How To Break a Mask (Sasunaru)

The Uchiha Household

How to Break a Mask

Author: Kinomi Akai

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it would be an 18+ anime. Hot diggity.

Summary: An incident at the festival on Oct. 10th reveals that there is a lot that everyone doesn't know about Naruto. Smart!Naruto, Sasunaru/Narusasu, Rated M to be safe

Pairings: Sasunaru/Narusasu, mentions of KakaIru.

Warnings: Shonen-ai, yaoi, boy x boy, whatever to want to call it.

Author's Note:

"Blah" – talking

'blah' – thinking

'blah' – Kyuubi talking

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Last time:

A quiet calm had settled over the area, now. Their relationship had become only stronger from their shared determination to protect Naruto. Neither man could blame the other, for both had failed their charge.

And both would rather die than fail him again.

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Chapter 10: The Uchiha Household

After Sakura had barged in, they were quickly joined by Kakashi and Iruka. It wasn't long afterwards that Hinata came to offer her clan's support. The team working to avenge Naruto's hurt grew to all those he had affected, and all those who cared for him. It was incredible how many ninjas came together, no matter their feelings towards each other, to support the blonde.

And his friends had not only physical power, but political power. It was their combined efforts that allowed the trials to be scheduled a mere month later. The plans had been treated with the utmost seriousness, and, as such, the trials were a complete shock to those being questioned.

Needless to say, the news of several consecutive trials of upstanding members of society was big news. It took about half an hour of Naruto being out of his house to hear about it.

It took him about half a minute to connect the names to the faces.

Suddenly, the kindness he had been treated with, the absence of important missions, the disappearance of Sasuke, the preoccupied sense he felt from his friends - they all made sense. And it was so blindingly obvious now, Naruto felt like an absolute moron for not realizing it before.

But was it so obvious? Revenge, for his sake? The dead-last, the moron, the number one most annoying ninja...

Naruto stood still for a few minutes as a cold hand gripped his heart in fear, while warmth spread throughout his body at the thought of being cared for.

'A month later, and all of them on the same day, too. This was meticulously planned out.'

Naruto tried desperately to stifle the smile that threatened to break out on his face. It seemed the warmth was winning against his fear.

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'How long has it been since I've felt like this?' Sasuke thought to himself, as he willed his heart to slow its furious beating and the butterflies within him to stop ramming themselves against the walls of his stomach. He couldn't stop pacing. He felt so useless.