415 words

Warning: Character death, angst, implied SasuNaru shounen-ai, unbetaed

Disclaimer: Naruto is SO not mine, as you all know...

Naruto promised Sasuke that he'll always wait for him. But now, half a decade later… there seems to be complications with the Kyuubi's seal. It's slowly draining Naruto's life… (Naruto is not Hokage here…) Semi-AU

'Zutto ni… matte iru… omae ni… matte iru…'

In his years of searching, once… only once did Naruto see Sasuke. It wasn't even deliberate. Naruto was on a mission then, delivering a message to the Kazekage Gaara and answer any questions he may have. On the way home, however… he was there. Sitting, sleeping, beneath a tree.

He woke up as soon as Naruto noticed him.

/The blue gaze was so soft that words nearly choked Sasuke.

"What are you doing here, dobe?"

"…When are you going home, Teme?"/

Naruto's eyes felt suspiciously wet, his throat strangely dry.

/"…"

"We're all waiting for you…"

"… Then stop it."

"I'll never stop waiting for you, Sasuke."/

"Sasuke…"

/"You really are an idiot. I'm not going back, Naruto. Ever."

"… But your goal is to kill Itachi, right? I guess… I guess I can accept you fulfilling that goal first, but… afterwards… you'll come home."

Naruto said it with so much conviction that the other almost believed him./

"I'm sorry."

/"…Idiot."

"After killing Itachi, what else is there? Offering your body as a host to that psycho snake? I think not. So, you're definitely going home."/

His own hands pressed against his stomach desperately, and tears welled in his eyes.

/"You don't understand, Naruto."

"Shut up and listen first! Orochimaru can't touch you in Konoha. Not anymore. Not with Jiraiya and Tsunade around. So there…!"/

"I'm sorry. I… don't think I can keep my promise to you."

/Naruto's eyes closed for a moment, and the next words startled Sasuke

"Besides, there's still the whole 'revival of the Uchiha clan thing, right? So you HAVE to go home."

"Don't hold your breath, usuratonkachi."

There was a brief silence, and then Naruto's sincere, blue eyes held Sasuke's darker ones firmly./

"At least, not really. Even if I tried my best, I can't keep it, not in this world…"

/"Zutto ni… matte iru. Omae ni… matte iru yo"/

"But…"

/Sasuke's eyes clouded slightly as Naruto's face set in determination and the blonde extended an arm to point a finger accusingly at him

"So you'd better come back, Sasuke-teme!"/

"One day… months, years… decades from now… you'll cross over to the afterlife. You'll come home, even if it is over there… And… I'll greet you. I'll welcome you back."

"Zutto ni matte iru."

"Even if it's in a place no one expected, even if we may not even end up together even then…"

"I will always, always wait for you, Sasuke..."

The last part, when Naruto says stuff about they "may not even end up together even then"… this is a reference to heaven and hell. He doesn't know who will end up where, or even if there is a separation; but… he's just open to the possibility of separate afterlives, and of Sasuke still being far from him.

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