Disclaimer: Ain't mine.
AN: Dedicated to Lenazelaya, who is awesome and even drew me a fanart for it THE DAY AFTER SHE GOT IT! dlkfgldjfgldjs YOU WORK SO QUICKLY! Thank you ^^
Last Farewell.
An old apartment door was pushed open, the light from outside flooding the front entrance and illuminating the faded carpet and greying walls. Soft footsteps walked further into the open space before the door closed, bathing it in darkness once more. A light was flicked on before a lean, tan body stretched, arms reaching up towards the ceiling as the blond teen walked down the corridor towards his room.
Another day, another mission, and no Sasuke. It was like the other always knew ahead of time when Naruto was coming for him, and disappeared. It had been years since Orochimaru's death, Itachi's death, the fall of Akatsuki—but still, the Uchiha refused to come home.
Whenever Naruto had free time, he got permission from Tsunade to go out and try and find the other boy, but he always evaded him, and to be honest, it was slowly starting to piss Naruto off moreso than it was hurting him. It was like Sasuke deliberately wanted Naruto to chase him, which he was fine with, but just—enough was enough.
How long was he going to keep running away?
"Stupid, stubborn teme." Naruto yanked off his hitai-ate and let it fall onto his night table before falling face first on the bed. He got comfortable on it, still wearing his Chuunin vest and sandals. His blue eyes stared straight at the old picture of Team Seven he had sitting on his nightstand, and he sighed, turning his face away to bury it in his pillow. He was getting so fucking frustrated.
Why couldn't Sasuke just—understand? That he wanted him. He missed him. He loved him. Why did everything just have to be so damn hard? Why did he have to make it so damn hard?
Naruto slammed his fist into the mattress angrily, his face still buried in his pillow. "Damn teme!" he screamed angrily.
He knew taking it out on his pillow and mattress wouldn't make him feel any better, but he couldn't help it. He slammed his fist down against the mattress a few more times, and then just lay there, hoping to maybe suffocate.
The blond didn't know how much longer he could do this. Chase after someone who kept running away. It hurt too much. He couldn't take it anymore, and yet, he couldn't stop. He knew Sasuke wanted him. Needed him. But the other was too fucking stubborn to let himself be helped. And it was really pissing Naruto off!
Sighing, the blond turned his head again, looking out the window at the night sky. He closed his eyes and shifted, getting more comfortable on his bed and trying to drift off to sleep. He had another mission the next day, so he needed to make sure he got all the rest he could.
It didn't take him long to fall asleep, maybe about ten to fifteen minutes. It was destined to be a short sleep, though, because it wasn't long before he awoke abruptly, sensing someone standing in his room.
Footsteps slowly made their way towards his bed, Naruto's face still turned towards the window. Opening his eyes, his hand slowly moved down to his kunai holster, opening it and pulling one out. When he sensed the other person stop right beside his bed, he whirled around, slamming his body hard into the other's and knocking them both to the floor, the kunai pressed against a long, slender neck.
Naruto breathed hard, his eyebrows down in an angry frown as he tried to determine who his attacker was in the dim light coming in through his window. A pale face was turned to one side, dark bangs cascading down over obsidian eyes. The blond would recognize him anywhere.
"Sasuke?" he asked slowly, pulling the kunai away and sitting up, still straddling the other as he stared down at him, confused.
The raven kept his face turned away, but his eyes were looking up at the blond, his hands both up by his face as he stayed silent on the floor. Naruto felt his heart slamming against his ribcage. Why was Sasuke here? What the hell was going on?! All this time of chasing, and he was...
"Dobe." Sasuke turned his head to look at him completely, and Naruto couldn't help but think back to the Valley of the End.
"Teme," he whispered back, smiling slightly. He bent down and pulled at Sasuke a little so he lifted off the ground, hugging him tightly.
The other's arms slowly lifted up, hugging Naruto back. The blond buried one hand in the Uchiha's dark hair, inhaling deeply. God, it smelled like him. It was fucking Sasuke, he was actually back.
"Teme. You stupid, fucking, stubborn asshole."
"Hn." Sasuke smiled slightly, tightening his hold on Naruto. "Can we get off the floor, now?"
Naruto laughed, shaking his head as he let Sasuke go and stood, holding out one hand to his friend. The raven took it, allowing himself to be pulled up, only for Naruto to push him onto the bed and fall on top of him, burying his face in Sasuke's shirt. The Uchiha buried his hands in the blond's hair, staring up at the ceiling. He ran his fingers through the soft locks, slowly rubbing the other's scalp. Naruto didn't move, he just stayed with his face buried in the other's chest.
"I missed you," Sasuke admitted after a long silence, continuing to run his fingers through the blond locks.
"You should've come home earlier."
"I know." Sasuke clenched his jaw. "I should have. Too late, now."
"It's okay." Naruto shifted, resting his chin on Sasuke's chest and grinning broadly. "You're back, now."
"Hn." Sasuke didn't know what to say to that, so he just stayed silent.
Naruto rested his head on the other's chest again, the two of them silent as he held the raven, and the Uchiha in turn continued playing with the blond's hair. Both had so much to say, but Naruto was just scared he'd start yelling at Sasuke and then they'd fight and the raven would leave again, so he just did his best to hold off on the yelling. Tomorrow, he thought with a small smile.
"I came back because I had to talk to you."
"About what?" Naruto asked, eyes closed.
"About—when I left." Sasuke closed his own eyes, taking a deep breath. "I needed to tell you that it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. And that I lied. I didn't kill you because I couldn't. You're the most important person in the world to me, Naruto. Don't ever forget that. I know that I've done things you could never forgive me for, but I hope that one day you'll view me as the friend I used to be."
"You're the dobe." Naruto looked up to glare at Sasuke. "I'll force you to make it up to me, but you were never not my friend, Sasuke-teme."
"I don't think I can make it up to you, dobe." The Uchiha avoided looking Naruto in the eye as he said this.
"I'll force you to, teme." Naruto narrowed his eyes, shifting so he was sitting up, straddling Sasuke's hips again. He bent down, bracing his weight on his hands, which were on either side of Sasuke's face. "If you ever try and leave me again—well, we'll just put it as you'll never be leaving me again."
The Uchiha chuckled a little. "Dobe."
Naruto bent down, pressing his lips against Sasuke's gently before pulling away. "Teme," he whispered, then kissed him again.
Sasuke wasn't leaving him ever again. He wouldn't let him.
A loud knock at Naruto's front door made him jerk up in bed. He moaned, letting his head fall back down onto the pillow. He reached out to find Sasuke, and frowned when he couldn't. He sat up, opening his eyes, and looking at the other side of the bed. Running his hand over it, it was still warm. Sasuke had just left.
Naruto started to climb out of bed as the knocking on his front door became more insistent.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, bending down to grab his pants, pulling them on. He smiled as he recalled the previous night's events, and stretched, rubbing at his bare chest with one hand as he made his way to the door.
He opened it and almost got hit in the face, moving aside just in time to avoid the fist. "Sakura, what is it?"
"It's Sasuke!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide and slightly red, as if she'd been crying.
"I know, he's back." Naruto smiled slightly.
Sakura stared at him, then stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "Naruto..."
"What?" he asked, confused, hugging her back.
"Naruto, Sasuke's dead."
The blond lurched away from her as if he'd been burned, anger contorting his features. "What?! Why the fuck would you say something like that?!"
"They found his body yesterday." Sakura covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. "Naruto, I'm sorry."
"That's impossible!" Naruto hollered. "I just saw him! I was with him all of last night!"
"They've been carrying his body home for the last eight hours. He's dead. It was a dream."
"No! No it wasn't!" The blond screamed, turning around and bolting back into his room. He breathed hard as he looked around, staring at the clothes on the ground. One shirt, one vest, one set of sandals... Nothing else. Nothing that showed Sasuke had ever been there.
But he had! Naruto had seen him! He'd touched him, smelt him, tasted him... Sasuke had been there! He spun around, looking at the picture on his bedside table, and the blood drained from his face. The glass of the frame was cracked.
Naruto fell to his knees, staring at the ground, trying to wrap his head around what had happened. It hadn't been a dream, he knew it hadn't. And the more he thought about it, the more everything Sasuke said made sense. He'd been open; honest. He'd admitted things Naruto didn't think he would have on a day to day basis. And when Naruto had said Sasuke could make it up to him...
Sasuke was dead.
"I don't... how did this happen?" he whispered, in too much shock to really feel the full weight of what this meant. Sasuke's death... what it would eventually do to him.
"I'm sorry," Sakura said from the doorway, not wanting to come in, worried about Naruto's reaction if she tried to touch him.
"I swear, Sakura, he was here," Naruto whispered, shaking his head. "He said... he told me leaving was the hardest thing he'd ever done." He turned to her. "He was here! You have to believe me, Sasuke was here!"
"I do believe you," she whispered, pressing her lips together. "I think he did come back. He did come to see you."
Naruto swallowed hard, waiting for her to finish, knowing she had something else to say, even though he didn't think he wanted to hear what it was.
"I think he was here to say goodbye."
END.