So, surprise surprise. It's the last chapter... I didn't expect that either.

He agreed to go to therapy.

He wasn't sure what brought the decision on. Maybe it was because Sasuke seemed to enjoy it, or perhaps it was simply because he didn't have to talk about anything he didn't want to. He wondered briefly if he would run into Ino, as Inoichi would be giving the session. They were supposed to meet in a couple hours, and Naruto would have to leave the apartment to get to the office.

Sasuke had given a brief explanation on what to expect. The first session was merely getting to know each other, a time where the therapist could analyze you and figure out where to begin. It was Naruto's job to talk about problems he wanted to focus on, but other than that, Naruto was completely in the dark about it.

Therapy didn't even exist in Konohagakure until a couple years ago. Was Inoichi even qualified for this?

Probably not.

But that didn't mean he shouldn't give it a chance.

Or maybe it did.

Naruto furrowed his brows and shook his head. Sasuke would get here any minute, just as he'd done for the past two weeks. It was some of the most peaceful days he'd ever had. There were no torture victims for him to heal. No blood got stuck between his fingertips. Konoha didn't even bother with him, anymore. They just left him be in the apartment and never said a word to him.

And with Sasuke here, it was even better. Because now he wasn't completely alone. Mostly alone, yes. But he had one person who's loyalty surpassed anything Naruto had ever seen before. And that seemed to turn the gray of his world into the slightest orange.

He loved Sasuke more than anything else. Loved him for being here. For not abandoning him when Naruto left. For staying despite everything Naruto had done.

For loving him even when Naruto kept secrets hidden.

And Sasuke wasn't an idiot. He knew when Naruto lied, and he knew that Naruto's fall was so much more than what he claimed.

But he never asked.

A knock thudded at the door, and Naruto jumped on the balls of his feet as he trotted over and swung the door open with a smile. But that smile disappeared into a frown as the familiar face of Sasuke was replaced by Inoichi. He held a stuffed animal in his arms. A black and white fish to go with the purple and blue one.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, glancing at the back wall to check the time. He was meant to go to Inoichi's office at noon, and it was only seven.

"What are you doing?" He said, cocking his head to the side.

They weren't even having the session in Naruto's apartment. Both of them agreed upon the office, that way Naruto didn't have to kick himself out of the apartment to get away from Inoichi if the need arose.

Inoichi quirked a brow, holding out the stuffed fish.

"Sasuke asked me to give it to you." Inoichi said as he scratched the back of his head, "apparently the blue fish didn't look right next to a dolphin."

Naruto furrowed his brows and listened as the door creak when Inoichi tried to let himself in further. But this was not the plan. Sasuke was supposed to be coming over. Not Inoichi. So before he could take another step, Naruto slammed the door in his face.

He was supposed to have a couple more hours left.

"It's not noon." Naruto said as Inoichi rapped on the door again.

"Tsunade wanted the session to take place where you feel safe. So I'm here now..."

Naruto's fingers twitched. That didn't explain the timing of his arrival. Besides, Naruto made no agreement on a change of location. So why the hell would they do this now? Weren't they trying to make amends or something?

No. Not amends.

They merely wanted to fix what they'd broken.

Or maybe they just wanted forgiveness.

Like I'd give them that.

Naruto scowled. "Go to hell." He said, hoping his voice didn't become too muffled by the closed door.

"At least let me explai—"

"Not until noon."

"But—"

"Not until noon."

Naruto dug his fingers into his trousers. There was a schedule to this. Sasuke came at seven, and Naruto would meet Inoichi at twelve. After that, Naruto's time was to himself. He could do anything he wanted so long as it took place in the safety of his apartment. No one was going to disrupt that schedule. No one.

Yet they did.

"And where's Sasuke?" Naruto said.

The floor creaked under Inoichi's weight, and for half a second, he imagined him falling onto the next floor.

"He won't be coming today."

Naruto's chest tightened. Why? Did Sasuke have something to do with this? Had he made some sort of sick agreement to turn Naruto's day around?

"Sasuke said you didn't have any plans." Inoichi said, "we wanted to make sure there was no one to influence your mood before the session."

"You're influencing my mood."

"That's kind of the point."

Naruto's back straightened. What did that mean? Were they trying to put him in a foul mood? To make him hate them even more? It had to have been some sort of game. How else could anyone make sense of this? They hadn't even consulted him before making these decisions.

And why would they?

Without thinking, he swung the door open with enough force to slam into the wall. He heard the crackle of the wall break, most likely from the doorknob. But repairs he could worry about later. Right now, he needed to figure out what the fuck was happening.

Inoichi flinched. His shoulders hunched into his neck, and he held the fish under his armpit.

"Explain." Naruto said.

Inoichi shifted, eyes looking anywhere except at Naruto.

"We're still... figuring out how this whole therapy thing works. Tsunade only put emphasis on mental health after she met Sasuke, so we've only got three years worth of experience. This was something... Tsunade wanted to test out. You know, to see how you'd react to a schedule change."

Naruto seethed, his heart racing loud enough that it rung through his ears. They truly had no idea what they were doing. Naruto's entire day, the schedule he planned out, was destroyed. Now he didn't even get to see Sasuke, and somehow this was supposed to help him?

Even more reason to hate them. Kyuubi said.

Damn straight.

"No." He said, "I'll meet you at your office at noon, we'll see how the damn session goes, and after that, I may or may not continue with your sick version of therapy."

He saw Inoichi's throat bob as he swallowed, and a sick feeling of satisfaction overwhelmed Naruto as Inoichi took a step back and nodded shakily. It was that same fear that they'd forced upon Naruto all these years, and it was his turn to make them feel that way. If they thought that this was how they were going to fix him, then they had another thing coming.

Naruto wouldn't let them use the same tactics to fix him that they'd used to destroy him. He chose his own schedule. He decided if he wanted this—this therapy, and he'd be the one to decide if it was even worth staying here.

No one, not Tsunade, not Inoichi, and not even Sasuke, got a say in this.

So he slammed the door again, and was relieved when there was no longer a knock at the door.

He arrived at the office ten minutes early. The receptionist was nice enough. Unfamiliar with him, naturally, because she'd smiled and been kind. And the only people who did that were those who didn't know of him.

There was hardly anyone with that kind of ignorance, so he was glad to find one person.

Inoichi, for his part, said nothing except his name when noon struck, and Naruto warily walked through the corridor. The flooring was carpet, a brownish gray that could have been mistaken for vomit. And the walls weren't white like most hospitals. Instead they were colored blue, a soothing color, Naruto had to admit, one that even made his body relax some.

But he couldn't relax here, especially after that stunt they'd pulled.

Once they arrived at a room with a couch in the middle and a dollhouse in the corner, Inoichi sat in an office chair, one lacking a desk. He crossed his legs, and pulled out a notepad. He gestured for Naruto to take a seat on the sofa, and Naruto did so without hesitation.

"I'd like to apologize for this morning." Inoichi said, "as I was saying then, we're still uncertain about most techniques we use, and are still experimenting with it. While I do agree that what we did was rude and completely unacceptable, I would like you to understand that it was all to make certain that we're doing this right, and sometimes these tests do come out wrong."

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he nodded slowly. It didn't quite make sense. Why ruin his day for a test they didn't know would work? Why not just talk at the scheduled time like they did with Sasuke? Why perform any sort of test that could make everything go astray?

They wanted to do this right, didn't they? Why do something so obviously awful?

"What were you trying to accomplish?"

Inoichi swallowed. "We... wanted to see how open you'd react to a sudden change of plans."

Naruto pursed his lips. So they wanted him to talk, huh? Sasuke said that he didn't have to talk about anything he didn't want to. But did that still apply if they manipulated him into it? Naruto did have a tendency to say things he didn't want to when angry. Did Sarutobi have some sort of record of that? And did they use it to try to force words out of him?

"Why?"

"Because you didn't have any plans today except this. We wanted—"

"To make sure I don't get time to relax?"

"No, we—"

"Then what were you doing?"

Inoichi sighed. "Being shitty people, I guess." He shrugged, a frown marring his face. "We've done similar tests on Sasuke. He never reacted—" He shook his head slowly. "I don't believe it's getting the results we wish for."

"How shocking." Naruto said, "it's almost like you are shitty people."

Inoichi narrowed his eyes. "That's a wide range of people you're calling out."

"Are there that many therapists in Konoha?" He said, "cause if there are, I think I want a new one."

Or none at all.

Inoichi rolled his head back, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. "Can't really blame you for that. But no. There aren't many therapists. As I said before, this is a new science—"

"And it's lacking in any common sense."

"No, it's—"

"Horrible? Invasive? Manipulative? Let me know when I'm—"

He would have kept going, but Inoichi's face turned serious, and his voice sharp. "We do everything that we can."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes that's not enough." He said as he stood from the sofa.

He couldn't bother with this, not now and not ever.

It took too much effort, anyways.

"Tell Tsunade I'm done with therapy. It's not like I ever needed it, anyways. Orochimaru had a better mental health system than you people."

"Naruto—"

And like hell he'd let Inoichi finish, so for the third time, he slammed the door in his face.

He was stuck here.

No matter what alternative Naruto thought of, everything led to either his capture or his death. There were ninja all over the Elemental Nations, and all of them were trained to kill. He wouldn't survive there. Not on his own. Not with his skills.

Not when all he seemed capable of was healing.

And it wasn't like he could go back to Orochimaru.

But he couldn't stay here, either.

So he packed all the necessities in case there came a day when he grew desperate enough to leave, but until then, he would enjoy his time with Sasuke.

He closed his eyes. Sasuke was the only good thing in Konoha.

The only good person.

Sasuke had been trying to get Naruto to leave the apartment for weeks, and after a significant and humiliating amount of—dare he say it...begging, Naruto finally agreed.

It was Sakura's birthday party. All of Konoha eleven was there. Kiba was shouting at the top of his lungs and was piss poor drunk. Sasuke still couldn't believe people would put themselves in such a vulnerable position like that—even if he had done so in the past, but that wasn't for fun as much as for coping— and his reasons for it and Kiba's reasons couldn't even compare.

He closed his eyes. No. That wasn't true. Sasuke had made himself vulnerable just as Kiba had. The reasons for it didn't matter.

Even if mine are better.

"Can we eat cake now?" Chouji said. Sasuke rolled his eyes. He didn't know Chouji well, but every time they saw each other, he was stuffing himself with food.

"Not until I open the presents." Sakura said, "oh, I bet Sasuke got me something good."

"And I hope he didn't." Naruto muttered. He'd been by Sasuke's side the entire time, occasionally clasping onto his shirt before retreating his hand back. Sasuke wanted to tell him that he could cling as much as he needed. He wanted to say that it didn't matter how close he got to Sasuke. But he also knew he couldn't coddle Naruto. He needed to learn to get out of his apartment, and letting him cling like that wasn't healthy.

It's still a step forward. He thought.

And if it weren't for the fact that Sasuke knew Naruto was unhealthy, he would have found the clinginess funny.

Or annoying.

He honestly didn't know which one.

But Naruto ensured that Sasuke was the only one to hear. And perhaps he felt safe enough saying that because he hadn't caught onto the fact that Sasuke didn't mind Sakura so much. She had grown so much more mature over the years, even if she did occasionally pine after him openly. She'd cut her hair, too. It was safer that way as a ninja, and it seemed she also preferred it short over long.

He sighed. If not for their history, Naruto would have liked her, might have even crushed on her. But with Naruto's stubbornness and Sakura's childhood immaturity, it was doubtful they'd ever become friends.

"I don't like this." Naruto whispered, intertwining his hand into Sasuke's. Sasuke closed his eyes, feeling the sweat and heat of Naruto's hand. Even that simple touch—it was enough to make him want to kiss Naruto again.

But now wasn't the time, especially since Sasuke had yet to convince Naruto to give therapy another chance.

He closed his eyes. They'd really screwed up on that one.

And to think that Sasuke had agreed to it. He knew it was a bad idea. Everything in his body screamed at him to tell Tsunade no.

But he hadn't said no, because those tests never hurt him.

But they did hurt Naruto.

"You need to leave the apartment sometime." Sasuke said, "it's not healthy for you to be cooped up in there like that."

And Sasuke didn't know what to do with it. Naruto was, without a doubt, the most emotionally unstable person he'd ever met. He certainly wasn't violent or dangerous. No. That spot was reserved for Sasuke. But Naruto was scared and isolated and angry. Always so goddamn angry.

Even the smallest thing could set him off.

Sometimes it became too much for Sasuke to handle.

But then he remembered that it was Naruto, and none of this was his fault.

You didn't turn out the way Naruto did because you did it to yourself, after all. Someone had to have done it to you.

Like what Itachi did to him.

Sasuke furrowed his brows, feeling the swirl of chakra enter and leave his eyes. This wasn't about him or his brother.

It was about Naruto.

Sasuke had to focus on Naruto.

"But I like being cooped up." Naruto said. "It's nice, and you always come by. So it's not like I'm alone up there."

Sasuke frowned. He honest to God had never met anyone so unwilling to step outside. "It's not healthy, though. You need sunlight, and you should be doing something productive."

"I clean my stuff. That's plenty productive."

Sasuke pursed his lips. "It's definitely something."

But it wasn't a job. Excluding the fifty thousand Tsunade gave him, Naruto was utterly broke. Once that money ran out, it would be nigh impossible to get it again.

Naruto could always become a ninja again, but that didn't work out too well the first time.

"Can't we just leave, Sasuke? This place is too crowded. And all our classmates are here."

He supposed that maybe they'd been here long enough. Sasuke didn't even want to come, but he couldn't find another excuse except his need for a plus one to Sakura's party, and he didn't think that it would work on Naruto. But it did, and they were here. And God did Naruto need to get out of that apartment.

"How about we stay for a little while longer?"

Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand, moving his body closer until he could feel the heat radiating from Naruto. "But I want to leave now."

"No ones keeping you here."

Naruto frowned, his brows furrowed. "I know, but..." he glanced to the door. "I can't go out there alone. It's already dark and... and people don't like me much. I shouldn't have even come here at all."

Naruto bowed his head, sinking his body onto Sasuke's arm and tilting his head into the crook of his neck. Sasuke wrapped his arm around Naruto's waist, making sure he wasn't about to fall or anything. And he wasn't. Naruto had simply wanted to lean into him, and as much as it made his stomach flutter, Sasuke knew that Naruto couldn't figure out his own feelings for a long, long time.

If he has any feelings, that is.

Sasuke closed his eyes, enjoying the way Naruto's body felt against his. The heat and sweat and fluttering in his stomach made his head swim with feelings that had been growing for many years now. For a time, those feelings had been a mixture of hate and love. But now Sasuke was certain of what he wanted.

This was Naruto, after all. The boy who was so much like Sasuke, but also the complete opposite. There were hard times ahead, especially since Sasuke was going to convince Naruto to go back to therapy. But Sasuke had no plans of letting him go. He would always, until the end of time, stay by Naruto's side.

Even if Naruto never felt the same way.

Author's note:

So, it's over.

That's weird.

When I first started this story, I thought it was going to be 20 chapters. 25 tops. But boy was I wrong. A whooping 35 chapters later and it's finally done. I still can't believe it. It's kind of hard to let go. I just love this story so much, and the ending shocked me just as much as I hope it shocked you. I genuinely believed Sasuke and Naruto would be together-together by the end. But that obviously isn't the case, and I much prefer it this way. It just... makes more sense.

This story has been such a big part of my life for over a year now. I've become a better writer through it, and have learned so much. It'll be weird waking up in the morning and not thinking about the fact that I need to work on this fic.

And all of you have been so supportive of this story. I can't even begin to thank you enough for how much that support means to me. I doubt I'd have gotten to the end of this fic without you wonderful people. So thank you for the reviews, subscriptions, and bookmarks.

A special thank you to noaheendless, arw165, Final Syai Lunar generation, Labrabell, redfoxshadow, longingparadise, SarcasmNChocolate, and Harusutomutaiga9900.

And an extra special thank you to Loveroffanfiction, for always being there to listen to me rant about any story I want, being an awesome beta-reader, and for leaving a review both on this website and our document. As I've said many times before, I couldn't have done this without you.

Now, before I finish this author's note, I want you all to know that I am well aware of all the unexplained plot points in this story. There are so many of them, and while I do have ideas for a sequel, I kind of want to focus on my other fanfictions right now. Someday, I hope to write that sequel. But it will not be today, and it may not be for a while.

So, it's over.

And that's so weird.