Disclaimer: Alrightee kids, quiz time: Question 1. Do I own Naruto? Question 2. Should I own Naruto?
Here's the answer key: No and yes.
Author's Note: Hey all. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not entirely sure if this will be the second to last or third to last chapter, but it is very near the end…we'll see how things play out. I know the last chapter will be an epilogue, so this is either the last real chapter or the second to last.
Anyway, I'd love to thank my reviewers again. Musicgirl1796, LoveUntilWeBleed. Oh, and to Ryotigergirl. She just found my story recently and reviewed chapters one and two, saying that she likes it so far, but after the second she fell off the face of the earth. If you're out there, Ryotigergirl, did you get caught up? Do you like it? These kinds of things keep me up at night…lol.
So, anyway, I'm out of things to say, which is weird because I usually have long ass author's notes at the beginning. So…um…enjoy, I guess. Oh, and review (but I'll say that ten more times in the AN after the chapter like I always do).
Chapter Eighteen:
It finally seemed as if life was perfect. Ishichi was out of their lives, Sasuke took care of Itachi, Orochimaru was gone, Sasuke and Naruto were together, and everything was right with the world.
So why did Sasuke feel so…empty?
He slowly creeped out of the bed he was sharing with Naruto, making sure not to wake the blond, before climbing out on top of the roof. He just sat there in the brisk autumn night, staring at the full moon.
"It's peaceful out here, isn't it?" came a voice from behind the raven, causing him to jump. He turned around and faced a man wearing the ceremonial Hokage garb without the hat. His spiky white hair fell down in a ponytail, extending long past his back.
"What are you doing here, Lord Hokage?" Sasuke asked.
"I felt your unease earlier today while you, Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura were in my office," Jiraya said. "I think I know why you're up here."
"Oh, really?" Sasuke asked, his voice filled with sarcasm.
"Yes," Jiraya said. "It's finally sunk in, hasn't it?"
"What?" Sasuke asked.
"You're alone."
"Excuse me?" the Uchiha asked. "I'm not alone – I have Naruto. And I have friends."
"But you don't have any family," the Hokage said.
Avoiding eye contact with the sage, Sasuke spoke up again. "I haven't had any family in years."
"That's not true," Jiraya said. "You had your brother, Itachi."
"He's not my family," Sasuke said, trying and failing to make his voice as impassive as possible. He clenched his fists tight. "He died along with the rest of them."
"Once again, you're wrong," Jiraya told the raven. "He's always been alive. Even if he was evil, and even if he wanted you dead, you knew there was someone who was watching, and who cared."
"I have that still, with Naruto," Sasuke said.
"And that's the crux of your second problem," Jiraya said. "You're afraid that you'll lose him."
Sasuke thought for a second about denying it, but he knew it was futile. It was as if Jiraya had looked into a crystal ball of his life. How could the sannin know what he was thinking, what he was feeling? It was hard enough for Sasuke to figure out on his own.
"How do you know all this?" the raven asked. "How do you know how I feel about Itachi or Naruto? How do you know what I'm afraid of? What makes you think you know me?"
"Because, Sasuke, you're pretty easy to read," Jiraya said. "You spend so much time putting on the perfect mask that if it cracks even once, someone's gotta know something's up. If you weren't feeling any of this, why wouldn't you be in bed with Naruto right now?"
As if his name made him wake, Sasuke heard his lover's faint voice from inside the room below. "'Suke?"
"I'll leave him to you," Jiraya said, bowing away. "But know this: Naruto won't leave you. If he says he loves you, then he means it." As quickly as Jiraya seemed to appear, he seemed to disappear in thin air.
"That's just it," Sasuke whispered to no one in particular. "He hasn't said it."
He jumped when he heard a voice from behind him – again. "Sasuke? What are you doing up here?" The blond rubbed his eyes, indicating how tired he was.
"I just wanted to think," Sasuke said.
"About what?" Naruto asked his boyfriend.
"About life," Sasuke said, looking back up at the full moon. "So much has happened in such a short time."
"I know what you mean," Naruto said, following my line of vision to look at the moon. "It's beautiful, you know." Sasuke nodded. "Just like you."
"Naruto –" Sasuke began.
"What did you mean before when you said, 'he hasn't said it'?" Naruto asked. Shocked, Sasuke turned to look at him. "Were you talking about me?" The raven didn't even know the blond heard him!
Sasuke nodded. "It's nothing, really. I'm just being silly."
"It's because I haven't told you I love you yet, isn't it?" Naruto asked. Reluctantly, Sasuke nodded. "I'm sorry," the blond continued. "I just don't want to say it until I'm 100% sure that I love you. I know I have very strong feelings for you, but I don't know if it's love, yet."
In those words, Sasuke's world was shattered.
"I understand," Sasuke lied.
"I just don't want to hurt you," Naruto said. "I'm not going to make a promise until I'm 100% sure I'll keep it."
"I said I understand!" Sasuke yelled. "You don't need to try to reassure me. I'm not a little girl whose gonna burst into tears because you don't love her!"
"Calm down," Naruto said. "Just because you're a guy doesn't mean you can't have feelings and that they can't be hurt."
Sasuke scoffed. "I don't get my feelings hurt, Naruto," Sasuke said. "I'm an Uchiha."
"Sorry," Naruto whispered. "I forgot Uchihas were robots without feelings." Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto had jumped back into their…his…apartment.
Sasuke didn't regret a thing. Just because he was in love with the dobe didn't mean he had to show his heartbreak. Just because the dobe had hurt him didn't mean he had to let go of the mask. After all, he'd hidden behind his feelings for so long before; it shouldn't be hard now.
Flashback:
Naruto and Sasuke were alone in Naruto's apartment. They had just found out they'd be participating in the chunin exams. Naruto was excited, Sakura was nervous, and Sasuke was indifferent. Sakura had to go home to tell her parents about it, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke had parents anymore, so they had nothing to do.
"Dobe, stop acting so annoying," Sasuke commanded after the fifth time Naruto gave him a huge, idiotic grin. It was a grin that made Sasuke's heart jump, but he didn't react at all except to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"I can't help it," Naruto said. "How can you not be excited? We're gonna finally become chunin!"
Sasuke scoffed. "It's not a done deal."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, his excited smile faded from his face.
"Well, first off, we're only rookies," Sasuke pointed out. "There will be much older, more experienced genin there. And do you know how many genin there are in this village?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Well, let's just say that there is never a problem finding someone for every D-rank mission in the village, from babysitting to finding lost pets."
"So…a lot?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, baka," Sasuke said. "A lot. Most of whom will qualify for the exam. And that's only the hidden leaf village. There are the other five great villages, and the Cloud Village, Lightning Village, and Mist Village have more shinobi than us. You remember the mist, right? The place where all genin had to kill their graduating class?"
He heard and audible gulp from Naruto, and Sasuke took that to mean he could continue. "Then there are those sand ninja we ran into the other day, and they didn't exactly look like pushovers. And I haven't even mentioned the fifteen minor villages."
"M-minor villages?" Naruto asked.
"Why, yes," Sasuke said with an evil smirk. "The Rain Village, the Star Village, the Waterfall Village, the Rock Village, the –"
"Okay, I get it," Naruto said. "But I thought you were an Uchiha? Are you doubting yourself?"
"No," Sasuke said. "I have complete faith that I will survive."
"What do you mean 'that you will survive'?" Naruto asked.
"Do you really think you can handle it? I mean, you can barely do any jutsu other than the Shadow Clone Jutsu and that ridiculous transformation jutsu you created."
"You mean the Sexy Jutsu?" Naruto asked with his idiotic grin back at full force. "I bet I could defeat you with that. I've already gotten Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Lord Hokage, and Ibisu. You'll be a piece of cake."
"Sure," the raven told the blond. "Whatever you say."
"Ready?" he asked Sasuke. He made a handsign. "Sexy Jutsu!" In a poof of smoke, he transformed into a naked girl with lots of curves.
Had Sasuke been straight, he would have lost. But he found the blonde's other form to be the more attractive one and he had no problems fighting that… Wait, did Sasuke just think Naruto was attractive? That was weird. Sasuke shook his head clear of thoughts and faced the blond again. Within seconds, Naruto was on the ground back in his male form with Sasuke sitting on his back.
"Ow, Sasuke," the blond whined. "That hurts!"
"Your Sexy Jutsu will never work on me," Sasuke said.
"Why?" Naruto asked. "What, are you gay?" he burst into laughter at his own joke, but Sasuke just glared. Eventually, it shut Naruto up. "Are you gay?"
"No, dobe," the raven lied. "I just think with the right brain. If you try it sometime, maybe you'll come up with a useful jutsu."
They stood in silence for a few seconds before Naruto shyly looked to the ground.
"Do you really think it'll be that hard?" he asked with his voice barely above a whisper.
"If it was a piece of cake, would there still be any genin in the village?" Sasuke asked.
"I guess you're right," Naruto said, sounding depressed. Now, Sasuke was feeling guilty. The dobe was all excited about the chunin exam and he made him nervous and scared. After a heavy sigh, he walked over to the blond.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "You always surprise us. I wouldn't be surprised if you made chunin."
Naruto's face seemed to light up like a Christmas tree. "Do you really think so?"
"If you stop trying to use that Sexy Jutsu in combat and actually work on a real technique, yeah, you could make chunin easily."
"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto said, pulling the raven into a hug. It was too quick for Sasuke's tastes, but when he pulled away, Naruto had a big smile. "Now get back to being the cold bastard I know before you start to scare me."
How the fuck did he let Naruto's sadness warm the box of ice that surrounded his heart?
End Flashback.
Sasuke followed Naruto to apologize for yelling at him, but he found the blond wasn't in their apartment anymore. There was a hastily written note on the table that had the blonde's awful handwriting. It took Sasuke a minute, but he eventually figured out what he wrote.
Teme, I'm sorry that I made you angry. You can go back to bed without worrying – I'm just going to be out for a little bit. Oh, and if you wake up before I get home, remember to go out and get some cup ramen. We're almost out.
-Dobe
Sasuke read the note twice over before pinching the bridge of his nose. How was he supposed to not worry? The worst part was that their fight had been over absolutely nothing. Sasuke was hurt that Naruto never said he loved him and he lashed out.
He wanted to go find Jiraya to tell him about their fight, but he didn't know where the Hokage would be. He could talk to Shikamaru, but it was close to 4 in the morning, and no one would be up at that ungodly hour. Especially not Shikamaru, who's always taking naps.
It took a few seconds to decide to find Naruto. Sasuke wasn't good at apologizing, but he'd give it a try for the dobe.
He checked the top of Mount Hokage, thinking the blond would want to talk to his father, but there was no luck. Instead of trying to chase Naruto around the Hidden Leaf Village until sunrise, Sasuke decided to just sit right down on the stone fringe of hair on the Yondaime Hokage.
"I really do love your son," Sasuke said to the stone. "Enough that he's got me talking to a rock."
He sighed. He had fallen hard for Naruto. He was supposed to be the icy cold bastard, and here he was, guilty over snapping at his boyfriend. How did he let Naruto change him so much?
"He really is special, you know," Sasuke said. "I'm sure you'd be proud of him. Jiraya's even training him to be Hokage, so he'll be following in his father and his teacher's footsteps."
Flashback:
Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke were all sitting next to each other on the roof of the academy across from Kakashi. They had just met their teacher and they were already unimpressed. How could such a skilled jonin fall for Naruto's stupid prank with the eraser on the top of the door?
"Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time," Kakashi said.
"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"
Kakashi shrugged. "Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that." He crossed his arms over his chest to hear his student's responses.
Naruto decided to speak up, still confused about what they should talk about. "Why don't you tell us stuff first? I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work."
"Me?" Kakashi asked, pointing to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate – I don't feel like telling you that."
"Huh?" Sakura and Naruto asked at the same time. Sasuke, of course, just sat there acting bored.
"My dreams for the future," Kakashi continued. "I never really thought about it. As for my hobbies – I have lots of hobbies."
Sakura glared at his response and whispered to the two boys. "That was totally useless. All he really told us was his name." Naruto nodded in agreement, and Sasuke continued to just stare into space.
"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right – go first."
"Believe it!" Naruto said, adjusting his forehead protector. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is – to be the greatest Hokage! Then, the whole village will stop disrespecting me, and start treating me like I'm somebody…somebody important."
End Flashback (1)
"It's always been his dream," Sasuke continued, talking to the stone monument. "And now he'll finally have it. And I'm grateful I get to be here when he does."
The wind began to blow and a green leaf floated through the breeze. It landed in the palm of Sasuke's hand. He stood up, and faced towards the rest of the village.
"Naruto will be the best Hokage the Hidden Leaf Village has ever seen," Sasuke said. "And now, I have to go find your son and apologize."
Sasuke took off, knowing where the blond was. Duh, after a fight with Sasuke, he'd want to be somewhere where he could feel close to him.
And where in the Hidden Leaf Village did Naruto and Sasuke feel closer to each other than ever before? The single creek that ran through the village. He remembered the day that changed their life, and he remembered it clearly.
Flashback:
"Sasuke!" Naruto said, running over to him and throwing his arms around him. He buried his head in his shirt. "Thank god you're here!" Sasuke could feel tears dampening his shirt, but he didn't comment, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Hn," he grunted. "What are you doing here, dobe?" he asked, pushing the blond away. Naruto coughed violently, worrying Sasuke to no end.
"Sasuke, I need to tell you something. It's about your house." He looked up at Naruto, confused. The blond coughed some more, before Sasuke sat him down and gave me some water. After he had a few sips, he continued. "Ishichi burned your house down."
Sasuke jumped to his feet. "Hewhat?"The rage in his eyes was unmistakable. Naruto coughed some more, causing Sasuke to forget his anger to help the blond breathe.
Naruto nodded once his coughing fit was over. "I saw it happen. I thought you were in there. I was so scared, I thought I lost you too."
"My house is..." he began.
"It's gone," Naruto said. Sasuke dropped to his knees in total shock. It was all he had left of his parents. Of his childhood. Of the time before he became so alone. Sasuke just stared into space for a while, while the blond was quietly reading his face for any expression of emotion.
"Then I really have nothing," he said.
"That's not true, Sasuke," Naruto said. "You have me." Sasuke looked at the blond with anger in his eyes.
"Not in a way that matters. Not in the way I need you."
"What are you saying, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. But he knew damned well what he was saying. He'd overheard Kakashi and Sasuke talking, and there was no way to ignore it.
"I love you, Naruto," he said, tears threatening to form in his eyes. "I love you in a way you can never love me. I love you.."
Naruto stared at him in silence, unable to say a word.
End Flashback
It was there that he first proclaimed his love for the blond. Sure, he felt rejected and left the village, but it was all made up when Naruto went to find him.
He knew the blond loved him – he even said it in the tent that one night while he was searching for Sasuke and Sasuke was following them. He even almost said it to Sasuke before Sasuke's confession. But no matter how the blond felt inside, he didn't want to tell Sasuke.
I want to make sure I was 100% sure.
The dobe said that, which meant he wasn't 100% sure the other times. Sasuke had always known deep down that Naruto loved him, but when he said that, it was like the rug got pulled out from under him.
But that didn't matter right now. He had to find Naruto. He had to make things right. Even if Naruto wasn't sure exactly how he felt, he knew the blond felt something for him, and pushing him away wouldn't earn him any points.
He finally reached the creek and saw the blond sitting, holding his legs to his chest with his back against a big rock. It looked like a sitting fetal position, and Sasuke suddenly felt ten times more guilty.
"Hey," Sasuke said, sitting next to the blond. Said blond wiped his face of tears before looking at Sasuke.
"I'm sorry," the blond said.
"It's not your fault," Sasuke said. "I should never have snapped at you like that."
"And I should have told you I loved you," Naruto said.
Sasuke shook his head. "I never want you to feel pressured because of me. I'd die if you ended up not being in love with me after telling me you were."
"But I am in love with you, Sasuke," Naruto said. "That's why it's so weird. Just a few months ago, I thought I was in love with Sakura. We were going out, and I thought I had everything I ever wanted.
"If I could tell her I love her and then be fickle about it, why can't I do the same to you? How could I know for sure I was in love?"
"I get it," Sasuke reassured the blond. "So please, don't tell me you love me, yet."
"But I do," Naruto said. "I was thinking out here. I knew I didn't really love Sakura because even when I was with her, I felt empty inside. You make me feel full."
A sly smile spread across Sasuke's face, but Naruto playfully pushed him. "That's not what I meant and you know it!" he said with a smile on his own face.
"Wanna change that?" Sasuke asked, leaning in to the blond. He captured the blonde's lips in a kiss. It was passionate, but not forceful. It was sweet, but not meaningless. It was the perfect expression of their love. In one word, it was SasuNaru.
Sasuke laid Naruto down on the dewy grass, and neither of them cared if they got wet. All that mattered were their lips on each other's. Sasuke began to lift Naruto's shirt, but the blond protested.
"Sasuke!" Naruto scolded. "We're in public! Stop it!"
"I don't care," Sasuke said, nuzzling the blonde's neck. "It's three in the morning. No one's awake."
He recaptured the blonde's lips, this time in a much fiercer kiss. This time, Naruto didn't resist, being equally fierce and passionate. Sasuke's mouth detached from the blonde's and he licked a trail down to his neck, sucking at a piece of exposed flesh.
Naruto moaned Sasuke's name as Sasuke sucked, determined to give the blond the world's greatest hickey. The raven felt the blonde's hand running through his hair, stroking his scalp while he nipped and sucked.
Sasuke pulled away and admired his handywork before pulling off Naruto's shirt. He looked down at the tanned flesh that shone in the moonlight before lowering himself to lick down Naruto's chest. He stopped at his nipple and sucked it into his mouth, eliciting even more pleasurable sounds from the blond.
"Nhng," Naruto grunted as he bucked his hips into Sasuke's the friction was unbelievable, but they needed to be just a little bit more naked. Sasuke pulled off of the one nipple, dragged his tongue to the other, and circled the tongue for a little more before standing up and lifting his shirt off himself.
Naruto scrambled to drop his jeans, taking his boxers down in the same motion. Naruto stepped out of his clothes and stood naked before his boyfriend, who was painfully hard. Sasuke made a frantic move to drop his pants, but Naruto stopped him, bending on his knees in front of the Uchiha.
Naruto slowly pulled the belt out of its loops, and watched Sasuke's pained face as his erection painfully strained against his confining clothes. Naruto smirked, teasing the Uchiha. He knew what he wanted, and he wanted it soon. Sasuke also knew what the blond wanted, but there was no way an Uchiha would beg and ?
Naruto was sucking on Sasuke's cock through the fabric of his sweat pants. Sasuke moaned and mentally chided himself for doing so. But the blond was just so good, and wherethefuckishishand?
Indeed, the blond was lightly caressing Sasuke's thighs, almost sending the raven over the edge right there. But he knew he wanted Naruto right now. But he couldn't beg. But look at the dobe's face! But he couldn't beg. But Naruto was so cute when he puffed his cheeks out like that in frustration. But he couldn't beg. But Naruto's mouth and hands and…and…
"Please," Sasuke moaned. "Please, Naruto, do it."
Naruto smiled before yanking his pants and briefs down in one fluid motion and quickly reattached himself to Sasuke's penis, this time without the layer of clothes in between. He began to eagerly bob up and down on the cock and it took mere seconds for Sasuke to spill over the edge and cum in Naruto's mouth. The blond eagerly swallowed every drop before standing to kiss Sasuke on the mouth.
Sasuke tasted his cum from Naruto's mouth and he moaned into the kiss when the blond tweaked a nipple. His knees were weak, and he would have fell over if the blond hadn't pulled him down first. They continued to kiss until Sasuke pulled away.
He placed two fingers in front of Naruto's face, and the blond wordlessly took them into his mouth. He sucked on the fingers until they were nice and lubricated and then he pulled them out.
"You want to do this with no lube?" Sasuke asked.
"Like I'd let you stop at this point," Naruto scoffed. Smirking, Sasuke poked one of his fingers into Naruto's tight hole. The blond moaned, and soon, another finger was added. Sasuke pumped his fingers in and out before beginning to scissor the growingly impatient Naruto.
Finally, Sasuke curled his fingers up and hit Naruto's prostate, making the blond see stars. Sasuke added another finger and continued opening up the blonde's hole. Finally, when the blond was sufficiently prepared, Sasuke lined his cock, still wet from Naruto's blow job, up with the blonde's opening.
Sasuke slowly thrust into the hole, surprised at how tight the blond was. Naruto grunted in pain and pleasure, but he didn't voice any objections to going raw. It took all of Sasuke's strength not to plunge all the way in to the inviting heat that surrounded him. It was really tempting, but then Naruto would be hut, and Sasuke couldn't let that happen.
Sasuke finally had his cock in at the hilt, and Naruto had never felt fuller. He nudged back on Sasuke's cock, beckoning him to start thrusting. He started with a slow rhythm, but it picked up when the blond started thrusting back and increasing his pace.
Sasuke was so close, even after cumming before. He hit Naruto's prostate once-twice-three time, causing one-two-three shouts from the blond. He snaked his hands around Naruto and began pumping his cock in time with his thrusts. Naruto finally had it at the sixth time Sasuke hit his prostate, spilling his seed all over Sasuke's hand and chest. Sasuke felt the walls tightening around his cock, pushing him over the edge. He spilled his seed into the blond with such amazing force. They collapsed onto each other in a sweaty heap on the ground.
"We should really get dressed," Naruto panted. "We don't want anyone finding us out here."
They slowly stood up to gather their clothes, but a familiar voice stopped them.
"Hey, Akamaru, do you smell that? It smells like ramen…and sex," came the voice. Sasuke and Naruto's eyes both widened as the voice grew closer. "Someone just had sex over there!" Frantic, Sasuke dropped his clothes and pulled Naruto away, transforming them into two bushes.
Less than a second later, Kiba and Akamaru emerged from the woods across the stream and jumped over it to their side. Akamaru and Kiba both approached Naruto and Sasuke without realizing it was them.
"It's definitely coming from here, but the last time I checked, bushes didn't have sex," Kiba said. "Someone must be using a transformation jutsu."
Sasuke paled, but no one saw it. Naruto almost laughed then and there, visioning the brunette's flushed face if Naruto and Sasuke took down the jutsu.
"An orange jumpsuit?" Kiba asked. "Akamaru! Naruto just got lucky!"
Naruto almost burst out laughing then, but he could feel Sasuke's glare on him even if he couldn't see it.
"And a blue shirt…" Kiba continued, picking up the second article. "It's a guy's shirt!" he exclaimed. Sasuke and Naruto were both pale now (well, Naruto was as pale as possible, but he was still really tan). "Naruto's gay?" he asked the dog. "And the shirt smells familiar." He turned the shirt around and his eyes widened at the Uchiha crest on the back. "Naruto fucked Sasuke?" he asked incredulously.
Just then, all of Sasuke's hope went out the window when he saw Naruto dispel the transformation and grab a big leaf to cover his…erm…bits and pieces.
"Hey Kiba," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his neck, nervously. "Um…do you think you could forget about this?"
"You fucked Sasuke?" Kiba repeated, not even registering the blonde's lack of clothing.
"Sort of like the other way around," Naruto admitted sheepishly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and dispelled his own jutsu and hid his lower half behind a real bush.
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said with a faint blush.
"Oh, this is priceless!" Kiba yelled. He then flushed after noticing something he hadn't before. "Y-You're naked…B-Both of you."
"Yeah," Naruto purred. "Want to join us?"
Sasuke almost laughed at the speed that Kiba ran at, but he was grateful the blond had rid them of the intruder. He washed his chest off in the stream and looked at Naruto. "Let's get back," he said, pulling his shirt over his head.
"Okay," Naruto said. "I love you."
"I love you, too," Sasuke said. "Dobe."
(1) This was an actual scene in episode 3 of the anime. It took ten minutes to copy down the words and the actions. I would have done Sakura and Sasuke, too, but I didn't have the time.
Author's Note: So we had three flashbacks: One I made up, one from the anime, and one from the story. I kind of did that to show how their relationship progressed.
Anyway, this was chapter eighteen, and I have plans for only one or two more chapters, but I know there will be an epilogue. Whether the next chapter is the epilogue or there's one more relies on the answer to this question:
Do you guys want an mPreg? I know I never warned, but I never planned on it. I just think that it would pull together the idea of their true happy ending. Anyway, I won't put it in if people don't want it, so review and tell me what you think.
And if this influences it – I've already decided not to do a sequel to this. I like where I've decided to end this, and there are really no loose ends (well, I guess there's one – the rain village might attack the leaf) to tie up – Ishichi's done, Itachi and Orochimaru are dead, and I've completely ignored the Akatsuki.
Anyway, this took so long to upload because of the lemon and the fact that I had to rewrite it. In the original, there was another fight scene with Ishichi and the Konoha 11 (minus Ino and plus Sasuke). But since the only ones we really saw were Shikamaru, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto and Ino, so it felt kind of forced and out of place.
Anyway, remember to review and tell me: mpreg or no. Thanks for sticking with me through this story, and I hope you'll read my other ones: insert shameless plug for Not Just Another Fake Boyfriend Story and Life Moves On which can be found on my page ^^