Author's Note:

My Lovelies~

I don't have enough apologies for leaving you hanging but plenty of excuses! I had hoped to finish this before I left for vacation but I just had too much work. Really, way too much. Really...to the point where I worked extra my last day, drove home, my boyfriend threw my suitcases in the car and we drove to the airport, had to fend off an anxiety attack on the plane, arrived in Cancun, and didn't make it to bed till about 10 PM at which point I'd been awake for more than 24 hours. I will say however the hotel was the stuff of movies, and Xcaret was absolutely stunning. I was there for a week and truly had the best time. But because I cannot just have a good time I got sick about a day before we had to fly back and got a cold so bad I was rendered unconscious for about two days straight before I could make it off the bed.

About three days into the worst flu of my life my boyfriend got sick as well, lo and behold we test for COVID and he turns positive, funnily enough, despite being sicker, I came out negative. But don't worry guys, our symptoms come down to like the worst flu of our lives. A work week after and three Mucinex boxes later, here I am trying to get this to you. I did end up rewriting this damn chapter a couple of times but I think I really, really like it. I hope I haven't disappointed and that the wait was worth it.

Thank you for sticking with me till the end (using the world end loosely here) of another story, thanks to anyone that has supported me by clicking those Kudos, bookmarking, or leaving a comment. I won't make you wait any longer! Enjoy 3

Disclaimer 1: The characters do not belong to me they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I just write them into my naughty stories.

Disclaimer 2: I don't know if there is a cruise ship line out there named Gateway but any similarities to anything that already exists are pure coincidence.

Disclaimer 3: The following songs/literature/media are used/referenced in this chapter, I do not own any of them:

Netflix-Great British Baking Show

Rating: M (Explicit) explicit Male x Male will be depicted in this story, if that is not your cup of tea please abstain from reading.

Gateway Cruises

Day 5

Sasuke was staring at Naruto's sleeping face, he'd been doing that since the moment he'd gotten up. This trip, it had been nice, but they couldn't stay on the cruise forever, they would be docking back in L.A. at noon then…then what?

Yes, he'd told Naruto he didn't want to stop seeing him, but it was about more than just keeping in contact. It was about telling Naruto who he was, and the type of lifestyle he lived. It was about talking about the more serious details of his life.

Even if they ended up casually dating, everything was always extra complicated when it came to the Uchiha's dating life. He was irritated the night prior when Itachi had brought it up, but now he felt a little guilty remembering what had happened to Itachi's last relationship. His brother was probably just trying to look out for both him and Naruto.

But there was something about just letting the blonde go, letting him be a fleeting fling that didn't sit well with him. Cerulean eyes popped open and landed groggily on him.

"Morning" The blonde mumbled sleepily. And just like that, Sasuke melted. He placed a soft kiss on Naruto's forehead "Morning" The action had Naruto offering him a soft smile. Then it dawned on him that this was it, today they were docking back in L.A. He bit his lower lip as he met Sasuke's gaze again.

"Did you mean it?" Naruto asked, "That you'd like to keep seeing me after today?" He clarified.

Sasuke sat up, bringing Naruto up with him "Yes, I meant it" Naruto took a small breath.

"But I'll be different you know," Sasuke said softly. Naruto bit his lower lip "Well, yeah, I know this here was kind of like fantasy without all the responsibilities and what not and…out there it's going to be real-life"

"My lifestyle can be a bit…complicated," Sasuke said, choosing his words carefully.

"But this is you right? Just like I haven't been putting pretenses...the person you showed me these last couple of days, that's who you are without putting up any filters right?" Sasuke smiled at Naruto "Yes"

"I would like to get to know more…about who you are, the things you like, what you dislike, be the person you can call to let me know whether you've been having a good or a bad day, I'd like to give that a try just to see if it works out"

Naruto blushed as he saw Sasuke's thoughtful expression "I'm not trying to be super intense! I just—" The blonde got cut off mid-sentence as the raven pushed him back down on the bed and climbed on top of him landing a kiss on him "You're absolutely adorable" He muttered against the blonde's lips.

He was ready to do more than steal the blonde's mouth when the banging on his door started.

"Hey lovebirds! It's our last day on board, we are all having breakfast together!" Sasuke let his head fall on Naruto's shoulder as he groaned.

"A text would have sufficed Sakura!" Sasuke hollered.

"I did text, but obviously that did not suffice!" She hollered back.

Naruto chuckled "We'll be right out!"

Sasuke rolled off a giggling blonde and pulled on a pair of pants and shirt he'd discarded by the couch the night prior and walked up to the door and creaked it open, to see Sakura, Hinata, and Itachi standing outside his room.

"Really? All three of you?" Sakura rolled her eyes, "You guys have gotten plenty of alone time" She made to step inside the room, but Sasuke turned around to see Naruto was still changing and held on to the door, Sakura smirked "a little protective, aren't we?" She figured that's part of what made Naruto become attached to Sasuke so fast, feeling like he was being taken care of by the raven.

Naruto slid his arms around Sasuke "I'm all changed, go put some shoes on" Sasuke let go of the door and Naruto let his arms drop as Sasuke went back to put his shoes on, Naruto stepped out and said good morning to the little crowd waiting outside the door.

Sakura slid an arm around Naruto's neck and pulled him in "you're being all kinds of pampered, aren't you?" Naruto blushed.

Sasuke walked out of the room, and they all made their way up to the sunrise for breakfast.

"I can't believe it went by so quickly, I am not ready to go back to work" Hinata groaned.

"It always goes by faster when you are having a good time," Naruto said.

Sakura groaned "Not ready to go back to a desk" She looked up at Itachi and Sasuke "What are you two going back to? You've been awfully secretive about what you do"

"Or who you are" Hinata added, Naruto stopped mid-sip through his coffee and looked sideways at Sasuke.

"Just two brothers on a cruise," Itachi said softly, a faint smile on his lips.

Sakura rolled her eyes "Fine keep being secretive"

"Naruto you're not going to be a stranger right?" Sakura asked the blonde "Plenty of Karaoke bars to visit"

Naruto smiled at Sakura "All you have to do is text"

They all ordered a last round of drinks "Cheers to an amazing cruise!"

"Cheers!" Everyone boomed as they clinked their glasses.

"I want to go back to the upper deck, wanted to make sure I caught the sea view from there one last time," Naruto told Sasuke as the girls excused themselves so they could shove all the clothes they managed to pack back into their suitcases. Itachi took his leave as well, knowing well Sasuke wanted to enjoy as much alone time with the blonde as possible.

Sasuke and Naruto held hands as they made their way back up to the upper deck. They made it back to that same spot where Sasuke had landed that first kiss on Naruto. Sasuke smirked as the blush traveled up the blonde's cheeks, growing even deeper as Sasuke took out his phone and pulled Naruto in for a selfie.

"I think it fitting that we take a picture here" Sasuke let out.

Naruto smiled back at him "I see, you're commemorating your sly moves"

Sasuke smirked "They worked didn't they?" Naruto shook his head not believing the raven's level of self-esteem. He opted not to give the raven an answer and turned towards the rail, grabbing it and feeling the breeze on his face and hair, he looked at the vast expanse of blue surrounding them and couldn't help but feel all kinds of peaceful at that moment. Sasuke slid his arms around the blonde's waist and Naruto allowed himself to fall back into the raven, his head resting on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Feeling like the king of the world?" Sasuke whispered

Naruto chuckled "You could say that"

Sasuke's thumb slid under Naruto's shirt and circled the skin softly "Anything else you want to do before we go pack?"

"Rope course?"

"You really have no fear huh?" Sasuke said and Naruto laughed "I'm not that much of a klutz!"

So, he said, but he near fell about 10 times on the small circuit, sticking his tongue out at Sasuke every time he saw the raven snicker at him.

"Just give up already" Sasuke muttered waiting patiently behind him to make it past the floating wooden step.

Naruto shakily made his way through the steps "Nope, Imma make it through"

"So stubborn" But even then, Sasuke kind of admired the blonde's tenacity at following through.

Naruto did make it through, jumping down the final step and throwing his arms in the air in celebration after the aide had removed his harness. The little jump he did however had him landing wrong on his left foot. Which had Sasuke throwing a glare at the poor employee that had stepped up to stop the blonde from falling. He resisted the urge to tell the blonde he knew this wouldn't end well. As he handed the harness to the aide and pulled the blonde towards him.

"Seriously, I was already finished" The blonde pouted as he flinched and moved most of his weight to his right foot.

"Rope course or not you seem to be a danger to yourself in any situation" The Raven muttered at the blonde as he finished sliding his arm through the blonde's waist and helping him hop to a chair.

"That's only my second-time semi-falling"

"We're not counting all the times you've tripped?"

"No! Tripping is human nature"

Sasuke laughed softly as he kneeled to look at the blonde's ankle. Naruto gave an 'oww' as Sasuke removed the blonde's shoe "Better to take it off now in case it swells more" he told Naruto.

Then stood offering a hand to Naruto "Can you stand on it?" Naruto stood and flinched again as he tried putting weight on his foot. He limped a little getting used to the pain and looked up at Sasuke "I think I can manage" Sasuke looked doubtful at the blonde, as he slid his arm around the blonde's waist once again.

"Say you can't and give me an excuse to keep my arm here" He leaned in and whispered.

"Oh no, I can't walk, help," Naruto said, very unconvincingly which had Sasuke laughing out loud.

The raven held on to the blonde and helped him all the way back to the room, he set Naruto down on the bed, and the blonde scooched towards the headrest and went from inspecting his rapidly bruising ankle to quietly looking at the raven as he packed both his own and Naruto's luggage.

"Thank you" Naruto let out softly. Taking in what was 'Sasuke' the handsome face framed by pitch dark hair, the lean but muscled body. The way the man's clothes fitted his body. Image had never been an ultimate deciding factor on whether he dated someone or not. But damn he couldn't deny he had become sort of star-struck by the man. The man who had taken care of him and treated him…he had no words to describe how Sasuke had taken care of him, how he had spoiled him rotten the last couple of days.

The raven could feel Naruto's gaze on him and stopped placing clothes on the suitcases and walked over to the bed, his eyes meeting Naruto's. There were no words as he sat down by the blonde and placed his hands on one of Naruto's cheeks first, traveling to the back of the blonde's neck and pulling him forwards gently. His lips met Naruto's softly, sucking in Naruto's lower lip and biting it softly. His tongue encourages Naruto to open up. The blonde obliged, as his hand traveled through Sasuke's dark tresses; gasping as he allowed Sasuke to take the lead.

The raven let go and leaned in closer to Naruto's ear "But you had to go and get hurt"

Naruto shuddered "It's not that bad…"

Sasuke smiled "You're insatiable"

Naruto held in the 'it's a side effect of having you around' comment and settled on smiling mischievously at the raven.

"Really, I would hate to hurt you," he said as he landed a soft kiss on Naruto's cheek

Just before Naruto could protest further the speaker turned on and announced that they were now docking and that everyone should start gathering their belongings.

Naruto couldn't hide his pout even if he wanted. Whatever calm he'd been feeling earlier that day started turning into slight chaos. But he kept that caged in, it was ok.

"It's ok" Naruto's downcast eyes turned to Sasuke "It's going to be ok" The raven voiced again. Naruto wondered for a second if he could read his mind, if not how could he know so clearly what was going through his mind.

Sasuke stood and closed the suitcases, Naruto managed to get his shoe back on, trying not to flinch, or else he knew Sasuke would insist on taking both suitcases down. But even then, his attempts were in vain, as Sasuke shook his head at him as he made to grab his suitcase.

"You just make it down to the parking garage in one piece"

They both walked down the hall and walked into Itachi as he left his room. He took one look at Naruto's limping and his eyes turned to his brother.

"It wasn't me" Sasuke let out as Naruto blushed furiously.

"Yeah, that would have been a much funner way of hurting it" He let out as Itachi laughed softly.

"Thank you for letting me ride back with you," Naruto told Itachi who chuckled "Apparently my brother wants as much time alone with you as he can get"

Naruto threw Itachi a questioning glance "What do you mean?"

"He's just salty he'll be driving by himself and won't be able to torture me on the way back," Sasuke said next to him.

Itachi leaned in "He had a company car delivered so he could take you home all by himself" Naruto felt the heat rise to his face.

The trio made it through customs and down the car garage, Naruto followed the set of ravens to the private parking area and up to the two shiny black Tesla cars.

"Drive be safe and be safe, but don't forget you have to be back in the office tomorrow," Itachi said as he placed his suitcase in the trunk and walked over to open the driver's door.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his brother, who then shifted his attention to Naruto "It was a pleasure meeting you"

"Same, hope to see you again soon" Itachi just smiled softly as he plopped in the car. Meanwhile, Sasuke input a code through the door, and the car unlocked, the key fog had been left inside.

Naruto hopped onto the passenger seat feeling a little smug "So you wanted to get me home by yourself"

Sasuke smirked, "Is that really surprising?" Naruto laughed.

Naruto went ahead and input his address on the GPS and they were on their way, the ride over was quiet, both men just enjoying each other's presence. Really Naruto wasn't sure what to do, should he ask more questions? Make small talk? he was for once a little confused. There was one question he wanted to ask, but he figured he'd leave it till the end.

Sasuke looked around curiously as they pulled up to the apartment complex, Naruto's luggage in one hand and his other arm supporting Naruto up as they made their way to Naruto's apartment. The apartment complex wasn't run down, but it wasn't over the top either, they'd managed to find a nice medium-range price between Naruto and Kiba. Yet something else Naruto had to think about, he'd either have to find a roommate or move once the lease was over…

He apparently hadn't given a lot of things much thought because as he turned the key and opened the door he felt like he couldn't breathe for a second. Kiba had left his favorite coffee mug on the counter before they'd taken off. Akamaru's food bowls were still to the side of the peninsula.

"You have a dog?" Naruto reminded himself to breathe, as he stepped in, and Sasuke closed the door behind him.

"Akamaru" He almost whispered "He's Kiba's, stayed with a sitter for the trip"

Oh yeah, back to real life, he thought to himself as he looked at Kiba's hoodie by the entrance rack and his snuggle blanket on the couch. Sasuke's eyes drifted around the apartment, growing stiff as he noticed Kiba's belongings. It was easy to tell what belonged to Naruto and what didn't.

"You want some water?" Naruto mumbled, but flinched as he made for the kitchen, Sasuke grabbed his hand and led him over to the couch "How about you tell me where it is"

"Should be some bottles on the fridge" Sasuke nodded at the blonde and walked over, "I'm going to open your freezer as well ok"

Sasuke grabbed the water bottles and scanned the freezer before his eyes fell on a bag of frozen edamame. He came back and noticed Naruto's eyes lingering on the coffee table in front of them. There was a picture framed. Kiba riding a bike and Naruto was on the back standing on the pegs and staying in place by holding on to Kiba's shoulders, both were smiling, and as always Naruto's smile was blinding. Naruto reached out and snapped the frame down. Then turned back to look at Sasuke "Sorry" he said his voice hoarse with emotion.

Naruto looked at the frozen bag of edamame puzzled "For your ankle" Sasuke said his voice even.

"Also, you don't have to apologize, I'm glad you didn't have to come back here by yourself" Sasuke let out. Better Sasuke be there as a reminder that Naruto can do much better than Kiba.

Naruto's blue eyes landed on his and a small smile found its way to the blonde's face "Me too" He let out as he lifted his leg up to where Sasuke was sitting, the raven grabbed the blonde's leg and removed the loosely tied shoe, looking carefully at the bruised ankle before he placed the frozen bag of edamame on top of it.

Naruto flinched a bit "Cold!"

"Well, it is frozen"

"Smartass"

"What comes next?" Naruto asked softly, his hand came up to scratch the back of his neck "Well, really what I want to ask is...when will I see you again?"

Sasuke removed the frozen bag from Naruto's ankle and stood up extending his arms to Naruto and leaning down "C'mon" he said as Naruto interlaced his arms around Sasuke's neck and the raven lifted him. His legs holding on through Sasuke's hips; pain on his ankle be dammed.

"First or second door?" Sasuke asked, "First Naruto replied, knowing full well Sasuke was asking which door led to his room.

Sasuke noticed the pair of pajamas that looked too big to be Naruto's and shoved them off the bed before he laid the blonde down, carefully climbing on top of him.

"You can call me, whenever" The raven let out as he leaned down to kiss the blonde, but he didn't linger there long. He scooted down and lifted Naruto's shirt to place a love bite on his navel "If I'm unable to answer, I promise to give you a call back" He muttered as he unbuttoned the blonde's pants shuffling them just enough to get access to Naruto's erection.

Sasuke palmed the erection, rubbing it through Naruto's underwear who was gasping softly.

"You can always text, pictures are definitely welcome, really of any bodily part of yours will always be received with enthusiasm"

Naruto didn't know if he wanted to laugh or gasp as the raven shimmied his underwear down as well, and that smart mouth of his lingered by Naruto's need. Which was now leaking pre-cum.

"And you better believe, that if I get a chance to come down here or get you over there" He leaned down and licked from the base of Naruto's cock to the top, taking in that pre-cum.

"I'll well damn take it" He finished his statement and finally took in the whole length of Naruto in. The blonde resisted the urge to buck up against the raven's mouth his fingers pulling slightly at Sasuke's hair.

"Sasuke" the blonde let out breathily, the raven hummed around Naruto. He let Naruto's girth fall from his mouth and subbed his mouth for his hand, rubbing the head of Naruto's erection as he made his way back up to face the blonde.

"And those times we don't get to talk, I want you to think about this" He whispered as he leaned down to kiss the blonde, letting him taste himself on Sasuke's mouth.

A kiss on the cheek, a small bite on his earlobe, a strong stroke "Oh fuuu-"

"There's that dirty mouth" Sasuke whispered, letting Naruto literally hump his hand.

"Ah"

"That's it, come for me"

And Naruto did, spilling himself all over Sasuke's hand and part of his shirt. Sasuke lifted his hand up to Naruto's lips, the blonde opened his mouth and sucked one of Sasuke's fingers in, licking it clean, Sasuke's dark eyes fogged with lust as he saw the blonde carefully lick his hand clean. Once his hand was clean, he leaned in and landed another thorough kiss on Naruto.

"Any further questions, comments? Concerns?" Sasuke whispered against Naruto's lips. The blonde shimmied enough to pull his underwear and pants up.

"Are you going to let me reciprocate?" He asked the raven as he started to move on the bed but Sasuke stilled him.

"No" He shook his head "But only because I'm looking forward to you returning the favor once you have full-body movement once again"

Naruto gave a small laugh "Deal" he told the raven as he settled against the headrest.

Sasuke's phone which had been left abandoned in the living room started ringing, he groaned as he stood and walked over to grab it. He walked back into the room, ignoring the call, as he sat next to Naruto on the bed.

"Vacation's over?" Naruto said from his spot on the bed.

"Looks like it," The raven said as he scanned the messages that had come in, he looked back up at the blonde.

"Do you have to leave already?" Naruto asked softly.

"I do, but…in all seriousness, I'd like to answer your question before I do, and I'd like for you to let me know what your expectations are"

Naruto bit his lip "I'm honestly not sure what I want, but after this whole incident with Kiba one thing I know for sure is that I wouldn't want you to be seeing other people…I don't think I can be in an open relationship. I know we just met, I know it might be a lot to ask, but…I can't…we can give it a try and if you find it's too much to ask just let me know, so we can both go our separate way. If you already know you don't want that then I won't hold you to anything you've said about us today…"

Sasuke reached for the blonde's hand "Naruto I don't want to hurt you, I don't know what it is about you, you soothe me, I can agree to what you are asking, I wasn't kidding before, I don't like sharing, and I won't lie I can be a bit possessive, as you might have noticed last night. Let's just agree that we will be honest, about how we are feeling, about the things we don't like or any boundaries we might have"

"I can do that" Naruto said, squeezing Sasuke's hand.

"Also, I understand there is history between you and Kiba, your breakup is more than fairly recent, and I would really hope you don't go back to him, but promise me you'll do me the courtesy of letting me know if you plan on rekindling your relationship with him"

"I promise" Naruto lifted his eyes to Sasuke "I should be more concerned about you, handsome, rich…cocky" He laughed towards the end, and Sasuke smirked.

The blonde hesitated for a bit before he asked his next question "Are we going to address the rich part before you leave? We don't have to if you don't want to, if you'd like to wait a little longer, I'd be ok with that"

"I know I can't evade it forever" Sasuke muttered "But you do deserve at least the basics, I don't want you to find those online…I'm rich enough that I could live a couple of lives without ever lifting a finger again…believe it or not, paparazzi follow me around, and I get plenty harassed by the media…it sounds glamorous but it's tiring and overwhelming"

He took a moment to gather the rest of his thoughts "If you do look me up online, you'll see articles that paint me as a devil and others that paint me as a philanthropist, you'll see pictures of past relationships, and you might read a lot about what others think is best for me, or whether I'm still in love with my ex or not…Please, remember to look past all that and remember me, the guy sitting right next to you right now, not the one you're seeing through the screen…" Naruto felt his heart twist as he visibly saw how uncomfortable Sasuke grew.

Naruto pulled Sasuke in for a kiss "That's enough…that's enough for now, I promise to try and see you for you"

Sasuke's phone lit up again, ringing the raven groaned against Naruto's lips "I really do have to get going"

"It's ok I get it" Naruto made to move off the bed so he could walk Sasuke out, but the raven stilled him "I know every fiber of your body is telling you, you should walk me out, but really, you shouldn't, we've ignored your injury and overexerted it enough for a day, come here" Sasuke leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Naruto's lips.

"Don't fret, I'll see myself out...We'll see each other soon, I promise"

"See you soon" Naruto called back, soon he heard the door shut and he allowed his body to fall on the bed. He groaned as he realized he'd also left his phone in the living room, he managed to get himself to the couch and placed the half-melted bag of edamame on his swollen ankle.

He pulled up Sasuke's contact info and messaged him 'Drive safe'

'I'll make sure to tell the autopilot' The raven replied almost instantly, Naruto laughed and got comfortable on the couch he shoved Kiba's blanket aside and pulled the decorative one over him instead. He turned on the TV and played the British Baking Show on Netflix but barely made it through the cheerful intro before his eyelids fluttered closed.

Sasuke didn't even mind the drive home, he was a little worried as he left Naruto in an apartment full of reminders of Kiba, but really the blonde mostly made him feel giddy. The way he treated him, the way he saw him.

It took him about two hours and fifteen minutes to make the drive with the traffic, which wasn't much. He walked into his penthouse set the keys down, changed into comfortable clothes, and allowed his body to hit his bed before he began fiddling with his phone.

He hit the dial button and put the phone on speaker, Naruto picked up with a sleepy "Hi"

"You'd fallen asleep?"

"Mmm" Naruto answered, "Tesla deliver you home safe and sound?" Naruto mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm home"

"Just wanted to let you know"

"Yay Tesla"

"How's your ankle?"

"In pain, edamame is fully melted and rendered inedible"

Sasuke chuckled "Wanted to hear your voice before I dove into a pile of e-mails"

"Call me cheesy but had to talk myself into not calling you as soon as you left" Sasuke smiled at that "Really work can't wait until tomorrow?" Naruto asked

"At least I get to do it from the comfort of my bed and in sweats"

"Sexy" Naruto replied

"Ok, I have to let you go before I turn this phone call into…something else"

He could hear Naruto laughing softly on the other side of the line.

"Good luck with your pile of e-mails"

"Get some rest, feel better"

"You too, get some rest, don't work too hard"

He worked for a bit, felt a bit off not feeling the blonde next to him on the bed, but eventually sleep settled in. The next day he got ready for work, stopped by for coffee, and settled in his office.

Naruto's name popped on the screen of his phone

'Good morning lover'

he smiled as he typed back

'Morning Sunshine'

The End? Maybe, for now...

That's that! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it, there were so many ways I could sort of end it, and I wrote and re-wrote until this one felt right. Hopefully, it feels right for you as well. As I had said before, I got way behind since I'm still sick and it's a bit hard to look at the screen with the congestion and the headaches, but I do feel so much better than how I was feeling a week ago. This is also a long weekend for me, so I try to get After Gateway started. I typically hold on posting a new story until I have a couple of chapters down and have finished setting the tone for the story. So it could be a little as a week or as long as a month before I can start posting the new one (hopefully you all will be willing to hang in there with me)

But now is the time to let me know if there is anything you'd like to see on After Gateway, any situation you want to see them in, or any additional love interests you'd like to see be included? Do you want jealous Sasuke, jealous Naruto, both? (lol) Any issues you want to see them get through? My outline is very loose right now, so now's the perfect time to give me your feedback.

Anyhow, I've ranted plenty on here for today.

Once again, thank you my lovelies, for hanging in there with me.

Until next time,

Chio~