The next morning as they walked down the stairs on their way to work, they noticed a small booklet that had fallen into the corner of the stairs. With all the craziness yesterday afternoon they hadn't noticed it. Naruto picked it up.

"What's that?" Sasuke peaked over Naruto's shoulder.

"It must be what we heard fall yesterday." He opened it and flipped through the pages. "It's a bunch of coupons for free ramen at Ichiraku's."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Sakura must have been coming over to give this to me." Naruto put the booklet in his pocket.

"How nice of her." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Sasuke, I really am fine." Naruto didn't even have to ask, he knew Sasuke was still mad at Sakura for slapping him.

"Tch. So, do you think she told?"

"We will find out soon enough." They intertwined their fingers as they walked down the steps. "To be honest with you, I don't really care if she did." When they got to the bottom of the staircase Naruto took Sasuke's chin in his thumb and forefinger. "Have a good day at work babe." He kissed him gently. Every workday Naruto would give Sasuke a kiss at the base of the stairs and tell him to have a good day at work before they made the walk to the mission room. He would look into those dark obsidian eyes and promise to never take them for granted. On the reverse side, every night when they got home Sasuke would wrap him in a loving embrace and whisper welcome home in his ear. They were family. They reluctantly separated from one another and started walking. About halfway there they bumped into Suigetsu.

"Yo!" He shouted as he waved. Naruto waved back. Sasuke as usual showed no reaction. Once Suigetsu got close he gave them a weird look. "Is everything alright? You don't seem as chipper as usual. Well, Sasuke you just look normal." Sasuke cracked his knuckles. Suigetsu squeaked and hid behind Naruto.

"Sakura saw us yesterday." Naruto admitted.

"What! What did she do? What are you guys going to do? How did she see you?"

"Suigetsu." Sasuke looked over at him. "Chill."

"Well, apparently she was coming over to give me this." Naruto handed Suigetsu the booklet. "We had just gotten home from lunch and were about to go inside when she saw us kissing. She tried to run away but we caught up with her. She slapped me." Suigetsu listened intently to the story.

"Has she told anyone?" Naruto shrugged.

"No wonder you are so somber, you have no idea what you are going to be walking into. Do you want me to go first and check things out?"

"No." Sasuke answered quickly. "If no one knows now, they would by the time you got done "checking things out." Subtlety isn't really your thing." Sasuke was wearing his classic smirk.

"Hey! I can be subtle!" Suigetsu said defensively.

"Remember that time in that little village just outside of the sand when…" Sasuke was interrupted by Suigetsu.

"YOU PROMISED TO NEVER TALK ABOUT THAT!" Sasuke and Naruto couldn't hold back their laughter. Suigetsu muttered curses under his breath. The three came to a stop in front of the doors to the command center. The mission room was on the second floor. Naruto let out a sigh.

"Well, here goes nothing." The three walked inside together. They made their way over to the staircase, if anyone knew they sure weren't showing it. People rushed about getting missions, going to meetings, and writing reports. The occasional person would wave or say good morning, but for the most part everyone was involved in their own tasks. It seemed like a normal day. They stopped on the second floor.

"This is us, where are you going Suigetsu?"

"The advisory team has a meeting at nine with the Hokage to give a report. I'll see you guys later." He gave a wave as he headed up to Tsunade's office on the fourth floor. As Naruto and Sasuke made their way down the hall toward the mission room Tsunade walked up to them from the other direction.

"Ahh, Naruto. Just who I was looking for."

"I'll see you later." Sasuke said to Naruto, he gave a slight bow to Tsunade as he continued past her to the mission room.

"What's up Granny?"

"Stop calling me that." She let out an exasperated sigh. "I have a favor to ask of you. Sakura called out sick this morning, I drew up a healing tonic for her, can you please drop it off?" Naruto nodded.

"Report in for your other assignments once you return." Tsunade continued down the hall.

"Well this should be interesting." Naruto muttered to himself.

xxx

Sakura looked up when she heard a knock at the door. She had been in a daze since yesterday afternoon. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Naruto standing there but she didn't react.

"What do you want Naruto?"

"Tsunade asked me to drop this off to you." He showed her the vile full of liquid. "Can we talk Sakura? Please." She moved out of the way to let Naruto inside. He set the small vile down on the living room table. Once the door was closed and locked Sakura gestured for him to sit down.

"Is this why you came by last night?" Naruto held up the booklet. Sakura nodded. "I really like it, thank you." He smiled at her. Even though she had been a royal pain in the ass the last few weeks she was his teammate and he hated to see her so upset. "Sakura I..." She interrupted him.

"I was coming over to apologize."

"Apologize?" Sakura wouldn't look up from her lap.

"I went and got you those coupons because I wanted to do something to make you smile instead of give you pain. I just wanted to do something right for once."

"Sakura..."

"Just listen Naruto. I'm sorry for all of the pain I've caused you. All you ever did was love me, you were never mean to me and you have always been there for me. I knew how much you liked me, and I didn't care. I would throw myself at Sasuke right in front of you. I was a jerk. Even now, you are still being kind to me after what I did and said last night. I don't deserve it." Naruto took one of Sakura's hands and with the other tipped her chin up forcing her to look at him.

"Maybe you don't deserve it, but hurting you in return wouldn't have helped anything, not all those years ago, and not last night. I may have found love somewhere else, but that doesn't mean I don't still care about you. We're teammates. I will always have your back." They were both silent for a few minutes before Naruto spoke again. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that. I am sure it was startling in more ways than one. I realize that nothing I say will make the pain go away, in fact, anything coming from me will probably only make things worse, but I want you to know the truth." Naruto soothingly stroked Sakura's hair. He was trying to be as gentle and compassionate as he could. He knew what it was like loving someone who didn't love you back and never would. He knew what it was like to have a broken heart. He understood pain in ways that only a few people could even fathom. Sasuke was one of those people. It was one of the things that made them cling so tightly to one another. "Sakura, I love Sasuke with all of my heart, he has become my family. He fills the hole that has been in my heart since the first day I realized that I was all alone. He understands everything I have been through like no one else can. Life broke us to fit together. He makes me happy and I know he feels the same." Sakura buried her face in Naruto's chest as he spoke, a fresh spring of tears darkening his shirt. "It would really mean a lot to me if you could be happy for us. I know I am asking a lot, and I don't expect you to be truly happy for us right now, but in the future as your heart heals if you could try that would mean a lot." Naruto could just barely make out a faint "I'll try" as she nodded her head against his chest, her voice muffled by his shirt. He continued to stroke her hair in a feeble attempt to comfort her. She pulled away still sniffling and looked him in the eyes.

"I promise I won't tell. I won't try to ruin your happiness. You and Sasuke both deserve to be happy. You've both been through so much and have sacrificed so much it's your turn. I won't be the thing that stands in the way, not this time. I'm done causing problems."

"Thank you, Sakura." Naruto pulled her into a hug. "Well, I gotta go, if you need someone to talk to about all this Suigetsu knows too, he has from the beginning." He stood up and walked over to the door. He looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her. "When you're ready, let's hang out."

Sakura didn't bother to get up and lock the door behind him. She couldn't help but feel like a complete idiot and she was angry at herself for it. She had spent all these years chasing after someone who didn't love her, all the while ignoring the person right in front of her. Naruto had never once been cruel or mean, he had always been by her side no matter what. Even when Sasuke had left and told her she was annoying she kept holding on to the hope that one day it would work out. All the while Naruto had been there, he had even promised her he would bring Sasuke back. He had always put her happiness first no matter the pain it caused him. She was a fool. She could've had a man that loved her faithfully and instead she threw it all away for something that could never happen and now she had lost both. Her dream, and the man that had loved her. She wasn't going to lose their friendship too. It was time for her to grow up.

xxx

"Welcome home." Sasuke had Naruto wrapped up in a tight embrace from behind. He gave him a peck on the ear before sitting down on the bed. "So, how was your day? I figured you must have gotten caught up in something when you didn't meet me to walk home. Did Tsunade send you to do something?"

"She had me bring medicine to Sakura this morning and then when I got back, I still had all my missions to do. The last one was for that stingy old man with the rice patties to the south of the village. He had me pulling weeds for hours! I'm beat!" Naruto plopped down at the kitchen table.

"Sakura huh? I noticed she wasn't around today. Did she have anything to say?"

"We had a good talk actually. She promised not to tell anyone and feels really bad about what happened yesterday."

"Good, and she should." Sasuke crossed his arms. Naruto chuckled.

"You sure can hold a grudge." Naruto crawled over to Sasuke from where he had been sitting on the floor and slid between his legs wrapping his arms around his waist. "You need to learn to let things go."

"She hit you." Sasuke looked down at Naruto kneeling in front of him.

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt." Naruto gave Sasuke his best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip. "That's got to count for something, just forget about it."

"Tch. Fine whatever." Sasuke was defenseless against the puppy dog eyes and pouty lip.

"I never thought a Uchiha would be brought to submission so easily." Naruto smirked. Sasuke flopped back on the bed.

"Go shower, you stink."

"How about you join me?" Naruto said playfully.

"I already show..." Sasuke inhaled sharply when Naruto slid his hand up his pant leg and grabbed him. Sasuke pursued him into the bathroom.

xxx

The bathroom was full of steam, hot water streamed down their naked bodies, Naruto had Sasuke pinned up against the wall, his hands over top of Sasuke's, gripping them tightly as he slowly thrust in and out. Sasuke's legs were wrapped around his waist, his rock-hard dick rubbing up against Naruto's flexed abs. His eyes were closed, his lips parted slightly in a silent expression of his pleasure. Naruto admired the sight before him. Sasuke's jet black hair clung to his face, bringing out the pink flush that had formed on his cheeks. With every thrust in and out Sasuke's breathing quickened, coming out in pants. Sasuke arched his back, squeezing Naruto more tightly with his legs trying to take him deeper. For Naruto, the fact that he had the always emotionless, cold hearted, dominating Uchiha pinned against the shower wall, flushed, and practically begging for him to fuck him harder made him go absolutely crazy. He was certain he was fucking a god. Naruto nibbled on one of Sasuke's nipples causing him to release a string of curses. He captured Sasuke's lips in a passionate kiss, releasing his hands, letting his own trail down Sasuke's sides and back up his abs, teasing his nipples. Naruto put one hand back against the wall for support, the other finding its way between Sasuke's legs to grip his already dripping cock. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck, his hands tangling in his mess of blond hair. Naruto broke their lip lock, leaning in close to Sasuke's ear.

"Sasuke...I love you with everything I am..." Sasuke replied with a moan that pushed Naruto further into oblivion. "I love how you squirm..." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hair and yanked his head back. He stared deeply into his eyes for a moment before pulling him into a desperate kiss. He was close, he wanted more, more of Naruto. He grabbed one of Naruto's nipples, and rubbed quick small circles. Naruto quickened his thrusts, pounding Sasuke into the wall. The hand between Sasuke's legs matching his thrusts. Sasuke cried out as his orgasm came crashing over him, pushing Naruto over the edge. They called out each other's names in ecstasy, as they rode out their orgasms together. As they slowly came down off their high Naruto slid out, they panted in unison. Sasuke put his feet back on the shower floor, his back still against the wall, his forehead against Naruto's, arms around his neck. Naruto had both hands up against the wall to either side of Sasuke.

"Damn I love that you're mine." Naruto said between breathes, giving Sasuke that special smile and pulling him close. Taking Sasuke like that brought out the possessive, animalistic side of his nature. After they spent a few more moment's catching their breath. They both rinsed one more time and then climbed out of the shower.

"Is that meeting with granny tomorrow?" Sasuke nodded.

"We are going to create a plan to track down and defeat Tobi aka Madara. He has been under ground for a while now, he is bound to make a move soon, we need to be ready. I don't like this waiting game."

"I agree with you there, I would rather be out doing something." They climbed into bed.

"I have a bad feeling that we are missing something important. I wish I could have gotten more information on his plan. He never fully trusted me."

"We will just have to do everything we can to prepare." Naruto laid his head on Sasuke chest. "We are going to have to face him together to even have a chance of defeating him."

"We need to figure out how to beat him at his own game, we need to get him playing on our terms not the other way around."

"I'm glad you are on our side of the fight." Sasuke kissed Naruto's forehead.

"Without me we both know you would attack first ask questions later. In order to beat Madara we need to question first and I'm on your side of the fight. It's you I'm loyal too. I will stand by your side until I breathe my last." Naruto smiled.

"Let's kill that bastard."