to you yesterday. I was uncertain if we – because of how young we are – should be feeling these things at our ages." The blond laughed with relief and a bit of humor at his Sasu's worries. "What are you laughing about?"

"Sasuke, did your parents never tell you faerie tales as a child?"

"Yeah, but who told them to you?"

"The old man did and Dad told me the demon versions of the same tales. There was one that Dad told me that is my favorite and I was laughing at the fact that your worry is the same problem in the story." Sasuke was intrigued.

"What was the story?" Naruto smiled warmly.

"It was about two young demons, one named Haruko and the other was her childhood sweetheart Zenith. Zenith and Haruko met when they were about four years old and became extremely close. A few months later Zenith – a young male wolf demon – asked Haruko to be his mate."

"Mate?"

"The demons' word for husband or wife, depending on who is saying it. Anyway, Haruko agreed and they announced to their respective parents that they wanted to mate with each other.

"Needless to say, Haruko's parents – a pair of respectable owl demons – were scandalized that their daughter wanted to mate at such a young age; Zenith's parents were not much better. They kept telling their children that they could not understand what it meant to love someone as a demon loves their mate. The two younglings were adamant that they were in love and were intending to mate as soon as they were old enough.

"Now, in the Demon Realms, a demon may mate as young as sixteen, though these matches were almost always failures and the partnership was not renewed the following mating season."

"Renewed? I thought mating was for life."

"No, the mates renew their vows to each other each mating season. It is the closest to a marriage ceremony that demons have."

"Oh, okay."

"The two demons' feelings only grew stronger and as soon as they turned sixteen they became mates. Everyone said that they would never make it but they cared little for what their families said and focused on the one they had chosen to spend their lives with at the age of four.

"Many centuries later, Haruko's mother was holding her newest grandchick and staring in wonder at the absolute adoration Zenith showed his mate and her daughter. 'You know, dear,' she said, 'I am very proud of you. You didn't back down from what you wanted and ignored all the naysayers. I should have listened to the both of you when you were children.' Haruko just smiled and looked over at her mate playing with their mixed brood of both chicks and cubs. He met her eyes and smiled warmly at her. 'Mother,' she said, 'I am glad you didn't listen to us. That is what made us learn to compromise so early.'

"Dad told me that the moral of the story is that true love will ignore things like age, gender, color and any other physical attributes. He told me that true love is not like it is portrayed in the faerie tales told by humans, but it is the result of two individuals working together to make their relationship work. If their love is strong enough, it will overcome anything that life has to throw at them." Sasuke looked up at his blond, affection clear in his eyes.

"Do you think that we can make it, Naru?" The blond gazed at him with adoration.

"We have the same chance as anyone, Sasu. But yeah, I think that we have a great chance, I won't give you up, my dear Sasu." Sasuke blushed at Naruto's words.

"I have to go."

"Why? Stay with me, we can just hang out today and not go anywhere."

"That sounds wonderful but I have to go home to shower and change into fresh clothes. I will be back soon." Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Hurry back and I will have breakfast ready for both of us."

"Mmmm… I am glad the Hokage had the Ichiraku people teach you how to cook things besides ramen." Naruto laughed happily.

"See you soon." Sasuke nodded and headed for the door. "Sasu!" The brunette turned to ask what the blond wanted, only to be pulled into an embrace. When they broke their hug, both were blushing and Sasu gave a shy smile before running to the Uchiha clan compound, his spirits higher than the sky's limits.

When the raven arrived at the compound, he could immediately tell that something was wrong. There were no people going about their business, no one was training and the air was filled with absolute silence, the kind that made everyone afraid to enter somewhere. Sasuke slowed down, and quietly made his way to the main house where he had been raised.

As soon as he entered the foyer, he knew what was wrong. There were blood and bodies everywhere and Sasuke had to fight the urge to throw up. He ran towards the inner rooms, crying out for anyone who was alive to help him. All the rooms were open and in most there were bodies, covered with drying blood and what seemed to be tears, but the young boy dared not get close enough to find out.

A single room had been closed to the devastation in the rest of the large mansion. Did that mean that someone was alive and hiding?

"Hello? Is someone in there? It's me Sasuke, what happened here?" The raven pushed the door open as he asked these questions only to stop and drop to his knees in absolute horror. Across the room were his parents; the two older Uchihas were arranged so that they were facing the door, easily seen in the dim light. Sasuke did not understand what had happened and he could not believe his eyes. The Uchiha clan was one of the strongest clans in the village so how could such devastation and death be possible? How could there be no survivors? The raven had to run, he needed to get somewhere safe, he needed to find a haven where he could release his emotions and not be patronized for doing so. "Naruto," he said softly, "I have to get to Naruto." With this goal in mind, he sprinted back to the blond's apartment.

Naruto was fixing chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, sausage, and rice balls; the blond was walking on cloud nine and couldn't wait for Sasuke to return so they could go about their day. A loud bang resounded through the apartment as the door was nearly knocked off its hinges and a black-haired blur forced its way into the kitchen. Naruto was confused; Sasuke had never acted like this before, so something horrible must have happened. Had the raven been harassed by the villagers for hanging out with him?

"Sasuke, what happened?" Those words caused something to snap in the young Uchiha and tears began to stream rapidly from his eyes and he made no move to stop them. Naruto turned off the stove and quickly made his way to his boyfriend's side, wrapping the brunette boy tightly in his arms. The blond, who was embraced desperately by his boyfriend, walked to the door and closed it, locking it and moved them to the couch. He sat them both down and simply held the brunette, rocking him slightly, and humming a lullaby the Hokage had taught him once. He never said 'it will be alright' or 'you need to tell me what's wrong or I can't help you' because none of those would help. Naruto understood that something terrible had happened and that Sasuke needed to release his emotions before he could talk about anything; the blond would give him all the time he wanted.

Sasuke was grateful that his boyfriend seemed to know that he needed to cry, that he didn't want to hear blind proclamations of how everything was going to be okay, and that he would talk when he was ready. It had always been like that; Sasuke could be upset about something, Naruto would ask and if the raven said he didn't want to talk about it, the blond would drop the subject. The brunette would talk when he was ready to do so. Eventually, the raven's tears slowed and his sobbing lessened until he was only hiccupping on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Naru, someone…someone k-kill-lled m-my cl-lan. They are all dead!" The blond was silent in his shock. How could this have happened?

"Oh, Sasu, I am so sorry." The raven continued to breathe deeply and hiccup on the blond's shoulder, snuggling closer, seeking warmth and comfort. They remained like that and Naruto continued to hum the lullaby and rub circles on Sasuke's back; they were shaken from their silence when a knock was heard from the door. Sasuke looked up at Naruto, wondering why anyone would be visiting this early in the morning and his eyes began to beg for the blond to ignore the knock and remain seated. When Naruto stood to answer the persistent knocking, the raven protested.

"Please, Naru, just ignore the door." The blond shook his head, understanding that grief was causing his boyfriend's thought process to not work properly.

"My dear Sasu, I have to answer the door. It might be the old man. This will only take a second, okay?" The brunette reluctantly nodded and Naruto walked quickly to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted with an exhausted and apprehensive Hokage. "What is it, old man?"

"Is Sasuke here?"

"Yeah why?"

"Something happened at the Uchiha compound last night and I need to tell him."

"I already know, Lord Hokage." The brunette silently stepped next to the blond and Naruto wrapped his arm around the distraught boy.

"How?"

"I went home to shower and change my clothes and found everything. Do you know who did it?" Sasuke had never been so thankful for the patented Uchiha ability to hide his emotions and speak without his voice breaking. Naruto looked down at the slightly shorter boy with compassion and understanding, which nearly caused Sasuke to drop the façade.

"Actually, yes. The council," the Hokage was forced to stop the explanation when Naruto growled threateningly.

"So they are responsible for ruining Sasu's life too? This is going too far." The blond was about to storm out and do something drastic; Sasuke didn't recognize the look on the blond's face but knew he had to stop his boyfriend, lest something happen.

"Naruto!" The blond froze and simply waited for Sasuke to speak once again. "I know you are upset that the council has something to do with this, but we need to listen to the Hokage." While he spoke, Sasuke moved to Naruto's side and wrapped both of his arms around one of Naruto's, gripping him tightly. "We need to have all of the facts before we take any action. Please, let's just sit on the couch and listen to the Hokage tell us the story." The blond's shoulders lost their tension and he raised a hand to cover one of Sasuke's, the gesture of affection not escaping Sarutobi's notice. He realized that Naruto's outburst had been fueled with his protectiveness of Sasuke and the demonic chakra flowing through him; the fact that the Uchiha had been able to calm the blond with no physical harm inflicted on him or the surrounding area was amazing and spoke volumes about their relationship. This was unprecedented in any interactions between humans and demons, even though Naruto was not a demon yet and would not be for quite some time.

"You're right as usual Sasu. Sorry about that, old man." Sarutobi shook himself from his musings and saw that Sasuke had yet to let go of Naruto.

"It's alright, Naruto. Anyway, the council informed me a few months ago that some the Uchiha had been planning to start a civil war. I personally oversaw the investigation and saw all the evidence firsthand, so I know that it is true. What I did not know was that the civilian council had planned to take matters into its own hands and order…the massacre of the Uchiha clan. I'm so sorry Sasuke." The raven had tightened his grip on his blond. "The ANBU the council ordered to perform the deed was…Itachi Uchiha." Silence reigned in the small apartment before Sasuke broke down once more, unable to hide his emotions any longer.

"Please tell me what is going to happen to him, Lord Hokage! Is he alright?"

"I don't know. Your brother left, Sasuke, and has been declared a traitor and missing ninja by the council." Naruto's fury broke out once again as the boy jumped off of his couch.

"You can't be serious! They ordered him to do it and now the council is declaring him a missing ninja and a traitor? That doesn't make any sense." Sasuke stood and wrapped his arms around the blond; Naruto tightly embraced him, still fuming but realizing that Sasuke needed to be held right now. The Hokage looked at the picture the two made and felt embarrassed, as if he were intruding on something; the scene in front of him would have made him smile if the situation had been different. He went to the kitchen and saw the breakfast that Naruto had been making when Sasuke returned to the apartment and he wondered if he should do something more to help the two boys. All he could really do now was hope the raven would be all right.

"Naruto, I can't go back there. I can't live there anymore and I don't care if it is my house now. Please, I hate to ask this but can I stay here with you?" Naruto frowned.

"Of course you can, Sasuke. Why would you think that I would tell you 'no'? Don't ever be afraid to ask me something, okay?" The raven nodded and snuggled into the blond's embrace.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"I swear, I will get back at the council for this if it's the last thing I do." Sasuke gasped at the vehemence and fury in his boyfriend's voice.

"Naruto? Please, don't do anything! I can't lose you too and you know that if you go to the council, the members will find a way to get you in trouble! I need you to stay with me."

"Okay, I won't do anything directly to the council members and I won't do anything that can be traced back to me. Deal?"

"Deal." The Hokage, sensing that the private moment was at an end, reentered the living area.

"Now Sasuke, we must discuss living arrangements for you."

"He's staying with me." Sasuke looked up at the blond and saw the determination in his eyes; Naruto was not about to let anyone take Sasuke from him, not even the Hokage.

"I meant his official living arrangements, arrangements that the council will not complain about. What if I had you officially stay with me? No one would bat an eye about that seeing as it was a fairly common practice in the past. That way you can stay with Naruto without anyone knowing. How does that sound?" Sasuke was happy with the arrangement; he got to stay with his boyfriend without anyone interfering with them.

"That sounds wonderful, Lord Hokage."

"Very well, I will inform the council of what is to happen. Please take care of one another." With that said, Sarutobi left Naruto to fend for himself and his dear Sasu.

Once the village leader had left, Sasu dropped the façade of strength and tears began to flow from his eyes. Naruto saw this and embraced the boy once more.

"Oh, Sasu, you don't have to be strong all the time. You can show your emotions to others."

"No, only to you, Naru. Only to you." As breakfast lay forgotten in the kitchen, the two boys sat there on the couch; Sasuke was wrapped in Naruto's arms and the blond was rubbing circles into the raven's back to comfort him. They stayed like that until both boys fell asleep on the sofa, once again entwined in one another's arms.

When the sun rose the next day, Sasuke was once again the first one awake. He lay there with his head on Naruto's chest; the motions of the blond's breathing were making him gently rise and fall. As he blinked away the remnants of sleep the memories of yesterday returned and he had to stop himself from sobbing again. Sasuke was able to stop most of the tears but he gave a sharp gasp when he opened his mouth to breathe and it was this sound that woke up his boyfriend.

Naruto heard the gasp from Sasuke and forced himself to wake up. The blue eyes of the blond boy stared into the onyx eyes of the Uchiha and the blond could clearly see the tears and emotions being held back in that gaze.

"It's okay to cry, Sasuke. There's no one here but me." The tears began to silently fall; surprisingly, there were no loud sobs or heart-wrenching sounds like yesterday, just the tears streaming down the Uchiha's porcelain face. The Uzumaki boy knew that the best thing he could do right now was act like everything was normal, but remind Sasuke to show his emotions; he knew from experience that hiding behind a strong front could hurt a person badly in the end. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Some rice balls and milk would be nice."

"Sure thing. Come on, Sasu." The blond led the raven into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. Sasuke watched Naruto clean up the spoiled remains of yesterday's would-have-been breakfast and begin today's morning meal. The rice balls took shape quickly and the milk was poured for the Uchiha and placed in front of him. Naruto went back to the kitchen and soon returned with some fresh fruit, more rice balls, and a glass of milk for himself. Sasuke's tears had yet to stop.

"Thank you." The blond looked up at his boyfriend.

"What for, Sasu?" The raven gave a small, grateful smile.

"For always knowing what to do." Nothing more was said as the two boys began to eat the meal, simply enjoying the other's company.

It had been a month since that day and Naruto was worried. Though Sasuke was slowly getting better and coming to terms with what had happened to his family, the blond did not think he would be able to convince the raven to remain locked in the bathroom when the mobs came this year. He wanted Sasuke to be safe, but the raven was also very stubborn.

Talk to him and the Hokage, Kit. That way both of them can agree to whatever it is you decide to do.

Thanks, Dad. That's a good idea.

You're welcome, kitling.

Deciding to talk with Sasuke first, the blond walked to the bedroom that they now shared in his apartment. Sure enough, he found the raven straightening the covers on the new bed.

Soon after Sasuke had permanently moved in, much of the raven's furniture was either sold or sent to storage except for his bed, an armoire, and of course his clothes. The armoire had been moved to Naruto's room and that was where Sasuke kept all of his clothes while Naruto had his chest to use. The blond's bed was mutually deemed to small for them to share, so the raven's old bed was moved into the room in its place.

"Naru? Is something wrong?" The blond shook himself from his musings and faced his boyfriend. The raven's eyes were not as haunted anymore and he had started to speak on a regular basis once more.

"I need to talk to you."

"Sure, what's wrong?"

"This Thursday, I need you to spend the night with the Hokage."

"Why, what happens Thurs…day." Suddenly, it clicked. Thursday was October 10th, Naruto's birthday, the day of the Kyuubi attack, and the day the blond's home was invaded and he was beaten within an inch of his life. "No! I won't leave you here to be tortured!"

"Sasuke, you have to! I don't want to worry if they're going to search the place and find you! I can't let that happen."

"Last time you had me stay in the bathroom until you came to get me. Why can't that work again?"

"Because I honestly don't know how long they will be here or what they are going to do. Last time I had no idea they were coming and if I did I would have asked you to go to the Hokage. You have to promise me that you will stay at the Hokage's mansion that night and come home in the morning."

"But – "

"Please, Sasuke!"

"…Okay. I promise." The blond sighed in relief and held a hand to the raven's face, cradling the pale cheek with affection and gratitude.

"Thank you."

"Promise me that you will be okay? Promise me that you won't leave me." Naruto cradled Sasuke's other cheek and rested his forehead onto the raven's brow.

"I swear to you Sasuke, that I will never go somewhere that you cannot potentially follow me. I promise that I will be okay when you return home on Friday morning."

"Thank you." The two decided to lie down on their shared bed, enjoying the silence that spoke volumes to them. Naruto lay on his back, one hand behind his head and the other arm wrapped firmly around Sasuke. The raven laid with his head resting on Naruto's shoulder and his hands lying on the blond's chest.

The next day, Wednesday, the two went to the Hokage who was more than willing to house Sasuke the next night; when the boys got home they said very little. Sasuke was nervous about the next day and Naruto was wondering what was going to happen to him after the sun went down.

When Thursday morning came, the last loyal Uchiha clung to the blond rarely letting him out of his sight. Naruto allowed it, understanding that the raven was scared. As the day passed, the two boys spent as much time together as they possibly could but unfortunately, night soon began to fall, much to Sasuke's displeasure. With one last lingering hug, the raven hurried to the Hokage mansion and when he arrived, he was shown to the room he was to occupy for the night. He sat on the strange bed and worried about what was going to happen.

Naruto's throat was raw from refusing to scream. An hour after Sasuke had left, the first mob had come through; they were yelling insults, beating, cutting, stabbing, tearing, it was becoming almost unbearable. Two hours after the group arrived, they left, leaving the blond silently crying on the floor. Oh, how Naruto wished he were stronger! How he wished he could protect himself and those he loved! The door was opened with more force than necessary and hit the wall behind it with a bang! The second mob had arrived and now the torture began all over again.

Sasuke had not slept that night. Every time he tried, he would get grotesque visions of the abuse his Naru was suffering and it was enough to make him sob quietly. Now however, it was Friday morning and he was literally running towards the door and to his boyfriend, not thanking the Hokage for his hospitality. He had to get to Naruto.

When the Uchiha arrived at the apartment door, he idly wondered what horrors would await him inside, but he brushed off the thought. Naruto needed him. Walking quietly inside, he saw his Naru on the ground; there was a little blood but not much. The blond must have cleaned most of it before passing out. Sasuke hurried to him and gently placed the blond boy's head on his lap. The action, in addition to the raven's attempts at soothing the boy by running his fingers through the blond locks, roused the blond and he smiled weakly up at his dear Sasu.

"Hey." His voice was hoarse and he would probably lose it for a while, but he had kept his promise. He was going to be okay. The raven smiled gently back at the blond.

"Hey." Later, Sasuke would realize that the pain of losing his family was lessened and that he hadn't thought of that night for an entire day.

He was finally recovering.

Arrow: Well there you have it! This is actually the longest chapter that I have written for this story so far. Anyway, the next chapter will be up once it is finished, so until then I will see you all later!