885"I can technically promote you both right now…"
"Great! Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!"
"But I won't."
"You're truly the worst Kage ever, Kakashi."
"I can definitely see how Naruto fell for you." Kakashi chuckled, but he did agree with Sasuke. He never felt he was cut out for being Hokage, and he understood he was just a transitional leader until Naruto was ready. "You see, I want something from you two first."
"It's incredibly asinine we weren't promoted after the war." Sasuke would never understand how Naruto wasn't promoted after defeating Pain. Not simply for his overwhelming strength, but he also matured considerably. There wasn't an explanation that satisfied her.
"My sincerest apologies. I was a little busy trying to convince the world leaders that you weren't a criminal with Naruto's help. It must have slipped my mind." Kakashi sent a pointed stare at her, which made Sasuke grimace. Naruto smiled awkwardly at her side. "I'll promote you both to Jōnin after the exams if you both agree to a small exhibition match when the examinees are finished. I can't reasonably have you both officially partake in them, you'd demolish the competition and that would be unfair for all the villages in attendance."
"You want Sasuke and I to fight? Why?" Naruto had no problem with sparring, but in front of a gigantic crowd was new.
Kakashi made an odd gesture with his fingers, as he rubbed them together rapidly. Naruto titled his head, rather adorably in his girlfriend's opinion, and tried to make sense of that.
"You're going to use us to make money for the village. Naruto is practically a celebrity, and I'm still an attraction for some despite my past." Sasuke did not practically like labeling herself in such a way. She wasn't a zoo animal. "I assume it's to help cover the costs of that absurdly large arena you had built on the outskirts of the village."
"Very astute." Kakashi nodded and pointed at them both. "Simply advertising that the both of you would be there, and fighting, will bring in even more revenue. Merchandise, food, drinks, ticket sales, betting… the list goes on."
"Merchandise? What're you gonna sell shirts with us on them or something like that?" Naruto laughed at his own words, but Kakashi was dead serious.
"Yes. It's a new world we live in now, Naruto. When you take this office eventually, you're going to see firsthand how many new avenues there are for making money that were not available for the past Hokage." Kakashi could barely keep up himself with how society was progressing.
"Wow… I just can't imagine people walking around with a picture of me on their shirt." Naruto nudged Sasuke with an elbow. "I bet I'll sell more than you."
"It won't matter who's wearing your dumb face on their shirt, you're not beating me."
"Oh? Wanna bet?"
"You're on."
"Then you have to wear a shirt with me on it for a whole week when I win!"
"Tch... If you win."
"What do you want if you cheat and win?"
"… I have a really good idea, but I won't tell you now."
Kakashi was extremely amused when he noticed how Sasuke became livelier. Being romantically involved did not end their rivalry.
"Save it for the arena, love birds." Kakashi teased them and opened his laptop to continue his work. "Oh, and please do go easy during your fight. You both have a bad habit of going overboard and we don't need too much destruction."
"Damn."
"Hmph."
Kakashi looked back up at them and saw their dejected faces. He had a feeling that they would struggle with that…
"Team meeting!"
"You gathered us all here… for this? You were told not to go overboard." Kurama stared down at Naruto incredulously. The blond man was standing proudly in the center of nine towering beasts.
"Don't worry about that! I need you all on standby if I need the assistance. Sasuke is way too sneaky with her Rinnegan, and I'm gonna have to pull out some surprises to throw her off. She's getting really good at using it, and she's been asking about Nagato's techniques a lot lately."
"Rip her to pieces!" Shukaku cackled and fully supported Naruto. Despite calming down considerably since being with Gaara, the sand spirit would always be bloodthirsty.
"No way, idiot. That's my girlfriend and I just want to beat her in a fight with some flair." Naruto crossed his arms and regarded Shukaku angrily.
"You're no fun!" Shukaku growled before being whacked on the head by a glowing blue tail.
"Control yourself, Tanuki. That is Naruto-kun's future betrothed." Matatabi chided Shukaku and seemed to smile down at Naruto."I'm happy for you. You'll always have my help should you need it."
Naturally, Naruto smiled back, before his face scrunched up in confusion. "Betrothed?"
"It means your future wife in this case, Naruto." Kokuō spoke and leaned towards Naruto's face."Will I be permitted to watch the wedding ceremony? I've never been able to partake in one."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! I want to watch!" Saiken chimed in. The slug's head bobbed up and down excitedly.
Naruto's face turned as red as his mother's hair when marriage was mentioned. He waved his hands dramatically. "W-We haven't really talked about anything like that, y'know! It's not that I wouldn't, but like, how do I even ask her that? When do I do it?" His rambling began and Kurama soon flicked the back of his head gently with a long sharp claw.
"Relax, brat. You'll figure it out, but how are we supposed to know anything about that?" Kurama tended to block out anything romantic when sealed in past Jinchūriki. The old man Sage was not well versed in that either.
"Speak for yourself, Kurama. I began to enjoy people watching after we were freed, and I've seen humans marry near the shorelines." Isobu's comment earned a grumble from Kurama.
"Bee has been a huge secret fan of romance novels for years. I've been forced to hear him read them to himself…" Gyūki lamented and was glad to have a slight reprieve from hearing Bee's incessant chatter. Only Naruto was able to access the meeting area for all Bijū.
"Fū was the same way…" Chōmei remarked somewhat sullenly. While not exactly close with Fū on the level that Bee and Naruto were with their Bijū, Chōmei looked out for the girl on occasion before her demise.
"Pah! Enough with this sap! I'm in agreement with the damn fox, I don't know anything about this. Naruto, If you need to call upon my chakra, never hesitate! I intend to show off my immaculate abilities whenever possible." Son Gokū, ever the prideful one, grinned toothily at Naruto.
"You got it, Son!" Naruto saluted the giant ape-like chakra monster. The congregated beasts soon began to bicker amongst each other while Naruto zoned out completely.
Marriage.
Wasn't it too soon? They weren't really dating that long. How long were people supposed to date before asking such an important question? A part of him was extremely nervous to ask Sasuke such a thing, but another part was filled with excitement.
When he thought about it, his relationship with Sasuke brought upon a stronger sense of excitement than even his pursuit of Hokage. As a love starved orphan, having someone actually care for him was a dream come true. He finally had someone he could call his romantic partner, and the way they interacted daily left him with nothing but warm feelings in his chest.
"I love Sasuke, so why wouldn't I ask her…?"
"Ask me what?"
Naruto blinked when a set of mismatched eyes stared into his soul. She was leaned forward on his bed, as she invaded his personal space completely. He was confused why he wasn't still with the Bijū…!
His face morphed into panic. She heard him say that?! Did he start mumbling and bring up marriage? Weren't things like this supposed to be a surprise?!
"Naruto? What'd you want to ask me?" Sasuke steadily moved closer to him, until she was seated directly on his lap. She wiggled in place for a moment to get comfortable, which made Naruto gulp and shake his head.
"N-Nothing! I was meeting with all the Bijū, and they are so talkative, y'know? Haha…"
"Right…" Sasuke did not believe him for a second, as her eyes were narrowed suspiciously. "Why'd you meet with them anyway?"
"We had a secret team meeting, no Uchiha allowed." Naruto forced a teasing smile at her, suppressing his marriage related anxiety for the time being.
"I can peer into your peanut sized brain at any moment with these eyes, there wouldn't be any secrets you could hide." Sasuke seemed really proud of herself.
"You fell in love with someone who has a small brain, what's that say about you?"
"I am clearly small brained too."
They stared at each other for a few moments before they started to laugh. Naruto would never grow tired of hearing her genuine laughter.
"I love you."
"You're avoiding my question."
"I am."
"Then make yourself useful and kiss me." Sasuke practically demanded it, and Naruto gave her the same cheeky salute that he graced Son with previously.
"You got it, Sasu-chan!"
"I'll never like that."
She said that, but she still kissed him with the same intensity as always. What a lair!
He could not wait to spend the rest of his life with her.
"Iruka-sensei, I have a question about marriage."
"What-?!" Iruka pounded on his chest when he swallowed a bit of his ramen too quickly. That question came out of nowhere after all.
When Iruka found out Naruto returned to the village, he planned a day where they could go out to eat, his treat. Naturally, Naruto chose ramen, and the conversation was relatively light.
Until now.
"How do you know when to ask someone to marry you?"
"Woah! Woah! Slow down! What brought this on? You told me that you both haven't been dating that long." Iruka was still recovering from the previous shock that they were actually a couple. He could see Naruto ending up with someone like Sakura or Hinata, not Sasuke. That girl was the source of Naruto's ire during the Academy, and Iruka knew that she put him through a lot during their teenage years.
But it wasn't his place to judge Naruto for his decision. Iruka only ever cared if Naruto was happy and safe, and it seemed like he was. Whenever Sasuke came up during conversation, he had a goofy grin on his face. There were no more traces of longing or sadness that Iruka witnessed after she left the village.
"Yeah, we haven't been together officially for like super long, but Matatabi called her my future betrothed, and Kokuō asked to watch our wedding. That made me really curious about all this and I don't know who to ask about it."
"Matatabi? Kokuō?"
"Oh! My friends, the Nibi and Gobi!" Naruto explained with a grin, and Iruka deadpanned at him. His friends… gigantic country razing chakra beasts that talked about marriage.
Iruka realized he had a lot more to learn about Naruto.
"Right… well, as for your question… I'm afraid I don't have much experience in regard to this. I'm not exactly married myself." Iruka watched Naruto deflate like a balloon at his response.
"Damn it..."
"I'm also not someone with tons of relationship experience, but I can give you one piece of advice at least."
"I don't really know anybody that has experience, most of the guys I know aren't even dating. Look at Kakashi-sensei, I'm convinced he loves Pervy Sages old books more than women." Naruto comment about Kakashi made Iruka chuckle.
"Hokage-sama is a busy man, I'm sure he doesn't have time for dating."
"That's a load of crap, but anyway, can you give me advice? Please?" Naruto pleaded with him as he held his hands up in a prayer position.
"Well, I don't think there's necessarily a concrete period of time for these sorts of things. It differs for everyone. You just have to feel it."
"Feel it?"
"Yes, feel it."
"Feel what?"
"Feel when it's the right time to ask."
"Hmm… feeling when it's right." Naruto repeated to himself with a conflicted expression. "What if she says no?" He was irrationally afraid of that outcome.
Iruka laughed loudly, he couldn't help himself. That earned him a look from the other occupants in the newly expanded Ichiraku Ramen shop. "You managed to get a woman like Sasuke to date you. I don't think she'll ever say no."
"You really think so?"
"I know so." Iruka reached over, and had to extended his arm high, in order to ruffle Naruto's hair. He could still picture the far smaller twelve year old boy sitting next to him while messily slurping ramen. How that boy has grown so fast into the man talking about marriage boggled his mind, but it filled him with joy.
"Doing that is so embarrassing, I'm not a little kid anymore." Naruto said but made zero effort to stop him.
"To me you'll always be that little brat asking to wear my headband." Iruka smiled softly at him. Naruto rubbed the back of his head, a habit Iruka knew he'd never break. "I do expect an invitation to your wedding."
"I-I'm not even engaged yet!"
"Keep that in mind for the future. You owe me that much for all the times I paid for your ramen."
"Including this time?"
Iruka nodded and rolled his eyes playfully. "Yes, Mr. Hero."
Naruto grinned and held his fist out to the first person that acknowledged him. Iruka was familiar with the concept of a fist bump due to Killer B, so he did not hesitate.
"You're one of my favorite people ever, Iruka-sensei."
It was said so genuinely that Iruka brought his forearm up to his face to hide his suddenly teary eyes. Naruto looked at him strangely.
"You alright?"
"S-Sorry! Just… just got something in my eye."
"It looked like you were crying."
"No, that's the rain!"
"Huh? We are indoors…"
"How's about unlimited ramen for you today?"
"Really?! Hell yeah!"
Iruka grinned through his tears, Naruto would always be Naruto.
"You know, I passed these exams."
"Uh-huh."
"Mmm~! I took them in Sunagakure with Ino and Chōji."
"Riveting."
"You know where I'm going with this, don't you?" Sakura teased her teammate while they overlooked the large forest that housed the first stage of the Chūnin Exams.
Shikamaru planned out some elaborate gauntlets that were dedicated to combat or puzzle solving for the first stage. He worked alongside various Jōnin in the village for what was technically the largest recorded exam. There were shinobi from every village here, major and minor. It was interesting for Sasuke and Sakura to see what new age Genin looked like.
"You're seriously bragging to me about passing these exams?" Sasuke had to look up at Sakura as she was seated on a gigantic tree branch. Her attention was briefly broken from the huge platform that the five Kage andher boyfriend stood on.
"Maybeeee~!"
"I can seal you in a moon."
"I'll punch out of it. Super-duper monster strength, remember?" Sakura slapped her muscled arm with a cocky smirk.
"I can make a moon, Sakura."
"I'll be stuck in that moon, and you'll still be a Genin."
"In the past you fought Ino… to a draw. I win." Sasuke huffed while Sakura whined cutely. She eventually returned to staring at Naruto with her Sharingan activated. She could read his lips easily even from this distance, and admired how good he looked standing there with those considered the most powerful individuals in the world.
It was amusing that despite their status, they were all utterly pathetic compared to her loser.
Sasuke watched him lean close to Gaara and Mei, before whispering a few things to them with his hand covering his mouth. Gaara's eyes widened but he said nothing, instead he opted for a somewhat clueless smile. Meanwhile, Mei looked overjoyed at whatever Naruto asked them. She grabbed him by the arm, which sunk it between her deep cleavage and pulled him away from the group.
Sasuke did not like that, but she was becoming insanely curious what Naruto said to them. Why did he cover his mouth? Was he aware that she was observing him? Was she being creepy by watching him intently? Why the hell did Mei have to grab him like that?
"Dumb hag…"
"You better not be talking about me, Sasu-chan." Sakura's voice pierced her ears and Sasuke glared at her. She distracted her from figuring out what was happening over there.
"You can leave now."
"No, this is precious girl time. Bonding. Team building…?"
"Gross." Sasuke's reply caused Sakura to nudge her with a foot. "What do you think Naruto asked Gaara and Mei?"
"Um, what?"
"He just whispered something to them."
"Are you forgetting not all of us have freaky eyes? I can't really see much."
"You need glasses." Sasuke's reply earned her another nudge from Sakura's foot.
"Oh, do I? Guess what, I'm putting a curse on you. Your firstborn is going to need glasses."
"Dream on. Uchiha do not need glasses."
"Oops, looks like your firstborn just did."
"I'm seriously considering that moon."
"You've come to the right person!"
"Aren't we supposed to be watching over the exams?"
"Never mind that, this is more important." The Mizukage smiled sweetly at the blond man she dragged off to the side. Mei proved that she tended to get immensely distracted by anything related to romance. It was truly a fatal character flaw for a Kage. "You're both finally together! I can't say I didn't see this coming eventually."
"We are." Naruto was embarrassed by how many people were vocally supportive of his relationship. "Going to that restaurant in your village actually helped us get past some of the awkward stuff."
Mei resisted the urge to squeal happily like a girl that was half her age. She enjoyed playing matchmaker, even if she had zero luck herself. "Marriage so soon though?"
"I'm not saying it'll happen right now! I just needed people to ask how I should go about it…" Naruto mumbled and realized Gaara gave him practically no answer outside of a weird smile. To be fair, he should have expected that one.
"It's so sweet that you're thinking about this. The world would be a better place with more thoughtful men like you. If only I were ten years younger…" Mei sighed dramatically to herself, which made Naruto chuckle nervously. "Anyway, I can tell you that as a woman I'd want to be proposed to in a special way."
"A special way?"
"Yes. I'd personally want it to be at a location that has significant meaning to both of us. Perhaps where I first met my nonexistent significant other, or where we shared a special moment. That should be left to your judgment." Mei's eyebrow twitched when she mentioned a "nonexistent" significant other. It was a sore subject, but she was a true romantic at heart.
"Somewhere that has meaning to us…" Naruto's thoughts immediately drifted to the Final Valley before he resisted the urge to slap himself. Yeah, propose to the love of his life at the location where they both almost killed each other… twice. He could hear Kurama's snicker in the back of his mind.
"I'm sure you'll pick out the perfect place to propose, and if you ever need my help planning something extravagant, all you need to do is ask." Mei's offer was appreciated, but even Naruto knew that Sasuke would not care for anything overtly extravagant. That's not the kind of person she was.
"I definitely will, thanks Mizukage-sama." Naruto was patted softly on the cheek after he spoke.
"Nope, none of that. It's always 'Mei-chan' to you." She chided him playfully. "You can pay me back for this by helping me find a good man."
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely. Good men aren't just falling from the skies nowadays, future Hokage-kun."
Naruto's eyes lit up before he pounded a fist into his palm. Mei watched the action curiously, but Naruto offered no explanation.
He finally figured out how to pay Iruka-sensei back for all the ramen!
The days leading up to the Chūnin Exam finals were a blur for Naruto. Between spending time with his girlfriend, his friends, and his obligations throughout the village, he had little time to laze about. It wasn't a bad thing though, as he even sat in with Kakashi on several occasions to observe how the Hokage handles these yearly exams. Naruto appreciated every second of being taught how to fit into that important role, even if he had to fight off information overload.
It felt like he was one step closer to his dream with every passing day.
Well, one of his dreams.
The whole marriage situation continued to weight on his thoughts pretty heavily. There was no need to rush, they had their whole lives ahead of them… but it was certainly distracting. He could hardly pay attention to the starting matches occurring in the arena as he watched from the boxed seats for the Kage.
Whack!
"Ow!"
"Come on, that was a love tap."
"For you a love tap is probably capable of splitting a mountain in half."
"Flattery won't make me forgive you for spacing out on me."
"What'd you want again, Granny?"
Tsunade, the previous Godaime Hokage, rolled her eyes at the nickname and shoved a piece of paper directly into Naruto's hands. "Read this."
"It's a bunch of numbers."
"I'm sure not properly reading paperwork is a surefire way to becoming the leader of a village. You're lucky I love you." Tsunade crossed her arms under her legendary bust. "Those are your predicted odds to win against Sasuke."
"Eh? Is this for the betting thing? You're still obsessed with losing money?" Naruto squinted at the numbers, taking a second to actually read how someonesupposedly figured his chances to win against Sasuke was "60-40".
"All shinobi have a vice." Tsunade defended herself poorly and avoided Naruto's judgmental look.
"You never win anything. I'd give up at this point."
"The man who preaches from the top of his lungs to never give up, tells me to give up. You changed, kid."
"Don't tell me you bet on me to win? That's basically dooming me." Naruto knew with how awful Tsunade's luck was, it would rub off on him.
"No. I bet against you this time for that reason."
"Phew!"
"What will it take for you to throw the match?"
"You're not my Hokage anymore, I can say a lot of rude things right now."
"As if that's stopped you before. Look, this is a lot of money on the line. Can you even imagine how big the pot is here with all these villages betting combined? I'd split it with you. It would make the value of my necklace, that you don't even have anymore, look tiny in comparison." Tsunade threw in the dig at the necklace she gifted him.
"I'll make Kurama apologize for that one." Naruto unabashedly blamed his tailed friend.
'I wasn't the one with no emotional control.'
'… Oh, come on, is that a joke? That's the biggest lie I've ever heard!' Naruto was momentarily stunned at the audacity of Kurama.
"Yeah, you do that." Tsunade sighed and leaned against the railing of the platform overlooking the fights. There was some Suna shinobi fighting another from Iwa, and she was wholly uninterested. "I was hoping to make the money back that I lost on my previous bet."
"The one about Sasuke and I dating?"
"Ugh, who knew you'd actually end up dating her?" Tsunade lamented sadly, "I expected you to be with my student."
"I'd never want to be with anybody else." Naruto admitted that to her with a soft smile. "Besides, Sakura-chan never liked me that way."
Tsunade shook her head at such an oblivious statement, but she soon gave Naruto a smile back. "She treating you right?"
"Of course she is. I've never felt happier! She's kind of a pain in the ass sometimes, because she's always the one to take most of the blankets when we sleep. She says women need more heat. I'm also convinced she's the one who has been stealing the snacks I've specifically bought for myself… and she blames it on mice in my apartment. I don't have mice." Naruto began to ramble on about their relationship and Tsunade watched him fondly.
Uchiha Sasuke was not exactly someone that Tsunade could say she cared much for. Naruto was family to her, and Sasuke caused him grief for years, which put the girl on her shit list. However, the way he spoke about her and how his face lit up, Tsunade was reminded of Dan. That proved to her that their love was deep and very genuine. She wished her story with Dan could have continued like Naruto's and Sasuke's would.
"Granny, what do you know about marriage?"
"… I'll tell you all you need to know if you throw that match."
"Keep dreamin'!"
The roar of the crowd drilled into Sasuke's head and drowned out the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. She was not nervous, she never would be for something like this.
She was excited.
There was a thrill that came with fighting Naruto that she could hardly make sense of. They were in love, they were soul mates, yet her body was wired to enjoy trading blows with him. Perhaps it was a remnant of Indra's and Ashura's chakra clinging to them for so long that sparked it.
Sasuke subconsciously tapped her foot rapidly on the ground while she waited in the center of the arena. Her body was raring to go. Naruto was directly in front of her, throwing his arms up and trying to make the crowd even louder than before. Naturally, they ate it up. His very presence inspired people, and having such a congregated mass of individuals watch him fight was a must see for them. The added bonus of the last Uchiha, a former rogue ninja, sparked great interest too.
They did not talk much before the match, as Naruto sat in the Kage area while she made herself scarce around the arena, but she hoped he felt the same way.
Sasuke paid no mind to the words that Kakashi spoke through the loudspeakers placed along the arena, it was white noise to her. He was more than likely announcing their match and introducing them, but she refused to tear her attention from Naruto.
Suddenly, Naruto reached his hand out to her, and she knew exactly what he wanted.
The Unison Sign.
A symbol of respect and camaraderie among shinobi from their village. It was a tradition they were both very familiar with, and one they struggled with as children.
They both made contact with their extended hands, and Naruto grinned at her as he always did.
He mouthed the words "I love you" to her, a dirty trick that momentarily distracted her. Naruto abruptly jumped back to bring his hands up in the unique sign that signified there would be plenty of clones coming her way. Obviously he was going back to the basics for nostalgia reasons.
Sasuke's obsidian eye bled red. Her lone arm immediately reached to the blade she had situated on her hip, and she threw herself into the mass of clones that Naruto predictably spammed.
The crowd hollered as she danced within the hoard of doppelgängers. Her footwork when it came to maneuvering around Naruto's clones was pure muscle memory. She's done this song and dance plenty of times in her life, and she reveled in the familiarity. She pivoted around them, dodging their fists and kunai with ease.
She cut them down, one after another, even infusing her blade with lightning chakra just to ensure that the process was as smooth as possible. When an individual fought Naruto, they'd assume he was simply in the safety of the backline to create more clones, but Sasuke knew him like the back of her hand…
She switched focus to the Naruto copy that appeared to fight just as sloppily as the rest, but there was an underlying purpose to his movements. Sasuke smirked and brought her blade down in an arch. Fighting amongst his clones, acting as fodder, it was a sneaky tactic.
Naruto caught it with his palms, and his pupils were bar shaped with orange pigmentation around his eyelids. It was only one of the ways a crazy fool like Naruto would be able to catch a deadly weapon without harming himself.
Sasuke's fingers curled tightly around her swords hilt, and she pumped more and more lightning through the steel. She saw Naruto struggle for a moment, before he popped into smoke.
The rush of footsteps behind her told her all she needed to know. That was bait as well. He got her there.
She turned around, and Naruto threw a right hook instantly. Sasuke was no fool, and she knew that punch wasn't meant to land directly on her cheek, his arm veered a little bit too far from her. His Senjutsu allowed him to manipulate natural energy in such a way that he could extend the range and force of his physical attacks. Her Sharingan was capable of processing the actual movement, but both her clan's eye and the Rinnegan were unable to see through it. Only another Sage was capable of sensing such a thing.
Time seemed to slow down for her as she widened her Rinnegan slightly. The only thing that prevented her from taking a nasty hit from a Senjutsu enhanced attack was her experience with fighting Naruto during their journey. All of those spars paid off.
She swapped places with a clone that was behind Naruto, and the poor duplicate was sent flying towards the other side of the arena. Her boyfriend really wasn't pulling his punches, that could have done damage.
'Good…' That nourished the hunger for battle she may have strangely inherited from Madara. She spared a single glance up at Kakashi in the Kage box, and she saw him drop his head in defeat. He knew that telling them to not go overboard went out the window. Fortunately for him, Sasuke knew they had to show extreme restraint. Kurama and her Susanoo couldn't exactly come out to play in a crowded area. Not to mention their more destructive techniques would cause mass casualties.
Sasuke's smirk came back with a vengeance as she sheathed her sword and sped through one handed seals. She harshly slammed her hand onto the ground soon after. Naruto and the remainder of his clones were treated to the surprising sight of multiple summons.
"Hell no…" Naruto's mumble was only discernible due to Sasuke being able to read his lips. A large snake with Rinnegan eyes slithered towards him at extreme speeds. That wasn't all though, as a set of overly large crows with the same eyes dive bombed his location. "We are just pulling stuff out of our asses now?! You know how I feel about snakes and crows!" His shout reached her despite the noisy onlookers.
Sasuke chuckled under her breath. It wasn't entirely out of her ass, because her Rinnegan made her more than capable of performing such feats. It took a bit of ingenuity, creativity, and recollection from Naruto's own memories of battling Nagato to get a handle on mastering her eye.
The results were well worth it.
While Naruto attempted to deal with a snake that was far too eager with trying to swallow him whole, and two bizarre crows that attempted to peck him to death, Sasuke wasn't idle. She made sure to take a vantage point on the arena's wall and held a seal for one of her families most well-known techniques.
'Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!'
She channeled an absurd amount of chakra and puffed her chest out. Soon enough, a searing hot white fireball flew directly towards the preoccupied Naruto. That fire style put anything her father or Itachi were able to do to shame. That wasn't even factoring in what her Amaterasu was capable of.
For good measure, she shot a second one out. Her blood was truly pumping, and a grin bloomed on her face when Naruto stood still for a moment amongst the chaos. She wanted to see what he'd do next.
"Alright everyone, let's do it!" He shouted, and the crowd went wild when he flipped through his own set of hand seals. An absolutely huge torrent of water was released from his mouth and swirled around him erratically. The stadium's ground was quickly covered in it. Sasuke's eyes widened when she realized what was happening.
'This is what he meant by secret team meeting…' She knew the Bijū were more than willing to give him whatever he wanted, even mastery over whatever chakra natures they wielded. Sasuke noticed how his eyes changed to a bright yellow with a lack of pigmentation, signifying a drastic change from simple Senjutsu.
The water wall around him easily defended him from her fire, and it caused a thick smokescreen to settle over the area. It was no problem for her, but the people who were here for a show were about to struggle with seeing Naruto's next moves.
A trio of clones formed a Rasengan each, but not the usual that everyone who knew Naruto was used to. These were filled with black ink, which Sasuke surmised came from the Hachibi. Her Rinnegan summons were coated in the tar-like consistency to the point where they couldn't try to escape. Soon after, they were erased from existence as those spheres of chakra tore into them. Having served their purpose, his clones popped immediately after.
Sasuke had no more time to think on Naruto's abilities before her danger senses went haywire. Naruto did not possess a Sharingan but he could sense chakra at an unparalleled level, Sasuke could not hide in the smokescreen forever. That was precisely why she was forced to dodge a dropkick from the real Naruto who pinpointed her exact location on the wall. Engaging him in taijutsu was admittedly not the easiest thing anymore because of her lone arm, which is why she dropped down from the wall to land on the water filled ground below. Ninjutsu was her best bet…!
"What-?"
"Gotcha!"
Naruto laughed at her from above as Sasuke landed in a very sticky substance that was mixed into the water. It had to belong to one of the Bijū, perhaps the slug creature? She tried to move, but no amount of force made her feet budge. Her teeth were grit in frustration and her head whipped up to Naruto.
"Son!" He wasn't talking to her, she knew that much, and his cheeks bulged out right after. Sasuke had flashbacks to the Mizukage attempting to melt her as scorching hot lava poured out of her boyfriend's mouth.
Her arm rose, and she stretched her palm out towards the lava. A normal shinobi would be dead in this situation, but Sasuke was in an entirely different league. She absorbed the jutsu like it was nothing, which led to the crowd voicing their amazement in cheers.
Sasuke appeared annoyed when she finally noticed the ridiculous amount of camera flashes around them. Annoying civilians…
"You know, you're getting really good at that. I'm proud of you." Naruto complimented her genuinely as he stood sideways on the wall near her.
"Stupid…" She insulted him, but her cheeks were slightly red. Damn him, now was not the time.
"You're still stuck in my little trap there, you can thank Isobu and Saiken for that."
"Hmph." Sasuke's Rinnegan widened once more, and suddenly Naruto was in the syrup-like trap instead. She adored her Rinnegan abilities.
"… I seriously hate that swapping places thing you do. I always feel like I'm going to puke afterwards."
"Guess we are both pulling stuff out of our asses today."
"At least my stuffs kinda new, Sasu-chan."
Sasuke gave her usual grunt before she let a Chidori spark to life in her hand. "Give up."
"Ya gotta try harder than that." His cocky smirk attempted to get a rise out of her. Before her very eyes, his body emitted steam, as he raised the temperature of the chakra in his body to the boiling point. Instantly, the water around him evaporated, and the syrupy substance stuck to his feet cracked under the pressure.
Sasuke had zero time to react to Naruto shooting towards her faster than before, and he roughly grabbed her in a grapple. Sasuke felt her head spin when he took her by the arm and flung her like a toy. Her Chidori fizzled out momentarily as well. His strength was practically unrivaled for that single moment, and Sasuke went careening to the wet earth beneath them.
It was only due to her combat experience that she was able to manifest the ribcage of her Susanoo in time to cushion her body. A landing like that could have caused her some serious pain. Unfortunately, Naruto gave her no time to rest, as he jumped above her. Sasuke's Sharingan read the signs he was going for, but the jutsu he spat out certainly was another one utilized by his tailed friends.
A dark blue mouse-shaped fireball was aimed right at her partial Susanoo, and Sasuke was surprised when it split into several smaller pieces that dropped onto her like bombs. Her Susanoo provided a strong enough defense to put up with the assault, but Naruto refused to stop spitting out more.
'What a showoff…' Sasuke's Rinnegan pulsed powerfully as her arm pointed directly at him. A repulsive force that could cause mass destruction was aimed right at Naruto. A single use of Shinra Tensei blew every bit of his jutsu away. It didn't stop there, as Naruto was forced to cross his arms over his face to try to fight back against the pressure from one of the strongest Rinnegan abilities.
In that brief moment, Sasuke saw an opening. She hastily unsheathed her blade and tossed it into the open sky behind him. She knew using Rinnegan techniques back to back were bound to tire her out, she wasn't a chakra monster like Naruto, but she had a solid plan.
She felt pain in her Rinnegan when she successfully swapped places again with the sword that sailed past Naruto. Now, she was right behind him in the air, and she let gravity bring her down while delivering a vicious kick to his side. Naruto was shot back into the dirt, which was revenge for the harsh way he manhandled her previously.
Sasuke knew how durable he was, so she readied a new Chidori while falling and landed in a crouch across from where Naruto crashed. She blitzed towards his location, and she wasn't disappointed when he hopped up, hardly fazed, and readied his normal Rasengan.
Her chest shouldn't feel warm about clashing two extremely powerful jutsu together, but this exchange with Naruto was a big part of their relationship. Their clash had the entire stadium screaming, as people from all over the Elemental Nations were anxious to see who would win.
Naruto and Sasuke locked eyes, and Naruto gave her his iconic smile that meant he was up to no good…
Naruto exploded into wispy smoke.
It was a fucking clone.
Sasuke let out a string of curses in her head and her body locked up when she felt his presence directly behind her. The familiar sound of a violently swirling Rasengan hit her ears and she could feel it dangerously close to her upper back.
"This one is infused with Shukaku's chakra, if I tap you with it, you'll be completely immobilized. I love you, so I'm not shoving a Rasengan into my pretty girlfriend's back, y'know."
"How thoughtful of you…" She sounded frustrated. Sasuke would normally be able to get out of this situation, her full body Susanoo alone would cause Naruto a great deal of trouble.
"We can't really go all out, you know that. I still had a few tricks up my sleeve, especially with Chōmei's help. We gave them a hell of a show though." Naruto chuckled right into her ear, which made her shiver, before he continued. "I think this is my win, Sasuke."
After a tense few seconds, where Sasuke had to stop herself from using anything that would reduce the stadium to splinters, she closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
"Whatever, loser."
"One day you'll call me 'winner'."
"Keep dreaming."
Sasuke rose her arm, and that was when Kakashi spoke over the loudspeakers, announcing her forfeit.
The crowd erupted for a final time, but Sasuke was pretty upset with her loss to truly care, which was something Naruto clearly noticed. She shut her Rinnegan eye and walked off to the waiting rooms for the examinees.
Before he could reach out to her, Kakashi appeared beside him in a gust of leaves, more than likely to begin the closing ceremony.
He only wondered what caused her to be so gloomy, because she wasn't usually such a sore loser…
The rest of the day flew by quickly for Sasuke. She chose to return to Naruto's apartment alone to rest after their bout. She had little interest in the ceremonies, or the festivities planned after the exams. Instead, she was content with stripping down, stealing one of Naruto's shirts that was oversized on her frame, and slipping into his very comfortable bed to nap.
Her Rinnegan remained closed even after waking up, as she put a small amount of strain on it during the match. Her body would always struggle with the chakra that needed to be expended for those jutsu.
She laid in the large bed with a frown, for two reasons. One was because Naruto had to be out all day in order to deal with shinobi and Kage from other villages instead of being with her. Two was because she really wanted to win…
Her gaze lingered on the bottom drawer of the dresser near Naruto's bed. Now she had no easy way to give him what was inside it.
The door to the bedroom creaked open, and Sasuke propped herself up as best as she could with a single arm. Her eyebrows rose when she saw Naruto balancing a tray that contained multiple items on it.
"Yo…" He was concentrated on not dropping anything as he reached the bed, so he barely spared her a glance. Eventually, he placed the tray over her lap and smiled down at her.
"What is this?" She peered at the contents of the tray.
"You looked pretty upset earlier, so I wanted to make you feel better. I bought you a tomato soup from that fancy restaurant near Ichiraku's, and the bread they have is super soft for you to dunk in it. Oh, and that unsweetened iced tea you like, which is still weird. Sugar won't kill you, y'know?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head, and Sasuke felt very moved by the gesture to improve her mood. She truly was lucky to have him in her life.
"Thank you… but I'm not upset because of you, Naruto." She told him and he seemed confused. "I'm upset at losing for my own silly reasons."
"Yeah, but we both have lost during our spars before. Is it because so many people saw it?"
"I don't really care about what people think. I personally wanted to win this though."
"Why?"
"Because of the bet."
Naruto's eyes lit up. He forgot about that! Was she upset because he told her that she'd have to wear a shirt with his face on it? That could be pretty embarrassing, especially for someone like Sasuke. "You don't need to wear the shirt, I was messing around about it."
"A bet is a bet… so I'll honor it. That's not why though." She saw some people in the stands today wearing shirts with Naruto on them and they looked insane. She wasn't thrilled to wear that, but at least she'd be able to see his stupidly cute face on her clothing when she looked in the mirror.
"Well, I'm lost, so help me out." Naruto studied her for a moment and noted how she kept her Rinnegan closed. Without a second thought, he grabbed at her hand and transferred some of his chakra to her.
Sasuke felt her body become relaxed when he did that. Naruto's chakra, which used to be a raging uncontrolled storm many years ago, comforted her. After his partnership with Kurama came into fruition, he was able to share his chakra with anyone through physical contact.
Sasuke wanted to be greedy and keep it all to herself. Why should anyone else get to experience this bliss?
"You're too good to me…" She mumbled with her eyes closed and her facial expression softening. He truly was her one and only everything.
"Nah, I just love you." He let go of her hand so she could finally eat. "But seriously, what has you so upset?"
"I… had something made for you if I won the bet. It'll go to waste now." Sasuke wasn't sure how to properly explain herself.
"Huh? You made me a shirt? Does it have your face on it? That'd be adorable." Naruto grinned at her teasingly, but Sasuke shook her head.
"No. Since it doesn't matter anymore, you can look at it. Check the bottom drawer of your dresser." She pointed at the furniture before eating a spoon full of tomato soup. It was simple food, something her mother made her all the time, and she cherished it.
Naruto did as she asked, and he opened the drawer. He blinked at the article of clothing that was folded neatly in the center.
Naruto took the shirt and held it up, which revealed it was a long sleeved dark black shirt with a wide collar. It was very similar in design to the shirts Sasuke wore as a child. He turned it around and his eyes grew wide at the crest on the back.
The Uchiha clan's symbol.
"You made this for me?" Naruto turned to her, and she nodded slowly. His face broke out into a grin, and he placed it down on the bed for a second.
Then, he started to take his shirt off, which gave Sasuke a nice view of her boyfriend's toned body. However, her expression morphed into one of surprise.
"What're you doing?"
"Putting the shirt on? Duh."
"But… I didn't win."
"I don't care. This seems really important to you… Kurama hates it though. I was told to tell you that." Naruto finally put the clothing on and turned his back to her and presented her clan's symbol on his back. "How do I look? Am I the best damn Uchiha you've ever seen or what?"
Due to how he was standing, he could not see how flushed his girlfriend's face was. Naruto had no idea what wearing that crest meant for someone that was not born into the Uchiha family.
"I-It really suits you."
She meant it… and she refused to explain that only those who were married into the clan would wear clothing like that.
"You need to get one made just like it so we can match. I think that's what some couples do, it sounds like a good idea." Naruto finally turned around and witnessed Sasuke struggling to lift the large bowl of tomato soup so she could cover her blushing face completely.
"Your face is super red right now, is the soup too hot?"
"Shut up."
"Eh?"
"Just… just be quiet!"
"Weirdo!"
The idea of marriage was now firmly planted into both of their heads.
A/N: All of you that read this story, follow, favorite, leave reviews and message me are the reason I'm so inspired to continue writing. Yes, even the people that are still upset I did not change Sasuke's name to Satsuki or Sayuri or some other S-name. It's been years people, time to let that one go lol.
I can't pump chapters out relatively quickly anymore, being married at 24, having a job, plus other responsibilities will do that lmao. However, I will finish this story, mark my words. I currently have 5 more chapters planned (one of which is an epilogue).
Sorry if the sort of long combat section in the chapter was a bit jarring for a romance story, but I wanted to let Naruto and Sasuke flex their abilities a tinyyyy bit. For whatever reason, the main series and Boruto refused to utilize all of their abilities (the tailed beasts AND all of the Rinnegan exclusive techniques). Of course, they could not go all out, as we all know that Naruto and Sasuke would destroy the village in a flash if they really tried.
What's crazy about reviews is how I recognize so many of you that have been commenting on my stories for years. Like, we haven't met in person, but it's like seeing old friends again. I can't possibly list all of you, but you definitely know who you are. Which is why I'm gonna tell y'all that if you actually want to talk with me outside of this site (because I've tried responding to reviews before and this place sucks so who knows if anyone sees them), DM me on here or on the app and ask for my Discord. I'd be happy to talk with you!
As always, thank you so much for reading :)