Yay, I finally wrote this! I was determined to get this done before I'd really get to work on all these damned projects we already were assigned at school (-.-;). Why this and not the next chapter of PIE, some might ask? Well, this is a way overdue birthday fic for my very dear friend CeruleanCypher! Happy birthday, CC! ...Even though it is kinda late. I hope you had a blast and that you will deem this a somewhat decent present! :)

About the title... I know it's German, but that's because I was inspired by a German song, and I just love that title so much... ^^;

As he drove down a highway he was all too familiar with, Sasuke cursed himself. He cursed his ignorance, his pride and the arrogance that came along with it. And his stubbornness. His darn stubbornness which was a major reason why he was only now doing something he should have done two weeks ago. Maybe if he had hadn't waited so long, he wouldn't need to be driving down this road. But he was too proud and stubborn to have admitted that from the get-go. He had needed time – maybe too much time – and a couple of reminders here and there.

Sure, it was most gracious of Itachi to let him stay at his place during this… "private crisis", but if only his older brother wouldn't nag so much! Sasuke tried not to frown as that thought crossed his mind. Itachi was only trying to help him, after all, and just because his little brother wasn't in the happiest of moods did not mean that he deserved to get snapped at. In fact, Sasuke mused as he eased off the accelerator upon noticing that he was going way too fast, he actually felt rather guilty now for simply walking out on Itachi. Always keeping his cool, the older Uchiha hadn't bothered to call after him nor had he followed him, and Sasuke supposed that his expression might not have changed all that much either. If anything, then perhaps one could have spotted a somewhat sad or rueful expression in his eyes – Itachi was hard to read at all, but his eyes were where one was more likely to tell how he was feeling (pretty much the same could be said for his sibling too). But Sasuke's better half was quite the opposite, and that was why the younger Uchiha had given his heart to that particular person – otherwise he might still be single. And even now that he was taken, he still had plenty of admirers.

Sasuke made a feeble attempt to tell himself not to start daydreaming – 'Bad idea, bad idea; you're on the road, dammit!' – but like it had happened all too often before, he simply couldn't help himself. A dazzling smile, laughter that came from deep inside, blond hair that seemed almost golden at times, radiantly blue eyes…

Sasuke's chest rose and fell as a longing sigh escaped his lips. Who could blame him that he had fallen for Naruto? There were so many things about him that one couldn't help but love. He was the one who had given Sasuke the feeling of being genuinely cherished. In a world filled with crazed fangirls popping up everywhere he went, that meant a lot to him. Naruto had been so kind, supportive and passionate… and for the umpteenth time, Sasuke tried (and failed) to comprehend how he could have been so foolish to throw all of that away just for a silly moment of fun at a stupid party. Curse Ino and her wiles… and curse that mind-numbing effect that alcohol tended to have on him, Sasuke thought as he gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. Curse it all.

He never would have guessed that two weeks could be so long. Six days had passed since his beloved's last attempt to call him, and three days since Sasuke had finally stopped resorting to lame excuses and call back instead. He had waited in vain for someone to answer the phone, however, and it certainly hadn't helped that he wasn't a very patient person in situations like that to begin with. Not willing to give up just then, he had called the next day and yesterday as well, but the other end of the line had always remained silent, leaving Sasuke with nothing else but the same ringing tone over and over again until he resignedly cast the phone aside, knowing that it was pointless to wait any longer.

He knew that he had waited far too long to overcome his own barrier, and now his only hope was that Naruto would forgive him anyhow. He longed so dearly to see the blond again and finally make that overdue apology… he wanted nothing else but to sort the matter out, and he hoped that Naruto felt the same.

Up ahead, a blue sign with a white arrow told him that another exit was coming up soon. Sasuke had taken this exit very often before – it was the way he needed to go when he went to where they had lived together until he had screwed it up. But although his desire to see Naruto nearly drove him crazy, he did have second thoughts about taking that exit; even though he could only blame himself, he feared absolute rejection all the same. He didn't know what he would do if Naruto turned him down for good.

He passed the sign now, knowing that he only had a few seconds until he would have passed the exit. God knew it wouldn't be the first time – he had been here yesterday, but then he had been too cowardly to seize the opportunity. Instead, he had passed the exit, driving aimlessly through the night while the thoughts about Naruto had never ceased to haunt him. At times, he thought it would drive him crazy. And now? Should he listen to his heart or his conscience? It was questionable if he could afford to wait yet another day. This might be his last chance.

All this while, the radio had been running, and now the news were over. Music got played again, and that got Sasuke's attention. A familiar melody drifted out of the speakers, a melody he recognized instantly. He wasn't all that much into romantic songs, but he hadn't been able to resist this one. It had been playing in the background when he had gone out for dinner with Naruto for the first time. That evening had marked the actual beginning of their relationship as lovers – everything that had preceded that was what Sasuke now referred to as "casual dating". Sasuke recalled to have heard the song quite a few times on the radio afterwards. Especially that one morning when he had been eating breakfast before going to work. It had been a Friday. Naruto had only just joined him at the table when the song was played. Sasuke supposed he must have smiled really noticeably (Naruto sometimes told him that his smiles were hard to spot before happily demonstrating what it could look like), because Naruto had suddenly "forgotten" all about his barely-touched bowl of cereal, watching Sasuke interestedly. Not a word had been spoken as both of them had been remembering one really special evening as they listened to the music. Eventually, Naruto had stolen a kiss, which had made Sasuke forget about his breakfast too. Things had led to one another, and Sasuke had ended up not going to work that day. With plenty of overtime to spare, he had seen no harm in spontaneously adding a day to the weekend. And truth to be told, that day had been far more memorable than a day at the office…

That look in Naruto's eyes refused to leave his mind, and finally Sasuke really couldn't take it anymore. Screw his fear of rejection – he just had to chance it and see if Naruto was there and willing to listen to him. At the very last moment, Sasuke changed lanes and took the exit. In a matter of several more minutes, he would have reached their house. There was no turning back now, Sasuke told himself as he took a couple of turns without thinking much about it all (his senses were all he needed to guide him). Attempting to prepare himself in case he would actually meet Naruto, Sasuke thought about all sorts of things he could say. But nothing sounded good enough. Too corny, too factitious, too prosaic… He would probably just have to hope for the best and wing it, even though he didn't particularly like doing that. There was no more time left to prepare some apologetic speech or likewise, otherwise he might end up chickening out anyhow.

Having reached his destination, he parked the car in the small parking lot that belonged to the row house in which they lived, then he crossed the street. His hands were thrust into his jacket pockets, and in one of them he could feel the key. He gripped it tightly, but didn't take it out of the pocket just then as he stopped in front of their home and looked up at it. In one window, he could see a dim light, and that light illuminated a shadow as it walked by. Sasuke instantly recognized Naruto's hairdo. A spark of hope arose with him and helped him overcome this brief moment of hesitation. He had already taken another step towards the house when a second shadow followed Naruto's. Sasuke froze. He recognized that shadow right away as well. There was no mistaking neither the pace nor the hairdo; it was Sakura.

Sasuke could only stare as his thoughts raced. The pink-haired girl – correction, now she was a woman – had once had a huge crush on him, always fighting with Ino over who would win his heart. Whenever she had looked at him, Sasuke could tell that she had already pictured their future together. But he had never felt attracted to her, so he had eventually told her that by dwelling on those dreams, she was living in a utopia, a fantasy that would never come to be and that therefore she should forget him as quickly as possible. Needless to say, she had been utterly devastated. Shortly after that, Naruto had come to their school, and Sakura had often hung around with him, grateful for him lending her an ear and comforting her. Now it looked as if she was returning that favor.

Naruto's shadow came into view again too, wandering back and forth restlessly while Sakura kept gesticulating, probably pleading for him to stop for a moment. When that didn't seem to help, she reached out, grabbing his arm as he walked past her, and Sasuke watched stone-faced as Sakura hugged him tightly. There was no telling what was being said, what had happened before and what had yet to happen. But actions spoke louder than words, and as he witnessed one of her hands wander to Naruto's face so she could either wipe away eventual tears of his or tenderly stroke his cheeks, Sasuke felt completely out of place. He wished that he hadn't come here. For all he knew, Naruto might have given up on him and moved on to Sakura – Sasuke knew that he had called her "cute" on several occasions. The mere thought of that made his heart feel unbearably heavy, and his hopes which had been little to begin with died, leaving him with nothing but despair.

He let go of the key again, though he barely noticed doing so. Slowly, as if in trance, he turned around and shuffled away, crossing the street again. At the car, he looked back for a moment before getting in. Moving on their own accord, his fingers grabbed the car keys and started the motor – but he didn't drive away yet. He just sat there, staring into space while trying to comprehend that the worst case had come to be. He had lost his love all because he had waited too long to admit that it was indeed entirely his fault after making so many lousy excuses. Sasuke tried to gulp back a sob even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold it back much longer. If only he could turn back time! Then he would tell Naruto that yes, he had been one hell of an idiot, that he regretted it all and that he would do anything to make up for it… that he didn't want to lose him…

Finally, Sasuke's disbelief made way for sorrow, and he bowed his head until his forehead touched the steering wheel. The sob from before returned, and this time the Uchiha couldn't restrain it. His whole body shook as it escaped his lips, quickly followed by another one and yet another one. The tears followed very soon too, and there was absolutely nothing that Sasuke could do about it. Again without him really noticing that he did it, he turned off the motor. He certainly would need a few moments before he could go anywhere, especially on the road.

'Naruto…!'

How long he just sat there behind the wheel, crying, he didn't know, but suddenly a tapping noise reached his ears. With a hearty sniff, Sasuke looked up. Although his vision was rather blurred because of the tears in his eyes, he could see something yellow outside his window. No, wait, not yellow… blond. Sasuke blinked, and as another pair of tears left his eyes, he could see a bit better. Definitely; there was no mistaking those whisker-like marks on that face. But why…?

Naruto's mouth opened and closed, and Sasuke faintly heard his name being called. He wondered if he was just dreaming. After all, he had seen Naruto and Sakura together… holding each other… Unless, it occurred to him as he opened the door to get out of the car again, unless he had been… mistaken…

"Hi Sasuke," Naruto said in a rather quiet voice. He looked as if he had been crying not too long ago. He also looked quite tired, but otherwise very unlike the last time Sasuke had seen him. That unmistakable anger had vanished, leaving hurt and disappointment behind. In fact, right now he even seemed to be happy – or relieved. One of the two. Maybe even both. Sasuke could hardly hear himself think as he stared straight into Naruto's eyes.

"…Naruto," he finally replied, "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing here'?" Naruto asked back.

"I mean… I saw you at the window before, but you weren't… You didn't see me," Sasuke hastily explained.

Naruto shook his head a bit. He was smiling like Sasuke often did before receiving a «smile lesson». "No, I didn't. Sakura saw you walking back to the car and told me that I had better get a move on if I wanted to head you off. And here I am."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and cocked his head a bit. "Sakura told you that? But I thought… since you were so close and she was holding you… like… like I should have been…" He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Naruto's eyes widened, and although he opened his mouth, he was speechless for a moment. "You think that Sakura and I…?!" He wasn't able to finish his sentence either, but even so, Sasuke knew that he had drawn the proper conclusion and nodded.

They both were silent for a while as if waiting for a shock to pass, then Naruto spoke again.

"Sasuke, it's not the way you think it is. She just stopped by to see how I was doing."

"In other words, she was doing what I should have done a long time ago," Sasuke said, then he lightly put his hands on the blond's shoulders. "Naruto, I'm so sorry for everything. I should never have betrayed you, and I shouldn't have waited so long to admit my fault. I was so selfish… You deserve so much better. But I'd still like to ask: can you forgive me?"

"So your job had nothing to do with it?" Naruto prodded.

"No. And even if that was the case, it wouldn't give me the right to betray you. All I want is you, and if I'd go astray anyhow, you should find someone who treats you right," Sasuke told him.

"That may be, but you're what I want, Sasuke. So I forgive you… but please don't do that again," Naruto added in a whisper, placing his hands on Sasuke's.

The wave of relief that washed over him when Naruto said that made Sasuke feel positively weak. He was perplexed for a couple of seconds, but when he realized that this wasn't the worst case he had been fearing and that he had truly been given a second chance, he put his arms around Naruto and hugged him tightly. With a deep sigh, he bedded his head on his shoulder and tried to hold back some new tears, albeit tears of happiness this time. He was determined not to forfeit this second chance, come what may.

"Hey Sasuke," his lover whispered into his ear.

"What?" Sasuke breathed, glad to hear that Naruto sounded happy again. He was willing to bet a fortune that he was smiling in that distinctive, inimitable way.

"I love you."

Sasuke looked up – and sure enough, Naruto was smiling at him. No matter how endless the last two weeks had seemed to be, it all was blissfully far away now that things were back in order again.

"I love you too, Naruto. And thank you so much for taking me back," he replied, leaning in for a kiss.

Naruto chuckled. "I never let you go in the first place, silly," was all he could say before their lips came together in a make-up kiss. It was simply perfect: tender and almost somewhat shy at first, then gradually becoming more passionate and demanding. Meanwhile, the sun finally disappeared beneath the horizon, letting a streetlight illuminate the two reunited lovers under a starry sky.

Back across the street, Sakura smiled as she left the window. She was glad that they had sorted the whole issue out for the better – but now she should probably go say goodbye before she wouldn't even get noticed by them. After all, being their closest female friend, she knew all too well how quickly they could get carried away when they surrendered to each other…

Happy ending, anyone? Technically, I could have made a sad ending too, but I thought that since this is a birthday fic, it should be something happy. And let's just face it - I'm more the happy-ending-type anyway! :D Oh, and just in case anyone's wondering: I have nothing against Ino (as long as she doesn't get paired up with Sasuke or Itachi), but I chose her for that particular role because I had something else in mind for Sakura already...

I hope you liked it, and leave a comment if you can spare the time! Take care, everyone!

~devotedtodreams

P.S: CC, please let me know if I might repeat this in the future or if I'd better let it be...