Sasuke surveyed the piece of parchment spread before him and smiled. Not his usual condescending smirk, but the smile Naruto had taught him to make the first time he'd uttered the three words that had broken his heart and mended it in one stroke. When they were twenty-four and no longer fumbling kids, and the young Hokage had welcomed the last Uchiha back to the village as a hero, not a traitor.
He had spent four days watching Naruto silently preside in the council chambers. The court judges examined, cross-examined, post-examined, and finally concluded exactly what Sasuke had told them, himself. That he had returned of his own free will. That he had dispatched multiple missing nin, S-class criminals, his own team, and Orochimaru, himself. That his only crime against Konoha was leaving, a crime they grudgingly informed him was pardonable at the Hokage's discretion.
And all eyes had fallen on the young man sitting in the chair reserved for the Hokage. Some of the older members of the council found they never could quite meet those eyes--so blue, like his, like seeing a ghost--but this day, they hadn't needed to. Naruto had stared at the small, scuffed desk in front of him for one long, pregnant moment, and then his eyes found Sasuke's and he smiled softly, sadly. "Welcome home, teme."
Scandalized gasps from scattered councilors went unheeded; the words were meant only for the man sitting in the middle of the chamber. Rokudaime left his chair to stand behind the prisoner and lifted the jutsu and wards that bound him. In a voice Sasuke didn't recognize, the blond addressed the assembled elders. "I trust him."
Sasuke was too dumbfounded to smirk or scowl or pretend indifference; his mouth hung, gaping, eyes straight forward. If his fingers trembled on his lap, he didn't try to hide it. No one dared say so then, but Sasuke was wondering how many thought the man was simply blinded by the past. The last Uchiha knew differently. He had tried to kill Naruto, kill the tiny part of his heart that longed for the blond's understanding and friendship, on more than one occasion. Their past had been of no help here, he was sure, but he wondered, How can he trust me?
The answer was still no clearer when Naruto came to him three days later, stealing into the little cottage that had been set aside for Sasuke's use, dismissing his ANBU escort and setting his own wards of privacy and protection.
"I love you."
Three more words. The cold Uchiha's heart stored away with the others.
"I always have."
"I missed you."
"Waited for you."
"Believed in you."
Naruto had instantly appeared behind him, a new trick amongst many. The legacy of his father, the Yellow Flash. His arms were around Sasuke's waist, the last words whispered against the fragile shell of a perfect ear:
"I trust you."
"I love you."
"Welcome home, teme."
Sasuke stood above the parchment, still smiling, remembering their lovemaking, the way their bodies entwined and fit against one another, as he'd always known they would. The dream that had kept him human in his darkest days, come true and laid bare before him.
He read the parchment over one last time, eyes roaming across the perfectly formed characters and frowning, wishing, somehow, that they were less precise.
To love him like that:
Like a stifling wind, hot and humid and bitter on a summer's night. Forcing open the windows and pushing back the blankets. Drawing out a sheen of sweat to coat his brow and dampen his hair.
I love him.
It was almost too much--too honest, too exposed--but he knew he had to. Naruto needed to know; he deserved to know. For all of the times he had said, "I love you, teme," and Sasuke had replied with, "Tch. I know, dobe."
There was a knock at the door and the last of the Uchiha clan smiled, hanging the parchment on the wall above his bed. He counted three beats before the door opened on its own and he heard a familiar voice call, "Sasuke? Hey! I brought food and sake. Where the hell are you?"
Sasuke smiled again, the genuine smile that he reserved for the boisterous young man, and wandered back to the front of the house. "You're late."
"I know; I'm sorry." Naruto was putting boxes of food and a few smaller packages on the table, his eyes traveling around the room, to Sasuke, to the table again. "Presents," he said, by way of explanation, "You haven't forgotten what today is, have you?"
The only warning the blond could have had was the minute arch of a elegant black brow and the tell-tale smirk, then Sasuke's arms were around him, hot breath on the back of Naruto's neck. "It's the day you let me stay."
Naruto closed his eyes, leaning back into the embrace. "I love you, Sasuke."
"I know." He tugged at the Hokage's hips, dragging him back toward his bedroom. Their bedroom. "The food will wait. There's something...something I want you to see."
[Reviews - 2]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: It's not just the three words you expect. Naruto says many things, and Sasuke says things...in his own way. Hokage!Naruto and Returned!Sasuke.