I'm Sorry

Chapter 7: Fate

FAQ's usually sent to the President of the United States. Pshh—uh-huh, yeah. Right. More like the Queen of Spacing Out…and MOCHI! ^_^

Mine? Of course not. Don't own Naruto. *Raises hands up innocently* This is only a story written by some poor, obsessed yaoi fangirl who literally enjoys spacing out and drifting away to the farthest, darkest corner of the universe (because it has cookies XD).

Warnings? YAOI, OOC, fluffiness, and tear-shedding, heartrending moments… TwT (I'm such a sap. XD)

Who? Pshh—Beavis and Butthead. O_O …of course not. XD Sasuke and Naruto, duh! =^w^=

Why? Because I want to, so there! XD And this plot bunny's been bugging me for a while now… ^^"

Notes from the KIT-chan~

The biggest turning point of the story. O.O Be warned again for some tear-shedding moments… TT_TT

Enjoy. ^~^";

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.

~o~

Naruto cried out in pain as a burly man kicked him in the stomach. Then he looked up to see more sinister figures skulking towards him with menacing looks on their faces.

"Naru!" Adrian cried in a muffled tone from the bench. Suddenly, the thug grabbed the top of the little bronze's head and yanked his hair.

In response, the green-eyed boy squealed.

"Leave him alone!" the blonde growled, his eyes intent. But then another man immediately stomped on his back.

"Gah!" the blue-eyed man cried out. He groaned, then looked back at the thug with weary eyes.

At that moment, the thug chuckled impishly. "Not so tough now, are ya?" He cackled and yanked the little bronze's head again.

Young Adrian whimpered, staring back at poor Naruto with sad eyes.

The blonde winced and exhaled sharply. "Like hell you're gonna get away with this."

But in response, the thug merely laughed sardonically at the latter, raising his head up at the sky. Then, he looked at the blue-eyed man again with sarcasm in his eyes.

"Heh, And what makes you think you can do anything about it?"

In that instant, Naruto looked up to see that the thug's henchmen were now hovering over him with cruel smiles on their faces.

The thug chuckled darkly. "You're finished."

At that moment, the blonde stiffened with wide eyes, sweat drops rolling down the back of his neck.

He gulped as the moonlight slowly began to disappear above him, being only replaced with the darkness of his assailants' shadows.

~o~

Sasuke stood there silently with wide eyes after he'd heard the almighty voice speak. And at that moment, he could tell immediately who it was.

The raven swallowed, then opened his mouth to speak towards the cross in the white light in a wary tone.

"What do you want from me now? Haven't you put me through enough?"

But the only response that was given had been nothing but pure silence.

The Uchiha hesitated for a moment, then spoke again uneasily.

"Are you here to take me away? Answer me already."

No reply.

In that instant, the Uchiha understood and closed his eyes, remembering Anthony's last words to him.

"God may have given you a second chance…but it won't last forever. Remember that, for you won't know when he'll come to take you back to the dimension of light."

At that moment, Sasuke thought of Naruto.

How sorrow and indifference had replaced that confident, happy-go-lucky grin on his face…the immense trouble he'd gone through after losing his loved ones before his very eyes…how emotionally hurt and brokenhearted he'd been in the cemetery…

And to think of leaving him alone now…was absolutely out of the question. Even if the raven couldn't touch or talk to his own best friend…he still needed him.

The same with the little bronze who at this very moment may as well be in harm's way…

But as the Uchiha slowly surfaced from his train of thought, the light before him had continued to greet him with complete and utter silence.

The raven paused and let out a sigh. Then he opened his mouth to speak in an unwavering tone. "I'm sorry, but I can't come with you right now."

No response.

But Sasuke only continued without hesitation. He opened his eyes to look at the light with an intent expression on his face.

"My friend is still in pain, and he needs help." He closed his eyes and hung his head. Then he spoke in a hushed tone. "I know that all this time I've screwed everything up between me and him, and that I haven't been able to help him much lately. But despite all that, I need to ask you for another chance, even though I can't do anything for him now."

The raven turned away. "I know it's a lot to ask for…but I can't leave him just yet." His voice faltered and he lowered his head. "He still needs me. Even though I won't be able to help him…I still need him."

He clenched his teeth and exhaled sharply. "I'm sorry."

In that instant, the Uchiha ran headlong into the streets, not looking back even once at the cross in the white light.

Naruto…

~o~

At this point, the poor blonde's body was literally broken. He now lay in the snow with a grim expression on his face.

The thug smirked, almost satisfied with himself…but not just yet. He chuckled sinisterly, then turned to his henchmen.

"Hold him up so I can rub it all in his face."

The assailants nodded, and two of the burly men approached Naruto, roughly holding him up by the shoulders.

The blue-eyed man groaned softly.

The thug grinned haughtily, stepping right in front of the broken blonde. "It hurts, doesn't it?" he gibed.

Naruto stirred and weakly raised his head up to look at the thug with sad, dull eyes.

At that moment, the thug chuckled sinisterly, crossing his arms. "Told you I wasn't gonna let you off that easy." He scoffed. "Who knew you were such a wimp?"

In that instant, the blonde spat at the thug and coldly glared at him. "Who knew you were such a fuckin' coward? Hiding behind your little friends here…you couldn't even take me out yourself."

The thug shrank back and narrowed his eyes at Naruto. Then he grabbed the latter's shirt collar and raised his fist, his teeth clenched. "Why, you—"

"That's enough, Paul," another voice spoke.

At that moment, the thug froze, then slowly let go of the blonde and lowered his fist.

The blue-eyed man relaxed and turned to look in front of him.

A tall, brown-haired man in a business suit with a thin mustache on his face emerged from the crowd of assailants. "Have you done your part to bring them here to me?"

Paul frowned sheepishly and merely nodded once. "Yes, boss."

The brunette paused for a moment, glancing at Naruto. Then he looked around with a stern countenance. "Both of them?"

In that instant, another man emerged from the crowd with a terrified, tied-up Adrian in hand, removing the duct tape over his mouth.

The blonde stiffened. What was really going on here?

At that moment, the brown-haired man smirked. "Excellent." He sighed and glanced at the blue-eyed man again, then turned away with a sinister countenance.

"Carry on," he spoke lightly, raising his hand.

And Paul was about to punch Naruto in the face when the blonde opened his mouth to speak.

"Wait just a minute!" he shouted, his eyes filled with anger.

This made the brunette stop abruptly in his tracks.

The blonde clenched his teeth, glaring at the man. "Just who the hell are you!"

But suddenly, the mustached man whirled around and rushed towards the latter, punching him across the face.

In an instant, the brunette grabbed the blue-eyed man's face with one hand, yanking him close.

He sneered at the latter. "You have no right to speak to me like that, young man." He licked his lips and smirked.

~o~

Sasuke ran as fast as he could through the snow, breathing heavily.

Damn it, I hope I'm not too late here…

He exhaled sharply, then closed his eyes, thinking of the thug as the promenade gradually began to appear in the distance.

~o~

The brown-haired man scoffed, then roughly let go of the blonde's face.

He stepped back slightly to light a cigar from his pocket. "Interesting." The brunette inhaled deeply and blew out a puff of smoke. "Heh." He looked up at Naruto with scornful eyes. "What's wrong, little Naru? Don't you remember me?" The mustached man laughed sardonically.

But the latter only swallowed and stared back with confused but wary eyes.

When all of a sudden, the brunette's laughter stopped and before the blonde knew it, he'd been punched in the ribs.

Naruto cried out and coughed blood, falling down to his knees.

The brown-haired man chuckled darkly as he looked down upon the latter, pulling his fist back. "Well?"

No response.

Then he frowned with a disdained countenance. "Hmph."

The blonde's eyes were wide with disbelief and fear. When he raised his head to look up at the man, he'd been punched across the face and fell face-down on the ground. He cried out again when the brunette had kicked the back of his head, and he winced.

The mustached man cackled sinisterly.

Adrian whimpered as he watched the blue-eyed man suffering before his very eyes.

Naruto shifted over and moaned softly.

And at that moment, the brunette smirked, raising his leg to stomp on the latter when suddenly the little bronze opened his mouth to speak.

"Stop it, Uncle!" the green-eyed boy screamed, his eyes filled with rage and fear.

In that instant, both the blonde and brown-haired man froze, glancing back at young Adrian.

Tears began to well up under his puppy-dog eyes. "No more…" he muttered softly.

~o~

The snow was still falling, and the raven had now reached the promenade. He looked to his left, seeing as the Hudson River was now black as night but not quite frozen, and then he turned to face forward to search for Naruto and Adrian.

At first, the Uchiha could see nothing but snow and darkness.

But that was when he'd heard a small scream. And the voice was definitely familiar.

"Stop it, Uncle!"

The raven stiffened. In that instant, he sprinted headlong into the promenade until he finally reached a point where he could see silhouettes of large, gangly men huddled over in some form of mob or circle.

And he grimaced when he noticed a familiar bench sitting just behind them.

Don't tell me…

At that moment, Sasuke quietly began to approach the shadows before him, and peered over the men's shoulders, only to see that it was, indeed, Adrian who had cried out.

The little bronze was bound with rope and held captive by a burly man with hairy forearms. And for some reason…the raven noticed that the green-eyed boy was crying.

"No more…" young Adrian had mumbled.

In that instant, the Uchiha turned in the same direction as the bronze's gaze, his face already becoming rigid.

And there he saw his best friend, broken and bleeding on the snow with sad eyes.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the deep cuts and purple bruises all over the latter's face.

Dobe…

Then he slightly shifted his eyes past the blonde and the hostile, shadowy figures surrounding him, until his gaze finally focused on a particular tall, brown-haired businessman smoking some cigar.

And stepping on his best friend.

The raven clenched his fists and immediately his gaze turned into an icy glare.

But suddenly, Naruto opened his mouth and managed to speak in a soft but weak tone.

"You…you're Adrian's uncle?"

At that moment, the Uchiha's eyes widened at the latter's comment and he turned to look at the broken blonde. What?

However, instead of giving the blue-eyed man a straight answer, the brunette merely kicked him in the ribs again, which were probably now broken.

Naruto hissed in pain and bit his lip.

Sasuke stiffened in horror as he watched the blonde suffer before him. Then, he narrowed his eyes at the brown-haired man.

The mustached man scoffed with a smirk, then walked back over to the little bronze, who now had a terrified expression on his face. And in that instant, the brunette grabbed the top of young Adrian's head and yanked it up by his hair so that the boy was facing the blue-eyed man.

The green-eyed boy whimpered.

Both Naruto and the Uchiha stiffened where they were.

At that moment, the brown-haired man chuckled once and grinned impishly. "Of course I'm his uncle, you nitwit." Then his grin faded into a dangerous scowl. "Viktor Ambrose—former owner of what was once Ambrose, Inc., one of the most prestigious companies in Manhattan…until your repulsive family came along."

The blonde's eyes filled with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

In that instant, Viktor's eyebrows rose in incredulity. "Oh? Doesn't it ring a bell to you…yet?"

The blue-eyed man only stared back with a perplexed countenance. And even the raven couldn't understand what the brunette was getting at.

But suddenly, Viktor Ambrose let go of Adrian and approached Naruto with a sarcastic look on his face. "Oh, wait—that's right. You don't have a clue of what happened because you weren't even in your daddy's office when his company ruined my life!" His voice rose in anger.

The blonde frowned at the brunette.

At that moment, Viktor smiled scornfully. "But don't you worry your damn head—I don't mind giving you a little…refresher of the mind."

Both Sasuke and Naruto listened with grim expressions on their faces.

The brunette chuckled sardonically and folded his hands together, cigar still hanging from his mouth. "Well, then—where to start?" He took another long drag, then took the cigar out of his mouth, looking up at the sky. "Ah, yes—here we are." He blew out a puff of smoke and continued.

"Back in the days where your father's business didn't even exist yet, two other companies had literally dominated the economy of New York." Viktor chuckled once, closing his eyes. "My company, Ambrose, Inc., and…" He frowned, then whirled around to point at young Adrian. "What was once his father's—aka my younger brother's—business, King Co."

The blonde's eyes widened.

The mustached man smirked. "Yes…back then, little Edward and I would even work together at times between our companies as if they were mutual. I gave him what he wanted and helped him out as needed, while he gave me what I wanted and helped me out as needed." He exhaled sharply. "A lot of compromises back in the good old days when we used to rule the economy."

Suddenly, Viktor was silent and grimaced at Naruto. "But that wasn't until Namikaze Industries came along and ruined the relationship between me and my brother." He sighed. "When your father's business had come to Manhattan, Ambrose, Inc. and King Co. were outdone in just days… And after a while, it was too much to handle for either of us—too much to even think of a solution on how to surpass Namikaze Industries. Each day that passed, we began to lose more business and feared that both our corporations would close down in the end."

The brunette closed his eyes and shook his head. "But one day, I happened to come up with an idea." He opened his eyes. "Back then, I had figured that it would be best for Ambrose, Inc. and King Co. to merge together into one big business, so great that even your father's industry wouldn't even stand a chance. And it was the only solution I could think of to save both our businesses. Even Edward had agreed firsthand."

Suddenly, Viktor frowned and faced the blonde with an icy glare. "But all that changed when your father decided to come along and ruin my plan."

The blue-eyed man was silent.

The brunette clenched his teeth. "When he decided to steal my brother's companionship away from me by offering to merge with his company instead!" He exhaled sharply. "And of course, Edward agreed, leaving me alone in the dust while my business continued to fall apart!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Why didn't you have your company join in, too? My father would have said yes without a problem."

Viktor growled. "Shut up, because that's exactly what little Edward told me to do!" He slapped his head on his forehead and sighed. "'If you can't beat them, join them,' that's what he said. But no…" he spoke in a mocking tone and looked at the blonde. The brunette cleared his throat. "But somehow in the end, I ended up considering the very idea and one night I approached the front desk of Namikaze Industries myself, asking for unity. And what did I get?"

The mustached man snarled and clenched his fists. "I get some asshole named Uchiha, claiming to be your father's right-hand man, walk up to me and refuse right in my face, throwing me out the door and making fun of my mustache! 'Go to the pizza parlor,' that bastard told me."

At that moment, Sasuke stiffened. Without a doubt, that was his father. And at the same time, he remembered one morning when he had brought the event up at the breakfast table… The raven had actually laughed lightly that time… He frowned.

Viktor exhaled sharply. "After that, I never went back in there again. Instead, I ended up taking out all my anger on my brother in his own home and killed him and his wife Elizabeth in the process…" He slowly shook his head. "And then I became afraid of what would happen if anyone else would see, so in the end, I somehow brought myself to have the house burnt down by my associates…although I was still furious at Edward for abandoning me and your father for ruining everything. But what I didn't expect was Edward's children being still alive on the streets. And little did I know that one of them would die of pneumonia."

At that moment, Adrian's eyes widened and he bit his lip, struggling to hold back upset tears. "You bad man!" the little bronze screamed. "You killed Mommy and Daddy! And you knew that Big Brother was sick!"

Immediately, the brunette whirled around and roared. "Shut up!"

Naruto and Sasuke frowned disdainfully. The bastard…

Viktor growled, then glared at the blonde, pointing a finger at him. "It's your father's fault that I lost my company and my brother! He ruined my life!" He exhaled sharply. "But that didn't keep me from ruining yours…and your family's, especially when I learned about your 'relocation' to California."

In an instant, the blue-eyed man stiffened and held his breath. "What do you mean?"

At that moment, the brunette grinned devilishly at Naruto, whose face was now rigid. Then he lowered himself down to the blonde's level and chuckled darkly. "It was Uchiha's son riding with you in that car that night, now wasn't it?"

This time the raven held his breath.

Viktor pursed his lips. "Heh. But of course you two weren't the only ones I aimed for."

The blonde's eyes widened.

~xXx~

Beep!

"SASUKE!"

Crash.

~xXx~

Naruto groaned in pain as he slowly opened his eyes to see what had just happened. But at the moment, his body was numb and his sight was blurry. And he could tell that somewhere at the back of his head, he was bleeding.

The blonde exhaled sharply and struggled to raise his head and look around at his surroundings. And he stiffened when he saw that the car was a complete wreck, the windows shattered and the whole vehicle crumpled up.

The blue-eyed teenager winced. "Help!" he cried out desperately, hoping that someone would hear him.

But there had been no answer.

However, something did make him hold his breath in an instant.

There, head lying motionlessly on his lap, was a raven not much older than he was. He was unconscious and severely bleeding, but what surprised the blonde was that the latter's arms were still wrapped around his waist protectively.

"Teme…" Naruto managed to utter softly, his face rigid. His eyes softened, and he reached down to touch the Uchiha gingerly, then shook him slightly to wake him up.

"Sasuke," the blonde mumbled calmly.

No response.

The blue-eyed teenager swallowed, then turned to see that the raven's legs were hopelessly stuck underneath the dashboard and that he had lost a large amount of blood, especially with the pieces of glass that had stuck to his back. He held his breath, then muttered the Uchiha's name again, shaking his shoulder.

"Sasuke. Wake up."

Silence.

The blonde struggled to hold back a sob. He paused, then desperately shook the latter's shoulder again.

"Sasuke…"

It had been like that for a while, but the raven had been yet to wake up at any moment whatsoever, for his condition was, indeed, fatal.

Naruto sniffled and leaned back on his seat dejectedly, staring aimlessly at the broken windshield as rain began to pour down.

And when he had been about to lose consciousness, he had thought he'd seen red and blue lights flashing in the distance…

~xXx~

The blonde swallowed, sweat drops rolling down the back of his neck. "You…"

The brown-haired man smirked. "Yes."

Naruto's eyes widened.

~xXx~

Beep. Beep. Beep, the monitor had sounded in the hospital room.

The blonde raised his head from his pillow to look at the raven lying unconscious on the other bed at the other side of the room. Bandages were wrapped all over him and his eyes were closed shut.

Naruto's eyes softened. Sasuke…

Suddenly, the door opened, and a nurse dressed in white walked in with a phone in her hand. But for some reason, her face was grim.

"Mr. Uzumaki?"

The blonde looked back at the nurse and nodded once. "Yeah?"

The woman paused, then handed the phone to Naruto. "You have a call."

The latter raised an eyebrow and took the phone in his hand. In an instant, the nurse left the room.

Naruto stared at the phone in confusion, then put it to his ear and spoke. "Hello?"

"Naruto."

At that moment, the blonde recognized the voice immediately. "Mr. Iruka?" But his voice was dripping with anxiety. "What's up?"

There was a pause. "Are you and Sasuke all right?"

Naruto was silent for a moment. Then he spoke in a low voice. "We got into a little car accident, but we're both okay here in the hospital." He paused, the shifted his eyes towards Sasuke, who was still unconscious.

Another long pause. "All right, then. Can I talk to Sasuke for a minute?"

The blonde was silent again, but his face was solemn. "He's still asleep. …wait—why?"

No response.

"Mr. Iruka?"

There was a sigh. "Naruto, there's something you have to know." This time, the voice was serious.

At that moment, the blue-eyed teenager stiffened in response. "What? What is it?" he croaked.

There was a long pause. "There was an accident just this morning."

The blonde raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Huh? But that's us here! We're the ones who were in that accident!" Again, he couldn't help but glance at the Uchiha.

Iruka exhaled sharply on the other line. "No, Naruto—there was another one that happened a few hours after that. Just recently." Another pause. "Are your parents still there with you?"

The latter was silent for a moment. "No…they left a while ago."

"Where?"

Naruto hesitated for a minute. "To the airport. They decided it would be best if I just stayed here with Sasuke while they left for California."

No response.

"…Mr. Iruka?"

Silence.

Then he thought he'd heard the latter hold his breath before he spoke again with pain in his tone.

"The accident that happened this morning…was a plane crash. And it just so happened that that particular plane that crashed…had been on its way to California. There weren't any survivors." His voice faltered.

In that instant, the blonde's face became rigid.

There was a sigh on the other line. "Naruto…it turns out your parents were in that accident."

The latter's eyes widened.

There was a long pause. "I'm so sorry."

No response.

"Naruto…"

"I'll be okay," the blonde cut in with a soft tone. Then after a while, he hung up.

Naruto took a deep breath and laid back on his pillow, pain and sorrow filling his ocean blue eyes.

Mom…Dad…

He held back a sob, tears welling up under his eyes, and turned to look at the raven that still lay unconscious at that moment.

But as the blonde's eyes met the latter's face, Sasuke Uchiha's monitors had blared to life…with flatline.

~xXx~

At that moment, the raven's face was rigid with horror. He swallowed, then turned to look at the blonde, whose face was also rigid and eyes pained. And tears slowly made their way down his whiskered cheeks.

But Viktor only cackled evilly. "It was only a twist of fate that my associates had just been right on time on both occasions. The only thing I didn't expect was that wretched Uchiha shielding you from the same fate he faced himself."

Naruto's face twisted up in deep, emotional hurt. He clenched his fists. "You asshole…"

The brunette smirked.

In that instant, the blonde's eyes became intent with rage and sadness. "You took everything away from me that day!"

At that moment, Viktor frowned. "Not quite. And it's only fair that I put you all through the same pain I did when I lost everything myself."

Naruto bit his lip and lowered his face to the ground, clawing at the snow.

The mustached man grinned impishly in response. "That's right—feel the loss."

The blonde let out a strangled sob. "Fuck you…"

Viktor only cackled again. "Yes, and I'm still not finished with you yet."

The blue-eyed man froze.

The brunette chuckled darkly. "You all ruined my life back then, and now I'm going to ruin yours up to the very end. Both of you." He turned to look at the little bronze.

At that moment, Naruto looked up at the latter with an intent glare.

Adrian gulped.

But suddenly, Viktor whirled around to face the blonde again with a sinister smile. "And guess who I'm starting with."

In that instant, the shadowy figures surrounding the latter began to close in around him, while another group went after the little bronze.

Both let out a cry.

Shit, the Uchiha thought to himself as he stood in the distance, his eyes darting from left to right.

What the hell could he do, now that his friends were now in grave danger?

"Help me!" Adrian screamed.

Sasuke exhaled sharply. I can't frickin' do anything because of this 'guardian angel' crap…

Suddenly, a cry of pain could be heard from where Naruto had last been seen.

The raven closed his eyes and hung his head. Damn it—what the hell am I supposed to do?

He growled in frustration, and in the process, ended up slamming his hand against a nearby tree. But that didn't matter anyway, because it would just fade through as it did before.

However…this time, that wasn't the case.

Sasuke's eyes immediately flipped open when he instantly heard cries of complaint near where he was standing. He paused, then looked up to see that some of the assailants near Adrian were now covered with snow.

At that moment, the Uchiha raised an eyebrow. What the… He glanced over them to see that there had been a branch from the same tree above, specks of snow still falling off of it. Then the raven shifted his eyes towards his hand, which was still on the tree trunk. And he pushed again as hard as he could, only to see that this time, it didn't fade through.

Sasuke shrank back in astonishment and looked at his hand with wide eyes. But how?

Suddenly, he remembered just who he'd seen right before he came here.

Him…

The raven paused, then walked near the crowd of thugs in an instant and reached forward.

If he could touch inanimate objects now…

The thug in front of him immediately turned around when he felt a hand on his shoulder. And his eyes widened in an instant.

"Hey—you're the one that Boss killed…"

The Uchiha frowned and merely shoved him out of the way. Then he turned forward to see that other thugs were now looking at him as if they'd just seen a ghost.

"Where'd he come from?"

"I thought he was dead!"

"It can't be…"

Sasuke grimaced. So. The morons can see me now…

He shrugged once, then shifted his gaze from left to right until he focused on the young bronze being tortured at the moment.

"Let me go!" Adrian cried.

At that moment, the raven glanced over to where his best friend was and winced.

If he knew Naruto, it's that he wouldn't go down that easily…so he probably would be able to hold up a little longer. Plus, something told him that if he didn't save the kid first, the blonde would be really pissed at him…

The Uchiha sighed, looking back to his right.

And he was about to push away the thug in front of him when suddenly…

"It's over, kid! It all ends here!"

In that instant, Sasuke whirled around, and immediately his eyes widened.

Just near the edge of the Hudson River, there stood Viktor Ambrose with a triumphant grin n his face. But what made the raven stiffen was the switchblade the man was holding in his hand, raised up to the sky.

And as the Uchiha shifted his eyes towards where the brunette was looking, he held his breath. There lay his best friend in the snow, broken and helpless…

Without question, Sasuke began sprinting through the crowd of thugs on his left, fighting his way through.

Naruto…

Viktor cackled evilly, the blade glistening under the moonlight.

The blonde moaned softly, and rolled over on his back to look up at the brunette with sad eyes.

Damn it! the raven thought to himself.

The brunette smirked sinisterly. "You're finished." He frowned, then began to bring his hand down.

And Naruto instantly closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow.

But for some reason…it never came.

At that moment, the blonde froze and slowly opened his eyes. And what he saw was incredible but in a blurred vision.

Viktor now lay in the snow with a terrified expression on his face, and in front of him stood a shadowy figure that looked so familiar…

The mustached man gaped as he saw the raven standing before him. He began to blubber.

"Impossible! You're dead! You should have been killed in that accident!"

But the Uchiha only narrowed his eyes with contempt. Then he held up the switchblade that he now held in his hand. "Shut the hell up if you value your life."

However, Viktor blubbered again and only ended up fainting in the process.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, then turned to help his broken best friend.

In that instant, he knelt down on his knees and held the blonde close on his lap. "Naruto…"

He was shivering.

At that moment, the Uchiha winced as he saw the bleeding cuts and bruises all over Naruto's body…and where he had been hit the most—those bones probably broken already…

But all the blonde could say in that instant was this—still not able to recognize the person before him.

"Help…help Adrian…"

In response, Sasuke stiffened, then turned to his right to see the crowd of thugs still moving around and yelling. But without hesitation, he nodded once to the latter and gently put him down, rushing towards the group of assailants.

The raven pushed and shoved through the crowd until he finally came across the little bronze, now unconscious but untied in the snow. Then he began to fight off the rest of the thugs and held young Adrian close.

Until suddenly, everyone froze when a loud gunshot had sounded.

In that instant, the Uchiha raised his head to look in the distance. And what he saw made his eyes widen and his mouth gape.

Out in front of the whole scene, Viktor Ambrose stood once again at the edge of the Hudson River.

…and he had a gun in his hand. But what's more…it seemed as if he was aiming for Sasuke and the little bronze in his arms.

However…he had hit something—or someone else.

Out in the distance, there stood Naruto Uzumaki—his chest pressed in front of the gun—and a growing stain of crimson-red at the back of his shirt…

Immediately, the raven gaped in horror as he watched the blonde collapse into the dark waters of the Hudson River.

SPLASH.

The Uchiha held his breath, his face becoming rigid in an instant.

"DOBE!"

~o~

Notes from the KIT-chan~

My friends, the end is near. Find out what happens next in the upcoming and FINAL chapter of this story. O.O

Thank you for staying with me this far in the story and please REVIEW… TT_TT

Ja ne. T.T

.::.*~Kitsune~*.::.