The second of two old stories that I sill had! Sad, of course. Dear lord, I need some happy stories. xD
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He took each step slowly, painfully, eyes cast downward. One year. It had been one year since it happened.
Clutching the object he was holding in his hand tighter, he continued to walk. He couldn't keep doing this, and he knew it. He couldn't keep coming here, couldn't keep acting how he had been. He had better things he needed to do. So.. why was he here... again? Why was he here every single day? Why couldn't he let it go, accept it, get over it... like every one else.
His eyes traveled across the writing. It wasn't enough. It had never been enough. There wasn't enough space in the world to write everything that needed to be written.
His feet stopped moving, and he stood silently in front of the stone. His raven black hair waved slightly in the wind before he dropped to his knees. The object slipped out of his hand and he grabbed his head, curling into a ball. His grip on his head tightened and he let out a choked sob. Tears began to run down his face, dripping into the grass. It was so hard. He couldn't take it anymore. Lately, everything that could have gone wrong, did. There was only one thing that could ever make it seem like everything would be okay, even when he was at his worst. One person, to be more exact.
He missed those blue eyes. The blue eyes that were brighter than the sky and deeper than the ocean. The ones that always looked at him with love, no matter how mad that person was. He missed that sunshine blonde hair that attracted attention from everyone and seemed to glow in the moonlight. He missed everything. There was too much to count, too much to name.
He missed Naruto.
That moron. He had jumped in front of him at the last minute. He had jumped in front of him. Why? It would have been better if he had died, not Naruto.
Onyx eyes opened slowly as he tried to frantically wipe away his tears. If someone saw him like this... he didn't know what he would do.
Reaching over, he grabbed the object he had been holding before and held it close to himself. Gently, he kissed one of the soft petals of the orangish-pink rose. It had been Naruto's favorite color rose. His other hand traced across the name written of the stone in front of him.
Uzumaki Naruto.
He set the rose down in front of the grave and let his hand fall away from the writing.
A man who loved and was loved by many. A hero who saved us in more way than one. Most of all, a boy, who became a greater friend than most could even dream to be.
It all seemed so long ago. The last bit of happiness he had was only a year ago, yet the days had gone by so slowly, so horribly slow. It was painful, but.. he still remembered everything, like it had just happened yesterday.
Sasuke's kunai clashed with the other man's as he brought his foot up, kicking him straight in the chest. His enemy went flying backwards crashing into a tree with a blood curdling scream. There was the sound of several snaps accompanying this, and the couldn't stand because both arms and legs had broken, along with one or two ribs. The man coughed up blood, whimpers escaping his lips.
Sasuke looked over at Naruto to see how he was doing with the men he had to take care of. He was pulling them all into a pile, of course, already having finished them. The blonde looked over at him, flashing a bright smile and giving a thumbs up. Sasuke just smirked. He was trapped in those blue eyes, and his heart began to beat faster.
"Why are you staring, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, a small smile on his lips. "Don't have the guts to come over here and do something about it?"
Sasuke growled, the smirk never leaving his face as he began to walk towards Naruto. "Scared? Of you?" He let out a laugh. "You wish, Uzumaki! I think you're the one who's scared of what I'm going to do to you."
Naruto licked his lips playfully. Suddenly, the blonde was completely still, his eyes widening. Sasuke stopped in his tracks. What was wrong with him?
"Naru-"
"Sasuke, look out!" Naruto screamed before Sasuke could ask what was wrong.
Sasuke spun around, finding a large shuriken flying at him. When he went to jump out of the way, it curved with him.
'Following me, eh?' he thought.
Suddenly, as it was about to hit him, gold filled his vision. 'Naruto!' was the only thing he could think.
He felt blood drip onto his arm, as if in slow motion. Looked down, he found Naruto pulling the weapon out of his stomach, revealing a large gash that seemed to cut into some organs, seeing as how much blood was pouring out. There was also a strange tint to the blood, indicating poison.
"NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed , holding the boy close. "Why..." he whimpered. "Why?"
His eyes widened as a soft voice met his ears. "I couldn't just let you die..." Dull blue eyes looked up at him. "You're more important that I am."
Sasuke felt something warm and wet sliding down his cheeks quickly, but he didn't care. "Nothing's more important than you!" he almost yelled. "Nothing in this entire world, especially not me!"
Naruto's hand reached up to rest on Sasuke's cheek, a weak smile on his lips. "I love you, Sasuke... To me, letting you die would be the worst thing I could ever do."
"But what about you?" Sasuke whispered hoarsely. "How can I just let you die for me? It's not right!" He picked up the discarded weapon. "If you die, then I'm going with you! I won't let you be alone, not ever again!"
Just as he was about to stab the shuriken through his chest, Naruto's hand grabbed his wrist. "No." he said, a sad look on his face. "Don't kill yourself, please..."
Sasuke stared down at him. "Why..?"
"I want you.. to live on. For both of us. Don't die. Please. It'll be harder for everyone if they lose two people, not just one. Besides, it's not like they'll care much that they're losing the 'demon fox.' But if they lose their precious Uchiha, the world may fall apart!" He said, with only a small hint of bitterness, though the true smile never left his face.
"Naruto..." Sasuke whispered. "I don't want to lose you... How can you force me to live without you?"
"I'm not forcing you to do anything. I'm just asking you, begging you. Please don't hurt them more than they already are."
"I won't make it."
"You will." Naruto replied, eyes dimming even more.
"Please don't leave me." Sasuke whispered, cradling the blonde in his arms. "I love you so much... I can't live without you..."
"Please, just try." came Naruto's barely audible voice. "For me."
Sasuke nodded after a few seconds, letting a bitter smile grace his lips. He pulled Naruto up slightly, placing a gently kiss on his lover's lips.
"As long as you'll wait for me until I come." he whispered.
"I'll wait forever, if that's how long it takes." Naruto replied, before his body went limp. Slowly, the once bright blue eyes shut for the last time. He was gone.
"Aww, how touching." a man said from a few feet away. "Two lovers, torn by death."
Sasuke stood up, shadows over his eyes. Miles away from the site they two were standing in, the insane sound of birds chirping loudly, as if screaming even, filled the air, accompanied by a faint scream of a man.
Sasuke dropped his arm to his side, letting the man fall to the ground. He was killed almost instantly when the chidori pierced his heart, only giving him enough time to scream.
"You deserved something much more painful than that, you bastard." he said, hate dripping from his words. "You killed him!" His voice raised so that he was almost screaming as loud as he could. "You killed the only person I ever loved!"
His fist connected with the man's face, even though Sasuke knew he was no longer alive. He couldn't help it. This man deserved to die a million times over, and that still wouldn't be enough for him.
Dropping to his knees beside Naruto, he began to cry again, loud sobs erupting from his throat. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.
He knew it was his fault, and he knew he should move on, but he couldn't. Not ever.
Tears began to fall again, and time he didn't try to hold back. He hugged the tombstone tightly, tears sliding down it's edges.
"Can't I come? Can't I come yet? Please?" he said, his voice shaking. A gently wind blew by him. "Why won't you let me see you again?" he asked quietly, trying to keep in the noises he was making.
He felt something wrap around him. It was a pair of arms. Someone was holding him, cradling him in their lap.
"It's okay. Everything will be okay." a voice that drifted from the wind said. Naruto was holding him, Sasuke knew. He knew his voice. He knew his touch. Even though he couldn't see anything, he knew Naruto was there.
"Soon." the voice said before drifting away into a silence. Sasuke laid himself on the ground, feeling Naruto right next to him.
Naruto hadn't forgotten. He hadn't forgotten his promise, and he hadn't forgotten Sasuke. A smile appeared on Sasuke's lips as he began to drift to sleep.
"I love you.." he whispered.
"I love you, too.." came the silent response.
Sakura frowned, watching Sasuke with sad eyes from a nearby tree. She knew he missed Naruto, and she knew he came here every day. Occasionally, he would fall asleep like this and she would take him back to his home.
After Naruto had died, Sasuke was alone in his house again. It had only been for a couple months, until Naruto had gotten enough money to fix his house because of the damage done by a recent storm. Sasuke had offered to give him the money, but, being Naruto, he had refused.
When Sasuke was alone again, he locked himself up. For a few months, he didn't even talk to anyone. He was making some progress, true, but she feared that he would hurt himself, so she always kept an eye on him.
"Sakura." a voice said from beside her. She nodded and jumped down, a young man following her towards Sasuke.
He looked down at the man and said sadly, "Poor Hokage-sama... He really misses him, doesn't he?"
Sakura nodded again. "Yeah..." she said softly. "Yeah he does."
She lifted him up carefully, putting him over her back. "If I were him, I don't think I could get over losing someone I loved like that either."
Lifting her face to the sky, she added. "But.. Naruto's waiting somewhere up there, just for him. I think he knows that more than anyone else.." she looked back at the man. "He just needs some reassurance from a ghostly hand, I guess..."
Naruto stood a few feet away, a smile resting on his lips. He walked through the man standing beside his two best friends, putting his hand over Sakura's.
"Please help him." he said softly. "I don't want him to be in pain."
Sakura smiled slightly. She knew no one else could hear him at that moment, but Naruto was definitely there, watching over all of them. He was protecting them from everything he couldn't prevent when he was alive.
"No matter how many times we fell apart, there was always you to glue us back together." she whispered, before turning and walking away, leaving the boy standing there, staring at her.