Disclaimer: What do you think?
-Other Side-
Naruto has a secret.
A horrible, terrible secret.
Sasuke can stand beside him, can equal him, but something stands on the other side of his companion. It is not flesh and blood, but Naruto thinks it is a sign.
Naruto remembers Sasuke's tale of his clan's death, and the person who had repressed Sasuke's true personality. Remembers his bitterness when the betrayer had focused on Naruto rather than his little brother.
And now, it seems, Itachi still haunts the sole Uchiha. This is the horrible, terrible secret that Naruto has become privy to.
Sasuke's bitterness was not from disappointment; it was from jealousy. Sasuke slept with his brother.
Then, something went wrong. A lovers' quarrel, Naruto thinks sarcastically. Being a lover implies that both parties feel something for each other. Either way, Sasuke ended up dead, and Naruto took up with Itachi.
Now, as he is treading the familiar path back to Itachi's cave-dwelling, Naruto notices something peculiar.
A shimmery thing drifts by Itachi's side. If Naruto squints hard enough, it looks kind of familiar.
Naruto does not believe in ghosts, otherwise he would be constantly hounded by the demons of his past. But now, he is not so sure. Is that really an apparition gliding with Itachi, or is it just the heat waves? If he cocks his head to the right, it looks like a person-man or woman, he can't tell-in a brown cloak. But, if he cocks his head to the left, it looks like a big, floating turd.
He finally gives up on his fruitless observing; thereis probably nothing there anyway.
But still the question lurks in his mind, annoyingly persistant, and annoyingly unanswered. He must know.
Who is the third that always walks beside you? he wants to call, but doesn't.
He has an answer now, albeit an extrememely vague one: There would always be that one walking beside him.