Epilogue

~*~3 years later~*~

Warmth surrounded Izumo as he was pulled from sleep. A wet press of lips kissed his temple, and he blinked his eyes open to see 'Tetsu looking back at him. A smile graced his lover's lips, and Izumo thought he couldn't look better.

"Hey." His voice was sleep rough, but it sounded perfect to Izumo's ears.

"Hey." Izumo replied as he reached an arm out and pulled 'Tetsu closer to him. "Morning." He nuzzled closer into Kotetsu's neck, which got him a laugh from the raven-haired man in front of him.

"So, I take it I'm making breakfast today?"

Izumo felt his hair being played with, and he hummed in appreciation. "We could go raid 'Ruka's kitchen…"

"Pass. His cooking's gotten worse ever since he started working at the academy. It's like he survives off of caffeine and anger."

That pulled a snort from Izumo, effectively waking him up. "Guess you're right 'bout that. I'll make breakfast. You go get ready for your shift at the gate."

Izumo waited for Kotetsu to get up, but the other man simply pulled Izumo closer and pressed up against him. "Can't. Got a problem."

"Oh yeah? What's that? Brain injury?"

"Shut up. You know what."

Izumo knew exactly what because it was poking him insistently in the thigh. "That a kunai or you just happy to see me?"

"Would you just jerk me off so I can have a halfway decent start to my morning? I know your cooking won't be the highlight of it. Might as well make it something else."

"Wow. So romantic. You woo me with your sweet talk. Gets me right in the mood." Izumo rolled over to face the other way, and Kotetsu plastered himself to his back. "Rather sleep, 'Tetsu."

"Zuuumoo. Quit being mean to me!"

"You started it! Insulting my cooking!"

"You started it! Insulting my brain!"

And honestly? Kotetsu had him, and Izumo knew it. Time to distract, so he turned around again and pulled Kotetsu into a heated kiss, making sure to show some dominance over the other man to distract him from the hand sneaking down his stomach and into his briefs.

A sharp inhale from Kotetsu as Izumo gripped him lightly, teasingly. Then, Izumo smiled as he kissed his way from Kotetsu's lips to his pecs. He dragged his tongue over his nipples until they were peaked and shiny with spit, earning him a few whimpers as reward.

He continued down to his real target, pulling down Kotetsu's briefs as he did. He left his right hand lightly gripping the other man and looked up at his boyfriend. Kotetsu's eyes were locked on his own, and Izumo smiled slow and sinful before licking a stripe up his cock. As Kotetsu groaned and his head hit the pillow, Izumo swallowed him down and got to work.

Within minutes, Kotetsu slipped his hand into Izumo's hair and breathed out, "Not going to last much longer," before he was spilling down Izumo's throat. Izumo kept going until Kotetsu pulled him off, whining about over-sensitivity.

Izumo crawled back up the bed, and Kotetsu pulled him close to give him a kiss. Kotetsu's hands found Izumo's own erection and started teasing him lightly through his boxers. After a few thorough pulls his hips stuttered to meet each one, then Kotetsu was kissing down his neck and marking up his skin and oh fuck.

After coming down from his orgasm, Izumo made a face. "Couldn't have pulled these off before pulling me off?"

Kotetsu rolled his eyes so hard at that, Izumo was afraid that he would hurt himself. "You have the day off. I'm the one who should be worried about coming in my pants."

A smile graced Izumo's lips as he leaned forward to give Kotetsu a thorough kiss. "You're going to be late if you don't hop in the shower right now."

Glancing at the clock, Kotetsu cursed and jumped out of bed. Izumo followed at a more sedate pace. He brushed his teeth and washed off in the sink – if he got in the shower with Kotetsu, they'd never get anything done this morning – and went back in the bedroom to get dressed.

After pulling on some sweatpants and attaching at least two kunai to his person, Izumo started cooking up a simple egg and rice dish with some syrup on the side for Kotetsu. Kami knows how that man hasn't contracted diabetes from eating pure syrup yet.

As he waited for the rice to finish cooking, a smile graced Izumo's lips. It's a wonder how he and Kotetsu came to be together. The stark contrast from their childhood friendship to teenage enemies back to friendship and now to boyfriends…Izumo would have never believed it if he hadn't lived it himself.

He still remembered the bitter resentment he had harbored toward Kotetsu when he was younger, but after that absolute disaster of a chunin exam – and being captured and tortured twice – Izumo knew that if he could go back and change something, it would be to trust Kotetsu earlier than he did, even if he had to beat some sense into the raven-haired chunin before he would listen.

Carrying the weight of Emiko's secret for so long had took its toll on Izumo, a toll he didn't recognize until he trusted Kotetsu with that burden. Sharing Emiko's secret with someone else who cared for her had been the best decision of his non-career life, and he wondered if she would still be alive had he done it sooner, but he was no longer beating himself up over the what ifs. What happened is done, and regret will only cripple him.

Currently, he was helping to make things better for the next generations of ninja by advocating for improved mental health checkups on all of the shinobi associated with the Fire Country, especially the genin. Sure, jonin kept an eye on the genin, but not every jonin knew the signs to look for when someone may be depressed, anxious, riddled with PTSD, or something else.

Kotetsu had been the one to suggest mental health classes given to jonin, chunin, and genin to recognize destructive tendencies and how to reach out and help in the best way possible. So far, there had been two successful classes that "graduated" and were more prepared to help their fellow shinobi. It gave Izumo hope for the next generations, especially for those Yin-release users like Emiko.

It had surprised Izumo just how many Yin-release shinobi had signed up to take the mental health classes he had organized with Himiko Ryouza and other medical ninjas. Some Yin-release shinobi from that first class have taken even more initiative to specialize as psych-medical ninjas to hopefully provide care and service to those shinobi dealing with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, trauma, and so much more. It was poetic that Izumo had attracted Yin-release users to take mental health classes so that they could push for a new area of work. Yin-release users were no longer restricted to just combat and working in T&I. While the psych field was still incredibly small, there was a great interest in it as well.

Izumo had the passing question, 'If Emiko was still here, would she be one of the Yin-release users to be working in the hospital with shinobi dealing with mental health issues?' Izumo had mentioned this to Kotetsu one day, and he had pulled him close and hugged him hard. After Izumo had cried himself out, Kotetsu just said, "I bet she's damned proud this came about, even now when she's not here to enjoy it herself." It hadn't answered his question, but it had given him a little bit of peace.

Kotetsu's support has been invaluable to Izumo, and he loved the man more because of it.

Strong arms encircled Izumo's waist, and he relaxed back into Kotetsu. "Shouldn't sneak up on me."

A chuckle vibrated in his ear, "Shouldn't be so relaxed with another shinobi in the house."

A kiss was pressed to Izumo's cheek, and he smiled in spite of the other man's words. "Another shinobi? Where? I don't see one!"

Kotetsu huffed indignantly while Izumo shook with laughter. "Shut up. Is the rice done? I'm scheduled at the gate in twenty minutes."

Izumo checked and decided it was done enough to eat. He spooned some into Kotetsu's bowl and slapped two eggs on top. "Syrup's on the stove."

Kotetsu grinned and poured some hot syrup right on top of the rice and egg combo, making Izumo shudder in disgust. Honestly, how the man can consume so much syrup in the strangest combinations was beyond Izumo.

Kotetsu ate quickly and kissed Izumo before running out the door with a "See you later!" thrown over his shoulder.

Izumo sighed and put Kotetsu's and his own dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. It was his day off, so he'll do them later. Right now? He was going to go back to bed, wake up much later, do some chores, and then prepare for his and Kotetsu's date night.

Who knew that life would turn out so right?

~Actual End~