I swore I'd never like SasuNaru.

And yet here I am. xD I read a SasuNaruSasu or NaruSasuNaru manifesto, and I have come to realize that there is no one else but Sasuke for Naruto. And even though the only person for Sasuke is Itachi, Sasuke still cares about Naruto most of all.

That doesn't mean, though, that I don't still love all the other pairings. :D

Where are you?

I felt your chakra. I sensed your presence-

You were here, beside me.

You weren't taunting me, or being sullen. You were smirking and chuckling with me, laughing when I did stupid crazy things to make you mad, because that's what friends- what lovers do. Giddy, silly lovers who don't care about a thing.

...Oh. I know what it was now.

It was a dream.

Because that's all your presence is to me, nowadays. A good dream, one that I never want to wake up from, but I do and it's morning and it's cold without you here, it's dark even though the sun is up and has been for awhile, and I miss you that much.

I still don't believe you left, that you're not here with me and Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei, that you chose power over us. I thought… I thought we were friends.

I guess we are. Since I'm the person you'd kill for the Mangekyou. But don't lie to me, when I see you, don't tell me again that it's only because you don't want to follow Itachi, please don't lie to me, please tell me I'm important to you and you want to see me alive, because I'd give anything- my body, my mind, my soul, if it comes to any of that- anything to see you back here with me, laughing and joking like we did in my dream.

And I'll make it come true, I swear to you, Uchiha Sasuke, I will. Maybe you don't have to be in love with me like I am with you. Maybe you don't have to kiss me like in the dream, maybe holding hands is a bit much, maybe you don't even have to stand that close to me, but the part about the laughing and the smiling and the joking?

I'll give anything for it and it will come true.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Your name echoes in my head when I think about it. You chase me in my dreams, closely followed by Orochimaru. I think you win, but I wake up too soon when you start calling on the power of that... thing inside of you. Either way, it's awfully... annoying... I can't get rid of you. Can't get rid of your face, that stupid grin, it follows me, everywhere I go.

The next time I see you, I should kill you, so it can't find me anymore when I'm sleeping or when I'm training or eating or trying to be emotionless.

I couldn't do it last time. I couldn't kill you.

I made up some dumb explanation about not following Itachi. But I honestly couldn't do it. You were just... unconscious on the ground, and I was so close to putting Konoha behind me completely forever. Your stupid whiskers, usurotonkachi. I know what they are now, and I couldn't kill you because I understood you.

I don't know why but I dream about you. I don't know if you dream about me or not.

Who am I kidding? I lie to myself a lot, you know. Of course you know. You know me far better than I know myself, you know who I am, you know what I want, you know who I want, I bet, and maybe I think I do but I don't. If I were to be completely honest, I think I'd know too.

I think I do know.

And I think…

I think I want-

No, I do-

I do want you.

"SASUKE!!" I roar just for the heck of it, hurling myself at you to throw one last punch, one last one before I'm out of chakra completely and totally.

You're out, too, I know, I don't know how you'll stay awake through this but that's what I'm counting on. Because if you get knocked out I am taking you home. I just have to stay awake myself.

You really can't imagine how thrilled I am to see you. Hopefully you can and you're just as thrilled. But maybe you can't tell, since I'm acting like I'm trying to kill you and all. I'm really not. I swear.

I want to win this battle, I want to talk to you right afterwards but if I can't then that's okay, too. Just as long as you come home with me, and heal in the hospital and get better. Then we can be friends again, and it won't be like it was before but I don't care, I want you there beside me, because-

Because-

Well, I don't want to think about it.

Anyway, that's it. Yeah. That's my master plan.

The punch is about to hit, and I squint my eyes, bracing for the impact against your flesh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry we have to fight, I'm so sorry I'm going to hurt you, I'm so sorry you hurt me, I'm so sorry it is this way that I bring you back but I have to, and I am so unbelievably sorry I must but I do have to-

Wait.

There is no impact.

Instead, there is warmth surrounding me.

Calm.

Peace.

Your arms.

Torso to torso to nose to nose and eventually ending up at mouth to mouth, we stand, tired, heck, we are exhausted, drained- but together.

And I don't question it, because it is so unbelievably right that I can't.

I can't believe I did what I just did.

You were running towards me, your hand back in a ready-to-throw punch, yelling my name, a weakened, nearly dead Kakashi and nearly dead Sakura in his careful arms (gentle for her and only her, no one's told me but it doesn't take a genius to figure it out from the way he's extra careful with her) watching us intently and Sakura too, and instead of taking the punch and getting knocked out like I thought I would, I-

And I caught you in my arms.

And you're here-

In my arms-

Sweating and bleeding all over me because we've just been fighting-

And so am I. I'm not bleeding as much as you (ha), but what little blood (unlike the gallons pouring off you, but I don't wonder that you're not dead because I know why) is coming out of the cuts on my flesh is staining your horrible orange jacket. But you don't seem to mind because you have wrapped your arms around me too.

And- and I don't mind this. I- I even like it. It's calm, being here in your embrace because it is just… so very right…

When I pictured killing Itachi- when I pictured myself killing my brother, I thought it would make me feel like I was all right, all finished, somehow- I thought I'd be finished with everything to do with the Uchiha. I thought- I thought it would feel, pulling that sword out of him (that's how I always pictured it, killing him like he killed Mom and Dad)... I thought it would feel complete.

But I don't think there's anything that compares to having you right here. I don't want anything to compare to this.

Speaking of brothers...

You said that you thought of me as a brother. I realize now that I certainly don't think of you in a brotherly fashion.

And, from the way our lips are now touching, I think that either your feelings towards me have changed as mine have towards you or you have some truly warped sense of brotherhood.

I sit at his bedside, daily. I've recovered faster than him, Kyuubi's powers let me do that, but I wish they hadn't. I can't stand the waiting. Endless waiting, five years of it, and now six months.

One day, baa-chan walks in.

"He'll live, you know, even if you don't stand here at his bed 24/7."

A million answers come to my mind.

I can't stand the waiting. I can't stand to be away. I want to see him wake up. I can't be away, I have to watch him sleep, I have to fend off the fangirls, I have to stay by him, I have to be here when he wakes up, I have to be beside him, I have to make up for all the time that he was gone and I couldn't find him-

I stick with the simple stuff.

"I know."

"I know."

"I'll tell you when he's awake."

But I am awake, my eyes just won't open- Can't you tell?

"I need to be here for that."

"Naruto, we all can see it's killing you to sit here."

"No, to kill me would be to make me leave."

"Kakashi told me about the battlefield."

You chuckle. "He did, did he?"

"Naruto- I want to warn you-"

"Baa-chan, if you think he didn't mean it-"

"I don't know what I think. All I'm saying is, we don't have much reason to trust him. Maybe he's messing with you, Naruto. Maybe that was his way of trying to throw you off."

"He could have just killed me, baa-chan."

I'd have killed Naruto before I'd have messed with his head. And I'd have killed the whole of Leaf Village before I would ever have killed Naruto.

Though I can't say I blame her for saying all that. But she knows, she knows I can hear them, she knows I'm awake. How dare she tell that to Naruto, how dare she doubt me-

I want so badly to open my eyes- or my mouth, but my jaw and my eyes are so heavy… I'll just settle for my mouth, then. I have to tell him, I have to dispel all doubt, I have to let him know it was for real, I can't let him wonder-

"Never…"

Is that my voice? That- that frog croaking noise?

I wince. It can't be anything else.

"Sasuke?"

I hear his voice go up in delight. And I'm happy, too, but happy isn't a strong enough word.

"I'd never… mess with you… like that, Naruto…"

The Godaime speaks.

"Ah. You're awake, Uchiha Sasuke."

"You… knew I was. Didn't you?... Isn't that… why you said that?"

Of course, she ignores me.

"Now that you're awake, you're officially a prisoner of Leaf Village. You will be interrogated for information about the Sound Village-"

"Destroyed," I croak.

"Oh, really? Orochimaru?"

"Dead… I killed him… before I went to… find Itachi… and then… instead, I found… Naruto."

"And I know what happened from there. Information on Suigetsu, a missing-nin from Mist? He was your teammate, from reports we've heard."

"Ah. It's true… I picked him… to be my teammate. Good man… surprisingly… He… was actually kinda like Naruto… If you… believe me. Died… in battle against… Orochimaru…"

"A redhead named Karin?"

"Missing… I don't… know where she is… and I don't want… to. She left... and stole all my clothes."

Tsunade chuckles, although it seems to be unwillingly. Naruto's still oddly silent.

"Juugo? "

"Also… died with… Suigetsu. They were… very good friends, and he… couldn't let his friend… die alone. I was… sad to see them go… It's… true."

I haven't heard a word from Naruto. Not in the five or so minutes during which I've woken up.

"Naruto, leave."

I can't hear him talk, he doesn't, but I hear the door shut.

She leans onto the bed and whispers into my ear.

"I have gone easy on you, for the moment. You will be watched carefully and your claims checked by my associates. In fact, I am going to be very, very lenient and if what you say is true, I will let you into the village free to roam, but just the village. Keep in mind that I am doing this for Naruto. Not for you. ANBU will keep an eye on you, and Kakashi will watch you as well. Again, you will not be allowed to pass outside the village walls. After one year, if you have acted… loyal to Konoha, I will let you free… I don't know if you want to be a ninja again, but that option will be open to you. If you behave."

She takes a deep breath.

"Don't you dare break his heart. If you do, I will personally rip out your insides and feed them to the dogs, put your head on a trophy on my wall and play darts with it. And I will not even do you the kindness of killing you first. No, I will keep you alive throughout the whole thing, and don't you dare doubt that I can do it. I have watched this boy be hurt time and time again and you have hurt him more than anyone."

"I never… want to hurt him… again."

She sighs again, and I understand this to mean that everything in her rebels against trusting me.

But she also knows it's true.

What is she saying to him? This wait-

I've waited five long years and six months. Isn't that enough? And yet, I'm so speechless.

He is here.

He is here, willingly here.

I was right beside him, and he was there, and I was there, and we were sitting by each other and okay, he was unconscious, but he had kissed me, and we were together for the first time in years and years and it was okay.

And I had been preparing what I was going to say.

Welcome back sounded too lame, so I was going to just say hi.

But then again that sounded lame, so maybe I was just- I don't know what I want to say! There's so much I've got to say to him, there's so much that needs to be said, there's so much that I want to ask him! But it was all just… gone.

As soon as he said, "Never," as soon as the words escaped his lips, which are really quite tasty as I have discovered of late, my mind was blank with nothing but Does he mean it? Does he really truly mean it?

What do I say? What do I do?

My mind is spinning in circles and I'm dizzy and I'm leaning against the door when baa-chan finally calls me back in.

And I open the door.

His eyes open ever so slowly as I approach his bed, and I can see his mouth widening in- yes- a grin! Well... maybe not a grin. Maybe just a smile. But we've got a long way to go and this is a heck of a head start in my opinion. I didn't think I'd see him smile so fast. It's beautiful, is what it is. It's a little broken and it's obviously unused for years and it's tired and it's thin and crooked but in it I can see traces of him. Not Uchiha Sasuke, child prodigy and beloved by girls, not Uchiha Sasuke, missing nin, but just traces of Sasuke, my best friend and... yes, love.

"Naruto…" he croaks. And even though his voice is dry from non-use, it's his voice. "Usu...ratonkachi."

I still can't say anything, but it's not because I haven't got anything to say, it's because there's a giant lump in my throat that won't let me talk.

So I just grin wide and dare myself to extend my hand to his so he can take it if he wants to.

There's stuff that needs to be done, stuff that needs to be dealt with, like how are we going to convince the council and does Konoha even allow gay marriage (except maybe it is awfully soon for that) and let's just hope that I'm not killed by his fanclub and this is probably only a really good day in terms of how Sasuke's gonna recover but I don't care because-

Because he takes my hand, and that's how I know it's gonna be okay.

the end

My state just passed gay marriage, and now they are fighting to have it taken away again. But I am proud of it, even if my church officially has joined the coalition to "protect marriage". Now you all know where I live. BUT YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE EXACTLY I LIVE. I hope.

Please review! This is my first time writing SasuNaru, and I'd like to know how it is and where (if) I screwed up their characters and stuff.

Usuratonkachi: Japanese. Literally, thin hammer. A derogatory expression, translating roughly to "useless". Frequently used by Sasuke in reference to Naruto. Look it up on Youtube, it's hilarious.