A/N: Hey guys, again… Another SasuNaru, except this one is really, really sad. Or so I think it is. This one is fairly short compared to my other ones, but I hope you like it anyway! I have some references from the anime, so if you haven't watched up to episode 135, you might not understand what they're talking about. I didn't put many explanations into their conversation because I wanted this to be sort of fuzzy and hard to understand, but I hope it isn't too hard to understand! Please review after you're done!

Soft grass swayed in the spring's breeze. Small butterflies traveled in pairs, flitting to and fro. Taller weeds would twist and bend according to the wind's whisper. And then there was a patch. There was a patch of coarse grass that was being crushed by a certain individual.

Clad in obnoxious, bright orange was Naruto. He was sprawled over the grass, staring at the clouds that drifted up above. Warm sunlight burned his face a bit as he blinked lazily. His ears perked up as he heard the soft "crsh, crsh, crsh" of shoes stepping on the grass. He tilted his head to the right and saw Sasuke sit down next to him.

"Dobe," he said to acknowledge the boy.

"Hey, Sasuke…" Naruto replied causually. "What brings you here?"

"What? Can't I come here just because?"

"Hmmm… fine," he said, turning his head so it faced the sky again.

Comfortable silence filled the air between them before Naruto broke it again.

"Ne, do you remember?"

"Remember what? You're so specific…" Sasuke said sarcastically.

The blonde laughed and tucked his hands under his head. "Our first kiss."

"Oh, god, the way you say it makes it sound so perverted and wrong…" from his voice Naruto could tell that Sasuke's face was twisted in an expression of disgust.

"So you do remember…" Naruto said quietly.

"How could I forget? It was terrible…"

"Yeah, it kind of hurt, didn't it? Teeth onto teeth like that?" Naruto grinned.

"Hn," Sasuke breathed out.

"Well, maybe it wasn't that bad," Naruto said hesitantly.

"You say this now, but you do remember what you said at the time right?"

"Hey, you had the same reaction!" he objected indignantly.

"So I did…" Sasuke admitted.

"Those were some wacky times back then…"

"It makes me so nostalgic…" he sighed heavily.

"Yeah, it does…" Naruto agreed with him.

The sun's warm rays beamed down as he watched the two of them converse with each other with surprising gentleness. Most of their conversations before were loud and harsh.

"I hated you back then," the Uchiha suddenly said.

"I know. I did too." Naruto lifted his head and plucked a flower from its stem with a pinch. He started twirling it between his fingers.

"… Why?"

The blonde shrugged. "You were such a showoff… And… annoying."

"Pft, annoying? Look at yourself!" Sasuke laughed.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "But at least we became friends, right?"

Sasuke sighed and looked at the sky as well. "That's what I said during our battle, hm?"

"That battle?"

"Yeah…"

"You could have killed me…"

"But I didn't."

"Why not?" Naruto stopped twirling the flower and held it loosely in his fist.

"… Because."

He wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Why not?" he continued to probe.

"Look, it's not easy killing a friend, okay?" Sasuke said doggedly.

A chuckle came from his throat. "Sure, sure…" His left hand snaked out from beneath his head. He flexed it a few times. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"What? Your hand?"

Naruto nodded.

"And…?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.

"Aw, come on, teme, you should remember!"

"Hey! Are you okay? … Scaredy cat?" The two of them thought of that saying.

"Oh that?" Sasuke shrugged absentmindedly. He thought back to that time when he had said it to Naruto. Later, Naruto had said the same thing to him. The same phrase.

"I got the last jab in on that one, huh?" Naruto crowed loudly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"

"Don't be so stubborn, Sasuke!" he rubbed his hair a bit, still holding onto the flower.

"Tch. Don't tell me to change when you're still the same as before," he pointed out.

"Hmph…" the blonde pretended not to care.

From a nearby tree, a bird trilled loudly into the air. His song was carried to the boys' ears. Quiet rustling crackled through the air around them as a particularly strong wind lashed through the area. Their hair went haywire as the gust passed by.

"You're still," Naruto's voice went high pitched and girly, "Konoha's number one, strongest, smartest, and hottest guy!" His voice returned to normal and he chuckled, shaking his head.

"And you're still the number one loudest and annoying ninja in Konoha…" Sasuke muttered.

"Heheh…" Naruto chortled. "I'll take that as a compliment!"

Only the quiet sound of their breathing could be heard as the both admired the sky. Clouds of different shapes and sizes drifted around lazily, parading around for them to see.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"What is it, dobe?"

Naruto frowned and didn't continue asking his previous question. "After so long, can't you stop calling me that?"

"It's not like you've stopped calling me 'teme'…" he rationalized.

"But you are one," Naruto whined.

"Then 'dobe' suits you," Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Naruto thought for a while before exclaiming, "Hey!"

The Uchiha laughed lightly. "See?"

"Shut up…" he pinched off the end of the flower's stem and rolled it out of his fingernail.

"What were you going to ask me?" Sasuke brought up the subject again since they so abruptly dropped it.

"Nothing…" the blonde muttered.

Sasuke shrugged. "Fine by me."

A yellow and a white butterfly flew by, dancing with the spinning leaves in the air. The wind died down so that it was completely silent. Not even the birds wanted to break the serene moment.

"I'm…" he said quietly, "I'm glad you didn't leave…"

"Naruto…" Sasuke said, almost whispering, "I did…"

He turned his head to look at the Uchiha. His view seem to flicker a bit as Sasuke began to turn translucent.

"Sasuke?" he said, watching his friend fade.

"Hn?"

"I… love you…"

Sasuke chuckled. "Heh, dobe…"

And with that he was carried away with the falling leaves.

Naruto blinked and followed the disappearing glimmers. A tear that ran down the side of his face jolted him out of his hallucination. He sat up slowly, crushing the flower in his right hand then disposing it onto the grass. Leaning over to where Sasuke had been moments before, he picked up a forehead protector.

It had the symbol of Konoha etched on it. A long gash went through the middle of it. A gash that he himself had put. Naruto laughed softly.

"Sasuke…" Staring at it for a while, he finally pressed the cold metal against his own forehead protector. He sat there motionless for some time.

Suddenly his shoulders began to shake. Warm tears were instantly cooled by the wind as they slid off his face, leaving wet trails of iciness. "Sasuke…" he said again, just to hear and feel the name once more.

Naruto lifted his head and screamed hoarsely, his hand tightening against the metal and cloth. The yell ended in shuddering sobs as he pulled his knees closer to his body and hugged them. But even with the loudness of it, the desperate scream would never reach the ears of the boy he was thinking of.

I wish he really could have heard that…Naruto cried to himself I really… really wish that…