"The stars, they were made for you"
xxx
He doesn't know when it starts.
Maybe it's when he first saw him on that day at the pier all those years ago, a loneliness in his eyes that mirrored his own.
He'd wanted to reach out, wanted to see that loneliness in his eyes disappear and change into a smile. Wanted to reach out and finally not be alone.
The look in his eyes… To anyone else, he would've seemed emotionless, cold. But to Naruto, Sasuke had always held the stars in his eyes.
After all, the stars shone best in darkness.
xxx
He's twelve when it happens again.
He's sitting in his class, glaring at the girls fawning over Sasuke. What's so great about him anyways? All he does is sit and brood, and everyone loves him for it!
So he walks up to the bastard, and crouches on his desk. He looks up into his eyes and wonders what the hell anybody sees in this asshole.
He's about to get down and walk away when suddenly he's hit in the back and slammed forwards into kissing Sasuke.
The kiss is horrible. His jaw hurts and his mouth tastes like blood, but that doesn't faze him anywhere near as much as it should.
No, what fazes him is that when they break away gagging, he can't help but think that he saw something off. There, in the second before their lips met, he thought he might have seen it again.
Stars.
xxx
He tries to avoid thinking about it for as long as possible. It doesn't work too well, considering how often he sees Sasuke, but he tries nonetheless.
He tries not to think about it when he and Sasuke train together in Wave country, climbing up trees to the best of their abilities until they're both out of breath, pausing only briefly at the top to stare at the bright night moon above.
He tries not to think about how, if he looks closely, he can see the whole sky reflected in his companion's pitch-black eyes and slight smile.
He tries, but he fails. And so he resigns himself to wrapping his arms around Sasuke and laughing, because truly, there's not much else he can think to do.
xxx
He refuses to believe he's dead.
He isn't, he isn't.
Stars don't go out that easily.
Stars don't just fade out like that. Stars go bright and with a boom, because if a star dies, it's taking everyone it loves with it.
Actually, it all makes sense now.
The last thing he sees before flashes of red are sparkling glimmers in the edges of his vision, and briefly, he wonders if they are stars, too.
He doesn't mention any of this when he finds that Sasuke is alive, because he's too busy trying not to cry with relief.
xxx
When Sasuke shows up to fight Itachi, he's speechless.
It's no wonder Sasuke's such an emotionless bastard. Itachi is black, pure black, a hole in the starry sky where stars can't ever truly shine.
And all those memories are running through him, coursing through his veins where adrenaline should be, and he's frozen.
Sasuke, who wanted to fight him, who acknowledged him.
Sasuke, who saved him and trained with him, who fought alongside him.
Sasuke, who carries a weight on his shoulders just as heavy as his own.
Sasuke, who chooses to fight.
And he can't help but stand there, if only for a second, in wonder. Most stars would have faded out long ago.
xxx
It's raining.
It's raining and its cold and there are no real stars, only fake ones.
It's raining and water's dripping from his hair and lips and eyelashes and there's a pain in his shoulder that's almost unbearable.
It's raining and he's staring down, knowing that all the other stars are fake.
Real stars are hard to look at, and there's nothing he wants more now than to close his eyes and look away.
(And cry, because he's doesn't know what's happened, what they've become)
Words leave his lips, soft and more than uncertain.
"Naruto, I…."
He's says it like a vow.
(Because that's what it is)
And he looks down, looks and looks until he finally has to turn his back, because he knows that if he doesn't leave now, he won't ever.
Goodbye my sun, my moon, my endless sea of stars.