A/N: As always, thank you so much to my lovely supportive Beta Midnight Essence and a big, special thank you to my readers and reviewers who stick to this piece of shit no matter what. I know the story gets a little confusing sometimes, but hey, it's supposed to be that way, and things will start heating up soon.
If you have enjoyed this story so far, do keep track of its sequel – "A Distance There Is".
Much love to you all!
And now…on with the show!
Epilogue
The day Naruto found Gaara walking the corridors of the Residence securely guarded by Temari and Kankurou – both with luggage ready and firmly attached to their back – left him sure that something in his relationship with the Kazekage had somehow taken quite the violent turn. Seeing Neji strolling behind the three Suna Shinobi, made the feeling deepen.
When they stopped in front of each other, the cautious distance the blond felt made him feel cold.
"You're leaving already?" Naruto asked, trying to sound more curious than actually hesitant. He could feel both Gaara's siblings watching them intently, but there was nothing reproachful in their eyes.
"Yes," Came Gaara's soft but firm reply, green eyes boring holes into the blonde's blue ones. "It was kind of a sudden change of plans. I have long since finished the work I came here to do; there is no need for me to stay here any longer. I have a village to take care of."
Swallowing hard, Naruto tried to ignore Neji's attentive scrutinizing of the scene before him.
"Yeah, I know you do." Naruto said, nodding once.
The tension was terrible. He wanted to be able to talk with his friend with his usual carefree way, but something was keeping him at bay – the curtain Gaara had cast around himself, his feelings and his emotions was way too thick, and Naruto was finding it impossible to read him.
The Jounin was even wondering if Gaara would have looked for him to say his farewells if they hadn't accidentally bumped into each other.
"So…do you want me to escort you back?" He asked, the last flame of hope flickering brightly inside of him.
"That will not be necessary."
That flame died rather quickly.
Was it really how it was going to be? Naruto wondered. Was Gaara mad because he had clearly rejected him by dating Sasuke?
"Hyuuga-san here is going to escort us to the border, and that should be enough as it is," Gaara explained, simply, making a gesture towards the end of the small group. "We plan on traveling fast, there is no need for you to come; it would be a waste of your time."
"Right," Naruto replied, feeling it hard to simply continue that fake façade. He was getting pissed and hurt, and yet was unsure if he even had the right to feel that way, which led him to remain as calm and composed as he possibly could. "Well, it was nice having you around."
"It was… nice being here as well." The formality and purposeful pause in the red head's voice made Naruto twinge internally. For some reason, Temari scoffed behind her hand and Kankurou elbowed her.
Naruto bit his lip, feeling rather stupid.
"Well, I…hope you have a nice trip," He muttered, scratching the back of his head in defeat. "And…I guess I'll see you soon?"
The way Gaara looked at him then was completely different to Naruto, even though to someone else he might have just kept the same inscrutable expression. However, the slightly taller one did not fail to excitedly notice the almost imperceptible flick of emotion that crossed those emerald orbs for no longer than few milliseconds.
Naruto knew he had to speak. He had to apologize, to reassure the other Jinchuuriki that nothing had changed, that he still cared no matter what.
But, sensing his obvious distress, Gaara effectively cut him off after letting a very long sigh escape his lips.
"Before you say anything, I just want you to know that it's fine," He stated, still stubbornly refusing to turn his eyes away from Naruto's. "It really is. I have many things to do, much to think about and no time for the common regular things in life. However, my offers still stand. Both of them. If you ever need anything, you know Suna will welcome you with open arms, and so will I. And if you just want to visit, you can bring Uchiha with you, if you must."
Even if the tone had been a little sour, at his words, Naruto felt the painful squeeze in his heart loosen up considerably, and he was able to release a small, honest smile. There was still a chance to fix things. Maybe not now, but eventually they could go back to normal.
"Thanks, Gaara." He muttered, nodding in approval.
"You're welcome." Gaara nodded back and started walking once more, passing by him easily and not once looking back. The others followed, Temari, smiling and patting his head on the way, Kankurou making an exaggerated disgusted face towards him but waving goodbye all the same. Neji simply eyed him with suspicion, not saying anything out loud, but not refraining from forming silent words with his mouth that the younger was able to read perfectly.
Screw up and you're dead.
Naruto just had to roll his eyes and give him the finger. Laughing to himself, he saw Neji quirk an arrogant eyebrow at him before turning away and following the others.
With a newfound, cozy feeling in his stomach, Naruto watched them go until they disappeared around the corner.
000
There were times when being with Sasuke made Naruto feel like he was at the top of the world, somewhere beautiful above the clouds; floating, stepping gently but steadily over something fluffy and comfortable. Other times, it felt like he was continuously training his concentration in order to find the balance between mind, body, and spirit before walking over broken glass because it felt dangerous. It could hurt if one was not focused enough, and it always made his heart race with both adrenaline and fear.
There were so many wrongs and rights that it was unsettling. Maybe that was what made it all so fucking beautiful in the first place.
Konoha has actually reacted worse to Neji being dumped than to the actual fact that Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had started going out, out of the blue.
Sasuke was loudly bad-mouthed for a whole week, even though Naruto tried his best to defend him, the Uchiha pretended to be blissfully oblivious to his surroundings, like he didn't care what people said about him. Realizing that in reality Sasuke couldn't give a greater shit made Naruto feel proud.
Despite not proclaiming it to the four winds, news traveled fast, as usual, and of course even the closest people to them came to know of this new development. The reactions were divergent, to say the least. Kiba had been incredulous but suspiciously cheerful; Hinata had smiled rather honestly and wished them well; Shikamaru had sighed and named the whole situation – including Neji's dumping – 'bothersome'; Lee had been as excited as excited could get – why, Naruto had no idea –, Ino and Sakura had rather fake congratulating smiles on their faces but had both said kind words of approval; TenTen had yelled, threatened and insulted them to no end on Neji's behalf and Chouji and Shino had decided that nodding was enough to express their feelings towards the matter – go figure.
Kakashi had laughed hard like no one had seen him laugh before, consequentially causing Sasuke to sulk and not talk to him for a week, but on the other hand, Iruka had been so happy Naruto had gotten what he really wanted for once that he had cried and went all the way to the Jounin station just to hug Sasuke. Sasuke. Not Naruto, not both of them, just Sasuke.
And that sure made Naruto laugh.
So, as expected, the first week was not as good and as dreamy as the two teens had expected, but apart from the fact that Sasuke was a little hurt that Neji refused to speak to him or even be in the same room alone with him, the truth was that the tiny pieces of their shattered relationship seemed to finally be coming together.
For Sasuke, when he looked at the two of them, he realized that, deep down, nothing had changed between them apart from the status of their relationship and yes, the sex.
They had only been dating for a few weeks now and had already done it more times than he could count, which had been something Sasuke had not expected the least. Sure, he had known Naruto wasn't exactly shy about sex, but still the whiskered boy had been surprisingly open-minded about whatever Sasuke wanted to do and, most of all, very willing to experiment things for himself. If they had thought they had some chemistry going on between them before, it was nothing compared to how they interacted once they found themselves free from their previous relationships.
Being alone together suddenly took a whole new meaning.
It had been a blessing that Naruto had easily accepted the fact that Sasuke liked to top and bottom. Apparently, he found out he did, too, and worst of all – or not – he got the hang of man on man action fast enough and all of a sudden he just did whatever he pleased and got Sasuke to easily fall prey to his every whim and fantasy.
Still, for as much as Sasuke enjoyed both sex and Naruto's amazing ability to stir him up every time with his dirty talking and never ending teasing, the blond's stamina wore him out. It felt like every time they did it, the world was coming to an end. Naruto joked and said it was like fire – wild and unstoppable – but Sasuke considered it reckless. There was no thinking, no planning, just raw emotion and careless need to feel and touch and own. It was like being drunk and having no sense of direction or occasion.
It was very different than being with Neji. Sasuke found himself so riled up most of the times he always forgot to even wear condoms or make Naruto wear them. Well, Naruto somehow always ended up making them tear – Sasuke could never understand exactly how he managed to do that since he simply wasn't that big.
Things that had been so important before just vanished out of his mind when his and his best friends' bodies clashed.
There was no sense of shame, pride or dignity between them. It was amazing and yet monstrously scary.
The thought alone was enough to make Sasuke painfully hard in his pants. Everything was so immensely differently because now he was in love and very much aware of it.
Not that Naruto didn't know that – after all, they ended up together for a reason – but it wasn't as if Sasuke would ever say it out loud. It was too much, too soon. Maybe someday, who knew? But for now, things were already complex enough as they were, and they were slowly but consistently building their future together.
Naruto awakened everything inside of him. He was like a hunger that could not be satiated; craving, demanding all the pure and impure living inside of him.
Nothing had changed; they still bickered and fought about the stupidest of things. They still disagreed and tried to outshine the other. Naruto was still messy while Sasuke liked everything neat and organized.
However, now they belonged and, for the first time, they could see clearly what tomorrow looked like.
000
The tiny tavern was rather quiet for such a late hour despite how crowded the place was. The sour odor of tobacco smoke and alcohol filled the air as conversation from every table murmured gently.
Sitting at one of the high stools by the bar, Sasuke kept to himself while distractedly making his glass of liquor twirl, a half smoked cigarette dangling from the fingers of his free hand.
It wasn't as if he liked the place all that much, but Naruto had left for the day on a mission with Team 10 that was yet to be finished, and Sasuke was just bored to death. Somehow he didn't feel like going home now that he had accustomed himself to always having company during the night – it was either Naruto coming over, or he going over to Naruto's since the blond had even bought a slightly bigger bed recently.
Besides, that tavern was as discreet as it could get. He used to go there with Neji all the time when he became ANBU; they had openly made out there many times before they started dating, and not once anyone sitting at those same damn tables let anything escape to the outside world. Maybe every single customer had their own secrets they wanted preserved as well. Who knew what kind of things went on that place?
Some things Sasuke took the time to notice, some he just preferred to ignore. It was a silent code everyone respected, and as long as they minded their own business, he would as well.
Now that he thought about it, he didn't dislike it all that much.
"Mind if I join you?" Came an easily recognizable voice behind the Uchiha, making him shiver slightly. It seemed like it had been ages since he had heard that same, monotone voice addressing him directly but he didn't bother to look over his shoulder.
"Whatever." He replied with a shrug. It was like fate had brought that person there on that specific night. Either that, or he had been followed – which was probably the correct assumption.
The body moved, making the stool creak a little, and in a few seconds, the person was effectively seated at his right side.
The sudden shyness that crept over Sasuke made him cringe internally. No, it was not shyness but awareness, uncertainty.
Eyeing the other male in a dissimulated way, he watched Neji's profile as he made an elegant gesture to catch the bartender's attention.
"I'll have whatever he's having," Neji ordered politely to the toothless, yet pleasant looking middle aged man that appeared before him. "And bring another one to my friend as well."
Sasuke's eyebrows quirked upwards.
For a whole month and a half Neji had refused to talk to him about anything else than work – sure, he had been extremely professional with that -, refusing to even be alone in the same room as him. Sasuke had known that their breakup had been rough on the Hyuuga's pride, but he certainly hadn't expected him to take things so seriously.
Having tried a thousand times to patch things up only to be given the cold shoulder, Sasuke had eventually given up and decided that his captain needed his space for whatever reason.
However, even if Neji was no longer his lover, they had shared a strong link based on a lot of trust, understanding and respect, and no matter what had happened afterwards, they had the strong, rather reliable relationship many dreamed of. He was one of the few people Sasuke could actually stand for longer than a few hours, and someone he truly didn't want to lose.
Having Neji sitting so casually beside him after so long was rather amazing in a way and it made him wonder.
For the first time, Neji turned his head towards him, blank eyes scrutinizing his impassively.
"What?" Neji asked crudely, even though those eyes were now scanning Sasuke's features freely.
The raven felt the corner of his lip twitch upwards in an ironic smile.
"So, I'm your friend now?" He inquired dryly, before bringing his cigarette to his lips and inhaling. "How convenient."
Neji all but sighed. The bartender settled two glasses of brownish liquid in front of them and removed the empty one that Sasuke had previously been playing with.
"You were always my friend, Sasuke," Neji muttered, picking up his glass with a frown. "I just wasn't too happy when you all of a sudden became just that. I think I had every right to be pissed off."
"Oh, and you're no longer pissed off?" Sasuke inquired his cold tone a little teasing.
"It wore off." Came Neji's dry answer before sipping his drink.
"Took you damn long enough."
The Uchiha inhaled once more from his cigarette before smashing the rest of the tip on the old ashtray nearby.
"I don't know what you expected me to do after dumping me and starting dating Naruto a couple of days later," Neji replied, frowning and looking at him again. The sheer hurt and frustration Sasuke saw took him by surprise. "Was I supposed to cheer you on? Do you even have any idea how I felt when I realized you had been doing shit behind my back?"
The timbre wasn't angry, or even showed the frustration in his features, but it showed perfectly that it held some sort of wound that would take a while to heal.
"I didn't exactly want us to break up in the first place," Sasuke defended with gritted teeth, making his stool turn to the side so that he was now fully facing his captain. "There was nothing important at the time with him, there was…there was nothing to be expected. I was fine with you."
"But you fell for him nonetheless," Neji groaned, also turning to the younger one on the stool with stunning speed. "And you did it because you wanted to, because no matter how fine you were with me, how great we were together, how easier it was between us, I was just not him."
Sasuke blinked many times and frowned deeply, keeping silent for a few moments. In a way, Neji was right, but he just couldn't understand what it was that his captain's whole body language was trying to tell him – the way he looked at him, that weird wrinkle on his marked forehead, the almost imperceptible raged way he was breathing.
"It's not that I didn't like you, Neji," Sasuke muttered, shaking his head from side to side. "I did…I do. I still feel that attraction towards who you are. You of all people should know that."
"But I'm not good enough," Neji cut in, and now his voice felt like ice cutting through Sasuke's heart and making him finally start to get angry. "I'm not good enough to fall in love with; I'm not good enough to erase that weird shit that's always been going on between you and him."
"We were trying out, Neji, you said so yourself!" Sasuke exclaimed, losing his patience. He hadn't argued with the long haired man in quite a long time and he hated that it had to happen for something like that. He didn't want to talk about his feelings for Naruto, neither did he want Neji to fully comprehend how much the blond meant in his life.
He did wish Neji could understand what he meant in his life.
"I expected you to take things seriously!" The Hyuuga spat.
Somehow Neji had gotten closer without standing up and was looking downright threatening. Luckily for Sasuke, he had seen that look too many times before to be intimidated by it.
"I did take things seriously; I stood my ground for you! " And now Sasuke was on the verge of shouting. "I wanted to fall for you, I wanted us to work, but he's…I don't know what he is, but somehow everything fell into place and I couldn't back away from him. I didn't want to hurt you anymore; I didn't want you to get in too deep and…"
And then there were lips roughly pressed against his in urgent demanding, a tongue he had almost forgotten the taste lashing out to invade his mouth with all its might. The kiss was fierce, painful and desperate, again trying to transmit something that was still not quite reaching the raven's soul.
Sasuke was assaulted by an urge to pull away at first, but then that little thing out of place made him simply groan in exasperation and eventually give in just because there was that little something that screamed at him that it was the best choice. So he kissed back defiantly in a way that was very different from even the most violent kisses he shared with Naruto. It was almost territorial, threatening and even though there was some form of passion, there was no feeling to. Neji could only go so far and he probably knew it since he made no move to touch him.
When they broke apart, they were both panting and frowning at each other at how different it was from the kisses they had shared as lovers.
Neji sighed once again and ran a hand through his hair in defeat.
"How ridiculous…" He whispered, closing his eyes for the briefest moment. "How absolutely wasteful."
"Did it not suit your tastes, Hyuuga-sama?" Sasuke joked ruefully, even though his face was straight with seriousness.
"Oh, it did," Came Neji's reply, accompanied by a short, cold laugh. "But I still can't get through to you, it seems."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I'm in love with you and you can't even tell".
Of all the things he had heard in his life (including Naruto's own confession), that was probably the one that horrified Sasuke the most.
Neji did not do that sort of thing. While Naruto was a soft hearted moron, Neji was not the kind of person to just blurt out something like that when they had only been together for such a short period.
"You're not serious…" He gasped, in barely a whisper.
"I am," And by his tone, filled with mock at Sasuke's dumbstruck look, it was almost believable. "I didn't want to tell you when we were dating because I was scared you might run off."
A sharp silence followed in which they just stared at each other.
"Why me?" Was all the Uchiha could ask, blindly and urgently searching with his hand for the glass with the beverage that was waiting for him as anxiously as he was waiting to drink it. "What is it with you people fancying me for no reason at all? I'm terrible boyfriend material!"
"Naruto would disagree; he's clearly been in heaven for the past few weeks." Neji said, watching with amusement as Sasuke picked up the glass and downed its contents until there wasn't a single drop left. "You're a pretty good fuck as well, I'm sure he already knows that too."
Sasuke almost spit everything out but managed to gulp it before something disastrous happened.
"Fuck you, Neji." He spat, slamming the glass down on the counter. "Why are you even telling me this?"
"I was hoping to sleep with you of course." The clear eyed man said simply, grabbing the pack of cigarettes peacefully resting between them next to his own glass.
"I'm in a relationship!" Sasuke snapped, with barely contained anger.
"So were you back then."
"I didn't have sex with him while I was still with you!"
"Oh?" Neji took one single cigarette from the pack and brought it to his own lips. He rarely smoked, there was really nothing pleasant about it, but only in times like these he enjoyed it because it was something that somehow brought him closer to the Sharingan bearer.
"It's the truth." Sasuke insisted, finding some sort of composure and bringing his hand to the pocket of his jacket.
"We could still do it," Neji suggested, grabbing the lighter Sasuke extended him and lighting the cigarette on the flickering flame. "You owe me. You could've at least fucked me before dumping me, which would've been way more dramatic."
"You're such an asshole I'm kind of surprised how I managed to miss you." Sasuke groaned feeling rather miserable and bad humored. "And forget it. I didn't exactly dump you because I wanted to screw around, you know."
Once more they fell silent for a while, Neji taking a puff in his cigarette as he waited and watched intently Sasuke getting his own and lighting it. The eyed each other challengingly for what felt like hours.
"It's that serious, huh?" The older one muttered, eyes narrowing at Sasuke's soft blush.
"Who knows?" The raven huffed, scratching the inside of his elbow with an annoyed expression. "I don't know, Neji. It's not perfect, but somehow it's…it works. It's it. I can't explain it, and I'm sorry for hurting you, but I can't change it, and I won't."
Neji huffed.
"I know that."
"It also doesn't change the fact that you're my captain and that I still need you beside me, as a friend, to keep me company on boring days like this."
Neji just smiled tiredly, letting a small gag escape his throat with disbelief.
"And you still wonder why people fall for you?" He inquired, rolling his eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to have sex? Cause you really owe me and this talk is kind of making me hard."
Sasuke punched his shoulder roughly.
"I'm not doing anything else with you!" He barked, irritably. "No more sex, no more kissing, no more nothing!" Sasuke groaned, raising his voice and attracting the attention of some of the people around them, but who luckily diverted their attention quickly enough. "What did you expect from confessing, anyway? That now I would dump Naruto to be with you? And don't talk about sex anymore; I like to believe you're a little more mature than that."
"Actually, I'm very childish," Neji said, smirking. "And I already know it would be useless to try and separate the two of you. I just wanted you to know my feelings for future reference," Neji muttered, still smiling and consequentially allowing Sasuke to relax. "Maybe someday you'll notice me again. Until then, just keep in mind that I'll be your friend, like you want, and be by your side whenever you need, even on boring nights like this, unconditionally."
Sasuke managed to smile a little at that. It seemed like the whole tension of the encounter was dissipating, the grip in his heart caused by Neji's absence loosening up. He still couldn't really believe his captain was in love with him – maybe he was just joking to make him feel guilty; it was hard to tell when he was such a composed, perfectionist person.
Still, as long as Neji managed to respect his new relationship with Naruto and kept to his promise of being friends, it was all fine.
For some reason, now he truly believed the stoic Hyuuga would most definitely stay in his life, for better or worse. If they had made it through that disastrous break up, they would make it through anything that presented itself in the future.
"Thank you." He said, using a softer tone now that he felt safer, lighter even, to prove how much he meant it.
"Whatever," Neji shrugged elegantly, throwing long strands of his silky hair behind his back. "You still have to pay somehow. You can start by paying for the drinks, and for the next round as well, and then we'll see how I can plot to decently turn you into my slave until you seal your debt.
"You're such a fucking bastard..."
000
"So this is it, huh?" Sakura whispered as her eyes scanned the deserted alleys of the Uchiha compound. It was the first time ever she was actually inside the compound since she had passed by it many times before, especially as a child, in hopes of getting a chance to have a glimpse of a very cute, younger version of her prince charming.
Sakura remembered how that now forsaken place had been lively with the commotion of people walking about, minding their own business, running about to do whatever it was that they had to do. At the time, she had thought that the Uchiha seemed like a nice, warm clan, what with their impossibly dark eyes and dark hair that seemed to always reflect some sort of color. She also remembered passing by after the Uchiha massacre and wondering how on earth her beloved Sasuke-kun could live alone in such a large, empty area.
All those years later, there she was, finally standing in front of the house she had wanted to enter so much for so long and she felt hollow. She had never gotten inside Sasuke's house and she was sure it would take a little longer for her to be allowed such a privilege. Even Naruto had surpassed her at that.
Though the streets around her and Naruto were deserted, the truth was that behind all those vacant houses a lot of agitation was happening as Gennin and Chuunin placed exploding seals everywhere that was supposed to be tearing down.
"Yep, this is it," Naruto agreed solemnly, standing beside her with his bright blue eyes fixed on the house he knew so well. "It'll all be over soon."
"It's a big house, isn't it?" Sakura commented in barely a whisper, glancing at her friend. "I can't believe Sasuke-kun lived here for so long, all by himself…it looks rather haunted."
"I'm sure it will be better once the compound itself no longer exists," Naruto sighed, a small, endearing smile forming in his lips. "He wants to remodel it, add a few rooms and stuff, build a huge back yard and private training grounds…you know how he is, always thinking big, planning for the future…he's already thinking about how many kids he wants, and how many kids I may want…it's kinda crazy actually."
Sakura found herself smiling as well.
"It's only been little over a month and you guys are already thinking about such things?" She asked, giggling softly at Naruto's blush. "What comes next, marriage?"
"It's our two month anniversary today!" Naruto protested, puffing indignantly. "Besides, we're not getting any younger."
"Yes, because you are so terribly old at nineteen," She joked, nudging his side playfully and making him giggle as well. "And how many kids would it be – yours and his?"
"About seven, or something," Naruto explained, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "He wants about four of his, two boys and two girls, and I'll be fine with just two or three of my own, I don't really care what gender they are. Well, but this is all very relative, they would all be raised as both our kids so it doesn't really matter."
"That's a lot of kids for two men to raise, you know." Sakura said, eyeing Naruto with simple curiosity. "And, I mean…well, I cannot imagine how someone so restless as you and someone so impatient like Sasuke-kun could handle so much."
"We'll manage," Naruto said, nodding confidently and winking at her, startling the pink haired girl with the sentence she had heard so many times before. "We always have, always will."
Sakura swallowed hard but nodded back slowly, smiling sweetly once more.
"Yes, you sure have."
As the two stared at the last Uchiha's house in comfortable silence, in the background someone was shouting firm orders of retreat. The demolition would start soon, Sakura concluded, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying.
After all, Sasuke's past, his childhood and the visual memories of his previous life would be erased and demolished with all those dusty buildings. Any evidence that there had even been a clan named Uchiha was going to vanish into thin air.
She wondered how Sasuke must feel. Did he even think about it at all? Was he happy to be away on an ANBU mission?
Would he hurt if he saw his home, his past, being destroyed, even if it was his choice in the first place?
Seeking some comfort, her hand searched her side and quickly found Naruto's, her fingers wrapping automatically around his strongly. Unsurprised, and without moving anything else, Naruto let his own fingers close around hers before inhaling sharply.
She turned her head to look at him and found that his eyes were closed, head tilted down as if in silent prayer. From afar, another voice was telling people to step back and take cover. Sakura was thankful that the entrance to the compound would be the last thing to be taken down; otherwise they would not have been able to have been there in the first place.
Following her teammate's lead, she closed her eyes as well and focused herself on making a coherent prayer.
She would not cry. She had promised herself she would no longer cry for Sasuke's sake and would only learn to be strong for both him and Naruto, and that's what she would do.
And so she prayed. She prayed for the souls of the Uchiha that were brutally murdered years before; she prayed for the prosperity of those lands and for the success of the orphanage that was yet to be built. She prayed for a bright future for herself and everyone she loved, and most of all, prayed for happiness. Sasuke and Naruto's happiness, the one they had been fighting so hard to achieve and maintain for so long.
An exploding noise was heard, accompanied by the uprising roar of things being crushed, blown apart and helplessly falling down.
Sakura felt herself shivering involuntarily as her eyes shot open. She was more than glad that from where they were they did not have to see what was going on with the demolition.
"I'm glad you could come." Naruto muttered softly, once more looking at the big house in front of them but now with an expression that bordered on some kind of dreamy hope, like he was idealizing something, which, Sakura realized, he might be. For some reason, the unusual calm in his voice was enough to calm her nerves as well.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world…" She whispered, squeezing his hand reassuringly.
"Neither would I."
Another explosion echoed through the morning air but it was definitely not loud enough to stifle the all too familiar voice behind them.
Both Sakura and Naruto looked over their shoulders to see the tall figure behind them.
No matter how many times she saw the ANBU attire, the pink haired girl was always torn between finding Sasuke sexy, or just plain threatening while wearing it. Either way, it made her heart race just a little to see the dark clothes, the long, pitch black cloak and the aggressive ceramic mask with the painted snout of a red fox covering his features. Sakura could see the Sharingan still activated behind the slits of the mask and it made her legs tremble slightly. The long Katana peeking out from behind his back did not help to make him look less deadly, but hey, he was supposed to look like that with the kind of jobs he had to do.
It was amazing that apart from the dust in his clothes, he looked as if he hadn't been away for five days at all.
Naruto, for his part, smiled broadly at the sight of the Uchiha, not at all affected by the heavy, unintentional aggressive aura that surrounded him.
"Bastard! I knew you'd come!" He said, well humorously but in a gentle tone.
"You always know everything, don't you?" Sasuke huffed, raising his gloved hand to pull off his mask and reveal his face. Sakura's eyes also noticed how the black gloves he wore had what looked like sharp nails at the tips of the fingers. That too looked frightening. What were those for, anyway?
"You look tired." She muttered taking in the purple circles under his eyes – the blood red in them was slowly fading into dark grey.
"I'm fine," He said, effectively dismissing her concern with a sigh. "Am I late?"
"Nope, it just started," Naruto said, looking up and pointing with his free hand to the smoke and dust that was rising from behind Sasuke's house. "I'm guessing it'll take a while to get to this area though."
"Good".
Sasuke walked the few steps it took to reach them and promptly and elegantly came to a halt by Sakura's side right side. She watched him closely, trying to find something in his beautiful eyes as he stared at the smoke that filled the air, but finding nothing revealing.
Sakura thought that maybe his feelings towards the Compound were being blown apart and tarnished just like those very buildings. Maybe he was finally being purified, cleansed, and released from the heavy burden he had been carrying all those years.
Now he would be able to move on and start over. He would be able to rebuild his new life, choose how he wanted his future to be.
Swallowing hard, Sakura used her free hand to shyly touch Sasuke's, the rough fabric of the gloves startling her briefly. Sasuke jumped slightly at the contact and turned his head to her, finding her gentle smile of pleading encouragement.
Still as impassive as ever, he nodded, turned his head back towards the sky and moved his hand so that it was grasping hers.
Feeling her chest filled with joy, she allowed her smile to become lighter, more carefree as she squeezed both Sasuke's and Naruto's hands in hers.
They both squeezed back at the same time, silently reassuring her that everything would be alright, that they were there and that, no matter what, they were a team.
They didn't need any words at that point. That moment was theirs and it was easy to comprehend the love and compassion that was filling those three young hearts.
Not pity, no; especially not pity for Sasuke's sake.
There was only joy and hope suffocated by that silent, cursed, yet blessed goodbye.
"I'm sorry…" Sakura heard Sasuke whisper, and it wasn't said to her, or Naruto, but she was sure they both heard it. "I'm sorry…"
And then he fell silent. When Sakura looked at him again, his eyes were softer, but still proud and stoic as usual. He was fine. Sasuke was finally freeing himself.
How good could it get?
They were a family; he was not alone, the rosette thought, and even though her two friends had chosen a path that did not include her, she felt that now, somehow, everything was finally balanced and exactly how it should be. They understood each other; they knew what they wanted, what they needed.
No matter what, even Sasuke now understood that she needed them and that she would be there, right behind them, always. They were her boys, after all, and she would take care of them, just like she was their girl, the woman of their lives, and they would protect her right to the end.
Yes. Even though it still hurt, it was exactly as it should be, and life would move on just the way it was supposed to.
000
The front door to Naruto's small apartment burst open all the way to violently collide against the wall. As two figures clumsily stumbled in, bodies pressed against each other and mouths glued by a kiss filled with all kinds of moans and sloppy noises. The rain that could be heard outside was still able to be a little louder than them for the moment being.
Holding on to his lover's waist, the blond of the two blindly tried to kick backwards while desperately clinging to the source of heat and emotion in front of him. Eventually he managed to kick the door shut and let out a sigh of relief against the thin, soft lips he had come to worship.
Both he and Sasuke were sopping wet from having run all the way from the Jounin Station while it poured outside, and he could feel their clothes dripping all over the wooden floor, but somehow neither of them were cold, quite the opposite – Naruto felt like they were burning.
It was a feeling he couldn't get tired of either, a feeling he always missed no matter how many times he experienced it.
There was Sasuke's body, pressed hard and firm against his, and Sasuke's rough hands, one possessive and demanding on his hair, the other, however, touching the curve of his neck and moving to caress his face with dissimulated gentleness. There was Sasuke's tongue, expert but carefree inside his mouth, then on his bottom lip before he used those pretty teeth of his to bite down hard enough to project a wave of awareness through him but not intending to hurt.
Naruto couldn't breathe. He couldn't afford to, otherwise he feared he would miss something big, something important and there was no time to waste – the everyday life already stole enough of it as it was – and so he kept on kissing, his own hands now coming up between them to unzip the raven's green vest. Even the few seconds it took for Sasuke to break the kiss, let go of him and dispose of the offending piece of clothing seemed a waste of precious time, and yet, Naruto still had his own vest to remove, which made him huff in annoyance.
Sensing his distress, Sasuke offered a smug smile and Naruto knew that when that smile came, it meant that the Uchiha had officially claimed his momentary control over the situation. That was fine, if only the damn bastard weren't such a tease. Thank goodness he seemed to be as impatient as Naruto himself was – even if he was better at pretending otherwise.
Blue eyes pierced steely ones. He wanted to make a silent plea with them, but was suddenly captivated by Sasuke's handsome features – there was just something so sickly sexy about him when he was all wet like that – and he wasn't sure if he managed to get the message across. Still, Sasuke was and effective in removing the heavy and uncomfortable vest, throwing it away somewhere near where his own vest had fallen.
Now free from removing the soaked vest, Naruto threw himself at Sasuke once more, immediately attacking his neck with his eager mouth, fingers shamelessly creeping inside his black sweater to feel the light muscles on his back as the brunette roughly grabbed both his ass cheeks possessively, making him moan.
He needed some sort of stable surface and he needed it now. The floor was good, right? Might be too cold and a little dirty but…
"And here I thought I was finally going to get a glimpse at Hinata-chan's fantastic boobies…"
Naruto immediately broke away from Sasuke and they both looked to the side where, crouching on the windowsill of the now open window by the bed, Jiraya was staring curiously at them, also soaking wet.
Naruto gulped. Sasuke moaned in frustration.
Of all the times his former mentor could choose to return from his six month travel for research, it just had to be now.
"Ero-sennin…" Naruto whispered, desolated, arms heavily slipping away from the inside of his lover's clothes. "You really have terrible timing…"
- Owari -
TBC in "A Distance There is".