#irusasu

oh BOY

ok so. 

The premise of this AU is that Naruto, bored to death of his desk work and seeking some thrill in the form of doing a mission (saving the world, etc), gets himself involved in a small war between two countries close by. But he under estimates just how advanced poisons are, and ends up getting himself killed. One country takes the opportunity to blame the other, and bring back Naruto’s corpse and get help from the Leaf to end the war. He pulls a Mr. Incredible but he dies. 

Sasuke’s called back for the funeral but instead of feeling legitimately mournful he just feels... free? He doesn’t know what to do with himself now.

But they need a new Hokage, and they’re not sure who to choose. Kakashi’s retired and doesn’t want to, Tsunade’s too old now, but there’s always someone who Naruot never shutup about. His Supporting Shadow. The “Co-Hokage.” 

Now, at the time of this AU, It was not public information that the old council was still alive, so I made up a new, younger council who would be fed on the positive, sensation of Sasuke and so their #1 choice is Sasuke. Sasuke doesn’t really want to, he’s been weaned off the idea of Hokage for a long time, and he thinks he’s a really shitty choice. He doesn’t have the charisma Naruto does, and he doesn’t like being in the spotlight. But eventually he’s chosen, and Iruka is promoted from Principal of the Academy to Sasuke’s personal assistant. 

It’s kind of a mess at first. Sasuke’s got to shakily build his self esteem back. He’s suddenly got all of this power and all of these people that are depending on him and making requests of him and coupled with is mental issues, Iruka becomes a really solid rock for him.

Being Hokage also means he’s now in the village 24/7. He can’t leave when things get weird for him, and that means having to deal with Sakura daily. And Iruka can tell Sasuke’s not into it. That he doesn’t really like her presence, and it’s not fair for Sakura to have a husband who’s clearly not in love with her. It’s Iruka who convinces Sasuke to divorce, purely for Sasuke and Sakura’s health. Iruka’s intentions are honestly pure here, even if Sakura will never forgive him.

Free of his marriage, Sasuke can further throw himself into his Hokage work, depending more and more on Iruka until he realizes he likes him. And Sasuke’s not gonna really sit with that info, he’s gonna do something with it.

So on a night that Iruka is walking him home (a habit they developed to make sure the other person stays home, since they tend to overwork), Sasuke confesses. He says he likes him. Iruka thinks nothing of it and says he likes Sasuke too, and goes on his way home.

...And is back hours later, in nothing but his pajamas, to verify exactly what Sasuke meant. And he’s kind of horrified at first-- not only are they both men, but they’re boss and employee, and Sasuke used to be his student once. Iruka says a relationship would be highly inappropriate, and while Sasuke is sad, he’s not really going to argue it, because he knows what it’s like to be chased down and he’s not gonna do that to Iruka.

Eventually Iruka does cave. Sure, Sasuke was his student, but Sasuke’s over thirty now, and they can work around the rest if they’re private about it, yeah? Be discreet about it. And he’s in for it once he realizes Sasuke doesn’t know jack shit about sex, despite having been married and having a child. Slowly and slowly, they get more serious, and Sasuke, because he’s been told he has to be discreet about PDA, decides he wants to be ATROCIOUSLY affectionate.

He finally legitimately likes someone, why the fuck does he have to actually hide it now? Fuck that noise. It’s a great source of frustration for Iruka, and the wives of many politicians are jealous as fuck that Sasuke loves Iruka so much and is so open about it. 

"Family?"

"Family."

Iruka nodded as he repeated the word to young Sasuke, giving a smile. "It's the people that you go home to."

"So Mother and Father and nii-san?"

"Exactly."

Uchiha Sasuke was one of his top students, yet Iruka always had a sense that he didn't seem to understand what a family was, a kind of isolation and detachment that manifested itself in the boy from a young age. He had asked him to stay after and shared a popsicle with him, hoping to talk to him.

"But," Sasuke frowned thoughtfully. "Is family supposed to... to like nii-san more than me?"

A frown curled Iruka's lips as he looked at him quietly, noticing how he wasn't making eye contact. Giving a sigh, Iruka mustered a smile.

"...They love you just as much, I promise."