Work Text:
There are not plenty things in life that Uchiha Sasuke is certain of.
Despite the years that have passed after the war and after fighting tooth and nail with the Hokage to send him out across the ends of the earth on the toughest and most challenging missions there are to atone for his sins, the people of Konoha still see him some type of way. Sasuke does not know what the villagers whisper about him when he makes his weekly trip to the market for fresh vegetables; he does not know what darkness haunts the butcher's eyes when he purchases a pound of meat for the week's dinners; and he does not know what the civilians warn their children of when they cross his paths on the cobblestone streets.
In all fairness—their wariness and scornful attitude towards Sasuke is well-justified. After everything he's done, he cannot fault them for how they feel about him.
And in hindsight, Sasuke learned to stop caring about everyone else. It helped that he'd pretty much mastered the art of indifference from a very young age after the whole ordeal of his clan's demise, but now he's learned to truly envelope himself in apathy without the bitterness and fueling hatred crawling up his spine.
Sasuke learned to silently walk from one vendor's stall to the next with his head slightly ducked low, the curtain of his black hair framing over to conceal his Rinnegan. He learned to maintain his stoic demeanor even when he feels the blatant stares on him, controlling the furrow of his brows to not appear bothered. And he even learned to murmur replies of only what was necessary after every exchange of purchases he'd made.
But when Sasuke wakes up that morning to an empty bed, a damper already on his mood, and wanders into the connecting bathroom where he immediately halts to a stop at the sight of his husband's forgotten wedding ring sitting on the sink counter, he is certain of something.
Uzumaki Naruto is a dead man.
The morning passes without much noise.
Sasuke does not leave the house like he'd initially planned to nor does he march to the Hokage Tower where he could wave the ring in front of his husband's face, demanding why he had taken it off and proceed to make him slide the band back onto his finger in front of him.
No, instead—Sasuke does what he has always done best.
Sasuke paces the length of space behind the worn-down couch and he broods.
The muted sounds of his feet padding along to a ceaseless rhythm on the wooden floor echo as he crosses his arms with a pout he does not even realize he's making. A crease in his brows, he lets his gaze wander as he ponders on possible reasons as to why Naruto would even take his ring off in the four years they've been married where Sasuke has never once seen him slide it off.
Not even when he'd gotten injured once in a mission on their third month of marriage and Sakura had to beg Sasuke to yank the damn ring off Naruto's finger, lest the swelling would become even worse and make the healing process last longer than it should be.
His eye twitches as he thinks about Naruto right this very second.
He's probably sitting behind his desk at this exact moment, stupidly bright grin on his face as he chats with his advisor, the Nara clan head, on trading routes and financial assistance for other villages. Or perhaps he's buried behind a mountain of paperwork that he loves to procrastinate on, eyebrows deeply knitting together with his tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth in concentration. Or, considering how it already is lunchtime, the Hokage is most likely slurping down his ninth bowl of ramen and showing no signs of being anywhere close to full.
Sasuke abruptly stops his pacing.
There's a stupid little smile playing on his lips the more he thinks about Naruto.
He passes a hand over his face and attempts to wipe the smile off with it.
Don't grin when he gets home, Sasuke mentally chides himself. Give him a bit of hell.
He gives himself a little self-assured nod as he silently coaches himself, rounding the couch as he sinks down into the cushions. A small sigh leaves Sasuke as he rests the back of his head against the seat, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as he thinks back to a few days ago.
(It's a quiet night in the house—dishes were washed, the scent of dinner still lingered, and the humming sound of rain settled deep into their bones. Sasuke and Naruto were both enjoying the rest of their evening in the living room, the overhead lights turned off with just a faint yellow lamp switched on next to them.
Sasuke was sitting at the far end of the sofa, one hand holding up a book he's only half-pretending to read as his gaze found its way every so often to the man on his lap. Naruto has his head comfortably on Sasuke's pajama-clad thighs, blond hair surrounding him like a halo as he lays stretched out on the rest of the couch with his long legs thrown haphazardly over it.
It's times like these that make Sasuke's chest ache, a bitterness blossoming behind his ribs over the missing left arm.
If he had two arms right now, he would use his other hand to snake their way to his husband's hair. He'd card his fingers through the strands, feeling the softness of his locks and lightly massaging his scalp.
He knew how physically and mentally taxing it was for Naruto once he'd taken the position as Hokage officially from Kakashi—and sometimes, he wished he could take away or at least help carry some of the burdens.
Not that Sasuke would ever say that aloud. He doesn't think the words would even dare leave his tongue without a shudder racking throughout his entire body at the thought of even mouthing the words to Naruto.
But if there was anything Sasuke could do for him in that quiet manner of his—he did not hesitate to do it.
"What do you think of a plant?" Naruto had asked, pulling Sasuke out from his head.
Shifting the book away from his view of the blond, Sasuke blinked down at Naruto's perfectly serene face. Eyes closed, smile lightly curling his lips, whiskered cheeks glowing under the yellow lamp lights. He looked handsome like this, and Sasuke had not realized he'd been staring at him without a response for a while until he's suddenly met with ocean blue eyes.
"Hm?" Naruto asked again, blinking languidly as he gazed up at Sasuke with a softness he's only ever reserved for him.
Sasuke snaps his book shut, declaring his attention now fully on his husband, and puts it away. "What do you want a plant for?" he asked.
Naruto's smile stretched to a grin, head moving against his lap when he jerks his chin to a vague direction behind him. "Ya know—that spot you were saying felt too empty."
His words made Sasuke pause for a beat. He'd mentioned it by passing just once to Naruto while the blond had been elbows deep in paperwork he'd brought home three nights ago. He didn't realize he was actually listening and that he had even remembered it. Much less to take time and think of what could solve Sasuke's trivial problem.
It makes his chest warm as he flicked his gaze from Naruto to the very spot they're talking about. There's a corner by the window that always seemed too bare and empty in Sasuke's opinion, and he'd thought about throwing a decor in it. He just didn't know what.
Sasuke snorted lightly, but his lips tugged to a faint smile that Naruto instantly saw. "And have you overwater it and kill it?" he mused. "No, thanks. Pass."
Naruto pouted up at him. Plump pink lips making Sasuke want to lean over to kiss them smooth. "I won't kill it, 'ttebayo," he mumbled dejectedly. And then he perked up almost right away. "Oh, I know! I know!"
A tilt of Sasuke's head to indicate he was listening, urging Naruto to continue talking.
"I have a vase somewhere in the kitchen from when Ino brought over flowers as a housewarming present a couple of years ago. We can just put flowers in there from her shop and I can get ya new ones every time they die. That way we don't have to worry too much about it."
"Hmm…" Sasuke pursed his lips together in thought as Naruto waited with wide eyes, eager for a response that validated him. Especially when it came from Sasuke.
Sasuke caught this, obviously, so he leaned down and pressed his mouth against Naruto's. He kissed him softly, gently, mapping his lips against his own like he can never get enough of the way he tasted. His fingers traced over Naruto's jaw, gliding across the warmth of his skin as he pulled back to smirk lightly.
"I think that's a surprisingly good idea coming from you, usuratonkachi," he murmured against his lips.
The smile that lit up Naruto's face was enough to make Sasuke kiss him a little harder.)
Sasuke grunts as he scowls at the empty windowsill. Looks like the flowers will have to wait for tomorrow.
He has a ringless husband to deal with first.
Sasuke has always known Naruto is a workaholic. Especially since he'd really grown into his role as Hokage, more and more international crises have occurred that required his immediate attention to. Ramifications that cannot be put on hold or delayed onto the next morning.
The official working hours that Naruto and Shikamaru have settled on were 9:00AM to 6:30PM. His lazy advisor had initially argued for shorter hours, of course, but with the amount of workload there always seemed to be piling up by the hour—this was the best office hours they could come up with.
Shikamaru always makes it a point to leave exactly on the dot, never one to stay behind unless personally requested by Naruto himself. The Hokage, on the other hand, has a skewed concept of time and would happily slave himself behind the desk further past the sunset hour were it not for Sasuke who'd scolded his ear off one day for coming home close to midnight.
Naruto then had proceeded to spend the next two hours begging for forgiveness with his hands and tongue and teeth until he had Sasuke beneath him, whimpering out a pathetic "fine, I forgive you".
Which is why it comes to no surprise at all to Sasuke that when the clock struck 6:30PM on the dot—their front door bursts open with a bang as his idiotic husband comes running inside.
Panting from the sprint, Naruto hunches over with his hands bracing against his knees. "Sasuke!" he cries out, raspy voice bouncing off the walls of their home as his blue eyes search the room. They settle in instantly on Sasuke who's standing in the space between the couch and the kitchen counter, his arms folded defensively over his chest with his face impassive as ever.
"Welcome home, Naruto," Sasuke coolly greets, the intonation of his voice bordering on sass than a warm greeting.
Naruto rushes to shove his sandals off by the genkan, stumbling at one point as he lurches forward. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke—" he's chanting his name like a prayer, tone turning into a whine before Naruto closes in on him.
Sasuke raises his hand between them, halting his husband from taking another step closer and demolishing the distance keeping him from Sasuke. "Stop."
The Hokage's blue eyes turn watery as he pouts at the man. "Sasuke, please—I'm so sorry," he begs. "I swear, I didn't mean to forget my ring this morning." He's waving his hands around animatedly, trying to get Sasuke to listen to him. One arm real, and the other a prosthetic wrapped in bandages that Sasuke has gotten more than used to seeing and touching and holding.
Sasuke doesn't say anything at first. Still expressionlessly staring at Naruto with only an arch of his brow.
"You're not actually mad at me, are ya?" Naruto nervously chuckles, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Right, Sasuke? Right?" He dares another step forward as Sasuke stays still. They're close enough now that Sasuke can see each individual whisker embedded deep into Naruto's sun-kissed cheeks, pulled up high as he grins brightly. "You'll forgive me, right?"
"Hmph," Sasuke grunts, unimpressed with the whole situation before he clicks his tongue and raises a hand slowly to Naruto's face. "I would forgive you if it was truly my husband standing in front of me right now and not one of your kage bunshin."
Naruto's grin drops immediately, eyes growing comically wide. "No, wait, Sasuke—!"
Without another word, Sasuke presses the pads of his index and middle fingers against Naruto's shadow clone and pushes—
He flails backwards at the unexpected pressure, arms wildly reaching out before the clone vanishes in a puff of white smoke. And then Naruto's presence is gone, leaving Sasuke standing all alone once again in their home.
"Tch," Sasuke mutters with a roll of his eyes. He'd known it was a Shadow Clone the second it stepped through the front door—the muted pulse of chakra, the lack of growing blush at the sight of Sasuke, the absence of Naruto's warmth that always made Sasuke complain about in the middle of the night, and the easy submission to Sasuke stopping Naruto from bullying his way through so he can pull him into the other's arms and pepper him with apologies in the form of kisses.
He knows Naruto like the back of his hand. He knows his husband better than anyone on this earth, better than his own self, better than even Naruto.
He thinks it's mildly insulting how Naruto thought he could get away with sending his clone in his place to apologize. But he also thinks it's amusingly endearing how Naruto knew that Sasuke would be all huffy and pissy about him forgetting his wedding ring.
Turns out, maybe he does know Sasuke better than Sasuke gives him credit for.
After all, he did spend nearly all his life chasing after him to the ends of the world. Naruto had never once regret it—not even when the work had turned its back on Sasuke, not when he'd carried all that pain and guilt and hatred and wanted nothing more to do with this life. He'd stood by Sasuke, defended him in front of every single person who'd had something to say, carried the burden of Sasuke's guilt.
The memories of the past splinters something faint and quiet deep inside of his chest. It's been so many years since the war had ended, and even more years since the repercussions, the rebuilding, the atonement for his sins—but Sasuke will never forget what Naruto has done for him. What Naruto had to endure, to face, to bear witness to as he carries the scars alongside Sasuke.
He'd been dissolving deep into his thoughts that Sasuke had not noticed the front door clicking open once more, not until his head snaps up and he sees his husband step through the threshold carrying his Hokage cloak in one hand and a bouquet of long-stemmed flowers in the other.
He's real, this time.
It's Naruto.
Sasuke can sense his chakra unfurling into the space of their home, warmth filtering out of him and eradicating every shadow and every darkness until all that Sasuke could feel is the both of them intertwining.
Naruto's eyes are on Sasuke the second he steps foot in their house, the blue in them as deep as the oceans that he'd crossed over and over for Sasuke and filled with an overwhelming amount of apology. He carefully removes his sandals, balancing himself with both hands full as he still makes an effort to neatly push them aside like how Sasuke would want him to.
And then he stands for a moment, lingering by the genkan as he meets Sasuke's gaze. "Tadaima," he hesitantly calls out to him.
Sasuke resists the urge to roll his eyes. He has not moved from his spot nor has he uncrossed his arms. "Okaeri, Naruto," he replies back.
Naruto's shoulders drop a fraction in relief as he moves in, one step at a time like he's trying not to crowd Sasuke. Kind of like he's dealing with a feral cat feeling a little cornered at the moment. "Sasuke," he whines his name. "I'm sorry for leaving my ring this morning."
He drapes his cloak over the back of the couch and then sets the flowers down on the kitchen counter. He continues to move closer to Sasuke, still in slow steps.
Sasuke pettily slides the band out from his pocket, raising it up at chest level so the overhead lights catch on the metal. "Oh, you mean, this one? The ring you almost never remove?"
"Come on, Sas," Naruto pleads. "Don't be like that. You're the one who told me to make sure I clean it from time to time." He takes another step to him, he's at arm's length now.
"Don't 'Sas' me," he mutters low under his breath, ignoring the way his chest flutters.
Naruto fights a grin off his face—he knows his husband. He knows Sasuke's facade is crumbling by the second just from the mere sight of him. "No?" he asks innocently. "D'you like it better when I call you baby?"
Another step. He's close enough that Sasuke instantly feels the heat radiating off him, warming the coldness of his skin and bringing a flush to his face. Their chests are nearly brushing, fingers close enough to easily slide over one another, and faces an inch away that Naruto can just lean in and kiss the bratty attitude away in one breath.
Sasuke glares at him, but there's no heat in there. "Shut up, dobe."
"Ah," Naruto croons in that cocky undertone, the rasp lowering even further to give that huskiness that makes something stir low in Sasuke's belly. "You're trying to role play the past, I see. Very well then."
And before Sasuke could even snarl out some retort to that or call out Naruto for spending too much time with Kakashi and his smutty Icha Icha books, Naruto closes the gap between them. One strong arm curls around Sasuke, yanking him forward until they’re pressed against each other. Hips flushed, chests solidly against one another's—Sasuke's mouth dries at the sudden contact as he instinctively grips Naruto's shirt in a fist.
"I'm sorry, teme," Naruto murmurs, the space between them turning intimate. "Please forgive me. I'll never take the ring off again."
Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Of course you can take it off, stupid." He scrunches his nose in distaste. "But if you forget it again, I'll hunt you down and chidori your ass."
Naruto's smile broadens to a grin as he wiggles his eyebrows, leaning in to brush his lips over the shell of Sasuke's ear. "Don't worry, baby, I'll let you do whatever you want with me tonight. 'M all yours."
Sasuke's face flames as he recoils and shoves a hand against Naruto's chest. Heat blooms wildly in Sasuke's stomach as he pretends to look repulsed by his husband's words as he petulantly looks away with a scoff. "You're disgusting, stop talking right now."
Throwing his head back to laugh, Naruto takes Sasuke's face with both hands as he leans in to press a soft, lingering kiss on his cheek. "You're so cute, Sas," he coos, lips trailing kisses to his mouth before kissing him fully. Naruto tastes sweet, like caramel dissolving on his tongue as he slides the wet muscle past his lips to deepen the kiss.
Sasuke would have curled a hand around Naruto's front and tug him closer, leaving no space between them were it not for a strange feeling rubbing against his cheek where Naruto's left hand is splayed over. He pulls away from the kiss with furrowed brows as he mumbles, "What the hell is on your finger?"
"Oh!" Naruto eagerly raises his hand up to brandish it to Sasuke. "Look! I tied this on my finger in replacement to the ring."
There's a piece of yarn around Naruto's ring finger, loosely tied with a ribbon around it. Sasuke's mouth twitches as he tries not to smile, just imagining Naruto attempt to tie a string around his finger with his tongue poking out in concentration makes him feel all warm inside.
"You were able to tie this around your finger on your own? One handed?" Sasuke asks in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, well, Sai had dropped by so I asked him…to help…me…"
Sasuke's mood sours the second Naruto mentions Sai's name. Of all people, it just had to be the one person that never sat right with Sasuke. He could've gone to Shikamaru, his own advisor who sat a mere couple of feet away from Naruto. But no—it had to be Sai.
Naruto's eyes widen right away, realizing his mistake as Sasuke begins to walk away from him to retreat to their bedroom. "No, no, Sasuke, wait! Please! I'm sorry, I'll never ask Sai to help me ever again!"
Sasuke shoots him a glare, all petty and childish as he stomps to their room.
"Look, see, I'll take the string off!" Naruto flings it off his finger and then raises his hand again. "Okay, but look! I drew this on myself! I didn't use anyone's help on this, just me!"
The Uchiha throws a glimpse over his shoulder and sees the Naruto had drawn a ring over his finger, sitting under the yarn he'd yanked off. Sasuke stares blankly at him before saying, "Where'd you get the ink for it?"
Naruto's face turns sheepish again as he mumbles, "…Sai?"
Sasuke turns and enters the bedroom.
"Sasuke, please! Baby, I'm sorry! Let me—let me make it up to you," Naruto begs, lurching forward to rest his hands on Sasuke's waist, drawing him so his back is pressed flushed against Naruto's front. Sasuke stills, he can feel Naruto's breath hot against his neck and his hands roughly holding him by his hips. "I'm sorry, I swear I won't leave my ring again." He reaches into Sasuke's pocket to take his wedding band and slides it onto his finger.
Sasuke's mouth curves as Naruto stretches a hand out for him to see. The ring sitting on his finger where it belongs. A claim that Sasuke has on him—that no matter what happens, he belongs to Sasuke just as much as Sasuke belongs to him.
"Forgive me?" Naruto asks, sliding his prosthetic arm around Sasuke, hand splayed flat on his stomach so he can press him further against Naruto's front. Sasuke can feel everything—he can feel how much this little back-and-forth squabble is affecting him as Naruto grinds a little against him. "Hm?"
Sasuke's eyes flutter shut against his will, mouth parting slightly as Naruto's teeth find his ear, nipping lightly before pressing open-mouthed kisses down his neck. "You ask Sai to touch you ever again, I'll sic Susano'o on him."
Naruto laughs against his skin, the sound deep and gravelly. "Deal," he rasps, one hand sliding lower to palm Sasuke over his sweatpants. "C'mon, baby, say you forgive me and I'll make it all up to you."
A small whine tumbles out of Sasuke's mouth before he could stop it, and he feels Naruto grinning against his collarbone. "Make it up to me first and then I'll consider forgiving you."
"Such a demanding little brat," Naruto huffs, voice laced with want and affection, it's dizzying. "You're lucky I love you."
Sasuke smiles, knowing he's won in life.
"You're luckier I love you despite you leaving your ring and forgetting you have a husband."
Naruto's laughter fills the air, warming the space around them before he spins Sasuke around so he can finally see the smile playing on his lips. Slowly, he presses his mouth against his and whispers: "I'll make sure after tonight you'll never doubt I've forgotten my husband."