Naruto pressed a hand to his chest. Each beat meant so much more than simply being alive. Because of Kiba Inuzuka and his family, he was allowed the chance to truly live. After a year filled with trials and frustrations and anger, he was finally being allowed the chance to live and love with all of his being. There was no way to put a full description on what that meant for him.

Only three months ago, Sasuke had given him the world when he had taken him on the trip he had never thought to take. It had not been perfect and there was more than one moment when his fear nearly overwhelmed him. He had allowed regret to take root inside him and had nearly gotten to the point of self-destruction in his guilt. He knew there was no fault in the part he played in the drama. If he had not needed a heart, Kiba would still have died and another would have gotten the heart. The guilt of taking someone else's place in receiving the heart still plagued him, but Sasuke had finally gotten him into a support group for survivors of transplants where he discovered that his worries and guilt were natural across the board. Only the most selfish of persons would feel no guilt at receiving such a precious gift.

Only recently had he been allowed to start work, not because his medical condition did not allow it, but because Sasuke was such a damn control freak who constantly feared for Naruto's heart. The asshole seemed to have developed a freaky fetish for it. Once during sex, he had actually kept his head pressed to Naruto's chest during the act. How he maintained that position was quite astonishing. He hadn't let that bastard touch him for a week after that, accusing him of cheating on him with the heart.

He was only half teasing. It had freaked him out.

Their life still seemed to be trial and error for the most part. Naruto was forced to keep on a pretty damn strict diet. It wasn't that he couldn't eat good stuff, but it was more in moderation. The statistics were against him. Heart transplants did not last as long as other transplants with an average of less than ten years. He had faith though. This heart would last him his entire life.

Smiling, he shook his head and reached for his cellphone. His heart jumped when he heard Sasuke's voice answer. It never failed, no matter how long they stayed together or what heart was in his chest, Sasuke always caused it to flutter in excitement. "I'm on my way home. You want me to pick up something for dinner?"

There was a pause before Sasuke answered. "I'm already cooking something."

"Damn...you know I've been wanting some ramen." He pouted as he slung his bag over a shoulder. "Come on, Sasuke. We can put what you're cooking in the fridge."

"You're not allowed to have ramen for another week. Do you realize what's in ramen? It's ten pounds of salt with greasy meat and eggs. Not to mention you make it all the worse by adding soy sauce to it."

"You do realize you're making me want it more?"

He heard Sasuke snort and grinned. "Idiot. I'm still not letting you eat it today."

Naruto stopped walking and glared at his phone. "I'm still so damn pissed at you for making that damn chart."

"You need visual aids."

"Do not," he growled, half-heartedly.

"Yes, you do. Come home and I promise that we'll go out for ramen tomorrow."

Naruto cocked his head and pumped a fist. Damn, he was good at whining his way into decent food. He didn't bitch often, but it felt like forever since he'd even eaten something halfway bad for him. Sasuke was pretty damn strict with the food chart displayed prominently on the fridge. It listed what foods Naruto could eat during any given week. In his opinion, Sasuke had way too much time on his hands. At least he was giving him a little break this week.

"Just for that, I'm going to show you a good time tonight," he chirped saucily.

Sasuke huffed out a laugh. "Is that so?"

"Damn right it is. Don't underestimate the power of ramen." He could almost see Sasuke rolling his eyes and lowered his voice an octave. "I'm on my way, you better be waiting."

"Hurry home."

Naruto shivered in excited giddiness at the dark promise in Sasuke's voice. God, he was going to get hard standing here in public just thinking about Sasuke and how sexy he looked when he was aroused. Who would have ever thought a nerd could be so damn sexy? He didn't look like a nerd, but he was one to the core.

"Bye, Temari," yelled Naruto as he passed by her office on the way out of the building, not wanting to stop and be delayed from reaching the sexy man waiting for him at home.

"Hey, Naruto," she jumped up from her desk and stuck her head out of the door, making him paused.

He sighed and glanced her way with raised brows. He watched as her normally hard features softened and she smiled. "I'm glad you're back, Naruto."

"Me too." He gave her a jaunty wave and rushed out to his waiting SUV.

His heart pounded in his ears and a year ago, that would have frightened him. Now, it was proof of his health. He was still self-conscious about his scar, but it no longer terrified him as it once had.

The tires of his vehicle squealed as he whipped it into its designated parking place in the building's garage. He barely remembered to grab his bag off the passenger seat in his excitement to get to his lover. Damn, it wasn't like he was starved for sex but today felt different. He hadn't been this excited in forever.

Swallowing back a groan as another mental vision of Sasuke flooded his senses, he raced for the elevator and jabbed several times at the number for their apartment's floor. His nerves were practically thrumming in excitement and he could barely get the key into the lock before flinging open the door while yelling. "Sasuke you better have that lube ready or I'm going to tie you down and be the one pounding your ass."

The words had barely left his mouth as the sight before him registered. Expectant faces were frozen in expressions of shock and to some degree, amusement. Hinata's face was beat red and Sasuke had his face in the palm of his hand. A dozen faced him and he blinked dumbly before he felt as if his head was going to explode from all the blood rushing to his cheeks.

There was a distinct mumble that could have only come from Sasuke. He knew the word well. "Idiot."

"Surprise?" said Itachi in a voice choked with laughter.

"Fuck my life," groaned Naruto as he finally took in what he was seeing. A large banner was displayed across the living room. One Year Strong.

He'd forgotten. Today was the day he'd been ready to die. He'd known he would die, and yet he didn't. The heart had come to life in his chest and he lived. He had a life with Sasuke and today was the one year anniversary.

Embarrassment left as his friends swarmed around him for laughs and hugs. His earlier words were forgotten as everyone came around him to celebrate his life and the extra year that was tacked onto it. Each moment he lived was extra time and a blessing as far as he was concerned.

Hinata stepped forward and gave him a kiss and a hug. He still couldn't believe Itachi had proposed...and more amazing was that she had accepted. She was a pretty amazing woman to tame that horn dog.

He barely had time to bask in one person's congratulations before another took their place. He had no idea how many hugs came his way before he was wrapped up in Temari's arms. He hadn't even seen her arrive with her brother, Kankurou and her husband, Shikamaru. In her arms was her daughter, looking absolutely adorable. Naruto immediately lost the part of his heart not already belonging to Sasuke.

"You brought her!" he squealed and cuddled her close.

Temari's daughter had been born shortly after his transplant. He'd been too sick to really appreciate the baby and his recovery had been long. Now, he had the baby in his arms and was giggling madly as she latched onto his hair and began babbling in baby language to him...to which he responded in kind.

"You're never going to get her back now," said Sasuke with a chuckle. "He's pretty much adopted her now."

Naruto sat down in a chair and continued to babble happily with the little girl. Sasuke's eyes softened and he smiled.

"You two should think about adopting now that Naruto is out of the woods."

Sasuke shrugged. "Naruto will never be out of the woods. Heart transplants aren't like others. He's got ten years if he's lucky."

"Then you just get another transplant, besides, I have a feeling this heart will last a lot longer than the average. This is Naruto we're talking about, and he would make a wonderful father," said Temari softly.

"You're right about that. He's amazing with kids. I just don't know if I'm ready to share him yet."

Temari barked out a laugh. "Spoken like a true man. You two should talk about it anyway. I've got some connections with the state adoption agency when you're ready."

Sasuke nodded and turned his gaze back to Naruto. "Thank you, Temari."

"I didn't think so many people cared," said Naruto as he walked up to the two.

Naruto reluctantly released the little girl to her father and Sasuke drew him close while burying his face in his neck. "You have a lot of people who love you. Don't ever think for a minute that you aren't loved beyond reason."

"Not for a single minute," he whispered.

"I hope I'm not late."

Naruto whipped around to see Kisame Hoshigaki standing in the doorway of the apartment. He gave a whoop and lunged at the man. He'd only met him a few times while with Sasuke in the Caribbean, but he'd hit it off with him almost instantly.

"Kisame! How did you get here?"

"Sasuke paid for a plane ticket." Kisame gave a pat to Naruto's head and then stepped away. "You look good, kid."

"Better than before?"

"You'd look better if you could convince your partner to move down to the island."

Sasuke stepped forward with his hand extended, only to be pulled against Kisame in a hug. "We're family. We don't shake hands."

"Where's that plus one you were going to bring?"

Kisame's face darkened slightly and he shook his head. "It didn't work out."

"I'm sorry," said Naruto. He'd spoken with Kisame several times on the phone and they skyped and emailed regularly. Kisame had started dating one of the locals a few weeks back. He'd seemed fairly upbeat about it. "What happened?"

"She had trouble accepting that she couldn't have all of my heart."

Naruto frowned at that. He heard a bark of laughter and turned to see Itachi chuckling at something Kankurou was telling him. His eyes caught Kisame's movement and saw him staring at intently at the older Uchiha. Itachi chose that moment to turn and an expression of joy spread across his face before he reeled in the look in the typical Uchiha manner.

"Kisame," said Itachi with a smile as he approached with his hand extended. "I didn't know you were in town."

Kisame stared at the hand before taking it. "I'm full of surprises."

Naruto stared at the shake, remembering the words that had just come from Kisame moments ago. Family didn't shake hands. He'd assumed that Kisame considered Itachi family since he and Sasuke were deemed as such and according to Sasuke, Kisame and Itachi had always been closer because of their similar ages.

"Itachi?"

Both men turned to see Hinata approaching with a smile and the grip of their hands loosened and separated. Itachi's face softened and he drew Hinata toward him. "Hinata, this is Kisame Hoshigaki. He's an old friend of mine. Kisame, this is my fiancé, Hinata Hyuuga."

Naruto caught the faint dimming of Kisame's smile. It was barely noticeable and he recovered quickly. He opened his mouth, but found any words blocked by Sasuke's hand.

"Leave them be," his lover growled in his ear. "It's not your place to meddle."

Naruto pouted, but allowed Sasuke to draw him away from Kisame and Itachi. He felt bad. Kisame had played off his friendship with Itachi since he'd first met the man, yet seeing him in Itachi's presence; it was obvious that he doted on him. The entire situation made him extremely sad.

"Leave it be, Naruto."

"It's just not fair," he whispered as he pressed his face into Sasuke's chest and nuzzled the warm flesh beneath his shirt.

"Life isn't fair. If it was, you'd have never had to have a transplant."

Naruto nodded and lifted his face to meet Sasuke's gaze. "But, if I hadn't needed a heart, I wouldn't have gone to see Itachi and I wouldn't have met you."

Sasuke didn't say anything and neither did Naruto. It was a sore subject between them than neither wanted to poke.

"We'd have met," answered Sasuke quietly after a moment. "You're my soul mate, so we definitely would have met, even if it was ten or twenty years in the future."

Naruto giggled and poked Sasuke's ribs. "You're such a sap. You pretend not to be, but I know it."

"Let's just keep that between you and me."

oOo

The party finally ended near ten and Sasuke and Naruto sat curled up together on the sofa. The living room was an absolute mess. Torn streamers and popped balloons littered the floor. Cups and plates were covering every spare inch of flat surfaces. Several people had offered to stay and help clean up, but with Naruto fading so fast, Sasuke had waved them off.

"I can't believe it's been a year already. Time just flew by."

Sasuke hummed and closed his eyes to bask in the warmth of Naruto curled against him. "It's almost midnight. That makes it a year and a day."

"I guess it does."

Naruto opened his eyes and eyed the state of the living room before groaning and burying his face in Sasuke's chest. "I don't want to clean up," he whined. "Let's just sale the place and move."

Sasuke chuckled and nuzzled Naruto's hair. "I don't know; packing up might be more trouble than cleaning up."

"We can just leave everything. We can buy new clothes and furniture."

Sasuke did role his eyes at that. "And who would be paying for this move?"

"Well, you of course," quipped Naruto as he leaned up and kissed Sasuke's lips. "I'm just a poor soul"

Sasuke nibbled at Naruto's ear. "I suppose I could take out the cost in trade."

"Oh, now you want sex? You get me all hot and bothered and then when I get home, I'm rearing to go only to not find my lover naked, but rather my apartment filled to the brim with people...to whom I completely embarrass the shit out of myself in front of." Naruto sighed dramatically. "You're lucky I don't make you sleep on the couch."

"I wouldn't mind sleeping here if you were with me."

Naruto snickered and laid his head on Sasuke's shoulder. "Temari's daughter looks just like her...but she's got Shikamaru's eyes. Do you ever wish I was a woman?"

Sasuke choked on his saliva and gaped dumbly at Naruto while trying to figure out the train of thought that led from Temari's daughter to Naruto being a woman. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"I mean...you know...to have babies that look like both of us."

With a sigh, Sasuke pulled Naruto even tighter against him. "I don't care if my genes are passed on or not. I'm sure Itachi will handle that. If you were a woman, I wouldn't want you. I'm happy with things how they are."

"But you'd make such a great father."

Sasuke sighed and tightened his arms. He'd known he would have to have this conversation with Naruto eventually, he'd simply hoped it would not be for a while. "Temari and I talked while you were enamored with her daughter. She brought up the topic of adoption."

Naruto sat back and stared at Sasuke. "Adoption?"

"It's just an option for you to think about."

"And you're okay with it?"

He thought for a moment before shrugging. "I'm not opposed to it. I don't want to have to share you with some snot-nosed kid, but I suppose I could get used to the idea. It's not like picking up a dog at the pound. It could take months or years to get approved to adopt and then there is the wait for a suitable child."

"I know that, but are you really okay with it. I mean, if you don't want a kid, I guess we could get a dog or something."

Sasuke chuckled and drew Naruto back against him. "You'd never be satisfied with a dog. I'll get used to the idea while we're waiting for approval."

Naruto smiled happily at Sasuke, his face radiating joy before that joy dimmed only a few short seconds later. "What if they don't approve us because of...?"

He lifted a hand to his chest, directly above the scar bisecting his chest. "What if they deny us because of me?"

"Stop being an idiot. If they deny you, we'll go to China and get a kid. I'm going to make sure you have a baby even if it kills me. If you being such an amazing person doesn't get you a child, then I'll buy you one. If Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Angelina Jolie are allowed to adopt kids, then we sure as hell will be able to."

The joy returned to Naruto's face and he flung himself against Sasuke. "I love you so much."

"Me too." Sasuke sighed happily and cuddled Naruto close. "I'll call Temari tomorrow and have her set us up with a caseworker."

"Thank you, Sasuke."

He chuckled at the pure joy radiating from his lover. "But, since you mentioned it, I think you would look damn sexy pregnant with my baby."

Naruto jerked and sat up with a flush on his cheeks. "Sasuke!"

oOo

Sasuke sat at the dining room table with Naruto, staring at the stacks of paperwork involved in adoption. The state agency wanted to know everything about them from how much they took in yearly to where they went to school and what they did in their spare time. He'd seen the sneer in the woman's face when she handed them the various packets and wondered if this would be an exercise in futility.

While no longer expressly forbidden, gays and lesbians still had to jump through ten times the number of hoops compared to that of hetero couples. They faced twice the amount of prejudice and were subject to be denied for the slightest offense. Staring at Naruto's frowning face, he worried for his love. If they were denied, it would crush Naruto. They had barely agreed to look into adoption and already Naruto was planning out their future child's life. He'd started looking into schools and even setting up college funds.

"Naruto," he began.

"Don't say it." Naruto grabbed a form and began filling out the spaces. "I have to believe that after everything we've been through, we'll be given this chance. Just this once, I'd like something to come easy."

"You fell in love with me easy enough," he tried to tease.

"But it wasn't easy, was it?"

Sighing, he shook his head. "No, it wasn't."

"Did you see that woman's face? She was condemning us. I could practically hear her thoughts. She was thinking we'd turn any kid we had into a gay cross dressing hooker with AIDS."

Sasuke snorted, though it wasn't really funny. Just hearing it come from Naruto took at least some of the edge off the comment. "It's not that bad. And we have a lot of people in our corner, powerful people. The Uchiha name isn't just a name. Itachi and I don't really use our name to get things, but it still holds a lot of sway in the world."

"I know." Naruto pouted and slammed a fist down on the table. "I guess I thought it would be different."

"I told you. If they deny us, we'll go somewhere that will give us a child. You're going to be a father, I promise."

"Daddy."

Sasuke blinked. "What?"

"I'm going to be a daddy. A father is just someone who donates sperm and is occasionally around for birthdays and holidays. I'm going to be a daddy."

Nodding, he leaned over and kissed Naruto's lips softly. "You're right. You're going to be a daddy."

"And you'll be a papa."

"Okay."

Sasuke watched Naruto go back to the forms. He sat there staring for several minutes before turning to his own paperwork. It seemed a little excessive, but considering they were going to be given a child to care for, it felt alright, even if he didn't like the thought of strangers having access to his financial history. For Naruto, he would withstand any annoyance.

oOo

The days turned into weeks and Naruto grew progressively despondent. The agency had yet to call them back for the next step in approval, which was the interview phase. No matter how much Sasuke assured him that it took time, he grew more and more depressed. He was certain they had been rejected because of their relationship and his health issues.

He was laying on the sofa flipping aimlessly through the channels when the phone rang. Since Sasuke was closer, he allowed him to answer and tuned out the rich, deep sound of his lover's voice.

"Yes? Of course. Monday at ten a.m. is fine. Thank you."

When he heard him hang up, he peeked over the top of the sofa. "Was that your editor?"

"No." Sasuke approached with a blank face. "It was the agency."

Naruto stared at him, his heart pounding in his chest. He hated when Sasuke hid his emotions from him. The bastard was like stone when he wanted to be. If Sasuke was wearing that face, the worst case scenario must have happened and they were denied approval. "What did they say?"

"They scheduled an interview for us on Monday at ten."

Naruto's eyes widened and he gave a loud whoop before jumping over the sofa and tackling Sasuke to the floor. "We got an interview," he crowed happily.

"We did." Sasuke stroked a finger down Naruto's cheek. "But don't get too excited. This is just one of many steps in the process."

"I know...but we made it to the interview." Naruto leaned down to kiss Sasuke. Their mouths devoured each other and hands moved to stroke at torsos. He was just beginning to get into the mood when a thought occurred to him.

He had nothing to wear.

"Oh, my god." He was on his feet in an instant. "We've got to go shopping."

"Why?"

"I've nothing to wear to the interview."

Sasuke groaned and thumped his head against the floor. "I'm in love with an idiot."

oOo

The conference room seemed a bit large for an interview as they were shown into the room where three individuals sat and spoke quietly amongst themselves—two women and a man. The conversation halted as they were shown in and Naruto began to fidget nervously until Sasuke took his hand.

"Mr. Uchiha and Mr. Uzumaki?"

"That's us," chirped Naruto with a nervous laugh.

"Please have a seat and we'll get started."

"We've read through your application for adoption and discussed it with each other at some length," began the woman. "I must say, I'm a bit apprehensive of it. Your application is rather unusual."

"Because we're gay?" asked Sasuke, just barely keeping the chill from his tone.

"Well, there is that," interjected the man. "But, it is becoming more common to see homosexual couples looking into adopting. It forces us to be stricter during the entire process."

"How so?" asked Sasuke as the chill reached his eyes.

"Well, we have to look out for the welfare of whatever child we place and gay couples simply don't have the security of normal couples. To put it bluntly, we don't want a child to go into the care of a couple who will end up splitting apart. You aren't married, so that alone makes things easier to separate than the normal couple."

"Normal?" asked Naruto. "What's normal? A man and a woman? A married couple? I'll have you know that I've been with Sasuke for several years. We've been through bad times together and we've weathered them better than most hetero couple's would have. The only thing we don't have is a piece of paper saying that we're married. I don't need that to know that the only way I'll ever leave Sasuke is when I'm dead."

One of the women arched a brow. "That brings up the second issue. You're the recent recipient of a heart transplant, correct?"

"Yes."

"I've looked at some statistics and they don't look good. According to the stats, you'll be lucky if you live ten years. That means..."

"I don't look at stats," interrupted Naruto. "It's pointless because each person is different. Could I possibly die tomorrow? Yes...and so you all of you and any couple that comes in here looking to adopt. I can't guarantee that I'll live to see grandchildren or even my child's high school graduation, but I can promise to love the child with every fiber of my being. If you want guarantees, then you had best not adopt out any kids because no one can promise forever. But you know what; I wouldn't be worried about any child that I adopted because even if I died, I know Sasuke would be there for them. That's why we're adopting as a couple, because if something happens to one of us, the other will be there to protect our child. That's what it means to be family. So if you're going to deny us because we're gay, then look at all those straight couples who abandon their children or who abuse them. We're financially secure. One of us works from home. We have a large and always growing family support system. How many people can say that?"

Naruto took a breath and spent a second staring each of the interviewers in the eye. "And if you want to deny us because of my heart, then you're denying some lucky child two loving fathers who would dote on him or her. Any child we have will be treated with love and respect. If you're just looking for excuses to deny us, then why did you call us here because it's a waste of our time?"

Naruto stood with a straight back and pulled Sasuke to his feet with him. "We're leaving now. Anything you want to know about us is in that stack of forms you had us fill out. When you're ready to stop denying a child a loving home because of your prejudices, give us a call."

Sasuke trailed after Naruto. They didn't stop walking until they stood by the car. Naruto hunched over the roof and began crying with every fiber of his being. The tears poured out and Sasuke could do nothing, but hold him close. "Naruto..."

"I screwed it up for us. I should have just kept my mouth closed, but I couldn't stand the looks they were giving us. They'd already decided what they thought of us even before meeting us."

"You knew it wouldn't be easy," murmured Sasuke as he stroked a hand over the hair

"If that's the people who choose who adopts and who doesn't..."

Sasuke drew Naruto up and placed a finger on his lips. "Don't finish that sentence. We have a lot of options, so don't worry if this agency doesn't work out. There are private agencies. If it comes to it, I'll get one of our friends to be a surrogate. I love you and it hurts me to see you like this. So, stop crying, okay?"

"Okay."

oOo

It took Naruto a while to recover from the interview. Sasuke only told Itachi and Hinata the events occurring in the interview. Itachi offered to prescribe some Xanex to help calm Naruto, but he refused.

Sasuke smiled as he watched Naruto bounce around their apartment with Temari's daughter while his boss sat laughing at him. Maybe it was time to cultivate other options since it was obvious the adoption agency was not going to call them back.

Taking a sip of his tea, he reached uncaring when the phone rang. "Uchiha-Uzumaki residence."

"Mr. Uchiha?"

"Speaking."

"This is the Konoha Adoption Agency."

Sasuke frowned and set aside his teacup. "Yes?"

"I'd like to inform you that you've been added to the list of parents waiting to adopt. And I must say that Mr. Uzumaki really made an impression on your interviewers."

Sasuke felt his heart start pumping again and swallowed around the dryness in his mouth. "He has that effect on people."

"Congratulations to you and your partner, Mr. Uchiha. I wish you all the best in adopting. We'll be in touch."

"Thank you." He placed the phone back on its cradle and stared blindly for a moment.

"Hey, Sasuke, you okay?"

He blinked and focused on Naruto. Standing with almost shaky feet, he pulled Naruto into his arms and pressed his lips to his ear. "We passed the interview."

Naruto jerked back and stared at him dumbly. "What?"

"That was the adoption agency. We're moving onto the next stage."

Naruto whooped and jumped into Sasuke's arms, wrapping his legs around his waist and planting kisses all over his face. "I'm going to be a daddy!"

"Well not yet, idiot."

The comment didn't deter Naruto's jubilance. "Not yet, but one day."

"I could have told you that. In fact, I think I did."

Naruto stuck out his tongue and then pushed away to promptly pull Temari off her feet in a bear hug. "Did you hear?"

"I did. Congratulations, Naruto."

Having shared his joy with their guests, he was back in Sasuke's arms. "I love you."

"Me too," replied Sasuke. "Always."

"And our son or daughter too?

Sasuke nodded. "And our son or daughter too."

AN: I posted the short side story following Itachi and Hinata. It technically goes before this one, if anyone has the desire to read het. You can skip it, but if you don't mind het, you might want to check it out. It's called The Way To his Heart.