They walked together side by side just as they always dreamed they could again, older now but the thought was the same.
Though not through the streets of Konohah, but an alien town, no one knew them here. There were no glances their way, none at all.
Which, Naruto Uzamaki the one with the sunny disposition and strange markings on his face, came to the realization, was strange. Strange simply for the reason he was with Sasuke.
Sasuke who had any and every female close enough to see his face, whether she recognized or not, gazing at him, sometimes subtly but often not.
Naruto hated that when they were kids. It summed Sasuke up perfectly, everything he was and everything Naruto wasn't, those things Sasuke was given; respect, admiration, just for being. No one ever looked at Naruto for long really. Naruto had got used to it as time passed; Sasuke was a good guy and deserved people's acknowledgement, even if the bastard hadn't appreciated it. He never cared about what people thought and though he could never admit it, not even to himself, this was one of the things Naruto respected about him most about him and envied much more then any of Sasukes natural gifts.
Naruto glanced over at his friend, whos hair was limp and tired through years of neglect, clothes hanging slightly off his pale, frail looking body, glanced into eyes which were once beautiful, but now simply tired and bloodshot, and felt like crying. Sasuke Uchiha was losing his looks and Sasuke Uchiha still didn't care.