Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sensei's the boss; he owns it all. Lyrics are from the song "Kain und Abel" by Das Ich, and the title is swiped from the Megaherz song of the same name.
It is not until he is almost blind with light that he notices how Naruto's hands are just a little bit smaller than his own. He smiles ruefully at their hands, linked together by two inches of flesh and bone. It seems unfair to both of them that Naruto knows all of his secrets, but he knows none of Naruto's.
Naruto tightens his grip on Sasuke's fingers, and he looks up.
Naruto is smiling at him, but it doesn't reach his eyes. He looks as if he is about to vomit. He looks like he's in pain.
"Why did you come here, Naruto? Why did you keep going, even after I said all of those things?"
Naruto's expression changes slightly. He is still smiling, but he looks as if he is about to cry. He opens his mouth slightly and draws in a breath to speak, but stops and turns his face to the ground.
"Because..."
His smile becomes genuinely forced, and Sasuke notices as a tear runs down Naruto's right cheek, catching on each of the whisker-like markings on his face before it falls.
"You're my precious person."
Sasuke's mind can't process the depth behind the words.
"I didn't want to lose you."
Naruto's grip on his fingers becomes vice-like, and the smaller boy looks up.
A smile pulls at the corners of Sasuke's mouth before he speaks.
"You shouldn't be so sentimental, dead last."
Naruto lets out a choked laugh.
"Speak for yourself, bastard."
Sasuke smiles at the knowledge that they're both the same as ever. Even if they need to shove it out of themselves. Even if it's fake.
"'Dance the dance until death,' indeed."
Naruto's laugh is almost inaudible, but it's enough to let Sasuke know that their thoughts are in the same place.
"You can be so cruel, Sasuke."
As Naruto falls to the ground, heavy with physical and mental exhaustion, Sasuke knows that the other boy's words will haunt him for the rest of his life. This is something that he will never live down.
He walks around Naruto's body until his face is upside-down and stands, watching the last rays of sunlight reflect gold off of Naruto's face before they disappear behind the clouds.
The rain begins to fall in a torrent, and it washes over both of them. Sasuke lifts his hands, knowing that they will never be clean of Naruto's blood, that he will never be able to erase the monster that he has become from Naruto's memory.
Sasuke feels a sharp pain in his left shoulder and falls until his vision hovers inches above Naruto's face. He wonders if all of that bullshit that people say about your left arm and cardiac arrest is true. He wonders if this has ruined his heart, if it was too much.
'You did this to me, Naruto. You made me feel this. Are you happy? You broke Uchiha Sasuke's unbreakable mask. I don't have a future without you. I'm nothing without you.'
He stares at the boy for several moments, the rain dripping from his hair onto Naruto's face.
He reaches for Naruto's left hand, linking their little fingers. He smiles slightly, as if to comfort the unconscious boy that lies sprawled on the ground before him.
"I'll come home to you, and it'll be springtime, and everything will be green and new and right again."
He presses his lips to Naruto's forehead, and a bleached strand of hair clings to them when he moves to stand. Sasuke freezes and remains crouched for several seconds before the rain weighs down his last connection, gold and bright against the grey of the storm, and washes it away.
"I promise, Naruto."
His voice is lost to the rain.