Homecoming

Part Four
Memories from the Leaf #2


"Ohhh what am I doing here?" Sasuke grumbled as he stripped off his clothes and wrapped a white towel around his waist. "My body is so sore…" he sighed and started walking away.

"Hey, wait up!!" Naruto yelled behind him.

The raven-haired Chuunin turned around, smirking. "Stop making such a fuss, it's not a competition."

He continued walking away, tossing another towel over his shoulder.

"Then why are you in such a rush?" Naruto walked faster and grabbed Sasuke's hand, trying to match his pace.

"Idiot." Sasuke mumbled softly. He lowered his head and letting the long, black bangs hide his light smile.

Naruto had no problem flaunting his smile. He always enjoyed seeing Sasuke relaxed enough to call him an idiot in such a soft voice. It usually meant he was in a good mood and that's the way Naruto liked him best.

He felt Sasuke's fingers clasping his hand tight and allowed himself to be dragged outside by the taller boy.

"Sasuke, you need a tan! like-" he crashed against Sasuke's back when the other boy suddenly stopped walking and abruptly released Naruto's hand.

"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto muttered loudly.

"Be quiet, moron. It's a public place and you're disturbing the peace." Sasuke stressed his last words.

"Sorry, sorry…" Naruto mumbled as he looked away from Sasuke and his eyes landed on the aged man that sat sprawled in the hot spring.

Sasuke sat down, dipping his legs in the steamy water, signaling to Naruto that their conversation was over. Naruto left his side and went to sit in the right side of the pool, in a measured distance between Sasuke and the elder.

"Unnf…" he sighed once he entered the scorching water. He saw from the corner of his eye that the old man was watching him and hurried to close his eyes, letting his skin boil in the hot water.

For Naruto, the silence that fell in the bath was quite stressful. He opened one eye to squint at the old man. To his annoyance, it didn't seem like the elder had any intention to leave.

He huffed loudly and the two other occupants in the bath raised their eyes to stare at him.

Naruto lowered himself deeper in the pool. "I ate too many beans this morning, I'm hardly able to hold my farts with those damn gases."

"Ugh," Sasuke groaned. "You're a gross, loudmouth idiot."

"Sorry, sorry!" Naruto said stridently and let out a loud, fake laughter. "It always happens when I eat too much beans. But you should see what happened last week when Iruka-sensei tried to give me sashimi. I puked all over his shorts."

"Naruto, you're dis-" Sasuke started to scold him when they heard a splash of water and opened their eyes to see the old man leaving the bath.

Naruto stayed quiet for a few more seconds, until the man left his eyesight. He moved quickly over to Sasuke and wrapped his arms around the other boy's neck. "Gah! I thought the geezer would never leave!"

"Don't hug me if your stomach is acting up…" Sasuke grumbled.

"Oi, baka, I was only saying that so that geezer would leave!" Naruto protested.

"Is that so?" Sasuke smirked and raised his chin, his dark eyes blazing as he met Naruto's warm and playful azure glare.

"Except for the part about puking all over Iruka-sensei, that part was twooommm…" Naruto's chattering cut short when Sasuke pulled him over and kissed him, sliding his tongue into Naruto's mouth.

Naruto cupped Sasuke's face between his hands and returned the kiss eagerly, when suddenly Sasuke winced and pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I see it's true you didn't eat any beans…" Sasuke rubbed his thumb softly over Naruto's lips. "Tastes like miso."

"Sasuke!" the blond smacked his shoulder. "And I thought I was hurting you!"

"Not so loud, moron." Sasuke covered Naruto's mouth with his hand. "The women will hear us."

"Sorry…" Naruto trailed his finger over Sasuke's collar bone. "You've got some nasty bruises," he said as his finger caressed gently one of the many blue and purple marks that covered Sasuke's torso.

"Yeah, I told you it was a rough mission." Sasuke placed Naruto above him, their erections squeezing together. He leaned in to trace his tongue over Naruto's jaw line and continued down to his neck.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to suppress his moans as Sasuke's hand slipped from his lower back to his supple, tight bottom. But before he could get comfortable with the pleasant sensations that Sasuke's talented touch gave him, Sasuke pushed him away.

"We can't…" he whispered hoarsely. "Not here…"

Naruto sighed and moved away from Sasuke, collapsing next to him in the hot water. "I guess…" he mumbled and looked at Sasuke with a soft smile on his flushed face.

Sasuke closed his eyes. "So, what did you do when I wasn't here?"

"I went to dinner with Iruka and-"

"I remember that part," Sasuke interrupted without opening his eyes. "Besides that."

"Well, just the usual. Ramen, training, dirty jobs for Old-hag-Tsunade... oh, I went out with Sakura-chan…"

"What?" Sasuke opened his eyes to look at Naruto. "Like… on a date?"

Naruto smiled broadly and nodded.

Sasuke frowned and lowered his eyes. "What for?"

"Because… because… she asked me out."

"What did you do with her?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Why, are you jealous?" Naruto asked and stuck out his tongue.

"Yes." Sasuke's voice came out as a low growl, making Naruto look up at him.

"Well, then you can go out with her too, she would love that."

"Idiot!" Sasuke growled and moved on top of Naruto, grabbing his hands and pinning them to the sides of the bath. "You want your boyfriend to go out with someone else?" he asked and lowered his head to be in eye level with Naruto.

"Just with Sakura-chan," Naruto said seriously.

Sasuke stopped smirking and looked at him, furrowing his brow. Then he moved to his previous position. "No."

"Why not?!" Naruto sat up and looked at him.

"Because I don't want to."

"But Sasuke… just take her out once…"

"No."

"But-"

"I said no." Sasuke growled dangerously, implying the conversation was over.

Naruto huffed and then grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, pressing his fingers into Sasuke's bruises and making him hiss in pain. "Stop being such a stubborn asshole."

"Naruto…" Sasuke hissed.

Naruto covered Sasuke's mouth with his hand. "You need to take her out once… just once, she really loves you."

"Like I care…" Sasuke pushed Naruto's hand away. "It's her problem. I never gave her a reason to think I'm interested in her."

"You don't care about her at all?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Of course I care about her. I like her and she's very dear to me, but as a friend, nothing more," Sasuke uttered in annoyance. He was never one to talk about his emotions.

"Then take her out and tell her that," Naruto said. "So she will move on and find someone else. Because she's saving herself for you she never opened herself up for anyone. And she's just… stuck. I don't like to see her hurt like that."

"If I go out with her on a date, it will only be worse, idiot. I don't want to give her the wrong impression."

"I think it will work if you tell her that she's beautiful and she could have any man she wanted if she lets go of you." Naruto insisted.

"I don't understand you…" Sasuke huffed. "But if I understood you, I'd be a moron like you."

"So that means you will go out with her?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"No, damn it. I don't want to go out with her. I'm not interested in weak girls!" Sasuke grouched and got up, leaving the bath.

Naruto frowned and leaned on the edge of the bath, resting his chin on his hand. "Is that why you're with me?" he asked.

"Huh?" Sasuke stopped drying his hair and looked at him.

"Are you with me just because I'm strong?" Naruto asked. "Are you attracted to power?"

"I'm done with this conversation, moron." Sasuke chose to turn his back on Naruto and walk away.

"If someone stronger than me showed up, would you leave me for him?" Naruto called behind him.

"If only strength indicated on brains…" Sasuke muttered loud enough for Naruto to hear and walked away.

"Asshole…" Naruto grumbled and got out of the water. He wrapped the white towel around him.

He felt so flushed and angry. The heat of the water could barely pass the heat of his body. Suddenly he felt dizzy. Everything became dark around him as he felt his head hitting the ground.

'Sasuke…'

***
Slowly the darkness around him started to fade. Naruto blinked and tried to adjust his blurry vision. He sighed and sat up. A wet cloth fell into his lap. He grabbed it and stared at it in confusion.

"So you've finally decided to wake up, moron." He heard Sasuke's voice, half asking half declaring.

Naruto looked around and realized he was in his apartment, in his bed. He saw Sasuke was sitting at the table, head propped on his elbow and he was watching him closely.

"Did you bring me here?" Naruto asked quietly. "What happened?"

"You probably stayed too long in the hot water and got overheated. You nearly broke the cobbled floor with that thick head of yours."

Naruto raised his hand to his forehead, caressing the soft material of the band that was plastered to the right side of his forehead.

"You've got a nasty gash, but it's already healing. You've slept for a while so I'm sure it's okay already," Sasuke explained.

Naruto lowered his hand and smiled at Sasuke. "Sasuke… you were worried about me?"

"Like hell, moron!" Sasuke frowned and looked away. A soft blush spotted his cheeks. "And you're damn heavy too. Stop eating Ramen."

"Hehehe… you were worried, you were worried!" Naruto chanted in a cheerful voice.

"Usuratonkachi…" Sasuke huffed and got up, walking over to Naruto's bed.

Naruto stopped grinning as he watched Sasuke sitting down next to him. As usual, the dark bangs hid Sasuke's face, but Naruto could tell he wasn't smiling.

"Sasuke… about before…" Naruto started saying, but Sasuke reached out his hand and rested it on Naruto's knee.

"I'm not good in this stuff, so I'm only going to say it once," he told the blond quietly.

"Hm?" Naruto raised his blue eyes to look at Sasuke, but the dark haired boy didn't raise his head to return the look.

"That time I was…" Sasuke started talking, his voice was a mere whisper and he stopped to clear his throat. "After I killed that man… Itachi… I… I wanted to die… I didn't see any reason for my existence. After all the years I lived only for the sole reason of becoming strong and defeating him… I felt so empty…" he paused again, inhaling. Naruto licked his lips and gently squeezed Sasuke's hand that rested on his knee.

"When I raised my head… and I saw you there at the entrance…" Sasuke lifted his head and looked at Naruto, a warm smile rested on his lips. "The sun was pouring light on you… you almost looked… divine or something…" he chuckled briefly and lowered his eyes. "You were worried about all the blood… and I didn't tell you… I didn't tell you it was me… I did it to myself…"

"Sasuke…" Naruto's eyes widened in horror.

"You tried to stop me… I would have killed you too… but after that man died… I really wanted…"

"Why are you telling me this now?" Naruto asked, feeling the warm tears floating his eyes. He wanted to wipe the tears. He knew Sasuke hated it when he became too emotional, but wiping the tears would mean letting go of Sasuke's hand, and then he'd notice.

"Because it was you. When you touched me… you were yelling my name and I wanted you to be quiet… and suddenly, the blood started to vanish… just like that… and I realized I was given another chance…"

Naruto tried to lower his head when Sasuke lifted his eyes to look at him. To his surprise, Sasuke reached out and forced him to look him in the eye.

With a warm but faint smile on his face, Sasuke wiped the tears from Naruto's eyes. "You gave me a new reason to exist… Naruto."

"Me? No… I was…" Naruto stammered, feeling the heat rising in his cheeks again. "I was just there…"

"That strength… you have true strength that isn't measured by physical power. Naruto, you are that strength… the reason I'm here now. I don't want to lose that to anyone… you saved me from myself."

"You did it yourself…" Naruto said quietly and put his hand over Sasuke's. "If you didn't want to be saved, I couldn't have helped you."

Sasuke moved closer to Naruto and wrapped his arm around Naruto's shoulder. "It was because of you… you're the only one."

"Sasuke…"

"So don't be stupid and ask me why I'm with you…" Sasuke whispered and rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. "Because I love you…"

"Sasuke…" Naruto gasped. "You… you do?"

"Moron… I told you I'm not going to repeat it." Sasuke muttered and squeezed Naruto tighter between his arms.

"I love you too, asshole." Naruto held tight onto Sasuke, burying his fingers in his dark mane.

*~*~*end of flashback*~*~*


"Owww, I HATE this stupid mission!!! When will we get a cool one??!?!?" Kenji yelled in exasperation.

"Guys, we're almost back at the village, calm down," Naruto said, turning around to look at his three students. They were all carrying shopping bags, ready to complete another stupid D rank mission. More than the children hated these missions, Naruto despised it.

'If they don't shape up soon, they'll never get a C rank mission…' he thought as he listened to the ongoing bickering between the two dark-haired boys. 'And I'm seriously going to go insane…'

"Hikari-chan!" Kenji staggered over to the girl. "Let me help you with the bags!" he announced and grabbed a few bags from her hands, adding it to the pile he was nearly crumbling under.

"Mou, Kenji!" Hikari gritted her teeth. "You don't have to carry all the bags yourself!"

"It's no problem for me!" Kenji squeaked under the mass of shopping bags.

"Hmmph." Ryoichi cradled the bags he was carrying and glanced at his two teammates that staggered behind him.

"How tiresome!" Hikari muttered. "You will just fall and have all the things you're carrying spoiled."

"I'm not going to fall!" Kenji protested, trying to stabilize his voice. "I'm strong!"

He started walking faster to catch up with Ryoichi, when suddenly some of the bags were ripped open from the pressure and its content spilled on the floor.

"Shit!" he yelped when he stumbled and fell down, dropping all the other bags with him.

"How tiresome…" Hikari sighed and put down her bags. She ran a hand through her blond hair and tied it using the headband. "I knew this would happen!"

Naruto rubbed his chin as he watched the kids. Ryoichi sniggered and continued walking. As he passed by Naruto, the blond reached out his hand to block his way.

"Where are you going?"

"To the village," Ryoichi answered without raising his head to look at his sensei.

"You haven't completed the mission." Naruto didn't withdraw his hand.

"My bags are intact and I will deliver them."

"The mission is to bring back all the bags, not just yours," Naruto stressed.

"It's not my fault he's a clumsy fool!" Ryoichi raised his voice in anger.

Naruto raised his eyes from the boy to the other teammates. Hikari kneeled and started helping Kenji to collect all the dropped items.

"If you helped your teammates it would save time and you would complete the mission faster."

"Who cares about this stupid mission! I didn't become a ninja to do shopping for some lazy, fat housewives!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and lowered his hand, clearing the way for Ryoichi. "In that case, you can give back your Leaf headband too when you hand over the bags. If you can't complete a simple D rank mission, you could never complete an A rank mission either." He folded his arms and looked away.

Ryoichi furrowed his brows in anger and clenched his teeth, not making a move.

"Sensei!" Naruto raised his head when he heard Hikari's voice. "We need help!"

"I can do this myself, Hikari-chan!" Kenji grumbled. "I don't need any help!"

Naruto walked over to the kids and crouched next to them. "You put too much fruits in that bag, it will tear open too," he said.

"But those bags are torn… we can't use them…" Kenji replied.

"I told him to put equal amount in each bag, including mine, but he insists of carrying everything by himself… how annoying." Hikari huffed.

"Here…" All three of them raised their heads when they heard Ryoichi's quiet voice above. He held out his hand, holding a reel of tape. "It's from the first aid kit… you can use it to glue the torn bags…" he mumbled quietly. "It should hold until we get back to the village."

Kenji gazed at his brother in confusion. Naruto got up and started walking.

"What are you waiting for, take it. We're wasting time!" Ryoichi threw the tape at his brother.

***

"Okay, everyone ready?" Naruto asked, looking at the kids.

"Yes, yes! Just knock already!" Kenji yelped, squirming under the burden of the bags.

Naruto smiled brightly and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" they heard a voice calling from inside. Naruto pressed on the handle and motioned for the children to carry the bags into the house.

"Oh, hello!" A middle-aged woman entered the room, sitting on a wheelchair. "You're just on time!" she said. "Thank you so much! You really are life savers, you know?" she smiled sweetly at the kids.

Ryoichi put his bags on the table and eyed the woman suspiciously, his cheeks painted in a light blush.

"Life savers? Why?" Kenji asked. "We only got fruits and vegetables."

"All the herbs and vegetables you've got for me are only sold in the neighboring village. Without these ingredients I can't make a medicine for my son. He's very ill," she explained. "I would go myself, but as you can see, my legs aren't what they used to be."

The three children and their Jounin sensei stood quietly, looking at the woman in embarrassment.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" the woman offered. "I'd really like to thank you properly, besides the payment."

"Um…" Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck and flashing a smile at her. "We have to report back to the Hokage, but you and your son take care, okay?"

They walked out of the woman's house in silence. Naruto looked at his three students and smiled inwardly.

'They feel like they've just completed a super important mission. Maybe now they'll start to work better.'

***

"Ryo-kun, do you want to play go with me?" Hikari asked the dark-haired boy once they've left the complex, after reporting the success of the mission to the Hokage.

"No, I'm going to train with my father now," Ryoichi answered and walked away without saying another word.

"Damn…" Hikari frowned and folded her hands.

"I can play with you!" Kenji jumped in front of her. "Well… If you just teach me how to play…" he added.

"Bah.. I'm not going to do such a tiresome thing!" Hikari grumbled and walked away.

"Hikari-chan…" Kenji mumbled, watching her leave.

"Aren't you going to train with your father too?" Naruto asked, putting his hand on Kenji's shoulder.

The boy turned around to look at his blond teacher. Then he huffed and crossed his arms. "I don't need any training! I don't care about it!" he shouted, furrowing his brow.

"Then, how about having ramen with me?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Your treat?"

"Sure."

"Okay! Let's go!" Kenji started walking, and then quickly turned around. "Can you teach me how to use chopsticks as weapon?"

"It's a very, very, very high-level skill only super great ninja like myself can use!" Naruto grinned broadly.

"Yeah right! You're not that great!" Kenji retorted. "I bet you could never defeat my father!"

Naruto's smile slowly faded. 'Sasuke…'

"Naruto-sensei?" Kenji tagged on the margin of the blond Jounin's vest. "Naruto-sensei?"

"Sorry," Naruto chuckled and shook his head from the floating memories. "I spaced out a little, let's go."

"Okay. I am VERY hungry, I might like seconds."

"Why you…" Naruto said and chuckled. He stepped over to the boy and ruffled his hair. "You know, Kenji," he said and leaned down to the boy.

"Hm?" the young boy raised his big, black eyes to the blond man.

"That headband looks good on you." Naruto closed his eyes as he smiled sweetly at the boy.