A/N: God, i really am going to cry now. I can't believe that this is the end of the story, my first fanfic (Tear burst out of her eyes). It has been great writing this story. i'm just sorry that i became kinda lazy toward the end. Thank you guys sooooo much for reviewing and reading my story. Thanks to you, i now have 100 reviews. Well, let the show go on, and here is the last installment of Living in the Fast Lane.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything in it.

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Chap.13

Sakura watched on helplessly as her two comrades glowered at each other angrily. The morning of the last leg of the race had dawned with Naruto and Sasuke still in foul moods. Their pink haired companion was at a complete loss for the boys had gone to bed in good spirits but had seemingly awaked hating each other. When the boys were out of sight from each other, Sakura set off to solve their conflict.

"Hey, Naruto. You ok? You and Sasuke don't seem to get along today. Want to talk about it?" Naruto was sitting at a ramen stand when the girl approached him.

"Humph." The blonde pouted childishly.

"Seriously, Naruto. It couldn't have been that bad, I mean, Sasuke really cares for you. Why don't you just go over to him and try to resolve whatever it is you guys are fighting about?" Sakura placed a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I will not talk to that bastard until he apologizes."

"FINE! Be that way. I bet Sasuke at least won't act like such a child."

The pink haired girl stomped off, leaving Naruto with a sad look in his eyes. Upon seeing the brunet, Sakura ran up to him, ready for whatever attitude the boy might have.

"What is it?" Sasuke growled in a venomous tone, not even having to turn around to tell that it was the girl.

"I want you two to stop this childish behavior! Naruto is over there sulking and you're here brooding like a kid who's been punished." The brunet turned his head away from Sakura, trying to hide exactly how bad he felt. Sure, he had caused Naruto to be angry, but the blonde then took it to the next level by wounding him as well. If Sasuke hadn't been so full of his Uchiha pride, he would have gone over to the blonde right away and apologized, but that wasn't the case.

"Just leave it Sakura. I'm not in the mood." Sakura didn't miss the slight hurt that resonated in the Uchiha's deep voice. A loud tone echoed from the speakers, interrupting anything Sakura might have said.

"All drivers please come to the starting line. The race will commence shortly." The announcement ended with a small click.

"Sasuke, let's go." Without another word, the two walked over to the start line, making last minute checks tot heir cars.

Sasuke quickly ducked into his car upon seeing a familiar mop of blonde hair approaching. Once everyone was settled and ready, they rolled up to the red line painted onto the road. The pink Honda sat between Sasuke's Red Ferrari and Naruto's yellow Cobra.

'Some team, huh?' Sakura thought as she watched her two friends glance back and forth at each other. 'God, I have a bad feeling about this.'

Engines revved as the checked flag was raised high into the air. When it dropped, a cloud of smoke filled the sky, making visibility all but impossible for the spectators. All that could be heard was the deafening thunder of dozens of cars racing into the morning sun.

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Many hours passed as the contestants continued to race. The finish line was only another hour away, making the competition more and more fierce. Several cars had already succumbed to sabotage and dirty driving.

At the front of the pack, a red, yellow, and pink car led the way, never relenting their first place spots. The three drivers communicated with each other though walkie-talkies, although, the only one actually talking was Sakura. Neither boy would speak unless it was to Sakura.

"Hey, Sasuke. Do you see that car that's gaining on us? It's speeding up to us like a mad man." The walkie-talkie beeped once the pink haired girl was done speaking.

Sasuke glanced quickly at his rear view mirror only to notice that a silver and green Mitsubishi Eclipse was indeed gaining on them.

"Shit," picking up his communicator, Sasuke held down the talk button, "Sakura, I think that might be our little snake friend, Orochimaru. Tell Naruto to be careful, and you too."

"Sure thing."…… "Hey, Naruto. Be careful of that Eclipse coming behind us. Sasuke says it's that Orochimaru guy."

"What?" The blonde glanced in his mirror; the offending car was only a couple car lengths away now. "Ya, I'll do thaa…Son of a bitch!"

The yellow Cobra jerked forward as the silver racer smashed against its bumper. The other driver repeated the action, hoping to cause the other car to crash.

"HEY, you're ruining my car!" Naruto tried to speed up to avoid another fender-bender.

Upon hearing the crunch of metal and screeching, Sasuke looked over to see Naruto being hassled by Orochimaru. A pale figure with long black hair was apparently laughing in the driver's seat while trying to knock out the competition.

"Fuck. Naruto's in trouble….Sakura, you keep going on ahead, I'll try to save the idiot."

"Ah...alright, but don't do anything reckless." The pink Civic sped on as Sasuke pulled up next to the silver Eclipse. The blonde watched as the red Ferrari pulled back and Sakura pulled forward.

'Sasuke?' Another hit from behind brought Naruto's attention once again to the bothersome Orochimaru.

The brunet stayed along side Orochimaru, slowly trying to push the other car off the side of the road. The snake-like man cursed loudly as the Uchiha came to the blonde's rescue. He couldn't focus on hitting the blonde brat with the rich pretty boy pushing him to the shoulder of the road. With a sly smirk, an answer came to Orochimaru's sick, twisted mind.

"Well, I was hoping not to have to resort to this but I guess I have no choice. It's been nice knowing ya."

Slowly, a tinted window on the passenger side rolled down. Naruto, wondering why the pale man had stopped his incessant bashing looked back and what he saw made him fear for Sasuke's life.

"Sasuke!"

A small hand gun was grasped in the snake's long pointed fingers. He aimed it to the side, pointing directly at Sasuke's head. Acting out of sheer instinct, Naruto hit the brakes, causing the Eclipse to barrel into the rear end with a large crash. Sasuke looked to his right, right in time to see the silver vehicle smash into the blonde's car. Like in slow motion, the brunet saw Orochimaru whip out a gun and aim it at him.

"Shit!" The Uchiha did the first thing he though of, which was to duck and hit the brakes as well.

The driver's side window of the Ferrari shattered with a loud shot. But before Orochimaru was sent careening into his dashboard, he got out one more shot. The bullet missed its target but was lodged into the hood of the red sports car.

The stray bullet punctured the Sasuke's engine, leading to a massive, fiery explosion. The front of the red car was amassed in flames and smoke, but the brunet driver could not be seen.

"SASUKE!" Naruto bolted out of his car upon seeing his boyfriend's car go up in flames. "Sasuke! Please, God, please be alive!"

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-sniff-sob-sniff-

A blonde mop of hair lay on the edge of a painfully white bed, its occupant: a bandaged brunet. Tear soaked sheets were held in a death clutch between Naruto's fingers as he sobbed for his unconscious lover.

"Please Sasuke. I..I'm sorry," the blonde reached for the sleeve of the Uchiha's hospital gown, "It's all my fault. I really am an idiot."

Naruto brushed a hand along Sasuke's creamy cheek, stopping once his fingers came across a bandage. If Naruto had to be grateful for one thing, it would be that Sasuke hadn't suffered any really life threatening injuries. When the red sports car had burst into flames, the blonde ran to the scene, franticly searching for the brunet. Luckily, Naruto was able to pull Sasuke out of the mangled car before the fire reached him. When the paramedics arrived, they rushed the Uchiha to the Suna Emergency Room. Apparently, Sasuke had inhaled lots of smoke and had suffered a bad concussion. Apart from that, the boy had mild cuts and bruises. But what doctors were afraid of was that Sasuke may not awake from his sleep. People with serious concussions aren't allowed to sleep for more than an hour or so at a time; otherwise they may never wake up. In the brunet's case, he hadn't even woken up once, and Naruto feared he would never.

"Sasuke, everyone is so worried about you. Sakura left you flowers," a bouquet of white daisies sat on the bedside table, "and even Itachi came. He really does care about you. –heh heh- You should have seen how upset Kakashi looked." Naruto smiled down at the sleeping Uchiha, tears ever-present in his wide blue eyes.

The constant beep of the heat monitor echoed in the empty room. All of the sterile white walls and accessories made Naruto sick. The only thing nice about the room was the window, which had a nice view of the plush, green courtyard. Everything in the room seemed to make time go slower; the beeping of the heart monitor, the rhythmic dripping of the IV bag. Naruto hated that his Sasuke was in such a place; it was all his fault.

-Sob- big tears flooded out without end. "I'm SO sorry! It's all because of me that you're in this place right now. I wish I could take back those words I said to you. I should have known that you only did it because you care. God, I'm such a moron!" Fists pounded onto the springy mattress.

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Muffled sobs reached the boy's ears. He couldn't make out anything, everything was a blur.

"I'm SO sorry!..." A voice coming from next to him cried.

'Naruto?'

Sasuke opened his eyes when he heard the blonde's voice. A head of gold hair was buried into the uncomfortable white hospital bed on which the Uchiha lay. The brunet didn't move, trying not to let the crying boy know he was awake. Ebony eyes scrutinized the room, deducing that it was a hospital. The painfully bright, white walls stung Sasuke's eyes as they finally came to rest on Naruto's head. It took a second before the brunet realized why the boy might be upset and why he was in the hospital. Memories of the race gone wrong sprang forth. Come to think of it, Sasuke did feel quite sore and his head hurt like hell.

"….I'm such a moron!" The Uchiha was brought back to the blonde next to him. What was it that he had said? He was sorry?

"Please, wake up. I promise I won't ever eat ramen again if you do this one thing, so please, just, wake up."

"Dobe, I'm already awake. Who wouldn't be with the way you're blubbering." A startled Naruto shot up in his seat, red nosed and puffy eyed.

"Sa…Sauske?" Azure eyes grew even larger in surprise. "Y..you're alright!" Tanned arms wrapped themselves around a shocked Uchiha.

"Yes, I'm ok. Now stop strangling me before I really get hurt." Naruto pulled back quickly in embarrassment, fearing that Sasuke might still be upset with him.

"I..I'm sorry." The blonde cast his eyes to the floor, not able to look the other boy in the eyes. Sasuke sat up, leaning his back on the headboard.

"Don't be. It's my fau..." The brunet was interrupted by a strangled sob. Fresh tears immerged once again in Naruto's eyes.

"I'm SOOOO sorry. It's my entire fault. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in that bed, and…and.. you wouldn't still hate me. I'm so sorry for everything I said. I was being stupid and I didn't want to believe that you only did it out of love. And now..now.."

"Naruto, stop that," a stern voice commanded, "It is not your fault.. and I don't hate you. I chose to confront Orochimaru and accepted the possible consequences. And as for our fight, please forgive me. I was totally out of line. I guess I just flew off the handle when you said that Itachi talked to you. I wanted so badly to blame my parents' death on something that I didn't care on who. It was just easier to blame it on Itachi than realize that it was only an accident. I never should have yelled at you, and now it's my fault that you feel so bad right now." A watery-eyed blonde sat staring, digesting all that Sasuke had said.

"Yo..you mean that you're not mad; you don't hate me?" Faster than the Uchiha could blink, Naruto threw himself on the brunet. "I was so worried that you wouldn't wake up!"

Sasuke placed a comforting hand on Naruto's head, gently running his fingers through the golden hair, the other hand pulling the blonde closer to him.

"By the way, what happened after my car exploded?" Azure eyes looked up into ebony ones. Naruto sat back, wiping away tears with his long, orange sleeve, feeling a lit bit foolish for showing so much emotion. Apparently Sasuke was a little embarrassed too, resulting in his change of subject.

"Well, I pulled you out of the car and the ambulance took you to the hospital. The doctor says you have a concussion and that you inhaled some smoke. Other than that, you only have a few cuts and bruises. I just glad that I got you out of that wreck before you were burned." A fox grin spread across the blonde's face. It was like he had completely forgotten his previous depression, leaving Sasuke just a bit confused.

"God, think of how you would have looked without your pretty hair. I don't think I could have looked at you anymore." A pout resulted on Sasuke's face as he saw Naruto's grin.

"Well, now that I know how you really feel.." The Uchiha bopped Naruto on the head; the blonde shouted his usually curses as he withered in pain.

"Is that anyway to treat your boyfriend?" Sasuke just smirked. "Oh, I didn't tell you what happened with the race. Guess what! Sakura won the individual time race! And, that Snake-bastard was arrested! Isn't that great!" The blonde was now leaning on the bed with his elbows, yammering on like a school girl, a big smile plastered to his face.

Sasuke was happy; happy that the race wasn't a total lose and that he had made up with Naruto. He wasn't really listening to the boy, just watching him. Having the blonde here with him made him feel all the better, and he wasn't about to blow it again. Leaning forward, Sasuke pressed his lips to Naruto's. The noise ceased for the boy as he returned the kiss. It didn't last long, but it was meaningful none the less.

" Sasu…"

"……….."

"Did you really mean it when you said that you'd stop eating ramen? 'Cause if that's the case then…" A well place pillow drowned out the last of the Uchiha's sentence.

"You JERK! God, you can really kill a good thing, you know that?" Both boys started laughing.

"Ya, ya. I'm sorry. Man, I'm just mad that I didn't get to finish the race this year. I was really looking forward to it."

"Well, there's always next year. And, next time, we'll win for sure."

"…Ya,... we'll win for sure, as long as you're with me."

"Yes, as long as we're together."

THE END

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A/N: Thanks sooo much for reading. I love you all. I have other SasuNaru stories if you're inertest. When I set out to write this story, i actually had a slightly different idea in mind, but it turned out like this. I wanted it to have more of a focus on racing. I'm thinking of writing another S+N with more of a focus on street racing, so look forward to another story in a little bit. Thanks again. :) (Tears won't stop )