A/N: Nothing to say really. I regret nothing, and it was fun writing slash which could be the reason for the speedy updates :D To be honest, Naruto x Sasuke is effing canon.
Note: This chapter has SasuNaru (or NaruSasu).
Chapter 4:
The Yin to his Yang
There were a lot of things he didn't understand. How had Sasuke and him come to be together?
As Sasuke was tying back his kimono, Naruto thought to ask him.
"Hey, Sasuke."
"Yeah?"
"How long have we been together now?"
Sasuke thought about it. "Four, no, maybe five years? It was around the time the sixth was retiring and you were being made Hokage." He smiled at the sudden memory. "I brought you a cake, remember?"
Naruto had a lump in his throat. The cake... He hadn't even tasted it. Sasuke had given it to Konohamaru, who had disguised himself as Naruto for the ceremony.
"The day before, we were resting by that big cherry blossom tree in the park, where we trained with the Sixth when we were gennin," Sasuke said, reminiscing. "You drank a little too much that night. Maybe that's why you don't remember what happened that day." Sasuke smiled naughtily.
Hinata had just told him she had seen them in that park.
He had also stopped around that time and told Hinata how much he loved her, and how he'd always need her by her side. Hinata had known about him for that long and she chose to remain silent, sticking by him all these years because of what he said, causing her stress to swell because she thought it was her duty.
"You told me the next day that Hinata hadn't been talking to you and acting strangely. So you had told her how much you love her so that she'd stick with you while you're Hokage. For your good and stable image."
So that's why she was so shocked when he had told her this back then. She had taken that meaning because she had seen them. Apparently, Naruto of that time thought he meant the same words as well, because "Naruto" had been half unconscious when he spoke to Hinata. The problem is, Hinata had not been fooled.
"By the way," Sasuke said. "What brought you to my place at that time last night?"
Naruto felt stressed. "We had a fight. Me and Hinata. Sort of."
Sasuke came to sit beside him and held his hand. "And?"
"And what. Nothing. She told me she had known about us all along."
Sasuke was silent. "Smart girl. I doubt anything escapes her Byakugan."
"She told me to leave."
"Yet again," Sasuke shook his head.
"I don't understand something, though. It's been so many years. Yet she's still obsessed about her dead cousin and what he did for her. For us, I mean. She compared him to me yet again, like you said."
Sasuke was thoughtful. "It was bound to happen. Do you think you could've done all that he did?"
"In a heartbeat! That and more."
He shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. What I meant to say was, would you have knowingly let go of me, knowing that someone else - say, Karin - made me happy and not you? Or would you have continued to fight for me, knowing that made you completely selfish?"
Naruto huffed up. "That's a different case altogether. Neji knew he never stood a chance. Hinata loved me since practically forever."
"Taking on a darker note, why not just let you die so you'd just simply be out of his way?"
Naruto was shocked. This particular thought had never crossed his mind. "They... Couldn't have won the war without me. Without us."
Sasuke shook his head. "That's not the point. His sacrifice made a big impact on her psyche. I know the way she thinks. She's tired of chasing after you all these years and she would rather have someone who spoiled her for a change."
"But I've spoiled her plenty!"
"Apparently not enough. That's just how girls' minds work. That's why she's also finding solace in Kiba's arms. She feels guilty and she thinks you were forced to be with her because of what Neji did, not of your own accord. It became what was expected of you even if you loved her or not. Your involvement with me serves as a low blow. I should add that it wouldn't have mattered that much if it was Sakura you were involved with. That would've been easier for her to wrap her mind around and she would even have given you space."
It did make sense, Naruto thought.
"On the other hand, she also feels guilty and stops herself from loving you irrevocably, because she thinks that'd be an insult to her cousin's memory because he loved her so much and died for her, and she still wasn't able to return his feelings," Sasuke concluded.
"So what you're saying, if Neji had not died, she would not have the guilty weight she's been carrying all these years and having the trouble of loving me fully?"
"Probably. Because, like it or not, your future together has and always will have Hyūga Neji written all over it and that's hard to escape from or ignore."
Naruto was silent, and Sasuke took that time to tidy things around the room.
"You never accepted my offer to run away and start a life of our own," Sasuke points out. "You had your dreams of being Hokage and all the people you thought you'd be hurting."
"And you were too used to running away from everything."
"And neither can I fulfill my dream of rebuilding the Uchiha clan. Yeah, you've said this all before."
"Does your..." He didn't know who Sasuke's wife was in this timeline. "Wife… Suspect? About us?"
"I doubt it. And I also doubt if she cares, so long as I satisfy her needs every once in a while," he says disgustedly.
There was a troubled silence for a moment.
"Sasuke..." He suddenly gets up and walks towards him. He caressed his cheek.
"You're the Yin to my Yang. You know that right?"
Sasuke closes his eyes in affirmation, feeling Naruto's touch.
"But we have the real world to deal with."
"I don't care about that."
"But you should."
"This conversation has happened before. In reverse order," Sasuke mused. "Look at us now. You trying to knock sense into me like I tried to do to you and me being stubborn like you used to be."
"Sasuke... What we have... Will always be special..." Naruto was trying hard not to cry.
"Wait. Uzumaki Naruto, are you trying to break up with me?"
"I... No. I wouldn't say that."
Sasuke put a finger on Naruto's lips, effectively silencing him.
"Then don't say anything at all."
Sasuke smiled as Naruto teared up. He did honestly love Sasuke. But their relationship headed nowhere, and it was full of heartbreaks, suspensions, and dark secrets. He could spend his whole life with Sasuke, yet still be drawn back to the bitter reality of the present afterward. Time had ceased to matter and the real world had apparently vanished even they were together. The daylight brought back with it the crushing weight of his responsibilities. What they had... It was eternal. And it'd benefit everyone and spare many hearts if it remained buried.
"I should head home before she wakes up," Sasuke said. "Until next time, Naruto."
He leaned in and kissed his wet cheek. Tears were flowing freely from Naruto's eyes and covered his face, and he couldn't bring himself to let him go. Instead, he grabbed him by his collar and pulled him in, kissing him roughly. Sasuke returned his desperate kiss with a soft fervor and passion.
"Goodbye... Sasuke." Naruto replied, finally letting go of him.
Naruto let his heart out and cried profusely after Sasuke left, successfully taking a part of his soul with him. He grabbed his chest and clenched his hand on his desk, punching it. He stared aimlessly at the wall and at the picture of Sasuke and him together on his desk. They stood at the ruined battlefield after they won the war. The remnants of the war were still there in the background.
The sun had fully risen up in the sky above his head till Naruto felt strong enough to form the necessary hand seals to take him back in time once more.
