How can he stand it? I tell myself over and over again. How can he stand being on the same team as that stupid bitch? She did NOT just smack him did she? Oh god here she comes. Act indifferent, Sasuke.

I tell myself this every time but it never helps. I can't help being horrid to her. She deserves it though for the way she treats Naruto.

"Hi Sasuke! What are you up to?" Sakura's voice grates on my ears like nails on a chalk board.

"Ignoring you," I replied hastily.

But I was really only thinking about poor Naruto. She wasn't the only one who treated him like crap. Everyone in this stupid village treated him like the plague and I couln't understand why. He was so happy and sunny all the time.

I walked over and grabbed Naruto's wrist pulling him along roughly behind me for several blocks.

"Wha- Sasuke, what are you-" I whirled around, cutting him off.

"How can you let her treat you like that," I hissed, "How can you stand to be walked all over and treated like dirt?" I looked away in the shocked silence that followed.

"Sasuke, I accept it because I know that I deserve it." My head whipped up at this, a look of outrage seeping through my normally cold countenance. "Did you know, Sasuke, that I am the host of the Kyuubi? It lives inside me. That's why the people of the village hate me."

I let this process for a moment. So Naruto was the bijuu. Did that really matter to me in the long run? I decided that, no it didn't. Naruto was still the same lovable, blond dobe.

"So?" I said without conviction, "That doesn't make you any more different than before. I still love-" I froze abruptly. That was it. That was why I cared for him so much. He was more than a best friend to me. More than a brother. I was in love with Naruto.

I looked into his confused blue eyes and they looked back widening when my words took full shape.

"Y-you... But Sasuke, I..." He stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence.

I leaned forward so that we were nose to nose slowly so as not to startle him. My lips met his, softly but firmly. I watched his eyes slide shut and smiled a little into the kiss. I felt fingers threading through my hair and moaned slightly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and slid a hand up the back of his shirt. He gasped into my mouth. I wormed my tongue throught the connection, begging for entrance to his hot cavern. It was granted instantly. I prodded his tongue with my own and inticed him into a battle which I won. We pulled back for a breath of air and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I've loved you for a long time, Naruto. So much that it hurt when I left," I whispered.

"Then why did you leave," He countered.

I couldn't answer that. When I looked back on it now, it seemed like such a stupid idea. I took up a position with a creep who only wanted my body, I killed my only living family for something that he didn't even do and I almost killed my love several times.

"I really don't know," I answered softly, "But I'm back for good. For you. Because I love you. And I was a fool not to realize it."

I lifted my head and saw that Naruto's eyes were brimming with tears. I lifted a hand and gently wiped them away. He rested his head in my hand, eyes closed.

"The only reason I wanted to bring you back so badly," Naruto started, "Was because I loved you so much that my heart felt like it would burst. It still does."

I smiled hugely. This was my reason for living. And it was the best one I could ask for.