This took me a while, for reasons and stuff. But, I'm 100% that to me, it was worth the wait because I literally came up with all the important things in this chapter yesterday.

I have a very important headcanon that this story resolves around, and I want to mention it now so that you really understand everything in this chapter. You know how Sasuke has been manipulated most of his life, by Itachi, Orochimaru, and so on? I think he's also been manipulated by Indra. I mean, think about it. Sasuke and Naruto were always watching each other, even before the Uchiha massacre. It makes a lot of sense to think that this was initiated by Indra and Ashura. For Naruto, there's not really a discrepancy between his own reasons and Ashura's, they both want to reach out and make frends with Sasuke/Indra. However, Indra is, as we know, someone who wants to fight Ashura and kill him. Sasuke, on the other hand, felt close to Naruto and wanted to be his friend as well.

Imagine this discrepancy first coming to its peak in the Land of Waves. Sasuke throws himself in front of Naruto, prepared to selflessly give up his life for him. That kiiiiind of goes against Indra's plans for him. They need to be separated, because Naruto is influencing Sasuke too much. Orochimaru observes this later on. And, Orochimaru must suit Indra's purposes perfectly. Even if revenge on Itachi might not have much to do with Ashura, it's the perfect way to get stronger and well, you know the deal.

Then we get to the Valley of the End. Sasuke basically kills Naruto first, but Naruto survives and the fight goes on. In the end, Sasuke can't bring himself to kill him, and leaving Naruto feels like ripping off half his body. I'm thinking Sasuke and Indra have been doing some heavy fighting within his mind since day 1.

Sasuke loves Naruto. Indra hates Ashura.

You get the point, so I'll just leave you with this angsty little chapter. It's really packed with stuff so pay attention! Besides, a little something you've all been eagerly waiting for is included as well!

Chapter 14: I need him

xxx

About an hour after Naruto had left, Mikoto and Fugaku having some business to attend to and leaving as well, Sasuke sat out on the porch. He'd picked a spot in the shadow by the door, but even so the late afternoon sun warmed him up pleasantly. He was leaning back against the wall, one leg bent and the other stretched out in front of him, staring ahead at nothing in particular. It was nice to get some time alone even if he had found it impossible to sleep, though he was sure the dobe would be back soon enough. They hadn't managed to finish their conversation – or perhaps it was more of an argument. Still, Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly reassured by Naruto's earlier words. He just really disliked this feeling of helplessness, not knowing what to do from now on. Waiting was never a talent of his.

It certainly didn't help that these past few days had been rather intense, from the birthday party to the drugging incident to now, feeling stripped of most of his fighting power. These were the moments he wished he could be more like his best friend, always determined, always with a strong front that didn't crack if you started poking at it. Well, perhaps with the exception of Sasuke doing the poking, but he hadn't done much of the sort. He had been slowly getting used to life in Konoha again, and while he did have many things he wanted to change, things he wanted to bring into the light, he'd been sort of putting it off. Maybe he was simply waiting for Naruto to become Hokage. While he was naïve, he was also eager to make things better, and they'd had a couple of late night conversations about what Naruto wanted to do.

Those times, Sasuke had mostly listened. One of the first days he'd been back he and Naruto had been arguing, it was a silly thing over whether or not Sasuke should really live alone. Sasuke had, of course, won the argument, but there was something Naruto had told him that stuck with him and refused to be forgotten.

I just want you to live for your own sake, Sasuke.

It was an alien thought, that had left him feeling slightly at a loss. Living for himself sounded like the opposite of everything he'd been brought up to believe. He'd been living for his clan, for Itachi, for so long that he couldn't remember if there had ever been a time when he didn't. Even announcing that he wanted to become Hokage at the battlefield had been mainly because of Itachi, though part of it was because of his need to figure things out for himself and make sure nothing similar to what happened with Itachi ever happened again.

Then they'd arrived here. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that here, the Uchiha clan was proud but not power-hungry, large but not confined to a certain district. Everyone seemed… content. Well, Itachi was a bit of a mystery though. Still, his father was kind and caring, openly encouraging as opposed to how his own had been. His mother, sweet and intelligent just like he remembered her, but with this look of satisfaction in her eyes that he'd never seen before. There was Naori, with her bright smiles and enthusiasm for the police force, and there was his alter ego who seemed nothing but relaxed considering what he'd been told.

And then there was Shisui, who had been looking at Itachi with intense emotion, older than the Shisui of his memories but just as focused on his brother.

Closing his eyes he let out a sigh, allowing his thoughts to drift off to where they had incessantly been trying to take him the past few days. The battlefield. He still wasn't entirely sure why he'd gone there, why he had decided that helping Naruto was the best course of action. There had been a pull of sorts, pushing him towards the battle. One theory he had was that it was Indra's chakra, eager to settle things with Ashura. The other theory he liked to ignore.

Itachi had wanted for him to choose his own path, but Sasuke still didn't know what that path was, or where it led to. Once the battle was over he'd been much too tired, a weariness settling deep in his bones, not defeat, not acceptance. But he was tired of his life and tired of always having to struggle, people lying to him on all sides.

The sage had asked him what he planned to do with his new powers. His first response had been to kill Naruto. It was what he thought he wanted. What he thought he needed. What he thought he knew was the only way to embrace the darkness.

He'd been wrong, and the sage had told him so, too. Had raised his hand and sent him into his own mind, where he, to his surprise, had been fighting Indra's presence the whole time.

Indra wanted to kill Ashura, but Sasuke didn't want to kill Naruto.

It wasn't something he wanted to remember, because he'd always taken pride in his own convictions, had clung to them like lifelines in an otherwise dead existence. But Sasuke had always been watching Naruto. Sasuke had always wanted to reach out to him, had always felt a connection.

Indra wanted him to die.

But Sasuke had won and Naruto had become the one person he couldn't kill, the one person he wouldn't let someone else manipulate him into killing. The one person he had left.

Naruto, of course, didn't know this. He didn't plan on letting him find out, either, because honestly he didn't want to remember it himself. It was too painful. Every time he let himself glimpse at the truth, something twisted inside his gut.

He'd been controlled. He'd been used. He'd separated himself from the one person that could have helped him. Sasuke had been hurting that time, had been crying bent over his best friend. Indra had pushed him on his feet to follow Orochimaru's call.

Sasuke had been weak.

Hugging his legs to his chest, he stared into nothingness. This past year had been spent in what felt like limbo. As much as he tried to deny it, Naruto was his anchor. He was the only reason Sasuke could pretend, to himself as well, that things were alright. He was simply trudging onwards with no purpose, hoping silently that once Naruto became Hokage…

When Naruto became Hokage, Sasuke would keep him safe. It wasn't a purpose in life, but it was a reason to exist, and it was better than nothing. Naruto had told him to live for himself, but Sasuke simply didn't know how.

Deep in his morose thoughts, he barely reacted when the front door opened and two people entered. It wasn't until they were standing rather close to the slightly open door next to him, that Sasuke registered them to be Itachi and Shisui.

"Itachi, please. Can we at least talk about this?"

"We've already talked about it."

"No, we really haven't."

There were faint noises of a scuffle, and when Sasuke leaned to peek inside, he could see Itachi pressed against the kitchen counter with Shisui's body holding him still, both of them staring hard at each other.

"We talked the whole way here," Itachi insisted, causing Shisui to sigh.

"No, I was talking and you were trying to ignore me and change the subject."

"There were more important things to-"

"Itachi, please. It took you five minutes to explain about the whole dimension traveler ordeal. I know Kisame was there for most of the trip, but still."

They fell silent, and Sasuke held his breath. When he was a child, Shisui and Itachi had always had something special, that he was jealous of. He didn't like sharing his brother. The question flickered through his mind whether or not this world's Sasuke felt the same, but it didn't really matter.

What mattered, was the way Shisui's hands slid up Itachi's forearms to cup his face, thumbs brushing his cheekbones.

"I know you're angry that I added your name to the Hokage election, and that Obito then chose me as his future assistant should he win. But you also know that I couldn't possibly be your assistant no matter how much I'd like to."

"You shouldn't have entered me at all."

Itachi's voice was low and calm, but it sent goose bumps up Sasuke's arms. Shisui, however, appeared unaffected.

"You're a good choice," he stated convincingly, even as Itachi's eyes narrowed in a glare. "Besides, I'm not the only one who thinks that. Believe it or not, but you're popular. You've got good diplomatic experience from working with Akatsuki, the other Kage know of you, and-"

Itachi placed his hand over Shisui's mouth, silencing him.

"Yes, but you're the one who suggested me."

"You could have declined," Shisui mumbled, prying Itachi's hand off.

"Oh, sure," Itachi drawled, voice dripping sarcasm. "First, I decline working for the police force even though father obviously wants me to take over after him. Then, I decline becoming Hokage. Not at all disrespectful towards the clan."

"They would have understood." Shisui looked troubled, holding Itachi's hand against his chest.

"Well, I didn't think I'd be picked as one of the final candidates," Itachi muttered with an added sigh.

"I knew you would be, but you didn't believe me," Shisui pointed out, which didn't seem to improve Itachi's mood. "Oh come on, you graduated early, took twice as many classes as anyone, excelled in everything, then spent a couple years with Akatsuki. Plus, you're very good-looking. There's no way you wouldn't be chosen."

Itachi made an angry noise, but Shisui looked like he'd had enough of his attitude. To Sasuke's immense surprise, he hugged Itachi close and kissed his cheek, his lips lingering for much longer than even Sasuke could think was platonic.

"I'm sorry, Itachi. You know I love you, but I also need to think about the future of the village, and my own career. I think you'd be a great choice and I know you'd do your very best. But since I can't be your personal assistant, being asked to become Obito's is a very good opportunity for me. Besides, I was going crazy with boredom without you in the village."

"So selfish," Itachi sighed, but wrapped his arms around his lower back anyway. "You could have entered yourself, instead."

"That's impossible, and you know it. I'm much too scatterbrained." Shisui leaned back again, smiling wide at Itachi. "Besides, if you're Hokage we can have some nice, hot sex on that desk."

If Sasuke hadn't already been frozen in shock, he would have choked at hearing that. Instead, he speechlessly watched Itachi roll his eyes and do nothing to stop Shisui from pecking his lips.

"I still haven't forgiven you," Itachi murmured as Shisui switched to kissing down the side of his neck. "You'd better be hoping I don't win."

"Also impossible," Shisui insisted.

The look the two shared had Sasuke's heart skip a beat, then thrum painfully against his ribs. He didn't know what to think, or how to react. When their lips met again, Sasuke forced his gaze away and got up, stiffly walking over to the little pond. He ignored the surprised "Sasuke?" called after him, fists clenching around the sleeves of his shirt as he crossed his arms.

His body felt like it was burning. The smile on Itachi's face was a smile he'd never seen on him before. It was different from how his brother used to smile when he was a kid, different from the smile as Itachi left him for the last time.

It was a smile that Sasuke had seen on one other person only.

xxx

As Naruto reluctantly ran to his parents' house, he couldn't help but mumble angrily to himself. Why did people have to try and separate him and Sasuke all the time? It was like a curse. There were many people back in Konoha who believed Sasuke was better off outside the village, who wouldn't mind making him into something of a first choice for high-risk missions. Even Kakashi seemed to think that Sasuke was partly at fault, no matter how many times Naruto tried to explain to him what the truth actually meant.

But no, Sasuke was convenient to blame. He didn't want to think about what they could possibly be saying now that they'd both disappeared together. That's why he needed to solve this as fast as possible, so they could get back and make sure no one had Sasuke discredited again.

"Sasuke is all you think about," Kurama complained, but Naruto ignored him.

Once he had arrived, finding no one at home, he decided to take a shower and maybe get some sleep. His wrist still hurt, and he gingerly pulled off his clothes before he stepped underneath the hot water.

"You were supposed to go to the hospital," Kurama pointed out, and Naruto sighed because he really couldn't ignore him again.

"Feel free to heal me, then," he muttered, using his left hand only to wash his hair.

"I don't see why you can't go," the fox muttered, but did send some chakra to get to work on it. "I'm not your personal medic."

"I don't want them seeing the mark," Naruto admitted, wincing when an extra shot of pain seared through his arm. "Hey, careful with that!"

"Oh shut up, you should be lucky you can even move around like this. I know the Uzumaki clan has some high level of pain tolerance, but there's splinters of bone everywhere."

"What, I've had worse," Naruto argued, then paused. "What do you mean splinters? Like what Lee had? Oh shit, does that mean I can never use my hand again?!"

"Oh relax, I've got this. Most of the bone is fine. You just keep worrying about your husband."

"I'm not a girl, so there's no way he can be my husband," Naruto exclaimed indignantly, then realized he probably wasn't helping himself. "Ugh, whatever."

"So, are you sneaking back to see him once you're out of the shower?"

Naruto pointedly ignored him.

"I guess you'll wait until tonight. You seem to have a thing for sleeping in the same bed."

"I'm not listening."

Kurama's chuckles accompanied him as he finished and started drying himself instead. His wrist was still throbbing, and every time Kurama fixed one of the splinters it caused him to grimace in pain. He was starting to feel tired, the events of the past days catching up on him. When he entered his (Menma's) room, he immediately fell face first onto the bed, groaning at the pain in his poor wrist. He hadn't bothered to get dressed, and now he couldn't bring himself to care. He was tired and hungry and in pain, and Sasuke wasn't even there.

"You're whining," Kurama informed him, as if he didn't know already.

"Shut up," he shot back, the words muffled against his pillow.

He'd just close his eyes for a second and then get up again.

xxx

When he snapped back into focus, it was his ninja instincts telling him that something was wrong. Sure enough he could hear muffled noises before the window was pulled open, letting in the fresh evening air. He must have slept quite a lot more than a few seconds, judging by the lack of light in the room. Staying as still as possible he prepared for a possible attack, though the two people outside emanated no killing intent so far. Instead, they seemed to take their sweet time before climbing inside, Naruto starting to wonder if his mind was playing tricks on him considering what the low sounds they produced reminded him of.

"Dammit, Menma, not out here," Sasuke's voice hissed, and while Naruto probably should have relaxed knowing it wasn't an enemy, he instead did the opposite.

There were some sort of wet, sucking noises, and Naruto's eyes flew open.

"But you evidently like it," Menma replied, sounding smug, and did Naruto really sound like that?

"I like it in private," was Sasuke's haughty response, sounding too much like his own Sasuke for Naruto to feel comfortable.

"Oh? Then how about this?" Menma asked, and there was a rustle of clothing before Sasuke started making strange noises that sounded suspiciously much like in those porn videos Konohamaru had shown him when-

"Holy fucking ramen!" he yelled as his eyes took in the sight of a copy of himself with his hands down the front of Sasuke's pants, their silhouettes showing clearly in the light of a streetlamp hanging outside.

He'd sat up, grabbing the sheets hard enough for his knuckles to turn white, had there been enough light to see them. Menma and Sasuke had frozen for a second before quickly switching to fighting stances, alert eyes zoning in on him.

"Who's there?" Menma snapped, and Naruto swallowed his shock for a later occasion.

He sure looked forward to dealing with that particular mental image once he was out of there.

"Oh my," Sasuke said before he had time to open his mouth however, "Menma, I knew you were kinky, but to send a clone ahead? When did you arrange that?"

Naruto could feel an uncomfortable shiver run down his spine at the purr in Sasuke's voice, and he slowly changed his position so that he crouched rather than sat on his knees. Somehow, he felt a lot better if his muscles were prepared for an attack.

"That's not a clone," Menma disagreed, voice low and calculating. "Identify yourself," he ordered Naruto, the glint of steel in the faint light convincing Naruto he better start talking.

"I'm Naruto," he started, nervously waiting for any signs of recognition.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"I know who it is, Sasuke. And just what exactly are you doing in my room, Naruto?"

He really didn't like the way Menma said his name, like he was some criminal or something! Menma was the one who had killed innocent people, anyway. Okay yeah he was being controlled but-

The barely there whisper was the only thing giving him warning enough to dodge the kunai as it flew straight through where his head had been a second before.

"What the hell!" he complained, glaring at the other two. "Is that how you treat the guy who saved your ass last time? See if I care to do it again."

Menma let out an annoyed snort, but Sasuke seemed strained with poorly contained laughter.

"You sound like a total dork," he wheezed out, much to the annoyance of both blonds.

"Shut up," Menma muttered, still staring Naruto down even though he probably couldn't see that much of him. "Why don't you turn the lights on instead of hiding," he suggested, sounding kind of arrogant.

"Fine," Naruto answered, probably sounding rude, attaching a silent "jerk" inside his mind that had Kurama snort at him.

That fox really needed to take another nice, long nap and stop commenting on things that weren't his business.

He shuffled off the bed and was one step closer to the light button when he remembered the small detail that he was, in fact, still naked.

"Uh, just gonna find my pants," he mumbled, embarrassed as he tried to remember where he'd thrown his clothes earlier.

Not two seconds later Sasuke had whooshed past him and hit the button, bathing the small room in bright yellow.

"Turn it off!" he squawked, covering his private parts and glaring daggers towards Sasuke.

He didn't mind being naked in front of his Sasuke, but he really didn't appreciate the leer on this one's face as he ran his eyes up and down Naruto's very naked body.

"Menma, you could do so much better in the abs department," he commented, causing Menma to stalk over to him and shut off the lights again.

Maybe Menma wasn't such a bad guy after all.

"He's not going to fuck you anyway, so what does it matter?" his alter ego said, sounding a little put out.

Naruto was working very hard on ignoring the obvious facts thrown in his face. Finally finding his pants, he tried to rattle off hand signs in his head to drown out the conversation between his and Sasuke's alter egos.

"What, you don't know that," Sasuke argued, kicking at Menma when he made a noise of disbelief.

"Considering how shocked he looked, I bet he's straight as an arrow."

"Maybe he just isn't used to seeing a copy of himself about to get dirty with one of his friends."

"Well who would be? And we still don't know for sure he is who he claims to be."

"Oh come on, he was lying naked in your bed! Either he's some crazy pervert who likes sneaking into people's houses when they're gone to live out some perverted fantasy, or he is actually the Naruto."

"You're just saying that because you want to meet him again," Menma accused, causing Sasuke to huff.

"Well duh, who wouldn't want to meet a guy who can control the kyuubi?"

"You and your fucking power kinks," Menma muttered to himself, and Naruto was trying his best to scream inside his mind but to no avail.

"Can you two shut up?!" he asked, refusing to admit it was more of the pleading nature.

The lights flickered on again, the other two staring at him. Well, one at his face, the other at his chest.

He snatched his t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on as well.

"So, Naruto, do you have any proof? An explanation, maybe?"

Menma looked similar to how he remembered, minus the black hair. Black pants, black arm warmers with red leather bands securing them, but no grey coat with fur collar and instead a tight tank top.

It was really odd to look at. Last time he hadn't really had time to reflect over it, but while he was used to seeing his clones, seeing Menma was like seeing a different person altogether. Their looks might be similar, but there was just something wrong about him that instinctively told Naruto that this wasn't one of his clones.

"Yeah, sure," he said, glancing at Sasuke but quickly regretting it. "Sasuke and I were practicing teleportation and ended up here by accident, and now we can't seem to get back home. Ask Tsunade or your parents if you don't believe me."

"Sasuke is here too?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto was starting to feel confused.

"Uh, yeah," he said, shifting his weight between his feet and trying not to freak out too much.

"I hope he's not a dork like you," Sasuke told him, wrinkling his nose and most likely referring to his orange pants.

Naruto kind of wanted to laugh a little at that, considering this Sasuke's green pants, black t-shirt underneath a purple, short-sleeved shirt, complete with the Uchiha clan symbol dangling from his neck. If anything they seemed to share their taste in purple, at least. As for personality, he sort of feared for this Sasuke's safety.

"I'm not a dork," he objected, but there was no real strength behind it.

"Whatever," Menma dismissed his words with. "You're occupying my room and we need it."

Sasuke grinned pleasantly at him, and Naruto felt that earlier panic start to creep up on him again. He really didn't want to know.

"I'm just gonna…" he trailed off, slowly backing towards the door.

"Or you could join us," Sasuke suggested, but Naruto chose that moment to turn and run.

He didn't care if he had to beg Mikoto on his hands and knees, he was not coming back here tonight. Bending his head down he focused on sprinting, using no chakra to aid himself despite his bare feet. This was just a bad dream caused by Kisame's shitty teasing, and soon he'd wake up and go on with life like normal.

Sasuke's moans haunted him the entire way to Sasuke's house. No, that was this world's Sasuke, on the way to his world's Sasuke… There was something so incredibly wrong about the whole thing and Naruto couldn't understand what it was. It wasn't just the groping, or the grinning, or even the stuff they'd talked about.

But it was definitely something.

When Naruto reached the correct house, panting but not so much from exertion as from that sense of wrongness, he found to his luck that Sasuke's bedroom window was unlocked. He quickly entered, closing it quietly behind him, pausing with his hands gripping the handle to stare at Sasuke's sleeping form.

Then it struck him.

That other Sasuke, he sure looked like Sasuke, maybe didn't act exactly like Sasuke, but logically Naruto knew that it was Sasuke but in another version, with another past. Hell, he'd met him before, even.

But he lacked Sasuke's presence.

The Sasuke in front of him, Naruto could feel a steady pulse emanating from him; like a beat that only he, Naruto, could feel. And he knew that Sasuke could feel a similar beat from him. It was their bond, an inescapable side effect of the sage's chakra split between them, of Ashura and Indra's bond, affecting their own chakra so that it always tracked the other. He always knew where Sasuke was, and whether or not he was running out of life force. It wasn't something they'd tested out much, but it seemed that for the most part, just general mood swings didn't affect the connection.

So the other Sasuke felt, to him, like a dead one.

He shuddered, trying to get rid of the unease that still gripped him. Walking over to the bed, he brushed off his soles against his pants, knowing how much Sasuke hated dirt if it could be avoided. His feet would probably be judged too dirty anyway but he really couldn't care less at the moment. So he climbed onto the bed, sitting next to Sasuke's hip and hugging his knees to his chest. Leaning his chin on the top of his knees, he took a few minutes to simply calm down. Sasuke's presence was always soothing to him.

Sometimes he wondered what it felt like on Sasuke's end. Did Indra's chakra cause him trouble? Sasuke hadn't tried to kill him during the war, and Naruto had never asked why. He didn't want Sasuke to say something about a whim again. Of course, both of them had come out of the sage's company a little changed. Not that Naruto felt like he'd changed, but he must have changed at least a bit.

The only thing that never seemed to change was his bond with Sasuke.

"You mean your complete dependence on him," Kurama corrected, and this time Naruto couldn't be bothered to deny it.

"Fine," he replied through his thoughts. "I need him, a lot. What's so wrong about that?"

"Maybe you should try living for your own sake sometimes, too, and not just tell him to do that instead."

Naruto frowned, contemplating Sasuke's face in the darkness. If he thought he wanted to lie down and curl up in Sasuke's arms, then he'd blame it on sleep deprivation and hunger.

"I totally live for my own sake. I'm gonna be Hokage, aren't I?"

"Right," Kurama drawled, and Naruto could feel the mental roll of eyes he did. "What a selfish thing that is, too. I think we both know you wouldn't care less about the title if you didn't think it was the best way to make things right for Sasuke's sake."

"And why the fuck is that so wrong, huh?!"

He hadn't realized he was yelling until he noticed Sasuke stirring.

"I didn't say it was wrong," Kurama told him. "But your bullshit excuses are annoying me."

"Shut up, moron."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto ignored Kurama's words in favor of Sasuke waking up.

"Told you I'd come back," he said, fake cheer in his voice.

"You know talking to yourself is considered weird, right?" Sasuke told him, the sheets rustling as he sat up, voice slightly groggy.

"I was talking to Kurama."

"I'd say talking to a chakra beast living inside of you is a bit strange, too," Sasuke pointed out, but he sounded about as cheerful as Naruto felt.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered, closing his eyes and wishing he was still happily asleep.

For a few seconds they both stayed silent, the atmosphere rather heavy. It made Naruto wonder if something had happened to Sasuke as well. But when he opened his mouth to ask, Sasuke's hand stretched out and grabbed a fistful of his hair, pulling him so that he laid down instead with his head on a pillow.

"What the hell?" he grumbled, untangling his legs and pushing down the covers so he could fit underneath them.

It was already warm from Sasuke's body heat, and he let out a heavy sigh. Sasuke's fingers had slowly released their grip, and when he settled down to sleep again, Naruto turned on his side to face him. He wanted to tell him about Menma and the other Sasuke showing up, but he also wanted nothing more than to simply let himself be lulled to sleep. He buried his face in the pillow, inhaling Sasuke's scent and curling in on himself. His knees brushed Sasuke's leg, and he let them stay there, just barely connected. When he sighed again, Sasuke's leg bumped against him.

He thought Sasuke might say something, like telling him to stop being stupid and just go to sleep, but he didn't. All he did was shift a little, and turn his head so they were face to face.

Naruto fell asleep with another sigh, this time through his nose, and a faint smile.

I hope you're not crying too much, haha. Kurama really feels like the voice of reason in this, to me. I actually accidentally spelled him as Kuramama and I think it suits him well.

That said, this story is pretty heavy, and it will continue to be so. But, to me, this story is also a way for me to deal with that shit in the canon ending, which I probably have mentioned before, so it's all leading up to something nice. I got a review a while back asking for some more action soon, but I want you to know that this story could possibly stretch into 50 chapters, so if you think it's slow, it's because we have a lot left to get through. So much to plan, so little time...

I hope you all had a nice holidays! I'm currently living in winter wonderland and it's very nice. If only we weren't studying taxation law at the moment...