How to Break a Mask
Author: Kinomi Akai
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto…well, it would have a bunch of episodes at first…and then wait a few years and have another few episodes…and then wait another three or four years…you get the idea :P
Summary: An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe
Pairings: Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru.
Warnings: Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it.
Author's Note: I bet you all can hardly believe your eyes! I can't either! But that's it - it's finally finished! TEN YEARS!
"Blah" – talking
'blah' – thinking
'blah' – Kyuubi talking
Chapter 14: Epilogue
"Oi, teme, hurry up!" Naruto practically dragged Sasuke to the door, who was taking his sweet time in putting on his shoes.
"Yeah, yeah," he smirked.
"Come on! It's so awesome!"
"Naruto, the last time you told me your team did something "awesome", it was to show me one of your boys could do your sexy no jutsu," Sasuke spoke in an amused voice.
Naruto turned around with wide eyes. "That was amazing! Sasuke, I never told him how to do it, only that I could do it, and he made it up on his own!" Naruto's voice was filled with wonder.
"Are you sure Konohamaru didn't teach it to him?" He asked, locking the door to their home behind them. It had taken some time, but Naruto and Sasuke had moved out of the main Uchiha manor, and constructed a new house for themselves on the property. The manor had been renovated, and was now an orphanage, and Naruto's favourite place to volunteer at.
Naruto stopped in his tracks. "Oh…I guess he could have…"
Sasuke put an arm around Naruto's shoulders. "Dobe. I'll ask him."
Naruto smiled. "Okay teme. But you still have to see this!"
"Okay, okay," Sasuke smirked. "Lead the way."
Team Seven, although no longer officially a team, spent no less time together. In fact, pretty much all missions they were sent on were with part or all of the team. Naruto, after some time as an ANBU, had taken his own Jounin team – and by taken, I mean really taken to it. He had one of the most successful and promising teams of the generation, and in spite of his mask now firmly dead and buried, still never let anyone hear the end of it.
"Kotarou! Show Sasuke-teme what you showed me!" Naruto said, running up to the younger boy.
"Hello Uchiha-Sensei," the boy nodded respectfully. Sasuke smirked as Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Do it!" Naruto encouraged.
The boy nodded, took a moment to center himself, and then ran towards one of the trees at the border of the training ground. He reached the tree – and kept running, all the way until he reached the tallest branch that would support his weight.
"Hah! Look at that! You remember how long it took us to do that, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto's eyes sparkled as they turned to him. Sasuke couldn't help but smile in reply.
"Sakura did it on her first try, dobe. Don't you remember?"
"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, "So I've got a Sakura! Sakura is awesome!"
And she was. After giving her personality a firm kick in the butt, Sakura threw herself into her training, determined to give herself a spot on Team 7 in a different way. After the sparred Sasuke onto his back, no one could argue against her.
In spite of her combat ability, she took an apprentenship under Tsunade, which, ironically, only served to make her even more deadly. Never underestimate a medic-nin's familiarity with the human body.
"Do you have a Sakura?" Naruto teased.
After much prompting and hinting, Sasuke took a small break from his role as ANBU Captain to try out a team of his own. A team he had fully expected to fail on the spot.
"Hn. I have someone better."
The two teams were now legendary rivals.
"Naruto!" Sakura came running up behind them. "Tsunade-sama would like to speak with you."
It had been a difficult fight against those against Naruto for about two years, until Tsunade finally found the proof she was looking for that proved Konoha had instigated the war against the Kyuubi no Kitsune. After Kyuubi's name had been…well, not cleared, but explained, life in the village turned from tolerable, to comfortable. Nowadays, it was just about perfect.
Naruto looked at her suspiciously. "Is this about…"
Sakura gave him a guilty look.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Tell her no! Not yet!" He hissed. "I still have my team, and I won't abandon them to some other lame teacher!"
Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a smile.
Tsunade had been trying for over a year to get Naruto to accept the Hokage position. Naruto, now firmly committed to his team, insisted on seeing them through before he accepted the position. Tsunade had accepted that, as long as he did most of her paperwork.
"Is this about the papers I didn't get to yesterday? Those need her signature and I'm never as good at forging it-"
Sakura giggled. "No, Naruto, I think it's about something else."
"Oh," Naruto blushed. "Okay."
The three of them made their way to the tower, where Sakura knocked on the door. Eight times in a row.
"Why are you knocking like that?" Naruto looked at her, bemused.
Sakura grinned. "Because of this," and she opened the door wide to reveal, well, everyone.
Iruka, Kakashi, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru, Gaara, Neji, Hinata—everyone was here. And they all stood under a banner that read "Happy Birthday Naruto!"
Naruto stared, unable to believe his eyes. He had totally forgotten! With the festival being abolished many years ago, he had completely forgotten that today was his birthday.
"Happy birthday Naruto-sensei," Naruto and Sasuke's teams stepped around the adults to show themselves, and Naruto gaped.
"But I-I just came from,"
"I brought them here," Kakashi said, one eye curved upwards. His hand was draped across Iruka's shoulders, who was beaming. They had announced their engagement shortly after Naruto and Sasuke revealed their relationship.
"Sensei!" Naruto said, not knowing what to say. "Thanks guys!" He said, looking around the room.
"You're thanking us before you've even got the presents yet?" Kiba grinned. "Does that mean my presence is a gift enough and I can keep this?" He asked, holding up a shoddily, but lovingly wrapped gift. Hinata giggled, and revealed hers, as well, and this prompted everyone else to reveal theirs – all, but one.
Sasuke smirked, knowingly.
"I'll go last. Go ahead dobe," he said, putting his hand on Naruto's lower back and giving him a small push towards the crowd. In spite of his curiously, Naruto let Sasuke push him forwards, and went to thank his friends and open his gifts. This was shaping up to be the best day of his life.
Finally, he had opened and hugged and thanked every single person, except for Sasuke. In fact, it seemed that everyone in the room realized this as well, and was waiting on Sasuke to reveal whatever it was he was hiding.
Naruto turned to catch his eye. Sasuke smiled in response, but it faltered slightly as he glanced around the room. Naruto knew he didn't like crowds, and gave him a reassuring grin. It seemed to work.
Sasuke opened his mouth, and the room immediately fell into silence. Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked around. Everyone seemed to be waiting for something…
Sasuke cleared his throat. "Naruto, I…have your present. Come over here." His voice became more confident as he spoke.
Amused, Naruto obeyed. "What's up, teme?" He asked quietly, a bit unnerved at the attention everyone else was giving them.
To his surprise, Sasuke leaned in and kissed him, softly cupping his face. Naruto's eyes fluttered closed. When they opened again, Sasuke was no longer standing in front of him, but kneeling before him.
His breath hitched.
"Naruto," Sasuke breathed, holding a small box in the hand above his knee. He swallowed against the dryness in his throat. "When we started dating, it took me forever to tell you I loved you. But I think…I think you always knew," he looked up at Naruto, whose lips were quivering dangerous. Naruto nodded firmly.
"It took me almost a year to say it out loud, and when I did, I couldn't believe I had waited that long," he smiled up at Naruto, who breathed out a laugh.
"And," he swallowed, and let out a breath, shaking his head. "I can't believe I've waiting this long to ask this."
He grabbed Naruto's hand, and led it to grasp around the box and open it. "So Naruto…dobe…will you marry me?"
"Sasuke…you fucking teme, of course I will!" The force of Naruto's hug sent them both tumbling to the ground, in the middle of tearful congratulations and thunderous applause – with one voice booming above them all.
'And that, kit, is how you break a mask.'
Author's Note:
Welp, holy crap guys. I've done it. After ten years, I actually finished this thing.
The BIGGEST props to everyone who stayed by this fic all this time. I still got alerts and favs and I checked every review as I got them, even when I wasn't updating or even reading fanfiction. I'm a right dick for making you all wait this long, but I hope it was worth it! I should have warned you I am the biggest sucker for fluff and happy endings, and this one was probably the fluffiest ending I've written yet!
I went through and edited all of the previous chapters, so if there's anything that doesn't make sense, it might be something I've added.
Let me know what you all think!
So for the last time on this fic (probably), this is Kinomi Akai, signing off! Bye guys!
- Kinomi