Final slash epilogue-esque chapter. Hope you've enjoyed the read; just needed a little something to sum everything up. Big thanks to ColorlessXrainboW for the request and the support; really appreciate it and the reviews you leave. I hope this story has been to your liking!

**warning** Chapter contains brief lemon.

The phone was ringing. Itachi slid his arm across the desk slowly, only to have his wrist gripped tightly to stop it. He let out a low moan and his hands clenched into fists as Kisame gave a sharp thrust deep inside him and sent a flood of pleasure through his body.

"…Let it ring…" Kisame whispered hoarsely in Itachi's ear, kissing down his neck and gripping his hips tightly. Again, he slammed forcefully into the lithe raven from behind; the edge of the desk pressing tightly against the Uchiha's hips. Itachi let out another moan; spreading his legs a little wider and pressing back; urging his new lover to thrust into him harder.

"It might be…Might be important…" Itachi growled, "Ahh…Kisame…Just…Oh fuck yeah…right there…" He could feel the bigger man's huge cock throbbing inside him; his ass struggling to, but eagerly accepting the enormous intrusion. It had taken Itachi about two hours of being back in his office at the police department for Kisame to visit him to say congratulations…then about three minutes discussing what had happened during the bust…and about thirty seconds for Kisame to go from standstill to pinning Itachi to his desk and ravishing him. Quickly, Itachi swiped up the phone and furiously growled, "I'm busy!" before slamming his hand down on the 'end call' button and forcing Kisame away from him.

Without missing a beat, the Uchiha spun to face the bigger man; wrapping his legs around his thick waist and falling back onto his desk roughly. Kisame slammed back inside of him and Itachi let out a pleasured moan; his back arching off his desk as the other man leaned in to capture a hard nipple between his teeth.

Kisame firmly planted his hands to either side of Itachi's head as slid into the raven with bruising force; pushing him brutally along the desk with each thrust. Itachi was moaning; his eyes squeezed tightly shut and his mouth agape; spouting breathy gasps. Rising again, the bigger man latched his lips onto his pale throat and kissed him harshly; Itachi squirming underneath him invitingly.

"…Kisame…Close…" Itachi breathed out; his hips again grabbed by huge hands as Kisame drove his cock hard into his prostate. "Fuck…Yes…" He grabbed his old partner's face with both hands and kissed him passionately; their tongues meeting as Itachi's back arched a final time and he came violently across Kisame's bare chest. He let out a garbled version of the other man's name and his hands fisted his hair aggressively as he felt Kisame release deep inside him.

Panting heavily, Kisame pulled back; wiping the sweat from his forehead and looking down at the completely sated, naked Uchiha lying on the desk beneath him; still impaled on his now softening cock; hickeys marring his perfect skin.

"Fuck," was all he managed to say as Itachi slowly pulled himself into an upright position; wincing first as Kisame slid out of him, and then again when his thoroughly abused ass connected with the wood of the desk.

"Uhh…Itachi?" Itachi's eyes suddenly narrowed at the sound of his brother's voice, sounding incredibly amused. "…I think when you went to hang up you accidentally put us on speaker…" Itachi cringed and pressed his face into his hands as the dial tone rang and Kisame just snickered to himself as he quickly cleaned off his chest and buckled up his pants.

"Come on Itachi…" he remarked in amusement.

"Oh my god…" Itachi whispered, "…How many are there out there?" Kisame headed to the blinds and sneakily peered out them as he re-buttoned his shirt.

"Everyone," he informed him, "Yup. Including your brother and Deidara …"

"That's it; I can never leave this office again," Itachi exclaimed flatly and then saw Kisame smirk over his shoulder at him.

"I like the sound of that," he grinned toothily and Itachi glared at him as he quickly got dressed. "Oh come on; don't pout…"

"Grown men do not pout," he snapped; cringing again as he stood with great discomfort. Kisame just looked on in great amusement as the Uchiha, his buttons in the wrong buttonholes, his hair out and a mess, and hickeys riddling his throat, flung open his door violently.

"And you didn't hang up? He exploded darkly; to a chorus of laughter.

" –It's actually my new ring tone," Deidara commented conversationally and Itachi glared at him mutinously.

" –You're a rookie. I can get you kicked out of the academy," he threatened coldly, and then glared at Sasuke crossly when his brother dared to smirk. Kisame emerged behind him; looking far too pleased with himself. Sasuke clapped mockingly.

" –Why were you calling me?" Itachi inquired flatly; deciding against trying to make himself look more presentable.

"Hidan's on line two, yeah," Deidara informed him with a chuckle.

"…That fucking…" Itachi muttered under his breath, snatching up the nearest phone and pressing the button to take him off hold, with a "What?"

" –Oh hey, Itachi," Hidan's voice blared out over speakerphone, "Has Kisame fucked you yet? Just wondering?" Before Itachi could slam the receiver down, Kisame intercepted and tactfully took Hidan off speaker.

"Hello jackass," Kisame greeted politely, "Just for the record, Itachi and I just finished engaging in sexual intercourse, during which he received a phone call from his brother and accidentally put us on speaker instead of hanging up." He held the phone away from his ear as Hidan's cackling laughter blasted through from the other end. "Why are you calling?"

" –Have to check in, don't I?" Hidan replied. "Just wanted to say cheers to Itachi for…you know…not sending me to fucking jail."

"You should thank Deidara," Kisame snorted, "If it had've been up to me, you'd be in there for life. Deidara wouldn't testify against you…and because he wouldn't, Naruto wouldn't either. He seems to not want him to be unhappy."

"Wow," Hidan actually sounded genuinely surprised, "Fuck. Tell them…tell him thanks, yeah? I…I don't fucking deserve to get away with home detention."

"Too right you don't," Kisame sighed heavily, "But Itachi forgave you for the beating you gave him on account of you protecting Sasuke. But fuck up again and you're never seeing freedom again; you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Hidan assured him with a sigh, "Before you go, could you ask fucking Dei to keep his uniform on when he comes to visit me? It's a fucking turn on –"

" –Bye Hidan." Kisame ended the call simply, and added, "Deidara…Hidan really likes you in uniform." The innuendo was abundantly clear and the blonde; having decided to join the police force in the past week, was already enrolled in the police academy and was currently blushing in his uniform.

"Not that this isn't great and all…" Shikaku commented dryly, "Itachi, I just need to see you for some paperwork, and so you can finish your references for Sasuke and Shikamaru for the academy."

"Got it," Itachi muttered with a sigh as Sasuke stalked past him, "…Have a good day at school, Sasuke."

"I go to college, not junior high," Sasuke scoffed, rolling his eyes. "…You have a good day at work," he added smugly; looking pointedly across the room at Kisame.

"Their respect for me has plummeted, Kisame," Itachi growled darkly as his little brother waved smugly and stalked out of the building.

"…On the plus side," Kisame chuckled, "…I think their respect for me has doubled."

"You should've seen it man, it was totally wicked!" Kiba exclaimed dramatically; leaping up from where he was sitting on the grass, "Neji did this fucking sweet kick –" He tried to mimic it, "And then he like got him in this chokehold and shot a guy! I mean in the foot...but, like…Neji, I swear…" He looked over at the brunette Hyuuga with new appreciation in his eyes. Neji just rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book.

"Come on, Neji, don't be such a stick in the mud," Tenten complained, "It's Naruto's first day back at class! Lighten up!"

"He has work to catch up on," Neji sniffed flatly.

" –Don't listen to him, Naruto," Sakura assured the blonde as he chuckled as Kiba tripped over his own legs trying to replicate one of Neji's 'moves'. "He's just as happy to have you back as the rest of us. He was worried too, you know."

"…You guys could've died trying to help us," Naruto pointed out seriously, "You shouldn't have risk so much –"

"You would've done the same for us," Kiba pointed out with a shrug. "What are friends for?"

" –But…"

"We knew we'd get you back," Neji interrupted as a response, and that was the end of that. Naruto just laughed at him; appreciating the confidence, and leaned back gratefully as he surveyed his group of friends just sitting on the grass like they always did around lunchtime. It felt so strange to be back at class.

And it felt strange for Sasuke not to be there.

"So how are things with you?" Temari inquired; tugging on Shikamaru's hair as he decided to fall asleep in her lap. "Have they gotten everything sorted out?" Naruto nodded.

"Deidara's joined the police academy," he informed them, "And Hidan's on home detention."

"Only home detention?" a few of his friends exclaimed incredulously, "Didn't he like, kill two people?" Ino pointed out.

"…Yeah…" Naruto sighed, "But Deidara and I wouldn't testify against him."

"Why not?" Suigetsu inquired curiously, "Didn't he beat you guys up?"

"Yeah…but he killed those two guys to save me and Sasuke," Naruto muttered, "And you didn't see Deidara's face when he thought Hidan was going to jail…"

"You're a big softie, you know that?" Sakura teased with a chuckle; elbowing him playfully, "And what's with you, Naruto? You haven't asked me out all week!" Naruto looked at her for a moment and then blushed, "Don't tell me you've found someone else!" She was only teasing, but he averted his eyes guiltily and watched as his friends' mouths fell open.

"Oh my god, you have!" Ino squealed in delight, "Who is it?"

Naruto didn't answer. He'd actually been wondering himself why he hadn't bothered to ask Sakura out again. When he looked at her…he didn't feel the same. Sure, she was pretty, and she was nice…and though her green eyes suited her…he was finding himself wishing that when he looked at them, he was staring into deep black.

And her naturally pink hair was beautiful on her…but he'd discovered he was more attracted to dark hair.

It wasn't her that filled his dreams.

She was still Sakura; his first 'love'. But the more Naruto thought about it, the more he realised that, well…she wasn't Sasuke. Again, he blushed at the thought; only to discover that the girls were all looking at him expectantly; waiting for him to spill the details.

"What's she like?" Ino inquired curiously, "Did you meet her at the hospital? Is she blonde?"

"Dark-haired," Shikamaru remarked sleepily from Temari's lap.

"What makes you say that?" Tenten asked.

"…Call it a hunch," Shikamaru smirked; his eyes still closed. Naruto's blood ran cold and he self-consciously touched his neck where the hickeys Sasuke had left him with had finally faded. Did Shikamaru…? He saw the lazy genius' eyes open in amusement and he swallowed nervously. Oh yeah, Shikamaru totally knew.

"Is that Sasuke?" Sakura suddenly exclaimed; looking over his shoulder. Naruto practically toppled over with the speed that he whipped his head around.

The raven was stalking through campus with his bag slung loosely over one shoulder; ignoring the group of them sitting on the grass. Naruto pouted crossly. He'd been avoiding him since they'd been discharged from the hospital, and it was bothering him.

"Sasuke!" he hollered out; waving him over. Dark eyes looked over at him for a moment before ignoring him and continuing on his path. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he got up from the grass, brushed off his pants and headed over to intercept him.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked irritably as he discovered that a blue-eyed blonde was standing in his path.

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me," Naruto snapped; hands on his hips.

"I haven't been avoiding you," the raven lied smoothly.

"Yes you have," he sniffed back, "And I want to know why."

"You know why," Sasuke insisted quietly.

"No I don't," Naruto assured him; folding his arms and quite willing to make a scene about this. Sasuke glared at him before guiltily averting his eyes. "Sasuke; what's this about? Come and…and sit with us. Everyone's been worried about you."

"Really?" he snorted bitterly.

" –Yeah," the blonde rolled his eyes, "And I um…there's just something I wanted to say to you, actually."

Here it comes, thought Sasuke miserably to himself. He'd been trying to avoid Naruto for this precise reason. He was sure that the blonde was going to accuse him of taking advantage of him back in that cell –which he knew he had done. Naruto had been unstable…and…and Sasuke had let his feelings interfere. He'd hidden so well that he'd actually well…had a form of affection for the guy –okay, he liked him; and had done so for a while. So when Naruto had been getting hurt, and being touched…it had infuriated him to no end.

And when he'd kissed him…Sasuke's resolve to never let him know that he felt anything other than friendly rivalry for him, had shattered. He closed his eyes; waiting for the cold accusation. 'Why did you do that to me?' That was what he was waiting for.

"…Thank you."

What?

Sasuke blinked several times and frowned.

"I said…thanks," Naruto sighed; when it was obvious that the raven was confused –or hadn't heard right.

"Why are you thanking me?" Sasuke demanded to know in a growl.

"…Why shouldn't I?" the blonde raised an eyebrow and then looked away sheepishly, "I mean…you're the person who, you know; got me through all that. I think I would've gone crazy if I had been trapped by myself." He coughed awkwardly; unable to meet his gaze. "I…You made me feel safe."

"Safe?" Sasuke muttered, "…After what I did to you?"

"…What you did to me?" Naruto frowned, and then suddenly understood. "Oh. That." He was blushing and couldn't help it. Sasuke, however, wasn't looking him in the face.

"There's no excuse…" he growled, "I…I shouldn't have taken advantage of you when you were in that state."

"Taken advantage of me?" Naruto repeated incredulously, "What makes you think you did any such thing?" Sasuke was incredibly confused.

"So you wanted to have sex with me?" he queried; not understanding.

"Yes, I wanted to have sex with you!" Naruto snapped, and then clamped his hands over his mouth as he realised that he had spoken far louder than he had intended and that that exclamation had attracted people's attention, "…I mean…" he lowered his voice, "I wasn't opposed to it. Like you could make me do anything I didn't want to do," he added as a scoff; folding his arms.

The pair of them just stood there for a long moment; not really sure about what they were saying.

"…Why did you kiss me?" Sasuke inquired curiously, and was amused to see Naruto's ears turning red.

"I…Being close to you made me feel safe," he informed him; knowing that he sounded kind of lame, "I didn't mean to…it kind of just happened –hey! Why did you kiss back?"

"Because I wanted to kiss you." Sasuke decided that there was no point in lying. That was the reason he'd kissed back; it was really that simple. But apparently, Naruto hadn't been expecting this response. He'd considered 'atmosphere', 'pity', 'hormones', 'sense of impending doom and despair' and 'comfort' as reasons for why Sasuke hadn't smacked him in the face for kissing him…but this hadn't factored into his guesses.

"A-Are you…Sasuke…are you…" Naruto inquired hoarsely, before looking around awkwardly.

"Gay?" the raven offered flatly. "I thought that had become abundantly clear." The blonde coughed awkwardly.

"…So…you say…wouldn't be weirded out if I…um…"

"…Liked kissing me?" Sasuke offered helpfully, and Naruto clamped his lips shut with a short nod. The raven raised an eyebrow and watched the blonde fidget.

"Just kiss already!" Shikamaru's bored voice called out from across the grass, "The awkward sexual tension is killing me!"

"Shut up, Shikamaru!" Naruto snapped hotly; refusing to be outed by his know-it-all friend. Outed? Where had that word come from? Sure, he'd started thinking about Sasuke more…okay, maybe a lot more…but that didn't mean that he was…

Oh, who was he kidding? Was it so hard to admit that he liked the guy? He'd grown so used to his presence; found comfort and safety in his arms…and had to admit that he liked his face. He'd tried to protect him; had suffered for his sake, and it had physically hurt him to see Sasuke being hurt. Okay…did he tell him that? Should he confess? How did people even go about saying 'I like you' these days…especially to someone of the same gender?

"You're the only one I'd do that stuff with," he found himself blurting out, before planting his hands firmly over his mouth.

Real smooth, Naruto.

"Um…come sit with us?" he offered sheepishly, turning his back.

"Naruto?" Sasuke queried suddenly, and the blonde looked back over his shoulder, just as Sasuke leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

Wolf whistles went up as for a moment, Naruto didn't react. But as realisation began to pour through him that maybe these feelings he'd realised he had for Sasuke were mutual, he wrapped his arms around the raven's neck and kissed him back. It was only as his lips parted and Sasuke's tongue slid into his mouth that he remembered that they were in a very public place, and all his friends were currently watching.

He pulled back; breathless –not amused by the smirk on Sasuke's face. He swatted away the arms that were holding him and glared as best he could with such a fierce blush.

"Bastard!" he hissed, "We're at school!"

"So?" Sasuke remarked flatly as he stretched and began heading over to the stunned group of students sitting on the grass; the only one looking unsurprised being a rather smug Shikamaru. "What? I thought you wanted me to come sit with you?"

"Well not anymore I don't!" Naruto growled darkly; storming after him.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Sasuke rolled his eyes dramatically, "You like me. I tolerate you. Simple."

"You tolerate me?" Naruto snapped, "You don't spoon people you just tolerate. Hell, you don't have sex with –" Again, he was suddenly aware that all his friends had heard exactly what he said and were looking at Sasuke for confirmation –still a little stunned that he was actually approaching him.

"…You heard correct," Sasuke offered; taking a seat on the grass between Suigetsu and Sakura. All eyes turned to Naruto and he glared down at the smug Uchiha.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" he sniffed, "I don't know why I even thought I liked –"

God, that mouth of his was not being kind to him today.

"So you do like me," Sasuke commented conversationally. "Good."

"I never said –I was just meaning that I liked….um…kissing you…that's all," Naruto defended; knowing his argument was sounding weak. "You personally, are an asshole."

"Give it up, Naruto," Kiba chuckled with a shrug, "We all know that you've always had Sasuke on the brain." Naruto's mouth dropped open as his friends all actually nodded thoughtfully; accepting that this was true, "It was always 'Sasuke's an asshole' this and 'I'm going to beat Sasuke' that."

"Not to mention 'Why does everyone like Sasuke?' and 'What's so great about Sasuke?' and 'Sasuke got this in our last test'," Sakura added.

" –And don't forget the 'Where's Sasuke's and how he always knows where he is," Tenten added with a sigh.

"…Been stalking me, have you?" Sasuke commented smugly.

"No!" Naruto snapped, "They're lying! Lies, I tell you!"

"Naruto, the whole reason you wound up abducted was because you followed him after class," Shikamaru reminded him flatly. They all laughed at that as Naruto pouted.

"…Fine," he sniffed, "…You're…okay, I guess."

"As long as you're only with me, then I'm fine with being okay," Sasuke smirked with a shrug.

"…Possessive bastard," Naruto muttered as he finally took a reluctant seat.

"…I don't get it –are they, like, dating now?" Ino inquired quietly to Sakura, who was looking a little put out that apparently Sasuke didn't play for her team. But she'd always known that Sasuke and Naruto each occupied a significant portion of each other's mind. How could she compete with that rivalry?

"Um…" Sakura commented as Sasuke apparently said something rather smug; with Naruto immediately getting offended and attacking him verbally as per usual –except that some of the anger was gone, and replaced with something else; laughter? Affection? She wasn't quite sure. But it was nice to have Sasuke sitting there; actually being a little bit social. Naruto always had been able to bring out, well, the best and the worst of the guy, back in high school. And now, perhaps, he could do it again. After that public display of affection, Sakura was forced to acknowledge that Sasuke held some deeper feelings for Naruto other than just irritation and rivalry, and now that she thought about it, she wondered how long he had harboured such feelings.

It was nice to see a smile in Sasuke's eyes.

"…Something like that," Sakura sighed, in answer to Ino's question. Sasuke and Naruto really were a special case.

Shikamaru sighed heavily; sitting up from Temari's lap with a yawn as Kiba yanked Naruto's satchel from the ground and leapt up with it. Immediately, as always, Naruto was on his feet in a second to defend his beloved accessory; except this time, the lazy genius watched Sasuke stick out his foot; sending the blonde face-planting straight into the grass. Everyone laughed; even Sasuke, who was pounced upon by a furious Naruto; an assault that he responded to by gluing his lips to said blonde and embarrassing all hell out of him.

He had an unread text from Itachi.

Are they okay?

Shikamaru looked up once more to see that Naruto was apparently pulling Sasuke's hair and yelling at him, with the Uchiha calmly telling him to stop being such an idiot whilst exchanging class-related information with Neji. After such an experience…yes, they were fine. Better than fine, if that was possible. He texted Itachi back with a small smile.

Well, this new situation with Sasuke and Naruto might be troublesome…but their friendship had never been simple to begin with. Shikamaru was glad that they had had each other through what they'd been put through. It grounded them, apparently; gave them something to cling to -both literally and figuratively. Now, they were safe, not traumatised by their experience, and back in the company of friends, and that was what was important.

End.

I wanted to end on a happy, lightish note, and so there we are. This was my first crime story, so please excuse the fact that I couldn't bear to not have everyone in a happy ending (even Hidan). Much love for sticking with it this whole time, you have been ever so patient! See you next story!

xx K