Running at night was so close to flying. Past buildings and forests, rivers, past even himself. Naruto loved this feeling; mission completed, a day off tomorrow, breathing deep and steady. Both running from the mission and towards a nights rest, but not really moving away from or towards anything. Simply being, lost in rhythmic movement.

Sasuke.

He would let out a contented sigh if he could spare the oxygen. To Naruto's mind, the best thing about Sasuke Uchiha residing safely back in Konoha, mission completed, was that Naruto no longer had that nagging feeling in the back of his mind, pervading everything with the subtle reminder that something was wrong, that Sasuke wasn't there.

Yeah the best thing about having the teme back was the extra space in his head. Naruto preferred action to contemplation. He just liked to be.

Of course there was one other action that involved rhythmic movement and losing himself that was a definite plus of Sasuke Uchiha's physical presence, but he was alone now, so he just ran through the darkness, with it, aware somewhere in his bones that things were as they should be and he was free to run. Calm, elated, aware, he ran.

Somewhere around Konoha's boundaries he began to recognise where he was, everything before that just a general direction. Soon everything he saw carried with it his memories and impressions. His mind crept back, revelling in the energy of his body. Feeding on it.

He had no idea what time it was when he arrived back at Sasuke's– arrived back at his?–

(His and Sasuke's?)

Yeah he wasn't a thinker. It seemed like a distant dream to think he'd been filled with so much energy and possibility moments ago; inspired, empty, all the good things that came with doing something you were made to do. How quickly it faded.

Now he was just Naruto Uzumaki outside the Uchiha mansion where he was welcome, or at the very least tolerated. And it was so normal. All of his mundane yet vital stuff was here, so his feet would carry him here now even if he meant to go back to his own place. His mind might say otherwise, but his body always said Sasuke.

As he stepped inside he yawned, suddenly heavy in the dark halls. If he knew about Pavlov and his dogs he would realise why, but the only one in this ridiculously large house who would know about that was probably asleep.

Actually, if he knew about Pavlov's dogs he would probably say, 'You know, there's totally room for a dog here!' and Sasuke would make some disparaging remark about Akamaru.

Honestly though a dog would be good for when Naruto was away. Naruto knew from reading mission reports that Sasuke had fewer nightmares when he slept around others. Or at least quieter ones.

His ninja senses were a little dulled by overuse and the fact that there was another very capable ninja in the house, so while Naruto noticed the sounds straight away it was in the same way you'd notice the ticking of a clock. He went to the kitchen and drank straight from the tap, turning the pressure up too high in his thirst and splattering himself quite thoroughly. He jerked back, spluttering and glaring indignantly at the wet floor as if it were somehow to blame. Yep, ninja coordination shot.

The tap was still gushing so he shrugged and filled a glass, bracing himself against the sink and dousing his hair with it in a kind of makeshift shower, too tired for a real one, man was he tired. His hair dripped loudly, as constant as a clock, causing something to tug at the back of his mind. Naruto filled the glass again. What was that other noise?

Sasuke.

Naruto abandoned the kitchen, fully awake now, because even though he knew Sasuke was just having a nightmare and Sasuke didn't need him exactly, there was a time when Sasuke's return had caused what you could generously, (and Naruto was generous), call problems. Problems like unprovoked attacks and attempts to provoke attacks, and as someone who had elevated his own stubbornness past becoming an art form and all the way into a wonder of the natural world, even Naruto was impressed by just how determined some of the villagers were to see Sasuke suffer. So when he stood in Sasuke's room moments later watching him sleep, (badly), it wasn't because he was paranoid, just aware.

Angry grunts, harsh breathing, sweating. Yeah, Naruto was much better at sleeping than Sasuke was.

Naruto rarely dreamt, had trouble understanding how something that wasn't real could cause you pain. The first time Sasuke had done this Naruto had woken him up immediately,

holding him firmly and willing Sasuke to look at him. 'Teme,' he was breathing heavily, voice rough with sleep and shock, 'Teme, look at me!' Sasuke had struggled, but finally looked at him, only half in the room, and in that moment of uncertainty Naruto found his voice and said,

'You woke me up, bastard!'

Sasuke had punched him.

Naruto didn't wake him up immediately any more.

Maybe if he left Sasuke to it he would forget his dreams like Naruto did. Did pain count if you forgot about it? Did anything? Naruto reached for the back of his neck, awkward in spite of himself. He always intervened eventually. It pissed him off to see Sasuke unable or unwilling to fight back.

Sasuke always dreamt he'd done something terrible.

Sometimes just standing there was enough to wake him up, but not tonight.

'Sasuke..'

Nothing.

'Oi, Uchiha!'

More nothing, (another concept only Sasuke would understand).

Naruto sat on the bed and automatically took his shoes off as though he were about to go to sleep. He led stomach down, facing Sasuke, this last partly out of tiredness and partly from practice; the last time he'd tried this sitting up Sasuke had pushed him off the bed.

He waited for a pause in the others shifting, took a deep breath and rested his hand on Sasuke's chest; feeling his heart hammering, poised to hold him down if he had to – and that did it.

Sasuke woke up like someone one step away from being hit by a car.

'Why– '

He froze so quickly his body practically seized, eyes on the ceiling, hand flying up to grab the hand holding him and make sure it wasn't holding a knife.

Naruto forced himself to stay still as Sasuke turned to face him with more questions on his lips. Hand still flat on his, Naruto whispered,

'Hi.'

Sasuke was still wound impossibly tight.

'Dobe?'

Naruto nodded, grinning dumbly, and Sasuke frowned.

'Why are you wet?'

Naruto reached the hand that wasn't trapped under Sasuke's to hold his face. He could feel him shudder subtly. The grin disappeared.

'Promise me you won't go into the kitchen.'

After a moment Sasuke pushed himself away from him, standing up in one fluid movement and looking at his bedroom like he'd never seen it before. Then he was gone, and in the same way Naruto knew the other stuff he knew the bastard had gone to the kitchen.

He buried his face in the pillow but only succeeded in making it damp.

Sasuke had left the kitchen in darkness since Naruto could see fine anyway and while Sasuke's eyes had been damaged by overuse of the Sharingan he knew his house well enough to navigate it by dark. Naruto found him drinking from the same glass he'd set down. Naruto settled in the doorway and just watched him for a second, continually amazed not so much by the mundane activities of Sasuke but by the fact he was witness to them.

Sasuke leant against the counter, clearing his throat.

'When did you get back?'

An irrelevant question to distract from what had just happened, or a sign that he was just now acclimating to Naruto's presence? There had once been a surplus of female villagers who'd love a chance to soothe Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto couldn't say he understood why; it scared the shit out of him.

'Just now.' Easy grin, languid shrug.

Sasuke nodded, swirling the water around the glass like fine wine.

Naruto gestured behind him, back in the direction of the bedroom, but Sasuke straightened.

'I'm going to stay up for a while.'

Naruto yawned. 'Great, what do you want to do?'

'I don't..'

Sasuke gave him a look that in the darkness could have been total loss or a warning, and before Naruto's eyes could adjust properly to the darkness of Sasuke's it became plainly the Uchiha Glare he was famed for.

'Don't be stupid. You're asleep on your feet.'

The way Naruto managed to say, Who me? I could stay awake into the next century, with just a look would have been legitimately impressive if he hadn't yawned halfway through.

The truth was that during the day Naruto was possessed of a boundless energy that required a boundless appetite and a type of sleep that bordered on a miniature coma. Sasuke's was another type of strength entirely, one based largely on sacrifice. Naruto willed things into being; Sasuke summoned them.

Sasuke was already walking past him. Naruto fell in line without really thinking about it, swapping one doorway for another as Sasuke sat in the living room.

'Why is there blood on the floor?' Sasuke asked in a flat voice.

For a second the eternal optimist in Naruto saw no possible good in that sentence; either Sasuke was still in a deeply fucked up dream-scape, or whenever he saw a wet floor in his home he just naturally assumed it to be wet with blood. Showers must be a nightmare for him. Then his head pulsed, and he remembered a particularly vicious blow thrown by an opponent earlier that night that had resulted in a nasty meeting between a tree trunk and the back of his skull.

'Oh shit, I totally forgot about that–'

'Idiot.'

' –Bastard,' Naruto's hand went to his head absently. His hair was still wet from his impromptu shower, the wound itself barely bleeding any more. 'It's nothing serious, Kyuubi's already fixing it.'

'Let me see.'

Naruto came to sit next to him, watching him as Sasuke set down his glass to run a hand through his hair. Naruto tilted his head to let him and watched through his eyelashes as he examined the cut. His face gave nothing away as usual, he was always so guarded when he was in control, even now, even with him. Some people in the village wondered, rudely and vocally, how someone as open as Naruto Uzumaki could bear life with someone as closed off as Sasuke Uchiha. He'd been unsure how to respond to that until he overheard Sakura reply that the more important question was how he'd bear it without him, and that had been his stock comeback ever since, complete with over the top swoon and shit-eating grin. Truthfully he had no interest in making his relationship to Sasuke more palatable for those who didn't understand it. It didn't matter to him that Sasuke was rough around the edges, the core bond they shared was too strong to worry about any paper cuts he might sustain as a result of it.

Anyway the short sighted villagers who disapproved of them were the same people who had once feared him as the Kyuubi vessel. Their loss. Naruto would rather be happy with the things he did understand than worry about those he didn't. Let others adjust to him and not the other way around. Even that attitude, which had gotten him in trouble with the council countless times in the past, was the same attitude which now earned their respect. Naruto was more patient than most people realised.

As if to test that Sasuke pressed on the wound and he hissed.

'It's worse if you struggle.'

Naruto yanked back and held his head. Now Sasuke had made him aware of it, it stung like a bitch. Sasuke just rolled his eyes.

'What happened?'

'A tree happened, to the back of my head. Or I should say my head happened to the tree!' His grin resurfaced.

'What a story of triumph. I meant how did the bloody water get all over my floor, but I suppose you'll tell me that was the trees doing.'

'Hey! I could have been dying and all you care about is the state of your kitchen? MY TIME IS TOO PRECIOUS FOR MOPPING!'

Sasuke arched an eyebrow at him.

'I'm going to put that outburst down to concussion.'

Naruto scowled at him.

'..show you outburst.. It looks worse than it is, it only happened because Kiba thought it would be a good idea to– to–' he was cut off by another yawn.

Sasuke sat forward, picking up his glass of water and Naruto leant back, too tired to be bothered about something as trivial as an unfinished sentence. Sasuke's dark figure was still and it was somewhat predictable when Naruto's eyes slipped closed.

He didn't know how long he dozed for but when he woke up Sasuke was no longer beside him.

'I swear he does this just to be difficult,' he muttered.

He found him standing in Itachi's room. The family rooms of the Uchiha mansion were mainly bare now; no bed linens, some devoid of furniture altogether.

Naruto just waltzed in, never one to care about disturbing the scene. There was no denying how it made him ache when he saw Sasuke, how beautiful he was, just as there was no denying how sad it was to find him here like this, standing alone in the dark emptiness of his brothers old room, but the room, the body, they were just details – Naruto didn't care about the wrappings of things. He came up behind him and caught him around the arm.

'Come on teme.'

Sasuke didn't move or even look at him. Naruto sighed and leant his forehead against the back of Sasuke's bare shoulder. Sasuke's voice was low enough that he felt it when he spoke.

'I never dream about them.'

Naruto nodded, although he didn't know why. It just seemed like the thing to do.

'They're just dreams Sasuke,' he said with a shrug, 'I don't even have them.'

'You dream about the village a lot.'

Naruto looked up, startled by that.

'How do you–'

'You don't shut up even in your sleep dobe,' that with a hint of a smile which quickly faded. 'You dream. You just forget.'

Naruto dropped his chin to Sasuke's shoulder thoughtfully.

'Maybe you have dreamt about them then, you just don't remember.'

Sasuke turned in his arms and reached his hand into his hair, but the wound was gone now, healed so well you wouldn't know it had ever been there. In direct opposition to him Naruto saw Sasuke's scars were highlighted by the moonlight, catching the light when he moved his arm. Sasuke blinked slowly at the deep comfort of physical contact. He looked tired.

Naruto kissed him as easily as he breathed.

'Come on Uchiha, I'm tired of chasing you.'

They went back to their room, Naruto harbouring ideas that a shared setting would aid his chances of the Other Thing. Of course once there Naruto tripped over his shoes, cursed, and fell asleep fully dressed, any plans he'd formed giving up with him. He was muttering about morning sex before Sasuke had even reached the doorway.

Sasuke didn't even bother rolling his eyes as he manoeuvred around him – stupid dobe had hit the bed spread eagled. He led awkwardly next to him, awkward because of the unreal feeling his nightmares left him with and not because of Naruto. In fact, he began to relax with the body heat that seeped from him, and as he became acutely aware of Naruto's deep breathing he felt his own fall into line, and soon enough his conscious followed, too tired to be apprehensive any more. Naruto was right, they were just dreams. Maybe this time he could forget them like Naruto did, maybe this time.. Naruto..

'Naruto.? Even as he said it he knew it to be a hopeful lie. Naruto's teeth didn't glint like that when he smiled. Like he was excited by the notion of destroying him. It made Sasuke sick.

'Kyuubi.'

'Uchiha.' The Kyuubi stood in a mirror of Sasuke's own stance, mocking him. Sasuke tried to move, tried to show his strength, but his limbs wouldn't listen. (Why couldn't he control himself?)

'Tell me where he is. Tell me how to get him back.'

Naruto was around here somewhere, he couldn't see him but he knew. Naruto was nearby. If only he could turn his head to look, but this thing wearing his face was too strong, pulling him in like gravity pulled light and crushing any impulse to resist.

Look at me..

Sasuke was powerless to look away from the terrible flaming red eyes on him, set in a face so open, so dangerous. The devil never lies, he thought wildly. Why was this happening?

'Give him back!'

Kyuubi leant forward, teeth showing, (too close!), and whispered slowly in a voice that was part Naruto and part animal.

'He's never coming back for you again.'

Sasuke couldn't breathe. Even though there was no water in sight – just like Naruto was nowhere to be seen – he knew he was drowning.

'No,' he choked.

'Let him go Uchiha, forget him. He's forgotten you.'

His lungs were burning, he was falling.

The Kyuubi laughed and the grass at his feet caught fire, spreading to lick at Sasuke's knees. The fire took the form of the fox, tails lashing out cruelly. Sasuke looked up into the eyes of Naruto, surrounded by the flame.

Naruto, the fox! The fox is loose, you have to fight! He tried to scream but the flames were burning the air, the water was filling his lungs. Naruto!

Naruto looked down on him. His eyes were bright in the flames, blinding. Sasuke couldn't see the lines between Naruto and the fox, they were wrapped together so tightly.

The Kyuubi wore a grotesque smile, more like a leer. His laugh became the roaring of the flames, deafeningly loud and all around him. Naruto! The fox is winning, fight back!

But with a cold empty smile Naruto burned away into nothing.

The water evaporated from his lungs. Sasuke gasped for air again and again but it refused his body, rushing out immediately, he couldn't catch it, and it couldn't fill him because he had no edges. He wasn't hollow, he wasn't anything, nothing to possess and nothing to be possessed by. Abandoned. Void.

Free.

The Kyuubi had won. Naruto had left him.

The grass grew back like it had never been burned.

'Sasuke!'

'Naruto!'

Sasuke was awake, (why couldn't he breathe?). Naruto was led next to him, facing him, eyes glinting in the light like they had earlier that night.

Except earlier there had been no light, it was dark inside, (when were they outside? They were on the grass..)

'Sasuke listen to me.'

Naruto was looking at him seriously. Sasuke forced himself to pay attention.

'Your eyes are getting better.'

'..What?'

'Your eyes. When you looked at me last night what did you see?'

'..'

'It was dark and you could still see well enough to look at my head!'

Naruto's look indicated he'd just discovered gravity. His grin was so dumb he may as well have been struck by an apple. He'd woken him up for this?

'Hn.'

It was early morning by the look of it, night time a distant memory. Sasuke winced as the light hit his eyes.

Naruto rolled over on to his back, an easy smile on his face. He'd taken his shirt off at some point during the night, doubtlessly too hot. Sasuke's eyes went to his curse seal. Such a simple symbol for something so powerful. His eyes traced up to the scars on his cheeks – they were less obvious when Naruto smiled. On plain view yet so easy to hide. Whereas Sasuke's..

'See something you like?' Naruto raised an eyebrow at him and gestured at himself. He was truly ridiculous.

'My eyes must be playing tricks on me.'

'So you do like it.' Naruto laughed and pulled him closer, but he didn't do anything, just watched him.

'Want to do something together today?'

'Hn.'

Sasuke began to trace the curse seal with his fingers. He felt a low shudder run through Naruto. They didn't talk much in the day – which was to say Naruto talked as much as he ever did and Sasuke talked significantly less than that. Instead they sparred to the point that Sakura point blank refused to treat any more injuries, and surely anyone would agree the only logical response to that was to fall into the other thing..

'Sasuke,' said Naruto softly. 'I'm tired of your nightmares. You shouldn't dream about bad things. It's no good for you.'

Sasuke's hand stilled.

'So I've decided, we're going to do so much today that when you go to bed tonight you'll be too tired to think about anything bad.'

I can give you a life so full of light you'll forget the darkness. There'll be no time.

Sasuke's hand resumed its ministrations.

'What did you have in mind?'

Naruto grinned, pulling him up for a kiss, gasping into his mouth when Sasuke's hand ventured lower.

'Hmm Sasuke..' Naruto pulled back suddenly. 'I know! I've got it! I know what we should do!'

Sasuke rather thought he had it but he let Naruto speak anyway.

'I mean this, obviously, this is good, but later – ohhh –'

Sasuke squeezed him, growing impatient.

'What later?'

Naruto smiled beautifully at him, not a grin, nothing teasing, just pure and hopeful. Open. Sasuke leaned back in to him, unable to resist, crossing the space between them like water.

'Naruto...'

'Sasuke, let's go running.'

"Every moment of your life that is not a complete nightmare is happiness."
Merrill Markoe

Thank you for reading, reviews are much appreciated!