XXIX

Naruto could only see the darkness of his closed eyelids and feel the numb ache of his body, but then he heard a roar of voices and feet stamping towards him. He opened his eyes, squinting in the light, and saw all the people of the village walking towards him. Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and many others who had died were alive and in the sea of people of all ages and occupations. Naruto had only half-believed Nagato had really done this, but now he believed it. He felt a hand run through the back of his hair and pull lightly and turned to Sasuke, who wore his cool, unexpressive face and was staring ahead.

Sasuke said, "We'll have to push our way through them just so you can get some rest."

Naruto felt Sakura shake his other arm.

She said, "Enjoy it Naruto. You've saved the village."

Naruto had stopped listening after Sasuke had touched his hair. These people loved him, not just the ninjas who he knew personally. The whole village that had hated him was celebrating what he had done. He broke out into a grin as they finally surrounded him, Sasuke, and Sakura and began to thank him, and he freed his arm from around Sakura to give a thumbs up.

He shook hand after hand and received a thousand pats on the back and a thousand smiles and people saying thank you. Iruka hugged him. Then Jiraiya, leaning on Tsunade with his remaining arm, hobbled into view. His face was worn, the wrinkles deeper than when Naruto last saw him, but he was very much alive.

"You've done it, Naruto. You saved the village."

Then he leaned in close to whisper.

"Did you kill Nagato?"

When Jiraiya leaned back Naruto shook his head.

"No way I could've finished him, I…I'll tell you later, sensei."

Jiraiya snorted.

"Well, enjoy it kid. You've saved us all."

Tsunade said, "Don't think you're off the hook yet. We still have to rebuild, and it'll take awhile. Once we bring back all of the shinobi who were on missions we'll get started. You'd better rest up while you can, Naruto. I want a report on everything as soon as you think you're up for it."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled. He'd missed everything but Tsunade's tirades.

"Sure, old lady, I'll tell you everything…."

Naruto thought he would choke from all the people still pressing in. His lack of chakra made his eyes fall shut and his consciousness start to fade. Sasuke caught him when he nearly collapsed. Naruto dimly heard his tense voice and another firm hand gripping him.

"We've got to get him medical attention. Now!"

A confused movement of feet.

"Itachi Uchiha…?"

There were more shouts, but when Naruto's senses had recovered he was lying on a bed in a large room. Tsunade and Sasuke sat in chairs pulled up to the bed. Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed another small bed in the room. Itachi was covered up to his neck and breathing deeply, his eyes shut. Naruto sat up suddenly, causing Sasuke to grab his shoulders and press him back down.

"Lay down, you idiot. You don't have energy for anything."

Naruto struggled more, but Sasuke easily held him. Tsunade watched without a change in emotions. Naruto could barely get words out as Sasuke eased him back down once he had finished struggling.

"What's wrong with…Itachi?"

Sasuke now sat on the edge of the bed, his arm resting on Naruto's arm. Tsunade took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and straightened up in her seat. Naruto watch Sasuke look down and away from him, and he knew to expect something bad.

Tsunade said, "He caught you, just came out of nowhere when you collapsed. He helped us carry you here to the Uchiha compound since Sakura had to perform several critical surgeries, then he collapsed. These were some of the last good beds in Konoha. As far as I can tell from the examination he's blind and has cancer. With jutsu and surgery I can treat the cancer, but I can't do anything for his eyes."

Sasuke shook his head and sneered.

"You shouldn't be keeping ANBU here to watch him. He's harmless."

Tsunade stared at Sasuke, who met her cold, flat gaze with an equally chilly one. Naruto tried to move his arm because he wanted them to stop fighting, but he couldn't do more than move it slightly from side to side. Sasuke gave him a quick glance then went back to staring.

Tsunade said, "Don't let Naruto get riled up, Uchiha. He's the hero of the village, you know, and so are you. It's only because of you being his brother that I could get everyone to agree to keep him here with just a twenty-four hour watch. "

Sasuke's sharingan activated, and the red on black made Naruto shake his head and finally get some words out.

"Hey, guys, can we just…relax? Sasuke, I really know what would settle us down."

Sasuke sighed and turned to him. The sharingan disappeared into his dark eyes.

"What?"

Naruto smiled. As if the question had to be asked.

"Now that we've saved the village and everything…you should go get us some ramen. I'm starving, and we haven't had a meal together in forever."

Sasuke stood up and exhaled. Then he looked down at Naruto with a blank face, but that changed to a small smile.

"Fine, idiot. I'll be right back."

Sasuke walked out, the door sliding shut behind him, and Tsunade leaned her head to the side and stared at Naruto for a moment. He raised his eyebrows to ask why. She shook her head and chuckled then got up to leave.

"The way you change people, Naruto. I'll be back soon. I have to go out to the village."

Then she left, and Naruto lay there in silence. He waited for Sasuke for a little while. But he was tired and fell asleep. He really needed to rest, and he thought he deserved it. So he fell back asleep for a long time until he woke up to Sasuke sitting by his bed, watching with the ramen on the bedside table. They warmed the ramen up and ate together. Sasuke crawled into the bed with Naruto, and they didn't talk, just enjoyed a moment of peace. Then as the sun went down they both fell asleep. Naruto was ready for whatever would come in the morning.


To the Readers: I know this is a really belated ending, but I got caught up with college and all of that! I'm editing the whole story over and will post the revised chapters as I'm done. Thanks to those who are still reading, and you can look for more stories from this continuity in the future if I revisit the Naruto universe.