Homecoming

Part Three
Time to Heal


The first thing Sasuke noticed as he walked inside the house was how quiet the place was. He didn't give it much thought and took off his feline mask on his way to the shower.

Sasuke felt exhausted. The mission was rough and drained him from energy. Maybe he was getting too old for this. What he really wanted was to know if the boys passed the Genin exam. He was pretty confident they had passed and were now on their first mission.

He stomped quickly down the stairs and opened the fridge to take out the jar of cold water. Walking to the dinner table, his eyes landed on an open scroll that covered the table, lots of rolled scrolls rested next to it.

It sure brought back memories…

"Would you stop bouncing around, idiot?" Sasuke growled, raising his eyes from the scroll. "You're making me lose concentration!"

"But I'm borrrrrred!" Naruto complained, startling Sasuke from behind. "Why'd you told me to come over if you're busy?"

"I thought we could study together…" Sasuke said quietly as two arms wrapped around him. He raised his head to look at the mischievous grin on Naruto's face.

"Is that so?" the blond asked huskily, leaning his chin on Sasuke's shoulder. He trailed his hand down the muscular, tight upper body of the dark-haired boy, before sliding it into his pants, wrapping his fingers around the hardening member.

Sasuke gasped as Naruto's hand started working up and down his hot shaft, pulling and squeezing, and doing it so skillfully too. The blond nuisance knew all too well how to make him squirm in pleasure.

Naruto spread small, wet kisses on Sasuke's jaw line, without diverting his attention from his lover's pulsing organ.

Sasuke gave a loud hiss as Naruto kicked away the table and kneeled before him, unzipping Sasuke's pants quickly and releasing his aching erection.

Naruto lifted his eyes, smirking smugly at his little victory. He leaned in, tracing his tongue over Sasuke's hard cock, sending shivers down the other man's spine. He lingered a little on the tip, before engulfing it.

Sasuke bit his bottom lip, trying to suppress his moan. His fingers curled around the blond's lengthy spikes. "Na… ruto…" he wheezed. "Ssstop… I…"

Naruto's hands added more pressure as he continued tormenting his lover with his mouth.

Sasuke gave in and came with a load groan.

Once he felt the other boy relaxing his muscles and slumping back in his chair, Naruto raised his head and licked his lips with a smug grin on his face.

Sasuke panted, trying to gain back control over his body. He opened one eye and looked down at his blond lover. "You cheater…" he whispered hoarsely.

Naruto chuckled briefly and got up, kissing Sasuke and giving him some of his own taste. "Still want to study?" he whispered against his mouth.

Sasuke sighed and crushed Naruto against his chest. "You should study too, moron…"

"Hm?"

"Kakashi informed me the Hokage will announce the Jounin exam soon."

"For real?" Naruto opened his eyes.

"Of course, idiot. We're already eighteen and we're still chuunins. Kakashi said it's likely we're going to be nominated this time. "

"Yay!" Naruto yelped and bounced in Sasuke's lap, making the other boy wince. "Oh, sorry." He chuckled and leaned against Sasuke's chest. "I'm just excited."

"I have to pass this exam…" Sasuke said thoughtfully. "I want to join the ANBU."

Naruto silenced and sat up, staring at Sasuke with a serious expression. "You do?"

"Of course I do. It's the epitome of being a ninja."

Naruto drew circles over Sasuke's shirt with his fingers. "I don't want you to join the ANBU."

"Huh?" Sasuke raised his eyes to Naruto's face.

The blond looked at him tacitly, with big, shimmering blue eyes.

"You're serious." Sasuke furrowed his brow as he examined his lover's face. "Why the hell not? It's the elite! You should want to join as well."

Naruto got up and turned his back on Sasuke. "It's too dangerous."

"What?!" Sasuke got up and pulled Naruto's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and look at him. "That's a surprise coming from someone who's jumping head on straight into danger."

Naruto kept frowning, sticking out his lower lip.

"Look," Sasuke sighed. "We've already done a lot of B rank missions… I've hardly got injured before…"

"It's not your body I'm worried about!" Naruto burst in.

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and scanned Naruto's face. "What is it then?"

Naruto lowered his head. "I don't want you to become a cold-blooded killer."

"It's…" Sasuke hesitated and Naruto raised his eyes to the taller boy.

"It's just a mission. Not all the ANBU missions are assassination."

"But most of them are!" Naruto gritted his teeth. "You've had enough."

"It's not the same, Naruto. It's never going to be the same," Sasuke said quietly. "I've put the past behind me. It's over."

"I can't forget your face… maybe there's a demon in me, but you were the one who looked possessed. You enjoyed killing. You enjoyed the bloodshed."

"They were in the way of my revenge…" Sasuke intoned, lowering his voice dangerously. "I killed them because I had to."

Naruto looked into Sasuke's dark eyes without flinching. "If you join the ANBU forces, you can forget about me."

Sasuke gasped. "Are you serious?"

"I don't want to see the darkness taking over your heart again. Epitome of being a ninja? Are you that stupid?" Naruto hissed and walked away.

Sasuke watched him leave the room and clenched his teeth. 'Why does this idiot have so much power over me?!' he thought and clutched his fists tight.

"Naruto!" he called and stormed out of the room, catching up with Naruto who was about to walk out the door. He pulled Naruto by his arm and slammed his back against the door, shutting it close.

"Don't go." His hands cupped Naruto's face, thumbs caressing Naruto's scarred cheeks.

"Have you decided already?" Naruto raised his blue eyes to the taller boy.

"You bastard. As if you didn't know." Sasuke smirked and leaned in to kiss him.

Naruto averted his face, avoiding the kiss. "Do you promise?" he asked.

Sasuke pressured his thumbs on Naruto's face, forcing him to look at him. "I promise. I won't join the ANBU forces."

"I'm home!" Sasuke raised his head when he heard the cheerful voice coming from the genkan. He folded the scroll and cleared the table, clearing his mind from the memories.

'Why him, all of a sudden?'

"Last one in the kitchen doing the dishes!"

"I'm not going to compete with the likes of you, stupid." Came the grouchy reply.

A loud dash of legs and the two boys appeared in the kitchen, stopping short when they spotted the darkly clad figure in the kitchen.

"You're home…" Kenji mumbled in surprise.

Ryoichi passed the boy and turned to face him. He poked the other boy in his chest. "You're doing the dishes, stupid."

"Hey!" Kenji scowled.

"So I see you've passed the Genin exam," Sasuke said quietly, stopping the quarrel before it had the opportunity get on his nerves.

"Unfortunately we're on the same team." Ryoichi folded his arms and stood next to Sasuke.

"So, you got tied to the log?" Sasuke asked Kenji.

"You know about it?" Kenji's face looked even paler.

Ryoichi snickered. "Even the girl is better than him."

"Shut up! You weren't smiling when the sensei kicked your ass!"

"Would you two keep it quiet?" Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead. "So, how was your first mission?"

"It was stupid." Both boys uttered together, Kenji a bit louder than his brother.

"Glad you agree on that," Sasuke muttered under his breath and took a sip from his glass of water. "Well, if it's any comfort I also had a lot of stupid missions when I was a Genin."

Ryoichi stepped closer. "Father, let's train. I want to perfect my shuriken throwing."

"I thought you were already perfect," Kenji mocked.

"Shut up. You're still here, so obviously I wasn't aiming so well," his brother snapped at him.

Kenji stuck out his tongue. "Sure, that's what you say!"

"Be quiet," Sasuke hissed. "Both of you."

The boys turned around to look at him.

"I'm going to sleep, so keep your voices down." He stepped away.

"What about the training?" Ryoichi asked.

"Later."

"You always say 'later', and I never see it," the boy muttered and folded his arms. "Then you have a mission and leave for a week."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, raising his head in surprise.

'I don't have time to take care of you today, Sasuke'

And he had sworn he would never let his sons feel unwanted the way his brother made him feel, during his short childhood.

He turned around and looked at Ryoichi with a small, tired smile. "Fine, we'll train now."

"Yeah, you should train him how to block chopsticks!" Kenji said loudly.

"Chopsticks?" Sasuke blinked.

"Hey, listen you idiot…" Ryoichi gritted his teeth and turned to look at his twin brother. "Do I have to remind you that you were the first to go down? That stupid Jounin didn't even need to put down his cup ramen to fight you." He chuckled briefly. "And how can you ever think about chopsticks again after having it shoved up your ass?"

"SHUT UP!!" Kenji yelled, flushed.

"Chopsticks?" Sasuke asked again in confusion.

Ryoichi turned to look at him. "That teacher has such stupid skills… can't you talk with someone and get me another teacher? I mean, the idiot is obsessed with ramen, uses chopsticks as weapon…"

"Hmm…" Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose. His fatigue started to win over his body. He knew there was something important he wanted to say. There was something floating and nagging at the back of his mind.

"… Naruto … " A single word his son said suddenly reached through the veil of the weariness that enfolded his mind.

"What?" he shook his head and looked down at the boy. "What did you say?"

"I said he has the stupidest skills," Ryoichi muttered. "I don't want him to teach me."

"The last thing you said," Sasuke stressed, grabbing the boy's shoulders.

"I was talking about the freaking long name he gave to the thing he did to Kenji," Ryoichi explained and took a breath. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique: A 1,000 Years of Pain – Naruto's style," he uttered the long name and exhaled. "How stupid is that? If he's a Jounin, Kenji still got a chance…" Ryoichi slowed down as he noticed the weird, distant look on Sasuke's face.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked huskily.

"That's his name." Ryoichi shrugged. "Uzumaki Naruto. Do you know him?"

Sasuke let go of the boy and stared at him in silence.

'Naruto… back here?'

Kenji and Ryoichi exchanged looks when their father suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

***

Sasuke's chest heaved as his breath continued to accelerate. The fatigue evaporated as the turmoil of emotions washed through his body.

'Naruto… Is back in Konoha… after all this time…'

Why now, after he no longer dreamed and the hopes faded into a distant memory.

He clashed against the wooden door and started pounding on it repeatedly. "Open the door!! Naruto!!"

His fast breath caught in his windpipe when the door swung open. He was left with his fist in the air, waiting to see the face behind the door.

The face he yearned to see for years, before losing his hope. He wondered for a split second if he still looked the same. If he was still his Naruto.

His Naruto…

"What the hell do you want?" an angry man glared at him.

Sasuke started breathing again and pushed the man aside, stepping into the apartment. "Where is he?" he demanded to know.

"Where's who? Who the hell are you?" the man asked.

Sasuke's sharp, dark eyes scanned the room quickly. He gaped when he saw the woman looking at him in suspicion. A young boy stood behind her, clinging to her dress.

"You live here?" Sasuke asked, turning to face the man.

"Of course we do!" the man furrowed his brow. "What do you want from us?"

Sasuke bit his lower lip, before looking at the woman and child again. "Of course you live here…" he mumbled quietly.

That time he burst into this small apartment, nearly nine years ago, it was empty. He should have known it wouldn't stay empty and wait for Naruto's return. Just like he didn't.

'I'm worried about Naruto, I haven't seen him for days and he won't answer the door,' Sakura told him that time. She knew they weren't talking to each other, but still, out of concern to her friend, asked him to go check on Naruto. And what exactly did he hope to find, when he burst into the empty apartment?

"I'm sorry. I got the wrong address…" Sasuke mumbled under his breath and left the apartment.

He stood outside the building complex and stared at it for a moment. He used to spend so many nights in that apartment. It was safer that way, since no one ever came to visit Naruto that often. Everyone always showed up in the Uchiha residence though, maybe to make sure he was still there. To make sure he wouldn't snap again.

***

Sasuke hesitated as he set his foot on the wooden floor of the ramen shop. He got too carried away by his emotions. What would he do if he actually saw Naruto there? What would he say? He couldn't allow himself to show a weakness. And he couldn't be acting so irrationally like this.

But he didn't sense any of the familiar chakra.

More confident, Sasuke stepped over to the counter. Surely, Naruto was visiting this place frequently since his return. He doubted Naruto would ever give up on ramen. It was too much a part of who he was.

"Ojisan." Sasuke addressed the cook. "Have you seen a blond boy eating here?"

The cook scratched his head thinking. "Hmm, no, I don't think so," he said after a while.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke pressed. "He eats here a lot. Blond, blue eyes… looking stupid. He has three scars on each cheek…"

"Oh. Scars, you say?" the cook perked his head. "On each cheek, like whiskers?"

"You've seen him?" Sasuke leaned on the counter, staring at the cook in anticipation.

"But he's not a kid… he's a man. You mean, Naruto, right?"

Sasuke gasped. "Naruto… yes." He rubbed his forehead. "Of course he's not a kid…"

"He left just a few minutes ago."

Sasuke sighed. "I guess you don't know where he went."

"No, I'm sorry."

'That's okay,' Sasuke thought. It wasn't the right time to see Naruto anyway. Not when his blood was boiling in his veins, and his emotions flowing so carelessly. He needed to regain his composure first.

Naruto is back. It was real.

He just needed some time.