Summary:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The end.

Title: I Found You

Written by: Kidlet350

"Please be there… please be there…" Naruto whispered slowly and hopefully underneath his breath, walking through one of the many forests that surrounded Konoha. The freezing cold rain teased him and pelted against his golden blond hair, but he paid little attention to it; for his mind was fixed on one thing and one thing only.

The last time Naruto had seen his best friend was at the Valley of the End. Each night since that dejecting day, he suffered from countless nightmares, unsurprisingly featuring the said Uchiha. While every day he waited almost impatiently for his return, he found it difficult to concentrate during missions with just Sakura and Kakashi by his side. Yeah they were always there and they were always great friends, but no body could ever measure up to his former friend. No body would ever be just like Sasuke.

Each step Naruto took through the frozen forest was sluggish. His eyes lay glued to the rain drops that playfully, yet brutally, danced about the surface of the mud and dead leaves on which he walked. It had been four years since the last time Naruto saw him: he who so deeply scarred Naruto's aching heart; he who once called Naruto his best friend; he, whom Naruto loved more than anyone he'd ever known. His name was Uchiha Sasuke, the main subject of Naruto's thoughts.

Naruto refused the tears that were so desperate to escape. He continued to walk through the forest, drenched completely from head to toe in rain water. I will find him… I will find him... he thought desperately. Just as he took another step, he tripped on a rock that his eyes seemed to skim right over, and fell straight on his face. He winced as he tried to get back up, pushing up against the ground for support. Slowly he stood, and looked up to let the rain wash off the remaining mud on his clothes from the ground.

I will find him... and I won't go back on my word… because that's…

Naruto clenched his right fist and looked straight, into the endless forest of trees and rain. …because that's… my way of the ninja! He completed the thought and took off, much quicker than before, almost in a full run, instead of just merely walking. Naruto was no longer sad or doubtful; he was determined and confident. He lost track of time while he sprinted through the forest at his top speed, regardless of the rain that mocked him, trying to slow him down.

What seemed like hours later, but really only a few minutes had passed, Naruto reached a clearing. He stopped running and began walking slowly as he did before. He began to step even more cautiously when he spotted people lying on the ground… dead. There were a total of eight people that Naruto could see; each drowned in the ever-so familiar black and red cloaks, stained with the even more familiar black and red tints of blood.

Naruto held his breath as he walked through the field, around each body, until he saw two more people, a little bit off into the distance. One was lying on the ground and the other leaned against a tree, both appearing to be just as dead as the others. Naruto kept his slow pace until he realized who they were. The body lying on the ground was the last body wearing the matching colors as the other eight. His name was Uchiha Itachi, the man Sasuke strived to murder. The body lying against the tree… was Sasuke himself.

Naruto ran to the tree and crouched down next to his friend's pale and limp body. A lone tear rolled down the blond's cheek when he was positive it was him. He crawled over to him and placed his knees on either side of his legs. He reached out his arms and placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, burying his face in the older boy's chest, crying.

"Hn… Dobe," Naruto heard a very familiar voice whisper into his ear. Naruto let go of Sasuke and looked up to see said Uchiha looking down at him. His obsidian eyes were just barely cracked open, and he had the slightest hint of a smile in either corner of his lips.

"S… Sasuke…" Naruto whispered. Sasuke's faint smile disappeared.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke asked him quietly.

Naruto was speechless. Everything he wanted to say would come out sounding weird because he didn't know how to say it. He bit his lower lip.

"I've… come to take you home…" he replied, practically choking on his words.

Sasuke paused for a long period of time. Then he replied, "I… I can't go with you…"

Tears were still rapidly flowing from Naruto's eyes. He could no longer contain himself. "But… but you have to…"

"I'm sorry Naruto… I just can't." Sasuke turned his head to the side, averting his gaze away from the blond.

"Why!" he choked out. "Why after all of these years of searching for you!" the rain still pounded against the cold surface of the ground. "Why when all of this time I've been waiting for you! When I have finally forgiven you!" Sasuke looked back at the blond who was now clutching Sasuke's shoulders. Naruto looked down, tears drowning his features. "Why… when I finally realized how much I truly…" he couldn't say it. But he had to… after all those years of holding it in, he had to. "How much I truly… love you…!" Naruto clutched the fabric surrounding Sasuke's shoulders.

Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second, but suddenly closed and allowed a warm yet weak smile to overcome his features while he listened to the blond boy sob against his chest. After a minute, he then opened his eyes and replied, "Because… Dobe…" he whispered almost too silently for the blond boy to hear. "Because you make me weak."

Naruto paused for a moment and looked up at Sasuke whose face was overcome with many different emotions. Tears still streamed down the blond's cheeks when he heard Sasuke speak again.

"N… Naruto?"

Naruto blinked and looked into Sasuke's obsidian, sorrowful eyes, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm… sorry." His voice was shaky and he bit his lower lip. "I was so stupid… all I wanted was power. I didn't know that what I really wanted was…" he choked on his own words. Unwilling to finish his sentence, he changed it. "They can't try to hurt you anymore…" Sasuke was no longer looking into Naruto's cerulean blue eyes. He averted his gaze to something else because he was afraid of Naruto's reaction.

Naruto, on the other hand, was amazed by how much Sasuke was talking. Normally he wouldn't have apologized at all. This scared Naruto in a way he couldn't really explain.

"Sasuke… you don't have to say any more. You have already been forgiven…" Naruto was cut off when Sasuke interrupted him.

"Please." He was again gazing into Naruto's blue orbs, only this time much more intensely. He looked desperate. "I need you to know…"

Naruto waited for him to continue.

"I am going to die here…" he stated. By then, his voice was hoarse and shaky. It became difficult for him to speak in anything louder than a whisper. Naruto noticed this, but didn't want to believe that what he was telling him was true. His grip on the older boy's shoulders became tighter and more tears fell from his eyes.

"No… Sasuke… I won't let you… not now… not after all of this…" he choked out.

"I've finally gotten revenge… Itachi is dead. That was what I wanted." He paused for a moment. "Yes. That is what I wanted. But I never thought about what I needed."

"What was it?" Naruto asked him, voice still shaking.

"Dobe…" Naruto winced at the name. "It was you." Naruto looked up to find Sasuke smiling, his eyes still sad.

"I got what I wanted. Yes. But now, I have to lose what I needed."

"No! Sasuke! You aren't going anywhere!" Naruto choked out in between sobs. "You can't!" Naruto paused to catch his breath.

"I've finally found you! You can't leave me!" he continued. A tear that had been begging to escape, finally escaped in between Sasuke's closed eyelids. "Sasuke, please stay… for me!"

Sasuke looked down listening to Naruto's every word.

"I love you! That's why you need to stay!"

After a long moment of silence, Sasuke allowed a few more tears to reveal themselves and lifted a hand up to Naruto's chin.

Naruto then felt warm fingers underneath his chin, lifting his face so he was peering into Sasuke's enchanting gaze. Sasuke closed his eyes and brought Naruto's face closer to his own, rubbing his nose against Naruto's. Naruto closed his eyes as well and for the slightest moment, the two's lips brushed against each other's. For the first time when they actually meant it, the two kissed. The sudden taste of blood filled Naruto's mouth, but he didn't care. As long as he could touch Sasuke, being that it would most likely be the last time…

Sasuke pulled away from Naruto and rested his head against the cold, wet tree. Naruto opened his eyes and gazed intensely at the figure below him. Sasuke opened his eyes and lifted a hand, laying it gently on Naruto's cheek. He always wanted to know what his whiskers felt like. Naruto barely leaned into Sasuke's hand. "I found you… please don't go…" Naruto spoke softly.

"I love you too, Dobe…" he paused. "I'm not going anywhere"

Naruto felt Sasuke's hand move away from his face and heard it hit the ground. Naruto watched in disbelief as Sasuke's eyes closed once again and his body went limp. This time it was real. This time, Sasuke was really gone…

Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around Sasuke's slightly warm body and sobbed silently into his shoulder.

Naruto released him and looked intensely at Sasuke's every feature. He looked so much different than he did four years before, but he still looked like the famous Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto planted a soft kiss of finality on Sasuke's barely warm lips.

"Liar…"