Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto!

"You're going to die, Naruto. Out of necessity."

Sasuke jolted from her slumber as she had that dream again. Although, calling it a nightmare was the more appropriate term.

Ever since she was young, she's been plagued by them. They were an unfortunate memento left behind from her brothers actions.

Pushing herself up on the surprisingly soft mattress with one arm, she felt her breathing begin to even out. Those nightmares happened so often that she barely reacted to them outwardly. In her childhood, she'd jump out of bed and spend the entire night crying. Crying for her family, her brother, and herself.

Tonight she was reminded of the words she once stood by. Her plan to get rid of the Bijuu, and by extension, Naruto. She recalled the way his eyes displayed the emotions he tried hiding behind his confident exterior when she revealed her ultimate goal.

She failed.

Naruto made sure that she lost.

Naruto saved her.

Her body moved from the bed lent to her generously by Gaara. His Kazekage estate was not the most luxurious, but it had a certain comfortable feel. She originally expected to have her own room far away from his own quarters. Instead, Gaara placed her close to his own. Along with one other resident to share her room.

Sasuke's bare footsteps made no noise as she made her way along the cool tiled flooring. It was a skill she honed from her time with Orochimaru. Her ability to maneuver silently put the deceased Zabuza to shame.

Approaching a bed that sat on the opposite side of the room, Sasuke observed its occupant.

Naruto appeared vulnerable. Very vulnerable. A loose tank top that was currently hiked up as he laid a hand on his toned stomach and a pair of ramen themed boxers. His sleepwear was far different from her own. The Uchiha's baggy long sleeved shirt and pants hid her lost appendage seamlessly.

Sasuke's lone hand rose slowly, almost against her will.

"You're going to die, Naruto. Out of necessity."

The words from her dream beat in her ears like a drum. Her clans pride and joy activated as she heard him begin to mumble nonsensically in his sleep.

Her Sharingan focused on his face intently. Every detail engraved in her mind. She wasn't even sure why she studied him like this. If there was one person she could remember perfectly, it was Naruto. The tomoe in her left eye spun hypnotically while her powerful Rinnegan remained hidden behind long bangs.

A small hand, at least when compared to his own, neared Naruto's face. It moved at a painstakingly slow pace.

"Sasuke... eat the ramen... I don't care... if you don't... like it... tiny..." Naruto mumbled while he tossed and turned in his bed. His sleep talk easily deciphered by her now and it effectively stopped her hands descent for the moment.

Her face changed. Even in his sleep he thought of her. He was always thinking of her. Always at her side when everyone turned against her and she did the same to them.

Laying her hand gently against his cheek, she was reminded of the times when her mother would do this. How her mother would sweetly smile and tell her how she loves her.

"Stupid Sasuke..." Naruto moved his head away from her hand as he appeared annoyed in his sleep.

If Naruto saw her in that moment, he'd be treated to the genuine smile she had displayed on her usual cold face.

When Sasuke returned to her bed, she slept peacefully. Her nightmares repressed by Naruto's presence.

"It is unfortunate that you must leave so soon." Gaara stood alone at the entrance to his village. Sasuke certainly did not miss the presence of the sand siblings.

"I'd love to stay longer! It's just… um…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I understand. Though it would be nice if you notified me before your arrival." Gaara told the unique duo before him.

"Sorry about that. This whole trip happened so fast." Naruto apologized with his usual grin.

"It was only supposed to be me on this journey." Sasuke spoke from his side. Gaara noticed that she looked fairly well rested.

"Ah Sasuke. I hope your time at the orphanage wasn't too unpleasant." The Kazekage spent most of his days with Naruto that he didn't get a chance to speak much with the former avenger.

"It was alright." Sasuke answered him vaguely. Naruto poked her in the shoulder at the short answer. She sighed very quietly. 'Damn him…'

"Fine, the kids weren't too bad." Her admittance earned a loud laugh from Naruto.

"They really liked her Gaara. Especially Minori-chan. They thought little Sasu-chan here was the best."

"I won't be called little by someone who wears ramen underwear." Sasuke smirked mockingly.

"Don't hate on the ramen boxers! Why were you looking anyway?" Naruto asked her with a mischievous smile. He wanted a reaction. Gaara watched their interaction and was reminded of all those years ago at the Chūnin Exams. Back then even while clouded by his own hatred, he noticed the bond they shared.

"You look like a living breathing advertisement for noodles. It's hard not to see that."

Gaara smiled as Naruto grabbed Sasuke's cloak collar. They both blinked when realizing they got lost in their own world again.

"I'm glad that your time in my village wasn't entirely awful Sasuke. Thank you for entertaining them." Gaara bowed his head forward. Despite his status and past, he remained humble.

"No problem… Gaara."

Naruto was happy that they were both getting along. Before he could speak up, Gaara held a hand out. Unlike the last time they departed in a similar fashion, Naruto didn't hesitate.

Sasuke looked on silently as the two shook hands. She knew in the future that this scene would be between two Kage.

Sand drifted up to her only arm and tugged on the sleeve of her shirt. She quickly sought out the manipulator.

"Just as I've told Naruto many times, you are always welcome in my village Sasuke."

She didn't deserve that privilege. Helping with children was little penance for plotting to rid the world of the various Kage.

The sand pulled on her with more force.

Sasuke could have resisted. She could have pulled away and turned her back to him.

'That Sasuke is gone… right Naruto?' Her gaze drifted to her best friend for a split second.

"Be well out there. I hope you find what you're looking for." Gaara grasped her hand lightly and the sand dropped peacefully from her garment.

Sasuke wordlessly nodded. She hoped so too.

"Next time I see you both, I'm sure you'll be together." Gaara released his hold on Sasuke and allowed her arm to fall back at her side. Naruto scrunched his face up as he thought about the meaning behind those words.

"You know Gaara, you've gotten really confusing after becoming Kazekage." He continued to marvel at his friends change in personality.

"Don't mind me, my friend." Stepping back closer to the village, Gaara waited for their departure.

"... Okay then. We're off!" Naruto saluted him with a bandaged hand before spinning on his heel to face Sasuke.

"What now Naruto?" She noticed the way he looked her head to toe. If it weren't for her whole body being covered by a cloak and her natural Uchiha poker face, maybe she'd be embarrassed.

"You up for a race? First one to the border wins."

Sasuke narrowed her eyes at the smugness on his stupid whiskered face.

"Are you planning to use the Kyuubi?" Her accusation hit the nail on the head.

"No…"

Sasuke reached into her cloak and flung a shruiken with a smooth flick of her wrist. Naruto tilted his head as the weapon flew through the open air of the desert. She definitely added some chakra to that throw.

"See you at the border, loser." Her Rinnegan widened and she disappeared.

Naruto watched the shuriken fall to the sand in front of him.

"Oh. There she goes." Gaara commented as he looked as the titanic Susanoo flying into the barren desert.

"That damn cheater! I hate the Rinnegan!" Tightening his fists, Naruto felt warm chakra spill from his seal.

'Brat, this is a waste of chakra.'

'You want Sasuke to beat us?' Naruto felt the Kyuubi stir in the seal.

'… Take it all.'

Naruto threw a wave in Gaara's direction as he rocketed towards the location of his teammate.

'If that's what a relationship is like, then I feel I am not ready.' The Kazekage thought to himself.

Gaara was just happy that the two super powered shinobi would not be scaring his villagers half to death with their abilities anymore.

"I won."

"No you did not!"

"My foot crossed it first."

"Your stupid Susanoo's feet are too big."

"Learn to accept defeat Uzumaki."

Naruto grumbled and seated himself on a fallen log. Reaching the border of Kaze no Kuni in a relatively short time was child's play for them at this point. In the past that trip could almost take a day or two of trekking through the desert.

"Why the hell is the Susanoo's nose so big anyway?"

Sasuke placed herself next to him on the log and shook her head at the odd question.

"Uchiha clan secret."

"Psh… whatever."

Reaching into the inside of her cloak, Sasuke retrieved a small black book. The book itself didn't look special, but the information inside was all Orochimaru had on happenings in the Elemental Nations.

Holding it, she struggled more than she'd care to admit with turning the pages using only one hand.

"So where are we off to next? I guess it's your turn to pick since I dragged you to see Gaara." Naruto decided to read over her shoulder.

"It depends. Orochimaru also included profiles on rogue shinobi and bounties for them." She knew Naruto wouldn't be interested in bounties but she wanted his input.

"I mean if we have to clean up some areas for the better, I guess?" He still sounded unsure. Rogue shinobi didn't just disappear after the war, in fact, they managed to get better at hiding as the rest of the nations were fighting world ending threats. Peace wasn't interesting to everyone after all. Though he wished that was the case.

"The Mizukage requested some help from other nations recently. I'm not sure if they responded yet since every village is still recovering from the war." Sasuke relayed the information. Naruto's warm breath hit her ear due to his close proximity and she felt her face warm up ever so slightly.

"I've never been to Kirigakure. Plus I haven't seen the Mizukage in a while. She's very nice, you know?" Naruto didn't quite understand why Mei licked her lips in his direction whenever seeing him after the war. Maybe she was thirsty? Which was weird, considering her abilities. Kurama snorted at Naruto's naive thoughts.

The pages of the book crinkled when Sasuke applied a little too much force.

"… Maybe we should go somewhere else. Oni no Kuni also needs help with various things."

Naruto shot off the log at that suggestion.

"Haha… no no… I want to visit Kirigakure. Remember Zabuza was from there… oh and Isobu and um… the little Mizukage. Yeah I love Kirigakure!" Naruto steadily rose his voice with his rambling. Sasuke searched her memories for a reason behind his attitude. What was it about the area that bothered him? She didn't even know he was familiar with the Land of Demons.

"The only reason I won't question your behavior is because I want to see the entire world with my own eyes." That was a lie. She was definitely going to question him, just not now.

"Wait… does that mean we get to visit Nami no Kuni?" Naruto looked excited at the idea. It's been so long since he's seen old man Tazuna and his family.

"Yes. We can take a boat from there." Sasuke wasn't exactly jumping for joy at this information, even if she was interested in seeing how that place changed again. The last time she was there, she focused on getting Suigetsu the sword he wanted and not much else.

"Perfect! Let's go Sasuke." Naruto shouted and marched off in a direction of his choosing.

"Wrong way." She stopped him in his tracks.

"How do you even know?"

"An Uchiha-"

"Orochimaru's book has a map. Doesn't it?"

Sasuke turned her back to him and proceeded to move in the opposite direction.

She could practically feel the insufferable satisfied grin on his face from behind her.

Nightfall came quickly on their long walk to Nami no Kuni and they were met with a new problem.

"There isn't anywhere we can stop for the night." Sasuke frowned at the long stretch of trees ahead of them. The only sounds she heard were the rustling of tree leaves, and a very poor attempt at whistling. Her dry gaze zeroed in on Naruto.

"So? We can just camp it out." Naruto didn't see the problem with that as he strolled forward with his hands behind his head.

It only took a few minutes for Naruto to pick a quiet spot for them.

Withdrawing a small scroll from the pouch on his waist, Naruto pumped chakra into the inscribed seal. In a medium sized plume of smoke, a bright orange tent appeared.

"Everything looks about right." The tent was a little worn from use with a few holes but it held up. Nodding to himself, he turned to his best friend and watched her hesitantly pull a scroll out herself. Another plume of smoke appeared.

"Pfttt!" The noise he made easily displayed his amusement.

Sasuke's tent was originally way better quality than his own. Though unlike his, the years were not kind to her shelter. The entire thing looked like it was burnt to a crisp multiple times.

"I haven't had time to get a new one. I'm fine sleeping outside." She had no issue finding a tree to lean against. She's dealt with far worse in her life than some shoddy sleeping arrangements.

"No way! I'll sleep outside." If there was one lesson Jiraiya beat into his head, it was never to let a woman sleep outside in the cold. Even though he would follow that advice up with inviting the girl to bed and making her 'warm'.

"No. That's your tent." She stated the obvious and sealed back up her depressing tent.

"... What if we share?"

Sasuke's mind briefly flashed to the previous night where she watched him sleep.

"I mean, this wouldn't be the first time we slept together."

She almost choked on her spit at his painfully innocent tone.

"I slept with Sakura-chan plenty of times too."

That made her mood flip instantly. That was not something she liked hearing.

"Fine. I hope you don't snore or anything." Sasuke sent a weak glare his way. She just wasn't interested in sleeping on the ground now.

"Sakura-chan said I'm really quiet when sleeping with her."

"Naruto."

"Huh?"

"Shut up."

He sealed his lips when the glare morphed into something fiercer. Deep down he knew that Sasuke liked Sakura. Very… very… very deep down.

Sasuke eyed his tent disapprovingly. He really slept in that with Sakura? There was barely enough room for two people. The Uchiha was fully convinced Sakura did these things to piss her off. Although she was preoccupied in recent years.

"Are the living arrangements not up to your standards, Uchiha-sama?" Naruto mocked her and Kurama made a choking sound within the seal.

"… Did Sakura put those holes in your tent with her brutish strength?" Sasuke attempted to pull in whatever jealousy she was feeling. She needed to do it quickly too.

"I think it was moths…" Naruto looked thoughtfully at his tent, it definitely suffered through many of his long missions.

"Moths named Sakura."

"I never got their names actually."

Sasuke faked a poor sounding cough to hide the fact that his joke got to her. It didn't hold up when Naruto broke into his own fit of laughs.

'This feeling…' Sasuke felt at ease as she laughed along with Naruto.

Calming down from the laughter they shared, Naruto turned to open the tent and investigate the interior. Humming to himself, he made sure it was clean. The last time he used this was before the war started so it's been some time.

"You can change first." Naruto told her nonchalantly. Sasuke stared at him for a moment so he continued. "You're going to lay down in a tent wearing like three layers of clothes with weapons on you?"

"Obviously not." Squinting her special eyes at him, she moved past him and bumped him with her shoulder. The height difference only made him chuckle, growth spurts were the best.

Naruto heard her turn on the small lantern in the tent and zip up the entrance. In that brief span of time he thought of some things that Jiraiya would do. Before he can act on anything that could earn the ire of his teammate, he heard a soft thud from within the tent.

"Sasuke? Everything alright?" He wondered if she tripped. It was a funny thought that a strong shinobi like her would fall over.

"I... It's nothing."

Naruto whipped his head towards the direction of the tent entrance. Sasuke stuttering was a rare occurrence.

The internal shuffling continued for another minute before the zipper began to be pulled once more.

Sasuke walked out with her usual baggy sleeping attire and she refused to even glance in his direction. Figuring she didn't want to talk about it, Naruto wisely entered his tent to change.

'Having one arm… it's a challenge.' Her face flushed as she thought of the embarrassing fall she suffered. Tripping while changing her pants sounded like a joke, and she really wished it was.

Sasuke watched her sleeve sway in the wind with a small frown. It was a handicap, one that she could never fix or forget. She refused to.

"Tiny Uchiha-sama, your bed awaits." Naruto ducked his head out of the tent and gestured for her to come forward. Pushing down the urge to insult him again, she entered the small shelter.

"Hmph. There's not much room in here." Her remark was aimed at the two sleeping bags that were directly next to each other. Sasuke wasn't happy at sleeping on the same spot as Sakura.

"Sakura-"

"No."

Dropping to the floor, Sasuke wormed her way into her orange confines for the evening. Naruto snickered and followed her actions. He knew he was getting under her skin and he loved it.

A comfortable silence followed in the tent as they both watched the twinkling stars from the holes in the fabric. Luckily, it wasn't raining because Naruto knew they'd be in trouble then.

"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto called out to her softly. Sasuke gave a small noise of acknowledgment for him to go on. "What do you think about when you look at the stars?"

Sasuke went completely silent as she pondered his question. She thought about a lot, but one thing always stood out.

"Itachi used to watch the stars with me when I was young." Her eyes became half lidded, she remembered sitting outside her home and gazing up at the beautiful sky.

"I would have liked to talk with him some more, you know? He was like a super genius! Seriously, every time I spoke with him I felt so dumb." Naruto complained dramatically and Sasuke found herself laughing again. That brought a tired smile to his face. Anything involving Itachi was a hard topic for her, but Naruto knew how to guide the conversation.

"He liked you. I don't know why... since you're a complete loser." Her words were far more affectionate than insulting.

"Now that you mention it, that time he stuck a crow down my throat... I told him we were best friends. I don't think he believed me back then." Naruto yawned loudly as he felt fatigue hit him.

Sasuke knew what he was referring to. When she met Itachi during their attempt to stop Kabuto, her brother seemed to almost tease her when it came to Naruto. The way he would call Naruto her closest comrade had hidden undertones.

'The Rikudō Sennin was also amused at that…' She realized the only two people she could hide her true feelings from at times was Naruto and herself. Before her own thoughts kept her trapped, she whispered to him.

"Naruto? What do you think of?" The answer she received was in the form of soft breathing and she fully expected him to be asleep.

"… When I was a kid, I'd just wonder if my parents or anybody who cared was watching me from above. Then after you left… I would…" Naruto paused and Sasuke fumbled around in her sleeping bag to glance at him. Hearing about how lonely he was during his childhood always bothered her.

"You would what?" She noticed his face dropping, he was falling asleep as he spoke.

"I would look for shooting stars and think of you. I just wished that you'd come home…"

For a second, she thought her heart skipped a beat.

The tent remained quiet after that and through the small light from a lantern, she saw that he drifted off to sleep.

Sasuke didn't know if she considered Konoha home anymore. A home was somewhere she expected to feel safe and wanted, not one where she was haunted by memories of the past.

While she may struggle to consider the villager her home…

Sasuke laid her head closer to Naruto and let sleep claim her.

This was home.

A/N – I wonder why Naruto would try to avoid the Land of Demons… hmmmmmmMM.

Thanks so much as the reviews and everything, it always means a lot that people are reading my stories.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!