A/N: Okay guys, this is a very long note, but please do read this before you proceed. Because this chapter is going to be the first that contains sexual content, we need to talk about the warning system, and why I decide to include sex scenes in my story.

Actually, the reason is quite simple: sex is a part of a romantic relationship, unless you and your partner are asexual. If you have read my story to this point, you'd already know this story doesn't focus on sex. The previous 25 chapters should be a testament to that. I only include the scenes as needed.

But I understand that not all of you want to read the saucy stuffs. That's why I have the warning system to help you avoid them. I try to make it least disruptive to your reading experience, but it's just my opinion at this point. So please tell me if it works or not. The first warning will be at the beginning of the scene where the sexual content resides. That is, instead of

[Scene1]

/***/

[Scene2]

you will get

[Scene1]

/*/Next scene contains sexual content/*/

[Scene2]

There might actually be less than 10% of the text in that scene that are relevant to the warning, but this will give you a heads-up for the second warning: the === brackets. These guys go before and after the relevant paragraphs. So if you don't want to read the scene, look for this and scroll until you see another === . Don't read anything in between. I might put the bracket well before and after the sexy part if I think it makes the transition smoother.

So, the last thing we need to talk about is what is sexual content. Since I'm the author, I'll start with my definition: anything beyond kissing is considered sexual. That means I will not warn for sexual content if two characters are just kissing in that chapter. There will be kissing outside the === brackets. But anything like groping, grinding, hands being in compromising places, are warned. I use the same definition for both hetero- and homosexual scenes.

Just in case someone misses the warning in the summary and haven't figured it out yet: this is a NaruSasu/SasuNaru story. That means there will be yaoi. There will boy kissing boys in (much) later chapters. If you don't want to see more than kissing, please look for the brackets and skip. If you don't want to see the kisses, I would have to ask you to leave.

Thank you for reading this very long note, and being understanding about it. Talk to me if you have any concern. I'd prefer you put it in the review so it's public and people who have the same concern can partake in the discussion. But if you'd rather pm me, that's fine too. Be warned that I might put it up in public later if I think it is important to discuss.

So, are we all good?

As for this chapter, there is actually an additional warning: violence and gore. It overlaps the sex scene, so they're all bracketed together. Don't look at it if you think it's going to disturb you.

Like always, this chapter is made marvelous by Ashimodo.

Chapter 26: Dream a Little Dream of Me

Sasuke! Sasuke. Get up, Bastard.

But Sasuke was cocooned in a soft warm bed. He didn't want to wake up. Not even to shut the thirteen-year-old Naruto up.

Hey, how long are you going to lie there for? Didn't you want to come after me?

But you're already here, Sasuke's mind supplied. He tried to reach to where he heard the Dope's voice, but Naruto avoided his grasp.

Don't be stupid, Sasuke. You know I'm not really here. I'm out there somewhere, and you have to wake up if you want to find me.

But I found you. Why did you leave again?

I can't tell you. You have to wake up and come ask me for real, Sasuke.

Sasuke could feel Naruto fading away, and he instinctively tried to go after him, but his body was too heavy to move. His arm wasn't long enough to reach for the blond boy. He called out.

"Naru...to..."

His throat suddenly felt too dry and he coughed. The force made his body curl in and he could feel his muscles ache in protest. He tried to open his eyes, but the room was too bright. He had to shut them before trying again.

The first thing he saw was a glass of water and a straw. Sasuke lifted his hands and grabbed it. He thanked his luck that his arms were working fine. "Slowly," said a voice from his side. He turned and there was Gaara in a hospital gown looking like he just got out of bed. The sand ninja simply stared at Sasuke until the raven finished his drink. Satisfied that his assistance was no longer needed, Gaara walked back to his bed, and picked up a scroll he'd left there.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked. The Kazekage had clearly recovered, but he seemed content to lounge around.

Gaara didn't look at him when he replied, "Sakura insisted that I take at least another day of rest. I do not want to face the consequence of not obeying her."

Sasuke stared.

Gaara looked at him after a lack of reply. "What?"

"You listen to Sakura now."

"She is a friend," Gaara said. "And she means well, even when she is threatening. "Sasuke blinked again. Sakura had been threatening to the Sand Jinchuuriki? "As for you, you are to take two more days of bed rest. She has to monitor your concussion."

Concussion. Sasuke ran his hand through his hair as he tried to remember what happened. He could vaguely recall an explosion...and Naruto's blue eyes. Then there was nothing. He could only surmise that the Akatsuki was defeated since Gaara was safe and sound, but what about his friend?

"Where's Naruto?" he asked.

Gaara looked at him and shook his head.

Sasuke felt like the world had collapsed on him. The explosion... Naruto... He didn't... "Moron," he muttered and got out of bed. But before he could go very far, Gaara stopped him.

"What I meant was I don't know what happened to him," said the sand ninja. "They found both of us at Leaf's base. Since you sustained a head injury, they decided to bring us to Suna instead of pursuing whoever saved us." For a moment, Sasuke didn't know how to process what he was just told. He just stood there, staring at Gaara as the redhead let go of him and motioned to the bedside table. "That cloak was wrapped around you when we were found."

Sasuke needed only one look at the dark red cloak folded neatly on the bedside table to know that it was Naruto's, the burns giving it away. Somehow, he knew Naruto was safe. His friend had managed to defeat the Akatsuki and disappear, again, turning his back on Sasuke like he always did.

And with each time it happened, Sasuke felt like a knife in his chest lodged a little deeper into his heart.

He turned back and found Gaara staring at him. "It was his," he said, replying to an unasked question.

The sand ninja nodded. He still look thoughtfully at the cloak. "I don't think he hates you. He wouldn't have tried to protect you if he does."

Sasuke understood that Gaara was trying to make him feel better, but even if it was true, Sasuke knew there was still a big difference between Naruto not hating him and not running away from him anymore. For a moment when they bantered in the shrine, he thought everything was back to normal. Everything between them felt normal, but apparently Sasuke wasn't close to getting Naruto home at all.

Next time, Sasuke told himself. A part of him was afraid next time might be too late.

/*/Next scene contains sexual content/*/

Naruto became aware of his surroundings when he heard the door crack open. His hand went to the bedside lamp and a warm orange glow filled the room. He looked to the door and there was a slim figure in a loose white kimono smiling at him.

"Sorry for waking you up, Naru-kun," she said, brushing her hair over her ear. Part of the dark lock slipped back down her pale white cheek to frame her delicate face.

Naruto's face softened. "It's okay, Yu-chan," he said and sat up. "What's the matter? You can't sleep?"

She shook her head. "It's just... It's been two weeks," she said, smiling shyly. "I've missed you."

Naruto swore he was melting right into the bed. "C'mere," he said, pulling back his blanket and moving over so there was enough space for her. Yu-chan's smile widened as she crawled up the bed and slid under the blanket beside him.

"Sorry," she whispered, laying her head next to his. Her arm comfortably rested on his stomach as she curled against his side. "I know you just got back from a mission and you're probably tired."

"Don't apologize," Naruto said, nuzzling into her cheek. "I've missed you, too, you know."

Naruto could feel her smile against his cheek. "Sweet talker," she muttered. Naruto chuckled. After a moment of not knowing what to do with the placement of their arms, they shifted until they were both on their sides facing each other. "Is it okay if I watch you sleep?" she asked as she ran her finger across his whisker marks. "I know you said it kind of creeps you out, but-"

"If I can watch you, too, I'm fine with that," Naruto said with a wide grin.

She frowned. "You should rest, though." Her eyes suddenly left his face. "And, I mean, I'm not pretty to look at."

That wasn't true. Yu-chan was the prettiest girl Naruto had met. Or maybe his opinion was rightfully skewed because Yu-chan was with him. She was pretty to him even as bones started to protrude and her skin began to lack the healthy shine. Her hair was falling more now, but Naruto didn't mind them on his pillows. Naruto loved the cover of the night because he didn't have to see all the details of her slowly and painfully fading away in front of him.

"Yu-chan is the prettiest to me," he said with conviction. "Will always be the prettiest."

She looked at him like she was about to cry, and the only thing Naruto could do was giving her a goofy grin, trying to figure out something to say to cheer her up. But before he could say anything, she launched herself at him, her arm wrapped around his waist as she buried her face into his chest.

"You always say that," she said, "but you never want me."

Her words cut into his heart like a knife even as her voice held no accusation. They both knew why. Karin had made a point of warning both of them together. Yu-chan's body was weakening with every experiment she had undergone, and was not able to handle any strenuous activity. Yu-chan didn't say anything then, but the squeeze on his hand and the look on her face told him that she wasn't deterred. She didn't care if she would die. She had always known that she was going to die young, and she would rather die with him than in an experimental chamber.

For Naruto, however...

"We can't," he said firmly even as his fifteen-year-old body began to react to hers, to her hand running tantalizingly on the waistband of his pyjamas. "You can't take it. Karin told us that, right?"

"But I'm not going to get any better," she said into his chest, "or prettier, or younger." He felt her nails dragging on his skin and he shuddered. "I'm going to die, Naru. Is it too much to ask that I die happy?"

Naruto drew a ragged breath. This was wrong. He shouldn't want this, not something that could gravely harm Yu-chan, not something that was going to kill her. And yet... and yet...

"Please, Naruto," she pleaded. And Naruto made the mistake of looking at her, into her fathomless dark eyes filled with despair, lust, and love.

"Make me yours."

/===/

Naruto snapped. He pushed her on her back and pulled apart her kimono, almost tearing the garment that had kept her away from him. He devoured her mouth, her throat, her breasts, wanting to taste everything, to touch everything. Yu-chan's legs spread wide for him, welcoming him as he slid into the tight heat. He moved and she moaned. Her arms and legs encircled him like she never wanted to let him go. Every surge of her hips took Naruto closer to the edge. He just wished he could take her to the end before her body gave out, before she had to leave him.

"Naruto!" she screamed and pleaded with the very same breath, baring her neck. Naruto could almost see the veins underneath her pale skin and the blood pulsing in it. His throat suddenly went dry at the sight. He knew what she wanted and the animalistic part in him sang at the offering. He bent down and bit. His fangs cut deep, and the blood flooded his mouth. Yu-chan's blood: sweet and delicious and his. For a moment, he thought they could die together like this, him choking on her sweet elixir. Her body constricted as she cried his name in ecstasy, taking Naruto right over the edge with her.

Then the blood stopped flowing. Naruto didn't know how much he drank. He didn't care. He knew Yu-chan meant for him to have everything, every last of the chakra that resided in her blood. She had said so before, had tempted him with the sweetness of that liquid ruby on the soft petal of her lips. Now Naruto had done it. He had given her everything she wanted, even the death she wanted.

Her body was beginning to cool and still. Naruto lapped the last of the blood from her throat as warm tears ran down his face. He pushed himself up, intended to kiss her one last time. But when he looked down at the body underneath him, he was met with a pair of dead pin-wheeled eyes on a pale elegant face just like hers. But that wasn't her face. It was...

Naruto screamed.

/===/

He jolted up with a silent shout on his lips. The room was quiet except for the snores of his teammates. The horizon was just beginning to glow and the birds were only starting to sing. Everything was normal. Everything was right. But Naruto felt utterly, utterly sick. He got out of his futon and out of the room, down the hall towards the lodge's shared restroom as fast and as quietly as he could. Once the door was closed, his knees gave out and he began retching into the toilet bowl. Nothing really came out but bile, but somehow he still felt like his stomach was full of blood, and he had to get every last ounce of it out of his system.

He didn't know if it was five minutes, fifteen minutes, or half an hour before he stopped. His body no longer had enough strength to stand up, so he sat there on the restroom floor with his back against the wall, shaking slightly from the ordeal. It wasn't the first time he'd dreamed of her, but it hadn't been this intense for a long time. He'd thought he had it under control when they finally left Oto, but it was back with a vengeance. He shook his head weakly, trying to get the last image out of his mind, trying to forget the red pin-wheeled eyes staring up from the corpse underneath him.

He didn't know why his mind put Sasuke there, cold, bloodied, and violated. His body shook again just remembering it.

He had no idea how long he sat there, staring blankly at the tiles on the far wall before the door cracked open. He turned and it was Karin standing there looking like she wanted to hug him and berate him, but couldn't decide which one to do first. She said, "This is getting old," then walked in, shut the door, locked it, and sat down with him in the vomit-smelling little room.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied.

Karin sighed. "It's been a year now, Naruto. If you keep having episodes like this, I can't overlook it anymore."

Naruto gasped dramatically. "You're going to tell everyone I'm pregnant?" He wasn't prepared for Karin to actually hit him on the head.

"Don't you joke about this!" she snarled. There was no tease on her face. "I don't know what she did to your head, but you can't undo it alone. Naruto, you need help. You have to tell us what's going on."

"She didn't do anything to me," he growled back. "Stop saying it like it's her fault!"

Karin threw her hands up in the air like she wanted to punch the sky. "You stubborn little... You started this pattern right after she died, and you're telling me this has nothing to do with her?"

Naruto didn't reply.

Karin sighed. She was exasperated, but not giving up yet. "Stubbornness is an Uzumaki trait, I should've known. You never listen to anything I say about her anyway." With that, she got up. "Clean up and come back, alright? I don't think anyone noticed, so just act normal and you should be fine." She paused. "I didn't tell you this before and maybe I should have. I was very proud that you never gave in to her."

At that Karin unlocked the door and walked out. Naruto took another minute before cleaning up and following her back to their shared room.

His teammates were awake at that point, maybe except for Suigetsu, for whom travelling the desert had hit the hardest. He was still all bleary eyes when Naruto walked in. It had been four days now since they were back to civilization - as Suigetsu put it - so the excuse was going to expire soon.

"Why are you up so early?" Suigetsu asked with a yawn.

Naruto promptly pulled out the underwear from his pocket and lifted his eyebrow.

"Geez, Naruto! No one wants to see the graphic evidence first thing in the morning!" Karin shouted a little too loudly. Her face was beet red and Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, c'mon, Karin. You've worked with male test subjects. You know about morning wood," said Naruto, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Karin made a noise of utter disgust before Suigetsu chirped in, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind if it was Sasuke-kun's."

"Oh, for the love of gods, Suigetsu! If you mention him one more time-"

A loud bang stopped Karin from finishing her sentence and Suigetsu from formulating a comeback. They all looked over and there was Saya at the low writing desk, looking unimpressed and not quite fully awake. Her fist set firmly and innocuously on the surface of the desk.

They all fell silent and Saya said, "Thank you" before looking over to Naruto. "Do we need to buy more clothes for you since you've been going through them so fast?"

Naruto felt like a deer caught in a headlight. "I can wash this. Just replacing the ones that got torn is fine," he said.

She nodded. "Good, because I have bad news for you." She turned around and grabbed a little notebook from the desk and turned it to them. "We need cash."

Naruto's eyes quickly went to the number at the bottom of the page and realized that Saya was right. There wasn't enough to get far out of Wind Country even if they were stringy about it. That meant they had to work. The hunt would have to wait.

/***/

"So we didn't get to see him after all," said Chouji after a long sigh. He was still in bed recovering from the poison. He was lucky most of the poison was drawn out quickly, so he wasn't at any point in grave danger. Sakura's concoction helped cleanse the remaining compound from his system. She was told that she had a redhead ninja from Naruto's team to thank for her friend's safe return.

Naruto's team...

To Sakura, Naruto was always a part of her team. He was family. And she wanted to think that although he had deserted the village, there was still some connection between them. That didn't seem to be the case from what she had heard from Ino. He didn't acknowledge them once aside from the initial warning to get out of his way. Sakura wanted to think that it was because they were in the middle of a fight, that he was in a hurry chasing after Gaara, but a part of her thought that he might have cut ties with them and moved on.

She wondered if he still remembered her. Had she became just a shadow in his past now, a girl who was his first crush but nothing more to speak about?

Her expression must have changed because Chouji suddenly said, "Don't be so gloomy about it, Sakura. We'll get him next time." He gave her a wide smile. "We'll give him the InoShikaChou treatment. He won't know what hit him until he's back in Konoha."

Sakura laughed at the mental image. That would be funny, but she knew it was very unlikely to happen that way. It would take more than mere brute force to get Naruto home, especially now that he was much more powerful than he used to be. She had hoped that Sasuke could do it. After all, he was the closest to the blond before. But Sasuke had met him twice, and twice Naruto got away.

She signed off Chouji's chart and hung it back at the end of his bed, intending to chat with him a bit more before going to check on Sasuke. But Ino came running right in. "Sakura!" she shouted, "Gaara and Sasuke are duking it off on the roof!"

Sakura didn't change her facial expression, but she really wanted to kill them.

She and Ino got up to the roof in record time to the sight of Sasuke going at the Kazekage for all his worth. His attacks were blocked by the sands automatically protecting Gaara. She could tell that they weren't trying to kill each other, or they wouldn't be limiting themselves to taijutsu. Sasuke would be blaring his Chidori and Gaara his Sand Prison. But she had told them to take bed rest. Was it that hard to understand?

So as both of them jumped away and Sasuke mounting his next attack, Sakura ran in. She caught Sasuke's wrist mid attack and threw him back. She span around and could have slapped Gaara if not for the sand blocking her hand. The Kazekage's eyes went wide in both recognition and surprise, before he lowered his gaze and pressed his lips together as if to apologize.

Sakura, satisfied that Gaara got the message, turned back to a bewildered Sasuke. "You," she said, pointing her finger at him. "If not for the fact that you already have a concussion, I would've slapped you."

Sasuke's expression became that of an indignant, overgrown child. Sakura wanted to rolled her eyes, but Gaara interrupted her. "We were just having a friendly spar, Sakura. The sand was doing most of the work for me, and Sasuke needed to get his frustration out."

"Against medical order," she countered.

"It's this or him terrorizing the nurses," said Gaara.

"I haven't done anything," Sasuke countered. "And you were the one who came up with this whole idea."

"You were close to," replied Gaara calmly even as Sasuke looked like he wanted to blow something up. "Sadness and anger sometimes come hand-in-hand, especially with people like us whose aggression is the primary outlet of our emotions."

Sakura turned to Gaara in surprise. She knew the Kazekage had been working hard in order to relate to people, and even more so to understand himself. Gaara struggled with emotional control partly because of Shukaku but mostly because of his childhood. He wasn't treated like a child. He was treated like a tool of destruction. Gaara used to channel everything into aggression because that was how he was taught. She had never thought that Sasuke might be the same.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke replied. The coldness in his voice was the dead give away that Gaara might be on the right track, even if Sasuke was not fully conscious about it.

"Your eyes were sad when you saw the cloak," continued Gaara. "It reminds you that you have lost him. Then you try to rationalize that sadness, and you see nothing but pain. You become angry because of that pain."

Sasuke let out a 'Tch'. "You don't know what I think or feel," he countered.

Gaara wasn't fazed even when Sasuke seemed quite ready to take him down. "You're forgiven to think that, but like you, I have lost someone important to me as well."

Sakura knew instantly that Gaara was talking about Yashamaru. He had made vague references in her presence before, but at no point did he tell her what had happened. What she knew, she knew from Kankurou. He was not a witness to what went on, but he had been by Gaara's side in the aftermath. He had known how being betrayed had affected the Sand Jinchuuriki. Yashamaru's death changed Gaara into a heartless soul, much like how Sasuke was when they first became teammates.

And maybe that was why he never uttered a word to Sakura. Her warm and loving childhood set her too far apart from her friends to truly share their pain.

"There were many assassination attempts on my life when I was a child. On one occasion, my father, the Fourth Kazekage, gave the order to my uncle," Gaara began calmly, too calmly in Sakura's opinion. "I wasn't surprised by my father's involvement, to be honest, but Yashamaru, he had been nothing but loving to me." He paused. "I only learned then that it was all a lie. Yashamaru hated me for killing my mother, and so he took the mission from my father."

Sakura could only stare at the Kazekage, not knowing how to respond. A part of her wanted to scream at him that he wasn't his mother's killer. She knew from Kankurou that their mother died giving birth, so it was hardly Gaara's fault. But she could see why after many years of twisted whispers, Gaara's perspective would be warped. Another part of her wanted to hug him until she was sure that Gaara understood that absolutely no one else thought of him that way.

"I hated love," said Gaara levelly, as if what he just said did not stir any emotion inside him, "because love is what Yashamaru taught me. I should have hated him, but it was his lie that I hated more." He paused for a moment to gather himself. "The truth is I don't hate Yashamaru. I never did."

Sasuke frowned.

"I love him still," said Gaara as he reached up to touch the scar on his forehead. The word 'love' etched there was the embodiment of the conflicting emotions. His voice was a whisper, but Sakura could hear every emotion in it. "I was in pain, a pain I didn't know how to cope with, so I chose hatred. It was the only thing I had known, so it was the only thing I could resort to."

She didn't know then what to say or do. Sasuke didn't seem to know what to do either. He just stood there watching as Gaara regained his composure.

"I don't claim I know exactly what goes on in your mind, Uchiha," said Gaara. "But don't let that pain or anger fester. The more time you spend alone in your head, the more it will become like a disease."

Sasuke clearly wanted to say something in reply, but he ended up staying silent. The emotion in that moment was too raw and too much to process all at once. The one to break the uncomfortable atmosphere was Ino, who stepped into the group with an apologetic smile. "Ah, sorry to interrupt here, but I think we're almost at dinner time," she said.

Sakura snapped out of her stupor and shook her head. She was their friend, but she was their doctor as well. "Sasuke-kun," she said as she turned to the raven, "you have medication to take before dinner. The nurse should be getting that for you soon. You should go back to your bed."

Sasuke replied with a 'Hn'. Ino volunteered to walk him back and began dragging him over to the door immediately. A part of Sakura was afraid her best friend was annoying her teammate, but Sasuke followed her out without much fuss. Sakura could only guess that he might have been grateful for Ino literally dragging him out of an awkward situation. She sighed, and turned to the other stubborn patient. "You should get back to bed too," she said. Gaara nodded. He didn't say anything as they began walking at a sedated pace towards the door.

"I... um... I'm sorry about Yashamaru," Sakura said once she finally worked up the courage. She knew it was lame, a phrase used more as a common courtesy than anything else, but there was nothing else for Sakura to use, nothing else that truly fitted her feeling. What happened between Gaara and Yashamaru, all the lies and betrayal, shouldn't have happened to anybody. But there was nothing there that she could do, aside from being the friend that she was. "If you want to talk to someone about it - beside Kankurou and Temari, that is - you know you can talk to me, right?"

Gaara looked at her with his eyes a little wider than usual. "Thank you," he said. "I truly appreciate your offer."

There was a shyness about him when he said it that made Sakura smile. "That's what friends are for, Gaara," she said. "Get use to it."

Gaara blinked, then slowly smiled back.

/***/

End of Chapter 26

A/N: And I quietly await the shit storm about Naruto's ex-girlfriend to blow over.

Simply Hated Aww, thank you. That's very kind of you. With lack of backing sometimes is intentional (other times I was just sloppy, but that applies mostly to the case where there's explanation already in the canon.) Thanks for reading.

M. Thanks. Trust me, my writing only look this good because Ashimodo never lets any mistake pass him. Otherwise, it's going to be a lot worse.

Reign Of Sorrow Good swearing is hearty and awesome and feeds the sadistic streak of a writer, so keep it up. :P

Wind Strengthens Fire If that's fluff for you, you'll probably get diabetes when I fluff out (is that even a word). I'm glad you like it. :D

Bao Thank you for taking your time to read and review this story. I'm glad that you feel so much for this story (however wrong that sounds). I'm looking forward to them finally getting together too, but that's going to be slow. (I think I might have redefined the timeframe for 'slow build' to be honest.) Also, please have some tissue.

guest Thanks for commenting! Glad to know it's worth it. And Saya is totally there because they need an adult. I mean, imagine the havoc if it was just Naruto, Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo. They're never going to get anything done.

ZyiareHellsing Thanks for reading!

throatcore I was actually a little nervous that the chapter title would give away too much, but then the song was just perfect so I can't resist. I like how you interpret Naruto there, because, yeah, Naruto is not a saint. He knows pain and hatred well, but I think he has his way of executing it. He did let lose his rage on Orochimaru after all. With that bombshell, I'm going to sideline the conversation and let you think on what it means.

With Kurama, I don't think they have a relationship that's all sparkles and sunshine (because I feel like that's Kurama making a 180 on his character, which is just no). They'll have disagreements and rough patches all the way. It was just less obvious when they have a snake to kill together.

'if only gaara and him got to talk aaaaah.' - Yep. As my mom used to say, there would be less conflict in this world if we just talk sensibly.

I think both Juugo and Naruto are terrified of it, actually, but at the same time they're the two who understands each other most in that regard. It's really refreshing that everyone wants to smack Naruto now instead of Sasuke, because he quite rightfully deserves it.