Sasuke gave a sigh of relief as he entered the apartment and pulled off his shoes placing them neatly in their place. It had been a hellaciously long day at work even if he did leave at the proper time.
Suddenly, his ears picked up a noise that made his heart stop. He rushed into the living room and what he saw made him throw his briefcase onto a chair.
Naruto was crying.
Naruto was curled up in a ball. On the floor. Crying. Hard.
Sasuke flung himself to his knees next to his lover. His hands and eyes began checking for injuries. “Naru, baby, what’s wrong?”
Tear-filled blue eyes looked up at him. Naruto sniffled then flung himself into Sasuke’s arms burying his face into the other man’s neck. Sasuke’s arms came around Naruto’s body and held him close. “What’s wrong, Naru?”
The so-very-sad face of his lover looked at him as more tears rolled down his cheeks. “It’s not true, is it?” came the pathetically broken voice.
Sasuke frantically tried to think what could have possibly happened.
Naruto continued. “It’s not true. It can’t be true! He’d never, ever do that, would he?”
Sasuke was still completely clueless. He spoke carefully. “Who wouldn’t do what?”
“The Copy Ninja!” Naruto cried. “He couldn’t possibly be an agent of Akatsuki!”
Sasuke blinked. He needed to reset his brain. “What?”
Naruto wrenched himself from Sasuke’s arms to scrabble at the floor until he was able to grab what he was after. A comic book. He flipped it to the back page and shoved it in Sasuke’s face. “THERE! SEE! Kakashi-san says ‘Hail, Madara’! See! See!”
Sasuke took the comic book from Naruto out of the self-preservation of his nose. He read the final page then flipped back a few pages and read those. He glanced up and saw Naruto’s worried tear-stained face.
Oh my fucking…no…no…I’m not going to be angry with him. Not over this.
Sasuke knew how important the Copy Ninja was to Naruto. The comic book character was probably the only stable thing Naruto had in his childhood. He knew that a lot of Naruto’s values had come from Kakashi-san. Thankfully not the porn reading in public. But the better ones about being loyal to and taking care of family and friends and village.
Sasuke took a deep breath. He set the comic book aside and cupped Naruto’s face. He spoke softly. “Naruto, the Copy Ninja has been a loyal Konoha Shinobi since before the 3rd Shinobi war. He wouldn’t turn his back on Konoha, or his friends, like this.”
Sasuke racked his brain for some more of the story details before continuing. “It’s quite possible that Kakashi-san is under a very powerful genjutsu that he can’t break quite yet. Or, he could possibly be trying to trick Madara into believing he’s turned his back on Konoha, so that he can gain Madara’s trust and put an end to his evil ways.”
Naruto brightened. “Really?” Then the blond’s face fell again. “But…but what if in the next issue…”
Sasuke put a finger to those precious lips. “You know as well as I do that it takes a few issues to resolve these things.”
“But what if it doesn’t get resolved? What if Kakashi-san stays evil?”
Sasuke pulled Naruto close and kissed him gently. “If Kakashi-san isn’t back to being a loyal shinobi of Konoha by Christmas, then we’ll hunt down the writer, slash his tires, kill his dog…”
“Oh, we can’t kill a dog, Sasuke! Or a cat.”
Sasuke took a deep breath. “Kidnap his dog or cat and burn his front lawn. Okay?”
Naruto smiled. “Okay.”
Sasuke kissed the other man again. “Go wash your face and I’ll get dinner started.”
“Okay.” Naruto leapt to his feet and jogged to the bathroom.
Sasuke got to his own feet and walked to the kitchen. He listened for the water to start. When he heard that, he stuffed a dish towel in his mouth and laughed himself silly.