A/N: This is a story I've been meaning to post for ages now. Finally getting around to it. Hope you enjoy.

It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. At eight years old, Naruto was witnessing such an event for the first time. He watched the ceremony keenly from his perch in the cherry tree, completely awed by the process.

"What's it called again?"

"A wedding, idiot. I've told you about four times already."

Sasuke had seen more than his fair share of weddings. His family arranged marriages for its members frequently, and he always had to go, whether he wanted to or not. The ones being married today were not family, although they were fellow clansmen. He had been grateful that he didn't have to attend another boring ceremony, but had made the mistake of telling Naruto about it. Naruto had never seen one, had no idea what it was, and Sasuke found himself perched in a tree, watching him watch a wedding.

"What are they doing now?"

Sasuke cast a bored eye over the setup in the shrine. "Exchanging vows."

"Huh?"

"Basically promising to love each other and be together forever. They all say the same thing, always."

Naruto blinked at Sasuke's terse explanation, overwhelmed. To Naruto, who had been alone almost all his life, this seemed like the ultimate promise. Or "Having been alone almost his entire life, Naruto thought this to be the ultimate promise." He continued watching, thinking hard the entire time. He thought about whom he would want to marry, to stay with him forever. He only had two people in his life who acknowledged his existence at all, and Iruka-sensei seemed far too tall to stand beside before a priest. The answer seemed clear.

"Sasuke, let's get married when we grow up."

"Idiot, two boys can't get married."

"Why not?"

Well, Naruto had him there. Sasuke wasn't sure why it was not okay for two men to marry, but it felt instinctively like something his father wouldn't approve of…at all.

"They just can't, so shut up about it."

Naruto thought for a moment longer. "Okay, I'll ask Sakura-chan then. She's cute and- OW! What was that for?"

The rapid change in plans hadn't sat right with Sasuke, and he'd expressed his sentiments with a smack to the back of Naruto's head.

"You can't ask two people to marry you, moron, and you've already asked me."

"But you just said-"

"Doesn't matter what I just said; asking two people to marry you is worse…and it brings bad luck." Sasuke settled back in the tree, righteously indignant at his best friend's social ignorance.

"So, you'll marry me then?"

"Whatever- I wasn't going to marry anybody else anyway."

"I like you, Sasuke."

Fifteen year old Uchiha Sasuke stood dumbfounded as his best friend confessed to him. They were standing under the lemon tree beside the playground, one of Sasuke's favourite places since the fruit always reminded him of a certain head of blond hair.

"I'm a guy…"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I kind of figured it out somewhere between kindergarten and our first bath together. Anyway, I like you- and you like me too."

"Well, thanks for informing me." Sasuke's dryness did nothing to dim the sunny smile aimed at him.

"And since we like each other, when we are finally allowed to start dating, we won't date anyone else but each other. Right? Pinky-swear."

Sasuke looked at the extended finger in stupefaction. "Naruto, we can't-"

"Hey, Naruto, hurry up! Are you playing or not?" Kiba yelled out impatiently from the basketball court.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and performed the binding act before rushing off, yelling breezily behind him.

"Remember, you swore!"

Sasuke huffed tiredly. "You idiot…"

It was exactly a year before Naruto tried to steal a kiss from Sasuke. It was at night in the same spot under the same tree, and Sasuke found himself overcoming his initial surprise simply to lean into it, savouring the feel of warm, dry lips against his own. The initial awkwardness dissolved, leaving nothing but the pleasure that came with a teenage boy's first kiss. When Naruto finally pulled back, his friend was left dazed, eyes soft until he finally snapped back to reality. Now awakened from the spell, Sasuke drew back his fist and decked Naruto with enough force to blacken his eye for the rest of the week. As his friend stalked away muttering angrily, Naruto only smiled. He had gotten the first kiss in: the rest would be gravy.

Naruto grew bolder and the 'stolen' kisses became more frequent. With each kiss, the impact of the subsequent punch lessened, until one day, Sasuke decided to forgo the punch altogether and simply glared. It came off more smoky and sated than pissed.

"Have I ever told you that I love you, even though you are a complete social retard?"

Naruto asked the question lightly, quite pleased with the progress they had made. It was at that point that Sasuke found the motivation to punch the idiot after all.

"This is stupid," Sasuke muttered as he followed Naruto to the sign-up desk.

"Sakura-chan's idea is brilliant; stop being such a scrooge."

"Oh well, if you think it's brilliant…"

"Oh, come on, the graduating class needs to do something together. This camping trip is perfect. We'll go to a new location, we'll get some fresh air, we'll all hang out together-"

"It sounds like the setting for some cheap teen horror flick."

"No wonder you're nervous: the emo kid always dies right after the black guy."

"I'm not emo, you yellow-haired sock puppet. I'm cool, silent and mysterious, with a penchant for dark colours."

"Yeah, and that's the type that dies right after the emo kid."

"Like jocks fare any better."

"How did we even get into this conversation? We are going on this camping trip, bastard, so stop whining about it. Besides, we both know I'd make it out of any horror flick alive. Heck, I'd be the hero!"

This is how Sasuke found himself around a campfire, trying not to kill himself as his classmates told one pathetic horror story after another. By the time Kakashi (who was the lone adult and had the about the same level of maturity as a zoo ape) told the campers to pack it in, Sasuke was wondering if he would be able to convince the police that he was simply one of the luckier victims after he picked them all off one-by-one…slasher style.

Not knowing how close they had come to a certain death, his classmates all went off to their respective tents. For about an hour and a half, Sasuke struggled to get comfortable in his double sleeping bag. He wished he could say that it was an honest mistake that he had taken it and not the single, but Itachi had robbed him of that alibi.

His brother had stared long and hard at him as he struggled to yank the huge sleeping bag out of the basement.

"Planning on gaining a lot of weight on this trip, little brother?"

"Bite me, aniki," is what he had wanted to say, but instead he'd stayed silent and went on packing.

It wasn't long after he managed to find a comfortable position that Sasuke heard his tent entrance being unzipped. He didn't intentionally leave his tent partially open, really he didn't.

"You awake?"

"No, what do you want?"

"Those stories scared me; can I stay with you tonight?" Naruto adopted his most innocent, wide-eyed expression and stared at his friend pleadingly.

Those stories wouldn't have scared a nervous eight year old with bladder control issues. Sasuke snorted and rolled over, tensing slightly as he felt Naruto slide into the sleeping bag. Soon he could feel Naruto's breath against his neck, and he closed his eyes and tried to remember reality.

Reality was that in a few years, he was going to take his place in his father's company and in the main house of his clan. Reality was that he'd eventually get married and settle in the business of extending the Uchiha Empire. In reality, there was no 'them'; he and Naruto would be friends and nothing more, and in reality, even that was expected to dwindle.

But reality was cold, and the breath against his neck was warm, as were the fingers now splayed against the skin of his back. Right now, reality didn't matter.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke flipped over, facing his best friend, and now soon-to-be lover.

"You better be quiet about this, idiot."

And it was quiet. It was the quietest interpersonal scenario he had ever been involved in with Naruto. Sasuke had never imagined his first time would be this quiet. He felt, to his later chagrin, that it was he who had the most trouble keeping his voice in. At the end of it, he was shaking so hard he would have been embarrassed if Naruto hadn't been trembling just as badly.

"We should probably do this when there are less people around or at least bring something to bite down on," Naruto suggested after his heart had slowed down.

"You are such a moron."

"Hey, you're the one that brought a big-ass sleeping bag and no pillows."

For the rest of the summer, they spent every waking, free moment together, mostly in Naruto's loudly protesting bed. Soon, however, the holiday was over: Sasuke would be leaving for college at the end of the week, and Naruto would be heading off shortly after that. Sasuke was hauling on his shirt as Naruto sat musing at the edge of the bed.

"You just had to go all the way to freaking Hokkaido. Well, at least it's still Japan. I'll be in Tokyo, so maybe we can see each other every once in a while outside of the holidays. The phone bill is going to kill me, and I-"

"No."

Naruto blinked at the abrupt interruption. "What?"

"No phone calls, no visits, no anything. The summer is over and so are we."

Naruto lifted an incredulous eyebrow. "And when did we decide this?"

"How could you think this had any future? I have been trying to tell you from the start. There is no place for this in my future. My job is already prepared at Uchiha Corps providing I do well enough in school. Soon my father will have me take my place as one of the heads of the clan. I have duties to perform. My fate was decided a long time ago, and it can't include you."

Naruto gave a half snort, half laugh before pulling the surprised boy on top of him.

"Really, bastard, there's no room at all? Not for me, not for this?

Sasuke bit down hard on his lower lip, fighting a gasp as Naruto surged over him, tanned hands quickly disposing of both boys' clothes.

"I told you before, there's no such thing as fate. I don't believe in it- I make my own way." Naruto punctuated almost every word with a hard thrust of his body, revelling in the sound of his name being shouted hoarsely from the man beneath him. "If you don't think you can fight 'destiny' then I'll fight it for you. Nothing in this world is set in stone."

Naruto collapsed, exhausted, over his lover, both men panting hard as they recovered from their releases. "Nothing in the world is predestined, Sasuke, except for you and me- we're inevitable."

The moment Sasuke stepped foot onto his new campus, he was determined to put Naruto behind him once and for all. He quickly severed all contact, making sure that Naruto had no access to his new phone number. He dropped his now ex-lover from all his contact lists, blocked his email, and then tried desperately to erase all of Naruto's contact information from his memory. For an entire semester he was miserable but disciplined and felt he had made great headway with regards to exorcising a particular annoying blond from his system. This is why Sasuke could not understand how he could fall victim to self-sabotage so easily.

He was home for the winter holidays. Obviously, other college student would be back as well. Obviously, it would make sense to avoid the usual haunts of an ex-flame. Despite the obvious, Sasuke made it his duty to pass by the ramen stand every time he left and returned to his house, despite the fact that, most of the time, it was rather inconvenient. He wasn't sure why he kept doing it when it was obvious what would eventually happen. Maybe he just really liked the smell of ramen.

Finally, it happened. Sitting there in a deafeningly loud orange parka, stuffing himself with ramen, was the man Sasuke had been 'desperately' trying to avoid. Sasuke froze, at a loss about what to do. The smart thing would be to turn tail and run, but for a member of the Uchiha clan, retreat was simply not an option.

"Boy, have I missed you…" the shop owner murmured as he handed Naruto another large serving of pork ramen.

"Sasuke-kun! You're here again today," Ayame greeted cheerfully, snapping Sasuke out of his reverie.

Naruto paused in his slurping to look over at the man, who had apparently taken root to the spot. To Sasuke's intense surprise, Naruto simply turned back to his meal, and continued wolfing down his ramen. He stood there for a minute more, shock working through his system as the blond continued to ignore him. What had he been expecting, really? He had cut Naruto off for an entire school year; how could he have thought that the boy would be the one chasing him around while on holiday? Ignoring Ayame's confused look, Sasuke turned and started walking off. He made it about fifty feet before he was nearly knocked to the ground by the force of Naruto's body. He blinked as Naruto threw an arm about his neck, grinning like the idiot he was.

"Jeez, you couldn't wait five minutes for me to finish my ramen? You're always such a bastard."

Sasuke's resolve deserted him like the cowardly traitor it always was when it came to Naruto. They would spend the rest of the winter holidays getting reacquainted, much to the squeaking protests of Naruto's tiny bed.

The massive relapse of the winter break taught Sasuke one thing- he didn't need to just forget about Naruto, he needed to exorcise him. The sheer effort on Sasuke's part was mind-blowing. He knew he could no longer afford to go home on breaks, not with the chance of running into a certain someone. He quickly informed his parents of his intention to remain on campus until the completion of his degree. He explained that he wanted to focus on extracurricular activities that would boost his transcript, and take advantage of whatever campus opportunities there were in the holidays. His mother was beside herself, but his father applauded it. That was one thing out of the way.

Next, he went about the business of not being gay (especially for Naruto). If he was expected to marry and produce Uchiha heirs, he needed to start liking girls and fast. As such, he went on a major campaign to acquire girlfriends, a far easier task than he had actually anticipated. The problem was- none of them lasted long. In each girl there was something he couldn't tolerate, and always there was something missing. It was worrisome, since for all his intellect, Sasuke could not put a finger on it. He had expected the 'lack of attraction' issues, but for it to be this unbearable?

Soon he found the best compromise he guessed he would be able to, given the resources with which he had to work. Nana, for the most part, was almost perfect. Her eyes were almost the right shade of blue, and were the initial attraction for Sasuke. Her personality was almost perfect too: vivacious and outgoing, friendly and a bit hyper-active, she complemented him in a way few could. She was accommodating too. He had expected her to rebel when he made the suggestion that she might be a great blonde. He was surprised when she showed up the next day with the shorter cut and hair that was almost the perfect shade of gold.

When Nana suggested that they go on the European tour being arranged by the seniors, he had agreed. It was their last summer before their final year, and Sasuke thought it sounded like a good opportunity to adjust to being committed to a girl, while enjoying himself a bit. Besides, the further he got away from Japan, the better. This was why he was currently at the Louvre, staring at the Venus de Milo, trying to appreciate the beauty of an armless Greek woman.

"Sasuke-kun, there you are! Follow me; I am going to show you something amazing!"

He didn't have much of a choice anyway as he was dragged along, listening to her happy babbling. Watching the excited movements of the girl before him, he wondered why he couldn't feel something for her. For want of a better word, she was his 'type'. Then when they finally rounded the corner into the Egyptian exhibit, he finally understood.

"See, Sasuke-kun, didn't I say you'd be amazed?"

"This is the boyfriend you were telling me about, Nee-chan?" the tall blond asked as he got up from the floor and brushed himself off.

Sasuke wasn't going to feel anything for any of these girls because none of them were him. He watched, stupefied, as Naruto smiled easily at the girl next to him.

"Yup, isn't it amazing, Sasuke-kun? We could be twins, only my blonde isn't real." She pouted for a bit before she dissolved into giggles.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, finally addressing the elephant in the room.

"My school arranged a trip for the seniors. Ero-sennin's sponsoring me. It's been a little while, Sasuke."

"Eh, you two actually know each other?" Nana blinked as she looked from one boy to the other.

"Heh, yeah"- Naruto gave another reassuring grin to the bottle-blonde girl- "you can say we've met."

Sasuke wished he could have been a little surprised at himself as he knocked on Naruto's room door, in the cheap Parisian hotel. It was close to midnight, and he shifted impatiently, wondering if Naruto had gone out or gone to sleep. The door finally opened, though, revealing a wide-awake Naruto.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." Naruto leaned against the door jamb and assessed his friend.

"I was busy up until now."

"Where's Nana-chan?"

"We broke up."

Naruto frowned a bit as Sasuke passed him to stand in the middle of the small room. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know. If you are so concerned, why don't you go ask her?" Sasuke wasn't sure where that bit of temper came from, but he was annoyed that Naruto seemed to care more about some stranger than the fact that he was standing there in front of him, after not seeing each other for so long. Naruto did not seem so surprised.

"From zero to jealous in less than a minute…" Naruto smiled as he closed the distance between them. "You may not recall, but you're the one who dumped me, cut me off and apparently acquired a hot girlfriend.

Sasuke had no response to that. He simply waited until Naruto drew close enough to pull him down onto the bed. He was thrilled that there was no resistance as he found Naruto's lips with his own.

"You drive me crazy, you know that? I told you we can find a way to make things work. You can't keep ignoring me for a year at a time," Naruto murmured against Sasuke's ear as the brunet arched beneath him. "You can't keep running, when you know you belong to me."

Sasuke knelt patiently, waiting as his father viewed his final academic report. His heart started pounding as his father lowered it.

"As expected of my son... You have done very well, Sasuke."

It was ridiculous how happy the simple statement made him. He stayed on the floor feeling almost giddy as his father continued to speak.

"You have proven yourself and will be expected to take your rightful place among the Uchiha Clan and the family business. When I die, you shall take my place."

His father rose, and finally Sasuke stood up as well. He followed his father as the man was about to leave the room. As the door slid open, the older man made one more remark.

"Your brother was a disappointment to me, Sasuke. I hope and pray that you will not follow his willful path.

"Naruto…?" Tsunade echoed as she leaned back into her chair. "Oh, that brat got hired straight out of school by a company in Tokyo."

She was smiling, cheeks reddening with happiness, clearly proud of how her adopted son was doing.

"He won't be able to come back to Konoha until they give him some time off. He says they are working him like a slave already, but I know he's enjoying himself. I thought you knew already, Sasuke. Haven't you spoken to him since graduation?"

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably. He had taken once more to his resolve after Paris, and he counted it as an act of weakness that he was here now, looking for information. He had been waiting for months for Naruto to come back home and had seen no sign of him. Sasuke knew he should be relieved that Naruto was now a Tokyo resident, but at the moment it was impossible to do.

"It's a party and you are invited!" Sakura announced as she flopped onto Sasuke's couch.

"A party? What for?"

"It's the first time since college that most of our year group is back in Konoha at the same time. Naruto and Shikamaru will be here in a few days, and the old gang will all be together again."

Sasuke could have sworn his heart stopped. "Naruto's coming back?"

"Well, visiting anyway. Didn't he tell you?"

Sasuke didn't answer. "He's coming on the day of the party?"

"Yeah, he said he'd get here by the starting time. So, will you come? Please, Sasuke-kun!"

"Sure, sure, I'll be there."

The party was in full swing by the time Sasuke arrived. He was forced to wade through a sea of undulating bodies to move from one end of the room to another. Naruto wasn't in the main room, but Sasuke knew he was there. He could tell from the frissons of energy that kept coursing through him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to remain on end. He was there; the pull was so strong that if the brunet could just relax, he would be pulled right to him.

Eventually Sasuke made it to the backyard, where the cool of the evening was in sharp contrast to the heat of the house. There Naruto was, leaning against the picket fencing looking jet-lagged and wonderful. He didn't even have to open his eyes to confirm Sasuke's presence before he spoke.

"Bastard."

"Moron."

Those words had lost their power as insults years ago and had managed to become endearments instead. Naruto smiled, responding to the tone of Sasuke's voice. He finally opened his eyes and looked at the object of his hopeless affections.

"You want to get out of here?"

That smile was dangerous. It always got Sasuke into the worst trouble when they were kids, and it never lost its effect. It got him to follow the idiot's harebrained schemes, and now it had Sasuke standing in the lobby of one of the love hotels in Kohona's outskirts as if it were the most natural thing in the world. A jaded-looking receptionist handed Naruto a card-key, and soon Sasuke was being pressed against a closed door, moaning as Naruto bit and sucked along his neck.

A couple hours later, Naruto was dazedly sitting on the bed trying to locate his shirt, while Sasuke pulled on his pants.

"We are finally adults; can we discuss having a relationship like normal people now?" Naruto asked as he watched Sasuke fumble with his shirt.

"I'm getting married."

The statement was made so quietly and frankly, Naruto almost missed it. When it finally hit home, he could only sit there stunned.

"You're what?"

"Getting married. Next week to be exact. She's a distant cousin that my parents had a matchmaker choose for me."

For a person who was as perpetually jovial as Naruto was, his ability to pull off the hurt-and-betrayed look was nothing short of spectacular.

"Don't look at me like that!" Sasuke hissed as he searched blindly for his belt. "I told you how it was going to be. I tried to tell you, but you-"

His growing tirade was cut off by Naruto starting to laugh.

"What? What's so funny?"

"I was just about to angst, but I realize that I have nothing to worry about. This wedding isn't going to happen."

Sasuke eyed Naruto with suspicion and cautious hope. "Why? What are you going to do?"

Naruto looked amused.

"What am I going to do? Is that what you are banking on? Me, busting into the temple and carrying you off into the sunset? You have another guess coming. I am not going to do anything. This wedding isn't going to happen because you are going to call it off."

"Excuse me?"

"And don't wait until the last minute, either. There's an innocent girl involved in all of this, and the longer you wait the bigger the chance she gets hurt."

"I am not calling off that wedding! The two families have already agreed, and I can't-"

"Don't think I am going to be sneaking around with you if you go through with this, Sasuke! For nearly five years, I have been waiting for you to make up your mind and doing everything on your schedule. If you do this, it's not because of your father or fate or any crap like that. It will be you. You will be making that choice. If you decide to choose some misguided notion that someone else is controlling your life, then don't expect me to accept it and still build my life around you. You do this and it's the end of us, Sasuke. Call the wedding off and let's work out our own problems. If you are going to invest in any sort of destiny, believe in the fact that we belong together."

It was the night before his wedding and this was the last place he should be. Sasuke's internal debate raged on as he stood before Sakura's door, trying to decide whether or not to ring the doorbell. Naruto is going to be pissed, he thought to himself as he stared at the worn welcome mat. He hadn't called the wedding off, and had every intention of going through with the ceremony the next day. The blond had been staying at Sakura's since he came, having had to give up his apartment when he took the job in Tokyo.

He's going to be really pissed, and hurt too, but Naruto wouldn't say no to him; he couldn't- not tonight. Sasuke shifted nervously before the door, feeling like an addict looking for his next fix. He just needed Naruto right now. The younger man would rage for a few minutes, but in the end Sasuke knew Naruto could never reject him. Steeling himself, he rang the doorbell.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing here? I thought you would be resting up for tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah. I am, I will, I just had to talk to Naruto for a few minutes. Is he here?"

Sakura blinked, looking completely confused. "No, he's not."

"Did he and Lee go out or something?"

"I don't understand. He left without telling you?"

"Left?" Sasuke echoed hollowly.

"Yes, he went back to Tokyo yesterday. His bosses had been calling him all week, but he kept stalling them. Yesterday he finally caught a flight out."

"Oh, I see."

"You guys have such weird communication issues. I can't believe he didn't tell you, that jerk."

"No, it's all right."

Sakura stopped her mini-rant to look at Sasuke closely. "Sasuke-kun, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I'm getting married tomorrow."

Sasuke struggled to fit his hakama properly, swearing continuously into the full length mirror of his bedroom. Behind him, his brother sat silently watching him, and it was starting to wear on Sasuke's patience.

"Is there any particular reason you are here right now?"

"My foolish little brother is getting married. Where else would I be?"

Sasuke had to bite his tongue, trying to keep calm and to resist the urge to throw his brother through the window.

"Sasuke, I didn't abandon the Uchiha way to spite you. It wasn't my intention that any of my responsibilities should fall on you."

"Well, you know what they say about intentions and hell."

"What I was hoping to do was to set an example for you. I wanted to show you that we didn't have to spend our lives under our father's thumb, bearing the yoke that comes with our name."

"Well, thanks, aniki, that makes me feel so much better right now. Now if you're quite finished looking out for me, I have your yoke to go bear."

Sasuke and the young woman stood before the priest as the two families sat facing each other. Soon the young groom started zoning out as the Shinto priest started speaking.

"Sasuke-kun. Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke started as the priest tried to get his attention. He could just feel his father frowning behind him. "Yes?"

"Your vows…"

He couldn't believe they had gotten to that part so quickly. All he had to do was say the words and a few minutes after that, he would be a married man.

"Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke nodded and inhaled, the words coming out in a tumbled rush.

"I'm sorry."

The priest gaped, and Sasuke could hear the startled gasp of the young woman beside him. The priest then obviously thought he had misunderstood.

"What did you say, young man?"

"I said 'I'm sorry', because I can't go through with this." He turned to the young woman and then dropped to his knees, bowing low to the ground. "I am sorry to do this to you; I do not deserve your forgiveness, but I ask for it anyway."

He then turned towards the bride's family, keeping the same pose. "I am sorry."

He turned towards his own family, careful not to meet his father's eyes, and muttered the same apology.

After he was finished, he stood up and started moving towards the door, taking full advantage of the stunned immobility of the gathering. He was almost to the door when it was suddenly flung open to reveal Naruto, standing in a whirlwind of leaves and cherry blossoms, or at least, that was how it appeared to Sasuke.

"STOP! I object! This wedding is…is…"

Naruto blinked as he took in the scene. Sasuke was more than halfway down the aisle without a bride, and everyone else looked as if they were carved out of marble.

"Umm, never mind." Naruto smiled sheepishly as he took a few timid steps back.

Sasuke moved quickly, grabbing Naruto by the coat lapels and dragging him away from the door and the potential crime scene. Both men offered one last apologetic bow before closing the door behind them and hurrying towards the exit. Naruto started babbling immediately.

"Jeez, you bastard, did you have to cut it so close? Do you know how long I've been standing outside waiting for you? I started freaking out thinking you were actually going to go through with this. And after I distinctly said that I wasn't going to go in there and cause a scene. So not cool. I had to go back on my own words and-"

They hadn't quite made it to the exit yet, but Sasuke suddenly turned and grabbed the other man, hauling him into a deep kiss. Partly to shut him up, but mostly for the reassurance.

"It will be okay, right?" Sasuke panted as they broke apart for breath. "I just called off my wedding, my father's going to disown me, the bride's family is going to try and have me killed, and I am fairly sure we are defiling the temple by being gay in it. But everything is going to be okay, right?"

Naruto's eyes softened as he smiled at the man he had loved forever. "Of course it's going to be okay. How can anyone blame us for anything? After all, I told you, we're inevitable."

The romantic interlude was broken by an enraged roar from somewhere behind the closed door.

"However, we should probably give everyone some time to adjust. We should go." Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and ran off through the gardens towards his parked car. They could just see the bride's father emerging as they peeled away towards the main road.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said as he tossed Sasuke a careless grin. "I'll have them cheering for us in no time, you'll see!"

Sasuke snorted, but then smiled and relaxed, slumping into the leather seats of Naruto's rental- feeling happy and free for the first time in ages.

'Have them cheering for us', huh?

He'd wait for it to happen. For the one thing Naruto was better at than making Sasuke believe in the impossible was actually making the impossible come true.

The End