Sasuke gains consciousness instantly, like flipping on a switch. One moment nothing and the next he's aware of being awake, lying on his back. He's aware that his eyes are closed and that he doesn't really want to open them, aware that his body feels different than he's used to, and aware that Naruto is with him.
He doesn't sense that Naruto is here. There is no sensing here—wherever here is—he can tell without even needing to try. He just knows that Naruto is with him, like it's an innate sense of himself and Naruto is part of it. Unexplainably, he knows.
The last thing he remembers is losing consciousness in the same way he gained it—quick and painless, like flipping off a switch.
"Oi, Naruto."
"Sasuke? Where are we?" The blond answers instantly, but Sasuke gets the feeling he hasn't been waiting around for Sasuke to wake up. He suspects that they woke at the same time.
He figures its time he opened his eyes, so he does, and is unsurprised to see almost nothing around him but Naruto sitting up to his left. Somehow he knew when he opened his eyes that there wouldn't be much to see, and he'd been right. It's mostly white, the ground and sky and the nothingness all around them: all white.
There are shadows, like the white emptiness around them is really full of objects, just walls and buildings and odd shapes jutting out from every direction in the exact same shade of pure white as everything else, with nothing to give them away but the shadows, all going different directions, like not a single one shares a common light source.
"I don't know," he replies, surprised by how calm he is, given how little information he has in suddenly finding himself in a strange, new place with no answers and no ideas how he got there.
Nothing about it seems wrong, though. Something tells him it isn't bad that he's here, and Naruto with him. Something about the place is comforting. He sits up, turns to Naruto, and finds that the blond doesn't seem to share his comfortable feelings.
"How'd we get here? We were—ugh! What happened? I can't remember, but I feel like it's important!"
Sasuke tries to think, closes his eyes again and concentrates because, like Naruto, he knows that it's important. It hits him suddenly, a flash of bright memory in a dark mind and he opens his eyes.
"I think I'm dead," he offers, mildly concerned about Naruto's reaction to this statement, but not the statement itself.
"What?" Naruto frowns, then rolls his eyes, half laughing and shaking his head.
"Don't joke, Sasuke. We're not dead! We're probably just going to get some more power from that weird old sage guy. I'll bet he's around here somewhere. Hey! Sage!"
"No," Sasuke shakes his head, standing up and waiting for Naruto to stand beside him. He notices the mark on Naruto's hand, the hand closest to his. The sun.
His own hand is bare. No moon. Nothing.
"The Sage isn't here, Naruto."
"Whaaa—how would you know? Oh right, I forgot. You know everything."
Sasuke smirks at him, glad to know his best friend never changed. It reassures him that he did the right thing—not that he had any doubts about it anyway.
He looks at his hand again.
"I think I broke the cycle," he says, and Naruto stares at him with raised eyebrows.
"Indra and Ashura. I think I stopped their reincarnation," he explains, even though he knows this won't help Naruto understand anything. He's starting to get a little nervous, because he's worried Naruto won't understand at all, and he doesn't want that.
"What do you mean? What does that have to do with us being stuck in this weird place?" Naruto asks, something anxious in the set of his shoulders and the wrinkle of his brow. Yeah, Sasuke really doesn't think he's going to understand.
"See?" Sasuke asks, and points somewhere. Sure enough, they both turn and see bodies, lying as if dead on the clear, white ground. Together, he and Naruto walk over to them and stare down into the placid faces of Indra and Ashura. Beside them are others—Sasuke should have figured there would be others—and at the end of the line of bodies, Hashirama and Madara, as silent and peaceful as death.
"Wooooah, are these, uh, our past lives?"
"Yeah," Sasuke nods. "All of them."
"What are they doing here? Why are they all lying here?"
"I think they can finally rest because I broke the cycle. I didn't kill you. We didn't die together as rivals. I gave my life—"
"Stop saying that!" Naruto shouts, and though there is no echo here that Sasuke can tell, it still reverberates off the ground, off the white emptiness, filling Sasuke's ears with Naruto's frustration, his vehement denial.
"You aren't dead! You didn't—you didn't give your life! You'll be okay, alright? We'll get out of this!"
Sasuke tries catching Naruto's eyes but the blond looks stubbornly towards the ground, teeth and fists clenching together, anxious and heavily breathing.
"You do remember," Sasuke murmurs. Naruto flinches.
"Stop saying you're dead, Sasuke! Or I swear I'll kill you myself!"
"Naruto," Sasuke begins, frowning. "Don't make this harder than it is."
"J—just stop! Stop! If you're dead then why am I here too, huh? We're just—just getting more power, getting another chance to—"
"You saw me die! I did it to save you, idiot! I'm—"
"Don't! Just—don't fucking give me that bullshit, Sasuke! I didn't chase after you all those years—didn't finally get you back just to have you die some stupid, dumb, selfless way! Fuck!"
Sasuke is shocked when Naruto crumbles to the ground, tears flowing easily from his eyes. His sobs seem to echo, too, though there is nothing for them to echo off of.
Sasuke isn't sure what to do, so he just sinks to the ground after Naruto, crossing his legs and sitting close, just in front of the crying heap of his best friend. He's so close their knees are almost touching.
"Naruto," he says calmly. He's got to be calm, because he needs Naruto to understand before he goes. He won't go until Naruto understands. "Stop being a crybaby and look at me."
Naruto staggers at the teasing jab, sniffing and swallowing back more tears. Sasuke waits patiently until he pulls himself together enough to look up, watery blue eyes meeting black unwillingly. He's still defiant, unable to accept the truth.
"I'm dead, Naruto," he states flatly.
"How do you know?" Naruto spits back, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Sasuke closes his eyes and opens them again.
"I can't feel my pulse. I don't have a heartbeat."
He doesn't even need to ask to know that Naruto's heartbeat remains strong and pulsing; he can hear it loud and clear. He's so close he can almost see the life in the depths of Naruto's eyes.
"We've almost died before," Naruto mumbles, desperate, searching Sasuke's eyes for some kind of hope, something to keep him optimistic. "Sakura said I didn't have a heartbeat. She had to pump my heart herself."
He reaches up, fisting his shirt in his hand, right over where his heart is beating fast and constant inside his ribs.
"This is different. I think you know it is."
Naruto glares at him, just needing someone to be mad at.
"Why did you do that, Sasuke? Maybe I would have been okay. You didn't have to—ugh! I can't believe you just gave your life like that! Don't you care about your future?"
"No," Sasuke answers honestly. He doesn't care about his future, and not just because he knows he's dead.
"I never had a future, Naruto. You have to know that. It was supposed to be like this."
"I was fine! I was going to be fine!"
"No, you weren't," Sasuke growls at him. The idiot just won't listen. "You were dying! There wasn't another option! And even if there had been, I wouldn't have taken it. I told you, I was never going to have a future. I was always supposed to save you, that's it. Get it through your thick skull and stop looking around us like you're trying to figure a way to save me!"
"I can't!" Naruto screams at him. "You're such an asshole! Just giving up like there's nothing else to do! What do you mean you had no future? Everyone has a future!"
"There isn't anything left for me. My family is dead, Itachi is dead—everything I always lived for is gone. What was I supposed to do if I lived? Go back to the village with you and what? Sit around while you become Hokage? I don't have a dream like you, Naruto!"
"Didn't you say you wanted to be Hokage? Was that just some bullshit that came to your head? What about a family? Reviving the Uchiha? You can't give up your future like this. Itachi didn't save you so—"
"Itachi will finally be proud of me, I finally used the life he gave me for something useful. I'll get to see him again. Him and my family. I don't care about reviving Uchiha, I haven't for a long time. I thought I wanted to be Hokage but I was wrong. You're supposed to be Hokage, Naruto. It's always been like that. If I hadn't saved you it would all be for nothing. You need to achieve your dream."
Naruto is crying again, quiet tears this time, flowing down his cheeks so softly Sasuke doesn't even think he's noticed them.
"I'll go back on my promises," he swallows. "I promised I would save you. That I'd bring you back to Konoha no matter what!"
Sasuke sighs.
"You can't keep all of your promises all the time. The world doesn't work that way. Just focus on keeping your promise to be Hokage. Isn't that enough?"
Naruto shakes his head. Then, to Sasuke's utter shock he leans forward, gently resting his forehead against Sasuke's. The place where they touch is hot and it takes Sasuke a moment to realize that Naruto is just warm; he's the one who has no heat. His eyes are closed but Sasuke watches him silently as he mutters,
"It won't mean anything if you're not there."
Something catches in his chest but Sasuke ignores it and huffs, almost amused.
"Don't be stupid. Why would I have to be there? I haven't been there for over three years and you were fine. You got strong. You saved the village. I only get in your way."
Naruto almost smiles but it turns into a grimace.
"I only got strong so I could find you and bring you back home. It doesn't mean anything if I failed. How can I be Hokage if I can't save one fr—"
"Stop. Don't beat yourself up. You didn't fail to save me. I made my own choices. I chose to save you. I'm trying to get that through your thick skull but you're too stubborn to listen."
"You're being stubborn too," Naruto grumbles, forehead still resting gently on Sasuke's. "You won't even try to find a way to stay alive."
"There's no point. I told you. I don't have a—"
"You can make your own future, Sasuke! You can do whatever you want if you just live! It's not fair! We didn't have enough time and I—"
He cuts himself off, jerking back and sitting upright. Sasuke almost falls forward when there's no head resting against his but he steadies himself easily and frowns at his best friend.
He still won't understand. Sasuke chose this. It's what he wants. It's what's best. It's what is supposed to happen.
No one but Naruto cares if he lives or dies. Sure, Sakura will be upset, but she'll move on. Naruto is the only one he has to convince. He has to get Naruto to let him go.
"Oi, Naruto."
The blond looks up, expression set but uncertain.
"Thank you."
Whatever Naruto might have been expecting Sasuke to say, that wasn't it. His eyes shoot open wide and he shifts back. The reaction almost makes Sasuke laugh.
"Eeehhhhh, Teme, are you sure you're dead and not just brain damaged?"
"Shut up, Dobe. I'm trying to apologize."
Naruto blinks a few times, giving Sasuke a moment to breathe deep (though there's not air in his lungs or blood in his veins) and collect his thoughts.
"Naruto, you are my best friend. I know I've spent all this time trying to break our bond, but I couldn't. You've always been my best friend. I put a hole in your chest, tried to kill you anytime I saw you, and you still…"
He has to pause, because Naruto's looking at him like he can't believe his ears, like he doesn't know whether he should be happy or sad to hear Sasuke finally admit that they are friends.
"You believed in me," he continues, and he almost wishes his forehead were still resting against Naruto's; maybe if they were touching this would be easier. He's starting to think getting Naruto to let him go is only half of it—he has to let go of Naruto, too. "You believed in me when no one else did. You still believed in me when I didn't even believe in myself. The only reason we're here right now is because you refused to hate me, no matter what I did."
"That's what friends do!" Naruto says eyes bright and determined again. Maybe this wasn't the way to make Naruto let him go.
"We easily could have been like them," he says, nodding towards the line of reincarnations, to Indra and Ashura who's hate was so much that it let them transcend death. "I thought I had enough hate for the both of us, but we're not like them. We changed. I died to save you, not to kill you. Naruto, you have to go on living. You can leave this place. I have to move on."
"I won't go," Naruto pouts, crossing his arms. His frown deepens and Sasuke can tell that he's thinking.
"Why am I here if I'm not dead? Why am I here with you? If you're already dead then what's the point?"
"How should I know," Sasuke growls, frustrated. "Because of the Six Paths power, probably. I just don't know, Naruto."
"Why won't you try to live? What do I have to do to make you just try?"
"I don't mind dying. It's my choice. What do I have to do to get you to let this go?"
"I'll never let it go! It's my damn ninja way!"
"Uuuuurrrgh! You're so infuriating! What if I tried to stay alive but I lived and you died? I gave my life to save you if you can't remember!"
"I'd rather you live and I die, Sasuke!" Naruto shouts, and it echoes again, somehow. Maybe just inside Sasuke's brain, but it echoes somewhere.
"Why?" he asks after a long moment, frustrated and confused and angry, staring into Naruto's bright, anxious eyes. The blond looks down again, like he just can't meet Sasuke's gaze as he answers.
"I don't think I can live without you." His voice is raw and honest, no trace of a lie or a joke and suddenly Sasuke isn't sure anymore. He'd been sure as soon as he opened his eyes and realized he was dead, but hearing the pain in Naruto's voice makes his resolve flicker like a flame being blown by the wind. He hadn't known how tenuous his resolve really was until that moment.
"You're going to have to," he says, and it's a miracle his voice doesn't shake. He pauses for a moment, then decides that it's worth asking, even if the answer isn't good. Maybe it will get them somewhere.
"Why do you care so much?"
Naruto flinches, almost imperceptibly, but Sasuke catches it anyway. He plays it off with a dumb grin.
"Did you miss the part where I chased after you for three years?"
"No," he answers softly. He's got to do this softly. Naruto is much more fragile than he realized. "But it's more than that, isn't it?"
"You're my best friend! Why would I need any other reason besides that?" He's a bit hysterical, face still smeared with tears, but his answer is rational, thought-out. Practiced.
"Maybe. But you know I'm dead, right? Whatever you tell me now won't matter."
"It will matter when I bring you back to life. You're not dead, Sasuke. Not yet."
"So there is something. Tell me."
Naruto turns his head up and refuses to talk. Sasuke closes his eyes and wonders how long he can last.
He manages about ten minutes or so, it's hard to tell in this place, before he's mumbling Sasuke's name through the side of his mouth.
"Hey, Sasuke."
"Hn?"
"You still dead?"
Sasuke feels a smile slide onto his face despite his better judgment.
"Yeah. Still dead."
Naruto sighs heavy and Sasuke opens his eyes to find the blond staring. He looks thoughtful again.
"How long do you think we can stay here?" He asks.
"Dobe, I don't even know where here is. Don't ask stupid questions."
"Maybe I can come back and visit you!" He's optimistic again, an excited lift in the line of his shoulders, the height of his chin.
Sasuke shakes his head. He may not know where he's going to go next but he knows he won't stay in this place, even though the idea of waiting for Naruto is almost appealing.
"I don't think it works like that."
"Then I'm not leaving," Naruto decides, stubborn. Stubborn like a tree, roots buried eighty feet under the ground.
"You have to, Naruto," Sasuke tries again, calmly.
"Nope. You can't make me. I'll stay here forever if I have to. If we both stay then you can't die, right?"
"I'm already dead, I told you!"
"If you were already dead I wouldn't be able to talk to you."
"Maybe this is all just happening in your stupid head!" Sasuke bites back, frustrated beyond belief—while half of him is desperately happy that someone still cares about him enough to be so unwilling to believe that he's dead. And to find that it's Naruto that cares—still cares after all this time—makes him almost wish hi heart would start beating again.
Naruto scoffs, waving a hand absentmindedly.
"If this were happening in my head you wouldn't be yelling at me."
"I'm not—" he takes a deep breath, though there's no reason he needs to, "—yelling at you. I'm trying to make you listen."
Again, Naruto ignores him. Sasuke wonders how long this can go on. He tries again.
"Naruto, you can't stay here."
Instead of a reply, Naruto growls low in his throat, like he's annoyed at Sasuke's persistence. Sasuke didn't want to have to do this, but he's running out of options.
"I promised Sakura."
It manages to grab Naruto's attention enough that he'll at least look Sasuke's way.
"I told her I'd bring you back. She said she'd look after you," he continues.
Naruto's eyes widen. Sasuke's starting to feel like they might not have much more time.
"I promised her I'd bring you back, too," Naruto mutters, eyes set.
"One of us is going to have to break his promise then."
"It's sure as hell not gonna be me! I'm staying here with you until we can both go back! Kakashi can be Hokage. He'll keep the seat warm for me."
"You're so stubborn! You need to let me go. We don't have much time left."
Naruto's face pales.
"What do you mean? I—I thought we had forever!"
"I can feel myself… fading. I don't know how to describe it. You have to let me go. I don't want to die if I think—" he hesitates, but goes on anyway,"—if I think you're not going to be okay."
"I won't!" Naruto edges forward, panic lacing his voice and worrying his face. "I won't be okay! Do you hear me, Sasuke? I won't let you die!"
"Naruto! I mean it! Don't make my last thoughts be regret! Don't make me feel selfish for saving your life! I was trying to do the right thing for once."
"What do you want me to say, Sasuke?" he shouts, holding the sides of his head. "Thanks for saving my life, now I give you permission to die? Not gonna happen!"
"Just—no. You know what. Forget it. It doesn't matter."
Sasuke realizes again how close they're sitting, knee to knee on the flat ground. Naruto's face is so close it's impossible for Sasuke to not see each emotion as it takes the place of the last, flickering over his best friend's features like changing seasons.
"What?" he finally asks, an angry bite to his voice. "Don't hold back now. You're dying."
"Dead," Sasuke corrects. Naruto glares. Sasuke sighs.
"I already apologized. I just want to know if you forgive me, alright?"
"Nothing to forgive," Naruto answers automatically, barely giving it a thought. "You're trying to give up your life to save mine. Don't you think that makes up for anything else?"
It's something off Sasuke's shoulders. It's stupid, but he hadn't wanted Naruto to still think of him as the same revenge-crazed murderer he'd become. He wanted to be free of at least that grief, exonerated of Naruto's judgment, if not anyone else's.
He wants more than that, really. More than he ever let himself even think about having. More from Naruto; more of Naruto. He wants—
"What are you thinking about? Tell me you thought of a way to stay alive!"
He doesn't bother answering. And then there's Naruto's forehead, gently resting against his again. It's a pleasant feeling, warm and safe and comforting. For a moment it's like everything could be okay.
Then he feels it again, the fading feeling, like his consciousness is slipping away from Naruto, from everything. The white place they are feels darker, like the shadows have gotten longer, more imposing. He swallows and lifts his hand, reaching out, farther than he thinks he needs to, to hold onto Naruto's. He can almost feel a warmth in the center of Naruto's palm where he knows the sun in burned into his flesh. His own hand still feels empty, cold.
"Do you think it was right to break the cycle?" he asks.
"No," Naruto answers, and Sasuke can tell he's frowning. "At least if we were still connected I know I would see you again."
"As someone else. We would be different people. I'm not the same person as Madara. You aren't the First."
"I know! I know, but it—it would be something." His voice is desperate, and his other hand finds Sasuke's, holds it tight, like maybe if he just doesn't let go he can keep him there. Sasuke doesn't question it, let's Naruto draw him in close. He closes his eyes so he can block out everything but Naruto's voice, his steady heartbeat—to remind himself why he did this, why his pulse is gone and Naruto's strong. Naruto has to survive.
"Don't think about it," he says, softly. How ironic that he has to comfort Naruto for his own death.
"Sasuke…" Naruto breathes, and Sasuke feels it warm against his lips.
"I have to go," he replies, and feels Naruto slipping away from him, back to the sun, back to his life.
"I didn't have enough time," the blond sobs, hands tightening their hold on Sasuke's. "I don't want to go back. Not without you."
Sasuke opens his eyes, just so he can see Naruto one more time, to know that he didn't die in vain. He's surprised to find Naruto's bright blue eyes staring right back into his, determined and constant as ever. There's a sharp twist of his lips up in a smirk and Sasuke's eyes shoot open wide. Something stutters in his chest. His hand burns with Naruto's hand circling it.
"I won't go back without you, Sasuke," he says, and Sasuke feels another pull, different from the fading he'd felt before. Another hard stutter in his chest, a pull, and Naruto's eyes, just his eyes, taking Sasuke back with him.
A part of Sasuke can't believe it, but another part of him wonders how he ever thought he was going to get away with dying without Naruto by his side.
Everything goes white, and then nothing—like turning off a light switch.
When he wakes this time the first thing he notices is how warm his hand is, but it takes him a few moments of steady breathing and comprehending how much pain he's in before he can put it together that the warmth is coming from the hand clasped tight around his.
"Oi, Sasuke."
A small smile flicks it's way across his face. His heartbeat is steady, slow, settled safely in his chest.
"Hn?"
"Are you dead now?" Naruto asks, lying on the ground only a few feet away, just arms length.
"Not yet," Sasuke replies, and he can vaguely hear Sakura and Kakashi and the others rushing towards them, running to make sure they're okay, that they made it out alive. He takes a deep breath, and Naruto's hand tightens around his briefly, unwilling to let go.
"Good," he says, and Sasuke can tell he's smiling. "I'm not done with you yet."
Maybe he has a future after all.
End.