Disclaimer: Not mine, no money, no infringement intended,

Warnings: Angst, yaoi, futuristic, limey, and wrong.

Pairings: SasuNaru

Intro: It’s been a long time since I wrote this, and stumbled across the link to this from a couple other sites. I reread it, and felt that while it was fun when I wrote it, a couple of things should be changed… mostly because this is becoming a three part series. So here we go.

"Anbure"

By GK

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Reasonable, even. The Hyuuga family was old and noble and rich. The Uchiha clan had no where else to go. So once the rambunctious Sasuke settled down, grew up, and the darkness around him lifted a little, it had been all settled.

They walked through the ceremony as if through a dream. The thick smell of roses made his head swim. The thick smell of roses made her sneeze. Angry black eyes met a gentle white over the altar. Words were said and not really meant. Naruto shot them both a thumbs up sign, a pathetic sight to start the future with. With great effort, Hinata tore her eyes away from him and to her new husband. With great effort, Sasuke tore his eyes away from him and to his new bride.

They were not so different after all.

She was a ninja and she was strong. But when it came down to it, there was not a lot anybody could do. Had he loved her? Not exactly. But he was missing something when he woke up to nothing. In a sick way he was glad that she was gone. He was glad that she had died, ending her life as a failure only to bring another failure into the world. He was glad she died before she knew.

The elders learned a lesson. The Sharingan and the Byakugan. Never mix the bloodlines.

Sasuke lifted his son into his arms, looked into blankly staring eyes, and despaired.

Ten years later

Anbure stood with his back against the wall, blank eyes staring at the ground. People argued overhead.

"He keeps trying to train- I just found him outside like this-" The exasperated voice of an unfamiliar neighbor.

"It's not your concern." His father's voice, as calm and cold as ever.

"Dammit, Sasuke." The voice was frustrated. "I know he's your son, and you've got your pride, being Anbu and all, but we both know that there's no such thing as a blind ninja."

Silence. Anbure's hands twisted tightly together, the wounds he'd received from punching the hard wooden edge of the tree outside reopened and bled.

"I am aware of my son's limitations." The creak of the door as whoever it was, well meaning or not, was shoved unceremoniously out the door. Footsteps came closer. The floorboards squeaked under his father's shifting weight. Down on one knee, Sasuke examined the wounds on Anbure's hands. He smiled a little, because they looked so familiar. Then, looking up into a blank stare, his smile dropped. Without saying a word, Sasuke led his son into the bathroom to bandage him up.

"I hear you were training again last night." Uzumaki Naruto leaned back in his chair, pushing the (5) empty bowls of ramen away. Anbure said nothing in reply.

Shoved into a marriage he didn't want with a girl he could hardly understand, Sasuke had found a friend in the most disturbing of places. And whenever a mission arose, it was an unspoken agreement that one of them would be there, watching over him.

Anbure listened to the ticking of the clock on the wall behind him.

"You-" And Naruto stopped. He spent a few minutes hemming and hawing until he gave up. "Your Dad just worries about you." He said simply. Anbure bowed his head.

Tick. Tick.

Naruto laughed a little bit. Anbure lifted his head. "No..." A light brush of wind indicated wild gesturing. "It's just... you look just like he did at your age. You're a dead ringer, ‘cept for the eyes." Anbure stiffened but Naruto ploughed on. "But you act a lot like your Mom."

"What was she like?" A very quiet voice asked him, curious.

"She was... quiet." Naruto said cautiously.

"So is Father." Anbure reminded him. Naruto laughed again.

"Yeah, yeah. But your Mom had something your Dad never had." Naruto stood up and began collecting the dishes. Anbure rose and began to help, only stumbling once over a chair that was pulled a little out of place.

"What?" He asked, scraping a pile of leftovers into the trash.

"Well. Your Dad's nice and all... I guess. When he wants to be." Naruto sounded like he was pouting. Anbure bit back a shy smile. "But he's in Anbu for a reason. Your Mom though, was one of the nicest people I ever knew. If something bad happened to somebody important to your Dad, I think he'd go a little crazy. He'd kill anyone and anything that threatened you. But your Mom was one of those people that can see both sides and understand things that she didn't like."

"'Course, part of it could be that you're never smiling and kinda shy. Hinata would always look at the floor and blush when anybody talked to her." He frowned intently. "It was weird when your folks got married. Not, like, bad, or nothing. Just. Weird. But I guess it was a good thing. I mean, now your Dad's got you, right?" Naruto sounded like he was smiling when he said it. Anbure felt oddly depressed.

Naruto must have noticed because he set the dishes down where they were and turned off the sink.

"Hey, I got an idea! Let's play a game." He pulled up a chair and sat down. From the angle, he was curled around the back of it, resting his chin on his folded up arms. Anbure sat on the stool Naruto had pulled into place for him, only feeling around a little before catching the edge.

"It's called... the psychic game! You hold up some fingers and I'll close my eyes and guess how many! And if they're right, I'm psychic." Naruto was gesturing again. Anbure cracked a tiny smile before nodding.

"Alright." Anbure held up two fingers.

"Three."

"No."

"Six?"

"No."

"Two."

"You're peeking."

"How-" Naruto sighed. "This is a stupid game. I know! You try. Close your eyes." Anbure closed them obediently. Naruto held up six fingers.

"Two."

"Nope."

"Eight."

"Nu-uh."

"One?"

"Try again!"

Anbure cracked open one eye. "I feel stupid like that. Can I open them? It's not like it matters." Naruto shrugged, the fabric catching on his shoulders and making a rustling noise.

"Okay."

Anbure opened his eyes.

"Six."

Naruto smiled. "Nice! Let's go again. Now how many am I holding up?" Naruto made a peace sign.

"Two." Naruto froze. He smiled but it was a different sounding smile voice. He changed the number again.

"Now?"

"Eight." Naruto lowered his hands and stared in surprise. He bowed his head, thinking for a moment. His hands moved silently into a quick justu. It just sounded like random movement to Anbure.

"Now how many?" Naruto's voice was low. Anbure frowned intently. "What?" He asked.

"It'll sound dumb. It's got to be wrong." Anbure shook his head.

"Try me."

"Thirteen." Naruto dismissed the Kage Bunshin clone with a wave of his hand. He stared intently at Anbure for a few moments. "It's getting late," he said finally. Anbure went upstairs to go to bed. Naruto sat by the kitchen table, lost in thought.

"Let me train him." Naruto's eyes burned holes into the Hokage's. There was no hint of a smile or of a joke on his face. Tsunade shook her head.

"It's a bad idea, Naruto. There's never been a blind ninja." Naruto leaned forward over the desk.

"I have an idea. It's probably wrong, but-" He choked off. "Anyway," he continued lamely, "He feels left out right now. All the kids his age are going through the academy. He has no friends, and Sasuke's got missions. He could use something to take his mind off things."

The Hokage looked at him seriously for a moment. Then she sighed. "I hope you know what you're getting into." Naruto smiled a wild grin. "Under one condition." Her eyes were dark. "You're telling Sasuke."

The punch hit him square on the jaw and he took it bravely, turning the other cheek. Anbure, drawn by the sudden sound of violence, crept down the stairs. He tripped a little and stood still, afraid that they would hear him.

"Don't get his hopes up. Anbure will never be a ninja." His father's voice was rough.

Naruto wiped a little trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Hokage said it's okay. It's practically a done deal. Personal training from the most awesome Jounin ever to catch up to the Academy. Get over yourself. You know how much he wants it."

"It's impossible." Sasuke was brusque. "It can't happen. I won't have him hurt. If he fails-" Naruto cut him off.

"Then stop assuming he's gonna fail. If he makes it..." Their argument was cut short by a tiny dark figure bumping into the doorway in his haste to reach the kitchen. Anbure kept his head bowed as he pushed off from the wall to stand up straight.

"When do we start, Uzumaki-sensei?" Naruto shot a meaningful glare at Sasuke, who stared at the floor.

Not all Genins pass the exam. Naruto had been a little surprised to find that out. But, then there had been Rock Lee, who couldn't ninjutsu or genjutsu his way out of a paper bag. There had to be some other way of being a ninja, right?

So through a few minor scrapes, they skipped the boring parts. After all, being Uchiha Sasuke's only kid counted for a little something in the knowledge department. The kid practically leaked Academy information.

Anbure took the stance. He listened to the sound of the trees to teach himself the way to walk correctly. It was still a little slow... walking in unfamiliar territory without help. But he'd only run into a tree twice that day. He tensed and ducked.

"Excellent." But the voice came from behind him. "But you missed the sounds of my doppelganger running across the grass behind you." Anbure sighed and dropped down onto the grass, sitting with his legs crossed.

"There's so much to pay attention to." He whispered.

"Yeah..." Naruto ruffled Anbure's hair roughly. "But you're getting there, right?" He pushed himself up to his feet. "Anyway, let's call it quits; we've got a bright and early mission tomorrow." His voice was sly. Anbure froze.

"Missions take three people," he reminded his sensei quietly. "And I'm still not good enough to join up with the others yet. Right?" Naruto fell into step beside him, subtly guiding him past the trees with his body language.

"Yes. And no. It's actually my mission. But you're tagging along so you can get some experience. It's a C rank mission anyway... Mostly because there might be bandits on the road." Naruto snorted. "Anyway, they're short handed. And I could use the help." Naruto shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. Anbure was pale. "Unless you'd rather stay-" Anbure grabbed onto his arm roughly.

"I accept the mission." Anbure said quickly.

They faced each other quietly for a moment before Naruto simply said, "Yes."

As they continued walking, Anbure piped up. "What exactly is the mission anyway?"

"Alright, alright, old bag." Naruto grumbled, shoving the scroll into his pack. "Don't know who made you Hokage anyway..." He rubbed the spot on the back of his head where she'd smacked him.

Anbure smiled at nothing in particular. Naruto glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah. Well, this ought to be good training for you, walking and setting up camp and stuff. Basics, mostly." They set off down the road. "I still don't get why they gave me this mission. Eh." He straightened up. "It'll be good for us, though. You'll see!" Anbure smiled and turned his face to the ground. A few seconds later, Anbure was slammed face down into the ground. Choking on the dust kicked up around him, struggling blindly, he barely felt the faint movement of air above his head. The kunai slammed into a tree behind them, and he started. "Don't. Move." Naruto warned him in a dark voice. Then the sudden weight was gone.

Anbure lay face down, confused and terrified, his heart beat thudding loudly in his chest. The sound confused him, he had to strain to listen to what was happening overhead. Movement.

"You're looking for the scroll? Well you can go fuck yourself, buddy." Naruto moved into position, his hands moving quickly, forming each seal. But something else was moving. The wind blew past Anbure, ruffling black hair. Naruto was slammed against something. The tree? Anbure strained to listen.

"Shit!" Naruto swore, and then he was moving. There was a warm dripping sound in front of Anbure, as his teacher stumbled and fell to one knee.

"Uzumaki-sensei!" Anbure said urgently, trying to sit up. A hand shoved him unceremoniously into the dirt. Protecting him. But the hand left wet warm streaks on his pale skin. Anbure trembled a little. Scrabbling in the dirt, his hand fell on something. Without thinking, without reacting, he reached back and threw the kunai. A flash of something. There was a dull roar of pain. Anbure pushed himself to his knees, crawling in front of his teacher. Again, he was pushed back.

"Stay down, you brat." He said amiably. The sound of another attack. The sound of his sensei's blood pouring out over the dirt. The harsh sounds of Anbure's breathing. Finally, the sound of a dozen kunai flying through the air and embedding themselves in a hunk of flesh. A quiet trembling, and something fell a few feet away. From a tree high above them, someone jumped, landing with catlike agility on their feet.

"Not a mile from the village and you're already in trouble, Naruto." His father's voice was dark and almost amused as he ran experienced hands over the other man's wounds.

"Shut up, bastard. Anbure's alright." Naruto assured him without any real venom.

"I knew you'd take care of him." Sasuke was winding something soft around the wound. Gentle hands. "Or I wouldn't have let you take him." With some difficulty, "I trust you." Anbure didn't need to see to feel the quiet wave of happiness that flowed over Naruto, transforming a painful grimace into a bright grin.

"It's a good thing I was coming back from a mission. A little ninja like that, and you were already bleeding." Sasuke's voice was teasing as he helped Naruto to his feet, slinging one arm over his shoulders for support. Familiar.

"It was weird though." Naruto insisted as they turned back toward the village. "It was almost like he was waiting for something else to happen..."

The city gates closed tightly behind them.

"Lucky shot with that kunai." Sasuke was sitting at his kitchen table, toying with said kunai, tossing it in the air and catching it by the point. Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Show off,' he mouthed and Sasuke smirked.

"I don't think it was luck, though." Naruto shifted painfully in his seat. Sasuke glared at him, and he stopped fidgeting.

"Mm? Did he follow the sound of the movements, then?" He asked, disinterestedly.

"Something like that." Naruto stared at the wall, deep in thought. On the other side of the wall, standing out in the hall, Anbure listened in.

"Alright! This is it. Two week delay for some stupid C rank mission! Your Dad even pulled a couple strings and got some Anbu members to sweep the road a little bit ahead, so everything is A-okay!" Naruto laughed loudly. Anbure sighed, but smiled a little. "It is nw perfectly and totally safe! Nothing could possibly go wrong." After that they traveled in silence.

Famous last words.

Some kind of sound woke him up. He sat up, sensing the warmth of the banked coals, but not the presence of his sensei. He started to get up.

"Don't get up, Anbure." The voice was calm, but tired. Anbure froze, and the smell of something very old and very wrong hit his nose. A deep scream that wasn't remotely human. He swallowed very hard. "Shit!" Something launched itself at him from the trees. He scrambled to his feet. Thinking quickly, he hopped over the camp fire, scampering a few yards away. There he tripped, falling flat.

The creature ran over the coals, the heat of them charring. The smell of burned meat, and an even louder scream. Something else jumped out of the trees, a cooler shadow in front of him.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Four clones surrounded Anbure, protecting him. Satisfied, the original Naruto jumped back into the fight. A flurry of kunai were launched. The animal took the hit directly, but it hardly seemed to matter. The sounds of it moving... it was much too big to be real. A stray shot knocked Naruto against a tree. A sickening crack was heard, and the clones disappeared from around Anbure.

The animal was moving towards his teacher with a purpose. Hot breath that smelled like meat. Anbure rolled forward, grabbing a discarded kunai on the way. He untucked himself and rose to his feet in front of his teacher.

"Idiot... run away." Naruto was clinging to the tree, trying to climb his way back up. The smell of blood was thick and clotting. Naruto practically choked on his words. And through the intense emotions, fear, anger, protection, coursing through his body, Anbure saw something. He supposed that you could call it red. It smelled a lot like blood. Here it was clear and here it was gone again, receding like water at low tide.

Anbure suddenly recognized it. He almost felt a little stupid. The sounds of the battle before were strangely silent. This one featured some abnormal animal that smelled wrong. They were facing some very powerful summoner ninja. And he caught a glimpse of something that he was sure were eyes and teeth because they flashed white and cold and reminded him a little of what snow looked like, if he could ever have seen it. And he realized, as he plunged the blade elbow deep into the demon's right eye, that he was seeing something for the very first time.

Anbure turned tired eyes onto his teacher, who was rapidly fading in and out of consciousness. Blue eyes met his, and recoiled in shock at the sight of it. Red eyes flecked with white. Like blood speckled bone. Naruto faded back into unconsciousness as Anbure's vision slipped away from him again.

"You're awake?"

Naruto sat up, wincing a little. He smiled at his student. "Yeah." He noticed that his pupil's eyes had gone back to the same blank white. Thinking about it, he was quiet.

"I could see, sensei." Anbure was smiling, his face turned toward the fire. "I think I could, anyway. So thank you for training me to be a ninja. It's all worth it... just to have been able to see for that long."

Naruto was bent over on his sleeping mat, his shoulders shaking. Anbure's mouth tightened in concern. "Sensei?" But Naruto was not in pain, or crying with sadness. Naruto was laughing.

"Sasuke's right." He finished gleefully. "I am a total idiot." Anbure swallowed.

"Are you alright? Would you like some water? Is your head okay? Because you're acting funny, s-" Naruto's hands were resting on his shoulders.

"I have an idea," he said. He drew back his left hand. Eyes closed, concentrated, and thinking very hard, his hand began to glow. His fingertips formed uneven letters. Anbure fidgeted, sensing the gathering power in the air. "This might hurt."

Naruto's eyes were blue.

"It's been three weeks for a one week C rank mission. I want to see my son. Is he alright?" Sasuke paced, slamming his hand down on the table in front of Naruto, who sat down at the kitchen table, smirking.

"We had a little thingy. Now it's over. He's fine." His eyes were fierce though. "But I have a surprise, I think." He was grinning in a way that worried Sasuke very much. He sat down with a jolt.

"The Byakugan and the Sharingan take up a lot of chakra. That's why you don't walk around all the time with freaky wheel eyes, and Neji isn't always looking through girls' clothes." Sasuke snorted. "So your brain puts up a little wall to block off the flow of chakra that turns your ability on, right? And it takes chakra to take the wall down, right? Which is why you can't always use your Sharingan."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I know all this, idiot. It's the basics, we learned it in the Academy."

"But you didn't think about it." Naruto leaned forward, inches away from Sasuke. The dark eyes widened, only inches away. His breathing deepened. Naruto didn't notice. "But what if you had an ability that was scarier than either one of those? And what if it took up so much chakra that it could kill you just by using it? 'Specially if you were a baby." Sasuke shook his head.

"What if your brain slammed down a wall so quick and so much by instinct that it cut a whole part off? Then you wouldn't be able to use any part of that whole area of your mind. I guess, like a tourniquet, cutting off the blood flow to save the whole and screw the limb."

Sasuke's eyes widened. His lips moved, but no sound came out. Then they narrowed, studying Naruto, who was grinning fiercely.

"What if all you had to do was flood that part of the brain with a little chakra? Little to us, I mean. But to somebody like Anbure...he just might get his sight back."

"Can you do it?" Sasuke whispered.

"You’re late." And Sasuke whirled around in his chair to face his son, who was studying him with surprisingly blue eyes. His lips curved up into a smile, and Anbure dropped into a deep bow.

"It's nice to meet you, Father."

"Why blue?" Sasuke asked his son, staring deeply into his eyes.

"I had to focus on something, and Uzumaki-sensei was looking at me, telling me to focus." He smiled a little. "He thought it was funny. He said I looked like some kind of him and you hybrid." Sasuke didn’t seem to agree.

"You'll go to the Academy, then. You'll grow up and be perfectly normal." Sasuke smiled tightly. "Your mother would have liked that, probably."

Anbure closed his eyes a lot. Whenever he was frighten by the bright and garish colors surrounding him, he would retreat back into his shell, closing his eyes tightly and freezing where he was. So Naruto walked him to the classroom.

"Don't be scared. Make lots of friends! It'll be easy for you." He gave his former student a thumbs up sign.

"Did you have lots of friends?" Naruto stopped walking. Anbure looked at him, studying his face coolly. Naruto's head was bent, and the shadows fell into his eyes. His mouth was hard and difficult to read. But he felt sad.

"No," Naruto said finally. "I didn't have a lot of friends." He started to walk again, so Anbure fell into step beside him. He kept his eyes fastened on the ground. The harsh orange of a familiar jumpsuit irritated his eyes. "But your Dad did, and he was a total jerk. And you aren't a total jerk. So they'll like you even better." He explained, leading the way up the stairs. Anbure's hands clutched the railing, unused to the uneven passageway.

"Why did they bother liking him, then? Dad doesn't like people. Except you." He added lamely.

"Don't you know?" Naruto sounded surprised. They had reached the classroom. "Your Dad looked just like you when he was your age." He smiled brightly. "And he was the best looking boy in the village." He scratched his chin and opened the door. "Still is, I guess. Eh, here you go!" And he shut the door on Anbure, who was blushing slightly from the unexpected compliment. He turned to face twenty pairs of eyes.

"You're the Uchiha kid, right?" Someone dropped down beside him. "I thought you were blind or something." A girl next to him elbowed him sharply.

"You're very rude." She smiled brightly. "And he's very cute!"

"I was...blind. When I was born. But Uzumaki-sensei fixed it for me." He blushed a little as they crowded around to look at him.

"Oooh, he's so cute!"

"Uzumaki? Oh, I hear he's really strong!"

"But a total goofball! I know, my dad runs the Ichiraku and-"

Surrounded by noise, Anbure started to close his eyes and focus in until he could sort out each person's voice, when something caught his eye. A little girl sat down on a lone swing, singing to herself. Her hair was long and pink and tied back with a bright ribbon. She looked up. Green eyes met blue. And in the back of his mind, Anbure could swear that he heard music playing.

He watched them. He watched them when they didn't realize it. His strange combination of the Sharingan and Byakugan told him things. He saw chakra lines and techniques. He copied them and could confuse his enemies. But he could also see emotions in a tangled stream around a person, and he always knew when someone was lying.

He could see what they didn't want to see. They were the two people most important to him. So he decided to do something about it.

"You didn't really love Mother, did you?" His voice bore no malice; it was simple and polite. Sasuke froze, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. Then he set them down and braced himself.

"No." He sighed. "No, I didn't." Anbure was still looking at him. "But she didn't love me either. We were both in love...with someone else." He picked up his chopsticks again. "We didn't hate each other or anything. We were content and happy. And Naruto was a great help. When your Mother was pregnant he would bring her anything she craved on the second that she wanted it. He took a dangerous mission for me the week before you were born so I could be here. He was always smiling." Sasuke's eyes were smiling. "It helped."

There was silence except for the clink of chopsticks. Anbure set his down. "Did Uzumaki-sensei know that you and Mother were in love with him?"

Sasuke dropped the chopsticks. Shaken, he stared at his son. Mild blue eyes stared back. Why did they have to end up blue? He sighed again and rubbed his temples with his hand.

"No." He said, resigned. "He didn't know."

Anbure leaned forward. "And does he know now?" Sasuke didn't answer. He bent down and began picking up the dishes, starting with the fallen chopsticks. He moved to the sink.

"It's late. You should be asleep." Anbure rose from his seat, bringing his dishes to his father, who took them without looking up.

"You should tell him, maybe." He said gently, before heading up to bed. Sasuke turned off the water. He ignored the pile of dishes and pulled up a chair. He sat down with his head in his hands for a long time, in the growing darkness of the empty room.

Anbure saw her again, sitting on the swing quietly and humming to herself. He seldom listened to the group of children surrounding him. He preferred to close his eyes and listen to her above the noise. Her wordless little humming song.

"Who is the girl on the swing?" He asked one day.

"Mm? Oh. Sarana. Sarana Lee. She always sits by herself." Someone answered indifferently.

"Doesn't she have friends?" He wondered out loud.

"Not really. She's quiet and shy. There was a fire when her parents were on a mission- they're super cool ninja! Anyway, the babysitter was passed out and little Sarana was only six but she managed to drag her baby sister and her babysitter out! Cool, huh? But her leg-" And someone shushed him up.

Anbure stood just around the corner of the school with his eyes closed, pressed tightly against the brick wall. He could hear her gentle song. Slowly, it faded off. The sound of someone getting up. The sound of someone walking. Her left leg limped a little. He could hear it. He opened his eyes as she passed. Her leg was in a brace, white scars peeking through a bandage loosened through play. His throat tightened and she was gone.

The next day, lagging behind on his way home from school, he watched her on the swing. Unexpectedly, she looked up. Their eyes met for a second time. She smiled at him, openly but shyly. The edges of his mouth turned up too. His friends swept him away, but he looked back for as long as he could.

Anbure decided that one day, he was going to marry that girl.

But they were still being stubborn.

"Uzumaki-sensei, do you like my Father?" He asked. Naruto grinned.

"Kid, your Dad is one of my very first friends. I would do anything for him. Just like I would do anything for you. He's my important person...one of them, anyway. He's one of the few I have left now. And since you're his important person, that makes you another one of my important people." He frowned and shook his head. "Wow. That didn't come out right at all."

Anbure smiled shyly. "Did you know my Mother loved you?" He asked quietly.

Naruto stiffened, then relaxed. "Man, you don't miss a trick, do you? Well. I figured it out, but not until after she died. I wouldn't have said or done anything anyway. Your Dad is my best friend."

"But..." Blue eyes looked up and met black from a crack in the doorway. Anbure shot his father a silent apology. "My Father loved you too." Quiet.

"What?" Naruto's voice was low and dangerous.

"They both were young… so they both had feelings for you that they hid. It's probably one of the only things that kept them together. They were weird together...its why I'm weird now, I guess. But- " The door slid open and his Father stood there, commanding and a little frightening.

"Stop-" he said, but Anbure ploughed on.

"Father is happier when you're around. He only ever laughs around you. He misses you when you're gone and he worries about you too."

"Anbure-" his father tried again.

"He still loves you." Anbure whispered.

The three of them stood in an awkward mess. Anbure looked at his former teacher pleadingly. Sasuke glared at his son with a little bit of betrayal. Naruto looked down into solemn blue eyes with no little disbelief.

"Is this true?" Naruto closed his eyes. "Sasuke. Tell me."

Sasuke closed his eyes painfully.

"Yes."

And there was a blur and then it was gone. The door stood open and cold wind blew inside. Anbure was shocked, his eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, I-" and he was crawling towards his father, inching forward and cringing under him. He looked so much like someone else that it scared Sasuke a little. He stood tall, unmoving. Hinata and her father...some kind of sick pattern emerging.

But Sasuke had never hurt his son while meaning to. He dropped to one knee and gathered Anbure into his arms and held him close. The tiles were cold and the wind blew through the house and he didn't cry. So Anbure cried for him.

It was a month to the day when Sasuke had a mission. He figured, desperately, that there was just no hope for it. He packed his bags and left.

An hour later, someone knocked on the door. A grumpy Uzumaki-sensei set down a bag full of take out ramen with a pout. It was some kind of forgiveness mixed with an apology. And when Sasuke wandered back from his mission, a little bloody and a little bruised, Naruto was there to patch him up again.

Just like always.

So they fell into the routine. Only, alone together, there was awkwardness that made Anbure toss and turn when he tried to sleep upstairs.

A camping exercise and a few nights in the woods let Anbure leave with advice of two well meaning Jounin ringing in his ears. The door slammed and they looked at each other over the table. The camaraderie was over. Sasuke felt like he had swallowed glass. Naruto began rummaging in a bag as Sasuke fidgeted.

"Tch. It's been a long time since that brat was out of the house." Naruto turned back around. That fierce and feral sexy grin was back on his face. Sasuke had missed it.

"Let's celebrate!" He slammed two bottles of sake on the table.

His head was swimming and it was hard for him to keep his balance. He hadn't been drunk in years. They clung to one another, scrambling for support as they stumbled up the stairs.

"You know… guest room is." Sasuke slurred, gestured.

"I'll walk you to your door." Naruto said, bowing mockingly. Only grabbing hold of the other’s shirt kept him from bowling over.

"Idiot." Sasuke breathed as he was slammed against the door to his room. Naruto lost his balance and fell forward a little. He caught himself, barely, his hands slamming into the door on either side of Sasuke's head.

And they were very close.

They had always been very close.

He was the only one besides Anbure who knew how Sasuke laughed.

He had never thought of Sasuke like that before, so he ran away.

Warm and soft smelling.

Inches away from the curve of his neck.

Naruto leaned over and kissed Sasuke's throat. Sasuke froze. Naruto continued to trail small kissed up and down the sides. He bit Sasuke gently and he hissed softly.

"Stop," He said once, incoherently. But his hands pulled him closer and Naruto moved down to his shoulder. His hands were calmly inexperienced, unbuttoning Sasuke's shirt and pushing it off.

Lips trailed down his shoulder. His pants were unbuttoned, and it was hard to breathe. He panted against the door. Naruto slid between his thighs. Moans. Shakes. He reached out blindly to catch on the door that he opened. They fell in a half naked mess on the floor. Naruto was lying on top of him, looking down intently. He leaned down and kissed him, and it tasted like salt.

They fell together, tangling the sheets.

The sun woke them up. They were curled together, and then they were curled apart.

"We're too old to have one night stands with people we know," Naruto said humorlessly.

Sasuke refused to say anything. He wouldn't be weak. He would not make Naruto stay. But when he'd pulled on his clothes and was heading for the door, it slipped a little.

"I didn't want it to be a one night stand." He said quietly. Naruto shut the door.

Sasuke spent the day in bed. He couldn't remember the last time that he did that. Finally deciding on a shower, he slid open the door. And Naruto sat against the opposite wall. His eyes were dark, but he was there.

"I love you," he said.

Anbure walked back from his training exercise. Sarana sitting on the swing. He walked up to her and they looked at each other.

Sakura and her husband watched from across the playground.

Green eyes met blue. The spitting image of Sasuke.

Sarana smiled. "You have the same eyes as me."

Wordlessly, Anbure held out his hand, and she took it.

Funny how history repeats itself sometimes.

END