He stared down at the silent boy in disbelief.
'This is all it took?' he thought bemusedly. 'There's no way. It has to be some kind of trick.'
He glanced around cautiously, reaching out with all his senses, waiting guardedly for something - anything - to happen.
Nothing did.
He stepped closer to the boy on the ground, sure that he had it wrong. Slowly, a foot reached out and prodded the still body. It was limp, heavy…
He let out his breath, realizing he'd been waiting for the typical 'poof!' a clone would make.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he knelt, turning the boy over. Really, he was a man, now, but all he could see was the boy who'd once been his unwilling - or perhaps, not so unwilling - friend those many years ago.
The skin of his face was still clear and soft, despite the harsh life of a ninja. His hair was a bit longer, but just as unkempt as ever.
He reached out a hand, checking for a pulse, for a breath, anything to indicate life.
After a few minutes, he pulled his hand back, releasing a sigh that, while soft, was heavily weighted. It did not lighten the heaviness he felt in his chest.
Footsteps behind him had him straightening.
"Is he- ?"
Sakura, hesitant and scared.
"…Yes."
A tree behind him shattered and he flinched.
"Damn it!" Another tree disappeared in a shower of splinters. "Why him? Why you? Why did everything even have to change in the first place?" The next explosion was louder, larger.
He stood and slowly turned. "Sakura…" What should he say? What could he say?
"I… This wasn't…"
The pink-haired girl whirled on him, eyes blazing.
"You! This is all your fault! It's because of you that he's- he's-!" She began sobbing.
"All he ever did, he did for you! He trained day in and day out to surpass you, just so you would notice him! He tried to save you!"
He turned half away from the broken girl, his face turned to stare down at his once friend. "I didn't ask him to-"
"Shut up! He almost killed himself training. He even ate my horrible, homemade food pills!" Sakura laughed desperately. "He left for years at a time - years! - and struggled, and fought, made a name for himself. He has more friends now than ever before, people who care, who love him!"
She fell to her knees, clutching her fists to her chest as if that could stop the pain.
"And the only thing," she continued, "the only thing that kept him going was the hope that he would hear a rumor, catch a glimpse of you! He needed to find you, more than anyone else. Everyone else already gave up on you! Even me! I thought I loved you! But he…"
Sakura finally looked away, staring sadly at the still form of her friend.
"He truly knew what it meant to love someone. He never gave up. He couldn't!"
Then, through her tears, she looked up at the man in front of her and said steadily, "You really are a bastard."
And Sasuke, staring blindly at nothing, couldn't disagree.
"Sakura… I knew there was a reason I liked you…"
The crying girl froze, staring wide-eyed at her former teammate, who was just as wide-eyed.
Then she was on her feet, dashing past him as he stood, unable to move.
"Naruto!" The joy and relief in her voice was unmistakable.
"Uhh… Not so loud, Sakura-chan!" The blond on the ground tried to raise himself up on an elbow, but fell back groaning, with a hand to his head. "Man, this dying stuff kinda sucks!"
Sakura let out a laugh that was still tinged with a little hysteria. "Just lay back, you dummy! Let me check your injuries."
Naruto was happy to let her do so. As she examined him, he examined Sasuke, who was still staring, immobile.
"Hey," he finally said. Sakura paused, looking up. Realizing he wasn't talking to her, she resumed her work.
"Hey," he said again. "Thanks for… you know. Not killing me."
Sasuke turned then, like a viper striking. "I did kill you, idiot!"
His voice was harsh, angry. But his eyes were bloodshot, and his face strained to find balance between rage and grief.
"Why the hell- I didn't ask you to waste your life on me! I didn't ask you to save me! If you had just left me the hell alone, we wouldn't be here right now! You stupid, moronic-"
"I know." Sasuke stopped short. "But if I didn't try, who would? Didn't you say I was your best friend?" Sasuke remained silent. "Isn't that what best friends do? Whatever it takes, no matter what? I never give up. Ever."
Sasuke remembered the first time Naruto had made that declaration, as he stabbed a kunai into the back of his hand on their first "C-rank" mission gone horribly awry. He thought back to the Chuunin Exams, where Naruto made the same declaration over and over, inspiring even shy Hinata Hyuuga to take on her formidable cousin.
He recalled every time he'd heard Naruto use those words and realized, while he knew what they meant, he hadn't truly understood them. Until now. And suddenly, like a door had been opened, he realized that Naruto, who'd grown up without friends, without anyone, understood what it meant to be a friend better than everyone.
He felt very humbled. And embarrassed. And unsure. Which was causing him to feel angry. However, since his anger was, for once, self-directed, he did the only thing he could.
He knelt before Naruto, placed his hands on the ground, and carefully bowed his head. With leaves tickling his forehead and eyes closed in shamed supplication, he said softly,
"Please accept my apologies."
He remained this way for a moment more as the world around him grew suddenly silent and still at this unlikely event. Then swiftly, leaving no room for eye contact, he rose and turned, moving away.
A hand on his ankle, and a soft "Wait," stopped him. Without turning, he waited.
"Where will you go?"
"…I don't know."
"What will you do?"
"…I haven't decided."
Two voices united. "Come home with us."
A longer pause. "…I can't do that. And you know it."
A breeze swayed the leaves around them in a gentle summer melody, soft and tranquil.
"Then we'll go with you," stated Naruto determinedly.
"Naruto, we can't… But what about…" Sakura trailed off after her halfhearted protest.
"There's nothing stopping us!"
"What about your dream?" came Sasuke's low voice. "What about the part where you become Hokage and claim your respect?"
"What kind of respect could I expect without my friends beside me?" Naruto paused, then continued.
"Sure, I want to be Hokage, but that's not my only dream. I have another. One that involves finding and keeping my best friend close to me. I've found that I don't need to be Hokage to earn respect. My worth and abilities - and friends - don't depend on a title in a single village. I can find other ways."
"Besides," he said, failing to meet Sasuke's gaze as the other turned to him - 'Naruto's really grown up, after all…' - "your opinion, and Sakura's, are the only ones that really matter, anyway."
As they looked each other over once again - Sakura, with tear streaks on her face and eyes carefully happy, Naruto, with cheeks tinted pink in embarrassment but a determined look gracing his features, and Sasuke, looking at once both faintly disbelieving and hopeful - they realized they really couldn't disagree.
End