(yawn) Halfway into this new week and I'm already bushed. That's quite a change compared to the past two weeks. I really need to go to bed when I say I will, which means I should be in bed by eleven-thirty for the latest. The good thing about that is that I've begun to appreciate weekends a lot more! XD

I had a good day today, and because of that as well as another (good) reason, I've decided to post another chapter! I had originally imagined this one to be a little bit different, but I hope this result is acceptable anyhow. But enough of my blabbering - enjoy, my friends! (crosses fingers and makes note to go back to writing on the train instead of just gazing into space)

Prompt #75: Crisis

"What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like to you? I'm leaving."

"But why?!"

"Did you really think I'd come back? You're even more naïve than I thought." Smirk.

"Please, Sasuke! Don't go!"

"It's too late, Naruto. You can keep on clinging to those futile dreams of yours, but I must gain more power!"

"No!"

A pale young man threw back his head as he laughed in an almost maniacal way. His friend's anguish seemed to highly amuse him in a sick, twisted way that didn't fit his character – he wasn't supposed to be so evil, so heartless. At least, that's what they thought…

Laughing even harder when tears poured out of two blue eyes, the raven whirled around and ran off, fading into the shadows. The pleas for him to stop and come back fell on deaf ears, and all too soon, the eerie echo of that insane laughter was all that remained to hint his former presence.

"Sasuke…!!" Sasuke… Sasuke…

With a startled, almost frightened gasp, Naruto sat bolt upright in bed, sweating all over and his eyes wide. He couldn't tell if his face was wet because of sweat or tears. And frankly, he didn't care at all.

Normally, he would have quickly calmed down by reminding himself that it was just a dream, but this time, he was far from finding that comfort. Not when his heart was beating so fast and hard that it hurt. It was beating with fear, dread and pain. Like it had done back at the Valley of the End; when Sasuke had openly called his friends, his upbringing – the entire village – meaningless. Insignificant. A waste of time. Those snide remarks, spoken in that scorn-filled voice, had made Naruto feel as if his heart was being torn to pieces, and that had hurt so much that he wished never to feel like that again.

Still hearing that horrible laughter in his mind, he jumped out of bed and ran. Being so beside himself, he was unable to think about which directions to take. Fortunately, his instinct took care of that: left, right, straight, right again…

'Don't go…!'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

He was just beginning to recall what it was like to sleep deeply, yet it still didn't take a lot of noise to wake him up. The sound of someone practically crashing through his front door was more than sufficient. And hearing pounding footsteps rapidly approaching made him want to jump out of bed and grab his katana.

No sooner had he flung the bedspread aside when Sasuke scowled, remembering that Tsunade had confiscated that weapon, naturally not trusting him yet. Ergo, he would have to fully rely on kunai and shuriken weapon-wise.

Just as he was about to retrieve a few of those, the door to his room burst open, and a pajama-clad ninja stumbled in, out of breath and looking extremely shaken.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and all his intentions of arming himself got washed away instantly.

"Naruto?" he wondered.

For a moment, Naruto just stood there, gawking and gasping, but then he got a strange look on his face that Sasuke couldn't quite place. He knitted his brows, studying that face – were those trails of sweat or tears? – and those eyes (now he was strongly guessing that the second option was more likely). He saw dread… and hope. Frantic, anxious hope.

"What are you coming here for in the middle of the night? Afraid I'll be gone in the morning?"

Admittedly, it was neither the best joke nor taunt in that situation, but Sasuke hadn't thought about the consequences: the look on Naruto's face became more intense as his eyes widened. Tears flooded them as Sasuke cocked his head. To the blond, the other could just as well have said:

"Turn your sorry back on me now and I won't be here when the sun rises again."

No! He couldn't afford to lose him again! He had failed twice already, losing his best friend to the darkness over and over again. If he let that happen just once more… Naruto had no idea what he would do then. A burst of dreadful fear overpowered his rational thinking, and acting impulsively, he cried out:

"No! Don't go, Sasuke!"

As if fearing that the Uchiha was a mere mirage and would fade away the next instant, he crossed the room, tripping over his own feet as he went. His fall was broken by Sasuke, whose neck involuntarily provided support when two arms were flung around it. The bed dipped under Naruto's weight, and Sasuke was yanked downwards as well.

"What the devil…?! What's wrong with –" he began to exclaim indignantly, but paused when the sounds of crying reached his ears. Strangled, sorrowful sobs unlike those he had heard three days ago. He felt how Naruto dug his fingers into his nightshirt. The fabric quickly became damp where the shorter ninja's face made contact with it. The realization that his friend had been reduced to a picture of misery made his face soften.

"Naruto, calm down…" he murmured, hoping that he could calm his former teammate down. Tears like these just didn't look right on him. Dropping his original intention of pushing him away upon being hugged so vehemently, Sasuke put his arms around Naruto's shaking form.

"Sasuke, please don't go! I don't want to lose you again… like that…" It was rather hard to understand what he was saying because he was desperately trying to regain his composure.

"You really missed me, right?" Practically by itself, one of Sasuke's hands began to slowly rub Naruto's back.

"So much that I can't find words for it," Naruto answered truthfully, holding Sasuke even tighter. "So much that I dreamed about you leaving again."

"Is that why you paid me this surprise visit?"

"Yeah. I was so scared… that you'd be gone, maybe forever."

Sasuke hummed softly. "But I only just came back, and I have completed my task. I have no more reason to leave."

Naruto pushed him away at that remark. "I didn't think you would ever leave at all, so maybe you can understand that I cannot be completely reassured by that statement."

"You don't trust me," Sasuke concluded.

"Not as much as I used to, but I don't completely mistrust you. You're still my friend; that's the way it has always been for me," Naruto replied with the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

The corners of Sasuke's mouth twitched upwards, hinting at his familiar smirk. "You really are unbelievable, dobe. How could you hold on to your beliefs about me for so long…?"

Naruto's face fell. "Why? Did you… forget that you were and still are my friend? Did you ever truly consider our friendship to be dead?"

A dread of Sasuke's own appeared on the otherwise often stoic face: the dread that Naruto would cry again in such an uncharacteristic fashion. He didn't want to see that happen again, especially not if he was the cause. All he could do was pray that honesty wouldn't be a wrong choice. "I… I don't think so," he answered truthfully. "There were times when I didn't know what to think anymore, but I think that… I never really forgot our bonds, Naruto."

A weak smile of relief dawned on the blond's face, and this raised a smile from Sasuke in return. He put a hand on his comrade's shoulder.

"As long as you're around, I won't ever forget them. Promise."

Naruto hadn't taken his eyes off Sasuke while that was said, and he simply knew that the other was being sincere. Relief and happiness washed away his fears, which made him hug Sasuke yet again. And the best thing was that Sasuke returned the embrace in all its intensity.

(word count: 1,300)

Cheesy end, hmm? You know the drill: please tell me what you think! You guys are so amazing, I dare not ask anything more of you! Lots of hugs to all of you who encouraged me to come this far! :)

(P.S: Just thought I'd add this as a random comment, more or less: anybody know the song "Indestructible" by Disturbed? Heard it in a TV commercial recently and loved it right away. It's a kick-ass song to listen to when... well, whenever, actually. I like to listen to it when I am under way in general. Aggressive music is having a revival in my book.) :D