A/N: Sorry this took so long! I had everything plotted out just was too lazy to start writing it. But here's your update (:

Warning: a date, some shit happens, and possible fights to ensue. hey, nothing's perfect, am I right?

enjoy!

VI: Failed Expectations

The battle this time around was ravage. They went in with 50,000 abled body men and walked away from the war with little under 1000. Sasuke was one of the lucky ones. He came back battered and bruised, a broken arm hung in a sling, but he was alive. Good Zeus he was alive.

They had won, praise the gods, but the truest victory would be when Sasuke returned home into Naruto's arms. Arms that would hold him tight as Naruto berated him for coming home bloodstained again. Then Sasuke would smirk and convince Naruto that he would need help cleaning now that he was down an arm. Naruto would blush, and Sasuke would silently swoon because dear heavens Naruto's blush was a sight to see, and mumble something about him being a 'pervert'. They'd bathe together, though, and Sasuke would relish every wonderful moment they had together.

He was alive, dammit, and he was going home.

The minute the battle was over, Sasuke climbed onto his Pegasus and flew home. Fuck horses, really, and Ares owed him a favor so Sasuke was going to abuse that as long as he could. The trip home did nothing to calm his fraying nerves. A foreboding cloud at the back of his mind was gnawing on his thoughts. He blamed it on the adrenaline rush still flowing through his system. As a demigod he lived off the thrill of battle. Eternally relished the slicing of a blade through an enemy's body.

Morbid, but you couldn't fight what you were born to do—and for Sasuke, he was born to fight.

"Faster," he commanded his Pegasus, and his steed took flight.

He arrived home in a matter of minutes. Sasuke dismounted from his ride, brushing off any lingering dirt from his clothes. He ran a hand through his hair and silently cursed that he couldn't check himself out properly with a mirror. Well, whatever, he was home. The lights were still on, and Sasuke couldn't help the smile that threatened to rip off half his face.

The lights were on, that means Naruto had stayed up waiting for him.

"That idiot. I told him he should sleep," but Sasuke was so incredibly happy to know Naruto went against him—as if this was the first time Naruto challenged Sasuke's advice.

He opened the door and the smell of blood hit his nostrils. His instincts were on sharp alert, and his eyes fell on the trail of blood that was scattered along the floor. His breath caught in his throat. Naruto! He dashed through the house, coming to the living room where he saw Naruto sitting on a rocking chair, back turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke's nerves were exploding one by one as he ran around… only to find Naruto sitting in the chair, eyes glassy, and a huge slit running across his chest. His clothes were stained with blood.

Sasuke dropped to the floor. He opened his mouth and a painful howl jumped out of his throat. That was when Naruto awoke. Sweat stained the front of his shirt. His heart pounded loudly against his ribcage. He was no longer on the bed, either, but tangled up on the floor with Sasuke. How the fuck had that happened?

His hands immediately went to his shirt, sighing in relief when there was no blood. His head was still on his shoulders too. Thank God, because waking up headless was not how Naruto ever wanted to start out a Saturday morning. He felt eyes on him, and he glanced down to find Sasuke awake, looking rather pale.

Naruto opened his mouth then shut it close. The gears were turning, although rather slowly since he just woke up, in his head before he spoke.

"I thought you said you didn't get the dreams." Naruto said, voice hoarse.

"I don't," Sasuke said. "I get nightmares."

/

Due to very poor planning, Naruto found himself sitting on a barstool with his laptop opened in front of him. A very empty Word document mocked him over and over again about how not close he was to finishing his essay for English was going. Naruto found solace staring into the murky depths of his coffee. Honestly, he couldn't focus on typing anything, let alone drink his coffee, after what happened this morning.

Breakfast was a shit show, as it usually was considering Naruto's life had suddenly turned into a constant one. Naruto had very promptly freaked out over the fact that now he could apparently see Sasuke's dreams. Not only that, but it was also nerve wracking to see himself dead through Sasuke's point of view.

His hands had been shaking the entire time he was serving breakfast, a nice bowl of cereal. Gaara, ever the observant, had pointed it out and asked Naruto what was wrong. He'd lied and said it was nothing. A lie that Gaara had caught but never pushed to validate, thank God.

Everyone had left right after breakfast. Gaara opted to take Kiba home since Kiba was nursing a ridiculous hangover and unleashing him onto the streets alone would no doubt be a crime upon all humankind. Naruto was glad that he wouldn't have to deal with his hungover friend. He had his own problems to deal with.

Sasuke however, had stayed. Of course he stayed, why wouldn't he have stayed? For a while, the two had sat in awkward silence. The only sounds heard were the crackling of Rice Krispies in the bowl. Finally, Naruto had broken the silence with a shaky whisper.

"Before this, I would have looked at that dream and gone 'haha no big deal, Naruto. You just ate a bad cup of ramen'. But now… it's like, 'Oh Naruto no big deal except for the fact that you actually died'."

The nightmare, the memory, the dream, whatever the fuck you wanted to call it, had really shaken Naruto up. Even now as he sat in the coffee shop willing his brain to make words, he couldn't get the sight out of his mind. He was dead. Dead as dead could be. Someone had killed him. Not even that time, but multiple times in probably even more gruesome ways. Seeing it, and experiencing it all through Sasuke's eyes, had really put everything into prospective for Naruto.

Someone, or something, be it the Fates or that Orochimaru dude Sasuke vaguely mentioned a few days ago, wanted Naruto dead. And they had succeeded—multiple times.

His mind flashed back to the woman on the soccer field for a brief second, but he shook his head, erasing the thought. Yeah, she'd given him the creeps, but he definitely didn't get the whole 'she's gonna kill me with her ponytail' vibe.

He sighed, resting his head onto the coffee table. His coffee cup was far from warm by now with all the heavy thinking Naruto was doing. It was weird, you know? He saw everything through Sasuke's eyes last night yet he still woke up with the same overwhelming despair and grief that rocked Sasuke's soul that day.

If Naruto had it his way he'd totally make it so he'd never have to see one of those nightmares again. Knowing his luck, though, that probably wouldn't happen.

Naruto sighed, closing up his laptop. He wasn't going to get any work done with his mind all frazzled. So he packed up his stuff, dumped out his coffee, and headed home. On his walk he thought back to the conversation he had earlier with Sasuke before he left.

They had moved from the breakfast table to the sink to wash the dishes.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." Sasuke had said, hesitantly putting his hand on top of Naruto's—the hand that currently wasn't soapy and wet.

Naruto, surprisingly, hadn't pulled away his hand.

"Try seeing those dreams every night for centuries," Sasuke had continued. "Kinda runs you haggard."

"Excuse me, this is my pity party." Naruto huffed, pulling his hand away. "Come talk to me when you end up dead 'cause someone hates you enough that they keep killing you off every, damn, life!" He punctuated the last three words with a poke to Sasuke's chest.

"Naruto—" Sasuke had started but Naruto had no intentions of letting him finish. He dropped the last of the plates into the sink and stormed to the living room.

Kiba had made a mess, as usual, of the place so Naruto went around picking up discarded pillows and crushed beer canes. Note to self, ban Kiba from alcohol while he's at my house.

All of a sudden he had felt Sasuke pressed up against his back. An electric shock that still tingled through out Naruto's body zipped down his spine. He felt it. Felt the worry and the nervousness dancing through Sasuke's bones. And he felt the strength too. The reassurance that Sasuke wouldn't let him die again. Not now. Not ever.

His body had unconsciously curled into Sasuke's. And Sasuke had kissed him on the back of the neck, causing shivers to dance down Naruto's spine.

"I'll protect you," Sasuke had whispered into the flushing skin.

Naruto had wanted to reply back with a sharp, "Oh, like all those other times?" but he knew that wouldn't have been right. Funny, he could have sworn he knew the exact face Sasuke would pull if he said those words. And he couldn't handle seeing that look—not at all.

Finally, he had given up, exhaling a sigh. He didn't say a word, simply soaked up Sasuke's presence before he pulled back and told him to leave.

The pout Sasuke had given him was so instagram worthy but Naruto had just ushered him out and told him it was bad luck to see your date before the actual date.

"I thought that only applied to weddings."

"Get the fuck out."

Now Naruto was back home, so lost in his thoughts he hadn't realized that he was standing at the doorstep to his apartment until he ran head first into the door. Totally uncool. Hopefully his neighbors hadn't seen it.

Naruto stepped inside his apartment and checked the time. Their date was apparently at seven. That was what Sasuke had told him before he left. It was only five-thirty. Naruto had asked what the hell they were doing. Sasuke only smiled and left and that smile fucking infuriated Naruto it was so damn handsome.

"Guess I better get ready." But what the hell was he going to wear? His phone buzzed, thank God. It was from Sasuke.

Sasuke: I'll pick you up at your house. Don't wear slippers.

Naruto: WHO THE FUCK WEARS SLIPPERS ON A DATE? IDIOT.

Now he wanted to wear slippers just to spite him, but Naruto decided against it. He was going to give Sasuke a bit of a break today for their date. Only a bit.

/

He got dressed in about an hour, giving Naruto half an hour of dead time. Dead time was, as he was starting to notice, terrible for him because dead time allowed Naruto to start thinking about things. Thinking, thinking, thinking, he's always thinking. Just like earlier when he was thinking what the hell he should wear for this 'date'.

Naruto wracked his brain to see if he could pull up any dirt from the dreams but nope, none of them had given off an inkling of something like this happening before. Which made Naruto think that he probably died before they could ever go out on a proper date—since Sasuke was a demigod constantly whisked away by his father to do demigod things—and that thought had kinda soured his mood.

Always dying. Always him. And Naruto started to wonder why he was even getting himself involved with a guy like Sasuke if death was always looming right around the corner? He wanted to ask Sasuke about the times where they hadn't met. Didn't fall in love. Had he survived then? And if so, wasn't it a little selfish of Sasuke to suddenly come back now, to keep finding him, even though his presence ultimately made Naruto's death a certainty?

"I need to stop thinking so much," Naruto groaned into the palm of his hand. His mind was warring with his heart at this point. No matter what, the only important thing was that he was with Sasuke again, and not even death should be a big enough reason for them to part. But Naruto was only human, death was fucking terrifying, and he was still sorting out his feelings for Sasuke. They weren't big enough yet for him to say 'to hell with it' and fall, fall in love and give everything, even his own life, to be with Sasuke.

It was getting there, though. He could feel it. And such a thought terrified him.

Finally he heard a honking outside. Sasuke was here. Fucking A. Time to slap on a smile and act like he hadn't spent the past 30 minutes reevaluating his life choices for the umpteenth time.

"Time to get this shit show on the road," Naruto pocked his wallet, phone, and keys before locking up his apartment and taking the rickety stairs two at a time. He found Sasuke leaning up against a wicked Aston Martin, looking nervous as hell.

It was kind of cute, disgustingly so, that Naruto had to poke fun at it.

"Shut up," Sasuke scowled and Naruto laughed.

"That's the Sasuke I know. Dude, your car though is hella." Naruto let out an appreciative whistle, running his hand along the sleek vehicle. "Do all demigods get this because if so sign me up."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stepped to open the door for Naruto. "No. We get swords and shields and a pat on the back hoping we don't get eaten by a three-headed dog."

"Okay, kinda cool. But you should totally ask the gods to throw in this Aston Martin. Good God my eyes are burning just looking at it—it's so beautiful."

"Shut up and get into the car, Naruto."

"Rude! So rude!" Naruto huffed but he slid into the car anyways. His butt automatically felt 100 times more fancy sitting on plush, red leather. Sasuke sat by the driver's seat and turned on the car. It purred, literally purred to life. Naruto wanted to break down into tears.

Then he saw two pairs of boss shades and immediately got over his moment of weakness. He leaned over and plucked them off the dash, slipping them onto his face.

"Wow, Sasuke. Really going all out here." He pulled down the visor, checking himself out in the little mirror. Oh yeah, he totally rocked the shades. Naruto flashed a cocky grin Sasuke's way. "So you gonna tell me where we're going?"

"No," Sasuke flashed the same cocky grin. He pressed a button and classic rock started to fill the car. Naruto, of course, hated classic rock and fiddled with the radio until the heavy bass of a rap song shook the car. He bobbed his head to the beat, completely ignoring the scowl that dominated Sasuke's face.

The next hour consisted of the two fighting over the radio until Sasuke finally arrived at their destination.

"And another thing—!" They had piled out of the car Naruto was about to go into a rant about the finer machinations of rap music when his eyes caught the scene before him. A gravel walkway surrounded by flowers on either side opened up to a clearing adorned with flowers of every color. There was a huge weeping willow tree in the center, and underneath it was a blanket with plates, knives, and candles set out.

Naruto forgot to breathe for a second. "What… what is this place?"

"You still like gardens, right?"

"No," Naruto said. Sasuke went silent. Naruto gave him a look that clearly said are you fucking serious? Because he was doing it again, looking at the past him when he should be looking at him, the current Naruto, what he is now.

Okay yeah, maybe Naruto was being a little stupid getting mad because essentially it's him. And people change. Your life was never going to be played out exactly the same, even when you have reincarnations and soul mates and Greek Gods coming into the mix. He never liked gardening, for starters. It reminded him too much of his mom. Now his mood dived from sour to flat out rancid.

In a twisted way, this date sort of reinforced the fact that Sasuke loved the past, not him.

He translated his mood drop into their date. Even when Sasuke pulled out his favorites—oh wow you got that right Sasuke four for you—Naruto lied through the skin of his teeth and said he hated every last one. It was a foul, dirty move but Naruto was pissed, and a little hurt.

Finally, Sasuke set down the dinner plate and asked, "What the hell's wrong?"

And then Naruto kind of… exploded. "What the hell's wrong? What the hell is wrong? You come into my life one day and literally rip out everything I thought I knew right out of my hands! We're 'soul mates' you say but it's starting to sound more like you forced it down my throat than it actually being the real deal! And now my life is in danger and I'm supposed to just let you 'protect me'? Bullshit!

You keep looking at me like I'm everything you've wanted but you're not really looking. You're only concerned about the past Narutos. The Narutos that were head of heels in love with you. NEWS FLASH, UCHIHA, NOT EVERYTHING'S THE DAMN SAME. START LOOKING AT ME—RIGHT NOW. THIS NARUTO!"

He's breathing hard and all Naruto can see is red. Sasuke's mouth hung slightly agape, hurt flashing in his eyes. Well fuck you, Sasuke, you brought this upon yourself. Naruto got up from the blanket and stalked off. A huge wave of anger and guilt were rising up in his stomach and he planned to leave the guilt, not the anger, and Sasuke behind.

/

By the time Naruto finished angrily stomping he has zero idea of where he was. "Fucking lovely," he growled. It was cold and he could hear Christmas carolers singing in the distance. He only had a light jacket on him to help brave the cold. Definitely not his smartest move. Wait no. His dumbest move of the night was blowing up at Sasuke.

Naruto checked his phone and, oh hey, it was dead. Of course it was dead. Of course his phone had to be shit out of luck and dead. Naruto scowled, angrily jamming his phone back into his pocket. He plopped down onto the grass and rubbed a frustrated hand over his face. "Maybe I'm better off going back and apologizing," Naruto muttered. The guilt he had pushed out in his stormy rage was coming back full swing. And now he felt like a close-minded dumbass. Especially now, when he had felt Sasuke trying to talk to him through their bond but he just pushed him away, telling him to leave me alone.

Really, it wasn't Sasuke's fault for being so in love with him that he would do anything to keep them together. Honestly, such a gesture was kind of sweet. Naruto had never met a person who'd make deals with a god just for him. No, correction, Sasuke had done it for them. To keep them together.

But Naruto's still not happy. Why? He felt like it was a constant comparison to new and old. At least he's trying, Naruto thought. But he would have felt better if Sasuke tried to love this version too, not just rely on what he knew from the others.

Naruto sighed, burying his head into his arms. The grass was wet and would, no doubt, leave stains on his jeans. He kept muttering about how a certain spikey haired bastard who needed to get their head out of their ass when he heard it. A faint hissing sound that steadily grew louder and louder until the ground started to shake underneath Naruto.

Then he heard the sound of jaws snapping. He whipped his head around and saw a monstrous beast that looked like an overgrown lizard come out of the darkness. And it was heading right for him.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Naruto shot up and hauled major ass. He managed to dodge the beast just in time before it could tackle him, but the beast was fast. It's tail whipped out and connected right to his gut, sending him into the bushes.

"Ow, ow, fuck…" Naruto groaned, slightly disoriented. He felt twigs poking into his spine. The beast snarled, already charging towards him for his next attack. When you have a giant lizard beast charging at you it really shakes off the stupefaction.

Naruto bolted from the bushes, running as fast as he could with a lizard beast at the heels. He looked over his shoulder and, for a second, didn't see the beast. Then he tripped and fell flat on his face, tumbling until he rolled over onto his back. He moaned in pain and suddenly, there was a heavy weight on him.

The beast had landed on top of him, jaw snapping and beady, golden eyes trained right on him. Naruto did his best to fight it off. Kicking and punching, but it felt like hitting a steel wall. He cursed, trying to push the beast off as best as he could.

"Dude! Your breath… fucking stinks!" Naruto managed to growl out as he kicked at the beast again.

Suddenly he saw gold and heard the firing of a gun. Three, golden bullets whizzed by and lodged itself into the beast's stomach. The beast howled, rolling off of Naruto and twitching with pain before it burst into ash and finally, into nothingness.

For a second, Naruto's scared out of his mind. Where the hell had those come from? And then he heard the sound of boots crunching along the grass and for a second he thought, Well shit. I'm gonna die. Hello ashy grave. But when he looked up he was surprised to find… an older-looking version of Sasuke peering down at him.

Well then. That's new.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. The monster sort of gave me the slip."

Yeah no kidding. Naruto could barely form sentences; he was still stunned that he narrowly escaped being eaten alive. Also seeing an older looking Sasuke was enough to throw anyone back a couple of paces. He vaguely wondered if time travel was at work too, until he heard Sasuke shouting his name behind him.

And suddenly he's there. By Naruto's side, cupping his face and not even trying to hide the worry in his eyes.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner. Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah," Naruto muttered but he was far from it. Sasuke pulled him into his arms and Naruto melted into the place where he belonged.

Then Sasuke whirled around and said, "Itachi, what the hell are you doing here?"

Itachi completely ignored him in favor of talking to Naruto. "First date with my little brother and you're getting attacked? Pity. I told Sasuke putting you in near death situations is not the best way to win your heart."

"Little brother?" Naruto said at the same time Sasuke snarled, "Stuff it!"

"Oh? Sasuke didn't tell you about me?" Itachi feigned disappointment. "Not surprising. He has a severe older brother complex. Something he likes to keep on the… how do people say it nowadays? The down low?" Apparently Itachi got a kick out of making Sasuke flustered. Naruto figured anyone who enjoyed making Sasuke fume was an okay guy in his books.

Sasuke started shooting off questions rapid fire at his brother. Some of the questions were in English and, surprisingly, some in Greek. Naruto was still trying to get his brain caught up to speed while watching the brothers go at it.

"I'm here on a quest," was Itachi's answer.

"By father?"

"No, actually. From Athena. Said she had some snake problems that I need to tend to else she'll conveniently remember why she banned me from Pompeii in the first place."

Athena? As in, Athena the goddess of wisdom and battle? Okay, Naruto definitely shouldn't even be surprised anymore with all the weird stuff suddenly being thrust upon his life.

"Naruto, you sure you're alright?" Sasuke whispered as he helped Naruto to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Or he would be. Sasuke kept his arm around Naruto and Naruto let him.

"Things are getting a little hectic in Olympus," Itachi went on to say. "Hermes has been spreading the news around of rumors that another war might be sparking up."

Sasuke instantly tensed. Naruto could feel his worry and paranoia. He rubbed a soothing circle on Sasuke's back; instinctively knowing that was the best spot to rub when Sasuke needed to cool down. It worked. Sasuke immediately uncoiled and glanced at Naruto with a wry smile.

Naruto, himself, got a little weirded out at the mention of war. He saw burning cities and dead soldiers and golden eyes. It was all a little nerve wracking. Okay, not little. A lot.

"Do I—"

"—No word from father yet. Though I'll let you know if anything changes," Itachi immediately cut Sasuke off. He leveled a gaze on his little brother that clearly spoke how they'd have that conversation later. The gaze dropped, and in its place came a rather charming smile directed Naruto's way. "We'll, I'll leave you two to your date. Sasuke, bring Naruto over soon so I can properly introduce myself to him in a way that doesn't involve him almost dying."

"Maybe," Sasuke snorted.

Itachi simply continued to smile and then poof, he was gone. Just like that. Gone.

"I think… I think I need to sit down." Naruto slumped against Sasuke's chest. He was so, so done with everything.

/

Sasuke and Naruto were driving back home. It was a somber drive thanks to recent events.

Naruto has the urge to randomly play through radio stations to drown out the silence but then Sasuke spoke. A quiet couple of words that Naruto had to strain to hear.

"I'm sorry for… the date." Sasuke swallowed, grip on the steering wheel tightening.

Naruto sighed. Good God it wasn't fair how easily Sasuke could switch from arrogantly charming to beautifully broken. "Nah it's fine. I was being an ass." Naruto shrugged. "It happens."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak but Naruto cut him off again.

"Look, Sasuke, I get it okay? You're in love with me. Have been for centuries, and this is your last shot to keep me around. I get it. I just…" Naruto sighed once more, glancing out the window a bit at the passing lights before turning his attention back to Sasuke. "I want to feel like you're in love with me for me. The current me who doesn't like gardening but yes, still enjoys a mean bowl of pasta."

"I knew it!"

"The point is," Naruto stressed, cutting a glare Sasuke's way. The damn bastard didn't even bother to look sheepish. "I'm overwhelmed. My life's apparently in constant danger now and I'm told you're my soul mate and it's like, I have to live up to all the mes before me and it's… it's a lot."

A pause sits between them. Naruto fidgeted in his seat about several times before Sasuke broke the silence.

"I know it seems like I'm caught up in the past, Naruto, but I love you—the you sitting here with me now and the you I met for the very first time all those years ago, tending flowers in Athens. Maybe I'm a little… desperate to make things right."

Naruto snorted. "You think?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Don't push it."

"Well…good." Naruto nodded. "Good."

They fell into silence once more.

"I'll protect you," Sasuke whispered.

"I know. I don't want you to."

A pause and Naruto could just feel the hurt radiating off of Sasuke. He felt the need to explain himself.

"Because I want to be able to fight for myself," he continued. "I'm not a damsel in distress and frankly I'm getting pissed at the guy sending all these snake creatures at me. So, for our next date, we're totally sparring—or whatever the hell you demigods do. And don't you dare try to give me an excuse, Sasuke, because I'm a stubborn motherfucker who doesn't take no for an answer."

Sasuke blinked, momentarily stunned. His face smoothed into a wry smile. "I wasn't going to give you an excuse. I was going to comment on how you're giving me a second chance."

"Well… yeah." Naruto's cheeks started to burn. "I-I mean, I told you yesterday. I'm going to try to make things work. You just gotta stay in the present, and I'll tell you what I like and don't like, okay?"

"Okay." Sasuke gave Naruto the tiniest little smile and it did something to his heart that he didn't want to acknowledge.

"Great. Cool. Now shut up and let me blare some Childish Gambino."