To our promising future, let's drink a toast.

Warning: Alternative timeline.

"C'mon Sasuke, this mountain is nothing to a cranky old man like you."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one with eyesight impairments."

"Psh, seventy years old and acting e-xac-tly like your age. You could use your chakra or something."

"Well, so sorry that I no longer have stamina left to use unlike you who still can use chakra from that parasite in your stomach. I'm a normal human, after all."

Naruto chuckled. Decades of friendship and all the insults had totally lost their bite. "But you're an Uchiha right?"

Though unlike Naruto, Sasuke still had the energy to accept a taunt. "Hn." Something flashed between wrinkled folds of skin and it wasn't the Sharingan. Naruto would know if it was.
The Uchiha patriarch stretched his spine and grabbed a good amount of earth positioned on the level of his waist. Breathing slowly and evenly, he used both of his arms to raise himself and reached the higher ground, patting the dirt after the process.

Blue eyes sparkled in amusement and his friend rolled his graphite ones, grabbing the map behind their backpacks. The dobe still had the incompetency to have no notion of space, he would probably get lost in his own Hokage house if it wasn't for his wife guiding him around. Luckily he was also nearby to guarantee that the idiot wouldn't do anything foolish.

"Sasuke." Naruto called for attention and Sasuke only grunted in response. "So, where are we going?"

"Some place."

"Being a little bit more specific would help plenty too ya know."

"Stop complaining like a whiny brat and follow me." A wrinkled hand grabbed the cane and started moving serenely towards a certain direction, knowing his friend would follow him.

Time passes by, experiences in life accumulates, feelings burn, arouse, grow, wilt, diminish and extinguish. Even the strongest bitterness and scars will eventually wear out after years. Only the constant emotions will be nurtured and root deep in their souls, rising until they become the finest trees that would cover a whole forest and bear the sweetest fruits.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Gimme the yakissoba bread."

"Idiot, I should have listened to your granddaughter and give you salad instead. It'll be bad for your heart."

"Bastard, it's not like some noodles would do a difference or not."

"Stubborn senile moron."

"Watch out or I'm gonna steal your favorite wheel chair."

"Do that and you'll see what will happen to your massage chair."

"Jerk."

Fortunately or unfortunately, some old habits will never die. Those will become part of the personality, melding from details of your daily chores to the core of their hearts. Obligations fulfilled or unfulfilled, ambitions quenched or left aside, nothing will matter when there arrives a certain level in your life...?

"There you go dobe." Sasuke dropped the backpack to the ground as he sat languidly, combing his no-longer dark hair.

"This is..." The other one widened his eyes. Even after so many years of mission, travels, adventures and such, he had never seen such breathtaking scenery in his whole life. The scent of pine refreshed him through cool breeze, washing away the weariness and sweat in one dry lick.

Sasuke smirked, knowing that he won. Naruto rolled his eyes, allowing just this time the settling score, sitting side by side with his friend.

"Green tea." He offered to the head of the Uchiha clan.

"Crackers." The other offered to the Rokudaime Hokage.

A comfortable silence settled between them as they admired the view. There will be always a point when words would lose their main ability, as they finally communicated through innate emotions. The breaking of this pace will be only filled once they deem fit.

"How did you find it?"

"Daisuke told me, after taking the photos of this place. I thought it'd be worth it."

"So you dragged my old ass and made me break a few bones to a place that even you wasn't sure if it was pretty?"

"You're saying that you don't trust Daisuke? He's our grand-grandson."

"Hey, wait, wait wait. He's more my grand-grandson than your grand-grandson."

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, he's called Uzumaki!"

"He has the Sharingan eyes."

"He has wind recomposition!"

"He's the natural born genius and you know very well that this doesn't come from your genes."

"!!!" Naruto huffed and laid on the grass. Discussing with this stubborn man was worthless of his time. "The last time we discussed about it, Sakura used for the last time her chakra punch.

Good old days." He chuckled, knowing that he was receiving a roll of eyes and a mimic of tilt of lips in response.

"Indeed. Retirement is an odd thing."

"Definitely. It almost sounds like yesterday when you were fighting Danzou."

The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow. "Who?" He asked, confused.

Naruto shook his head amused, silence falling between them once again. Rays of light reached to their aged bodies, the sounds of bird echoing inside that vast mountains, nature untouched by human hands. Once you walk the path longer than the others, you see other resting sooner, others later, taking their longing last goodbyes and awaiting for another hopeful hi. As each conveyed path reached their final line, you have no choice but to continue to stroll forward, comrades, friends, family, lovers going away as only one remain.

Looking back, there wasn't anything that Naruto could regret of acting or rejecting it in the long run. He achieved his dreams and objectives, he forged long-time bonds, he, god bless you,relieved Sasuke from his path of vengeance, married, lead a happy life.

But now that everyone from their generation had died and since Sasuke; who had the Uchiha genes, and he; who had Kyuubi mutation; became the only ones left, it was their obligation to tell the course of an old story, so old that it'll soon become part of a legend.

The wilderness of the green forest, each tall mountain surrounding them made them realize, on no matter how strong they had become in their ninja careers, they will be always a minuscule particle of a grand total, be part of many and still be one of each. Sharing themselves and taking something too, whether a sentiment, a physical object or even a miniscule breath, there'll be always a connection.

And no matter how much they are part of a whole, after joining and parting bonds, they were finally alone, once again.

Sasuke and Naruto.

Naruto and Sasuke.

At realization of this concept, Naruto laughed to himself in amusement, admiring the clouds floating in the middle of the sky.

For some reason, he had never felt so happy before.

"Hey Sasuke." The old man nudged his friend, his mouth opening into that recognizable beam that existed since primordial times.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. Naruto's grin still (pleasantly) made Sasuke feel wary. No matter how much that boyish grin was stamped on his best friend's face, every time he did that it spelled "trouble" that would take his routine off set. "What?"

"Nothing. This is a good place, teme." Somehow that smile morphed into something teasing and secretive and the Uchiha did not like that fact at all.

"What?" He repeated, glaring for a good measure.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly towards the dark glare he was receiving. He never got intimidated at the time they were kids, he's not going to chicken out now. "You're getting cranky with your old age, bastard."

"The pot calling the kettle back."

"Heeyyy...I'm always full of energy!"

"And full of schedules to the doctor. I swear that one day you'll break a spine if you continue to jump idiotically like that."

They both paused to observe the sun slowly tainting the cerulean sky into orange, hiding behind the fog. Lazily, Naruto held Sasuke's hand out of habit. At a period of their time, it became a recurrent habit between them, as Naruto no longer felt abashed to act upon it and Sasuke no longer felt retracted to refuse it. It became the most natural thing to do.

As the final rays settled behind the horizon, they stayed in the same position for a while. At last...at the very moment Sasuke felt the warmth spreading beneath rough and dry skin, he had received the answer. Bonds never failed to send the message properly and to be obtained effectively.

They laid once again in the cooling grass and closed their eyes, awaiting the arrival of stars.

"Hey, think we could spar afterwards."

The other man only open half-hearted one eye and before closing once again. "Whatever. You know well that I'd win anyways."

AN: It's SasuNaru romance. Yep. Go read it again.