Part 10:

"Naruto! Dobe, where did you run off to?" Sasuke called out into the woods. He didn't have to wait long to find Naruto sitting with his back against a tree, just beyond the dirt road that led up to the cabin. Sasuke had a sneaking feeling Naruto hadn't gone far because he'd been worried about the people still inside the house.

The blonde glared at him when he saw Sasuke approaching.

"Why did you follow me? I said I wanted to think alone!"

"You can't do everything alone." Sasuke replied, looking down at Naruto with his hand on his hip.

Naruto scoffed, casting Sasuke a dubious sideways glance. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

"That's because I can do everything alone," Sasuke said as he sat down beside Naruto, their shoulder's touching innocently. "But you can't."

"Why the hell not?" Naruto growled. He seemed to think Sasuke was looking down on him, but he wasn't. Sasuke just stared him straight in the eyes and replied honestly,

"Because you don't like to be alone. Naruto… you have to go back to the village."

Naruto turned upon him with wide eyes, not willing to believe his ears.

"Sasuke I-"

"Listen," Sasuke said, placing his hand on Naruto's gently. "You heard what that weird, smiling copy-"

"Sai," Naruto correctly with a slight frown. Sasuke ignored him and rolled his eyes.

"-said. And he's right, I guess. The Leaf needs you, and you need it."

"Sasuke," Naruto said thickly. "You don't- you don't understand. I can't be away from you anymore. I won't! I don't care what it takes, I will stay with you!"

Sasuke had a feeling Naruto would say that, and really, he had no intention of leaving Naruto at all. He'd only said that to Sai because the idea he'd had might mean leaving Naruto eventually. But not for long, of course. He didn't even think he could at this point. But he had an idea, because he knew something had to be done. Naruto had given up so much for him… he needed to give something up to. Even if that something was Naruto himself.

"I have an idea," Sasuke stated, tilting his head as he spoke, and even as he did he realized how much he didn't like his own idea.

"You, and Sakura and Kakashi, you all go back to the village. Tell them you left me because I tried to kill you or something idiotic like that. You become Hokage-"

"I already said-!"

"Naruto, you have to. It's your dream. This is your chance! You've got to take it!"

"I don't get it- what about you?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to follow you back to the village and when we get there, I'll transform into someone else so I can stay with you without anyone trying to fight it. We can be together and you can be Hokage and-"

Naruto groaned and threw his head back against the tree.

"You wanna liiiie?"

"Yes." Sasuke replied with a nod instantly. "It's the only way. Or…"

"Or?"

"If you think my staying inside the village is too dangerous I can live just outside. I'll go underground somewhere just outside the Leaf, and you can visit me."

"That is a terrible idea."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, half frowning.

"Because," Naruto muttered defensively, "I wouldn't want to have to wait to see you."

He flipped the hand that was below Sasuke's hand over so their fingers meshed together and his skin felt warm against Sasuke's.

"Er, plus I'm a bad liar."

Sasuke smiled lightly.

"Yeah. You are."

It was quiet for a while. Naruto let his head fall onto Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke felt so relaxed when he was touching Naruto. Every second he wasn't touching Naruto he felt like he was going to go crazy.

If they did go back to the land of Fire, Sasuke realized he would actually miss this cabin and the woods that surrounded it. For some reason he and Naruto kept running to them whenever they needed to be alone, which wasn't too surprising, considering how crowded the house was getting. The woods were the only place they could go for some privacy. Sakura bursting in on them that morning was proof of that.

Sasuke sighed. That morning already seemed so long ago now. Since Sai appeared and everything started going to crap, Sasuke missed the peace of the day before.

Naruto suddenly spoke up quietly,

"Um, Sasuke? You didn't do anything bad to Sai, did you?"

Sasuke looked away guiltily. That kind of depended on your definition of "bad."

"Maybe I was a bit harsh, but I had good reason."

Naruto gave him a quizzical look. Sasuke frowned.

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked bluntly. It was so blunt, Sasuke had to pause for a moment to make sure Naruto wasn't just being sarcastic. He rolled his eyes at Naruto's genuine confusion.

"You really are a moron sometimes, do you know that? People are looking at you differently now that we aren't kids anymore. Sakura was doing it, and Sai, and now that I think about, Gaara too."

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again at Naruto's obliviousness. Obviously he would need to show Naruto what he was talking about before the dumb blond would understand.

He turned towards him and stared deeply into those bright pools of blue then said simply,

"Naruto, how am I looking at you right now?"

Naruto was confused at the question at first, but slowly Sasuke's eyes drew him in. A blush formed on his face and he gave Sasuke a broad, excited smile.

"Like you wanna kiss me," he said with a voice of someone expecting to be kissed. Barely had he gotten his words out and Sasuke shook his head and replied flatly,

"Wrong."

This upset Naruto more than Sasuke thought it would, but somehow he enjoyed seeing the expressions change on Naruto's face from excitement to worry. But he couldn't take that look for long, and he leaned in, holding Naruto's face firmly in his hand and lifting his chin in a display of dominance, staring down at Naruto boldly as he said,

"I'm looking at you like I want to own you."

Naruto gulped and Sauske decided that now he could give Naruto that kiss. With a sly smirk, he lifted Naruto's face to his own and pressed their lips together lightly. In their silent, body communication, Naruto heard very clearly,

You belong to me.

He pushed Sasuke away glaring, and became even angrier when Sasuke continued to smile.

"You don't own me, Teme!"

"I wasn't finished." Sasuke said with an amused edge to his voice as he hold on tightly to either side of Naruto's face, gently pulling him closer so their lips touched once more, and as the kiss deepened, Naruto realize that he had indeed missed something.

I own you… and you own me, too.

When Sasuke broke the kiss this time Naruto was smiling. Dammit, Sasuke loved that smile! He sat back against the tree and Naruto mimicked him as Sasuke added aloud,

"You see? Only I am allowed to look at you like that."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, not really listening. He'd completely forgotten why Sasuke had done that to begin with and now he didn't very much care. His lips were tingling too much for him to think about anything but how good Sasuke tasted.

Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh; aware that his little display had not had the effect he'd wanted.

"What were you saying, Sasuke?" Naruto asked again, trying to shake himself out of his daze.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment. Maybe it was better that Naruto be oblivious to the looks of other people. With a content smile, Sasuke replied with a shrug,

"Never mind."

Naruto exhaled, frowning slightly as a thought occurred to him. Sasuke didn't even have to ask before Naruto started explaining that frown to him in a curiously flat tone of voice.

"You know, when you kiss me and- and other things, I don't even care about anything else."

Sasuke nodded, understanding perfectly the feeling Naruto was describing. He also understood when Naruto's head fell and his eyes darkened and he added insad undertone,

"But we can't kiss forever…"

And all of the sudden the old Naruto that Sasuke loved, the Naruto who smiled and called him "Teme" and held onto him when they slept together, that Naruto wasn't there anymore. The new Naruto was back. Back to that stern scowl that held steady on his face as if he were always in constantly deep thought, no room for love or playful touches. This was the same Naruto Sasuke had seen while they had been travelling, before he'd understood the meaning behind those deep gazes and expressions that looked as though Naruto were angry with himself. He knew now why Naruto had looked that way. Naruto had been angry with himself. He'd been angry because he'd fallen in love with Sasuke when he wasn't supposed to. Now he was angry with himself because his love for Sasuke was causing others pain.

He stood to his feet and Sasuke followed after, realizing that somehow Naruto had just made up his mind about what they were going to do. Sasuke lowered his gaze in acceptance of whatever Naruto chose.

When they entered the house they found Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai sitting silently in the living room. It was obvious from their expressions that they hadn't been silent up until Naruto and Sasuke walked into the room.

"Bee left. He said he knew you would figure out the right thing to do. But he said it in rhyme." Kakashi said monotonously as 3 pairs of eyes fell on Naruto expectantly.

"Did you decide, Naruto?" Sai asked, trying to hide the nervous doubt that was appearing on his face. He didn't know what he would do if Naruto refused to return. His mission had only dictated that he had to get Naruto come home.

Naruto took a deep breath, but when he looked up, there was no glimmer of hesitation on his face.

"We're going back to the village." He said, and the other's reactions were instantaneous. Sakura's tense expression transformed into one of pure joy. It hit her right then how much she missed everyone and everything in the Leaf village. Kakashi nodded in acceptance though Sasuke had a feeling he had already known what Naruto was going to say. Sai was as thrilled as Sakura, but didn't like how Sasuke didn't react at all. He waited because he understood that Naruto was going to say more.

"We're all going back to the village!" Naruto finished sternly, and Sai rose to his feet in a flash as Sakura's happy expression fell slightly.

"That isn't how it works, Naruto!" Sai said loudly. "Weren't you listening? There were only two choices. Either you leave Sasuke or you don't come back. There isn't a third choice."

"There's always a third choice!" Naruto scowled, his voice and decision unwavering. "Or there isn't any choice at all…"

"What exactly are you planning on doing once we get to the village then, may I ask?" Sai's tone was sarcastic and angry. It pissed Sasuke off, but he held his tongue.

Naruto gave Sai no answer, much to everyone's surprise. He completely ignored the question and said instead,

"Sai, send a message to the village telling them we are coming back. Don't add anything else."

It seemed momentarily that Sai was going to argue, but a second later he dropped his defensive stance and nodded his head slowly, walking out onto the back porch and pulling a pen and piece of paper from his backpack. Everyone watched silently as he scribbled the message and made a few handsigns so the letters he'd written transformed into a bird and flew off into the setting sun. When he came back inside he fixed Naruto with nervous look as if asking, "what next?"

"We'll leave in the morning, so everyone get a good nights rest. Kakashi, there was another extra bed in your room, wasn't there? Sai can sleep there for the night."

Kakashi nodded and with a heavy sigh, Naruto began down the hallway to his and Sasuke's room.

"Naruto," Sakura said softly, "It isn't even dinner time yet, you aren't going to sleep, are you?"

"I'm just going to take a nap, Sakura, don't worry. Can you wake me up when it's dinner time?"

She nodded and gave him a faint smile, which he returned halfheartedly and continued down the hall. Sasuke followed after him, glad that Naruto wasn't telling him not to. He turned around before they turned the corner into the narrow hallway and saw Sai staring angrily at them walking so close together to the room they shared. He had the smallest desire to stick his tongue out, but resisted strongly, sure that Naruto would be upset with him if he did.

When they closed the door to their room and Naruto collapsed onto his bed, Sasuke sitting carefully on the edge of his, he asked quietly,

"Do you have any idea what you're going to tell the village when we get there?"

Naruto rolled over, facing the wall.

"No, I dunno, I mean…" his voice faded and he shook his head. Sasuke wasn't even sure Naruto was really talking to him when he added softly before he stopped replying altogether, "Maybe… the truth?"

Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's innocent stupidity. When did telling the truth ever work out well in the end? And yet, Sasuke felt obliged to follow along with any foolish plan Naruto would come up with. As long as it meant staying with Naruto, then he would be okay.

A few hours later Sakura informed Sasuke that it was dinnertime so he could wake Naruto. He sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed and used one hand to tilt Naruto's face upwards, amused at how relaxed he looked while asleep. He then chose the more entertaining of ways to wake Naruto up. He bent his head and pressed his lips against Naruto's. It did the trick and Naruto opened fluttering blue eyes a moment later.

"Sakura says dinnertime."

Naruto rolled over sleepily, unwilling to admit he was embarrassed by the way Sasuke had chosen to wake him.

"Tell her I'm not hungry."

"No way," Sasuke replied, pulling Naruto into a sitting position as Naruto groaned his disagreement. "I'm not eating dinner with that pale freak without you. You wouldn't want something to happen to him, would you?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes as if saying, "you wouldn't," and Sasuke shrugged, pulling Naruto by the front of his jacket out into the hallway towards the dining room.

"I might."

Naruto held him back before they entered and pressed their heads together so he could mutter quietly, "Don't do anything, Sasuke. Please."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but nodded all the same. The sleep had improved Naruto's mood but, unfortunately for Sasuke, it didn't last long. As soon as they entered the dining room Sakura just had to ask,

"Naruto, good, there you are. I was wondering when we were going to leave tomorrow morning? I want to know if I should pack tonight or…"

Naruto's entire demeanor changed when he was reminded of the coming choice he was to make. Sasuke half-glared at Sakura, though she didn't even notice. It was bad enough she'd mentioned it and made Naruto remember he was supposed to be thoughtful and depressed, but she wasn't even trying to hide how happy she was to be going back.

"Oh," Naruto muttered, then scowled as he sat down at the table and said firmly, "Early. We leave early tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked as he and Sai took their seats at the table as well and Sakura began serving the food. "There isn't really a rush, Naruto. No ones going to die if we're a little-"

"No," Naruto cut him off insistently. "The sooner we get back, the better."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he carefully ate the dinner Sakura had made, but he was sure Naruto wanted to get back to the Leaf faster because he wanted to spend less time mulling over what might happen if they still refused to allow him back in the village. And he wasn't so confident that Naruto's plan of "telling the truth" would work out. Regretfully, he knew that if they refused to allow him back inside, and that was still the best worst-case scenario (the worst being some sort of battle beginning because they were determined for him to die), Naruto would be horribly upset. He loved the Leaf village more than anything.

Well, not more than anything. He loved only one thing more, and that was what this whole thing was about. But other people just couldn't understand. People like Shikamaru and Sai and Sakura. They didn't know what it was like to not have a choice. Naruto and Sasuke no longer had a choice. They would be together or they would die together. That was it.

Naruto didn't eat much though Sakura tried a few times to get him to eat more. Even with his nap just beforehand, he seemed tired, and halfway through dinner he pushed his plate away from him and stood from the table with a grimace plastered across his face. Sasuke wouldn't have even moved in reaction but that damn Sai had to stand up quickly right after Naruto and make him hesitate on his way back to their bedroom.

"Naruto wait, I- I want to talk to you. Just for a moment, please?"

The drained expression on Naruto's face seemed to increase but he nodded and followed Sai out onto the porch, just out of view of the dining room. Kakashi and Sakura just tried to ignore the way Sasuke's hands clenched tightly around his knife and edge of the table.

Outside, Sai wasted no time in explaining his thoughts to Naruto.

"Naruto, I understand now."

"Understand what?" Naruto asked, tired but also a bit curious.

"Why you're doing all these things. I understand. It's because you love Sasuke, isn't it? I always thought it was Sakura that you loved but now I'm starting to think that sometimes what looks like hate can actually be love."

"Did that jerk tell you that?" Naruto fumed, trying not to show his embarrassment at being revealed to yet another one of his friends. He sighed, realizing that if things went they way he was planning, he would eventually have to tell everyone.

Sai looked away as he replied, his voice sinking a note lower,

"No… He showed me his waist."

At first Naruto was confused, but slowly he began to realize what Sai was implying as he remembered what he and Sasuke had done earlier that day out in the woods. He suddenly had the same feeling Sasuke had had where earlier that morning seemed so very, very long ago. His exhaustion came back and nearly overtook his embarrassment, but then another emotion came to the forefront of his mind; frustration.

"It isn't- me and Sasuke aren't just like that! No one gets it! You all- you all just think Sasuke and I are doing this because we 'love' each other or some bullshit like that, but that's not right! Why is it so complicated? We like being together, and doing that stuff together, but it's more than just physical, and I can't… I can't explain it."

He really couldn't explain it. The bond between him and Sasuke was so different from anything else he'd ever experience, from anything anyone had ever experienced; there weren't exactly the right words to describe it just yet. Love was just a word- it was the feeling that had Sasuke and Naruto hooked. But how could he convey that to others?

Slowly, it dawned upon Naruto that that was exactly what he needed to do. He needed to find a way to explain the feeling of having no other choice but to do anything to be with Sasuke. That was it! That was the only way they would understand! If only he could explain it clearly he was sure they would let both he and Sasuke return to the village, and everything would go back to way it was supposed to be!

Finally, Naruto had a plan.

Explaining the situation wasn't enough. To win over his friends, to win over the entire Leaf village, Naruto would need to find a way to explain a feeling.

He had all but forgotten Sai was there with him. He wasn't as tired anymore. He was thrilled, but also scared. What if he couldn't figure out how to convey it correctly?

His weariness overcame him once again and he glanced at Sai apologetically.

"Sorry, Sai, didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Luckily, Sai was very good at keep expression from his face; otherwise he would have betrayed all the pain and sadness that was swelling up inside him in that moment. Yes. He had wanted to talk to Naruto about something. He had wanted to confess his feelings to Naruto, even if he thought it was useless. He had wanted to hold Naruto close to him and touch him with sexual intent because that was what his little brain was telling him to do. But now how could he? Naruto had made it very clear that the bond he had with Sasuke was something Sai didn't even understood.

The fake smile appeared on Sai's face like the first traces of death in a sickly human as he replied softly,

"No, I just wanted to tell you that I understood. You should probably go get some sleep now, Naruto."

And with that, they walked back inside, Sai sitting down at the table as Sasuke stood and followed Naruto directly back to their room.

"Did he do anything to you?" Sasuke asked darkly before shutting the door behind him.

Naruto just shook his head and fell onto his unmade bed. He was quiet for a while and Sasuke thought he was being silently dismissed, but just as he was about to leave their room, Naruto muttered a question quietly,

"How long will it take us to get back to the Leaf?"

Sasuke frowned, wondering why Naruto was asking.

"Probably three or four days. Why?"

Naruto say up but didn't catch Sasuke's eye as he replied softly,

"Don't… don't touch me for those days."

A familiar frown appeared on Sasuke's face and his brain went into fireworks of questions and worries stemming from Naruto's sudden decision.

"Why?" He felt justified to ask.

Naruto turned away to lie back down.

"Because I have some things I need to think over."

That was clearly all he was going to say about it and Sasuke could do nothing but calmly leave the room, closing the door behind him as he followed the familiar path into the woods and found a tree that was absolutely perfect for charring a huge black dent in with a powerful chidori. He roared his frustration with the initial attack then groaned angrily as he punched the tree again for good measure.

He was getting frustrated with the current situation and if he wasn't allowed to fight something he at least needed another way to vent his built-up temper. He could only allow Naruto to rob him of so much; it seemed he'd already taken all of his dignity and half of his freewill. And yet… something in Naruto's voice and body language had made him obey.

It was probably because he could tell that Naruto didn't want this pent-up feeling of frustration either, he was just thinking logically. He said he needed to think… Sasuke recalled broodingly. Somehow it amused him to think that when he was a kid he would have said that he didn't know Naruto even knew how to think.

"It's good to know the technique I spent so long teaching you is put to good use as a method of stress relief."

Sasuke spun around to see Kakashi leaning casually against the side of a tree with his book held open, his eyes scanning across the pages in the moonlight. When Sasuke turned around he looked up and put his book back in his pocket.

"Why don't you try attacking something that can actually defend itself?" He asked lightly, and took a fighting stance.

Sasuke was surprised, but then he smirked at the challenge. He hadn't had a good fight in a long time. Mostly because he just hadn't cared who he was fighting in a long time. It interesting him to test his skills against his old teacher, and the idea of relieving stress appealed to him more than he would have liked to admit. Naruto's sudden chastity, though he understood it was for a reason, was a just another thing trying his patience in the last day.

"Just remember to go easy on me, I'm getting old you know." Kakashi was obviously smiling beneath his mask as Sasuke took a step forward, his fingers already sparking with the building of fiery chakra beneath his skin.

The next morning was unusually cool and the clouds were low in the trees, creating a thick fog for the five of them to trek through. Killer Bee arrived before dawn to guide them down the mountain road and through the nearby village. Naruto recognized a few of the villagers he'd befriended when he'd gone down for supplies a few days before, but only managed small smiles when they waved at him. Everything seemed vastly different than it had on that morning. And it occurred to him as they parted ways with Killer Bee that everything was different.

He glanced at Sasuke and noticed that his glance was not returned. Although it hurt, he understood the reason behind it. There was no anger in Sasuke's posture. He was ignoring Naruto because Naruto had told him to, because it was for the best.

Until they reached the village Naruto needed to spend all of his energy coming up with some sort of plan to convince his friends of the pure attachment and strength of the bond between he and Sasuke. He knew Shikamaru would be the hardest to convince, at least from the way Shikamaru had acted that had started all of this.

And as much as he really, really didn't want to reveal the more physical side of his and Sasuke's relationship (not only because it was embarrassing, but because it always seemed to make people misunderstand), he had a feeling it would be necessary as well as the only way to properly convey the situation.

Besides, Naruto didn't want to hide things from the people he cared about. He'd seen too many scenarios where hiding the truth led to mistrust and violence. Honesty was always the safer option.

But what if it wasn't enough?

The five of them travelled this way; quiet, sober, disheartened, for the entire day until night fell and they had to make camp. Naruto was only half listening as Kakashi explained to him that they had only barely made it out of Lightning, despite not having stopped once. He thought they probably ended up going over a few mountains they could have avoided if they'd been paying closer attention to the map.

"You do seem a bit distracted, Naruto. Maybe you should turn in for the night."

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, the bringer of all his burden, and the comfort that brought meaning to his life. Sasuke noticed his glance and tensed under his gaze. He was struggling not to look back, but Naruto didn't notice. He just sighed heavily and nodded towards Kakashi, handing his former teacher the map and slouching off to the side of the camp to retrieve his sleeping mat and lay it farthest away from Sasuke as he could manage.

But upon seeing Sasuke's face contort into an angry scowl and towards an area just beside his selected spot for sleeping where Sai was sitting, innocently drawing in his sketchbook, Naruto got up and shifted his position so he was closer to Sakura. He didn't look up again and tried to stop himself thinking about how fast Sasuke's jealousy made his heart beat as he stared into the flames of their campfire until finally drifting off the sleep.

He was completely unawares of what went on after his eyes closed for good.

Sasuke risked one small glance at the sleeping figure of Naruto to make sure he was definitely out for good and then quick as a flash of lightning, leap to the opposite side of the fire to grab a tight hold of Sai's right hand, stopping his pencil from touching the paper of his sketchbook.

"I knew it!" Sasuke snarled quietly as to not wake Naruto, tearing the sketchbook from Sai's hands as Sai fought to try and reclaim it.

Sakura got into a position ready to break up a fight if one broke out between Sasuke and Sai, and Sasuke was almost glad she was there because the chances of him loosing his head enough to actually attack Sai were growing. He flipped the pages of Sai's sketchbook as the owner of the book stared at him in silent loathing and fury- with just a hint of insolent delight.

The pages of the sketchbook were full of pictures of Naruto. Most were just black and white, but as Sasuke flipped through, growing angrier with each page, he noticed some with full color, some done only in vibrant warm tones, and some that looked more like they came from inside Sai's head than real life. Most were very recent, but there were many that were not. That pissed Sasuke off even more. Sai had been staring and drawing Naruto longer than he liked.

"I thought I made it clear, replacement. Don't. Go. Near. him."

"Sasuke, don't be a dick." Sakura interrupted, glaring darkly at her former crush. He was surprised at her bold, unrefined choice of words, but they actually had the effect she'd desired, especially when she added in a slightly lower tone,

"Naruto won't like it when you act like this."

Sasuke snorted, put a bit to shame by her statement, but still angrily flung the sketchbook back at Sai and roared softly,

"I can't help it! He's provoking me, and Naruto's too naïve to even notice!"

"Sakura is right, Sasuke," Kakashi spoke up, and Sasuke jerked his head in his old teacher's direction. He'd regained some of the respect he used to have for Kakashi after their fight the night before, and even if he didn't want to hear them, listened to his words silently.

"It will be for the best, for you and Naruto as well, if you learn some humility and restraint."

He snorted and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath as he stared away from the fire light,

"Uchiha's don't know what humility is."

"Just restraint then?" Kakashi replied, and though he seemed serious, underneath that he was a bit amused. Though Sasuke himself would never admit it, he was pouting like a bratty child. Kakashi understood more than anyone because he was the most observant that this bad mood, shared by Sasuke and Naruto, was due to the distance they'd placed between themselves. He was confident that when they allowed themselves to be together again they would relax a bit; but teaching Sasuke a thing or two until then couldn't hurt.

After a minute of frustrated pacing, Sasuke sunk down to the ground, glaring through the flickering fire at Naruto's now snoring figure. Kakashi laughed to himself.

"I've never seen you get so worked up over something," he said lightly. "Well, aside from your revenge."

Sasuke glanced in his direction but gave no reply as his mind sunk back into the past, memories of hate and rage-filled images swimming across his thoughts. Despite the fire's close proximity, he felt the coolness of the night air penetrating his skin like he was being submerged in water.

Itachi.

Sasuke hadn't thought much about Itachi recently. But that was probably for the best. Thinking about Itachi always made his eyes hurt.

He wondered what his brother would think about Naruto, about his relationship with Naruto.

He imaged Itachi would most likely not care. From careful consideration of his actions, it was clear Itachi only really seemed to care about two things: keeping Sasuke alive, and making Sasuke strong.

Sasuke had a feeling Itachi never really thought past Madara's defeat, though if he did, he sure as hell didn't let anyone know what he thought. Maybe he just hadn't imagined that Madara would actually be defeated at all. Maybe he didn't have any clue what the future would look like.

Or, and Sasuke frequently found himself believing this idea's verisimilitude over's; Itachi always had an almost perfect prediction of the future and every single action he made was in accordance to that prediction. Sometimes this idea seemed more logical than others, but it had no factual backing and Sasuke eventually dismissed it as simply insane. His brother hadn't been a prophet or a seer. The sharingan didn't give him powers to see into the future or know things others did not (that power didn't exist… to Sasuke's knowledge). Itachi simply followed his single-minded goals with such tenacity and confidence, he made things happen the way he wanted so it seemed he was in complete control of them at all times.

Sasuke wished he had Itachi's strength of mind, but understood that that was just another thing Itachi would always be better at than he was.

Humility? He thought to himself as he reached up to tenderly rub his eyes. They had begun to ache, but Sasuke didn't even notice. Hn, Itachi might have been the only Uchiha ever capable of any kind of humility. He opened his eyes wearily and saw Naruto's chest rising and falling along with his even breathes as he slept. Sasuke's eyes seemed to hurt less as he watched Naruto sleeping peacefully underneath the moonlight.

He had a suddenly interesting thought. Naruto and Itachi were similar in one way: their determination not to give up, to give their all for their cause.

Itachi and Naruto were actually similar in one other way, though Sasuke lacked the temerity to even think it to himself. Itachi and Naruto were both hopelessly and unexplainably devoted to him. The cause they were both so determined to give their all for was a cause they happened to share.

And that cause was Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto was not actually doing as Sasuke thought; sleeping peacefully. He was, in fact, having a very strange dream. It was strange, but not altogether unfamiliar.

He was a child again, small, shaggy head of hair with a white t-shirt and shorts. He looked around to see a familiar stretch of road before him and a hill leading down to a small lake to his left.

A strange feeling rose up inside him as he glanced down the hill to see the back of a very familiar head sitting at the end of a dock. It was a nostalgic feeling from his childhood mixed with more recent feelings, and all of the sudden he noticed that he was no longer a child, though the boy on the dock remained the same. Something felt like it was pulling Naruto towards that dock, towards that messy, dark hair and slender back, hunched over and all alone.

Alone. Naruto remembered what it felt like to be alone. Perhaps it was because of his dream-state, but he felt it as though he were still that young child walking past that dock with a strange, unspoken connection with the boy sitting by the water.

But he couldn't call out to him, couldn't make him turn around. Something stopped him and his hands clenched tightly as he walked past the dock, staring determinedly straight ahead. But when he next looked up he realized he hadn't moved an inch, he was still walking just past the hill leading down to the dock.

His eyes sought that small back again, a perfect outline against the sun setting and reflecting off the water. Slowly, the boy started to turn around. His eyes caught Naruto's and for a moment he seemed nothing like a child. Naruto felt like the child. He couldn't breathe.

He smiled down at the boy and their eyes locked as the boy smirked back confidently, causing Naruto to nervously break the gaze and try to walk faster down the road, but to no avail. When he looked at the water again, the boy had turned back around. Naruto wanted to call out. He wanted to!

But he couldn't. He closed his eyes and kept walking and walking, going nowhere at all. From behind him he suddenly heard a voice.

"Why don't you say anything to him?"

Naruto finally stopped in his tracks, and the entire dream seemed to freeze as he did. Cautiously, he turned around, only to find himself face-to-face with someone he never would have expected to be found in his dream- Itachi Uchiha.

Being that it was a dream, Naruto shrugged it off as "one of those weird dream-things," and merely replied honestly to Itachi's question.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Itachi countered astutely.

"Because," Naruto replied with a bit of an annoyed glared. Itachi watched him curiously as Naruto's expression then changed to one of sadness and regret. The scene around the two of them changed along with his expression. The hill, lake, and dock were nowhere to be seen. Now they were in a crater, obviously recently made, and Naruto looked on as a frozen scene was displayed for both he and Itachi to view.

The same boy from before, but much older now, had his arm around Naruto's shoulder. The expression on this memory-Naruto's face matched the expression on dream-Naruto's face almost perfectly.

"I'm too weak." Naruto finished, looking away.

Itachi smiled kindly and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, the scene before them coming to life as he muttered softly,

"Even if you may have been too weak," there was a battle and then the image of Naruto crashing to his hands and knees in depressed failure froze again before them. The dream-Naruto cringed at this memory. It still hurt, even after all this time. Itachi noticed this and squeezed his shoulder, making him look up at the older man, as he finished calmly, "Even if you were weak, you never gave up.."

A warmth filled Naruto's heart upon hearing Itachi's kind words, and he realized that he shouldn't keep berating himself for being weak in the past. The past was the past, and although it did hurt, it was over now. He sniffed lightly and nodded, and the tone of the dream changed instantly. Itachi, who had appeared more as a dreamy apparition, now seemed more solid and real. The dream-like qualities of his own mind cleared as Itachi looked down at him and said seriously,

"Naruto, we need to talk."

This was going to be longer, but I think this is a better length, plus this means a quicker update. Sorry I'm taking so long! Please forgive me! The ending is gonna be awesome though! Promise!

KeikoPanda102