Worth Saving You

Sasuke studied the scroll laid out in front of him diligently, even though he had to strain his eyes in the low light. Team Hebi sat around the flickering fire, more silent than they had been in months. The reason was clear: there wasn't much use for them anymore. Their objective had been completed in the death of Sasuke's brother, and his partner whose sword now lay wrapped carefully in clean cloths just outside their circle, and Sasuke had announced that he would be returning to his former village within the month, though he had one more task to complete before then.

There wasn't much for the others to do then, so they had followed Sasuke this far. They were almost at the border of fire country, and they were restless now. All of them except for Sasuke that is, the Uchiha absorbed in the documents he had been collecting throughout his journey, after Naruto's departure. Some of them had been Kabuto's, stashed in various abandoned sound bases across the country, others had been found in the villages they'd passed along the way, each once somehow a piece to this puzzle Sasuke was building, though no one but him knew exactly what that was.

It was another week before they finally parted ways, Sasuke sealing his myriad of books and papers into a storage scroll and heading off towards the gates he could see in the distance now. As much as Naruto had assured him that he would be welcomed back to the leaf upon his return, Sasuke's logical, pessimistic side knew that that had been untrue, even if Naruto had believed it with the feverency that he held all of his beliefs in. Sasuke was sure that he would be turned away, maybe even locked up, as soon as he set foot within sight of those walls. He hadn't really worked out a plan yet, the only thing he knew was that he had to go on, he had to push forwards and face that when it came.

He had been so focused on his journey, through the branches above the path, that he didn't notice the man traveling below him until he was overtop him, and almost fell from his branch as the man, stooped with age and draped in a faded white cloak, called out to him in greeting.

"Uchiha-san, hello! I did not think we would ever meet again in this life." Sasuke felt his brow crinkle in confusion, the man hadn't looked at him at all, and his chakra was perfectly masked. He took another branch before he landed, facing the man, his body taught and ready for battle. The man just laughed, leaning heavily on the stick he carried as he drew back his hood. Sasuke found himself smiling, his head inclining in a bow to the old monk from the temple they had visited, the one who had delivered his child.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't recognize you, I've been on the road for awhile now and I am impatient to reach home." The monk smiled brightly as he moved slowly towards Sasuke.

"Konoha?" Sasuke's eyes widened a little, but he nodded. The monk turned, with the same wide, happy smile on his face. It made something in Sasuke hurt, calling to his mind bright blue eyes and hair like sunshine. "Then would you mind accompanying an old man? I am supposed to go there myself, but when you get to be as old as I am you find that travel isn't as easy as it once was." Sasuke found himself smiling as the man reached him, nodding as he turned to face the direction of home, now hidden once again from his vantage point on the forest floor.

The journey was slower then, by a long shot, but they still reached the gates of konoha before the sun had managed to completely set over the forest behind them. Sasuke wasn't surprised when a group of guards, albeit a small one, was waiting for him there, cuffs and weapons at the ready. The monk just smiled as he reached them. Sasuke stopped, presenting his hands in front of him in silent surrender. The monk leaned towards him then, one hand resting on his shoulder as he whispered.

"I see you have completed that which you have sworn to do, but it hasn't left your conscience as clear as you had hoped. Remember this, Uchiha-san: the refusal to forgive is a poison that we give ourselves, hoping that someone else will die.* You live not only for yourself now, but for others as well."

Sasuke didn't understand the words, but nodded anyways, watching as the monk retrieved papers of passage for the guards, passing quietly with a nod in their direction, and a final wave to Sasuke as he disappeared down the road.


X


Naruto smiled down on the girl who sat in the garden below, building a city from the small rocks that surrounded her. She was just over a year old now, and her hair was dark in color, unlike the fuzz she had been born with. She was beautiful, and every time Naruto felt that tightness in his chest, the lonely sort of squeeze that all of his friends told him was stupid, he only had to look at her smile, or hear the light sound of her wordless babble, and he could feel that emptiness flood with love. Even if Sasuke never came back, even if the boy died like Sakura had, this baby, the fusion of his teammates that he had carried for so long inside of him, would live on. He would see to that.

This evening though, he had other things to do. Usually he was content to just sit and watch he play, even in the gathering dark of the early night that came with the season, but tonight he had places to be, and so did she. Tsunade had sent him a summons earlier, and official summons at that. It meant that there was serious business that he was needed on, and something inside of him hoped to god that it would be a mission for him, finally.

Sakura was old enough now that she could be left to the care of others for longer spans of time, and while his former teammate's parents had been angry at him upon his return they had long ago forgiven him for the sake of this child, the child they hadn't even known their daughter was carrying until it was too late. They were a lot of help to Naruto now, and he knew they would care for Sakura in his absence.

His mind wandered as he stepped back, through the cold little bedroom he had taken at the front of the little house, and down the steps to the door. He wanted to leave this village, even just for a little while. Sasuke's continued absence made him nervous and he didn't know how much longer he could stand not knowing, Still, as restless as he felt, as soon as he stepped outside and those green eyes smiled up at him, Sakura babbling from the ground as she raised her hands in his direction, he didn't know if he could leave. Even without Sasuke, this little girl was his world now, she was everything he'd wanted and more, and while he was lonely even surrounded by his friends here, he knew that this was more than he deserved and he smiled. It was the only thing he could do, and it was the most honesty he could find in his heart.


X


The Hokage tower seemed oddly empty when Naruto arrived, darkness settling over the village like an oncoming storm. There were no guards out to greet him, and he took the steps quickly, a quiet Sakura bundled tightly in his arms. Still, when he reached the door he relaxed. He could see light around it's cracks, and could hear voices within. They were harsh, raised in argument, but familiar enough that he didn't think twice about knocking twice, politely, before pushing the door open. He had been summoned after all.

The people within froze as the door swung open, and Naruto smiled at them. Tsunade stood behind her desk, leaned forwards as if she might strike at any moment, that familiar vein pulsing in her temple. Kakashi was there as well, with Iruka one step behind him, and they all looked angrily towards the door.

"Eh, you sent for me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto's voice was small and unsure, but it was enough to break the spell. Tsunade collapsed heavily into her chair, one hand rubbing her temples while the other beckoned him in.

"Yes, Gaki. Come on, I suppose you've heard already anyways." Naruto looked over at her, his head cocked to one side in confusion, as he stepped forwards, turning to close the door behind him.

"Heard what?" Kakashi turned to glare at him, but he brushed it off. His sensei wasn't as intimidating as he used to be, the man was getting older after all. Naruto shifted Sakura to his other hip, balancing her carefully as she half dosed against him. This movement seemed to pull Tsunade back, reminding her of the child. She smiled sweetly.

"Iruka, Kakashi, I have to brief Naruto now. Would you mind seeing to his daughter for awhile, I don't think this is something she needs to be here for, and she looks so tired. It's probably past her bedtime." Iruka smiled softly as he crossed to take the child from a still puzzled looking Naruto, but Kakashi stood his ground, though one harsh glare from the hokage sobered him a little and he straightened.

"I will return, Tsunade-sama. This matter is not resolved by any means." He left though, following Iruka from the room, and closing the door a little too harshly behind them. Naruto crossed the room to stand in front of the desk, a small smile breaking over his face again now.

"I have a mission for you."


X


Sasuke sat in a sparse, dark room- one could call it a cell, but Sasuke chose to be optimistic -deep within the lowest levels of the Hokage tower. He had been this deep only once before, when he was very young. His father had come here, on police business, and had told him that this was where they kept the most dangerous of their criminals, while they awaited fair trial. It was oddly comforting now, to be here. They considered him dangerous, which was good, but also valuable enough not to have been executed on the spot.

He knew that the monk had spoken in his defense to the Hokage, for the man had visited him maybe an hour before, brought him wine and bread and told him not to worry. The man had come to seek council with Tsunade, for she was a legendary healer, but also to check on Naruto and their child, whom he assured Sasuke seemed to be doing very well, by Tsunade's words.

That was what kept his faith alive really, he couldn't ask for anything more than that. He wanted to see the blond again, and their child, but as long as they were okay, doing well, he could stand to stay here for as long as he had to. Especially if this silence and suffering would bring him a chance to see them again. He closed his eyes then, running over in his mind the now familiar contents of the scrolls he had collected, and the myriad of notes he had made.

Naruto's unorthodox pregnancy had sparked hopes in him, ideas, desires. If a man could carry another person's child to term like that, and if the baby could grow up healthy and seemingly unaffected, then what was to stop a child from being created by two men, without the help of a woman. Now that Sasuke was past the first of his life's goals, he had thrown himself headlong into the completion of his second.

Living the life he had lived and growing up in the home in which he had grown up, Sasuke valued one this above all others. Strength. That had been his reason for choosing Sakura as his partner in the first place. She was the strongest kunoichi he had ever met. Without the limitations of gender though, he was free to choose the strongest person he knew period, which led him to possibilities greater than the mere creation of heirs to the Uchiha name. He had never even let himself consider this before. He didn't allow himself to think about such things, for that was idle and a waste of time when he had other things to do with his life.

Now though, as he thought about who he might choose to help him. There was only really one option though, for many reasons. Uzumaki Naruto was the strongest person he knew, period. That was reason enough. There was more to it than that though. They already had a child, for one. It made sense to keep that going. For another, Naruto was definitely attractive, so Sasuke could do a lot worth.

But there was also something else, something deeper than Sasuke didn't quite understand. Maybe it was all the time they had spent together, or the way that Naruto had chased him for so long, challenged him like no one else had. Whatever the reason, now that he allowed himself that time to think, Sasuke liked the idea of having children with Naruto just on it's own. He closed his eyes, startled by the feelings that the image of the blond in his mind invoked in him.

And so Sasuke sat silently, studying the blond's face in his mind, tracing the fine contours and remembering the softness of that skin. He felt himself smiling then, more naturally than he had before. The blond just brought that out in him. Sasuke laid back on the cot, still smiling, thinking of Naruto, and while the cot wasn't very comfortable, Sasuke was tired, and it only took a few scant seconds for him to drift off into sleep.

He couldn't have been sleeping long when he woke though, the door in the hallway beyond his little room slamming loudly, followed by footsteps. He didn't bother to open his eyes though, not until those steps stopped in front of the little barred door. He cracked his left eye open, ready to snap at the guard, but instead he froze, his breath suddenly stuck in his lungs as his gaze met surprised, teary blue eyes opened wide in relief and joy.

Even with the realizations he'd come to, and the decisions he had made regarding the blond, it still felt indescribably good to see him, something swelling in recognition and hope within his chest. Naruto was here.

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*not my words, something Seane Corn said on Speaking of Faith today...