Homecoming

Part Fourteen
Fallen Leaves

Naruto made his way down the street, deep in thought. Tsunade wanted him to be her successor and for that reason she didn't retire. Somehow, the thought of replacing her didn't seem so appealing anymore. He didn't want her gone.

She was right. He wasn't ready.

There were just too many things… and on top of that, groveling to that fat, old bitch?

That damned Ryoichi. A bastard like his father. Naruto cussed under his breath for knowing what the boy was up to, and feeling complacent as if he was invincible.

He was always too naïve for politics. Like that time he had nearly exposed himself to the enemy.


"Good evening, Naruto-kun," the cook in Ichiraku Ramen greeted him with a smile, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Good evening, oji-san, I'll have miso ramen tonight." Naruto smiled lightly. "For a change."

"Naruto, I thought I'd find you here." Iruka showed up, taking the seat next to him.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I'll have what he's having, please," Iruka told the cook, before turning to Naruto. "I've heard what happened."

"So all the village knows already?" Naruto asked without interest.

"No, I was inside when Yamada brought the children to file the mission report." A light blush spread over Iruka's cheeks.

"Ah." Naruto was about to say something more concrete when the cook put the bowl of ramen in front of him.

"Naruto, what were you thinking?" Iruka asked, looking at the young man. "I told you not to cause trouble with the mistress. She's not someone you should play jokes with."

"She was yelling at the kids. Someone had to tell her off. Who does she think she is?" Naruto growled.

"She's the Fire Country's mistress."

"Who the hell cares?"

"You should care."

"Iruka-sensei, I'm not a child anymore. I don't need your lectures," Naruto said rudely and grabbed his ramen.

"I think you do need it, you're acting like a child." Iruka briefly turned his attention to the cook who delivered him the ramen, before returning his eyes to Naruto. "Can't you handle a simple D rank mission?"

Naruto furrowed his brow and put down the bowl, facing his ex-teacher.

"What do you know about the kind of missions I've handled?" he snarled. "What would a mere Chuunin such as yourself know? I've had to stand aside and let innocent people die so that my cover wouldn't be blown. What did you do? Teach in the academy that a ninja's life span is short?" His voice trembled a little and he took a breath. "All you teach is theory. You've never even had the guts to take the Jounin exam so don't lecture me about missions." Naruto got up and pulled out a bill from his pocket, putting it next to his half full bowl of ramen.

"Naruto…" Iruka looked at him in shock.

"I'm going home," Naruto said coldly and walked away.

***

"I wonder who will be our new teacher," Kenji said as he followed Ryoichi to their house.

"Who cares," Ryoichi muttered.

"But Naruto-sensei was so cool. I don't understand why he can't teach us anymore." Kenji ignored his brother's disinterest.

Ryoichi huffed and walked faster, when suddenly in a puff of smoke and leaves, Kakashi appeared in front of the boys, startling them.

"Yo!" He smiled. "Ready to train?" he patted Ryoichi's head and the boy backed away. Kakashi's eye narrowed when he saw Ryoichi's face. "How'd you get that scar?"

Ryoichi frowned and didn't say a word. Kakashi closed his eyes. "Maa, we'll deal with that later."

"I have a question!" Kenji stepped in. "Why is Naruto-sensei no longer teaching us?"

"He isn't?" Kakashi drawled.

Kenji pouted and folded his arms. "You don't know?"

The silver-haired Jounin rubbed his nape. "Well, I was spending the day cleaning my place…"

Ryoichi made a face. "Who cares? Can we train now?"

"Kakashi!" Kenji called as the Jounin turned to walk away with Ryoichi. He knew he had a good chance to ask now, though with Ryoichi around he wasn't so confident.

"Well… I was wondering…" he mumbled when the two of them looked at him. "Naruto-sensei, he was your student, right?"

"What?" Ryoichi blinked. "Who told you that?"

"Why do you ask?" Kakashi replied, baffling the young boy.

"Well, uh, why, I, well I just wanted…" he stuttered. "No reason really…"

"Then we're off?" Ryoichi asked, looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed and looked at the two brothers. "Okay." He looked at Kenji for approval.

The boy shrugged. "I have Taijutsu practice with Lee-sensei!" he said and ran into the house, knowing there was no way he'd be able to extract any information from Kakashi.

***

Kakashi blocked another attack from the boy. "Is that all you can do?" he asked, although the boy nearly knocked him over with the strength of his assault.

Ryoichi grunted and launched again at his teacher, Kakashi was about to stop him, when the boy slipped between his spread legs and knocked him off his feet.

"Ah, got you." He smirked, while trying to steady his breath, his leg still spread over Kakashi's midsection.

"Just like your father, you learn Taijutsu fast." Kakashi sat up and dusted himself. Of course, he could have easily stopped Ryoichi from knocking him over, as he had done with all of the child's attacks so far, but to get him to open up, different tactics were needed. "Now come here." He gestured to the boy. "Your wound needs to be looked at."

Ryoichi frowned and touched his face, realizing for the first time it wasn't sweat that he felt covering his face.

Kakashi took out a cloth and wiped the boy's face. "Must have been a rough mission," he drawled as he pressed the cloth to the bleeding wound.

"Huh?" Ryoichi raised his eyes to the Jounin.

"To get this nasty cut from painting a wall."

"I didn't get this cut in that stupid mission." Ryoichi frowned.

"Oh?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"I fell."

"On something very pointy?"

"Ugh." Ryoichi frowned and got up. "Why do you care anyway? It's not your problem."

"Touchy aren't we?"

Ryoichi sighed and folded his arms. "You are annoying."

"And you didn't fall," Kakashi said quietly, without getting up.

"I did it myself, okay?" Ryoichi spat out. "My eyes hurt. I wanted to stop the pain." He looked away into the darkening forest behind him. "Don't tell Father."

"Tell him what?"

"That I'll never have sharingan."

***

"Damn!!" Naruto yelped when the hot bowl of ramen slipped from his hands and crashed on the floor. "Damn! Damn! Damn!" he cussed and kicked the chair in anger. The wooden chair broke under his kick and his foot met the table and turned it over, crashing everything on it to the floor.

Naruto clenched his fist as he looked at the mess he created in the kitchen. "That's it. I'm out of here!" he hissed and stomped out of his apartment.

The blood was still boiling his veins. Hoping fresh air would calm down his upset spirit, he strolled down the street, without a clear direction.

The skies darkened as he walked through the busy streets. People were rushing to finish up their shopping before the shops closed for the night. It felt weird to see everyone so carefree, oblivious to the frustration he felt as he walked among them.

For a moment, he felt again like the little lost boy he used to be, years ago. Walking around among the people and completely ignored by them.

The sun was already gone when he reached the forest. For some reason he found himself standing in front of the fallen heroes monument, in the practice area.

Time didn't stop. It moved forward, and left these fallen heroes behind, a thought suddenly crossed Naruto's mind as his skimmed over the names.

After Hyuuga Hinata, a lot of names had been added to the already long list. He shivered as he saw some names of people he used to know. When he left the village, he no longer received any news except those with relevance for his covert missions.

Akimichi Chouji, Sarutobi Asuma, Maito Gai, Yuuhi Kurenai, Aburami Shino

Naruto sighed, standing in silence in front of the names carved on the stone. He was so wrapped in his own grief and hatred, that he failed to realize that everyone around him had their own pain to deal with. He wasn't the only one touched by tragedy. He remembered the hurtful words he had said to Iruka-sensei. His stomach fluttered in guilt. It wasn't Iruka-sensei's fault that shinobis rarely reached the age of thirty or that Naruto was in a bad mood.

Ridden with guilt, Naruto decided to head back to the administrative building and apologize to Iruka-sensei.

***

Naruto walked into to the teacher's lounge in the academy. Only one of the teachers was there, informing Naruto that Iruka-sensei had left early.

Naruto sighed and decided to pay his ex-teacher a visit. He felt bad as it was. There was no way he could get a good night's sleep without settling things with Iruka-sensei.

He walked out of the building, when suddenly a strong scent of blood reached his nostrils. He raised his eyes, quickly adjusting his night vision. A few feet from him, he saw a robed and masked Anbu soldier limping towards the staircase that led to the Hokage's office.

The Anbu soldier stopped in his tracks, obviously aware he had been seen. Naruto felt his body stiffen. After a long moment, the Anbu continued walking slowly up the stairs. Naruto felt his heart racing.

'Sasuke'. It was Sasuke's blood that he smelled.

'I don't care. I shouldn't care…' Naruto closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 'But the children… it's not their fault.' He took a hesitant step at first, then paced faster in the same path the robed soldier walked.

"You can't enter." The two Anbu guards in front of the Hokage's office advanced towards him.

"Don't get in my way," Naruto hissed without slowing down.

"You are not allowed in," the other guard said and the guard insisted, lowering his spear. The second guard nodded at his companion, assuring him the trespasser must be stopped, no matter his identity.

"I said don't get in my way." Naruto grabbed the spear effortlessly, breaking it in half. The soldier stumbled forward, surprised, and Naruto hit him on the back of the neck, knocking him unconscious. It had only taken a few seconds.

"You bastard!" The other guard removed his cloak and drew out his katana. Naruto was behind him before he could even perform a seal.

"Look, I've had a really BAD day, okay?" he growled and delivered another quick blow to the second guard's neck as well, dropping him to the floor.

Naruto's eyes flashed in crimson as he looked at the two unconscious soldiers. Then he stepped forward and burst into Hokage's office.

He stood at the entrance, puzzled.

Tsunade hovered over Sasuke who was lying seemingly unconscious on a makeshift bed. His robe pulled down to his waist level and bloodstained white uniforms and torn black shirt thrown to the floor, along with the mask and the katana.

Tsunade turned around, looking at Naruto. Her eyes narrowed to the bodies of the soldiers of the floor. "I thought they wouldn’t be able to hold you back." She looked back at Sasuke and ran her hand through his moist hair, resting it on his forehead. "He said you'd be coming."

Naruto licked his lips and lowered his eyes, calming himself down with a few deep breaths.

"He should be fine after some rest." Tsunade let go of Sasuke's head and stepped over to her desk.

"I don’t care about him…" Naruto lied meekly. "I was thinking about the kids."

Tsunade smiled sadly and cleaned her hands. "Naruto, sit down please."

Naruto folded his arms without making a move. He glanced at the unconscious and bandaged Sasuke, watching his chest rising and falling with steady silent breaths. His eyes fixated on the many scars that covered his bare skin.

"What is it?" he asked, forcing his eyes back to Hokage.

"I need you to sit down."

"I really have to go, Iruka-sensei-"

"Naruto," Tsunade cut him short. "Sasuke's team was eliminated."

Naruto gaped and looked again at Sasuke, before returning his stare to the Hokage. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently there was counter-intelligence. The enemy hired two Hidden Mist Anbu squads to ambush us. They knew exactly who we were sending and were well prepared." She threw a glance at Sasuke. "He narrowly escaped. They knew the Mist shinobis are the most skilled against the sharingan."

"So everyone on his team died," Naruto said with a sigh. "That's just…" the words left hanging in the air as realization sank in. "Wait!" He launched at her, slamming his hands on the desk. "And Konohamaru? What about Konohamaru? He's in Sasuke's team too! Where is he?!"

Tsunade just looked at him sorrowfully.

"No, no. it's a lie…" Naruto staggered back, his eyes shimmering with tears. "It's gotta be a nasty lie. Konohamaru can't be dead…"

"Naruto, he sacrificed himself to rescue Sasuke. I'm sorry," Tsunade said quietly.

"No, no. it can't be… there are medical nins in every group, right? Someone must have fixed him…"

"The medical nin had already been killed."

"Then you cure him!" Naruto again lunged at the desk. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, making her stand up. "You have to cure him, Tsunade!! You can fix him!!" he yelled, tears washing his face. "You have to bring him back!"

"He's already dead, Naruto…" Tsunade said quietly, without trying to fend him off her. "There's nothing I can do."

"There is! There is! There's the jutsu that… that jutsu… you can bring him back! He has a wife and a baby… and he's… he's Konohamaru…" Naruto cried. "He can't be dead, it's one of his stupid jokes can't you see??"

"I'm sorry Naruto." Tsunade stifled another cry.

Naruto's teary blue eyes flickered in red and he snarled low in his throat. "You're lying. You have the power to bring him back. Give him back to me or I swear I will." He clenched his hand into a tight fist.

Tsunade just continued to look at him with sad eyes.

"GIVE HIM BACK!!!" His hand tightened around her robe and he took a swing at her, but his fist was blocked an inch before it hit Tsunade's face.

Naruto growled and looked to see Sasuke standing by the Hokage's side, the Anbu robe covering his body but leaving his head bare. His eyes were shining as he looked into Naruto's eyes.

"Calm down," Sasuke said quietly.

"You bastard…" Naruto hissed. "Why are you here? It should have been you."

"Naruto!" Tsunade raised her voice. "Don't say things you'll regret. We are all upset."

Naruto lowered his head. "I want to see his body."

"They all died on enemy soil, I had to dispose of their bodies immediately," Sasuke whispered hoarsely.

Naruto mulled over his words. He doubled over, holding his stomach. "No… it can't be true…" his voice died out and he fell down to his knees.

"I'll take him to his home," Sasuke told Tsunade quietly.

"You need to rest!" She protested. "I don't know how you woke up from the anesthetization in the first place…"

"I'll be fine," he said quietly and walked over to Naruto. "Call Suzumura, get him to replace the guards Naruto knocked out. I can't leave you alone."

It took a long five minutes for Anbu soldiers to come and take away the unconscious soldiers. Sasuke glanced at Naruto who sat passively at the desk, gazing blankly into space.

"Let's go, Naruto." He touched Naruto's shoulder lightly, making the blond acknowledge his presence.

They walked quietly to Naruto's home, their arms slung over the other's shoulders. None of them were able to move with their usual competency. Sasuke was still weakened from fighting off the anesthetics and Naruto was too emotionally drained to bother with anything.

Instead of a few moments, it had taken them almost half an hour to arrive at Naruto's building. Sasuke supported him to the door.

"Naruto… I…uh," he stammered, letting go of his former lover. "I'm really sorry. For what's it worth, he put up an impressive fight."

Naruto didn't reply, just stared off into space again, before sighing and taking out his key. He opened the door and Sasuke turned to leave, when Naruto grabbed his arm. He turned back to face Naruto.

"Stay," Naruto asked quietly. "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Naruto, I can't, I-"

Before Sasuke could finish his words, Naruto moved in and kissed him hard on his lips. Sasuke stood rigid, letting the slightly shorter man kiss him eagerly, before breaking the ice and giving in to the kiss.

Tsunade blushed and averted her eyes from her crystal ball. "Could it be… that they were lovers?" she folded her fingers under her chin in thought.

***

Naruto continued devouring Sasuke's mouth, pawing at his chest, oblivious to Sasuke's ragged breath and hisses of pain. He pulled him into the apartment, closing the door behind them. Sasuke cupped Naruto's face and broke the kiss.

They locked stares briefly and Naruto covered the distance between them, pushing his knee between Sasuke's thighs.

"Please…" he murmured. "I need it…"

Sasuke closed his eyes and allowed Naruto to remove the cloak from his body. His entire upper body was covered with a white bandage that was already stained with blood.

Naruto didn't slow down his moves. He tugged on Sasuke's black spandex pants, pulling them down with one swift pull. Sasuke hissed and dug his fingers into Naruto's shoulder when the blond kneeled before him and wrapped his warm hand around Sasuke's semi-aroused shaft. There was nothing gentle or loving in Naruto's touch as he rubbed his hand fast over Sasuke's teased member.

Sasuke grunted, biting on his lower lip. Naruto fondled Sasuke's testicles and leaned in, taking Sasuke's cock into his mouth. Sasuke's knees wobbled and he doubled in, causing the bloodstain on his bandage to spread faster. His legs finally gave in and he slumped into Naruto's arms in complete exhaustion.

Naruto held him in one hand and with the other unzipped his vest and removed it. Before he got rid of his other clothes he helped Sasuke up and supported him to the bedroom.

Sasuke was only semi-conscious as he crawled into the bed, messing the white sheets with his blood. He sat with his face covered in the pillow and his hand between his legs.

Naruto took off his clothes and joined Sasuke in the bed. Sasuke already slowed his movements, about to fall asleep, when Naruto mounted him, running his hands over his back roughly. An anguished cry involuntarily escaped Sasuke's lips when Naruto's hands ran over his recent injuries. Naruto kissed Sasuke's nape and his hand moved to grab his organ, smearing the pre-cum over the shaft.

Sasuke groaned and leaned in, grasping the sheets with both his hands. Naruto used his left hand to smear the thin fluid into Sasuke's pucker. For a brief moment he contemplated getting up and taking vaseline from the bathroom, but the lucid thought was quickly fogged by his urgent need to feel Sasuke's hot body against him.

He guided his shaft into Sasuke's untrained behind and without any preparation, pushed himself into him, making the man underneath him unleash another cry of pain. Naruto's hand was still rubbing Sasuke's hard cock as he continued to thrust into him in smooth movements.

Sasuke leaned on his elbows, shutting tight his eyes, as he let Naruto take complete control over his body. He continued to clutch tightly the sheets, crying out every time Naruto was thrusting more roughly into him. Naruto's hand moved more urgently up and down Sasuke's erection, until Sasuke could no longer hold himself and reached his climax, shooting his seed all over Naruto's hand and sheets.

It didn't take much longer for Naruto to reach his own orgasm inside Sasuke's tight ass. He groaned and bit Sasuke's shoulder, sustaining his cry as he came, before collapsing on Sasuke's broad back. He stayed on top of Sasuke, their bodies sticking together with sweat and other body fluids. Burying his face between Sasuke's shoulder blades, he started crying, adding his warm tears to the sweat that covered his lover's back.

Sasuke stayed still, adjusting his breath and heartbeat, too exhausted to even try and move despite the sharp pain from his wounds that escalated whenever Naruto moved and pressed him into the bed. The pain of the penetration was hardly noticeable with the high endurance level of his body. It wasn't the first time he had bottomed for Naruto. When they had been together, young and passionate, they had experimented all the time. However, it was the first time there were no feelings into Naruto's lovemaking. In fact, it wasn't lovemaking at all, Naruto desperately needed the physical warmth and Sasuke was just there to provide it.

With those last clear thoughts, he finally gave in to the fatigue of his body and fell into a dreamless sleep, under the weight of Naruto's body.

***

"Naruto!" Naruto turned around when he heard someone calling his name. He blinked in confusion when a dark-haired man with a red strip on either side of his face walked towards him. A large gray dog followed the man who was dressed in the customary black mourning robes. A young brown-haired boy who looked exactly like Kiba, except his red strips were horizontal, walked next to him with a small black puppy sitting comfortably on his shoulder.

"Kiba?" Naruto asked, despite knowing the answer. The big gray dog barked and wagged its tail.

"Finally I get to see you! It's too bad we meet under such circumstances." Kiba lifted his chin, gesturing at the monument.

Since there were no bodies, like in most cases of failed missions in foreign countries, only a memorial service was held in honor of the dead. The rumors about the failed mission spread all over the village and were only confirmed by noon. Conveniently, Kakashi had volunteered to fill in Naruto's position until a better substitute was found, and took the three children away from the village, preventing the rumors from reaching Sasuke's sons.

"Yeah…" Naruto said quietly, patting the dog. "Your son?" he asked looking at the young boy.

"Yes, his name is Hige." Kiba smiled and patted the child's shoulder.

The area in front of the monument quickly filled with relatives and acquaintance of the fallen heroes and with Anbu soldiers, dressed in the traditional black mourning robes, but their masks still hiding their faces.

Naruto looked at the people and then at Kiba who stared with misty eyes at the monument. He wanted to ask him how long has it been and how everyone had gone, but his voice refused to come out.

"I really feel bad for Sasuke, bringing the boys back alive was always the most important thing for him. And he's been with Seki the longest, I think they had been teamed up since Sasuke joined the Anbu. Yeah, I think they were in the training camp together. Seki used to come and drink sake with us," Kiba said offhandedly without looking at Naruto.

Naruto raised his eyes to his old friend in surprise. Some sort of unexplained feeling twitched his stomach. Kiba was Sasuke's friend. He knew things about him that Naruto didn't. This feeling was in a way the same one he felt after Sasuke left him for Sakura.

'Why… why do I feel this way?' he rebuked himself mentally.

"In that way, he was different from the other Anbu soldiers. Everyone is always worried about the mission as they were taught… I think he got that part from you. You used to be like that, caring more about the people around you than completing the mission." Kiba smiled lightly. "You made us a different kind of ninja."

Naruto shivered and lowered his eyes. "I…" he whispered voicelessly.

"Oh here's Iruka-sensei and Kaeda-chan," Kiba lowered his voice. "I guess Hokage-sama should be arriving any moment and the ceremony will start."

Naruto raised his head. "I'll be right back," he whispered and walked towards Iruka and Kaeda.

"Iruka-sensei…" Naruto said and stopped a few feet away from them.

Iruka looked at Naruto with warm teary eyes. Kaeda released Iruka's arm and wiped her eyes with her handkerchief.

"Iruka-sensei…" Naruto tried to speak up again. His throat was blocked with tears and he feared he was going to burst out any moment.

"It's okay, Naruto, you don't have to apologize," Iruka-sensei said softly. "I understand you were upset. It doesn't matter…"

"It does matter." Naruto insisted. "I shouldn't have said that… and now…" he sighed and looked at Kaeda. "I wish… I really… I'm sorry…" he mumbled.

She nodded and gave him a faint smile. "He always prepared me for this…" she sniveled. "But I never thought it would actually happen…" She wiped her tears again. "He always said that he has to save Sasuke at least once to pay his debts." She bit her bottom lip. "He finally did…"

Iruka supported her again, looking gravely at Naruto. "I heard you took Sasuke to the hospital last night."

Naruto blushed and looked away. "I took care of his wounds, but he didn't wake up."

The buzz around them quickly silenced, signaling that the Godaime had arrived. Iruka, Kaeda and Naruto quickly lined up with the rest of the people, waiting for the service to begin.

***

It was all his fault. He came back alive. Keishirou, Seki, Konohamaru, they were all gone and he had to come back home alone after dissecting their bodies and burning them so that none of Konoha's secrets would fall into hostile hands. Konohamaru… why didn't he stay behind as he was told? Naruto would never forgive him for being the sole survivor of his family again.

Sasuke opened his eyes slowly, only to be blinded by the bright light and shut them tight quickly. Then, slower, he opened them again, trying to get used to the intensive light.

"Oh you've finally decided to wake up," a woman's voice spoke above him.

Sasuke grunted and rubbed his eyes, and sat up. "How long was I sleeping?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Tsunade folded her arms over her breast. "Almost a week."

"What?!" he lowered his hand and looked at her. "You let me sleep for a week?"

"I tried and tried, but you were determined to stay in your coma." She shrugged. "Your body has control of its own. Either you wake up when I try to put you to sleep, or you sleep when I try to wake you." She smiled sweetly. "At least your wounds are gone."

Sasuke looked around the white room, realizing for the first time he was in the hospital. "Naruto?" he asked.

"He brought you in."

Sasuke leaned back on his pillow. "How is he doing?" he asked quietly.

"He's hanging in there," Tsunade said softly. "He's started to blend back in, actually. Finally starting to ask what happened in the village since he left, filling the gap."

"I see."

"He's hanging out with Kiba, Neji and Lee. Even with Shikamaru when he's available. I think he's starting to heal."

"Good." Sasuke turned to look out the window and then sat up. "I guess I'll be going now."

"I want you to take a vacation," Tsunade said before Sasuke got up from the bed.

"I feel fine," he patted his stomach, noticing for the first time he was wearing one of Naruto's t-shirts. "No pain."

"I can't let you go on missions so soon after you've lost the entire team."

"I made the wrong decision, but I think I'm still fit to lead a squad team."

"I don't doubt that, I just think it's too soon." She explained.

"I need the money."

"Paid vacation."

He had no comeback for that and just lowered his head. "You mean, you'll pay for me to sit at home." A wry smile twisted his lips.

"That's right."

He huffed and looked away.

"There's something I need to ask you," Tsunade said after a while. "About Naruto."

"What?" he raised his eyes to face her.

"Did something happen between the two of you?" she asked and looked at his reaction.

He kept a blank face. "What do you mean? When I couldn't save Hinata-"

"Before that," Tsunade cut him out. "Were you lovers?"

All the Anbu training and body control techniques he had mastered with the years, couldn't hide his surprise of being directly asked about his age-old secret, not so soon after he emerged from a coma.

"I need to know, so I could understand Naruto and help him heal faster," she explained. "I know he's in love with you."

Sasuke scoffed. "He hates me."

"I don't think he usually kisses people that he hates."

Sasuke's eyes widened with shock. "You… saw?"

His cheeks were quickly tinted with crimson.

"It couldn't be helped, I was following you two with my orb because I wanted to make sure you arrived safely at his home, once he started… kissing you, I put it away."

Sasuke sighed and tapped his fingers nervously on his hips. "We were lovers once," he admitted in half whisper. "It started shortly after I returned to the Leaf. And I left him… more like he left me… when I proposed to Sakura."

"I see. I'm surprised you've managed to keep that as a secret for so long."

Sasuke sighed. "My status in the village was pretty volatile, and he had only just started earning the villagers' respect, we thought it was better that way."

Tsunade smiled lightly. "That's exactly why I'm surprised. Rumors spread in this village faster than viruses."

"In any case," Sasuke cleared his throat. "It's of the past. Don't hold it against him. There's nothing between us now."

"Is that so?"

Sasuke didn't reply, just got up to pick up his cloak from the chair. He quickly realized he wasn't wearing only Naruto's shirt, but one of his boxers as well. Ignoring that, he covered himself with the robe and faced the Godaime. "With your permission, I'd like to go home and see my sons."

"Very well, I'll contact Kakashi and tell him to bring the children back."

Sasuke looked at her in confusion. "Kakashi? Did he replace Naruto because…"

"Yes, we felt it was better if the children weren't here while you were still unconscious. But I'm afraid Naruto got into trouble with the Lord's wife and she demanded he be suspended from all ninja activities."

"What?" Sasuke blinked. "Are you serious?"

"I'm afraid so." Tsunade got up from the chair. "I told Naruto to apologize to her, but I think the recent incident has caused it to slip his mind."

Sasuke folded his arms. "Have you told him it could cost him the Hokage position?"

"I did. He was… uncooperative about it." Tsunade sighed.

Sasuke sniffed and rubbed his chin. "There's something you need to know about Naruto…" he said quietly. "The reason he's changed…"

Tsunade turned from the window to face him.

"The truth about Hinata's death…"


TBC