Find this and all my other writings, including drabbles that never get published elsewhere, on my tumblr at langstlordaleois. I am also on AO3 under the same pen name, Aleois.

The sun was bright overhead as Naruto stepped out of the Hokage's tower. He had just spent the better half of the morning upstairs in the office, arguing with Kakashi. The Rokudaime had not been happy when he had had announced his plan to him, but he hadn't been able to change Naruto's mind. The blonde sighed, left hand reaching up to rub his face. His right arm was aching, a phantom pain that stretched the length of the limb that used to be there, the arm he had lost bringing Sasuke home. His thoughts flickered momentarily to the lost limb, but there was no regret to be found. He had given that arm to bring his best friend home, and he would do it over and over again, as many times as it took.

Today was the day he had been waiting for for several months now. They had released Sasuke early this morning, and the Uchiha was set to leave on a special mission for the Hokage soon. Naruto hadn't seen him since the trial a month prior, when he had stood across from him on the stand and defended him to the elders, Sakura and Kakashi beside him. It had been a long, difficult trial, but thanks to Naruto's hero status and Sakura's position as one of the top medic nin in Konaha, they had been able to win. After so many years, he finally had Sasuke back. "And now he's leaving again." Another sigh through chapped lips, and he let his hands fall back to his sides. It had taken a fair amount of convincing, as well as some bribery and a slight threat before Kakashi had finally given in, although Naruto was sure it was mostly just because the Rokudaime was tired of arguing with the stubborn blonde. The mission was basically a clean up, taking care of any stragglers from the war and any lingering effects from Kaguya's attack, helping out neighboring countries to enforce the peace they had begun to create, and, of course, a way to keep Sasuke out of the village. Naruto would bet every cent he had, not that it was much, that the elders had been behind that one.

The gates of Konaha loomed in front of him, and Naruto stopped with a frown. He hadn't realized he had started walking again, he'd been too lost in his own thoughts. The sun was still on its way rising through the sky, and he figured he still had a bit of time before Sasuke left, but he didn't really want to hang around the gates while he waited. Sakura was bound to show up, and he didn't want to deal with her reaction when he gave his offer to Sasuke. He was bruised enough as it was, thank you very much.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the object he kept inside it, a shine catching on the scratched metal from the sun overhead and reflecting onto the gate beside him. He smiled slightly, and tucked the object back into his jacket, heading out the gate and into the forest beyond. It was quiet, peaceful, the sounds of small forest creatures the only noises this far out. He leaned against a tree to wait, face upturned, eye shut against the warmth of the sun. Tanned fingers closed around the metal still hidden away in his pocket, and he sent up a small prayer that his friend wouldn't reject his offer. He just had to figure out how to phrase it in a way that wouldn't have the other ninja calling him an idiot and telling him to get lost.

"You've been released."

Sasuke's jaw worked slowly, molars grinding together as he fought to keep a smart remark from slipping out. He rose to his feet, limbs shaky and unsteady from months of sitting in a cell. Although he had done his best to exercise and keep his limbs from atrophying due to the sudden absence of their usual range of movement, the cell was small, barely large enough to stretch his arms out, and he felt weaker than he had in years.

It wasn't like he was actually trapped there; in fact, he was confident that he could have broken out at any moment had he tried. But he hadn't tried, choosing instead to sit in the too small cell and sleep on a too small bed and eat shitty prison food, even though the chakra sang through his blood and hummed under his fingers, itching to be used. He was tired of running, tired of fighting, tired of always being on the wrong side.

Sasuke was tired.

"Why?" he asked, voice so unused to speaking that the words came out in a low rasp. "Why now?"

Kakashi regarded him coolly, a disinterested look on his face that gave away none of what the man was feeling at this encounter. Sasuke couldn't blame him for his distant demeanor. He had, after all, used a technique the man had entrusted to him to protect himself and others to try and kill Naruto. His fingers twitched at the reminder, an unpleasant tingle running through his chest.

"You have a mission," he said, finally breaking the silence.

Sasuke would have scoffed if his throat didn't feel like he had swallowed razor blades. "You don't trust me that much."

"No, I don't," he responded without missing a beat. "But Naruto does."

The former missing nin felt his shoulders sag slightly at the Hokage's words. Of course Naruto was behind this. Why was he even surprised? "What's the mission?"

Kakashi explained quickly, tossing him a scroll when he was finished.

"What makes you think I won't kill him and leave again?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the man curiously.

Kakashi smiled then, amusement obvious in the way the corners of his eyes crinkled. "I know you won't, because you can't kill Naruto." The way he said it made Sasuke think that he wasn't referring to his physical ability, and that was something he still wasn't ready to think about. There was a dull ache in his shoulder, a twitch of phantom pain in a limb long since gone.

And then Kakashi was gone, leaving the door to Sasuke's cell wide open. He stared after the man a moment longer before shaking his head and following him out. He moved quickly, despite the burn in his underused limbs from the effort. To his surprise, his old apartment was left untouched. Or maybe….Maybe not that surprising. Naruto had always believed Sasuke would come back, had always held on to that glimmer of hope when everyone else had turned their backs. A small prickle of guilt crept its way up his spine, but he ignored it, smothering it as quick as it had come. He needed a shower, and he needed to pack. He didn't have time for guilt.

Once he was sufficiently clean, he moved through his apartment with a sense of renewed strength. He didn't pack much; a few clothes and his money was all he would need. And as he left, locking the door behind him, a strange feeling settled over him. He couldn't quite explain why, but he felt like this would be the last time he would see this apartment for a long time. Eyes narrowing at the thought, he allowed himself only a moment before turning to head towards the gate.

As he neared the gate, the familiar presence of Sakura and Kakashi settled around him, and he frowned. Naruto's presence was there as well, warm and comforting, a familiar presence in the back of his mind, but it was farther on, well past the village gates. And that was….odd. He didn't allow himself to dwell on it, taking a deep breath and continuing on to face the other two.

"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be at the gate with the others."

When a smooth voice that reminded him of twilight reached his ears, Naruto couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Instead of responding, he pushed off of the tree he was leaning against and reached into his pocket. The object he pulled out had been a constant companion, always present somewhere on his body, ever since he first picked it up all those years ago. "Here," he said simply, holding it out to Sasuke. Rays of sunlight broke through the trees and filtered down to where they stood, glinting off the scratched metal of the Konaha headband, casting sparks of light across the two ninja. If you asked Naruto why he had held onto it for so many years, he wouldn't be able to give an answer. He just…had to. To him, the headband represented everything he had lost, and the journey he had embarked on to return it.

And what a journey it had been. There had been times during the past four years where he had pulled the headband out of his bag and just held it, eyes sad and distant as he lost himself in his memories. In those moments he had wondered if he was doing the right thing, if he would ever be able to return this headband to the one it belonged to. Memories of a hand through his chest, sparks of chakra ripping through his skin and tearing him apart, electricity tearing through his veins and shredding his body from the inside woudl surface, and he'd doubt himself, doubt his quest, doubt it was worth it. And then he'd remember a cocky smile, a word, usuratonkachi, dobe, meant to be insults but filled with an odd affection, a small body in his arms covered in bloody senbon like a human pincushion. In that moment, Sasuke had been willing to throw away everything for Naruto, his dream of revenge, his quest for vengeance. Naruto would remember that, and it would reaffirm everything he believed.

And here he was. Finally, after four years of more pain and anguish than he would ever admit, Sasuke was once again standing before him. They weren't trading insults, there was no anger, no sparks of chakra as the cries of a thousand birds sought after his heart. For the first time in years, Naruto and Sasuke were standing in front of each other as equals, as brothers. "Let me come with you," Naruto said, his voice quiet but strong, determination thick in his tone. "I know you think this is something you need to do yourself, but you don't."

You don't need to be alone anymore.

The words were left unspoken, but hung thick in the air just the same as if Naruto had verbalized them. When Sasuke had left the village when they were twelve, Naruto had followed him. When Sasuke was going to join Orochimaru, Naruto chased after him. After their first fight at the Valley of the End, even though he'd had a fist through his chest and a nasty scar to prove it, Naruto hadn't given up. He left with Jiraiya to train. Not to become strong enough to become Hokage like everyone had thought, but to become strong enough to defeat Sasuke, strong enough to bring him home, back to Konoha, where he belonged. No, scratch that. Sasuke didn't belong in Konoha, not after everything it had done to him. He belonged with Naruto. Two against the world. If Konoha couldn't give him the home he deserved, then Naruto would become that home.

Sasuke's gaze dropped down to the headband Naruto presented him, a feeling of wistfulness bubbling up inside him at the item and all it represented. To him it was a symbol of pride and shame in equal parts. Pride at the day he tied it around his day after becoming a genin, and then shame…His eyes locked onto the scratch in the center, the most significant part. 'You won't be able to put a scratch on my forehead!' Words he had spoken out of anger came back to burn a different sort of fire in his belly, one he liked much less. Seeing the scratch brought a painful mixture of joy and sorrow. He reached out and took the headband from Naruto, treating it as if it were something precious, something to be treasured. And perhaps it was. It was the best and the worst of them both, wrapped up into this single item, and it came as no surprise that Naruto had kept it all these years.

They stood there in the quiet, Naruto's words burning a hole through Sasuke's heart. Sakura had asked him something similar, and yet so completely different that Sasuke found himself considering. Unlike Sakura, Naruto knew how deeply hurt he was, and he knew how deeply hurt Naruto was. Still, the blond never failed to keep that smile on his face, as bright as the sun. He smiled when others couldn't, smiled to remind them that there's always hope, even when life has done nothing but beat you up and drag you across the ground. It was a trait Sasuke knew he would never be able to have. To give and forgive the way Naruto could. Even when so much had been taken from him, Naruto was still so giving, so willing to help and to bring a smile back on people's faces.

Naruto had put a smile back on the his face. Sasuke who had given up on happiness and love and hope. But…

Naruto…

You don't have to do this. Stay here in Konoha and work hard to become Hokage, to achieve your dream. That's what he wanted to say, but he couldn't bring himself to form the words.

"Alright," was his simple response, surprising them both. But something told him that he had made the right decision, that Naruto wasn't just going to get in the way like he used to think. Naruto was an idiot, but Sasuke could be himself around him…which he knew wasn't that idiotic after all. He could share his pain with Naruto. He could cry…He could smile. Perhaps it was time to let the thick walls he had so carefully crafted around his heart finally fall.

He glanced back down at the headband and slowly, with a sort of almost reverence, attached it to his waist, brushing his thumb absentmindedly over it. "Let's be off."

There was a strange calming understanding between the two, and for once Naruto didn't feel the need to respond with words. The Uchiha wasn't asking for Naruto's motives for wanting to join him, wasn't asking anything of him, deciding for once to simply trust him, to put his faith in something other than himself. And as they walked slowly, the gates of Konoha getting further away behind them, Sasuke felt a smile form slow across his lips.