Bitter Victory

by: Boshoku

Warnings: Plot AU, post-timeskip, shounen-ai, character death

He had always envisioned their final battle to be so much more dramatic; even more so then the scuffle, to put it lightly, at the Valley of the End.

Instead, this time, there was no rain. No waterfall. No declarations of unending friendship or of lifelong revenge. No mentions of anger or disappointment, no admittances of mistakes or coaxing. No Kyuubi, no Sharingan or curse seal.

There was nothing but silence, and a flat plain of grass.

This time, there had been no chase.

All it had taken was one moment and one glimpse of the other before the air trembled with lightning and wind.

Nothing more needed to be said. It had all been told in their previous encounters. And yet, nothing had changed.

Naruto still had a promise to fulfill. Sasuke still had a vow of vengeance to be kept.

They still considered each other among their precious people, though neither voiced it.

In their silent dance of blades and chakra, grey eyes and blue eyes met, for a split second, burning into the other's soul.

And then they charged.

--

In one explosion of blood and tears, it ended.

And just like before, Sasuke could not kill Naruto.

Instead, warm fingers were wrapped around his heart, now barely beating.

He had almost forgotten he had one.

Tears rained onto the ground, mingling with the blood, as Sasuke fell forward into Naruto's arms.

It had always been the dobe who had held his heart captive. He never thought it would be literally.

As Naruto cried into Sasuke's neck, Sasuke shifted so he was in the same position on Naruto.

You finally won, he mouthed silently. Aren't you happy?

Naruto felt rather than heard the words, before he mouthed back, just as silently.

But I lost so much more.

I lost my best friend, my brother, my love.

And, for the first time, Sasuke felt regret, even as Naruto vanished, and the plain was now truly endless.

-

Owari.

-

A/N: Okay, hopefully this didn't turn out overly cliché. This started out as a Sasuke vs. Itachi until Naruto suddenly popped into the picture and took over. That, plus for some reason, I always wanted to write Naruto killing Sasuke, although I love these two characters to bits. I only wish that I incorporated Sakura somehow… oh, well. Maybe another one-shot.

Subliminal message: Review, please? - pokes at the button -