The Blessed Realm

Chapter
Fifty-Four: We're lovers now

There
was still Sakura's letter to answer. Sasuke had read the part for
Naruto too: the lines on how the Uchiha clan, including himself, had
been spied on had hurt him, while both to Sakura and to Naruto the
surveillance and its results had seemed rather ridiculous and absurd.
What had hurt him even more were the words of Sakura's mother on the
ghettoization of the Uchiha clan: As a kid he had not been aware that
his family had been hated and despised. For some moments he regretted
that he had told Naruto about the massacre: if he had not he could
still go and take out the whole village without him.

He
was having fun here in Music Town, but did this not imply that he was
betraying his family? There was Naruto's promise, to be sure, but he
did not really give the impression of making an effort to come up
with a plan to make Danzou pay. Also, Sasuke doubted that he would
manage to persuade Naruto to hold the villagers accountable for their
share of the clan's sufferings.

He
was not really looking forward to returning to Konoha. They'd take
revenge against Danzou, and then Naruto would become Hokage while he
himself would either die or live at Naruto's side, which was
definitely better than living on his own while Naruto was married to
Sakura. Still even the idea of living with Naruto in Konoha did not
give him much joy. He could not imagine being a ninja again, fighting
for the village that was responsible for his family's murder. He'd do
it for Naruto's sake, but for himself it would be hell: Living with
these people, meeting them every day, making smalltalk to them,
smiling at them as he did with the inhabitants of Music Town. Only
being with Naruto would make it bearable.

He
began to write:

Dear
Sakura!

I
want to thank you again for taking it upon you to search for
information on the massacre of my clan.

He
paused. He had intended to tell her why it was so important to him to
know what people had found out about his clan, but now he had
forgotten about it. His clan had been ghettoized and spied upon, this
was all he really needed to know. He continued:

Be
careful though! Your mother is correct: Finding out about my mother's
visits to the hairdresser is not worth the risk. What's important is
first to find out whether Itachi was ordered to murder the clan...

He
underlined the word ordered. He hesitated before he continued: He
firmly believed that the massacre was not justified and he did not
want this belief to be shaken. However he also longed for some
confirmation that the clan had been innocent:

...and
whether they were really planning a coup d'etat. It's Itachi's files
you need to find: He was the double agent who had all the information
on the clan and passed it on to the Elders. I suspect that they are
not among the reports collected by ordinary ANBU. But as I said: be
careful. Don't risk your life!

He
paused again, making up his mind what he wanted to tell her about his
homosexuality.

Also
I want to ask you not to blame Naruto for turning me gay. I've been
gay for all my life, and if anything, Naruto helped me get aware of
it. I always cared more for him than for anyone else, except my
family of course. We're lovers now, but even if we weren't, I'd never
have married a woman.

Here
he could marry Naruto, he realized. He'd have to discuss it with him.

He
returned to his letter, He wanted to end it on a friendly note, but
he had difficulties finding the right words.

Thanks
also for everything you do to counteract Danzou's cruel and foolish
orders, protecting the population of Konoha.

He
just wished that Itachi had had the same courage to disobey Danzou
and rather protect his clan.

Take
care, however: Even if overstraining yourself won't kill you, as you
are not sent on missions, it can still have bad effects on your
health. People here believe that ninja never overstrain themselves
and are always in good health.

Warm
regards, Sasuke

He
put down his pen and looked at Naruto who was working on his own
letter: Several crumpled and torn up sheets of paper were already
lying on the table. Sasuke watched him until he was finally happy
with what he had written.

“You
can give it to me”, he said. “I will send it away this
time.”

Naruto
passed him the letter. It was not folded, which Sasuke took as
permission to read it:

Dear
Sakura!

I
know you will be angry for what I have to tell you. I wish it were
otherwise, but it could not be helped. Sasuke's gay, and he says he's
been gay for all his life. I tried to persuade him to marry you when
we returned to Konoha but he would not listen. I'm sorry, but this is
the truth. Anyway, I don't think I ever promised you that he would
marry you, I only promised to bring him back to Konoha, and this
promise I will keep.

Love,
Naruto.

Sasuke
frowned. Silently he folded Naruto's letter and let it slip into the
envelope that already contained his own message to Sakura. Naruto,
seeing the expression of confusion and displeasure on Sasuke's face,
came over to embrace and kiss him, and Sasuke gave in to his embraces
and kisses, but his worries were not fully dispersed.

A/N:
I have finally got around to answering to your reviews. They are all
appreciated! You can find my answers at
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=14965
(I hope the link will show up.) You have to register to the forum, however. Sorry. It's not my rule.

I
know that this chapter is rather short. I haven't found any
meaningful way to combine it either with the previous or with the
next chapter. The next chapter will be short too, but chapter 56 is
really long.